Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Euthanasia Deaths in Holland Rise 13 Percent

"I am sure that the increase in numbers of people opting for euthanasia is largely a result of inadequate pain control," Bowman told the Daily Telegraph.

Inadequate pain control in 2010? What it means is fewer facilities, fewer health professionals willing to provide palliative care. It is said elsewhere in article.

The culture of death has permeated the consciences of so many that is is getting easier to have a mindset of, “Just let him suffer, when it gets bad enough he’ll be begging us to put him out of his misery. It will save us time, trouble and money.”

“…a government official who was instrumental in getting the law passed, told the author of a book on euthanasia that "more should have been done legally to protect people who wanted to die natural deaths," the Daily Mail reported.”

Ya think? A little late. Pro-life people tried. The culture of death was too powerful.

http://www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/June10/nv062910part3.html

Monday, June 28, 2010

The need for a new amendment to the Constitution?

Ken Connor
Washington's Double Standard

There's recently been some chatter in the blogosphere debating the need for a new amendment to the Constitution – one that would require laws passed by Congress to apply to lawmakers equally as they apply to the rest of American citizens. The feasibility of such a measure is questionable, and currently there is no such amendment being proposed in Congress; nevertheless, the enthusiasm behind the idea reveals a growing sentiment among many Americans that the federal government no longer represents the people, but rather presides in Washington as a group of self-interested elites that long ago lost touch with reality.

Read the article here: http://townhall.com/columnists/KenConnor/2010/06/20/washingtons_double_standard/page/full

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

"19th Century Wisdom in a 21st Century World"

Posted by Tony Rollo on June 19, 2010 (from SongOfTruth.org)

An essay on the Wise VS Fool

by Tony Rollo


Never in history has the individual been given the ability to fulfill any need or desire with little effort and in many cases, instantly. Our modern life that is full of and reliant on the toys of technology is a wonder of human achievement.

We can have any question answered immediately. We can bathe with instant hot water whenever we want. We can obtain food at any time. With the touch of a switch we can light and power our world. We have the ability to speak to anyone at anytime, anywhere in the world.

Technology is a wonderful thing to have, when it works.

In the classic story of the Swiss Family Robinson, people suddenly found themselves marooned on a desolate island following a storm that defeated the safety of their sailing ship. They were thrust from their modern world of reliance on technology into the wild, natural world due to an unforeseen storm that deprived their arrival to the destination they sought. The family had no other choice but to salvage what they could and set out to survive in the wild.

The marooned family soon discovered just how wild the world is and how precious tools can be. On one journey to safety from the wild, the more scientific brother lost his compass and lamented that they would never find their way. Fortunately, the older brother knew how to read nature and saw the way to safety.

They survived by understanding the natural world that surrounded them. They lived to understand the component in human nature that never realizes how good something is until it is gone.

Life is full of risk already. But when we depend too much on the false security that modern society and technology lulls us into, a simple storm in life will turn to disaster.

In one generation, we have lost the ability for self-reliance. We do not grow anything or can repair what we wear out. We stare at television screens by night and work in cubicles by day. We rely on chemical drugs in order to sleep and cope with the stress imposed by the modern ways we have embraced.

Are we the fool that follows the fool or are we the student of the wise?

No longer do we have the capacity to understand the basics of growing food. This generation depends on what it can buy rather than make. We throw away what many in other parts of the world would consider treasure.

We define our status by the toys we own and the vehicles we drive. Neighbors are no longer our friends but competitors. We make no eye contact or real conversation. We fear not only strangers but also acquaintances.

No longer do we know what something actually costs but what the monthly payments are. We slave at jobs we do not like and live from paycheck to paycheck. We build credit by being in debt rather than building wealth by real worth and value.

We no longer teach our children but give them over to strangers to raise. We are no longer husbands and wives but roommates and "life partners". Then we are shocked to learn our own children have become strangers to us.

We no longer have faith in God or our fellow man. We look to televised "experts" and to governments to give us meaning and order in life. We look for truth in the falsehoods of well spoken politicians and salesmen rather than within our own hearts and minds.

We no longer read but only hear and see what we can tune into. We do not know history and the mistakes of the past. We restrict ourselves to only what fills our own immediate selfishness.

