An imperfect analogy, but I'm going with it

Let's say that back in August 2005, a flotilla of ships carrying relief supplies was headed to New Orleans to help ease the suffering in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Let's also say that all the ships originated from nations inimical to US interests...Venezuela, North Korea, Iran, and so on.

One would understand if US authorities wanted the ships to dock at a specific location so that the freight could be inspected and then transported where it was needed. One would also understand that if those wishes were communicated to the ships and the ships' captains disregarded them that we would impose our wishes on the ships' captains, by force if necessary.

In a nutshell, that's just what happened when Israel's navy commandos intercepted the ships bound for Gaza. Israel ordered the ships to sail for Haifa, where the cargo could be inspected for weapons before legitimate humanitarian supplies could be sent along to Gaza.

The "crews" of these ships - far many more than you'd expect to see on a legitimate cargo ship - set out to provoke Israel into a military response. If they're looking for sympathy, they can find it in the dictionary somewhere between shit and syphilis.

Update: The port Israel ordered the ship to may have been Ashdod, and not Haifa. The first article I'd read said Haifa, but others mention Ashdod, and that's closer to Gaza and seems to be where routine (read, actual) humanitarian aid shipments arrive.

Obama not quite changey enough for Iran?

Not everyone is completely enthralled with Barack Obama ascending the throne this week...

Iran's parliament speaker said his country has doubts that US President Barack Obama's Middle East policy will be different from the Bush administration, state television reported Sunday.

Speaker Ali Larijani said Obama's stance on the crisis in Gaza and the United States' support for Israel have "created many doubts about the 'change' theory."

He also cautioned that Obama's actions on Iran's disputed nuclear program would be "another test for the change word" used by the new president during his campaign.

So I guess we got that going for us.

Victory, Hamas style

Hamas held a "victory rally" before a backdrop of bombed-out buildings in Gaza.

The U.N. chief inspected the devastation wrought by Israel's onslaught in Gaza on Tuesday, leading a moment of silence at the smoldering U.N. headquarters, as the territory's militant Hamas rulers, triumphant at having survived, held victory rallies amid the ruins.

I thought "victory" to these guys meant getting blown up and meeting their 72 virgins?

In a few words...

An aborted take off in Atlanta yesterday resulted in an unusually late arrival in the Bay Area last night (well, this morning actually), and now of course work gets in the way of regular posting. So, after hearing some particularly loathsome opinions on the subject, I'll just leave you with this:

If you believe Israel is the aggressor in the current Gaza conflict, then you deny Israel's right to self defense.

If you deny Israel's right to self defense, then you deny Israel's right to exist as a state.

If you deny Israel's right to exist as a state, I've got nothing more to say to you.

Greek paper: Jews to blame for Gaza strife...oh yeah, and financial crisis, too

Haaretz reports that Greek news source Avriani blames unspecified Jews (I guess all of them?) for the violence in Gaza and the global financial crisis. Oh, and they're also preparing for World War III.

After the American Jews acquired once again the world's wealth and plunged the planet into an unprecedented financial crisis, they started rehearsing for WWIII.

Oh, and that whole global love affair thing with Barack Obama? Yeah...you can forget about that.

The paper also blamed U.S. President-elect Barack Obama for "playing dead" in the present crisis by not saying anything against the Jews, urging him to prove that he is not owned by the Jewish lobby.

I, for one, welcome the age of "pure, delicious crazy".

Cynthia McKinney to provide aid and comfort to Hamas

Ousted Georgia congresswoman, failed Green Party presidential candidate, and batshit-crazy barking moonbat Cynthia McKinney will join 15 other barking moonbats in running Israel's blockade of Gaza in an attempt to bring medical aid to the Palestinians.

A group of international activists said it would defy an Israeli blockade and send a boat with medical supplies to Gaza from Cyprus.

Free Gaza Group spokeswoman Caoimhe Butterly said their 20-meter yacht Dignity would leave Larnaca port around 5 p.m. (1400GMT) Monday with 3.5 tons of donated supplies.

She said the yacht would carry 16 passengers, including former US Congresswoman Cynthia Mckinney, Cypriot lawmaker and doctor Eleni Theocharous and activists from Britain, Australia, Ireland and Tunisia.

Actually, I don't have any particular beef with the idea of bringing medical and relief supplies for Palestinian civilians in Gaza. I'd just rather see it done by an organization a bit more impartial than a group that calls itself "Free Gaza".

Oh, and by the way...the Israelis did "free Gaza" a couple years ago, and it hasn't worked out all that well.

Chavez condemns Israeli retaliation

Venezuela's chunky commie president Hugo Chavez condemned Israel for defending itself...of course.

President Hugo Chavez says Venezuela condemns Israel for its attacks on Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Israel bombed key security installations Saturday, leaving more than 200 Palestinians dead and more than 400 wounded. Palestinian officials say at least 15 civilians were among the dead.

The Israeli army says Palestinian militants have fired 300 rockets and mortars at Israeli targets over the past week.

But Chavez on Saturday called Israel's retaliation "criminal" and urged a "massive campaign of repudiation."

Yeah...in the delusional mind of Chavez, Israel's right of self-defense is criminal. Hamas targeting civilians with rockets and mortars? Not so much.

UN Security Council a little slow on the uptake

The UN Security Council has issued a call for an end to violence in Gaza.

The U.N. Security Council called early on Sunday for an immediate halt to all violence in Gaza after a day of Israeli air strikes in response to rocket and mortar fire by Gaza militants against Israel.

"The members of the Security Council expressed serious concern at the escalation of the situation in Gaza and called for an immediate halt to all violence," said a statement read to reporters by Croatian Ambassador Neven Jurica, president of the council.

Funny...I don't remember the Security Council expressing any "serious concern" over the past year while Hamas launced 3,000 or so rockets into Israel.