I don't know why. It just happened.
Early on, I studied hard, but also always had a book on the go. Did drawings/paintings, wrote poetry. Did the work, but also did the things I enjoyed.
Years ago, had a conversation with someone I was studying with on the bus. She had stopped doing all the fun things, and just 'concentrated' on studies. If it wasn't related to studies, she wasn't going to read it. I thought maybe she's right. So I stopped always having a book on the go, and just read for leisure on breaks (as in when no exams or courseworks or homeworks were looming in the distance).
My first mistake.
When you stop reading for leisure, you just take out the leisure and enjoyment. You don't read any faster, you don't spend any more time studying. You still need to have a regular break. Reading just becomes associated with work.
Painting and drawing take time. You feel great afterwards. Especially when you've been in the 'zone', and had such focus. You come out of it, and have something beautiful that you have made. Something concrete for your time.
But as life gets busier, unless you make time for things that take time, you won't find the time. They get left by the wayside.
And then the work/study thing. Once you graduate, your goals change, your motivation changes. You have to find new goals to take you forward, since the old ones have done their job, and are no longer applicable to the next phase of your life. You feel exhausted after a day of work, and when you just want to regain some calm, before the next relentless day rolls on, you actually really ought to be putting in the hours for further study.
I suppose that is the challange that comes with getting older. All those competing demands on your limited time, and how, after subtracting time spent: at work, sleeping, eating, washing, dressing and other essentials, you organise yourself so with the time you have left you can do stuff that can further yourself workwise (remaining static is never an option), but also do the things that keep you going as a person. The fun stuff. The uplifting stuff. The stuff that makes your life memorable and worthwhile.
I can see that as time wears on, demands on the limited time are just going to keep on growing. Question is how to fit it all in.
Once you stop doing things regularly, it becomes harder to put it back in.
I think I need to put the fun stuff back in.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Murder in the courtroom
In Dresden, in Germany, a 32 year old married, pregnant pharmacist had taken her 3 year old son to a park. A neighbour began throwing abuse at her, calling her a 'whore' amongst other things. She complained to the police. He was found guilty and fined. However, he appealed the verdict, so both found themselves in court. As this young mother gave evidence in the courtroom, this man walked up to her and started stabbing her. A total of 18 times. Her husband was in the courtroom at the time. He ran to her defence, but was stabbed by the attacker, then shot by one of police officers who mistook him for the attacker. The young woman collapsed and died in front of the court, her husband, and 3 year old son.
This happened in the summer of 2009.
Not heard of this?
The young pharmacist was Marwa El-Sherbini, an Egyptian Muslim woman who wore the headscarf, or hijab. The abuse was racial, and specifically anti-muslim.
The story is in the link below.
Shocking
Apart from the horrific nature of the attack, there a few things that cause concern:
1 - Why was 'Alex W.' (the attacker) allowed to bring a knife to court?
2 - Why was 'Alex W.' able to walk across the courtroom to the witness unchallanged?
3 - Why was he able to attack her, and stab her multiple times unchallanged?
4 - Why was the one person coming to her aid, her husband, mistaken for the attacker, and shot by the courtroom's own police officer?
5 - Why did they not realise their mistake and act appropriately?
and the most pertinent question...
6- Why has there been such a media blackout in the western world over this horrific attack.
Are not all humans equal?
This case highlights something deeply unsettling, if not sinister, on what the western media chooses to report.
This happened in the summer of 2009.
Not heard of this?
The young pharmacist was Marwa El-Sherbini, an Egyptian Muslim woman who wore the headscarf, or hijab. The abuse was racial, and specifically anti-muslim.
The story is in the link below.
Shocking
Apart from the horrific nature of the attack, there a few things that cause concern:
1 - Why was 'Alex W.' (the attacker) allowed to bring a knife to court?
2 - Why was 'Alex W.' able to walk across the courtroom to the witness unchallanged?
3 - Why was he able to attack her, and stab her multiple times unchallanged?
4 - Why was the one person coming to her aid, her husband, mistaken for the attacker, and shot by the courtroom's own police officer?
5 - Why did they not realise their mistake and act appropriately?
and the most pertinent question...
6- Why has there been such a media blackout in the western world over this horrific attack.
Are not all humans equal?
This case highlights something deeply unsettling, if not sinister, on what the western media chooses to report.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Amnesia and 'seahorse-shaped scars'
Living with amnesia.
