LILLYLADY Forum Posts (1,293)

RE: "Gaza is like a prison camp"

By News Agencies and Haaretz Service
Tags: Israel news Gaza Egypt Jordan

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking on Israeli television on August 4, 2010

Earlier Wednesday, Egyptian officials also confirmed that the rocket attacks, which had killed a Jordanian taxi driver in Aqaba, had been carried out by the militant Palestinian group operating from Egypt, after days of denials.

"Over recent days we've witnessed three attacks against Israel," Netanyahu said in a special announcement on Israeli television. "An attack from Gaza on Ashkelon, an attack by the Lebanese army on Israel Defense Forces troops carrying out a routine operation, and another attack from the Sinai peninsula at Eilat. I want to make very clear to Hamas and to the Lebanese government that we view them as responsible for the violent provocation against us."

"Don't test our determination to protect our citizens," the prime minister went on to say.

"Israel will retaliate for every assault. Apparently there were those who understood that, and tried to avoid taking responsibility for these crimes. Three days after our retaliatory operation in Gaza, Grad rockets were fired from Sinai at Eilat and Aqaba by a seemingly anonymous organization. Several months earlier, on April 22, similar rocket fire came from Sinai. We investigated the two incidents – it became clear beyond a doubt that Hamas' military wing in Gaza had perpetrated both attacks under disguise," Netanyahu explained.

"I want to clarify that the use of a third country's soil, one that seeks peace, in order to launch rockets at Israel, will not help Hamas escape culpability. Israel views the attacks against its citizens with extreme severity, as well as the attempt to destabilize Israel's relations with Egypt and Jordan," the prime minister continued.

"Whoever shoots at Israeli citizens, and it doesn't matter from where, we will find them and hit them hard," Netanyahu concluded.
Earlier Wednesday, an Egyptian security official said Hamas had fired seven rockets, including one which misfired and left debris near a security facility in the town of Taba.

The attackers fired Soviet-style Grad rockets of the type used by militants in Lebanon and Gaza, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Aqaba and Eilat are more than 300 kilometers from Hamas' stronghold in the Gaza Strip. However, an unnamed Egyptian source told Egypt's state MENA agency on Wednesday that "preliminary information indicates that Palestinian factions from the Gaza Strip are behind that operation."

"Egypt will not accept the use of its land by any party to harm Egyptian interests," the Egyptian security source said.

In 2005, rockets were fired at U.S. warships in Aqaba but missed their target and killed a Jordanian soldier on land. A group claiming links to al Qaeda said it was behind the attack.

Two years later, a Palestinian suicide bomber infiltrated through Sinai and killed three people at a bakery in Eilat, a tourist resort on Israel's southern tip which has only rarely been touched by the Middle East conflict.
Jordan and Egypt are the only Arab states to have full peace treaties with Israel. Those relations were frayed by Israel's crackdown a decade ago on a Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Among the groups operating in the Sinai are those with links to Hamas, Hezbollah, Al-Qaida and other global Jihadi groups.

The presence of terrorist groups in the Sinai is one of the reasons for the serious travel warning issued by Israel's Counter Terrorism Unit against Israelis traveling to Sinai and Egypt.

RE: "Gaza is like a prison camp"

Nah, not even for the naysayers Conrad. Unless they can admit that the Gaza prison camp has some wonderful amenities for the prisoners...better than any prison camp in the world for sure.

RE: "Gaza is like a prison camp"

Nah, I don't think so. Birchy is a man on mission with only his agenda that means anything.

RE: What's in a kiss

So true Boban!! Good answer! We can always count on you for coming up with the right answer. My day is going to be a good one now that I've had my first laugh of the morning.

RE: Obama caves...

Ms Bittersweet, please let me educate you for a moment on why Jews became accomplished merchants and intellectuals to begin with. It was not because of thinking they were better than anyone else. Far from it!!

It stems way on back from the fact that they were persecuted and expulsed out of countries such as Spain in 1492. Empires levied laws forbidding Jews to be merchants to non Jews, to go to universities, to be employed by non Jews or to even mingle with non Jews or where they could live. They were forbidden to own property and were subserviant to czars, czaresses, kings, queens throughout history. For example in the 19th century, there was the Pale of Settlement in Russia. These were areas that Jews were allowed to live in amongst themselves and there they flourished into the early 20th century. A forced ghettoization or what was called "Shtetls" was their lot. These were small hamlets and some larger communities. Many of the Jews also lived in the countryside and had to live close to each other for safety as the gentile neighbors would often attack them, kill them and call them Christ killers. Hence the Blood Libel stories. There were also racial laws in Germany suddenly stopping Jews from teaching or attending universities or going to their businesses or houses of prayer. Look up the term "Kristalnacht". There was also the Jewish ghetto in Venice, Italy. In Poland during WW2, the shtetls were destroyed and even the cemetaries were bulldozed down and the headstones used to pave streets elsewhere. All traces of many communities and their inhabitants were vanished and never found.

