& Cozy Corner: precognition Archives

Main

August 12, 2006

Israel's future

Right now, I see two possible short term options: either Lebanon and Hizb'allah buy into the UN decree, or they don't. If they don't, they're clearly taking a play from Arafat's book, as the UN has called this round for them. And why wouldn't Hizb'allah like to see the deployment of a sympathetic Lebanese Army, and a significant number of toothless UN human shields? It only makes the next war harder for Israel. So let's assume they play along.

Unless the kidnapped soldiers come home, Olmert's government will fall. Even if they do come home, his government is almost certain to fall; you can't take one of the world's most professional, best equipped militaries, and have the appearance of a loss to a terrorist militia backed by Iran. Olmert's government needs to be replaced with someone more hawkish. Convergence / realignment / buzzword of the week has been a disaster, which I believe was Sharon's plan. No one who isn't an anti-Semite can possibly look at the situation in Gaza and believe that the Palestinians want peace. The next government will probably be based on the premise of security through prompt application of force.

We'll see another Hizb'allah/Israel fight, and not too far in the future. One possibility is that the next one will have open military coordination with Iran and Syria, which could be either bad or good for Israel, depending on how surprised the IDF is. Either way, I predict that within two years, maybe only one, either Tel Aviv or Damascus will be in flames.

Posted by Andy at 08:15 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

August 03, 2006

Apocalypse

Because I'm feeling a trifle doomsdayish, here's one possible way it all ends. Unlikely, but a nice graphic.

(hat tip: Kat at Evenmere)

Posted by Andy at 12:52 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

July 31, 2006

Tzedakah and emergency preparedness

The CozyWife and I have had an ongoing debate about having an emergency food supply in the house. We prefer to cook fresh foods, so our inventory isn't one that lends well to "just buy an extra box of each item and keep it around" - when all your vegetables are fresh, that doesn't work so well. And we don't want to buy food that we'd never eat, forget to deal with refreshing it, and then have a wasted and pointless expense.

But this weekend, she came up with a very clever plan. Each year, we'll buy a stockpile of goods that will last for at least two years. But at High Holidays, when our congregation makes a call for canned goods for needy families, we will replace our entire supply - and give the previous year's supply as tzedakah.

Now, we'll have our emergency supply on hand, no food will go to waste, *and* we'll end up giving more generously. I think everybody wins. Now, to make a list....

Posted by Andy at 09:38 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)