Dreams Into Lightning 2

Attacks on Southern Israel Continue, IAF Strikes Back

YNet: 'The Iron Dome system intercepted two rockets fired from the northern Gaza Strip towards Ashkelon. At least 12 rockets were fired Wednesday night from the Gaza Strip at southern towns and cities.' And: 'Palestinian sources within the Gaza Strip reported Wednesday that the IDF attacked a terror cell in the central Strip who were responsible for launching rockets from Gaza. Two Palestinians were injured in the strike and taken to hospital.'

Arutz Sheva:

At approximately 11:00 p.m. this evening (Wednesday) IAF aircraft targeted a squad of terrorists who were preparing to launch rockets at Israel.

The IDF Spokesperson said that a hit was confirmed, thwarting the rocket launch attempt.

“The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli civilians, and will not hesitate to respond with strength and determination to any element that uses terror against the State of Israel, until calm is restored,” the IDF Spokesperson said in his statement.

“The IDF holds the Hamas terrorist organization solely responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip.”

Read the rest at the link.

Remarks. As JPost reminds us, it's been six years since Israel removed its presence from Gaza.

It took me 20 minutes to drive to Ashdod from Tel Aviv on Sunday morning, two days after the former was hit by seven Grad missiles fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza. According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Office, over 100 rockets and mortars were fired toward Israel since Friday August 19.

As has been my practice in Sderot for the past five years, my car windows were rolled down and the radio was turned down so I could hear the siren that would give me and everyone else 45 seconds to find a safe place. On the bright side, 45 seconds to run for your life in Ashdod is an improvement over the 15 seconds you have in Sderot.

The news announced burial plans for 38-year-old Yossi Ben-Sasson, who was killed by a Grad missile the night before in Beersheba when taking his nine-months-pregnant wife for a medical check up. The following news item was about a young woman fighting for her life at the Soroka hospital, also a victim of a Grad strike in Beersheba.

I arrived at Admor Me’gor street in Ashdod, where only a few days before a Grad missile had exploded within range of 900 yeshiva students and high school kids who were beginning their school day. ...

Go read it all.

Stateside, Bachmann is falling back and Perry is gaining among Republicans in the polls. Tablet's Marc Tracy - hardly a right-winger - has to admit that

Perry would seem not to have much to recommend him to typical Jewish voters other than his support for Israel—but that that support indeed is strong.

The article cites Commentary in noting that

Shurat HaDin—the Israeli legal center whose “pro-Israel lawfare” played an essential role in disabling the ten ships that made up the presumptive flotilla—received Perry’s aid in drawing the U.S. government’s attention to the fact that American citizens aboard the flotilla (like Alice Walker) were potentially planning to violate the Neutrality Act. That law—which dates back to George Washington!—prohibits U.S. citizens from engaging in hostile acts against U.S.-allied countries. As part of their lobbying of Attorney General Eric Holder, at its request Rick Perry sent the nation’s top cop a letter backing the group. Apparently Perry had met its directors on a trip to Israel.

As always, read the whole thing at the link. The Texas governor is looking like a strong - and worthy - challenger to the incumbent President in next year's elections.

FCC Drops Fairness Doctrine

Fox:
The Fairness Doctrine and 83 other "outdated and obsolete media-related rules" were tossed Monday into the regulatory dust bin of the Federal Communications Commission, in a move that the agency said helps it achieve the FCC's "reform agenda."

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said that the decision to eliminate the Fairness Doctrine was part of a larger mandate proposed by the Obama administration to ease regulatory burdens by getting rid of duplicative or outdated measures. Genachowski informed Congress in June of the pending action. ...'

Well, good. Read more at the link.

"The Jews invented lawfare, the Jews invented law ... "

Commentary on Shurat ha-Din:

At a radical left-wing coffee shop in Washington, D.C. last month, Code Pink founder and “Freedom Flotilla II” passenger Madea Benjamin woefully recounted the moment she realized her boat, the Audacity of Hope, wouldn’t be legally permitted to leave a port in Greece to sail to Gaza.

“There was something called a ‘complaint’ that was put against our boat,” Benjamin explained to a crowd of anti-Israel activists stuffed into the back room of the restaurant. “Well, it didn’t take long for somebody to uncover that the person, or entity, that lodged the complaint was none other than this right-wing Israeli law center based in Tel Aviv, that knew nothing about our boat and certainly had no interest in the passengers’ safety.”

The “right-wing” law center that caused Benjamin so much grief is Shurat HaDin – the Israeli group that single-handedly took down the “Freedom Flotilla II” simply by filing creative lawsuits. In total, nine out of the 10 boats in the flotilla never touched Israeli waters, largely due to Shurat HaDin’s work.

Led by Nitzana Darshan-Leitner and her husband Avi Leitner, the legal center is pioneering a new strategy of Israeli-self defense: Pro-Israel Lawfare. ...

Read the rest at the link. And pay a visit to Shurat ha-Din.