Most of those shetls all over Europe and Russia were decimated and destroyed with the inhabitants being murdered during WW2. My family came from several of those Russian small shetls and left because they were being murdered in the pogroms of the 1800s.

So it is not for being better than others that Jews were educated and had businesses. The laws of the different lands also denied the Jews to learn trades but allowed them education and businesses amongst themselves. They flourished and made the best of what the different governments allowed them to have anmongst themselves.

The governments at different eras in history literally forced the Jews to be segrated and separate and fend for themselves, but yet remain as servants to the aristocracy while imposing very heavy taxes on them to finance the government. Also it was commonplace in Russia to conscript young Jewish boys into the military at around age 10-12 yrs old and forcibly convert them to another religion and they never got to see their families again. My uncle was one that as a boy in Russia was grabbed by the czar's soldiers. His sister went and lifted up her dress and danced provocatively in front of the soldiers who had him, in order to distract their attention so he was able to escape. The family got out of Russia by bribing a peasant with a cart at great risk. They also slept on the outer platform of a train getting out of Russia as Jews were not allowed in the train. The sister suffered severefrostbite on her legs as she sat on top of her brother on the train, to disguise the fact that he was there when soldiers would come by to look for young Jewish males.

When those immigrants came to this country, they brought over their education and business skills and have passed down that tradition to future generations. So is it no wonder that Jews are overall educated and in businesses today?

Hope this helps to clarify the origins of some of the things that people write about Jews in such a bad way and enlightens some others as to why Jews may seem to stand out amongst other people in the world today.

RE: Obama caves...

I agree with Birch, why is it that the Jews are continually persecuted? Seems as if EVERYONE wants to kill the Jews. What is it about them that evokes such hatred? Why them in particular?

Hi Bittersweet,

Perhaps you should ask Silverbirch why he has such a deep rooted hatred of Jews and what it is about them in particular that evokes his hatred? All his postings are Jew hate but disguised as anti Zionist so he says. When he blatantly uses the word "goy" in a negative way and didn't even know the origins of the word, it shows a very deep rooted hate system within him. He had a run in with some Jewish kids back in his childhood and has harbored a hate to all Jews ever since. Anytime anyone calls him on this issue, he remains silent or rants on about Zionism to change the subject.

Perhaps you can get an honest answer out of him. No one else can get through his repetitious rantings. He does the same thing on forum after forum. Good luck with your efforts should you try.

RE: Obama caves...

BTW SB, I believe you mentioned somewhere that Hamas has no military army. Well, you are wrong there for sure. Read on brother.....and this doesn't even include all their unpaid child soldiers that they have trained. Palestinian Media Watch Hamas videos display this quite well.


(AP) Haaretz News Jul 27, 2010
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - The top security official in Hamas-ruled Gaza says he's considering setting up a bigger military force, first of volunteers and eventually of conscripts.

Such a step would further tighten Hamas' control of Gaza and deepen the rift between the militant group and Western-backed moderates of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Hamas now has a paid security force of 18,000.

Interior Minister Fathi Hamad raised the idea Tuesday at the inauguration of a new police building. He said his ministry is "open to the idea of voluntary recruitment and then going to conscription." He gave no details.

His spokesman Ehab Ghussein says the ministry is looking for now at voluntary recruitment for a broad-based security force, but not a draft.

RE: Mosque on WTC site

A 13 story mosque by the site of the WTC? Not only will it be a target of revenge by angry Americans but also could be a site of bloodshed by fellow Muslims themselves.

Published 10:03 20.07.10
Israel Police arrests 13 members of Lod clan, days after fatal feud
Bystander killed in fight by rival clans over the right to pray in one of the city's mosques, police said, in fourth case of violence between the Azbarja and the Abu-Saluq clans this year.
By Yaniv Kubovich
Tags: Israel news
Israel Police forces arrested 13 members of the Abu-Saluq clan in Lod on Tuesday, after a bystander was killed and three people wounded in an altercation between two rival families over the weekend.

The latest spasm of violence Saturday was a fight by rival clans over the right to pray in one of the city's mosques, police said. This is the fourth case of violence between the Azbarja and the Abu-Saluq clans this year.

