Cozy Corner

If you haven't heard the wheelbarrow joke, let me share a variant with you:

A mill has a generous policy of allowing its workers to take home sawdust to heat their homes with. However, because the mill works in very fine woods, it has to watch out for theft of lumber. Every night, one of the workers stays late, and takes whatever sawdust no one else wants, puts it in a wheelbarrow, and heads home. Every night, one of the security guards stops him, and inspects the sawdust. Sure that the worker is up to something, he sifts through the sawdust looking for scraps of lumber; he checks the underside of the wheelbarrow; he searches the worker. Nothing.

This goes on for years; it becomes an evening ritual that the men share; almost a private joke. The worker never complains about the searches, the guard, convinced the man is a thief, but with no evidence, reports nothing.

In a pub one evening, the two men run into each other. Over a pint of Guinness, the retired guard asks the retired worker, "Look, be straight with me. I know you were up to something. Just let me know so I can rest easy. What were you doing?"

"Stealing wheelbarrows."

And therein lies the problem with looking for bad things, and not bad people. Had the guard even once raised a concern about the gentlemen, some accountant might have noticed the inordiante number of wheelbarrows the mill went through, and connect the dots. But because the guard was focused on a list of items that might be stolen, the thief got away with it.

There are lots of lessons in this one, but, at the heart, just remember: the bad guy is more clever than your system.

Posted by Andy at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Whoops! Forgot to mention that Haveil Havalim number 84 is up, even if I've been perusing it. Thanks, Meryl, for also forgetting and remembering!

Posted by Andy at 01:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Apparently, a man in a small SUV ran down 14 people at twelve locations:

One person was killed and at least 14 injured when a man reportedly intentionally targeted pedestrians with his sport utility vehicle on both sides of San Francisco Bay this afternoon.

According to San Francisco police, the driver, a man from the Central Valley, was in police custody. CBS 5 reports the man has been identified as Omeed A. Popal, who has homes in Ceres and Fremont.

The spree apparently began around noon in Fremont, where the driver hit an unidentified man walking along the side of the road. He was thrown off the road and pronounced dead at the scene, Fremont police said. Witnesses said the driver did not slow down.

Hugh Hewitt is collecting datapoints that this might be SJS:

Four callers have confirmed that without doubt this is a Jewish neighborhood, and that one of the victims was run over in front of the Jewish Community Center in the area.
...
Look on the web! the JCC located at 3200 California St. Site of one of the attacks: 3250 California ST.

Wizbang has more coverage.

Yup. looks like Sudden Jihad Syndrome strikes again.

Update: You know how this would be reported if SF were in Iraq?

"Sectarian Violence Rocks San Francisco"
"More Muslim-Jew clashes reported near San Francisco"
"Police find body, 13 casualties in San Francisco"

Posted by Andy at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (2)

I just realized I hadn't blogged about the game yet. In my defense, the CozyWife and CozikinGirl and I were away for the weekend, but my EyeTV let me record it in HD for later watching.

For those new to the preseason, this week is the week that most teams shake down their first-string starters for a bit, to make sure that they fit as a team. And the Patriots pulled that one off. Still missing was Deion Branch, and that top wide receiver spot is a disconcerting hole. Reche Caldwell still needs some settling to do before he's really a candidate there.

That said, oh my goodness. The Redskins were, shall we say, shellacked. And not by a small amount. With so many Patriots linebackers competing for a spot, Mark Brunell resembled a tackling dummy more than a quarterback; so much so that the Redskins swapped him out early in the third quarter, courteously, the Patriots did the same with Brady. Matt Cassel, I take back everything I've ever said implying you aren't yet ready as a backup quarterback. I can imagine a lot of teams that could be improved by having you as a starting quarterback, and you've definitely shown that this preseason.

I am very excited for the season to start. While I'm a bit concerned about the receiving pool, four tight ends and nine wide receivers is a nice pool to choose from, even if some of those names are brand new.