A woman relates her experiences of living with a husband who loses his memory. Knowing the theory of what can happen biologically is one thing, but having to live with the day to day, month to month, and year to year reality is quite another. Very sad.
'... The diagnosis came 11 hours after our arrival at St Mary's. A virus had caused holes in Clive's brain; his memories had fallen out. The doctors said it was encephalitis, from herpes simplex, the cold-sore virus. The virus, they explained, lies dormant in most of the population. Once in a blue moon it slips its moorings, and instead of going to the mouth it goes to the brain. The brain swells up, and, before long, brain crushes against bone.
The virus does its damage before anyone knows it is there. Affected areas include temporal lobes, occipito-parietal and frontal lobes... thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala; it just keeps on storming through. The part it wipes out completely is the hippocampus, Greek for seahorse. These structures are what we use for recall and remembering, and laying down new thoughts.
By the time they had figured out what was wrong with Clive and started pumping anti-viral drugs into him, all he had left where his memory used to be were seahorse-shaped scars. He could not remember a single thing that had ever happened to him, but he remembered me and knew that he loved me... '
A woman relates her experiences of living with a husband who loses his memory. Knowing the theory of what can happen biologically is one thing, but having to live with the day to day, month to month, and year to year reality is quite another. Very sad.
'... The diagnosis came 11 hours after our arrival at St Mary's. A virus had caused holes in Clive's brain; his memories had fallen out. The doctors said it was encephalitis, from herpes simplex, the cold-sore virus. The virus, they explained, lies dormant in most of the population. Once in a blue moon it slips its moorings, and instead of going to the mouth it goes to the brain. The brain swells up, and, before long, brain crushes against bone.
The virus does its damage before anyone knows it is there. Affected areas include temporal lobes, occipito-parietal and frontal lobes... thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala; it just keeps on storming through. The part it wipes out completely is the hippocampus, Greek for seahorse. These structures are what we use for recall and remembering, and laying down new thoughts.
By the time they had figured out what was wrong with Clive and started pumping anti-viral drugs into him, all he had left where his memory used to be were seahorse-shaped scars. He could not remember a single thing that had ever happened to him, but he remembered me and knew that he loved me... '
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
An ugly head appearing...
Minister warns of 1930s-style fascists on Britain's streets - Guardian
Neo-Nazi jailed for planning racist bombing campaign - Judge hands Neil Lewington indefinite sentence and says he was 'in process of embarking upon terrorist activity'
A bit of history...
The BBC's disgraceful BNP stunt
A worrying build-up
Reports from...
Northern Ireland
Birmingham
Harrow
Neo-Nazi jailed for planning racist bombing campaign - Judge hands Neil Lewington indefinite sentence and says he was 'in process of embarking upon terrorist activity'
A bit of history...
The BBC's disgraceful BNP stunt
A worrying build-up
Reports from...
Northern Ireland
Birmingham
Harrow
Sunday, September 06, 2009
London food shops with an international twist
London's best food shops according to Time Out. Some I know of, and verify the general wonderfulness, but most I don't, so must head out to discover...
Saturday, September 05, 2009
computer advice
Keeping your PC clean from the New York Times
School starts soon, and many people are getting spanking-new computers. Ah, the joy of a new and more powerful toy — and a clean slate.
A new PC, whether you know it or not, may well have freed you from many malicious programs that steal credit card numbers and other valuable information or otherwise obstruct your safe and private use of the Internet. Now is the time — while you’re getting everything set up just the way you like it — to take some steps to keep your new machine clean and free of malware. Here is what you need to do before you do anything else.
CHECK YOUR FIREWALL SETTINGS
Do this before you even connect your computer to the Internet. Firewalls prevent certain unwanted traffic from reaching your computer, including worms that spread through network connections. New laptops and desktops with Windows Vista (and, come Oct. 22, the next version of the operating system, Windows 7) and netbooks using Windows XP SP2 or higher have a firewall that is built in and turned on by default. You can make sure all is well by going to the Windows Security Center, clicking Start, then Control Panel, then Security Center and Windows Firewall.
Mac users can check and adjust their firewall settings by clicking on the Apple icon and going to System Preferences and clicking on Security and then Firewall. At a minimum, choose “allow only essential services.” A better option is to select “set access for specific services and applications” and play gatekeeper, allowing programs to connect as you need them, said Rich Mogull, founder of the security consultant firm Securosis.
