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Anything I wanted to write about the current conflict is blown away by the following.

The video is from Israel's Channel 10. The man on the other end of this call is a doctor in Gaza who has called the station frequently to give reports from how things are going within Gaza - a bit of a 'get' since most media is not currently allowed in Gaza.

Shortly before this call began, the doctor's house was hit by an Israeli tank shell, instantly killing his three children. What follows is the uncomfortable situation of people on one side of a conflict having to listen to and face the consequences of their country's actions being vividly laid out before them on the other end of that phone call.

The most surreal moment for me watching this is wide-shot as the reporter is leaving the set, with what must be the main graphics for the war coverage, a smiling Israeli soldier.

Bits like this must make it hard to stay on message.

h/t (kos)

These sorts of comparisons never seem to mean much since the answer is already known, but I'll give it a shot nevertheless.

If a long-serving Democratic senator was suddenly revealed to be supported in an upcoming election, by, say, an embattled governor who is being investigated for an impressive portfolio of corruption, you can be damned sure that the Republicans would be looking to crush this fellow at the polls, and would be making sure to mention the corrupt governor in and in between every possible breath until the line between the 'innocent' appointee and the corrupt governor became indistinguishable. Thankfully we have the state of Illinois to completely throw this logic out of the window.

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A hat-tip to the Washington Post for this latest head-smacking example of the uglier side of our brave new world...

Officials ordered nine Muslim passengers, including three young children, off an AirTran flight headed to Orlando from Reagan National Airport yesterday afternoon after two other passengers overheard what they thought was a suspicious remark.

Happy New Year, it looks like we were just as paranoid in 2008 as we are starting out 2009. More wonderful details beyond the flip...

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Jdimytai Damour, a 34 year old temporary worker at a Wal-Mart on Long Island paid the ultimate price this past Friday morning - in the name of our glorious consumer society. Mr. Damour was trampled to death for either a plasma HDTV, a camera, a vacuum, a "Hulk" DVD, or perhaps some combination of those - maybe something else nestled in the other pages of the advertisement. In any event, Mr. Damour was trampled to death in the name of almighty profit.

For a society that likes to constantly remind itself it is number one in the world in whatever categories it can fantasize, under the right circumstances - in this case a sales ad marked while supplies last can degrade us into the savages of cavemen years oh so long ago. (Perhaps the behavior evolution is all in our head?)

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Link: http://secondpagemedia.com/confundo/index.php/topic,3913.0.html

(lifted from Confundo)

Digby brings to my attention the words of the venerable conservative icon Rush Limbaugh:

With gasoline prices now under two bucks in most places and dropping, and the price of oil (I checked it right before the program) below $50 now ($49 a barrel it was earlier today.) So with the gas price under two bucks and oil plummeting, what would you say, Pelosi and Reid, if the car companies could become profitable by selling SUVs or go broke by turning out the green cars that you're going to demand they make?

Ah, the hypocrisy of the Right Wing mindset.

This is what I like to refer to as "conservative blinders."  You're focused exclusively on short-term interests because things are precisely the way you want them.  Nevermind that they're going to change, and nevermind that you're not going to like the change.  Things are the way they are right now and thus there's no need to change anything.

Gasoline is under two bucks in most place right now but we had a taste of what life is like when it's over four bucks.  The price of oil is under $50 a barrel right now, but we had a taste of what life is like when it's over $150.  What makes you think those prices aren't going to skyrocket again?  What makes you think it's safe to drive SUVs without concern for the future, either to our pocket books or to the global environment?  Things are the way we want them right now, and the future will just sort itself out, right?

Short-term policies are a specialty for the GOP.  Deregulating industries are good for the nation -- in the short term.  Global warming is a problem for the future, so we'll let our children and grandchildren worry about it when it comes time to pay the bill.  About the only long-term thinking the GOP ever engages in amounts to gambling:  their policies are good for the rich and you want to be rich, right?  So support our policies in the increasingly rare event that you get to be rich like us!

I don't want Detroit to start putting out efficient, environmentally-friendly vehicles because they're going to be cheaper.  I want Detroit to do it because it's going to be better for everybody in the long run.  I don't want my children or their children to have to pay the bill we're creating for them.  Of course, if they can't put out a car that won't fall apart while I drive it, I'm still not going to buy from them.  My Corolla just passed the 225000 mile mark on its original engine, and it shows no signs of dropping any time soon.  Until Detroit can match that, I'm going to continue to buy Corollas in the future.

At least, I will when I have the money to do it.  For some reason, the GOP is good at producing policies to protect the rich, but not so good at producing policies that help people achieve that increasingly rarefied status.

