Israel's Contributions

So many seem to think of Israel as some evil zionist state, especially if they decide to sit there and listen to the media, and the nutjobs like Iran's president.

What alot of people do not realize is that Israel has contributed more than most realize.

Browse through or take a direct interest and look through each, visit the links provided and see more.

New Israeli treatment improves blood flow. Israeli doctors performed the first operation of its kind, injecting genes which stimulated the growth of new blood vessels into a cardiac patient, said a spokesman for Rabin Medical Center in Tel Aviv. This experiment marks a major breakthrough in the field of genetics and catheterization.

Mutant Protein Holds Promise For Cell Growth Control. A unique technique for neutralizing the action of the leptin protein in humans and animals – thereby providing a means for controlling and better understanding of leptin function, including its role in unwanted cell growth -- has been developed by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Leptin was discovered ten years ago and has attracted attention first because of its involvement in control of appetite and later by its effect on growth, puberty, digestion and immunological processes. Leptin can also have negative consequences, such as, for example, enhancing the spread of tumorous growths.

Israelis invent hydrogen car that uses just a tank of water. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, have devised a scheme that gets round the problem of dangerous and expensive hydrogen infrastructure, and makes possible 100% green cars that emit only water from their tailpipe. By reacting water with the element boron, their system produces hydrogen that can be burnt in an internal combustion engine or fed to a fuel cell to generate electricity. The only by-product is boron oxide, which can be removed from the car, turned back into boron, and used again. What's more, they plan to do this in a solar-powered plant that is completely emission-free.

Israeli chance discovery can stop cancer in its tracks. Work carried out at The Hebrew University has produced a new drug treatment for halting the growth and spread of cancer cells.

Israeli invention gives paralyzed a chance to walk. An Israeli-developed and manufactured wireless, computer-controlled device that enables safe walking for people with a foot paralyzed due to stroke, brain injury, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.

Visit the link provided, because there is so very much more than just this: Link

The Middle East has been growing date palms for centuries. The average tree is about 18-20 feet tall and yields about 38 pounds of dates a year. Israeli trees are now yielding 400 pounds/year and are short enough to be harvested from the ground or a short ladder.

Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, can lay claim to the following:

The cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel. Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.

The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel. Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel.

The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel.

Voice mail technology was developed in Israel.

Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel.

The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.

Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world (after the U. S, Russia and China). In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel's air force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16's. This is the largest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the U. S.

According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry's most impenetrable flight security. U. S. officials now look to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.

Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined. Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.

Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.

Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people -- as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.

In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the U. S. (3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).

With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world -- apart from the Silicon Valley, U. S.

Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the U. S.

Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.

Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.

On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech startups.

Twenty-four per cent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees -- ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland - and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees. Israel is the only liberal democracy in the MiddleEast.

In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews at risk in Ethiopia, to safety in Israel.

When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world's second elected female leader in modern times.

When the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day -- and saved three victims from the rubble.

Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship -- and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.

Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity.

Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict free."

Israel has the world's second highest per capita of new books.

Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.

Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.

Medicine... Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentationfor breast cancer.

An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment. Every year in U. S. hospitals 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.

Israel's Givun Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside, the camera helps doctors diagnose cancer and digestive disorders.

Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with heart failure. The new device is synchronized with the heart's mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.

Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U. S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions.

Israel places first in this category as well. A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the ClearLight device, produces a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne bacteria to self-destruct -- all without damaging surrounding skin or tissue.

An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California's Mojave desert.

All the above while engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other country on earth.

Link

Israel is constantly accused of misconduct and even ‘barbarian’ and ‘racist’ behaviour towards its Palestinian neighbours, especially at the United Nations where a disproportionate amount of time and energy of the world body is taken up on passing resolutions against Israel.

Here are the facts:

Israel was responsible for the welfare of the Palestinians during these years, 1967 – 1994, until the Palestinian Authority took over. During that period, Israel has presented annually dramatic documented achievements to the World Health Organisation (WHO) either by myself, as head of the Israeli delegation, or by the other Israeli officials of the Ministry of Health. This included the total eradication in the Palestinian population of poliomyelitis, neonatal-tetanus and measles. Also, Israel dramatically reduced the death rate of Palestinian newborns from over 60/1000 to 19/1000 within those 27 years of Israel’s presence.

These achievements and others were accomplished by the directives of Israel’s Health Authority in planning, training and implementation of modern medicine. This included the introduction of new immunisation protocols (in coordination with UNICEF) as well as new technologies and new medicines.

These programmes were performed either on site at Palestinian facilities, or in Israel’s hospitals and medical schools, where doctors, nurses, midwives, medical technicians etc were trained. These achievements resulted from the willingness of the local Palestinian population to be helped (almost free of charge) by Israel’s public health care system, and by the collaborative nature of Palestinian medical teams.

Israel’s Ministry of Health’s most dramatic and challenging training projects for the Palestinian physicians was to keep secret the specialisation programmes in anaesthesiology, open heart and brain surgery, conducted in Israeli hospitals.

No other nation on earth has ever voluntarily decided to show such a humane and forthcoming attitude towards people which could be characterised as ‘enemy’. Would the United States train Al-Qaeda physicians or Russia train such professionals of the ‘Chechnyan freedom fighters’ on their own people?