UPDATE YOUR SOFTWARE
Even though you have a new machine, chances are that security fixes have been issued since the manufacturer loaded the software, so you will want to download those as soon as you get online.
Your new PC may prompt you to check for updates from Microsoft, but, if not, open Windows Update by clicking the Start button, then All Programs and then Windows Update. On the left pane, click “check for updates.” (For more information about Windows Security, see microsoft.com/protect.)
To help you keep Microsoft products up to date, Windows will prompt owners of new machines to sign up for automatic updates. You will see a screen asking if you want to “Help protect Windows automatically.” Choose the first option, “Use recommended settings,” so you get everything and don’t have to worry about it again.
Barring an urgent problem, updates come out on the second Tuesday of the month. To schedule exactly what time your updates are installed — say at 3 a.m., when you are asleep — open Windows Update and select Change Settings and make your choices. This is also a good time to turn on the Internet Explorer Phishing Filter, which can help keep you from turning over personal information to the wrong people.
For Mac users, your computer will automatically check for updates once a week. If you are a paranoid person, have it check more frequently by clicking Software Update in the System Preferences panel and then choose Daily.
ADD SECURITY SOFTWARE
Firewalls won’t help fend off viruses or Trojan horses that can come through e-mail messages, Web sites and pop-up ads. Given the frightening number of malicious programs that aim for Windows PCs, owners of these machines really need to use some security software. There are several free antivirus programs, like AVG 8.5 Free, Avast Antivirus and the forthcoming Microsoft Security Essentials, so even penniless students have no excuse to go without. Note that Vista comes with Windows Defender, which blocks spyware and pop-up ads, and that program can be downloaded free by Windows XP SP2 machines.
Since a lot of malicious programs now come through Web sites, you will also want to use one of the many free tools available to help you avoid malicious sites. Microsoft’s newest browser, Internet Explorer 8, will warn you if you try to visit sites it deems unsafe, deceptive or carriers of a common Web attack type called “cross-site scripting” attacks. Other browsers, including Chrome, Firefox and Safari, also warn users about potentially unsafe sites, using a blacklist kept by Google. There is also McAfee’s SiteAdvisor, a free add-on for the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers (the latter works on both Windows and Mac), that shows site reputation information within search results pages, including warnings about potentially dangerous sites.
There are few malicious programs that aim for Macs, so an antivirus program isn’t essential at this point. That said, some Mac experts think that the days of peace and security for Macs may be waning. There have a been a few Trojan horses recently, and some Web attacks don’t care which operating system you use. If you frequent file-sharing sites, or your employer requires it, buy a Mac antivirus program.
SORT OUT THE APPLICATIONS
New Windows PCs typically come loaded with all kinds of third-party programs, many of which you will never use.
“In a lot of cases, that’s extra software that might have vulnerabilities” that hackers could exploit, says Chad Dougherty, a vulnerability analyst at the CERT Program at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute.
To avoid problems, eliminate the programs you don’t need by clicking the Start button and choosing Control Panel and then Programs to see a list of what is on your machine. Select unwanted programs and then hit the Uninstall button at the top of the program list.
Then sign up for automatic updates from the makers of any software you intend to keep — or that you later install yourself, for that matter. To help you make sure you have checked out everything, download Secunia PSI, a free tool that will help you make sure that all the programs on your PC get security patches.
Speaking of that, always be careful about which software you install from the Internet, whether you have a PC or a Mac. These programs can contain vulnerabilities, and pirated programs and random add-ons may be outright malicious.
School starts soon, and many people are getting spanking-new computers. Ah, the joy of a new and more powerful toy — and a clean slate.
A new PC, whether you know it or not, may well have freed you from many malicious programs that steal credit card numbers and other valuable information or otherwise obstruct your safe and private use of the Internet. Now is the time — while you’re getting everything set up just the way you like it — to take some steps to keep your new machine clean and free of malware. Here is what you need to do before you do anything else.
CHECK YOUR FIREWALL SETTINGS
Do this before you even connect your computer to the Internet. Firewalls prevent certain unwanted traffic from reaching your computer, including worms that spread through network connections. New laptops and desktops with Windows Vista (and, come Oct. 22, the next version of the operating system, Windows 7) and netbooks using Windows XP SP2 or higher have a firewall that is built in and turned on by default. You can make sure all is well by going to the Windows Security Center, clicking Start, then Control Panel, then Security Center and Windows Firewall.
