Life really does immitate art.
Did anyone happen to notice, last week, the goings on in Gaza? It seems the Islamist "Warriors of God" group rose up against Islamist Hamas, accusing them of "not being Islamist enough".
It reminds me of that scene out of Life of Brian...
Monday, August 17, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Wobble
While politicians, bureaucrats and social engineers around the world debate carbon targets and emissions trading schemes, science continues to pop out research that casts doubt on climate modelling.
They further suggest that their research proves that melting was first caused by more solar radiation, not changes in carbon dioxide levels as suggested by the pro human-caused climate change proponents.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Practical Thinking
You can always trust the Americans to come up with simple, practical solutions to problems that bureaucrats want to solve with over-complex regulations and processes. Here's one that is so stunningly simple I'm actually annoyed I didn't think of it myself.
Regular readers will know that I'm a global warming skeptic, but that doesn't meant I'm pro waste or in favour of continues pillage of our environment.
So against that background, here's a great idea...
Make Thursday the new Friday.
It's stunningly simple. A workplace just starts work an hour earlier in the morning and finishes an hour later in the evening, Monday through Thursday, and then is closed on Fridays, with the lights out and air conditioning off. For most, that would mean a miniscule change to working hours because I remember my deskbound days were usually 7.30ish to 6.30ish anyway.
It's already in trial in places like Utah, where about 17,000 civic employees have been working the 4 day/40 hour week for about a year, saving the state around US$1.8mil.
Bloody brilliant. 20% less commuting. 20% less air conditioning and lighting. Big drop in power and fuel consumption. It saves money and the environment at the same time.
THIS is the sort of solution we ought be be looking for instead of stupid emissions trading schemes and meaningless reduction targets.
Brilliant. When can we start?
Regular readers will know that I'm a global warming skeptic, but that doesn't meant I'm pro waste or in favour of continues pillage of our environment.
So against that background, here's a great idea...
Make Thursday the new Friday.
It's stunningly simple. A workplace just starts work an hour earlier in the morning and finishes an hour later in the evening, Monday through Thursday, and then is closed on Fridays, with the lights out and air conditioning off. For most, that would mean a miniscule change to working hours because I remember my deskbound days were usually 7.30ish to 6.30ish anyway.
It's already in trial in places like Utah, where about 17,000 civic employees have been working the 4 day/40 hour week for about a year, saving the state around US$1.8mil.
Bloody brilliant. 20% less commuting. 20% less air conditioning and lighting. Big drop in power and fuel consumption. It saves money and the environment at the same time.
THIS is the sort of solution we ought be be looking for instead of stupid emissions trading schemes and meaningless reduction targets.
Brilliant. When can we start?
Cool
I was paddling around the web a few days ago and found this...
It's a feed from ari traffic control channels around the world. You simply pick the tower channel you want to listen to, and there it is.
Mind wasting, time wasting coolness.
Back
Ok. So I've ignored my blog for a couple of months. Call it a vacation. Or a sabbatical. Or anything you like. I'm not sure I care what you call it, or even if you call it anything at all.
Truth is, I've been distracted. And my blog had turned into an anti-islamofascist rant that was getting boring and repetitive. I'll try hard to avoid doing that.
Anyway... Chester's back.
Truth is, I've been distracted. And my blog had turned into an anti-islamofascist rant that was getting boring and repetitive. I'll try hard to avoid doing that.
Anyway... Chester's back.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Useless Export
I tried Exporting my blog today. You know... there's a link on your dashboard.
I suppose it works, in so far as all of the posts seem to have been exported (in descending order), and all of the comments seem to have been exported (in ascending order), but there's nothing in the export file that links the comments with the original posts.
Absolutely bloody useless.
So now I'll just do it all for myself, post by post, manually. What a pain in the rear end that will be.
I suppose it works, in so far as all of the posts seem to have been exported (in descending order), and all of the comments seem to have been exported (in ascending order), but there's nothing in the export file that links the comments with the original posts.
Absolutely bloody useless.
So now I'll just do it all for myself, post by post, manually. What a pain in the rear end that will be.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Nothing Nuclear Weapons Can't Fix
I don't know. Really. Is he a lunatic, or is that thinking "normal" in his part of the world.