Moreover, after successful completion of training, fully equipped Intensive Care, Open-Heart and Neuro-Surgery Units were opened for the first time in the Palestinian hospitals for the benefit of the Palestinians. Furthermore, the Israeli medical tutors continued to guide the newly established units, and if needed were available continuously to assist them on site.

Since 1994, in spite of directives issued by the Palestinian Authority to stop the collaborative programmes with Israel and in spite of the ongoing hostilities, informal cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian medical teams continues, though of a lesser magnitude. Palestinian patients are referred daily to Israeli hospitals especially in the fields of oncology, organ transplantation and acute severe complications of trauma and pregnancy (11,000 were treated last year). Similarly, several training programmes are continuing in spite of difficulties.

Israel unequivocally demonstrates to the world that it sanctifies life and not death – the lives of Palestinian children, adults and elderly, including those of wounded terrorists, are treated in Israeli hospitals with the same care and alongside Israeli patients. This approach is deeply rooted in our Jewish tradition that “whoever saves one life (and not necessarily the life of a Jew) has saved the whole world”.

Ahmed Tibi, the outspoken Israeli-Arab Knesset Member, recently requested that his wounded Palestinian niece be transferred from a Palestinian hospital to an Israeli one. Tibi, who often accuses Israel of being ‘racist’, knew that his niece would receive the best medical treatment regardless of being a Palestinian, and indeed a full and speedy recovery resulted.

Why is it then, that this unprecedented, outreaching and caring behaviour of Israel remains unknown and unreported to the general public, although documented and presented at official bodies of the international community?

Is it that ‘good news is no news’ or is there a ‘hidden’ agenda of double standards and hypocrisy towards Israel (as addressed in Alan Dershowitz’s book A Case for Israel)? Or are we the people that the world loves to hate? There is a big and unanswered WHY that needs to be addressed.

Link

Additional Information: Area #2 and a MUST read Area #1.

Why the Left hates Israel: Link

50 Accusations against Israel and the responses to those Accusations: Read it!

54 Ways you can Help Israel

A few examples:

Buy Israeli products and services.
With the Israeli economy suffering, go out of your way to support Israel's export trade. www.shopinisrael.com, www.usaisrael.org, www.israeliwishes.com, and www.israeliproducts.com allow you to buy Israeli products directly. www.shorashim.net is an online tourist gift shop. When in the grocery store, look for brands like Elite, Telma, Osem, and Ahava beauty products -- even if you have to pay a few more dollars for Israeli products. Ask the supermarket manager to order these items specifically. Buy Israeli wine to bring as a gift when you visit friends. Home Depot and other stores have many made in Israel products -- especially plastics. www.israelexport.org lists the names of products sold in the USA.


Get the facts.
The Internet is a great resource for getting an accurate picture of what is really happening in the conflict. For daily news, visit the Jerusalem Post (http://www.jpost.com) and IMRA (http://www.imra.org.il). For crucial background information, read "Israel: A History" (by Martin Gilbert), "From Time Immemorial" (by Joan Peters), and "Myths and Facts" (by Mitchell G. Bard) -- online at http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/myths/mftoc.html.


Pray.
Pray to God to bring peace to the land. Pray for Israel's leaders who need wisdom. Pray that they continue to do what is best for Israel in spite of international pressure. Pray for the safety of Israeli civilians who are targeted by suicide bombers. Pray for the protection of IDF soldiers as they root out every last terrorist. Ask God to heal Israel's wounded soldiers and civilians and to thwart future terrorist attacks. And pray for the Arabs to realize the true nature of their leadership and doctrines that teach hate and murder. Regardless of your level of observance, you can add a request for Israel to your regular (or even irregular) prayer regimen. No prayer goes to waste. You can send prayers via the Western Wall at www.thewall.org. Cry out for God's compassion -- because the gates of tears are never closed. And remember: God is in ultimate control. He has done miracles before and will do them again.


Protest bias in the media.
The media has a powerful influence on public opinion and government policy. When you discover a piece of bias, immediately contact the news agency and complain. Keep your remarks respectful and stick to the facts. Build a list of e-mail addresses of friends and colleagues, so when you discover bias, you can alert others to also file a complaint. There is power in the number of responses, even if your specific letter is not printed. You can join a media watch email list at www.HonestReporting.com which gives guidelines for how to be effective in contacting the media, and has over 25,000 subscribers protesting biased news against Israel.


Know your enemy.
The Arab world tends to say one thing in English, but a very different message in Arabic. Blood libels and fabrications of Israeli-sponsored massacres are common. Memri (www.memri.org) provides important translations of the Arabic media. And the Center for Monitoring Impact Peace tracks Palestinian compliance with peace agreements (www.edume.org).

These are just a few of the suggestions.

How many that criticize, demean, castigate Israel actually know much history of Israel?

Read the above links. Read the responses to the accusations leveled at Israel, on why the Left hates Israel, and all the various achievements and the numerous ways they have both helped humanity but also advanced it.

Nagin equates NYC Twin Towers collapse to a pot hole?

Nagin Cites Failure To Rebuild Ground Zero While Defending Katrina Clean-Up

Confronted by accusations that he’s taking too long to clean up his city after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin defended himself by remarking on New York City’s failure to rebuild Ground Zero.