Mac users can check and adjust their firewall settings by clicking on the Apple icon and going to System Preferences and clicking on Security and then Firewall. At a minimum, choose “allow only essential services.” A better option is to select “set access for specific services and applications” and play gatekeeper, allowing programs to connect as you need them, said Rich Mogull, founder of the security consultant firm Securosis.
UPDATE YOUR SOFTWARE
Even though you have a new machine, chances are that security fixes have been issued since the manufacturer loaded the software, so you will want to download those as soon as you get online.
Your new PC may prompt you to check for updates from Microsoft, but, if not, open Windows Update by clicking the Start button, then All Programs and then Windows Update. On the left pane, click “check for updates.” (For more information about Windows Security, see microsoft.com/protect.)
To help you keep Microsoft products up to date, Windows will prompt owners of new machines to sign up for automatic updates. You will see a screen asking if you want to “Help protect Windows automatically.” Choose the first option, “Use recommended settings,” so you get everything and don’t have to worry about it again.
Barring an urgent problem, updates come out on the second Tuesday of the month. To schedule exactly what time your updates are installed — say at 3 a.m., when you are asleep — open Windows Update and select Change Settings and make your choices. This is also a good time to turn on the Internet Explorer Phishing Filter, which can help keep you from turning over personal information to the wrong people.
For Mac users, your computer will automatically check for updates once a week. If you are a paranoid person, have it check more frequently by clicking Software Update in the System Preferences panel and then choose Daily.
ADD SECURITY SOFTWARE
Firewalls won’t help fend off viruses or Trojan horses that can come through e-mail messages, Web sites and pop-up ads. Given the frightening number of malicious programs that aim for Windows PCs, owners of these machines really need to use some security software. There are several free antivirus programs, like AVG 8.5 Free, Avast Antivirus and the forthcoming Microsoft Security Essentials, so even penniless students have no excuse to go without. Note that Vista comes with Windows Defender, which blocks spyware and pop-up ads, and that program can be downloaded free by Windows XP SP2 machines.
Since a lot of malicious programs now come through Web sites, you will also want to use one of the many free tools available to help you avoid malicious sites. Microsoft’s newest browser, Internet Explorer 8, will warn you if you try to visit sites it deems unsafe, deceptive or carriers of a common Web attack type called “cross-site scripting” attacks. Other browsers, including Chrome, Firefox and Safari, also warn users about potentially unsafe sites, using a blacklist kept by Google. There is also McAfee’s SiteAdvisor, a free add-on for the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers (the latter works on both Windows and Mac), that shows site reputation information within search results pages, including warnings about potentially dangerous sites.
There are few malicious programs that aim for Macs, so an antivirus program isn’t essential at this point. That said, some Mac experts think that the days of peace and security for Macs may be waning. There have a been a few Trojan horses recently, and some Web attacks don’t care which operating system you use. If you frequent file-sharing sites, or your employer requires it, buy a Mac antivirus program.
SORT OUT THE APPLICATIONS
New Windows PCs typically come loaded with all kinds of third-party programs, many of which you will never use.
“In a lot of cases, that’s extra software that might have vulnerabilities” that hackers could exploit, says Chad Dougherty, a vulnerability analyst at the CERT Program at the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute.
To avoid problems, eliminate the programs you don’t need by clicking the Start button and choosing Control Panel and then Programs to see a list of what is on your machine. Select unwanted programs and then hit the Uninstall button at the top of the program list.
Then sign up for automatic updates from the makers of any software you intend to keep — or that you later install yourself, for that matter. To help you make sure you have checked out everything, download Secunia PSI, a free tool that will help you make sure that all the programs on your PC get security patches.
Speaking of that, always be careful about which software you install from the Internet, whether you have a PC or a Mac. These programs can contain vulnerabilities, and pirated programs and random add-ons may be outright malicious.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
really bizarre toyota adverts
human touch
toyota carina, in German, have no idea what it means.
background tune for current toyota advert
toyota carina, in German, have no idea what it means.
background tune for current toyota advert
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Reminder...
Back in the beginning of 2009 was a war crime (a few previous posts on the matter: UK uni occupations, doctors observations).
A link to remind.