Then comes the inevitable storms of life. We are shocked when reality shows its face. Insurances from the falsehoods of modern society leave us devastated. We become the leading tragic story on news broadcasts. The false promises of hope are dashed upon the rocks of reality.

But this is not the fate for the wise.

The wise have made their own shelters from the storms of life. Those inevitable tragedies are merely a momentary interruption to the prepared. The wise come together and not only survive, but flourish after adversity.

The wise know how to build, grow and learn. They put people first and things last. They recognize reality and the dangers that life can bring. They seek to heal and uplift others.

The wise know their history. They wisely build upon events of the past.

The wise learn from and avoid the repetition of past mistakes. The wise use modern tools, new materials and facilities as an augmentation of past techniques rather than a replacement for proven ways.

The wise plan and construct their lives. They gather and save. They can maintain what they have and repair the worn out. They teach wisdom and skills to their children and nurture them. They are admired and called blessed.

The self-reliant are the wise. They are lovers of wisdom and are self-sustaining. They are the true free people who understand Liberty and responsibility. They know what it is to be truly rich in this world. The wise are producers, not merely consumers.

The wise do not merely survive, but live. They live to share their wisdom, life and faith with others who hunger and thirst for knowledge.


- Tony Rollo 09/09/09

Hey Congress - Read Constitution - Art. 1, Sec. 8, Clause 15

Posted by Old Marine on June 22, 2010 (from SongOfTruth.org)

I have come to the conclusion that the Congress Critters and DHS are more concerned about the peaceful Tea Party member and the possibility of returning vets being "recuited" by the right wing, then they are the security of America and those who are protecting our land.

While congress and the 'regime' are worried about whether the BP CEO is at a yacht race, America is being invaded, not only by illegals BUT now the drug lords who are setting up lookout posts on American Soil.

Didn't General Pershing go after to Pancho Villa, a MEXICAN BANDIT, who invaded America and kill American citizens. Why not do the same and say the hell with what the world or Mexico has to say. Oh, I forgot, we have to be a friendlier, kinder nation, who will improve our standing in the world by bowing to our enemies.

From Fox News http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/22/mexican-gangs-permanent-lookouts-parkland/

Monday, June 21, 2010

Word of the Day - Demarchy

When I'm researching - which is more than just a hobby - I discovered the word "Demarchy." The word intrigued me simply because it was the result of searching why third party candidates are not a good idea.

"History has proven that Third Party Candidates do not win, and we are in this to win. Not a single founding father wanted political parties, yet we saw 4 of the founders: John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, lead the development of 2 parties into existence before Washington even completed his first term. TWO parties... but not 3 or more parties. Why? Whenever "50% of the vote plus 1 more" wins EVERYTHING, people will eventually coalesce around 2 parties even when they DON'T want to do so... it's "Duvergers Law" and it's almost as unchangeable as gravity." (1)

"Duvergers Law" resulted in the definition: In political science, Duverger's law is a principle which asserts that a plurality rule election system tends to favor a two-party system. This is one of two hypotheses proposed by Duverger, the second stating that “The double ballot majority system and proportional representation tend to multipartism.”

The discovery of this tendency is attributed to Maurice Duverger, a French sociologist who observed the effect and recorded it in several papers published in the 1950s and 1960s. In the course of further research, other political scientists began calling the effect a “law” or principle. Duverger's law suggests a nexus or synthesis between a party system and an electoral system: a proportional representation (PR) system creates the electoral conditions necessary to foster party development while a plurality system marginalizes many smaller political parties, resulting in what is known as a two-party system.(2)

So what would happen if we decided to go the third party route?

The result of this is that people vote according to their impressions of the politician and party based upon political advertising, plus any other form of media that has influenced them. The problem with this is that people may not necessarily vote for the best candidate since they have not taken the time to examine whom to vote for.

A seductive feature of demarchy is that if political leaders were replaced on a regular basis with randomly selected citizens, it would reduce institutionalised corruption, party apathy and complacency as well as a history of party led entitlement, lack of choice and variety in political ideas in platforms. It could be argued that replacing politicians in this way would solve such problems.

As people would be randomly selected to act as representatives it would be less likely that the person involved would be part of a "party political machine."