Posted by Andy at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Tim Worstall has a take-down on the primitive economic sense of the Wal-Mart bashers:

To wish that WalMart move from its current low wage and lots-of-labor model, to Costco's (relatively) high wage and low labor utilization is fine, but an adult view would include the acknowledgement that for WalMart to adopt the second model would require that they fire between 860,000 and 975,000 of their current workforce. The child's view would be that everyone should just be paid more because I want it to be so! -- i.e. that there are no side-effects to such decisions.

As I said up at the top, I think Ezra Klein has indeed identified an extremely important question, quite truthfully, one of the two or three most important issues facing the country. Are we adults or children? If we are to be adults of course we should also apply the same blindingly obvious logic to the minimum and living wage movements. As Costco proves, when companies pay more for the labor they hire, they hire less of it.

As an added extra bonus I look forward to Ezra's speech in which he explains why nearly one million people losing their jobs is going to be good for America. I'd most certainly pay good money to see him deliver it to those he is arguing should get fired.

Indeed. And I think it's a nice catchphrase: Those fighting Wal-Mart want to add one million people to the unemployment rolls. Of course, isn't that Wal-Mart's real sin? Giving people an opportunity to get a job, and work their way up out of it?

Posted by Andy at 09:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Following up to Sandmonkey's account of the move of the Ramses statue from downtown Cairo, Shehrezad ponders the nature of idolatry and leader-worship. They're a good pair of reads. If I had more energy, I'd follow up with an essay discussing that there is a reason Moses's tomb is lost to us, to prevent the worship of the man, or the place.

But I'm tired, so you'll just have to imagine it.

Posted by Andy at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Jeff Jacoby points out that US airport security is still looking in the wrong places:

Nearly five years after Sept. 11, 2001, US airport security remains obstinately focused on intercepting bad things -- guns, knives, explosives. It is a reactive policy, aimed at preventing the last terrorist plot from being repeated. The 9/11 hijackers used box cutters as weapons, so sharp metal objects were barred from carry-on luggage. Would-be suicide terrorist Richard Reid tried to ignite a bomb in his shoe, so now everyone's footwear is screened for tampering. Earlier this month British authorities foiled a plan to blow up airliners with liquid explosives; as a result, toothpaste and cologne have become air-travel contraband.
...
Israeli airport security, much of it invisible to the untrained eye, begins before passengers even enter the terminal. Officials constantly monitor behavior, alert to clues that may hint at danger: bulky clothing, say, or a nervous manner. Profilers -- that's what they're called -- make a point of interviewing travelers, sometimes at length. They probe, as one profiling supervisor told CBS, for ``anything out of the ordinary, anything that does not fit." Their questions can seem odd or intrusive, especially if your only previous experience with an airport interrogation was being asked whether you packed your bags yourself.
...
But because federal policy still bans ethnic or religious profiling, US passengers continue to be singled out for special scrutiny mostly on a random basis. Countless hours have been spent patting down elderly women in wheelchairs, toddlers with pacifiers, even former US vice presidents -- time that could have been used instead to concentrate on passengers with a greater likelihood of being terrorists.
...
Of course most Muslims are not violent jihadis, but all violent jihadis are Muslim. ``This nation," President Bush has said, ``is at war with Islamic fascists." How much longer will we tolerate an aviation security system that pretends, for reasons of political correctness, not to know that?

Unfortunately, until we get off our high horse about the appearance of racial profiling, we aren't going to get away with actual racial profiling - and that's a shame.

Posted by Andy at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Teens in Brattleboro have discovered that nudity isn't illegal:

Here on the banks of the Connecticut River, in the busiest parking area of a downtown peppered with bookstores and coffee shops, more is meeting the eye than some people want.

A politely rebellious collection of teenagers passing time in the Harmony Parking Lot this summer has taken to disrobing. Seemingly on a whim, they shed clothes and soak up the sun, nude.

What began as a lark or an ode to youthful exuberance, has now turned into a municipal quandary, because public nudity is permissible in Brattleboro.

In the words of Town Manager Jerry Remillard, if you're naked in public, and you're minding your business, you're legal.

While we all probably have our positive daydreams about what this might be like, remember that legal nudity means anyone can be naked:

Andrew Wdowiak, who works at Everyone's Books, said that he's not put off by the nudity, but that the act has become a little tired. "I think it was more for the shock value," he said. "They weren't flagrant about it."