How many people actually think like that? Is it possible to get them to all gather in the one place at the one time? You know... times are tough and those tactical nukes are expensive.
Or do we just wait until they actually do this shit, causing the Americans to retaliate such that the whole bloody region glows in the dark?
It doesn't make me angry any more. It just makes me sad.
And what's perhaps even more scary is the tone of the comments. Ok. I know tangle.com is a Christian site, but seriously, who's whackier, the cleric of the commenters.
For example, this gem from someone called Kelsey Louks, who writes "Its a good thing Christianity has never been used to validate violence. " Um. Kelsey. Ever heard of the Inquisition? Hmmm. Probably not. I suspect it's about as welcome on the curriculum as Evolution.
Or there's the whole "The Tribulation is coming. The end is nigh" thing. I'm sorry... expecting God to save us from Islamic loonies is like praying for a win on the craps tables of Vegas.
What can one say?
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Amazing World
I got yet another Nigerian Scam email this morning. This time, it was something about funds being transferred to my bank account. Whatever.The point is, the scammer put a (fake) address on the bottom of the email. 236 Peckham Rd London.
That address meant I could respond with this...
Jeffrey,
Wow. This is amazing.
236 Peckham Rd.
Wow.
I used to live there. Really. Back in 1997 on a 12 month assignment in London. The big terrace with the green door and the camellias in the back garden.
Has the landlord fixed the leaking tap yet? I bet he hasn't. I called the managing agent every day with that one. It was always "we're looking into it". Seriously. How smart do you have to be to call a bloody plumber?
I remember catching the No 12 bus to work in the West End every morning. We had an office just near Covent Garden market. The bus was always quicker than the tube, and a damned site more comfortable. Too many sweaty people on the tube, don't you think? And from Peckham Rd, The bus was so much more conventient.
Is that great little café still there? You know the one. What's it called? The Como?
And the pub.... The Greyhound. Yes. That's it. Just down the road on the other side of the street. Do you drink there? If you do, say Hi to Annabelle for me. You know. The barmaid with big knockers. She'll remember me. Say "Schlong said hi".
Then there's Wendy's on the way home from the Greyhound after a few beers for a kebab. Not one of the world's great kebab houses, but that made me so homesick, because a lamb kebab on the way home from the pub is just about compulsory in Australia.
Oh... and that pie shop on the corner... Manzes. Fantastic pies, but I just can't bring myself to eat those jellied eels. Have you tried them? Say hi to Michael for me. He's the owner.
Wow.
This is great.
I haven't thought of Peckham Rd for years.
Thanks
Chester
I've never been to Peckham Rd, though I did spend most of 1997 in London working at an office near Covent Garden Market. (They say all good lies have to be based on at least a slither of truth.)
The research took 10 minutes, thanks to Google and StreetView. In a way, that's scary.
Actually, 236 Peckham Rd is a block of apartments. From what I can tell on StreetView, it's a converted terrace, but Jeffrey doesn't know that, I'm sure. There's one to rent there right now, by the way, for about nine hundred pounds a month. Nine hundred quid. For a one bedroom. Pffft.
Another quick Google search yeilded "The Standard Monetary Transfer Control Bank" at that address. It's not real, I'd suspect. You'd think the scammers would invest in some professional web design if they really want to pull his off. Ah well.
See? Isn't the web a wonderful place?
Friday, March 20, 2009
Even More Dangerous
And while we're on the subject of "dangerous to democracy", there's something happening in Australia right now that is, perhaps, the most dangerous of all.
The Labor Government is trialling new net censorship technology. They say it's to block access to child porn (which I would support... the blocking, not the porn). However, child porn clearly isn't the government's true intention, because the way they're implementing the filtering system is cloaked in secrecy, has no independent oversight, amd no right of appeal.
Last month, for example, the filters blocked access to a US anti-abortion site which the government deemed "inappropriate".
So now it's "inappropriate" sites that are to be blocked, and child porn is just a subset of that. And who decides what's inappropriate?
The government.
No. Stop. You're talking about Australia Chester. It's one of the few places left on earth where freedom and democracy are cherished, isn't it?
Well it used to be, but apparently no longer.