Police say the Abu-Saluqs claim to own the mosque, and they control who enters. In a raid on the Abu-Salaq family compound early Tuesday, special police forces confiscated five handguns, as well as ammunition, a number of rifles and grenades.

In the latest mosque brawl, the Abu-Saluqs beat the Azbarjas within an inch of their lives, with metal rods, knives and stones. There were reports of live fire, and police found spent rounds at the scene.

Salman Azbarja, 47, was killed in the altercation. Azbarja had worked for years at a nearby taxi station. He heard the shouting and came to see what was happening, friends say, and was trying to separate the sides when he was stabbed in the back. He had a wife and two children.

Four people were arrested, but three already have been released - police determined they played only a negligible role in the brawl.

Concerned over possible revenge attacks, police have beefed up their presence in the city.

RE: Obama caves...

What? Geez, I thought I finally got through to SB about the term Goyim. OMG, do I have to go through this all over again for him? C'mon already. Damn....I'll pay the tuition and I'll send him to Hebrew School for a real education. He'll come back to us with a yarmuke and talis on next.

I do believe there is hope out there somewhere for him. Remember, he deliberately enjoys goading on us. It's his hobby and favorite pastime. I doubt he will explode anytime soon.

RE: Obama caves...

And you probably also seem to turn a blind eye on the fact that the Turks forced the rest of the activists into the hull of the ship and attacked the IDF when the IDF came aboard.

Those Turks got what they well deserved. None of the other activists on that ship or any of the other ships were injured, just the ones that had a well planned and coordinated attack on the Israelis. Well good riddance to those Turks. And good riddance to anyone else who wants to follow in their footsteps. A bullet for them too!!! And they can have their 72 virgins.

For the flotillas that allowed their cargo to be inspected, their cargo was sent on to Gaza with no casualties involved. But it does seem very strange that Hamas didn't even want to accept the aide. So much for the desperate conditions in Gaza..

Just my honest opinion here SB

RE: Obama caves...

Wrong SB, you are incorrect when you say the 9 Turks were unarmed. They were armed and inviting a confrontation with the IDF. Their motto was to throw the Jews into the sea. I find it rather odd that for a man that purportedly reads and knows so much, that you somewhat deleted reading the part about the weapons that were used against the Israelis or their war cry rally against the Jews.

I believe I have posted this info for you already in one of the other fourms. You seem to turn a blind eye and condone anything anyone does to kill a Jew but cry foul if a Palestinian gets hurt.

RE: Obama caves...

OK SB, here ya go!! Open your eyes please and see who the 9 dead flotilla Turks really represent and who investigated to find the terror organization's connections. Not convinced yet? Bon voyage SB


By Yossi Melman Jul 18, 2010
Tags: Israel news Gaza flotilla Turkey

Jean-Louis Bruguière's official title is a bit convoluted: He was appointed by the European Union to overlook the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program at the U.S. Department of Treasury, but behind that dry and bureaucratic title hides one of the most important roles in the global fight against terror. The investigative magistrate's job is to "dry out" the financial sources that feed the world's terror organizations, specifically the al-Qaida-inspired global Jihad network.

The main tool employed by Bruguière and his colleagues in the EU and in U.S. to track and intercept the transfer of funds used to finance terror groups is known as SWIFT [Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication]. It's an international association of more than 8,500 banks and financial institutions in Europe, the United States, Russia, China, far eastern and Middle Eastern countries, including Israel.

IHH has past ties to al-Qaida affiliates, and Bruguière says he is proud of the fact that – already in 1996 - he came to the conclusion that IHH "is a terror organization and not a charity group," he says. Bruguière was asked to investigate the Turkish group after French intelligence discovered that Canadian couriers were sending forged Moroccan passports to France for use by Islamic militants intent on carrying out attacks in France and other European countries.

"My investigation revealed a broad and global terror network that reached Bosnia and Afghanistan, whose center was at the Turkish IHH quarters," says Bruguière. "We had recordings of telephone conversations and documents from people who explicitly testified that this is a terror group. Turkish authorities raided the group's headquarters for good reason and discovered weapons, explosive materials and forged documents."

Jean-Louis Bruguière is a clear product of the French administration and government, and he developed within France's complex legal system. He recalls how his first case as an investigating magistrate was to probe a 1982 terror attack at the Paris restaurant Goldenberg - a symbol of Jewish life in the Marais - which was carried out by Palestinian militants tied to Abu Nidal and which left six people dead.