But last week, when about a half-dozen naked teenagers congregated outside the store," it was like they were baking a cake, and they really frosted it," Wdowiak said. "All the men were naked, and the women were topless. I needed about three drinks to erase that vision."

Hmmm, since most jurisdictions need a license to carry a weapon, perhaps we should license nudists?

Posted by Andy at 02:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Why hassle with newfangled explosives?

A U.S. college student who said he bought dynamite as a souvenir in Bolivia was arrested on Friday when a bomb-sniffing dog found the substance in his luggage after he arrived at the Houston airport from Buenos Aires.

How dumb does everyone have to be?

Posted by Andy at 09:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Gaming Blog has an interview between the BBC and a Lebanese. Enjoy it, and Shabbat Shalom!

Posted by Andy at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Jackie vs. Jews for Jesus:

Jackie Mason is suing Jews for Jesus, claiming the missionary group damaged him by using his name and likeness in a pamphlet.

"While I have the utmost respect for people who practice the Christian faith, the fact is, as everyone knows, I am as Jewish as a matzo ball or kosher salami," the 75-year-old comedian said in documents filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.
...
Susan Perlman, a spokeswoman for Jews for Jesus, said the pamphlet was "good-natured."

"Shame on him for getting so upset about this," she said Friday.

I'm glad that the pamphlet has a "an easygoing and cheerful disposition" (Susan, I think you meant "in good nature"), but really, shame on you. You misrepresented someone's position in an attempt to subvert members of their religion, and you think they shouldn't get upset?

Posted by Andy at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Now that's a statement by retired generals. 49 of them.

We, the undersigned, believe that Israel's military operation to remove Hezbollah from southern Lebanon is a correct and legitimate response to the creation of an armed force accountable to Syria and Iran residing within the boundaries of Lebanon and using Lebanese territory to engage in cross-border warfare. Israel voluntarily withdrew completely from Lebanese territory in 2000 under the terms of UN Resolution 1559, but the Government of Lebanon was unable or unwilling to assert its sovereignty in the area Israel vacated.

Read the whole thing.

(h/t: Meryl)

Posted by Andy at 08:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Given everything happening in Egypt lately, Sandmonkey is looking for a new slogan. Some notable ones:

"Egypt: If the terrorists won't kill you, our negligence might!"

"Egypt: Visit once, and you might never leave!"

"Nihilists wanted!"

"You came for the tombs, you might just leave in one!"

"Dying to get here? No problem!"

Head on over and suggest your own. I was in Egypt 9 years ago, so I think I'll pass on inciting anyone to head there.

Posted by Andy at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Okay, those designers are certainly politically incorrect. Did you notice that the slimmest relatives were all chosen before the larger relatives? But I have to say, getting the insight into backgrounds of each of the designers was very neat.

My empathy for Jeffrey reached an all time low after he shreds Angela's Mom.

Trying to figure out the 5-3 split for the interviews - its the cycle of models to designers. (The first five all had sisters/mothers of the first five, the last three has siblings/models of the first three). Of course, the last three had a little cycle of negative energy going on amongst them.

Jeffrey is preserved by Robert's use of a sack. Close one, bucko.

Posted by Andy at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Indefinite jail sentence for vicious, woman-hating rapist:

A man with an implicit hatred of women has been jailed indefinitely for the brutal rape of a 17-year-old virgin - although he claims not to remember committing the crime.

He was given an indeterminate sentence by the judge last Friday at Inner London Crown Court, which means that Trotter will only be released from Brixton Prison once the parole board are satisfied that he is not a threat to the public.

He can only apply for release after serving at least five years in prison and he will be put on licence for at least 10 years after he leaves.

But nonetheless, this is the kind of truth in reporting I like to see. Had it been the Boston Globe, the sentence would have been something like, "Alcoholic sentenced to life in prison."

Posted by Andy at 09:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Via Winds of Change, I have found a liberal Muslim. Specifically, one trying to determine the best political allies in the US for liberal Muslims. (Hint: the orthogonal moderates). His blog is a great read. I highly recommend his analysis on the difference between British and American Muslims, and his non-profit idea.