The web content filtering trial isn't about censoring child porn. It's about implementing technology that can censor ANY information that doesn't fit with what the government (or some nameless, faceless bureaucrat) deems 'appropriate'.
Last month, it was the anti-abortion website. This month, it's a Danish site that reveals something of the inner workings of the censorship itself. Next month? Maybe they'll switch off sites that raise concerns about union right of entry in their new IR package, or maybe they’ll turn attention to criticism of their ill conceived stimulus package And after that, how long before they find something on chesterbear.blogspot.com that they deem ‘inappropriate’?
Don’t you get it? Whatever the excuse, and whatever the merits of censoring genuinely objectionable sites (like child porn), no government should be allowed to implement technology like this without independent judicial oversight, because once that technology’s in place, it can be turned on anything a government doesn’t like.
What are we, China? Saudi Arabia? North Korea? Zimbabwe? I'm sorry, but I'm not comfortable with my nation being on that list.
I know the economy is at risk. I know the government’s got the proposed Emissions Trading Scheme all wrong, but there is no greater threat to this nation than giving a government the ability to arbitrarily censor criticism, and if you don’t believe that once the technology’s in place, sooner or later they’ll use it, then you are out of touch with the true nature of politics.
I urge you to write to Senator Conroy, the Minister responsible. His email address is senator.conroy@aph.gov.au.
Also write to people who are in a position to oppose this. Here's a short list.
Malcolm Turnbull, Leader of the Opposition - Malcolm.Turnbull.MP@aph.gov.au
Senator Nick Xenaphon, Independent Senator - http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/senators/homepages/contact.asp?id=8IV
Senator Steven Fielding, Leader of Family First - senator.fielding@aph.gov.au
Senator Scott Ludlam, Greens Telecommunications Spokesman - senator.ludlam@aph.gov.au
Senator Nick Minchin, Opposition Telecommunications Shadow Minister - http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/senators/homepages/contact.asp?id=JX4
And write to your newspapers, call your radio stations, talk about this with your friends and work colleagues.
If we do nothing, we won't have a democracy.
The Labor Government is trialling new net censorship technology. They say it's to block access to child porn (which I would support... the blocking, not the porn). However, child porn clearly isn't the government's true intention, because the way they're implementing the filtering system is cloaked in secrecy, has no independent oversight, amd no right of appeal.
Last month, for example, the filters blocked access to a US anti-abortion site which the government deemed "inappropriate".
So now it's "inappropriate" sites that are to be blocked, and child porn is just a subset of that. And who decides what's inappropriate?
The government.
No. Stop. You're talking about Australia Chester. It's one of the few places left on earth where freedom and democracy are cherished, isn't it?
Well it used to be, but apparently no longer.
The web content filtering trial isn't about censoring child porn. It's about implementing technology that can censor ANY information that doesn't fit with what the government (or some nameless, faceless bureaucrat) deems 'appropriate'.
Last month, it was the anti-abortion website. This month, it's a Danish site that reveals something of the inner workings of the censorship itself. Next month? Maybe they'll switch off sites that raise concerns about union right of entry in their new IR package, or maybe they’ll turn attention to criticism of their ill conceived stimulus package And after that, how long before they find something on chesterbear.blogspot.com that they deem ‘inappropriate’?
Don’t you get it? Whatever the excuse, and whatever the merits of censoring genuinely objectionable sites (like child porn), no government should be allowed to implement technology like this without independent judicial oversight, because once that technology’s in place, it can be turned on anything a government doesn’t like.
What are we, China? Saudi Arabia? North Korea? Zimbabwe? I'm sorry, but I'm not comfortable with my nation being on that list.
I know the economy is at risk. I know the government’s got the proposed Emissions Trading Scheme all wrong, but there is no greater threat to this nation than giving a government the ability to arbitrarily censor criticism, and if you don’t believe that once the technology’s in place, sooner or later they’ll use it, then you are out of touch with the true nature of politics.
I urge you to write to Senator Conroy, the Minister responsible. His email address is senator.conroy@aph.gov.au.
Also write to people who are in a position to oppose this. Here's a short list.