A link to remind.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, May 04, 2009
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Tenacity saves a life
Facebook message saves suicidal boy
A suicidal teenager from Oxford has been saved after a friend on the Facebook website living in America alerted police.
The 16-year-old boy had sent a private message to the girl in Maryland stating that he was going to kill himself.
The friend alerted her mother who contacted local police in America who, through the British Embassy in Washington DC, then raised the alarm with the Metropolitan Police. The Met then contacted Thames Valley Police in the early hours of Thursday.
Police staff searched electoral roll websites and found eight potential addresses for the teenager and dispatched officers to each one.
The boy was found alive but suffering from a drugs overdose and was taken by ambulance to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where he made a full recovery.
Oxfordshire police commander chief superintendent Brendan O'Dowda told the Oxford Mail newspaper: "When it did find its way to Thames Valley Police, it would have been quite easy for any number of people to decide there wasn't enough information.
"But due to the tenacity and professionalism of a number of people, we managed to pin down a number of addresses, then went through the painful and laborious process of visiting the addresses to find the lad.
"It took up time and effort but it was time and effort absolutely well spent."
A suicidal teenager from Oxford has been saved after a friend on the Facebook website living in America alerted police.
The 16-year-old boy had sent a private message to the girl in Maryland stating that he was going to kill himself.
The friend alerted her mother who contacted local police in America who, through the British Embassy in Washington DC, then raised the alarm with the Metropolitan Police. The Met then contacted Thames Valley Police in the early hours of Thursday.
Police staff searched electoral roll websites and found eight potential addresses for the teenager and dispatched officers to each one.
The boy was found alive but suffering from a drugs overdose and was taken by ambulance to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where he made a full recovery.
Oxfordshire police commander chief superintendent Brendan O'Dowda told the Oxford Mail newspaper: "When it did find its way to Thames Valley Police, it would have been quite easy for any number of people to decide there wasn't enough information.
"But due to the tenacity and professionalism of a number of people, we managed to pin down a number of addresses, then went through the painful and laborious process of visiting the addresses to find the lad.
"It took up time and effort but it was time and effort absolutely well spent."
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
'Norwegian doctors call for investigation into weapons used on Gaza'
Extract from article in British Medical Journal, by Gwladys Fouché
'Israel is testing an "extremely nasty" type of weapon in Gaza, two Norwegian doctors have claimed on returning home on 13 January after spending 10 days working at a hospital in the Palestinian territory.
"There’s a very strong suspicion, I think, that Gaza is now being used as a test laboratory for new weapons," said Mads Gilbert, head of emergency medical services at the University Hospital of North Norway, in Tromsø. He told the BMJ about the injuries that he and his colleague Erik Fosse, head of the interventional centre at Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo, had dealt with at Gaza’s Shifa hospital.
"We have not seen the casualties affected directly by the bomb because they are normally torn to pieces and do not survive, but we have seen a number of very brutal amputations . . . without shrapnel injuries, which we strongly suspect must have been caused by the DIME [dense inert metal explosive] weapon," said Professor Gilbert.
A dense inert metal explosive is an experimental small weapon that detonates with extreme force, dissipating its power in a range of 5-10 metres.
When they explode their effect is devastating, said the doctors. "If you are in the intermediate vicinity of a DIME weapon, it’s like your legs get torn off. It is an enormous pressure wave," said Professor Fosse.
"I have seen and treated a lot of different injuries for the past 30 years in different war zones, and this looks completely different," added the 58 year old who, like Professor Gilbert, is a pro-Palestinian campaigner.
"We are not soft skinned when it comes to war injuries, but these amputations are really extremely nasty and for many of the patients not survivable," said Professor Gilbert.
The professors, who looked gaunt and exhausted after their time in Gaza, did not have figures for the number of patients that they had seen who presented with this type of injury. But Professor Gilbert said that he had seen them before, when he was working in Gaza in July 2006 and again in March 2008.
"Studies done in the United States have proved that if you implant fragments of these weapons on research animals, they develop cancer within four to six months," added the 61 year old, who is also a member of the regional assembly for northern Norway, for the far left Red party.
"Israel should disclose what weapons they use, and the international community should have an investigation," said Professor Gilbert.
Asked whether Israeli forces used DIME weapons, an Israeli army spokeswoman told the AFP news agency that she was "not aware of this type of weapon" and reiterated claims that all arms used by the military comply with international law. '
'Israel is testing an "extremely nasty" type of weapon in Gaza, two Norwegian doctors have claimed on returning home on 13 January after spending 10 days working at a hospital in the Palestinian territory.