On a tour of the decimated Ninth Ward, Nagin tells Pitts the city has removed most of the debris from public property and it’s mainly private land that’s still affected – areas that can’t be cleaned without the owners' permission. But when Pitts points to flood-damaged cars in the street and a house washed partially into the street, the mayor shoots back. "That’s alright. You guys in New York can’t get a hole in the ground fixed and it’s five years later. So let’s be fair."

Equating flood damage to NYC devastation of Twin Towers collapsing from a terrorists attack?!?!?

Equating it to nothing more than a "hole in the ground".
What, you think it is a pothole Nagin?

But before any rebuilding can take place, the clean-up and restoration of the city’s infrastructure must be complete and it will be Mayor Nagin, recently re-elected, who leads the efforts.

"Should things have happened quicker? Yes. But everyone has their own style of leadership, and right now our political leader, our political father is Ray Nagin," says Oliver Thomas, New Orleans City Council president.

"So for the next four years, we’re going to sink or swim with him," Thomas tells Pitts.

Link

Better start learning to dog paddle because if your counting on Nagin, best to start trying to swim now before he drags you under.......

Temporary Insanity, errr, Break

As anyone who has decided to stop by can see I haven't posted in a bit.

My apologies.

Posts will resume shortly.

My family and I, thanks to my neighbors kids, have been laid waste by sickness that we are just getting through and now have had family come down for a visit with the kids which are leaving today.

So things should begin to get back to normal here shortly.

Is the a Joke?

Quick Note: Coffee didn't kick in, sorry for the title, should have been "Is this a Joke", but will not change it due to it screwing up trackbacks sent out.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Saturday that an early-morning Israeli raid against Hezbollah in eastern Lebanon violated the 6-day-old cease-fire brokered by the United Nations.

HELLO?!?!

So is Hezbollah not disarming.
So is Lebanon NOT disarming Hezbollah.
So is the UN playing hot potato with disarming this terrorist group.

An Israeli officer was killed, and two soldiers wounded, when Israeli commandos raided a Hezbollah stronghold deep in Lebanon, resulting in a fierce gunbattle.

Israel said the raid was launched to stop arms smuggling from Iran and Syria to the militant Shiite fighters, while Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora called the operation a "flagrant violation" of the U.N. truce.

The Israeli's are not going to risk going in that deep to hit a Hezbollah stronghold without some damn good intel, and that intel is telling them that Hezbollah is re-arming.

Which is EXACTLY why they called for a cease-fire, so they could re-group and re-arm.

Who didn't see THIS coming?

But let's blame Israel for Hezbollah NOT disarming though.

There were no signs of further clashes, but the flare-up underlined worries about the fragility of the cease-fire as the U.N. pleaded for nations to send troops to an international force in southern Lebanon that is to separate Israeli and Hezbollah fighters.

A contingent of 49 French soldiers landed in the south Saturday, providing the first reinforcements for the 2,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL that has been stationed in the region for years. About 200 more were expected next week.

They were the first additions to what is intended to grow into a 15,000-soldier U.N. force to police the truce with an equal number of Lebanese soldiers. France leads UNIFIL and already had 200 soldiers in Lebanon before the reinforcements.

But with Europe moving slowly to provide more troops, Israel warned it would continue to act on its own to enforce an arms embargo on the Lebanese guerrilla group until the Lebanese army and an expanded U.N. peacekeeping force are in place.

"If the Syrians and Iran continue to arm Hezbollah in violation of the resolution, Israel is entitled to act to defend the principle of the arms embargo," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. "Once the Lebanese army and the international forces are active ... then such Israeli activity will become superfluous."

Link

Do you think the UN troops observers (troops would mean they might expect to do some fighting - and I don't see that at all) will lift one finger while Hezbollah re-arms itself once they establish "control" of the area?

Once the UN is there, Hezbollah will have free reign to re-arm as much as they would like, and just as they are doing now, if Israel tries to stop them they are being blamed for "breaking the cease-fire".

Lebanese political forces seeking to disarm Hizbullah have not been able to prepare themselves for a new round of talks with the Shiite group and the Lebanese army is too weak to impose an arms embargo on Hizbulah.

Link

Unfortunately that isn't quite true.
The Lebanese forces have flat out stated they will not disarm Hezbollah and the same with the UN.

Perhaps they expect Hezbollah to willingly give up their arms. Yeah right.
If the above is any indication, they are re-arming and re-organizing to attack Israel again. Why else would they be re-arming from Syria? Especially if the Lebanese army and UN forces observers are suppose to move into the south to take over?

Hizbullah and its Iranian and Syrian patrons feel that with the international community is determined to monitor the Lebanese-Syrian border to curtail arms smuggling from Syria and have intensified their efforts to rearm the group in the short time left before international observers deploy along the border.

The efforts focus on replenishing Hizbullah's secret arms storage depots with antitank and antiaircraft missiles, and long-range missiles.

Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been dispatched to Syria and Lebanon to rehabilitate Hizbullah.

A rehabilitated Hizbullah can undermine the Lebanese army and the beefed up UN peacekeeping force observers and prepare the group for a second round of fighting with Israel.