Eteraz is someone worth keeping an eye on, and an ear to. If the existential struggle between the West and Islamic extremists is going to end without obliteration on one side or the other, it will be thanks to folks like Eteraz. No pressure.

Posted by Andy at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Twelve Planets, huh? Well, I guess My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas is out.

It is unclear if the last latter should be X or U. I decided using eX is also reasonable. Here's a small selection of Mnemonics for us adults!

Buffy: Many Vampires Eat Mischievous Children Just So Undertakers Need Puny Coffins eXcavated.

Solipsist: Many Verbose Eccentrics Mnemonicize Collections Jingoistically So Unaligned Natives Ponder Choosing eXpeditiously

UNIFIL: Many Violent Evil Men Can Just Shoot. United Nations Peacekeepers Could eXacerbate.

Kofi: Many Vicious Extremist Muslims Choose "Justified" Slaughter. United Nations Politicians Claim Xenophobia.

Adnan Hajj: Many Violent Evildoers Martyr Children Just So "Unbiased" Nationalist Photographers Commit Xerography.

Posted by Andy at 09:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News just now:

This next item is for all those who quietly suffer at the gas pump every day across this country watching those numbers fly by. The scene was the Charles St. Stop and Go in Rockford Illinois. The time was yesterday morning. The price at the pump for medium grade unleaded - three dollars nine cents a gallon. But then, a computer glitch somehow moved the decimal point on the price one place to the left. That turned the three dollar gas into thirty cent gas. The attendant noticed something might be wrong when a huge line formed outside the gas station. The pumps were quickly shut down amid fears that oil company profits might plummet. But for one brief shining moment, we the consumers won. It was like the old days, before you needed to refinance your home to fill your tank.

Okay, I could just tear this to shreds, but let me just put it this way: Brian, the clerks shut it down amid fears that they wouldn't have a paycheck since they'd just wiped out the margin for that gas station. They still have to pay the state the nineteen cents a gallon state tax, and still have to buy the fuel to replace it. No, Brian, they weren't worried about the oil companies, they were worried about their livelihoods.

Posted by Andy at 06:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Since Porkbusters asked us to find out who put a hold on the earmark transparency bill:

Senators Tom Coburn and Barak Obama have proposed S.2590, legislation that would create a single website with access to information on nearly all recipients of federal funding. The bill cannot proceed, however, because one or more Senators placed a "secret hold" on it.

Who is the secret holder? We want to know, and we want your help finding out. Call your Senator, and ask them to go on the record denying that they placed the hold. Then e-mail Porkbusters and let us know what they said! Senators who issue denials will be removed from the suspect list --- and those who do not, won't!

I called my lovely senators.

Senator Ted Kennedy's office.

I spent a lot of time on silent hold. When the staffer finally remembered to pick up the phone, I got this response: "I won't be able to give you the answer you're looking for." I was then told to use the webform to ask my question. So I did. Awaiting response.

Senator John Kerry's office.

According to the staffer I spoke with, only members in the committee could have placed a hold on it. The staffer I spoke with asserted that it was not John Kerry, as he was not in that committee. The staffer then transferred me to the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee office, who then transferred me to the Federal Financial management subcommittee, where I talked to a pleasant staffer. She said I was the second caller today (I warned her there might be more), and volunteered to go investigate the hold, determine whether Sen. Kerry's staffer was correct in the candidates for placing the bill on hold.

Update: I called back to Sen. Kerry's office, and the staffer this time gave a more open response, that Sen. Kerry's has not made a statement yet. Left a webform note for Sen. Kerry, also.

Update 24 August: Chris in Sen. Kerry's office confirms that Sen. Kerry is a cosponsor of the bill, and has not placed the hold on it.

Posted by Andy at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Rob Port points us at this BBC coverage of the return to Bint Jbeil:

When Um Ali Mihdi returned to her home in the southern Lebanese city of Bint Jbeil two days ago, she found a 1,000lb (450kg) Israeli bomb lying unexploded in her living room.

The shell is huge, bigger than the young boy pushed forward to stand reluctantly next to it while we get our cameras out and record the scene for posterity.