"There’s a very strong suspicion, I think, that Gaza is now being used as a test laboratory for new weapons," said Mads Gilbert, head of emergency medical services at the University Hospital of North Norway, in Tromsø. He told the BMJ about the injuries that he and his colleague Erik Fosse, head of the interventional centre at Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo, had dealt with at Gaza’s Shifa hospital.
"We have not seen the casualties affected directly by the bomb because they are normally torn to pieces and do not survive, but we have seen a number of very brutal amputations . . . without shrapnel injuries, which we strongly suspect must have been caused by the DIME [dense inert metal explosive] weapon," said Professor Gilbert.
A dense inert metal explosive is an experimental small weapon that detonates with extreme force, dissipating its power in a range of 5-10 metres.
When they explode their effect is devastating, said the doctors. "If you are in the intermediate vicinity of a DIME weapon, it’s like your legs get torn off. It is an enormous pressure wave," said Professor Fosse.
"I have seen and treated a lot of different injuries for the past 30 years in different war zones, and this looks completely different," added the 58 year old who, like Professor Gilbert, is a pro-Palestinian campaigner.
"We are not soft skinned when it comes to war injuries, but these amputations are really extremely nasty and for many of the patients not survivable," said Professor Gilbert.
The professors, who looked gaunt and exhausted after their time in Gaza, did not have figures for the number of patients that they had seen who presented with this type of injury. But Professor Gilbert said that he had seen them before, when he was working in Gaza in July 2006 and again in March 2008.
"Studies done in the United States have proved that if you implant fragments of these weapons on research animals, they develop cancer within four to six months," added the 61 year old, who is also a member of the regional assembly for northern Norway, for the far left Red party.
"Israel should disclose what weapons they use, and the international community should have an investigation," said Professor Gilbert.
Asked whether Israeli forces used DIME weapons, an Israeli army spokeswoman told the AFP news agency that she was "not aware of this type of weapon" and reiterated claims that all arms used by the military comply with international law. '
Monday, February 02, 2009
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Friday, January 09, 2009
Ring any bells?
Israeli army 'evacuate' more than 100 Palestinians into a house - then proceeded to bomb it.
Can the situation get any more clear cut?
From the Guardian
In brief
• Four children found in weak state next to the bodies of their mothers and other corpses in house in Zeitoun
• UN suspends all aid work in Gaza after two of its drivers in clearly marked convoy are shot dead
• 35 bodies pulled from rubble in several areas across Gaza City during pause in fighting
• Palestinian death toll now close to 750, with about 3,000 injured
• Red Cross says delays in allowing rescue services access to dead and wounded are unacceptable
• One Israeli soldier killed yesterday, bringing Israeli casualties to 11, including three civilians
• Israeli air strikes destroy houses in Rafah, causing 5,000 Palestinians to flee their homes
Children
and from the independent - Robert Fisk writes (abridged):
'So once again, Israel has opened the gates of hell to the Palestinians. Forty civilian refugees dead in a United Nations school, three more in another. Not bad for a night's work in Gaza by the army that believes in "purity of arms". But why should we be surprised?
Have we forgotten the 17,500 dead – almost all civilians, most of them children and women – in Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon; the 1,700 Palestinian civilian dead in the Sabra-Chatila massacre; the 1996 Qana massacre of 106 Lebanese civilian refugees, more than half of them children, at a UN base; the massacre of the Marwahin refugees who were ordered from their homes by the Israelis in 2006 then slaughtered by an Israeli helicopter crew; the 1,000 dead of that same 2006 bombardment and Lebanese invasion, almost all of them civilians?...
The Sabra and Chatila massacre was committed by Israel's right-wing Lebanese Phalangist allies while Israeli troops, as Israel's own commission of inquiry revealed, watched for 48 hours and did nothing. When Israel was blamed, Menachem Begin's government accused the world of a blood libel. After Israeli artillery had fired shells into the UN base at Qana in 1996, the Israelis claimed that Hizbollah gunmen were also sheltering in the base. It was a lie. The more than 1,000 dead of 2006 – a war started when Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on the border – were simply dismissed as the responsibility of the Hizbollah. Israel claimed the bodies of children killed in a second Qana massacre may have been taken from a graveyard. It was another lie. The Marwahin massacre was never excused. The people of the village were ordered to flee, obeyed Israeli orders and were then attacked by an Israeli gunship. The refugees took their children and stood them around the truck in which they were travelling so that Israeli pilots would see they were innocents. Then the Israeli helicopter mowed them down at close range. Only two survived, by playing dead. Israel didn't even apologise....