Malcolm Turnbull, Leader of the Opposition - Malcolm.Turnbull.MP@aph.gov.au
Senator Nick Xenaphon, Independent Senator - http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/senators/homepages/contact.asp?id=8IV
Senator Steven Fielding, Leader of Family First - senator.fielding@aph.gov.au
Senator Scott Ludlam, Greens Telecommunications Spokesman - senator.ludlam@aph.gov.au
Senator Nick Minchin, Opposition Telecommunications Shadow Minister - http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/senators/homepages/contact.asp?id=JX4
And write to your newspapers, call your radio stations, talk about this with your friends and work colleagues.
If we do nothing, we won't have a democracy.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Dangerous
I read with alarm over the weekend that the Australian Labor Party has effectively taken over the Australian Red Cross, making it a defacto wing. They did that first by having one of their own, former Aboriginal Affairs Minister Robert Tickner, appointed as its CEO. Ok. I should clarify... The Red Cross appointed him, but since that appointment, Tickner has progressively politicised the organisation by appointing ex-Labor staffers and ex-union leaders to key positions.The've then developed a cozy relationship with Labor Governments, both at a Federal and State level, such the the Red Cross has now become "the charity of choice" for many government initiatives, and is an instrument of Labor policy.
For example, the Red Cross controls the A$200m + that's been raised for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal, to the exclusion of other charities like The Salvation Army which raised $16m of its own, but has been frozen out of the comittee which will decide on how and where the aid is spent.
Salvation Army insiders are reported as saying that they are concerned at the closeness of the Red Cross/Labor relationship, and that, increasingly, to be selected for government partnerships, an NGO has to be seen to be a vocal supporter of the Labor government. Worse, they believe speaking out against government policy means an organisation could be sidelined.
This is a dangerous road for the Australian democracy. It's the sort of corrupt tactic that's commonplace in the third world, where governments attempt to remain in power by controlling every facet of a society.
I'm sure the Red Cross does good work. I just don't believe it ought be become an instrument of politics.
Eloquence
News Ltd CEO Rupert Murdoch received the American Jewish Comittee National Humanitarian Award this week and I'd like to quote from his acceptance speech. (Rupert, I hope that's OK with you.)
He had delivered a succinct summation of the situation in Israel and Gaza, and he ended with this...
My friends, I do not pretend to have all the answers to Gaza this evening. But I do know this: The free world makes a terrible mistake if we deceive ourselves into thinking this is not our fight. In the end, the Israeli people are fighting the same enemy we are: cold-blooded killers who reject peace … who reject freedom … and who rule by the suicide vest, the car bomb, and the human shield. Against such an enemy, I will not second-guess the decisions of a free Israel defending her citizens. And I would ask all those who support peace and freedom to do the same.
I encourage you to read the full test of his speech HERE
He had delivered a succinct summation of the situation in Israel and Gaza, and he ended with this...
My friends, I do not pretend to have all the answers to Gaza this evening. But I do know this: The free world makes a terrible mistake if we deceive ourselves into thinking this is not our fight. In the end, the Israeli people are fighting the same enemy we are: cold-blooded killers who reject peace … who reject freedom … and who rule by the suicide vest, the car bomb, and the human shield. Against such an enemy, I will not second-guess the decisions of a free Israel defending her citizens. And I would ask all those who support peace and freedom to do the same.
I encourage you to read the full test of his speech HERE
Friday, March 06, 2009
What Would You Do IV
How close do you think Iran is to developing nuclear weapons?What do you think they'll do with them once they have them?
Think about this... think of just about any terrorist attack on Israel, the United States, and The West over the last 20 years, and you'll find the hand of Iran in there.
Those rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel... supplied and funded by Iran.
The Taliban... funded by Iran.
and I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
So here's anotehr hypothetical...
You're the head of a small country surrounded by enemies. One of those enemies, Iran, has vowed to bring about your total destruction. Its leaders use words like "we will wipe you off the map" on an almost daily basis.
That country is actively developing nuclear weapons, and all the while, it lies to the rest of the world about its intentions.
The day when they have enough fissionable material is fast approaching. SOme anaysts even think it has passed.
What would you do?
Make no mistake. A nuclear armed Iran which continues to fund terrorism on a global scale is an extremely dangerous animal. It doesn't just threaten Israel. It threatens you, because the creed of the people with their fingers on the trigger is that through bringing about the deaths of non-believers, they ensure their place in heaven.