So the scene that the BBC was recording for posterity was endangering a child by shoving them next to an unexploded ordinance which could detonate at any minute? Hmmm, wouldn't that be a violation of any one of a number of international laws?

Posted by Andy at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hmmmm:

Israeli troops are collecting bodies of Hezbollah fighters killed in Lebanon and storing them in refrigerated containers in Israel, the army said on Wednesday.
...
Israel has special cemeteries for Palestinian and Lebanese militants killed in fighting with Israel.

Hmmm. 20,330 sq km. That's 20,330,000,000 square meters. Assuming a 2m x 1m plot, that's about 10 billion possible grave sites.

Now I get the whole martyr strategy. Retaking the land one grave at a time. (Thank goodness there are only 1.6 billion candidates worldwide).

Posted by Andy at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, Hizb'allah fighters, anyway:

Israel on Monday handed over to UN peacekeepers five Lebanese men who were captured during an Israeli commando raid late on August 1 on the Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek, according to a peacekeeping official.
...
The UN peacekeeping official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the prisoners were returned at the Unifil headquarters in Naqoura, just north of the Israeli border.

Hmmm, seems like a good ceasefirely thing to do. Anyone going to return the favor? Bueller? Bueller?

Posted by Andy at 03:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We went over to a friend's house for Shabbat dinner, and, as conversations will, we covered some strange and eclectic topics. At one point, one of the attendees asserted, "Did you know it's Disney policy that no one ever dies on Disney property?" Having been a Disney employee a long time ago, I'll admit I showed skepticism, until the attendee said, "It's true! I looked it up on Snopes!" And that was that. Because Snopes is, of course, the authority on urban legend.

This morning, I looked it up on Snopes:

Claims: Disney can legitimately claim that no one has ever died at one of their theme parks, because they always ensure that accident victims are removed from park property before being declared dead.
Status: False.

I'm sure this has happened to others out there, but I'll admit it was a first for me.

Posted by Andy at 07:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Via WorldNetDaily:

On June 21, a senior DHS official from Washington personally guided Muslim officials from the Council on American-Islamic Relations on a behind-the-scenes tour of Customs screening operations at O'Hare International Airport in response to CAIR complaints that Muslim travelers were being unfairly delayed as they entered the U.S. from abroad.

Wow. First off, I don't care who wants to see backstage. No one should get to see how we do Customs Operations, except for Customs, any governmental oversight bodies, and third party security assessors under NDA. Period. But CAIR? Let's be frank. Even in the most positive of all worldviews, you can't call CAIR sympathetic to the plight of the average American. In a more cynical worldview, you'd have to wonder if any of the tricks used by customs will be discussed with someone who might possibly be connected to a terrorist organization.

Whoever set this up on the part of DHS needs a little reprimanding.

Posted by Andy at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Lebanon's defense minister discusses Lebanon's fifth column:

Lebanon's defense minister said Sunday any group breaking the cease-fire in southern Lebanon would be "decisively dealt with" and would be considered a traitor.

Defense Minister Elias Murr's comments apparently were to air concerns that factions other than Hizbullah, which he said is committed to the cease-fire, may attempt to draw Israeli retaliation by firing on the Jewish state.

"We consider that when the resistance (Hizbullah) is committed not to fire rockets, then any rocket that is fired from the Lebanese territory would be considered collaboration with Israel to provide a pretext (to Israel) to strike," he told a news conference at the Defense Ministry.

So what you're saying, Mr. Murr, is that when a "civilian" in the south pulls his motorbike over to the side of the road, pulls out a rocket launcher, and fires from next to a residential building, targeting innocent civilians, that it can't possibly be Hizb'allah, and is, in fact, an Israeli sympathizer? Pull my other leg.

Posted by Andy at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There has to be a rule on how many times an announcer can repeat the exact same phrase. Tonight, it was "Tom Brady's favorite receiver is the open receiver." Great. Thanks, guys, for all that value you're adding. I could also predict Gregg Easterbrook cringing when they asserted that the Cardinals might have to blitz a lot this season.

