Bloodthirsty Liberal

Ah-one, ah-two, ah-one-two-three and:

“Daddy gave me a present, a machine gun and a rifle.
When I am a big boy, I will join the Liberation Army.
The army of [Izz Al-Din] Al-Qassam (Hamas),
which has taught us how to defend our homeland.
Our homeland is precious, precious.
We [are] victorious, victorious over America and Israel.
[Improvises:] Son of a bitch - what brought you to this land?”

I always thought Izz-Al-Din was a pitcher for the St. Louis Browns in the 30s, but maybe I’m thinking of his brother Dafhi Din.

Now, about that cursing:

It is worth noting that the two hosts, the young girl Saraa and Nassur, an adult in a bear costume, approved of the boy’s choice of song and let him sing it. Only when the boy cursed(”Son of a bitch”), did the young girl cut him off, pointing out that the “program is a program for children, not for anything else.” The objection was to the boy’s cursing, not to the content of the song. The adult inside the puppet ended the exchange by defending the boy: “He didn’t say anything else, Saraa. He said the truth.”

There’s a guy in there?

Be my guest, Yogi. Don’t let the shrapnel hit you in the ass on your way out.

Hamass: we’re not sorry after all.

The Hamas government in Gaza on Saturday backtracked on its apology earlier this week in which it expressed regret for harming Israeli civilians in rocket attacks.

The apology had signaled a rare deviation from Hamas’ violent ideology, and the subsequent zigzag reflects the Islamic militants’ conflicting objectives.

…

“We apologize for any harm that might have come to Israeli civilians,” the Hamas government wrote.

On Saturday, the government claimed the response to the U.N. was misinterpreted.

“The report that was submitted regarding the Goldstone report does not include any apologies and what took place was an incorrect interpretation of some of its wording,” the government said in a statement.

It did not attempt to explain the contradiction and Hamas officials declined comment.

Don’t worry, fellas, we didn’t take you too seriously in the first place.

And for those who did:

A Qassam rocket exploded in an open area in the western Negev, near Sderot on Sunday. There were no reports of injures or damage.

…

The last rocket attack from the Gaza Strip came Wednesday, when a Qassam rocket exploded near the border fence in an agricultural field belonging to one of the kibbutzim of Shaar Hanegev Regional Council.

A day earlier, another rocket was fired, and this time landed in an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council.

Hamass claimed in its “apology” (now rescinded) that they always aimed at military installations and couldn’t be blamed if their rockets veered off course.

Uh-huh.

Yeah, we’re sorry.

We’re sorry you made us mad:

Hamas, in an unusual move, has expressed regret for the deaths of Israeli civilians in Palestinian rocket attacks during fighting in Gaza a year ago.

Israel, where Hamas suicide bombers have killed hundreds of civilians over two decades, dismissed any apology for the three non-combatants hit by rockets from Gaza in the war as insincere.

In a report by a committee set up by Hamas to examine UN allegations of war crimes by its fighters, the authors said: “We regret any harm that may have befallen any Israeli civilian.

“We hope the Israeli civilians understand that their government’s continued attacks on us were the key issue and the cause,” added the report, of which Reuters obtained a copy.

In response to the report, delivered to the United Nations this week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said on Friday: “For years Hamas has boasted about deliberately targeting civilians, either through suicide bombings, by gunfire or by rockets. Who are they trying to fool now?”

You answered your own question in two words, one starting with U, the other with N.

Besides, you know who Hamass considers a “civilian”, right? I think there’s an old guy in Nazareth who keeps bees and plays the clarinet. That’s about it.

And in their next breath…

At least one senior Hamas official, who declined to be named, said the movement remained ready to conduct “martyrdom operations” - suicide bombings of Israeli buses, cafes and the like, which have not, however, been seen for several years.

The Hamas report, after listing Palestinian grievances such as the Israeli embargo on Gaza, reaffirmed comments by officials of the 22-year-old Islamist movement that its improvised rockets were fired purely defensively and were aimed at Israeli military targets. They simply lacked the necessary accuracy, Hamas said.

“It should be noted that the Palestinian resistance…is not an organized army that possesses developed technological weapons,” the report said. “It may target a military site or a tank position and their fire goes astray…and hit a civilian location, despite their efforts to avoid hurting civilians.”