And I write the following without the slightest doubt: we'll hear all these scandalous fabrications again. We'll have the Hamas-to-blame lie – heaven knows, there is enough to blame them for without adding this crime – and we may well have the bodies-from-the-cemetery lie and we'll almost certainly have the Hamas-was-in-the-UN-school lie and we will very definitely have the anti-Semitism lie. And our leaders will huff and puff and remind the world that Hamas originally broke the ceasefire. It didn't. Israel broke it, first on 4 November when its bombardment killed six Palestinians in Gaza and again on 17 November when another bombardment killed four more Palestinians.'
Can the situation get any more clear cut?
From the Guardian
In brief
• Four children found in weak state next to the bodies of their mothers and other corpses in house in Zeitoun
• UN suspends all aid work in Gaza after two of its drivers in clearly marked convoy are shot dead
• 35 bodies pulled from rubble in several areas across Gaza City during pause in fighting
• Palestinian death toll now close to 750, with about 3,000 injured
• Red Cross says delays in allowing rescue services access to dead and wounded are unacceptable
• One Israeli soldier killed yesterday, bringing Israeli casualties to 11, including three civilians
• Israeli air strikes destroy houses in Rafah, causing 5,000 Palestinians to flee their homes
Children
and from the independent - Robert Fisk writes (abridged):
'So once again, Israel has opened the gates of hell to the Palestinians. Forty civilian refugees dead in a United Nations school, three more in another. Not bad for a night's work in Gaza by the army that believes in "purity of arms". But why should we be surprised?
Have we forgotten the 17,500 dead – almost all civilians, most of them children and women – in Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon; the 1,700 Palestinian civilian dead in the Sabra-Chatila massacre; the 1996 Qana massacre of 106 Lebanese civilian refugees, more than half of them children, at a UN base; the massacre of the Marwahin refugees who were ordered from their homes by the Israelis in 2006 then slaughtered by an Israeli helicopter crew; the 1,000 dead of that same 2006 bombardment and Lebanese invasion, almost all of them civilians?...
The Sabra and Chatila massacre was committed by Israel's right-wing Lebanese Phalangist allies while Israeli troops, as Israel's own commission of inquiry revealed, watched for 48 hours and did nothing. When Israel was blamed, Menachem Begin's government accused the world of a blood libel. After Israeli artillery had fired shells into the UN base at Qana in 1996, the Israelis claimed that Hizbollah gunmen were also sheltering in the base. It was a lie. The more than 1,000 dead of 2006 – a war started when Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on the border – were simply dismissed as the responsibility of the Hizbollah. Israel claimed the bodies of children killed in a second Qana massacre may have been taken from a graveyard. It was another lie. The Marwahin massacre was never excused. The people of the village were ordered to flee, obeyed Israeli orders and were then attacked by an Israeli gunship. The refugees took their children and stood them around the truck in which they were travelling so that Israeli pilots would see they were innocents. Then the Israeli helicopter mowed them down at close range. Only two survived, by playing dead. Israel didn't even apologise....
And I write the following without the slightest doubt: we'll hear all these scandalous fabrications again. We'll have the Hamas-to-blame lie – heaven knows, there is enough to blame them for without adding this crime – and we may well have the bodies-from-the-cemetery lie and we'll almost certainly have the Hamas-was-in-the-UN-school lie and we will very definitely have the anti-Semitism lie. And our leaders will huff and puff and remind the world that Hamas originally broke the ceasefire. It didn't. Israel broke it, first on 4 November when its bombardment killed six Palestinians in Gaza and again on 17 November when another bombardment killed four more Palestinians.'
Sunday, January 04, 2009
With the birth of 2009 - Gaza
yahoo - including the demo in London, the guardian on the media preparation,
'They targeted a pharmacy. I still can't believe it.'...