Why the sudden push to re-arm Hezbollah BEFORE the UN forces observers get there?

It has already been established that the Iranian guard has been fighting in Southern Lebanon and training Hezbollah.

Got to love the word "rehabilitate" Hezbollah.
I almost choked on my coffee when I read that.

In all this brokered castration of Israel, because I see no win in this for them at all, where does the fate of the Israeli soldiers that have been kidnapped lay?

You would think that would be priority one in the cease-fire is getting them returned safely, and then the disarming of Hezbollah and removing them from Israel's borders.

Omert may find his days are numbered as this whole thing falls apart, since a majority of the Israeli army and citizens are fed up and frustrated with his performance during this.

At noon yesterday 160 brigade soldiers signed a request to take part in the demonstration that would call on the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz. However, their release was put off until today, preventing them from reaching the protest.

They wanted to protest not only the army's moves in Lebanon but the decisions of their commanders, whom they accuse of sending them needlessly to their death.

"They sent us into a village they knew 15 Hezbollah fighters were holed up in at mid-day, we were like sitting ducks, it was total insanity. Two of our comrades were killed because of that. We are being used as though we were in the Chinese army, where it doesn't matter how many are killed," he said.

A few dozen demonstrators arrived at Rabin Square yesterday to take part in the protest that had been organized on Internet sites.

They called for Olmert's resignation and blasted halting the war before its goals were achieved.

Link

If this is true then Olmert needs to go before this escalates into the next round of Israel vs Hezbollah, and I can guarantee you this is not over with. Nothing has been accomplished.

JERUSALEM, Aug. 18 -- Sgt. Lior Rahamin's Israeli reserve unit had not trained in two years. When its members were called up for the Lebanon war, they didn't have straps for their guns, spare ammunition, flak jackets or more than one good radio. There were other shortages: Twice their operations were canceled because they had no water to take; once they went two days without food.

"Hezbollah didn't surprise us. We were surprised by the Israel Defense Forces," said Rahamin, 30, a paratrooper who was wounded fighting in Lebanon in 1997 and who volunteered to go with his unit again. The next time they call, he said, "we will not show up."

From the failure to get food and water to the troops, to complaints of an uncertain war plan and overconfident generals, the Lebanon war is fast being viewed within Israel as a major stumble. Military and political leaders already are trading blame; some are expected to lose their posts. Officers say the mistakes show weakness in the military, the Israel Defense Forces, known as the IDF. Many Israelis worry that the failure of the military to squash the Hezbollah militia will make their country more vulnerable to other enemies.

"For four weeks we failed to defend ourselves against daily bombardments against our cities. This is a failure that never happened before," said Yuval Steinitz, a Likud Party member and former chairman of parliament's defense committee. "This is going to send a bad message."

Link

This will sound bad, but it sounds like life under Liberalism to me.
What will happen to the US military and it's readiness if the Liberals / Anti-war factions take over?

Read the above, because I have a bad feeling that is exactly what we will face also if that is allowed to occur.

The complaints that have emerged as Israel's soldiers return from the field have heightened the country's concerns about the state of its army and the judgment of its leaders.

"If we would have gone in with more foot soldiers, we would have done more," said Avi Hubara, 40, a schoolteacher and reservist who volunteered to go to Lebanon to fight. "But the politicians were scared to make decisions. It was a failure. We got people killed. There was lots of friendly fire. We did not hurt the capability of the Hezbollah. We did not return the kidnapped soldiers. We did not win."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his defense minister, Amir Peretz, have little military experience and are now the target of scathing criticism for faults in the operation. The Knesset, the Israeli parliament, is demanding a judicial investigation of the conduct of the war. Public opinion of the government and military leaders has plunged in the polls, and the returning soldiers are glum.

"Led Astray," said a headline in the Haaretz newspaper. "Why We Didn't Win," the largest-circulation daily, Yediot Aharonoth, pondered in bold type. There is much blame for the military, as well as for political leaders. The returning reserve soldiers tell of confusion, contradictory orders and missing supplies and equipment.

"We were getting ready to board the bus in Lebanon with faces painted for combat, but they called us back," said Sgt. Yuval Drori, 30, a reservist who works at a software company. "Another time we were at the border, with bullets in the chambers, but they canceled again. The mission changed every 30 minutes. There was a great sense of a big mess."

"In the last six years, there hadn't been any preparation" for putting soldiers into combat, said a retired major general, Shaul Givoli, director of the Council for Peace and Security near Tel Aviv. "Even the rations had expired."

Sounds like there was very little communication, alot of confusion and not much planning going into this by the upper enchelon.

Perhaps, just perhaps, this cease-fire will be enough to give the Israeli themselves a chance to turn this all around. I have a feeling they will need to remove Olmert from his position and get alot more organized, and put more boots going into Lebanon next time.

Many Israelis see a more ominous consequence of Israel's missteps. The failure of Israel to silence Hezbollah, followed by the claims of triumph from the militia, Syria and Iran may leave the perception of weakness, they feel.

"The only lesson Israel's enemies can possibly have been learning is that after decades of defeat and frustration, they have found the means to effect the demise of the Jewish state. They need only acquire greater rocket and missile capabilities," the editor of the Jerusalem Post, David Horovitz, wrote Friday. "It was brought about by a level of arrogance and complacency probably unparalleled since the" victory in the 1967 war led to Israel being caught unprepared for a surprise attack in 1973, he said.