The theory would state that a randomly selected person as a representative would not have to compromise their own beliefs in order to make political alliances and gain support, nor fear political reprisals in implementing tough or controversial legislation. However, as theory goes, there is no inherent guarantee, nor anything a priori in demarchy which guarantees this.

There is no proven link that long term political representation equals a larger amount of monetary loss through political corruption nor could it be proven that random citizens in office would end or limit corruption nor that corruption would increase.

An example of demarchy is the use of a jury of peers in criminal cases. The jury is normally a body of randomly selected citizens who decide the guilty or not guilty verdict, which is a prime example of demarchy. This is an example of sortition being used in one of the three branches of government, with citizens making moral decision and not policy nor its implementation. (3)

Are you sure you want to go the third party route TODAY?

I'm just sayin'.


Source:
(1) http://www.icaucus.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=271&Itemid=239
(2) http://www.answers.com/topic/duverger-s-law
(3) http://www.answers.com/topic/demarchy

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Restoring Honor Rally

RHR Logo

The 9-12 Project in Mentor, OH

is pleased to offer a Bus Trip to the

RESTORING HONOR RALLY

Washington, DC

August 28, 2010

Come celebrate America!

Join Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Jo Dee Messina, Marcus Luttrell and Ted Nugent (who is already firing up his guitar for an incredible rendition of the Star Spangled Banner,)and honor our heroes, our heritage and our future at the Restoring Honor Rally on August 28, 2010. Join us at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. for this non-political, non-partisan rally that will recognize our First Amendment Rights and honor the service members who fight to protect those freedoms.

$60 per person

· Leave Mentor, OH at 10 PM on Friday, August 27, 2010

· Travel aboard a luxury motor coach from Lakefront Lines, featuring:

Climate controlled and restroom equipped bus. Reclining seats with larger windows for panoramic viewing. Three DVD/VCR Monitors for Glenn Beck viewing.

· Stop for breakfast outside of Washington - (cost not included)

· Arrive in Washington, DC in time for the 10 AM start of the Rally

· Depart when the Rally is over.

· Stop for dinner outside of Washington - (cost not included)

· Arrive back in Mentor in the early hours of Sunday, August 29th

Deadline to Sign Up: July 21, 2010

After July 21, 2010 - prices may be higher for people who have not paid.

If the minimum number of people required to charter the bus is not met by July 22nd,

the trip may be cancelled and your money returned in full.

Download the flier here and bring it to a meeting or mail to the address indicated.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

New Report: U.S. Taxpayers a $1 Billion+ Gold Mine for Abortion Industry

 

Child Abuse Inc

You and I are paying to have babies skulls crushed, little arms and legs torn off, defenseless ones burned to death with chemicals. Year after year. Tell me how this is different than the Aztecs’ horrid human sacrifices or pagan’s burning babies alive.

Read what the GAO says here.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Saturday, June 12, 2010

"Should This Be the Last Generation?"

”Peter Singer, who (I kid you not) is a professor of bioethics at Princeton University's Center for Human Values.”

A couple of his thoughts…

‘"Is a world with people in it better than a world with no sentient beings at all?" He's not talking about Animal Liberation (of which he is an enthusiastic believer)--whether they'd be better off if we'd stop taking up space--but rather whether enough of us live a life of sufficient "quality" to justify keeping us "sentient beings" going.

If the answer is no, then we probably ought to be about the business of obtaining universal agreement to sterilize ourselves

"Therefore, if killing the hemophiliac infant has no adverse affects on the others, it would, according to the total view [of utilitarianism], be right to kill him. The main point is clear: killing a disabled infant is not morally equivalent to killing a person.

Very often it is not wrong at all." And "The only difference between killing a normal infant and a defective one is the attitude of the parents."’

We cannot ignore these people. They exert heavy influence the ethical beliefs of our next generation of lawyers, judges, police chiefs, doctors.

Read  more.

Friday, June 11, 2010

America Needs to Hear This...

I’ve listen to Dennis Prager at times on WHK for several years.  He is not the typical radio talk show host. He is not an evangelical Christian. He is not a partisan hack of the Republican subculture. He is not a perfect man nor does he pretend to be so. The message he brings on this brief video is to the point. Barack Obama is not the problem facing America today. Electing a new President will not solve our problems.  Listen to Prager’s analysis and prescription. 