Bruguière also investigated Palestinian terror groups who plotted attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets in France. One of his most prominent investigations was into the 1982 murder of Israeli diplomat Ya'akov Barsimantov in a Paris parking lot. Barsimantov, an apparent Mossad agent responsible for security at Jewish institutions and an agency responsible for helping Jews from Arab and Muslim countries immigrate, was killed by a Lebanese woman recruited by a small terror group.

Bruguière's introduction to the Middle East continued with another case: His probe of arch-terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, a.k.a. Carlos the Jackal, who was extradited in 1994 from Sudan to France and who is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of two French counter-intelligence agents. Sánchez is a classic mercenary who worked for the PLO, Libyan intelligence, Syria and Iraq. He was also sponsored by intelligence agencies in Hungary, the Czech Republic, and the former eastern Germany.

RE: Mosque on WTC site

CNN July 14, 2010

New York (CNN) -- A leading opponent of a proposed mosque and community center near Ground Zero is asking a question that looms as large as the towers that stood nearby less than nine years ago: "Why there?"

Pamela Geller, a conservative blogger who leads a group called Stop the Islamicization of America, posed the question on CNN's "American Morning" Wednesday.

"We feel that it is a cemetery and sacred ground and the dead should be honored," Geller said. "To build a 13-story mega mosque on the cemetery, on the site of the largest attack in American history, I think, is incredibly insensitive."

Those for and against the proposed mosque butted heads during a passionate three-hour hearing of New York's Landmarks Preservation Commission Tuesday night.

Officially, the hearing was a forum for testimony on whether the building at 45-47 Park Place, near Ground Zero, is worth preserving. The structure dates back to the late 1850s. Preservation Commission spokeswoman Elisabeth de Bourbon said the building housed the headquarters of the Merck pharmaceutical company in the 1920s and in more recent years served as a discount clothing store. She said she was not sure what the current owner -- the Muslim outreach group the Cordoba Initiative -- has been doing with the building, but people attending Tuesday night's meeting said it was being used for prayer services.

The commission is expected to vote in August on whether to grant the structure landmark status, even though the Community Board of lower Manhattan said earlier this month the building wasn't architecturally significant enough to merit the designation.

Even if the building on Park Place is declared a landmark, "changes can be made to a landmark building with approval from the Landmark Preservation Commission," de Bourbon said.

Supporters of the Park Place preservation are opposed to a project by the Cordoba Initiative and the American Society for Muslim Advancement to build their mosque and community center so close to the site where the twin towers of the World Trade Center were destroyed by Islamist hijackers on September 11, 2001.

The contentious nature of the hearing was expected, because if the commission rules the structure now at the site doesn't deserve the landmark status, the groups behind the project won't need any additional city permission to demolish the old building and move ahead with the mosque construction.

Voices opposing the mosque dominated the hearing.

"It would be a terrible mistake to destroy a 154-year-old building in order to build a monument to terrorism," one woman said.

The heckling and intense nature of the hearing got to be too much for some participants.

The Cordoba Initiative says it aims to improve relations between Muslims and the West.

"The Cordoba Initiative hopes to build a $100 million, 13-story community center with Islamic, interfaith and secular programming, similar to the 92nd Street Y," its website says, referring to the cultural institution on the upper east side of Manhattan. The project calls for a mosque, a performing arts center, gym, swimming pool and other public spaces.

RE: Euthanasia

It's not so easy to get the PLUG PULLED in many states. Florida is very resistant as I just found out with my cousin on life support. As POA-HC, I couldn't get her unplugged as the docs had hooked her up due to a sudden stroke and brain hemmorhage. I had the POA-HC decisions living in Ohio and the hospital did not have the records. Decisions were at the doctor's level only at first. Hence the importance of the initiative to have medical records be electronic all over the US. If records were electronic on the computer, her records could have been pulled up and this would have shown up. Instead, I didn't find out till later and faxed the paper form my cousin signed 10 yrs ago giving me the Health Care decision ability. It truly was painful for me to see her quality of life to being relegated to only functioning because of tubes and she having no idea of what was happening to her. She was truly a carcass with no chance of making a turnaround. My heart was so broken. :(

Scientific Proof That The Chicken Came Before The Egg

There has always been the great deabate of which came first...the chicken or the egg? Well, finally the proof is here to solve the debate. The chicken wins!! dated today spell it out. However, at the end of the article, science cannot figure how the chicken got here first. Maybe just like Adam and Eve were created first and then had all future generations followed. There was no mention of an egg first for them.