On April 28, 2000, General Motors closed at a price of $93.63 per share. It was up almost 36% from its lowest point in the past year. While most of the focus of economic boom at the time was being placed on the technology sector, the auto makers were living their own high life. Incredibly cheap fuel allowed demand to exist for highly inefficient, large, bulky vehicles known as SUVs. In addition to making nature cry every time they were turned on, they also flipped huge profits back toward the car makers, and were by far and away the highest margin-selling vehicles in their respective fleets. Demand was fed by factories, and those factories provided employment for many, and nice wages to boot. Those earners would turn around and instead of save their money, buy anything and everything in site - fueling the economy and topping out the last good years of the good decade, the 1990's.

( image source )

Where did the good times go?

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Iceland is by no means a third-world nation, but recent events have left it on a trajectory toward poorer days as it becomes the first national casualty of the current world economic crisis - all along serving as an example to the world why no matter how much teeth must be gritted, short-term unpopular policy (bailouts) must be adopted to stave off the "worst case scenario" - known as Ireland today.

Iceland is the current, and probably soon-to-be former, holder of the #1 spot in the UN's Human Development Index. Among the factors included in the ranking's calculation, GDP per capita, is what will more than anything else move Iceland down the rankings. Since it's arrival to the #1 spot, the Icelandic economy has in no over-stretching sense of the word, collapsed. The country's broadest stock exchange traded at a valuation of ~8,200 points as recently as the middle of July, 2007. Since then the market has lost 89.15% of its value, trading as low as the 890 level within the past week - including a remarkable trading session (October 14, 2008) that saw the stock market lose over 2/3 of its entire value at once. The country's currency, the krona, exchanged at a rate of 58 to the U.S. dollar as recently as a year ago, but now in violent and thinly-traded sessions finds itself at a rate of 130 to the U.S. dollar and still rising.

The Icelandic public is left, not surprisingly, dazed and confused over this entire turn of events.

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Link: http://secondpagemedia.com/confundo/index.php/topic,3837.0.html

(lifted from Confundo)

Dear America

A couple of days ago, you got together and made a choice. You chose to elect one Barack Obama as your President. I congratulate you on what I feel was the right choice. I am not writing to praise Barack Obama. Nor am I writing to condemn John McCain, a man who I respect. I'm not writing to debate on the campaign at all. I'm writing to say that on November 4, 2008 you proved you aren't beyond hope. Watching you from here in Canada, I often feel like I get to see the worst of your country and not the best. Let's face it, you're not all that high on the popularity chart worldwide at the moment. But when you chose Barack Obama as your President, you gave us a look at some of the best. However, now that you have our attention, you need to follow through.

Your 44th President is also your first African American President. I can appreciate what a historic moment it was when that announcement was heard. I was watching CNN that night and one man, though I can't remember who, said, "Bradley Effect? Come on America's grown up." I don't think truer words have been spoken in the entire campaign than those. However, this doesn't prove race is no longer an issue. It only proves there is no reason for race to be an issue for any of us, American or not. This is by no means the end. The onus is on everyone to change their thinking about race.

Barack Obama is not inheriting a country in an ideal situation. No government can fix the problems you face, but a Nation can. I have complete faith that America has the ability to rise above the hardships before you. It's not going to be easy. It will probably even get worse before it gets better. But with each and every American, from the lowest beggar to the President himself, with every American working together, I have no doubt you can and will be a great nation in the spirit of your founding fathers. But you need everyone on that same track for it to work.

I think, for the first time in a long time, you've elected a person instead of a party as your President. Barack Obama may be a Democrat, but I don't think anyone voted for him for this reason. I think that you believe this man can lead you through a very tough time. With that said, there are going to be people unhappy with the outcome of the recent election. To them I say, please don't let this stand in your way. Don't allow disappointment to bring down the pride you take in your country. As I stated before, it's going to take everyone to overcome the challenges you face as a nation. I know the idea of bipartisanship has been batted around a lot by everyone in this last election and I hope everyone in America, from the government itself, to the regular folks in the cities and towns, lives by it. I would love to see what your nation can achieve through co-operation, awareness and compassion.

Make no mistake, I love your country. I love the ideals it was founded on. I love its ability to realize when something is wrong and change. That is what is needed now, change. Electing Barack Obama as President was not the goal, but the first step in a long journey for America. A journey that can take you to greatness if everyone works together. You've got my attention, America. Now make me proud to say we're friends.

Sincerely,
A Canadian

What's all this then?

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From the "oh now what!?" files, via the BBC...

US helicopter-borne troops have carried out a raid inside Syria along the Iraqi border, killing eight people including a woman, Syrian authorities say.

The official Syrian news agency Sana said the raid took place in the Abu Kamal border area, in eastern Syria.

It said that American soldiers on four helicopters had stormed a building under construction on Sunday night.

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