 

Hattip: American Policy Roundtable

Thursday, June 10, 2010

NHS Meltdown: Rationing Duty to Die For Women With Advanced Breast Cancer

 

I used to communicate with a woman who had beat breast cancer. While she was in treatment she joined an internet support group. Women from around the world shared their journeys.

After being cancer free for a while she just couldn’t handle going back to that forum. The women in Great Britain and Canada were denied the treatment she received. They had no hope. She didn’t know what to say to them.

We now have a health care law modeled after those in Canada and Great Britain.

Here’s the latest from the European country most like us.

Tea Party Member Stuns Crowd!

 

Sunday, June 6, 2010

D-Day, June 6, 1944 - The Boys Of Point Du Hoc

Hattip to BlackFive
One of the greatest speeches ever given, in my humble opinion, commemorating the D-Day invasion, was that made by Ronald Reagan on this day in 1984.  Take a moment and read it on this, the 67th anniversary of the D-Day invasion to liberate Europe from the Nazis:

We're here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For four long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved, and the world prayed for its rescue. Here, in Normandy, the rescue began. Here, the Allies stood and fought against tyranny, in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.
We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but forty years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon. At dawn, on the morning of the 6th of June, 1944, 225 Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs. Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these sheer and desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here, and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance.
The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers at the edge of the cliffs, shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After two days of fighting, only ninety could still bear arms.
Behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them here. These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war. Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender's poem. You are men who in your "lives fought for life and left the vivid air signed with your honor."

I think I know what you may be thinking right now -- thinking "we were just part of a bigger effort; everyone was brave that day." Well, everyone was. You remember the story of Bill Millin of the 51st Highlanders? Forty years ago today, British troops were pinned down near a bridge, waiting desperately for help. Suddenly, they heard the sound of bagpipes, and some thought they were dreaming. Well, they weren't. They looked up and saw Bill Millin with his bagpipes, leading the reinforcements and ignoring the smack of bullets into the ground around him.
Lord Lovat was with him -- Lord Lovat of Scotland, who calmly announced when he got to the bridge, "Sorry, I'm a few minutes late," as if he'd been delayed by a traffic jam, when in truth he'd just come form the bloody fighting on Sword Beach, which he and his men had just taken.
There was the impossible valor of the Poles who threw themselves between the enemy and the rest of Europe as the invasion took hold, and the unsurpassed courage of the Canadians who had already seen the horrors of war on this coast. They knew what awaited them there, but they would not be deterred. And once they hit Juno Beach, they never looked back.
All of these men were part of a roll call of honor with names that spoke of a pride as bright as the colors they bore; The Royal Winniped Rifles, Poland's 24th Lancers, the Royal Scots Fusiliers, the Screaming Eagles, the Yeomen of England's armored divisions, the forces of Free France, the Coast Guard's "Matchbox Fleet," and you, the American Rangers.
Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief. It was loyalty and love.
The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead, or on the next. It was the deep knowledge -- and pray God we have not lost it -- that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.
You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.
The Americans who fought here that morning knew word of the invasion was spreading through the darkness back home. They fought -- or felt in their hearts, though they couldn't know in fact, that in Georgia they were filling the churches at 4:00 am., in Kansas they were kneeling on their porches and praying, and in Philadelphia they were ringing the Liberty Bell.
Something else helped the men of D-day; their rock-hard belief that Providence would have a great hand in the events that would unfold here; that God was an ally in this great cause. And so, the night before the invasion, when Colonel Wolverton asked his parachute troops to kneel with him in prayer, he told them: Do not bow your heads, but look up so you can see God and ask His blessing in what we're about to do. Also, that night, General Matthew Ridgway on his cot, listening in the darkness for the promise God made to Joshua: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee."
These are the things that impelled them; these are the things that shaped the unity of the Allies.
When the war was over, there were lives to be rebuilt and governments to be returned to the people. There were nations to be reborn. Above all, there was a new peace to be assured. These were huge and daunting tasks. But the Allies summoned strength from the faith, belief, loyalty, and love of those who fell here. They rebuilt a new Europe together. There was first a great reconciliation among those who had been enemies, all of whom had suffered so greatly. The United States did its part, creating the Marshall Plan to help rebuild our allies and our former enemies. The Marshall Plan led to the Atlantic alliance -- a great alliance that serves to this day as our shield for freedom, for prosperity, and for peace.
In spite of our great efforts and successes, not all that followed the end of the war was happy or planned. Some liberated countries were lost. The great sadness of this loss echoes down to our own time in the streets of Warsaw, Prague, and East Berlin. Soviet troops that came to the center of this continent did not leave when peace came. They're still there, uninvited, unwanted, unyielding, almost forty years after the war. Because of this, allied forces still stand on this continent. Today, as forty years ago, our armies are here for only one purpose: to protect and defend democracy. The only territories we hold are memorials like this one and graveyards where our heroes rest.
We in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars. It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent. But we try always to be prepared for peace, prepared to deter aggression, prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms, and yes, prepared to reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation. In truth, there is no reconciliation we would welcome more than a reconciliation with the Soviet Union, so, together, we can lessen the risks of war, now and forever.
It's fitting to remember here the great losses also suffered by the Russian people during World War II: 20 million perished, a terrible price that testifies to all the world the necessity of ending war. I tell you from my heart that we in the United States do not want war. We want to wipe from the face of the earth the terrible weapons that man now has in his hands. And I tell you, we are ready to seize that beachhead. We look for some sign from the Soviet Union that they are willing to move forward, that they share our desire and love for peace, and that they will give up the ways of conquest. There must be a changing there that will allow us to turn our hope into action.
We will pray forever that someday that changing will come. But for now, particularly today, it is good and fitting to renew our commitment to each other, to our freedom, and to the alliance that protects it.
We're bound today by what bound us 40 years ago, the same loyalties, traditions, and beliefs. We're bound by reality. The strength of America's allies is vital to the United States, and the American security guarantee is essential to the continued freedom of Europe's democracies. We were with you then; we are with you now. Your hopes are our hopes, and your destiny is our destiny.
Here, in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which Matthew Ridgway listened: "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee."
Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their valor and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.
Thank you very much, and God bless you all.