Writing in the Haaretz newspaper this week, columnist Reuven Pedatzur agreed. "The IDF's failure is eroding our national security's most important asset -- the belligerent image of this country, led by a vast, strong and advanced army capable of dealing our enemies a decisive blow if they even try to bother us," he wrote.

"In Damascus, Gaza, Tehran and Cairo, too, people are looking with amazement at the IDF that could not bring a tiny guerrilla organization to its knees for more than a month," he said. "What happened to this mighty army?"

And they are probably not wrong when they say this will be a very bad perception of the Israeli Army now. This is more than a sign of weakness, it is a sign of incompentence of Israeli leaders and military management.

This will only embolden Hezbollah, Syria and Iran as Israeli soldiers and it's citizens have lost confidence in their leaders, the managment of the military and the protection of Israel.


Others Blogging this issue:
Atlas Shrugs with"France, the Appeaser"

Karol Sheinin, Guest Blogging for Michelle Malkin, with "I fear the cease-fire"

Allah at Hotair with "Ceasefire fallout: All the wrong lessons"

Old War Dogs with "Ceasefire fallout: All the wrong lessons"

Big Lizards with "Israeli Commando Raid: the Case of the Curious Omission"

Stop the ACLU with "Kofi Annan Needs To Read The Agreement"

Israel - Hezbollah Cease-Fire

I cannot help but feel this cease-fire as a complete disaster.

In the Mideast mentality they believe a truce or cease-fire as weakness or a chance to re-group, re-arm and then attack again, renewed and refreshed.

(via Cox & Forkum)

The disarming of Hizbollah has already been refused, either the Lebonese army can't do it or won't:

Hizbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Monday his guerrillas had achieved a strategic victory over Israel and that it was the wrong time to talk about disarming the group.
"There is a mistake in timing, both psychologically and morally," he said, referring to comments by several Lebanese politicians that the Shi'ite Muslim group should disarm.

"We are before a strategic and historic victory, without any exaggeration," Nasrallah said. "We emerged from the battle with our heads high, and our enemy is the one who is defeated."

Link

Hizbullah will not hand over its weapons to the Lebanese government but rather refrain from exhibiting them publicly, according to a new compromise that is reportedly brewing between Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Seniora and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Link

There was not suppose to be a "compromise" with Hezbollah, they were to disarm.

This is not the end of this conflict.
This cease-fire will be broken and Israel will be attacked again.
You can bet on it.

The fact that Omert has bungled this war has enraged many Israelis where they are calling for his removal.

Every aspect of the government’s handling of the war has been a failure. Take relief efforts as an example. For five weeks the government ignored the humanitarian disaster in the North where over one million Israelis are under missile assault. The government developed no comprehensive plan for organizing relief efforts to feed citizens in bomb shelters or for evacuating them.

And then there is the military failure. The IDF suffers from acute leadership failures - brought to Israel courtesy of Ariel Sharon who hacked away at the General Staff, undermined its sense of mission and treated our generals like office boys just as he decimated the Likud by undermining its political vision and promoting its weakest members.

....

It wanted to win the war on the cheap. And when the air campaign did not succeed, it abandoned its war goals, declared victory and sued for a cease-fire. When the public objected, after waiting two precious weeks, the government called up the reserves but then waited another unforgivable 10 days before committing them to battle.

"....many Israelis, including those who sat for a month in stifling bomb shelters, reservists who dropped everything and reported to their units and the families who anxiously awaited a telephone from their sons in Lebanon and dreaded the knock of the local IDF liaison are feeling that their sacrifice has been betrayed.

After years of dismissing the UN as an ineffectual and anti-Israel organization, how can Israelis believe that of all the possibilities, it will be the one to make sure that Hizbullah never again threatens our northern towns and villages. "

Link
What exactly did Israel win?
In all this cease-fire doesn't even address the biggest concern that started this, the kidnapped Israelis. It isn't a mandatory condition of the cease-fire at all. So what is their fate in all this?

No one knows.
It is all left to Nasrallah's "goodwill" and that will be as useful as a screen door on a submarine.

Unfortunately, this looks to put a severe damper on any real Mideast peace plan the US was trying to bring about. No one in the Mideast sees this cease-fire as a win for Israel and a loss for Hezbollah. They will see it as a great win for Hezbollah, with Syria and Iran now having more approval because their proxy, Hezbollah, emerged victorious over Israel.

What was needed was a capture or elimination of Nasrallah, cutting off the head of the snake. Would others try and fill his shoes, most likely, but it would have put a definate shockwave through Hezbollah that Israel could reach so far as killing or capturing Nasrallah.

No, I don't think there will be any good that comes from this cease-fire, not for Israel or for the US. This has done nothing but embolden Hezbollah, Iran and Syria.

Good luck in trying to get any concessions or halting of nuclear capabilities of Iran now. They will achieve getting Nuclear capabilities right under our noses, flaunting the fact that the US and the world could not stop them.

What will the world do with a nuclear Iran?

Sandra Bernhardt Gets Ugly About Airport Security

Sandra Bernhardt, commedienne, seems to think Airport Security does not apply to her.