Chicken Came Before the Egg: "Scientific Proof"
Researchers in U.K. say Proof is in the Protein Found in Chicken's Ovaries, Used to Form Eggshell
Interactive

(CBS) British scientists claim to have solved one of the great mysteries of life, the universe and everything in it: The chicken came before the egg, they say, and they're not mincing words.

"It had long been suspected that the egg came first, but now we have the scientific proof that shows that in fact the chicken came first," Sheffield University's Dr Colin Freeman, according to a report in the Metro.

Researchers from Scotland and England used a supercomputer called HECToR to look in such detail at a chicken eggshell that they were able to determine the vital role of a protein used to kick-start the egg's formation.

That protein is only found, wait for it... inside a chicken.

Freeman, who worked on HECToR with counterparts at Edinburgh's Warwick University, said the protein had been identified earlier by scientists and was known to be linked to egg formation, "but by examining it closely we have been able to see how it controls the process," he added, describing it as a catalyst.

Professor John Harding, who also took part in the research, told Metro the discovery could have other applications.

"Understanding how chickens make shells is fascinating in itself, but can also give clues towards designing new materials." he said.

Which is good, because in spite of HECToR's hard work and the "scientific proof" it yielded, the study offered no explanation as to how the chicken got there in the first place.

If not from an egg, perhaps it just came from across the road.

RE: Obama caves...

SB, there might just be a showdown on the high seas with mutiny of the crew and captain by the activists possibly. It is ultimately the captain's choice on whether he will sail to El Arish to prevent an Israeli assault on his ship or be forced by the peaceniks to try to plow through the blockade. That's a heck of a situation to be in. "Damned if I do and damned if I don't." At this rate, ship owners will not allow themselves to be hired out for Gaza flotilla purposes in the future. The activists wind up sabotaging their own efforts.

Haaretz Jul 14, 2010

An Al-Jazeera correspondent aboard the ship said two of the Israeli ships were on the port side of the vessel, to prevent it from changing direction and sailing to Gaza.

The military spokeswoman said the Amalthea's Cuban captain had promised Israel Navy officials that he would not continue to Gaza and instead sail to El Arish.

Egypt said late on Tuesday that the Amalthea had asked to dock in its port, while mission organizers insisted the ship would hold course to Gaza.

The charity that chartered the Amalthea said on Tuesday it would sail to Gaza with its declared cargo of 2,000 tons of food and medicine. Charity director Youssef Sawani rejected accounts of the ship's El Arish destination as a ruse.

The confusion over where and when the Amalthea would dock prompted an Israeli official to suggest there was disagreement between the hired crew of 12 and some 10 pro-Palestinian activists aboard determined to defy the Gaza blockade.

Israel Radio aired what sounded like the navy warning the captain that he would be held responsible for any showdown at sea and legal ramifications. Other aid ships have been impounded in Israel, with some of their cargo eventually trucked to Gaza.

"You are in charge of the people on the ship, and any attempt to enter the area will be your fault only," a voice that the radio identified as a navy negotiator is heard saying.

RE: Obama caves...

Try telling that to the suicide bombers and the ones that continue to lob rockets breaking every cease fire with Israel. Israel even pulled all it's citizens out of Gaza and allowed the people to have their own govt as part of a start to gaining a Palestinian state. And you saw what happened between the 2 political factions there. That is why there is Gaza and the West Bank now with 2 separate Palestinian govt entities.

You're like the old broken record player repeating itself. Perhaps this makes you feel empowered a bit. If so, good for you.

RE: Dying In America

I believe there is an organization called "The Hemlock Society." Now I think that they believe in assisted euthanasia. Oregon is one of the states in the U.S. that allows for assisted euthanasia.

I saw on TV a recent interview with Dr Jack Kevorkian. He is rather a reclusive individual and has some weird ideas on living, his profession and even growing up. Although people have demonized him, others who have lived or live in intractable daily pain welcomed his assistance to allow themselves to die with dignity and quickly, rather than to linger day in and day out.

It has got to be horrible to have your full mind about you and live in intractable daily pain and watch your body wither and fall apart on a daily basis till you see yourself as only a shell of the person you were. They feel themselves as a living, breathing corpse. No joy in living when the essence of who they were has been robbed from them. People in that situation live their daily life in physical and mental torture.

We might normally say no to assisted suicide but if we are ever in that intractable pain situation, we might consider it. No one can say no for sure until they have a different set of "shoes to walk in at a particular time in their lives."