Despite being a pre-season game, the Patriots were playing a very serious game, with starting players for the first half. It was good to watch them shaking out the bugs. Still missing Branch, but Caldwell, Childress, and Faulk were doing a good emulation for Brady. But come the season, he's going to need a lot more options to toss the ball to.

In the second half, Troy Brown came out, and played nicely. After his second reception, the commenter said, "You can't teach that, it's a learned behavior," and then later, about Cassel, "You can't tell me that doesn't look like Tom Brady in there. Not to take anything away from Matt Cassel, but...." I think someone needs to teach them a little bit about the English language.

Matt Cassel did look sweet. It must have been nice for him playing opposite Matt Leinart, and coming out looking much better. He played the second (and third, and fourth) string like Charlie Daniels playing a fiddle, and the players were giving the game their serious attention. Not that they didn't have problems - way too many fumbles and penalties - but Belichick has a nice set of playing pieces.

Posted by Andy at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

An Army of Davids came in the mail last week, and I just finished it. It's really two books - the first half of the hardcover focuses on the advertised theme of the book - how markets and technology empower ordinary people to to beat big media, big government, and other Goliaths. The second half is a look at the future and technology areas.

Overall, it's a very well-written and approachable book. In reading the first half, I was really struck by the theme that the empowerment of the the individual - the david - has been achieved not by lowering the standards of competitiveness, but instead by placing all the tools that used to be only available to large corporations into the hands of the individual. And that the davids are infinitely more flexible and adaptable than the goliaths have been (as a great recent case in point, witness the recent Fauxtography scandal).

The second half of the book felt like a set of introductions to science fiction novels - giving the near term future history of nanotechnology, AI, space travel, and anti-aging - all in preparation for the coming Singularity.

Read it. Think about how you can take advantage of the technology at your fingertips, now and in the future, to do something which historically, only capital-intensive enterprises could do.

Posted by Andy at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 22nd is just around the corner. I'm not an End-Timer, but when a lunatic threatens to light up the sky over Jerusalem, and calls my country the Great Satan, I tend to listen. When terrorists plan to blow up airplanes, and murderers walk into charities and gun down innocent women, it behooves one to be a bit prepared.

In three days, maybe we'll look back and scoff at our worries. Me? I went to Costco, and did a little shopping.

Posted by Andy at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Turns out that hack of a Macbook's wireless card was faked:

Sounds like SecureWorks, the company who sponsored all this Mac hackery, is finally fessing up to their falsification and admitting that they, in fact, did not find the flaw in Apple's drivers, and that they used a 3rd party card and software to facilitate the exploit.

Posted by Andy at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The IDF raids Lebanon:

By Sam F. Ghattas, Associated Press Writer
BEIRUT, Lebanon --Hezbollah fighters battled Israeli commandos who landed near the militants' stronghold deep inside Lebanon early Saturday, killing one soldier, in the first large-scale violation of the U.N.-brokered cease-fire between the sides.
Hezbollah said its guerrillas foiled the raid after a gunbattle, and the Israeli army said one soldier was killed and two were wounded, one seriously.
Witnesses said Israeli missiles destroyed a bridge during the raid -- the first major violation of the U.N.-imposed cease-fire that took effect Monday following 34 days of fighting.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release information to the media, said the Israelis apparently were seeking a guerrilla target in a nearby school but had no other details.
...
Such a bold operation risked scuttling the fragile cease-fire and suggested Israel was going after a major target near Baalbek -- perhaps to rescue two Israeli soldiers snatched by Hezbollah on July 12, or to try to capture a senior guerrilla official to trade for the soldiers.
...
Local media said Sheik Mohammed Yazbeck, a senior Hezbollah official in the Bekaa and a member of the Shura council of the group, may have been the target. Yazbeck is a native of Boudai.

The classic comment, however, is found in non-AP coverage:

Parliament Speaker Nabih Beri, Hezbollah's main ally in government, said he also raised the incident with the envoys.

"If Lebanon had launched a similar act, wouldn't the Security Council have met to impose tough sanctions against it?" Beri asked, adding that he saw the raid as an attempt by Israel to provoke Hezbollah into retaliation and foil the deployment of the Lebanese army in south Lebanon.