Sorry about those kids and old ladies, in other words, and sorry about the ones to come.

And if the Palestinian “resistance” isn’t an “organized army” with “technological weapons”, then what is it? Freedom fighters? Minutemen?

Let’s have a look:

Weapons, missiles, uniforms… and anybody wonder why the Israelis occasionally bulldoze orchards?

Yeah, but three little rockets—

Okay, 17 or 18 little rockets… come on, Israel, what about proportional response?

Okay, maybe hundreds and thousands of little rockets—what harm could these little toys do?

Yes, toys:

This kind of harm:

I will say this for Hamass: if they are sorry, at least they have much to be sorry for!

France:

Anti-Semitic acts almost doubled in France in 2009

According to the head of the French Jewish community, the rise showed ‘the totally unacceptable import into France of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.’

Venezuela:

About 30 Jewish families in Venezuela will immigrate to Colombia in 2010 because of concern about the policies of President Hugo Chavez and also because of the energetic and economic crisis which affects the country, a Jewish leader in Bogota said.

(How bad must Venezuela be if the Jews there see greener—and more potent—grass in Colombia?)

And then there’s the always-reliable Middle East:

A regional war may well be approaching. The actions and statements of Iran and its Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian proxies over the past week or so indicate that this is what Israel’s enemies are gunning for.

Come on, Aggie, admit it: Britain looks pretty good now, doesn’t it?

2009 had the highest reported incidences of Antisemitism since they began checking

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday called the record number of anti-Semitic incidents across the United Kingdom last year “deeply troubling”, urging Britons to exercise greater vigilance.

Brown’s comments come as the Community Security Trust reported that 2009 was the worst year for anti-Semitic incidents in Britain since the Jewish group first began tracking them in 1984.

Brits attack British Jews because they don’t like Israel. That makes sense, doesn’t it? You see, Jews can’t be British, they must be Israeli, and therefore, since Israel is a the world’s only Jewish country, it is ok to attack Jews in Britain. Because, in their twisted little minds, it is ok to attack Jews and the justification for it comes along as needed, later.

- Aggie

An incredible achievement

The impossible dream of being able to walk is coming true for some wheelchair-bound paraplegics who thought they would never again take another step.

ReWalk, a cutting-edge robotic device that lets a partially paralyzed person stand, walk and even climb stairs is being tested at a Philadelphia rehab hospital.

It consists of a backpack, an upper body harness and leg supports that are fitted with motorized knees and hips.

The wearer, who must have the use of his upper body, controls the movement of the leg supports with crutches, while motion sensors that are connected to a backpack computer let the device know when a step should be taken.

At MossRehab in Elkins Park, Pa., the upright device, the first of its kind, will be tested on 14 people who are enrolled in a clinical trial.

ReWalk was designed by Argo Medical Technologies in Haifa, Israel. Though it’s not yet known how much ReWalk will cost if approved, researchers are hopeful that it will be available by the end of this year. It can help those with spinal cord injury-related conditions that result in severe impairments.

Dr. Alberto Esquenazi, chair of MossRehab’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, who was instrumental in ReWalk’s development, said he’s hopeful that the device will soon be widely sold.

“ReWalk should become available in the near future and will be able to be applied widely to people with spinal cord injuries that have preserved the use of the arms,” he says.

“You need to have your arms, both for balance control and sensory feedback. The tip of the crutches provides sensory feedback about where your body is in space.”

ReWalk has what Esquenazi calls “smart software” in that it “understands what the patient is intending to do, and translates that into taking a step or climbing a stair,” he says.

So far, six people have been enrolled in the trial, and they range from 22 to 64, Esquenazi says.

“So far we have had no problems,” he says. “The system has worked appropriately and patients have been thrilled at being able to use the device. Many years after the injury, they had forgotten how to stand and take steps.”

The device is easy to get into, says Esquenazi, and is worn over clothing. The battery lasts for three hours and the backup lasts for another 20 minutes. “The system alerts you that the battery is running low,” Esquenazi says. “It tells you that you either need to get to a chair or to a plug.”

Alysse Einbender, now 50, suffered a spinal stroke in 2004. She’s now enrolled in the trial, and she received about 24 hours of training in the suit.