BTW, last Aug when my cousin had a stroke and brain hemmorhage and was comatose and hooked up to all sorts of tubes and life support, I was the one who had to make the decision to let her "complete her journey." She stroked in Fla and was hooked up to life support before the docs found out I was the POA-HC. Sadly, they could not unhook her legally from life support, even though I asked them to. May have had something to do with the Terri Schiavo case. Anyway, I knew my cousin well enough that she would never ever want to live like that. She was so vibrant, beautiful and full of energy, laughter and life. As her organs shut down 4 days later and her blood pressure was falling, I told the doctor not to do anything to prolong the inevitable. She died by Day 4. It was the most difficult decision of my life and my conscience was clear every step of the way and still is. Fortunately, I did not need Kevorkian's expertise. It would have been worse had she been in a permanent coma state.

This is a very good topic and one that gives me pause to stop and think about life, love, happines, who we are, what makes us tick and what we want for end of life decisons and who to carry out our wishes. Something probably many of us are still hesitant to face

RE: Obama caves...

The following quote is from Silverbirch. Somehow, the quote marks and his name did not print so I'm giving him credit for it. "Slaughter, ie masacre is what took place in Gaza last year."(quote Silverbirch)

RE: Obama caves...

Slaughter, ie masacre is what took place in Gaza last year.

With your thinking, you would probably feel that the massacre of the Chabad Jews in Mumbai or the murders of Israelis in restaurants, kibbutzes, discos, and the loss of 3000 lives in 9/11 would not be considered slaughters, eh?

And what of all the innocent Russian schoolchildren that were murdered when terrorists broke into their school and held them hostage? Or the theatre incident in Russia with the terrorists that took control? I suppose you would not consider those incidents a massacre either.

I have a feeling that Ukrainegary might have some ideas on what massacre is.

RE: Obama caves...

I FOR ONE DO NOT SUPPORT THE SLAUGHTER OF CIVILIANS

I FOR ONE DO NOT SUPPORT THE COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT OF MEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN

So SB, read the article below. What do you think that the Hezbollah are digging in and building themselves up for? Think that the UN will be able to stop them once they instigate Israel enough? Wouldn't be surprised if you tell me they have no intention of inflicting any collective punishment on innocent Israeli men, woman and children civilians anywhere in Israel in spite of their short and long range rockets and missles.

Published 20:05 07.07.10
Hezbollah readying for urban war in southern Lebanon, IDF warns
Deployment of UN forces has pushed militants into built-up areas where international troops have no authority, army says.
By Anshel Pfeffer
Tags: Israel news Second Lebanon War Lebanon Hezbollah Israel's military on Wednesday offered evidence of what it says is a growing threat from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, using aerial images to highlight the militants group's activities in towns and villages close to the Israeli border.

In a briefing to journalists, Israel Defense Forces Colonel Ronen Marley revealed previously classified photographs to show what he said was a unit of 90 Hezbollah militants operating in the village of Al-Hiyam, where they were storing weapons close to hospitals and schools.

IDF aerial photo marking alleged Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, released on July 7, 2010

"Hezbollah is establishing itself with increasing strength in the villages," Marley said. "Every day they are collecting significant intelligence on our forces along the border and every day they are engaged in digging, building and laying communications infrastructure to prepare themselves for war."

In the four years since Israel fought a month-long war with Hezbollah, the IDF had collected data on thousand of targets to be bombed by Israel in the event of renewed hostilities, Marley said.

In the last war, much of the fighting took place on open scrubland, he said. But the deployment of United Nations forces in southern Lebanon had forced Hezbollah into built up areas where troops from the international UNIFIL force have no authority.

The IDF believes Hezbollah has an arsenal of some 40,000 short and medium range rockets stored in towns and villages south of the Litani River, with many of the weapons stored in private houses.

Hezbollah also has hundreds of longer range M-600 rockets capable of striking major Israeli cities, Marley said.

The weapons are operated by a force of some 20,000 armed Shi'a Muslim militants, around a third of which have undergone combat training in Iran, available for action at short notice.

Marley said every Shi'a Muslim village had a detachment of between 30 and 200 fighters, whose task would be to hold of the advance of enemy troops into built-up areas in the event of an Israeli invasion.

Mexico Thwarts Hezbollah Bid To Set Up South American Network

I have to agree 100% with that mafia member remark Solitare. Very good assessment indeed.

Mexico Thwarts Hezbollah Bid To Set Up South American Network

So Hezbollah is trying to get established in Mexico. Can just see it now what will happen when either Hezbollah or a Mexican cartel double cross one another.It'll be Mexican-Palestinian decapitations next. Each in their own right wants to be top dog....no way could they share the leadership position and share the house together.