"They [Israeli forces] attack everywhere. They have gone crazy. The Gaza Strip is just going to die ... it's going to die. We were sleeping. Suddenly we heard a bomb. We woke up and we didn't know where to go. We couldn't see through the dust. We called to each other. We thought our house had been hit, not the street. What can I say? You saw it with your own eyes. What is our guilt? Are we terrorists? I don't carry a gun, neither does my girl.
"There's no medicine. No drinks, no water, no gas. We are suffering from hunger. They attack us. What does Israel want? Can it be worse than this? I don't think so. Would they accept this for themselves?
"Look at the children. What are they guilty of? They were sleeping at 7am. All the night they didn't sleep. This child was traumatised during the attack. Do they have rockets to attack with?"...
'The Israeli army is destroying the tunnels that go from Rafah into Egypt. For the past year and a half the Israeli government has intensified the economic blockade of Gaza by closing all the border crossings that allow aid and essential supplies to reach Palestinians in Gaza. This forced Palestinians to dig tunnels to Egypt to survive. From our house we can hear the explosions and the house is shaking.At night we can't go out. No one goes out. If you go out you will risk your life. You don't know where the bombs will fall. My mother is so sad. She watches me writing my reports and says: "Fida, will it make any difference?"' - excerpts from gaza diary ,
'And why are they (Israel) not brought to task? The simple fact is that Israel has the most powerful psychological influence to count on – the world's collective guilt over the Holocaust. This means that although the world may sporadically slap Israel's wrists, no one dare go too far, perhaps out of fear of being accused of anti-Semitism or in any way attacking a people who have historically suffered so much. The tragedy is, though, that it is now another people, the Palestinians, who are suffering because of the world's hesitation to offend Israel.'...
'One can only hope that president-elect Obama will bring pressure on Israel to change its policies. But that is not a strong hope. How many more times will the world rub its hands in despair and feebly "call on all parties to show restraint" as our television screens show civilians cowering under bombing raids and hospitals unable to treat the wounded?'
The Independent .
A commentator Mark Steel expressing his clear anger through sarcasm, again in the Independent.
The murder of 5 Palestinian sisters as they slept .
Will no one stop this massacre? Is this not 'ethnic cleansing', but sporadic and over 60 years?
'They targeted a pharmacy. I still can't believe it.'...
"They [Israeli forces] attack everywhere. They have gone crazy. The Gaza Strip is just going to die ... it's going to die. We were sleeping. Suddenly we heard a bomb. We woke up and we didn't know where to go. We couldn't see through the dust. We called to each other. We thought our house had been hit, not the street. What can I say? You saw it with your own eyes. What is our guilt? Are we terrorists? I don't carry a gun, neither does my girl.
"There's no medicine. No drinks, no water, no gas. We are suffering from hunger. They attack us. What does Israel want? Can it be worse than this? I don't think so. Would they accept this for themselves?
"Look at the children. What are they guilty of? They were sleeping at 7am. All the night they didn't sleep. This child was traumatised during the attack. Do they have rockets to attack with?"...
'The Israeli army is destroying the tunnels that go from Rafah into Egypt. For the past year and a half the Israeli government has intensified the economic blockade of Gaza by closing all the border crossings that allow aid and essential supplies to reach Palestinians in Gaza. This forced Palestinians to dig tunnels to Egypt to survive. From our house we can hear the explosions and the house is shaking.At night we can't go out. No one goes out. If you go out you will risk your life. You don't know where the bombs will fall. My mother is so sad. She watches me writing my reports and says: "Fida, will it make any difference?"' - excerpts from gaza diary ,
'And why are they (Israel) not brought to task? The simple fact is that Israel has the most powerful psychological influence to count on – the world's collective guilt over the Holocaust. This means that although the world may sporadically slap Israel's wrists, no one dare go too far, perhaps out of fear of being accused of anti-Semitism or in any way attacking a people who have historically suffered so much. The tragedy is, though, that it is now another people, the Palestinians, who are suffering because of the world's hesitation to offend Israel.'...
'One can only hope that president-elect Obama will bring pressure on Israel to change its policies. But that is not a strong hope. How many more times will the world rub its hands in despair and feebly "call on all parties to show restraint" as our television screens show civilians cowering under bombing raids and hospitals unable to treat the wounded?'
The Independent .
A commentator Mark Steel expressing his clear anger through sarcasm, again in the Independent.
The murder of 5 Palestinian sisters as they slept .
Will no one stop this massacre? Is this not 'ethnic cleansing', but sporadic and over 60 years?
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