A beautiful commercial showing prenatal development

 

Apple iPad and Pampers are my favorite products as of now.

We wonder if there is any hope in this crazy world. Then appears a wonderful commercial. I agree with Dave Andrusko:

“ …A great and terrible day will come in the not so distant future when North American culture will awaken to what we have done to more than 40-million preborn children. National consciences will be pierced by the blood of those children.

Those people whose consciences have not been completely seared will ask "What have we done!" -- and the abortion ideologues will scurry for dark places to hide.

I believe our culture will turn to people who have stood up for the sanctity, dignity and equality of all human life in search for a way back. Individual and national repentance can still lead to a revival of the ancient western moral code, and the previous Christian civilization we have largely rejected.

Perhaps we are not yet beyond the Almighty's forgiveness.”

Thursday, June 3, 2010

The Terror Finance Flotilla

The Turkish organizers of the Gaza Strip-bound flotilla that was boarded this morning by Israeli commandos knew well in advance that their vessels would never reach Israeli waters. That's because the organizers belong to a nonprofit that was banned by the Israeli government in July 2008 for its ties to terrorism finance.

The Turkish IHH (Islan Haklary Ve Hurriyetleri Vakfi in Turkish) was founded in 1992, and reportedly popped up on the CIA's radar in 1996 for its radical Islamist leanings. Like many other Islamist charities, the IHH has a record of providing relief to areas where disaster has struck in the Muslim world.

However, the organization is not a force for good. The Turkish nonprofit belongs to a Saudi-based umbrella organization known to finance terrorism called the Union of Good (Ittilaf al-Kheir in Arabic). Notably, the Union is chaired by Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, who is known best for his religious ruling that encourages suicide attacks against Israeli civilians. According to one report, Qardawi personally transferred millions of dollars to the Union in an effort to provide financial support to Hamas.