By Jack Khoury and Haaretz Service Jul 6 2010

Tags: Israel news Hezbollah Mexico foiled an attempt by Hezbollah operatives employed Mexicans nationals with family ties to Lebanon to set up the network, designed to target Israel and the West, the Al-Seyassah daily said. According to the report, Mexican police mounted a surveillance operation on the group's leader, Jameel Nasr, who traveled frequently to Lebanon to receive information and instructions from Hezbollah commanders there.


Police say Nasr also made frequent trips to other countries in Latin America, including a two-month stay in Venezuela in the summer of 2008.

Nasr was living in Tijuana, Mexico at the time of his arrest, the report said.

The report follows warnings from the United States that Hezbollah and its backer Iran are stepping up operations in the region.

In June, a U.S. congresswoman wrote to the Department of Homeland Security to warn that Hezbollah was increasing its presence in Central and South America.

In her letter, Congresswoman Sue Myrick called on the U.S. to work with Mexican forces, as there was intelligence that Hezbollah was working in conjunction with Mexican drug cartels on the U.S.-Mexico border.

In 2009 a U.S. commander tasked with overseeing U.S. military interests in the region said Hezbollah was linked to drug-trafficking in Colombia.

"We have seen... an increase in a wide level of activity by the Iranian government in this region," Admiral James Stavridis told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"That is a concern principally because of the connections between the government of Iran, which is a state sponsor of terrorism, and Hezbollah," he said.

In February a U.S. court in Miami indicted three men for raising funds for Hezbollah, which the U.S. classifies as a terrorist organization.

Hezbollah is believed to have been behind the bombing of a Jewish cultural center in the Argentinean capital Buenos Aires in 1994, in which 85 people were killed.

Update:The Truth About PM Erdogan and The Mavi Marmara

Funny you mention about lighting one candle for Gilad Shalit. I will say Thank You for that as you were quite appropriate there. You jogged my memory a bit. We have a Jewish song that has very similar words around Chanukah time, commemorating the 2nd temple destruction and the drop of oil that was found that lasted 8 days. It also commemorates the Maccabees.

Here's the first verse. There are quite a few more.

Light one candle for the Maccabee children that their memory may stay alive.....

RE: need help with new wife.

Gary,

Get out of the woman's way or you may get clobbered with a rolling pin.

Seriously, if your wife has a sense of pride and is a very good cook...stay out of the kitchen unless she will allow you to wash the dishes the way she wants you to do them. I am very fussy and anyone who washes my dishes or volunteers to fold clothes or make my bed better do them the way I want them or get out of my way. Everything has to be folded right. The same goes for my cooking. If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing right...from cleaning, cooking and home repair jobs.

The kitchen is our space much as a garage or man cave is the guy's space. A woman should not be going into a man's workshop space without his permission and touch his tools and he better not be going into my kitchen and messing up anything or moving my stuff around.

I might add that I don't allow anyone in my massive flower and lilly garden unless they volunteer to weed and know a flower from a weed. And right now, I have no less than 10,000 lillies in full bloom and more opening up each day. Just cut a nice bouquet for my 6 yr old neighbor girl who has been eyeing them up so tenderly.

Being single, I also have my indoor and outdoor tool shop areas with workbench and vice and shelving I built. No man better even think of touching my organized tools or messing up my workbench or wall pegboard or messing with my paint corner.

My kitchen and workshop are my pride. Everything has it's place and needs to be there for when I need to use something again. That's how I am and always was. Somehow, I have a feeling that your wife is the same way.

RE: Mosque on WTC site

Steve, hope you have read the 3 pages article that was emailed to me awhile back. In answer to your question above, I have a feeling that those guys in the British jails would definitely not want to have Sheriff Joe for their warden. I'm sure the Sheriff would come up with some very creative and productive way to deal with the issue. Guess we should stay tuned to any future Sheriff Joe YouTube videos perhaps.

RE: Mosque on WTC site

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More On The Arizona Sheriff:

With Temperatures Being Even Hotter Than Usual In Phoenix (116 Degrees Just Set A New Record), the Associated Press Reports:
About 2,000 Inmates Living In A Barbed-Wire-Surrounded Tent Encampment At The Maricopa County Jail Have Been Given Permission To Strip Down To Their Government-Issued Pink Boxer Shorts.

On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 Degrees Inside The Week Before.

Many Were Also Swathed In Wet, Pink Towels As Sweat Collected On Their Chests And Dripped Down To Their PINK SOCKS.