Afternoon Roundup: 2011-08-22

Third Kassam rocket hits Negev. 'The rocket fell in an open area of the Ashkelon Regional Council. No injuries or damage were reported.'

Rebels take Tripoli, Gadafi hunted. 'Muammar Gaddafi was a hunted man on Monday as loyal remnants of his forces made a last-ditch stand in the capital and world leaders embraced the fractious Libyan rebels as new masters of the oil-rich North African state. “The Gaddafi era is over,” rebel chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil said in Benghazi, eastern Libya.'

EFF: Cisco and human rights abuses in China. 'Two cases — one in the United States District Court of Maryland and another in the Northern District of California — are attempting to create legal precedent around these issues of corporate social responsibility. In Du v. Cisco, three named plaintiffs – Chinese citizens Du Daobin, Zhou Yuanzhi, and Liu Xianbin – are joining 10 unnamed "John Doe" plaintiffs in suing the American company Cisco Systems for their role in assisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in violating human rights. ...'

Saladin

'But when he felt that the Arabs were being slow in implementing the surrender agreement, [Richard the Lionheart] had no hesitation in parading 2700 hostages in front of the city and having them slaughtered.

It is the folk-memory of such killings that has led Osama bin Laden and Arab leaders such as Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi to describe modern Western invaders of the Middle East, particularly Britain and America, as "crusaders". They see a direct connection, and they view the modern state of Israel, sponsored and so heavily supported by America, as the West's revenge for the failure of its crusades. In the Middle Ages the Arab inhabitants of Palestine generally extended more tolerance to Christians - and to the small number of Jews then living there - than the Christians were prepared to show to them. Saladin, the Kurdish leader of the Muslim forces, was conspicuous for his gallantry, entertaining enemy leaders with courtesy and generosity - though his soldiers, like the crusader armies, were ultimately held together by religious fanaticism. Muslims who died in this jihad, or holy war, were promised instant entry into heaven.'

- Robert Lacey, Great Tales from English History (2007)

Robert Lacey does such a fine job of explaining the viewpoint of the late Osama bin Laden, the late Saddam Hussein, and the presently unaccounted-for Muammar Gaddafi, that it seems almost rude to question the relevance of this little digression.

Government as Special Interest

Walter Russell Mead, writing at Business Insider, takes a look at pollster Stanley Greenberg's interpretation of eroding support for Democrats.

The progressive ideal of administrative cadres leading the masses toward the light has its roots in a time when many Americans had an eighth grade education or less. It always had its down side, and the arrogance and tin-eared obtuseness of self assured American liberal progressives has infuriated generations of Americans and foreigners who for one reason or another have the misfortune to fall under the power of a class still in the grip of a secularized version of the Puritan ideal. But in the conditions of late nineteenth and twentieth century America, the progressive vanguard fulfilled a vital and necessary social role.

The deep crisis of the progressive ideal today is that it is no longer clear that the American clerisy is wanted or needed in that role.

At bottom, that is what the populist revolt against establishments of all kinds is about. A growing section of the American population wants to think and act for itself, without the guidance of the graduates of ivy league colleges and blue chip graduate programs.

The fight for limited government that animates so many Americans today isn’t a reaction against the abuses and failures of government. It is a fight to break the power of a credentialed elite ...

Read it all at the link.

Iran Names Revolutionary Guards Chief as Oil Minister

BBC: 'Iran's parliament has approved the appointment of a Revolutionary Guards commander under international sanctions as the country's new oil minister. Gen Rostam Qasemi, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's nominee, was approved by a large majority in the Majlis. ...'

This also makes him the Presdident of OPEC.

A senior Iranian revolutionary guards commander targeted by international sanctions has taken over the presidency of Opec after he became Iran's oil minister on Wednesday.

Rostam Ghasemi, head of the Khatam al-Anbia military and industrial base, was one of four ministersnominated by president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to join his cabinet last week and approved by Iran's conservative-dominated parliament. ...

Don't Try This At Home

Richard Handl had an interesting hobby: Attempting to conduct nuclear fission in his apartment.

The 31-year-old Handl said he had tried for months to set up a nuclear reactor at home and kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove.

Only later did he realize it might not be legal and sent a question to Sweden's Radiation Authority, which answered by sending the police. ...

Live and learn.

There's demonstrations, and demonstrations.

Syria: 'Syrian government forces pressed their assault on anti-government protestors in the city of Hama on Monday oblivious to a wave of condemnation from Western powers.'

Egypt: 'This afternoon, hundreds of military police, central security forces and regular police forcefully reopened Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the Egyptian revolution. Since July 8, 22 days ago, thousands of protesters, including some of the families of those killed during the January 25 Revolution against former president Hosni Mubarak, have occupied the square.'

Israel: Students protest high rent.

I think this pretty well meets the definition of a #firstworldproblem .

Hiatus

It's been a few weeks since I posted anything here. So this post is just to make it official: Yes, I am on a hiatus, and yes, I will be back.