Allspace in a Notshall

I wanted to make a post that wasn’t mired down in one-sided religious wars and post something fun, so here ya go.

I’m a huge fan of Christopher Moore. He writes some of the funniest material one can read. I just checked his site and he has a new book coming out, titled Fool. Should be great because it’s got an interesting premise. Ripped shamelessly from Amazon:

Here’s the Cliff Notes you wished you’d had for King Lear—the mad royal, his devious daughters, rhyming ghosts and a castle full of hot intrigue—in a cheeky and ribald romp that both channels and chides the Bard and all Fate’s bastards. It’s 1288, and the king’s fool, Pocket, and his dimwit apprentice, Drool, set out to clean up the mess Lear has made of his kingdom, his family and his fortune—only to discover the truth about their own heritage. There’s more murder, mayhem, mistaken identities and scene changes than you can remember, but bestselling Moore (You Suck) turns things on their head with an edgy 21st-century perspective that makes the story line as sharp, surly and slick as a game of Grand Theft Auto. Moore confesses he borrows from at least a dozen of the Bard’s plays for this buffet of tragedy, comedy and medieval porn action. It’s a manic, masterly mix—winning, wild and something today’s groundlings will applaud. (Feb.)

Sounds hilarious. I’ve read close to all of Moore’s book and they’ve all been great. I’m currently finishing up his book Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings, and although not as good as Lamb (I don’t think he’ll write a better novel), it’s still a great read.

You can read the first chapter of Fool on Moore’s blog here.

He’s also going on tour to promote the book.  You can get a list of the dates here.

I’m having a hard time deciding whether or not I agree with what Israel is doing. I hear the words “preemptive strike” and “self-defense”, but to me this operation smacks of going way beyond what is considered a justifiable retaliation and defense for rather inaccurate rocket attacks on small Israeli towns. On the one hand, I can completely see the need to defend your own nation from these attacks, but from almost everything I’ve seen and read, this entire mission seems to be what I continually read on the various news sites as “disproportionate”. At last check 550 Palestinians have been killed and 2500 wounded.  Which is not surprising in the least, really, considering that the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.  I believe there are 1.5 million people on a piece of land 7 miles wide and 25 miles long.   Israel surely does not think that the civilian casualties will be kept to a minimum…do they?

I don’t know what Israel expects to with this operation, I really don’t. This seems like a microcosm of the War on Terrorism. Yes, sure, Israel is destroying the infrastructure and leadership of the Hamas regime, but at what cost and for how long? They can’t seriously think that this mission will eradicate the regime that is “for the people and by the people”. Yes, Hamas was democratically elected by the people of Palestine, if you did not know. To me, this seems like an attack on a people rather than a regime.

And what infuriates me even further is the amount of lies and propaganda coming from various news sources that Israel is doing the right thing and being perfectly okay with how their achieving their objectives. Take this article from The Huffington Post for example:

Almost as soon as the first Israeli missile struck the Gaza Strip, a veteran cheering squad suited up to support the home team. “Israel is so scrupulous about civilian life,” Charles Krauthammer claimed in the Washington Post. Echoing Krauthammer, Alan Dershowitz called the Israeli attack on Gaza, “Perfectly ‘Proportionate.’” And in the New York Times, Israeli historian Benny Morris described his country’s airstrikes as “highly efficient.”

By New Year’s Day, Israel’s cheering squad had turned the opinion pages of major American newspapers into their own personal romper room. Of all the editorial contributions published by the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times since the Israel’s war on Gaza began, to my knowledge only one offered a skeptical view of the assault. But that editorial, by Israeli novelist David Grossman, contained not a single word about the Palestinian casualties of IDF attacks. Even while calling for a cease fire, Grossman promised, “We can always start shooting again.”

Or how about the fact that Israel has barred any foreign journalist from entering the Gaza Strip?

Or that Israel is using white phosphorus bombs to screen their troops’ movements?

Or, how I offhandedly remarked in my last post, that Israel is using cluster bombs? Just like they did in 2006 in their war with Hezbollah!

Note that not all clusterbombs explode on impact but stay ready to explode where they lay.

I’ll end with a link to this article, which you should probably all read:  “‘We’re wading in death, blood and amputees. Pass it on – shout it out’”

I’m going to post a few videos, mainly from LiveLeak talking about the escalating conflict in Gaza. Israel has now entered into the Gaza Strip via the ground and according to latest reports, has split the Strip into three isolated zones. The humanitarian part of the crisis is escalating as well.

As usual, some viewer discretion might be needed.

Gaza Divided Into Three:

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour talks about how much support there is for Israel’s offensive into Gaza:

From BBC News, is that clusterbombing at the beginning?:

Israel Bombing Gaza Tunnels to Egypt:

Longer update coming later…

In response to recent Palestinian (read: Hamas) Qassam rocket attacks, Israel launched a massive aerial assault, killing more than 200 people. According to an article in the L.A. Times:

The midday waves of airstrikes killed at least 205 people, according to a Palestinian Health Ministry official in Gaza, making it the deadliest Israeli assault on Palestinian territory in years. Health Ministry officer Moaiya Hassanain estimated that one-third of the dead were civilian noncombatants and that an additional 350 Palestinians were wounded.

Israel’s response, code-named “Operation Cast Lead,” began shortly before noon with a round of air bombardments. Several more air attacks followed, sowing panic and confusion as thick clouds of smoke billowed over Gaza City, Khan Yunis and Rafah. Mangled and charged corpses littered the pavement around Hamas security structures.

NPR says that a Gaza City police station was among the heaviest of casualties:

Gaza city police stations saw the heaviest casualties, with Israeli air strikes hitting two Hamas police graduation ceremonies. Gaza’s already fragile medical system was overwhelmed by the scale of the casualties. In Gaza, senior Health Ministry official Dr. Moawiya Hasaneen said many of the dead were policemen, but said civilians, women and children were also killed.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told reporters the army was prepared for a wider attack. It’s not clear, however, whether Israel is ready to use ground troops in what would likely be a bloody and hard fight in densely populated Gaza.

Details are still updating, but there are lots of videos coming out.

*Warning, some graphic scenes*

Some clips from the BBC, last one is from an Israeli spokesman:

Seems like a lot for some measly rocket launches.

I’ll update when more news becomes available.

A huge coal ash spill occured in Tennessee on Monday.  2.6 million cubic yards, equivalent to 525.5 million gallons and almost fifty times more (and worse) than the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989.

Here are a few links to the story:

• At the Huffington Post
• At TreeHugger

Here’s some commentary on the event, including talk about the BS that is “clean coal”.  Remember Biden yammering on about “clean coal” in the VP debates? Video at the end of the section.

Coal ash contains mercury, lead, and arsenic. Nearly 800 Olympic-size swimming pools of that toxic mix are flowing into the waterways of Tennessee right now. As the Knoxville Sentinel News reported today:

“Viewed from above, the scene looked like the aftermath of a tsunami, with swirls of dirtied water stretching for hundreds of acres on the land, and muddied water in the Emory River.

The Emory leads to the Clinch, which flows into the Tennessee. Workers sampled river water Monday, with results expected back today, but didn’t sample the dunelike drifts of muddy ash.”

For the millions of people downstream in Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky, a spill estimated to be several times bigger than the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska is creeping into their waterways and aquifers.

Here are a few videos of the event, some terrible, terrible pictures:

How come this isn’t in the mainstream press and news sites? It happened on Monday and I’m only now hearing about it today, Christmas eve and only because it was posted in a forum I’m a member of.