Read the rest here:
http://schanzer.pundicity.com/7539/the-terror-finance-flotilla

Eight and Counting: Parnell Signs Alaska Firearms Freedom Act

The Alaska Firearms Freedom Act addresses this by exempting firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition manufactured and retained in the state from all federal firearm control laws including registration, as firearms that meet these criteria cannot be regulated by the federal government because they have not traveled in interstate commerce.

Read the rest here: http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2010/05/eight-and-counting-parnell-signs-alaska-firearms-freedom-act/

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Flotilla Guerillas

Morning Jolt. . . with Jim Geraghty

I don't know if I'm like most Americans, but during holiday weekends I can easily go 48 hours without looking at the Internet, television news, talk radio, or newspapers outside the sports section. So, on the last day of the three-day weekend, I was suddenly struck by news that (it seems) everyone else had already digested days ago. (Dennis Hopper died!?) Like the outlandish news of a bunch of "activists" trying to play chicken with the Israeli Navy and getting the short end of the stick.


The Washington Times's Eli Lake tries to get us up to speed in a few sentences: "Protests were held throughout the Middle East and Europe on Monday in reaction to Israel's commando raid on a Turkish ship ferrying supplies to Palestinians that left at least nine people dead. Israel defended the raid and posted video on the Internet showing Israeli soldiers during the raid being attacked with metal pipes and knives by the Turkish ship's crew. The incident prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a planned visit to Washington for a meeting with President Obama set for Tuesday. In New York, the U.N. Security Council, prompted by Arab governments, convened a special session to discuss the incident, which took place in international waters near Gaza. The White House issued a statement saying it regretted the loss of life. 'The president also expressed the importance of learning all the facts and circumstances around this morning's tragic events as soon as possible,' it said."

Digesting all this, I'm left wondering . . . the world has a lot of Rachel Corries, doesn't it? An armored bulldozer with momentum is not persuaded by your shining moral clarity. Bullets do not alter their courses because you are an outsider trying to make a bold statement about the necessity of peace in a region that hasn't known it in centuries. And when the Israeli Navy says "Stop," they're not joking around. You may think their order to stop is the most unjust thing since the last issue that got you to stand around and chant at a building, but ignoring it brings predictable hard consequences. Reality doesn't care whether or not you think it's fair. (I notice a large chunk of this crowd were Turks. I suspect these Turkish civilians got what they wanted: a chance to fight Jews.)


On NRO, Michael Rubin thinks this is the make-or-break moment for Obama's Middle East policy: "So why is it decision time for Obama? Israel feels itself increasingly in an existential crisis. Not only is Iran nearing a nuclear-weapons capability, but it has become increasingly vogue to delegitimize Israel. In the wake of the Gaza ship incident, Israel is going to see whether it has any allies left who will recognize its dilemma, recognize its security concerns, and support it as the crisis grows. Israel knows it can't trust Europe. Indeed, Europe finances many of the groups which, if they don't seek Israel's destruction directly, nevertheless indirectly support terrorism. If Obama decides it is in America's interest to make an example of Israel after the Gaza flotilla incident in order to win goodwill in Cairo, Beirut, Tehran, and Ankara, then he must also recognize that the leadership in Jerusalem is going to conclude that it cannot trust the United States to safeguard its security, and that therefore it must take matters into its own hands on any number of issues, not the least of which is Iran's nuclear program. In effect, if the White House decides to come down hard on Israel now, it is the same as giving a green light for Israel to strike Iran. That is not advocacy; it is just the realism of which President Obama is so fond."


At Contentions, Noah Pollak is appalled at some foolish Israeli decisions: "To my mind, the most astonishing thing about the flotilla disaster is that the IDF sent its elite naval commandos into a highly charged potential combat situation that was being closely scrutinized by the world media -- armed with paintball guns. . . . Those who sent an elite unit into a hostile confrontation armed with toy weapons made an incredibly stupid decision. And a uniquely Israeli one. In recent memory, Israeli military action has been violent but not decisive, bloody enough to provoke the outrage and condemnation of the world (at this point, a stubbed toe will do), but not enough to actually change facts on the ground (the Hamas and Hezbollah wars being prime examples). These halfhearted wars and battles have earned Israel demerits in world opinion without enough to show in improved strategic position. Exit question: How many new flotillas to Gaza are being planned right now in Europe, Turkey, and the Middle East?"