After foiling a plot to blow up several transatlantic airline jets, security has been tightened and a restriction has been placed on any and all liquid containers.

The terrorist attack foiled by British authorities on Thursday was aimed at blowing up as many as 10 airplanes on trans-Atlantic flights, and plotters hoped to stage a dry run within two days, according to U.S. intelligence officials.

The actual attack would have followed within days.

One official said the suicide attackers planned to use a peroxide-based solution that could ignite when sparked by a camera flash or another electronic device.

The test run was designed to see whether the plotters would be able to smuggle the needed materials aboard the planes, these officials said. They spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject matter.

British authorities said the attack would have used explosives smuggled in hand luggage.

....

The U.S. issued its highest terrorism alert ever, red, for commercial flights from Britain to the United States and raised the threat level for all domestic and international flights. All other flights, including all domestic flights in the United States, were put under an orange alert, one step below the highest level.

"No liquids or gels of any kind will be permitted in carry-on baggage. Such items must be in checked baggage. This includes all beverages, shampoo, sun tan lotion, creams, toothpaste, hair gel and other items of similar consistency," a Homeland Security statement cautioned passengers.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the terrorists planned to use liquid explosives disguised as beverages and other common products and detonators disguised as electronic devices. They planned to combine the products once the planes were aloft to create and detonate explosive devices. Sources tell CBS News correspondent Jim Stewart that these chemical bombs would have been set with timers to go off simultaneously.

Link
But Sandra is too important to follow the rules of Airport Security....


The Queen of Ugly has this to say about security:

....has threatened to fight new security measures at airports imposed after a terrorist attack on planes flying from the UK to the US was averted. From yesterday (10AUG06), passengers flying from and to America have been banned from taking non-essential hand luggage onboard jets.

But Bernhardt, who is scheduled to fly out of New York's JFK Airport today (11AUG06) is determined to break the rule. She tells the New York Daily News, "When I go to the airport and they try to take my MAC Plushglass away from me, it's going to be World War III!"

Link

Well I hope she can dog paddle back then.

There should be no exceptions, if she wants to keep her precious lipgloss she can store it in her checked bags.

But because she is a hollywierd celebrity, she will be given special privileges or special considerations.

I know, we should recognize her and realize she isn't a terrorist and let her pass without hassling her right? Meanwhile Joe and Jane Citizen stand in line and go through the whole process.

Guess what, stand in line like everyone else, shut the hell up, and deal with the security precautions that are in place for all of our protections.

Cynthia McKinney and Supporters take off their masks

....and show their true faces!


There has been hints, small glimses of Cynthia Mckinney and her supporters, and what they are like, but now with the her loss, she and her supporters whip off the masks and show their true hate-filled faces.

Cynthia McKinney's entourage (handlers) wearing patches that said "New Black Panther Party Freedom or Death", had words for the media and got into scuffles with reporters as they covered the events.

During her concession speech, McKinney said her mother was hurt and one of her staffers required stitches after members of the media hurt them during the night. Police were eventually called to the scene by 11Alive News.


As McKinney walked outside her campaign headquarters after losing her reelection bid to Hank Johnson, a boom microphone carried by a photographer struck members of McKinney's entourage. In the confusion, McKinney staffers struck an 11Alive photographer and knocked his camera equipment to the ground.

A short time later, the 11Alive news desk called 9-1-1 after some people followed an 11Alive staff member into the station's satellite truck outside the McKinney headquarters.

Earlier Tuesday, a McKinney staffer scuffled with another 11Alive photojournalist, who videotaped as McKinney supporters waved some signs while the Congresswoman remained in her vehicle.

McKinney's staffers asked photographers to keep their distance -- which they did -- until McKinney rolled down her window and motioned to a reporter. The photographers approached, thinking she was about to give an on-camera interview. At that point, a staffer again got between the vehicle and blocked the 11Alive photographer, grabbing her by the wrist.

"That's right, and I'll touch you again, if you do it again," the staffer told 11Alive.

McKinney campaign chief John Evans vowed to investigate the earlier incident.

Link
Such a classy woman.
Does she not even have any control over her staff or her suporters?
She sits back and watches it happen from her car?


Meanwhile, President and General Manager Bob Walker for WXIA has issued a statement on the review of the actions of the reporter:

11Alive Statement on McKinney Incident
Web Editor: Christopher Hyde
Last Modified: 8/9/2006 5:46:15 PM

"We are aware of the incident involving a member of Congresswoman McKinney’s staff and a photojournalist from our staff.

Based on our review, we are confident our people acted in a professional and appropriate manner."

Bob Walker
President and General Manager
WXIA

Link

Police investigating incident, no charges have yet to be filed:

DeKalb County police are investigating a scuffle between one of Cynthia McKinney’s security guards and an 11Alive photojournalist. At this point, no charges have been filed, but the incident was caught on video tape.

The scuffle happened as McKinney arrived at her campaign headquarters on Tuesday night.

11Alive News photojournalist Gary Stillwell was one of several trying to get video of McKinney as she entered the building.

According to the police report, security guard Steve Muhammad claimed he was assaulted by Stillwell, but the police officer writes that after reviewing a video tape of the incident, he determined that one of the security guards pushed and punched Stillwell.

