So, while we were sleeping last night (well, I was sleeping, anyway), the brave Israeli Navy attacked a flotilla of ships in International waters carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza, killing at least 10 people. Among the 600 or so people on board the aid ships were a Nobel Peace Prize winner (a real one, not like Obama) and an 85 year old Holocaust survivor. A dangerous crew, indeed. According to the Israelis, when they attempted to illegally board the ships, those aboard actually had the temerity to defend themselves.
“That is a lie,†said Greta Berlin, a leader of the pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement, speaking by telephone from Cyprus. She said it was inconceivable that the civilian passengers on board would have been “waiting up to fire on the Israeli military, with all its might.â€
“We never thought there would be any violence,†she said.
Rather unfortunate name you got there, Greta.
I’m sure that when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington on Tuesday, our President will give him a stern talking to. He may even scale all the way up to BP-level righteous indignation (very scary, that). Hey, here’s an idea; why not take some of the billions in aid and loan guarantees to stop the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, and maybe fix New Orleans with the leftovers? I know, that’s crazy talk.
Anyhow, it’s Memorial Day, which you can celebrate via the teevee by watching all number of really depressing movies. Just last night, I watched Kevin Bacon in “Taking Chance“, “Alive Day Memories” is on this morning, and hopefully “Last Letters Home” will be on at some point, ‘cuz that’ll make you cry faster than “Old Yeller”.
I’ll bet there’s even a few movies on today starring our most famous veteran and war hero, John Wayne (who of course was neither vet nor hero, but he was pretty much down with sending young men off to die in some stinking jungle on the other side of the planet).
Personally, I’ve been fortunate enough not to have lost any friends or loved ones to military action. It would be nice if the last person killed in war was just a distant memory that you had to read about in a musty old history book that told the story of how things were back when humans (or the ones in charge, anyway) were still savages.
Some day, maybe. But not today.
:peace: :jesus: :gate:
Increased national attention was on the Gulf Coast yesterday when President Obama made a visit to assess the oil spill response effort. An official in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, is reporting that BP “bused 400 cleanup workers into Grand Isle†— at a rate of $12 an hour — to be there when Obama arrived. From New Orleans NBC affiliate WDSU:
Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts didn’t buy into the cleanup effort.
“They must think we’re all fools,†he said.
Roberts called BP’s efforts “shameful.†[…]
Roberts said that since oil started coming ashore in Grand Isle last week, no more than a dozen workers hired by BP have been seen on the beaches in the area, until Friday when the president arrived.
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/05/29/bp-buses-workers/
Israeli naval commandos stormed a flotilla of ships carrying aid and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists to the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday, killing nine passengers in a botched raid that provoked international outrage and a diplomatic crisis.
Dozens of activists and six Israeli soldiers were wounded in the bloody predawn confrontation in international waters. The violent takeover dealt yet another blow to Israel’s international image, already tarnished by war crimes accusations in Gaza and its 3-year-old blockade of the impoverished Palestinian territory.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/31/gaza-flotilla-attacked-israel_n_595239.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-stranahan/marc-maron-enters-mind-of_b_595136.html
http://tinyurl.com/2bh7hhh :40: