my not-so-humble opinion about select recent events

Okay.  It's been a long week around the world, it's Saturday, I have a migraine, and now I'm irked.

If (general) you tweet me something while I am sleeping or away from the internet, and you don't get a reply, it could be due to the fact that I am sleeping or away from the internet.  If I RT something, it doesn't necessarily mean that I've ignored your post, or am ignoring you.  It means I haven't formulated a reply.  

Now.  I am a middle-aged (when did THAT happen???  ack) many-generation American, which means I really don't self-identify as a, Irish-American, a Swedish-American, a German-American, an English-American, a French-American, etc, even though I could self-identify as all of the above.  I'm an American.  I'm also a white American, and Protestant, and Democrat.  Tree-hugger?  Maybe.  Pro-choice?  Yes.  Pro-capital punishment?  Yes. Independent thinker?  Yes.

I retweeted an article I read online yesterday that had to do with the fact that it appears that it may not be 'political suicide' now to disagree with issues going on in the Middle East: "Why Opposing the Israel Lobby Is No Longer Political Suicide" via The Nation, which has been in publication since 1865 and is an admittedly liberal magazine.  One of my (now former) followers lives in Israel, and complained that, in retweeting an article she says is 'one-sided', I was not seeing 'their' side of the conflict.

She sent me the series of tweets between 4AM and 5AM my time, and said she unfollowed me because of the article and then refollowed me to 'discuss' it.  On Twitter, where the maximum post is 140 characters long.

Today is Saturday.  I slept in, and when I woke up, I read her posts.  Not something I wanted to process a minute after waking up.  I retweeted a few other posts (Go Cards!) and then was offline to get 'auburn' again and to run errands.  You know, Saturday things.

In the middle of my hair appointment, I got another post that essentially said that I was apparently ignoring her earlier posts, and that I didn't want to hear "what they were going through here".  When I replied that I have been away from the computer most of the day she pointed out that I had been on 5 hours previously (my RTs) and that I obviously believe that Israel doesn't have a "right to defend itself against constant rockets" (that is a direct quote). She has unfollowed me again, so I'm sure she probably won't see this long-winded reply to her posts.

I am rather pissed, and I don't mean drunk.

The following is my opinion.  If you don't like my opinion, that is entirely your prerogative.

I think the Israelis need to stop settling in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.  I think that the are using overt force against a mostly unarmed people.  I think they need to use their fêted Iron Dome (which they do!) and work to talk to the people who are firing them off to get them to stop.  I think they need to retreat their ground forces.  If the Israelis are so worried about the tunnels they claim the Palestinians are using to get into Israel, they should find them on the Israeli side and block them.  I think they are using the 'hunt for tunnels' as an excuse to destroy hospitals, schools, shelters, homes, and businesses. And lives.

Great!  Israel uses the 'knock on the roof' to let people know that they're going to drop a bomb.  What about after that bomb is dropped?  What happens to the people who homes were just destroyed?  Oh, that doesn't matter, they're just Palestinians. What about the children killed on the beach?  "Oops."?  As of this afternoon, there has been 5 Israeli deaths (3 soldiers, 2 civilians), and at least 336 Palestinian. Mostly women and children - at least 70 children. (Source: Yahoo! News) Disproportional much?

I'm not saying that Israel cannot defend itself against rockets.  I'm saying that the "offensive incursion" is not "defensive".  It's offensive, and not just in a military way.  It's offensive to human rights, to people who want the fighting to stop, and to countries around the world who are starting to look askance at the blind support that countries like the United States have given Israel in the past.

I think it's great that people are starting to really look at this issue, and talk about how maybe all this blind support isn't a good idea, and talk about it politically.  We haven't had that freedom (in the land of the free!) to even hint to oppose the support, because it wasn't popular - it was 'political suicide'. Kinda like Akin and his 'legitimate rape' crap that he's now saying is 'true' (due to his retraction of his apology) and that he was 'a victim'. (Of his own stupidity. Moron.)

I just ran across this Huffington Post article while I was looking for information on Akin, and I'm sure it'll also be considered 'one-sided':  May We Talk About This Yet? Jewish Millennials and the Future of Israel-Palestine

It's now 8PM, and I have been irritated about this topic since I woke up this morning. Did I ignore the posts?  No.  Has it taken me over 9 hours to put my thoughts together enough to post it?  Yes.  Am I still pissed at the response I got in the middle of the afternoon?  You bet.

Your mileage may vary.

Cheers.

and the home of the brave

It's been a terrible week, but we're strong.

For (and from) Boston:



Pray for Boston, and for Texas.

sleep in heavenly peace

Thank you, SNL. I was very impressed, and touched.

earthquake vid from japan

Hi again.

Yet another "omg, you have to see this" video.  I have no idea how the heck this guy stayed so calm, when you can SEE the ground opening and closing at your feet.




Ground splits and moves during Japanese earthquake - Videos - Graeme Hill - Weekend Hosts - RadioLIVE

I do not want to see that here.  We're only 175 miles from the New Madrid Fault Zone.

Stay safe, everyone.

unbelievable tsunami vid

Hi all...

I found this via a tweet and watched it...you have to see this.  Hopefully this will upload properly.

I'm not sure what geological formation the videographer is on, but it is scary, horribly awesome what this wave does, and I'm sure that he and everyone with him is thankful that they had a place to be safe.

(EDIT: The video was from Kesennuma, Japan, and is now on the Weather.com website.)

Be safe, everyone.