Muhammad is the same man who had a confrontation with 11Alive photojournalist Kathy Bourn hours earlier.

11Alive News tried, but could not reach Muhammad for comment.

Link

McKinney herself had complained about the actions of a male Capitol Police officer during an altercation at a checkpoint earlier this year.

This was a case of a male staffer touching a female photographer. Bourn said no blows were thrown, but her wrist was grabbed and there was some bumping.

Where is your outrage for the actions of your staff Cynthia?
Is the female reporter not as important as you are, so it doesn't matter?
Is this the true face of Cynthia McKinney and her supporters?

You would think the above is the worst of it....

It wasn't.

Racist and Anti-semitic remarks fly from the Cynthia McKinney party....

First there was a scuffle between McKinney's bodyguards and an 11Alive news photographer, then there were remarks made to a cable network news crew, in which members of McKinney's entourage allegedly made shocking anti-Semitic remarks.

The Anti-Defamation League says they want to hear from McKinney and they want her to disavow the anti-Semitic remarks reported by the network crew, remarks that recall the scandal that cost her the election in 2002.

"We're seeing some Cynthia McKinney supporters are resorting to anti-Semitic and racist language and again blaming the Jews for her loss in this campaign," said ADL southeast Associate Director Shelley Rose.

The remarks were allegedly made just moments after McKinney's entourage passed out of earshot of 11Alive cameras, as the congresswoman left her campaign headquarters on Tuesday night.

Someone reportedly said quote, "You wanna know what led to the loss? Israel. The Zionists. You. put on your yarmulke and celebrate."

...and these ain't no Lebanese people that's fi'in to back all up. Y'all gonna get your Jewish asses beat!"

Rose said, "We're really astonished that in 2006, anti-Semitism once again rears its ugly head."

The ADL lists the New Black Panther Party as a hate group, and questioned their affiliation with the McKinney campaign as well.

"We're really concerned that she continues to include the New Black Panther Party in her entourage, because we see them as one of the largest anti-Semitic and racist black hate groups in America today," said Rose.

Link

Are we really that surprised though?
The Majority of Cynthia McKinney's contributions have been linked to Muslim donors.
Anti-Semiticism is rampant amongst Muslims, many believing that Israel should be destroyed.

Unbelievable.

And before people start jumping about it was just her staff and not her, you tend to surround yourself with like thinkers, especially politicans and we have seen Cynthia McKinney play the race card plenty of times, but it is astonishing that her sdtaff and supporters could be so racist and anti-semitic.

If this was a white person, a white congressman, and this happened, there would be screaming to high heaven to denounce him and his supporters, the Black Caucus would be involved, ACLU, CAIR, ect.

There would be calls that this is hate speech, ect.

Where are these same people now? Anyone?

Excerpts from Ms. Underestimated (go and see the full story she has on this).

Ms. Underestimated has video of the scuffle HERE.

Michelle Malkin has more on a Hotair Vent HERE.

And Allah at Hotair has even more HERE.


See Sanity's Previous Report:

Cynthia McKinney told not to return
Federal Grand Jury to Hear McKinney Assault Case
Cynthia McKinney (Part One) - Voting record
Cynthia McKinney (Part Two) - Police Altercation and Smear Campaign by McKinney
Cynthia McKinney (Part Three) - Variety, Pictures, Support, Quotes, Idiocy

Cynthia McKinney Told Not to Return

Cynthia McKinney hoping that her extreme nature and unusual tactics will still play well at home, found that a big majority find her behaviour repugnant and reprehensible, voted her out of office.

“Cynthia McKinney doesn’t need to win,” said Smith, a businesswoman who voted for Johnson at Avondale Middle School. “She is an embarrassment to the law, an embarrassment to being female, an embarrassment to being black and an embarrassment to being a Christian. She’s loud and obnoxious and exhibits no sense of class.”

Link
I think that pretty well sums up the feelings of the majority of the voters when McKinney got soundly defeated.

Hank Johnson with 41,178 votes (59%) - Winner
Cynthia McKinney with 28,832 votes (41%)
Link

“It’s the end of her political career,” University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock said. “I can’t think of anyone who’s come back from two primary defeats. It’s done some real damage to the notion that she’s got this loyal electorate that she can snap her fingers and mobilize.”

Will this the last we will see of Cynthia McKinney?
Can she return again?


Or will she be saying, "Do you want fried with that?" in her next job?

“I think there’s a lot of ABC involved — Anybody But Cynthia,” he said.

I think there may be alot of truth in that.....

Difference between Israel and Hezbollah

There is a big difference between accidentally or unintentionally killing civilians, and the intentional targeting of civilians. Israel has gone out of it's way by spreading fliers, even CALLING civilians up on their phones to inform them of an upcoming attack. Hezbollah hides amongst civilians, fire their rockets from between occupied civilian houses, jeapordizing these Lebonese citizens and at times getting them killed when Israel fires back to try and hit the spot where the rocket came from.

Hezbollah has initiated this.
Hezbollah has rejected a cease-fire.
Hezbollah endangers Lebonese citizens.
Hezbollah is using Lebonese citizens as human shields.