'It Feels Like We Are In A Furnace,' Said James Zanzot, An Inmate Who Has Lived In the TENTS for 1 year. 'It's Inhumane.'

Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates: 'It's 120 Degrees In Iraq And Our Soldiers Are Living In Tents Too, And They Have To Wear Full Battle Gear,
But They Didn't Commit Any Crimes, So Shut Your Mouths!'

Way To Go, Sheriff!

Maybe if all prisons were like this one there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders. Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves.

If you agree, pass this on. If not, just delete it.

Sheriff Joe was just reelected Sheriff in Maricopa County , Arizona

All I can say is... GO JOE!!!!!!!!!!!!

RE: Mosque on WTC site

Solitaire, think you're talking about Hollywood movie sheriffs. The Sheriff Joe I'm talking about is a real one. Here' what a friend of mine sent me from an article she clipped. It'll take several pages here so follow along. You might even agree with some of it.

You all remember Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona , who painted the jail cells pink and made the inmates wear pink prison garb. Well........SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN!


Oh, there's MUCH more to know about Sheriff Joe!
Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the County Supervisors said okay.

The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who'd like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows.

The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million. Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County shelter two years ago. He was neutered, and current on all shots, in great health, and even had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78.
The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He pays the prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals.

I have long wondered when the rest of the country would take a look at the way he runs the jail system, and copy some of his ideas. He has a huge farm, donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work, and they grow most of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all the work and harvesting by hand. He has a pretty good sized hog farm, which provides meat, and fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree nursery, where prisoners work, and you can buy a living Christmas tree for $6 - $8 for the Holidays, and plant it later. We have six trees in our yard from the Prison.

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Update:The Truth About PM Erdogan and The Mavi Marmara

Now back to the flotilla issue. American Jewry is setting up a protest flotilla to bring in aide to have distributed to Shalit in Gaza. The Turkish flotilla had no interest in considering Shalit's humanitarian needs when they were only concerned about the Palestinians. I would love to see this personal aide delivered to Gaza by the Red Cross or the UN but they are forbidden to know where Shalit is kept imprisoned in Gaza.

Jews sail 'True Freedom Flotilla' for Gilad Shalit
New York's Jewish community marks four years since the abduction of the Israeli soldier by Gaza militants.
By Shlomo Shamir Haaretz: 26 Jun 2010



Participants in New York's 'True Freedom Flotilla' for Gilad Shalit on June 24, 2010, including Israeli UN envoy Gabriela Shalev and Israel's Consul General in New York Asaf Shariv

The name chosen for the event echoes the name of a recent 8-ship flotilla that sailed from Turkey toward Gaza to break the Israeli blockade on the Hamas-ruled territory, which was named the Freedom Flotilla.

The flotilla was to encircle the Statue of Liberty and then sail to United Nations building.
The two-hour event was to involve seven vessels: The Queen of Hearts which can hold up to 600 passengers, another smaller boat and five privately owned yachts.

The flotilla was organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an umbrella group of American Jewish organizations. Israel's mission to the UN has also joined the initiative, as did Israel's Consulate General in New York.

Boats were scheduled to move north on the East River at 12:00 noon New York time on Thursday, June 24th from Houston Street and West Side Highway. The flotilla can be viewed from the East River Esplanade. Entrance to the Esplanade is on the east side of First Avenue at 34th, 35th or 37th Streets.

"For four years, Hamas has denied Gilad Shalit the most basic rights, including visits by international organizations," Israel's ambassador to the UN said on Thursday, adding that this was both illegal and immoral.

Joel Lion, the Spokesperson and Consul for Media Affairs at the Consulate General of Israel in New York, has put together a package full of clothing and food which was to be handed to a Red Cross representative to be brought to Shalit though the organization's international channels.

Update:The Truth About PM Erdogan and The Mavi Marmara

Thank you for the song Birchie but now I have foot stomping show tune one written and dedicated in your honor!!! You're gonna love it for sure. A 1 and a 2 and a 1-2-3, here we go:

I won't grow up, no I won't grow up
Just to learn to be a parrot, just to learn to be a parrot,
And forced to stop crooning my looney tunes

Cuz growing up is no fun for me....
It's beneath my dignity to climb a tree

I won't grow up, never grow up,
Never grow uuuuppp...Not me!! So there!!



Conrad, Alberta, Ttom, Costa and myself promise to send a flotilla of aide to you in Never Never Land Birchie. You have our word on it. We love ya and want to show you our appreciation for all you've done to bring CS alive.