Einbender told “Good Morning America” that being able to take steps again has changed her life.

“Looking into somebody’s eyes for the first time at that height was … really incredible,” she said.

Alysse Einbender, 50, of Wyncote, Pa., has been paralyzed since 2004. She was the first patient in the ReWalk trial

Can you even imagine what it would feel like to be able to walk again, after confinement to a wheel chair for a number of years?

- Aggie

Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch

An explosive device was detonated near a Red Cross convoy in the Gaza Strip, Army Radio reported on Thursday, adding that it had not yet been made clear whether the explosion was a premeditated attack.

No injuries were reported in the Gaza blast, the Army Radio report said and one of the armored vehicles was damaged.

The Hamas-ruled coastal enclave had been sealed off by both Israel and Egypt since Israel’s invasion of the Strip during Operation Cast Lead early last year, although Israel has allowed the Red Cross to bring humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The explosion occurred just as the United States reportedly suggested to Israel that easing the Gaza blockade could help counter the fallout from the Goldstone report on alleged war crimes during Operation Cast Lead a year ago.

The Obama administration is having a real tough time, aren’t they? They can’t get anything right. It is almost as if “the gods” are aligned against them, heh.

- Aggie

Excellent!

- Aggie

Not often you see a headline like that.

Can you guess who she blames for the verdict?

A Pakistani neuroscientist was convicted on Wednesday of attempted murder for trying to kill American soldiers and F.B.I. agents in Afghanistan.

Federal prosecutors said the neuroscientist, Aafia Siddiqui, 37, grabbed an M4 rifle in a police station in the city of Ghazni, Afghanistan, on July 18, 2008, and fired on American officers and federal agents.

After slightly more than two days of deliberations, a jury in Federal District Court in Manhattan found her guilty.

As the jurors began leaving the courtroom, Ms. Siddiqui, who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, turned in her chair to face them.

“This is a verdict coming from Israel and not from America,” she said, holding her right index finger in the air. “That’s where the anger belongs. I can testify to this, and I have proof.”

Ms. Siddiqui was then led out of the courtroom while the judge and lawyers for both sides discussed a sentencing date.

Ms. Siddiqui peppered her trial with colorful outbursts that caused her to be removed from the courtroom on several occasions. Her competency — first to stand trial, and then to take the stand — were also major points of contention in the case.

But Ms. Siddiqui was allowed to testify last week, and she claimed that the prosecutors’ assertions that she fired a weapon at officers was “the biggest lie.”

The weapon was never in her hands, said Ms. Siddiqui, who explained that she was merely trying to escape from the station because she feared being tortured. She had been arrested the day before and was found to be carrying documents on how to make explosives and a list of New York targets, officials said.

We’re feeling kind of proud here in Boston.

- Aggie

Exploding barrels on the beaches

Such nice people.

Two large explosive charges contained in barrels were discovered on the beaches of Ashkelon and Ashdod on Monday.

The first barrel was discovered in Ashkelon on Monday morning, while the second container was spotted as it washed ashore on a beach in Ashdod.

Police believe that the barrels arrived at the beach via the sea from the Gaza Strip and are checking the possibility that it was intended to explode next to a ship or amongst beachgoers.

The explosive charge was neutralized by sappers.

A suspicious item was also discovered on a beach in Ashdod Monday evening.

A person who was walking on the Hofit beach in Ashkelon discovered the explosive at 11:30 a.m. and called the police. Security personnel form the northern beaches of Ashkelon arrived at the scene, checked the device and then neutralized it.

Area residents were asked to stay in their homes due to an “unusual security incident”.

Police praised the alertness of the person who discovered the device and called on anyone who sees a suspicious item to call the police.

So, if kids were playing with their dogs on the beach, and they started to explore, would the barrels have exploded? This is a new technique. Usually, Palestinian terrorists prefer to wear the bomb so that they can walk up to the kiddies and explode. They have more control that way. This indicates that it has gotten extremely difficult to get a suicide bomber through the checkpoint. Hey! Let’s make it easier on them! Let’s dismantle the checkpoints! Or maybe just ask Europe to be in charge! That’s the ticket.

- Aggie