But it is Israel that is blamed.
Israel is attacked, and they are blamed when they respond.

Why are the media and everyone else making Hezbollah out to be the VICTIMS in this?!?!?!

Is the Anti-Israel bias and at times bigotry so bad they cannot even report the stories correctly? How much of the rocket attacks on Israel, the damage in Israel, the wounded and dead in Israel, have you seen in comparison to the almost FULL-coverage of Lebanon and Hezbollah?

It is bad enough it is a war zone, but now it seems the media needs to doctor spice up their photos of the attacks even more?

Bloggers are swarming to review photos now after finding altered / doctored photos by Adnan Hajja, a photographer for Reuters. His excuse? He was removing DUST!


Michelle Malkin with "Smoke Clearing Blogswarm"

Little Green Footballs with "Reuters Doctoring Photos from Beirut?" (I believe the first to catch this)

Drinking from Home with "Extreme Makeover - Beirut Edition"

Gateway Pundit with "More Staged Photos by Reuters and Adnan Hajj"

Ace of Spades with "Another Hajj Photo That Should Be Retracted" (Seriously)

The Jawa Report with "Reuters Doctoring Beirut Photos" (Updated)

Left and Right with "Reuters faking photos"

Allah at Hotair with "The worst photoshop I’ve ever seen" (Update: Picture killed)

And so many more....


Too many people seem to have forgotten that it was NOT Israel who started this.

It was Hezbollah.
It was Hamas.

Israel has given back Gaza and Southern Lebanon, and for that they have paid a price of Hezbollah and Hamas moving their terrorists into those sections to continue to fire rockets into Israel.

Both terrorist groups INVADED Israel, killed and kidnapped Israeli citizens.

Let's not forget who the aggressors were people.

Israel has always stated they only want peace, but Hezbollah continues to fire rockets into Israel. The terrorist group Hezbollah does not want peace, they have their backing by Iran and Syria, and are DEVOTED to the destruction of Israel.

You cannot have a cease-fire with a terrorist group.
A cease-fire is a sign of weakness to Muslims, and even states in the Qur'an.

A very good observation by Silas:

...all we have to say is, "truce" and the Muslims will stop their terrorist attacks. All we have to do is say we’re "sorry, let’s be friends", and they’ll leave us alone. Do you believe this for a second? You might as well ask that cobra not to strike you as you walk by because you mean it no harm.

Silas at Answering Islam examines what the word TRUCE means to Muslims and Extremist (Very informative read at this site):

In Sacred Law truce means a peace treaty with those hostile to Islam, involving a cessation of fighting for a specified period, whether for payment or something else.

... Interests that justify making a truce are such things as Muslim weakness because of lack of numbers or materiel, or the hope of an enemy becoming Muslim ...

From the Encyclopedia of Islam:
HUDNA, abstract noun from the root h.d.n. with the sense of "calm", "peace". Other terms which have the same meaning are muwada’a, musalaha, musalama, and mutaraka, the general meaning of which in Islamic law is the abstention of the parties concerned from hostilities against each other. The process of entering into a peace agreement with the enemy is called muhadana or muwada’a, but the instrument of peace is hudna (peace agreement).

When Yassir Arafat infamously invoked Mohammad's hudna in 1994 to describe his own Oslo commitments "on the road to Jerusalem," the implication was clear. As Mideast expert Daniel Pipes explained, Arafat was asserting to his Islamic brethren that he will, "when his circumstances change for the better, take advantage of some technicality to tear up existing accords and launch a military assault on Israel." Indeed, this is precisely what occurred in Sept. 2000 when Arafat & Co. launched a terror assault upon Israeli citizens.

As for Hamas, they have proven time and again their commitment to a tactical hudna — replenishing their strength during the quiet periods, then returning with increased deadliness. As recently documented by The Washington Institute, Hamas agreed to no less than ten ceasefires in the past ten years, and after every single one returned freshly armed for terror. Hundreds of Israeli citizens have paid for these hudnas with their lives.

Remember, the Caliph instructs the Extremeist to war with anyone who is not Muslim:

The Caliph makes war upon the Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians, provided he has first invited them to enter Islam in faith and practice, and if they will not, then invited them to enter the social order of Islam by paying the non-Muslim poll tax Jizya ... in accordance with the word of Allah Most High:

"Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day and who forbid not what Allah and His messenger have forbidden – who do not practice the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book – until they pay the poll tax out of hand and are humbled." 9:29

The Caliph fights all other peoples until they become Muslim ...

The quotes above are taken from a Manual of Islamic law (Shafi’i). It states Islam’s official position towards the non-Muslim: War and subjection.

Definately a very interesting read.....
Islam Revealed
Islam & Terrorism

Short Hiatus

If your just passing by or you do come by to take a gander from time to time, I apologize for the absence lately.

I am feeling a bit burnt out at the moment and other portions of my life have taken priority over emersing myself in the insanity of the world.

At the moment it seems to be mainly all on the Iran / Hezbollah / Syria / Lebanon / Israel conflict, and there are plenty of bloggers, reports and live-blogging that is coming out on a daily basis that there is not much I could add to it.

In the next couple of days I will begin to post again, but at this time I am emmersed in other projects that has taken me away from here for a short time, but I will be back and will begin posting for those that come my way.