Let me answer that one for you, Nabih: Nope. The UN wouldn't. Did you notice any tough sanctions against either of the governments you work for for starting this war? Didn't think so.

Posted by Andy at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Innocents die all the time. Sometimes, for factors outside human control; other times, through neglect, either personal or at the state level, and other times, through direct action, again, at the personal or state level.

What is acceptable? What isn't? And really, who is accountable?

In the case of deaths that an individual causes - like, say John Mark Karr and JonBenet Ramsay, it's easy to assign blame, and to assert accountability. (And there, now I'll get a dozen hits from the Cult of JonBenet.) But you know that's not where I'm headed.

Now what about deaths where a group of actors cause them, but another group stands by and does nothing? Seems to happen a lot in Africa these decades; but who is holding folks accountable for standing by and doing nothing? Again, not where I'm headed; but we need to make sure we remember Rwanda, and Darfur.

Let's look, specifically, at the Lebanese innocents killed this last month. We can argue till we're blue in the face about the exact number of civilians killed (noting that a dead Hizb'allah terrorist looks like a dead Lebanese civilian), but let's face it, some died. Who is accountable? What is acceptable?

UNICEF, I think , has it both right and wrong. In an exchange with one of their staffers, she wrote to me:

UNICEF's position in all conflicts is that children should be treated as "zones of peace," neither targeted, recruited to fight, nor otherwise made victims of an adult conflict.

I'll admit, I half agree with her. But let's look at accountability. Who killed the civilians in Lebanon? By my reckoning - and, by the reckoning of, at least, American criminal law, as well as the Geneva convention - Hizb'allah did. In fact, every time Hizb'allah fired a rocket from behind a civilian, or built a school over a ammo dump, Hizb'allah killed someone.

Israel, on the other hand, saved them. Every time Israel chose not to target a location, or dropped a leaflet, or made a phone warning, or hijacked a radio station, Israel was saving innocent lives. Lives that had already been targeted by Hizb'allah for death.

No amount of innocent death is acceptable. There is no magic number where you can say "nine kids dead, that's okay; but that tenth one? Nope." The death of every innocent should ignite a spark of outrage.

But the murderer wasn't the one on the other side of the war. The murderer was right behind the victim.

Posted by Andy at 01:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Michael Totten drives through Kiryat Shmona, with some powerful imagery. It's a good read, which I only have to argue with two pieces:

The Israel/Lebanon war created hundreds of thousands of refugees on each side of the border, but that’s where proportion ends. Israel has a real army and a real air force and can inflict real damage on its enemies. Hezbollah, on the other hand, is only strong enough to terrorize people.

There is a lot of talk in the media and the blogosphere about Hezbollah’s targets in Israel. Some insist that Hezbollah does too aim its Katyushas at the Israeli military. The “proof” is that 12 soldiers were killed by a rocket just before I arrived on the border.

But go read his article, as the pictures are worth a thousand words. And hit his tipjar while you are there.

Posted by Andy at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What is it that ties us together? It's simple, really: a veneration of Law.

Let's start with the youngest and oldest: the youngest people, and the oldest republic.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

I'm hard pressed to find a more beautiful set of words on the planet. In fact, I found them so beautiful, that I have, on several occasions, uttered this oath:

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

What is about this document, this concept? In drafting this, our forefathers gave birth to a new nation, one which was greater than all of them (a hard feat!), and which could grow, and change, and survive trials and tribulations; a nation that no single man could encompass, and which each of us could contribute to, and know that our children would inherit. And one which, despite being a democracy, would have constant laws that would survive the trials of the mob.

That, my friends is America. Britain? Ahh, how we love our spiritual parent (on an aside, anyone who doesn't think that war can lead to normalized and pleasant relations has never studied the American Revolution or the War of 1812). Britain was the key to the rule of law:

TO ALL FREE MEN OF OUR KINGDOM we have also granted, for us and our heirs for ever, all the liberties written out below, to have and to keep for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs

Ah, the renunciation of power by a monarch, in perpetuity. From that day forward, every man knew, sort of, where he stood. It took a while for the monarchy to be stripped of the rest of its dictatorial power, but the Magna Carta was the key (and, oddly enough, provided for the rights of Jews, and non-Jews, identically as bankers).

And Israel? The oldest and the youngest. A mere 60 years old, or several millenia, depending on how you count it. Here, too, is Law enshrined in the people and the land, but I look to the Talmud for the true rule of Law:

Why did he say: "it is not in heaven"?

Rabbi Jeremiah said: "The Torah was given to us from Mount Sinai. We do not pay attention to an echoing voice, because on Mount Sinai you wrote in the Torah: "You are to incline after the majority" (Exod 23:2).

Rabbi Nathan met Elijah (and) said to him: "What did the Holy One, blessed be He!, do in that hour?"
He said: "He laughed and said: 'My sons have outshone me! My sons have outshone me!'"

God renouncing the ability to change the law out from under man - does it get any more amazing than that?

And here we have it: the renunciation of the rule of God, King, and Mob. And that is why America, Britain, and Israel often look like inseparable allies: all three are founded in the rule of Law, and the expectation that today's rules will still exist tomorrow.

Posted by Andy at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Normally, I wouldn't even note a flap up between the UK royals and their media, but this is time relevant:

Lurid photographs of Prince Harry in a distinctly friendly embrace with a television presenter were at the centre of a new row between the tabloid press and the Royal Family yesterday.
...
But the newspaper was humiliatingly forced to eat its words last night after Clarence House pointed out that the pictures were taken three years ago.

Has the Sun hired Adnan Hajj?

Posted by Andy at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

AbbaGav looks at the unlikelihood of a collapse of Olmert's coalition, while Carl sees the anti-Netanyahu campaign already gearing up. A good pair of posts, and a lead into my hope and prayer:

May the ceasefire hold for long enough for Israel to regain balance, but not so long that the proponents of peace at any cost begin paying more to extend it. May it last long enough for a new government to rise in Israel, that will prepare for the inevitable war with Islamic fascists to the east, north, and south.

If I were truly ambitious, I'd pray for the peaceful dissolution of Hizb'allah, but I believe in asking for things that have a chance of happening.

Posted by Andy at 12:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Apparently, people will cozy up to anyone who agrees with them on one issue. And some folks are calling them out on it. Norm Geras calls out Jews for Justice for Palestinians:

Your organization claims to be devoted to achieving justice for the Palestinian people. This is an objective which we endorse. For us it will be realized through the creation of a fully independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, where this state exists in peace and reconciliation with Israel. While your founding statement appears to favour such an arrangement, your actions belie your commitment to it. You regularly participate in demonstrations and political activities featuring large numbers of radical Islamists and other extremists who seek Israel's destruction and promote a strongly anti-Jewish programme. You engage in running apologetics for these groups and seek to present them as 'pragmatic'. You whitewash their racist platforms as understandable reactions to Israeli aggression.

Betsy Newmark and William Shawcross call out feminists:

[William]: As a supporter of the peace movement in the 1980s, I could never have imagined that many of the same crowd I hung out with then would today be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with militantly anti-feminist Islamic fundamentalist groups, whose views on women make western patriarchy look like a Greenham peace picnic. Nor would I have predicted that today’s feminists would be so indulgent towards Iran, a theocratic nation where it is an act of resistance to show an inch or two of female hair beneath the veil and whose president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is not joking about his murderous intentions towards Israel and the Jews.

[Betsy]:That is a remarkable sight. These feminists are so opposed to Bush and Blair that they are willing to ally with fanatics who would prefer to seem all women clothed in burkas. This is a religion that still has supporters who believe in honor killings for girls who are raped. And these feminists will march by their side and not say a word against their hateful beliefs.

To those of you sitting to my left: you are known by the company you keep.

Posted by Andy at 11:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

People seem to keep saying the Hizb'allah isn't a government. But isn't it? Consider:

1. It has an army.
2. It builds schools.
3. It runs hospitals.
4. It holds seats in the government of the federation to which it belongs.
5. It engages in foreign relations.
6. It runs a news service.
7. It collects the passports of journalists operating in its territory.
8. It attacks sovereign nations.
9. It taxes goods.

Sounds like a government to me.

Posted by Andy at 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)