Be afraid, and hope someone finds a solution sooner rather than later.
What Would You Do III
Did you know that Hamas terrorists are still firing rockets from Gaza into southern Israel? That's right, more than 200 of them since the end of the Israeli military action on January 18.
Yesterday, they launched 5.
Where is the international condemnation?
Where are the protesters on the streets?
Where are the spineless leaders of governments, who fail to stand up and utter any words of condemnation?
Where is the United Nations, the bureaucratic and politicised waste of space that is so quick to condemn when Israel defends itself?
Do I sound pissed off? Good. Because I am... bloody pissed off.
Israel is a beacon of civilisation in a cesspit of lunacy. Every day, thousands of tonnes of humanitarian aid and supplies cross from southern Israel into Gaza... 131,477 tons of aid and 12,701,900 liters of fuel since January 18. Show me one other nation anywhere on earth that would permit supplies to flow across its border into a territory whose leaders refuse to abandon war and calls for its destruction. You can't, because it wouldn't happen.
So let me ask you for a third time... if you were the leader of a nation, and lunatic terrorists hell bent on your destruction and the death of all of your people were firing rockets at you from the territory next door, and the leadership of that territory was either complicit in those attacks or failed comprehensively to stop them, what would you do?
Don't answer, because anything other than "I'd blow the crap out of them" isn't the truth.
Israel is showing extraordinary restraint.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Charge It!
I noticed yesterday that the world's major mobile phone manufacturers have reached an agreement to standardise phone chargers across all models and all brands. One charger will then be able to charge any phone.
All I can say is "it's about bloody time". It always seemed the incredible waste, stupidity and excess that each time you bought a new phone, the charger was different. I have a box full of the things sitting in my attic... it seems such a waste to throw them out, but, of course, the phones they belong to have long gone.
My only hope is that laptop makers follow the lead.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Dangerous Felon
Police in Nigeria detained a goat last Thursday on suspicion of attempted armed robbery.
Really. They did. In fact, not only did they arrest the goat, they paraded him in front of bewildered media at a press briefing.
Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Tunde Mohammed, explained that the goat is an armed robber who attempted to snatch a Mazda car on Wednesday night, and later transformed into the goat in a bid to escape arrest.
He explained that men of a vigilance group in Anifowose Ipata/Oloje areas of the state capital had chased two armed robbery suspects who wanted to demobilise a Mazda car with the intention of stealing it, and "while one of them escaped, the other was about to be apprehended by the team when he turned his back on the wall and turned to this goat", Mohammed said.
"They quickly grabbed the goat and here it is.’’
The police spokesman said the goat "armed robbery suspect" will not be let off the hook until investigations into the case are concluded. Actually, he's reported as saying "left off the hook", which presumably points to the fate awaiting the goat if he is released.
Really. I didn't make this up. The full story is here in the Nigerian newspaper, The Vanguard.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Stunning Skill
I hope all of my readers appreciate the stunning skill displayed this week by Captain Chesley Sullenberger, pilot of the ill fated US Airways flight 1549 that ditched into the Hudson River earlier this week.
This is the first time in aviation history that a commercial airliner has made a "water landing" and survived in tact. It was a remarkable piece of flying, because Sullenberger needed to put that plane into the water absolutely horizontal from wingtip to wingtip. Just a few degrees out, and one side of the plane would have hit the water before the other, creating draq and torque that would have turned the plane sideways, flipped it over and smashed it into very small pieces. Just look at what happened to Ethiopian Airlines flight 961 which ditched into the Indian Ocean near a beach in Cormoros in 1996, killing 125 of the 175 people on board.
That could easily have been the outcome on the Hudson this week, if not for the exceptional skill of Captain Sullenberger.
Footnote: At the bottom of a report on the crash in the Sydney Morning Herald today were the usual Googleads, this time spruiking "Fear of Flying" courses.
This is the first time in aviation history that a commercial airliner has made a "water landing" and survived in tact. It was a remarkable piece of flying, because Sullenberger needed to put that plane into the water absolutely horizontal from wingtip to wingtip. Just a few degrees out, and one side of the plane would have hit the water before the other, creating draq and torque that would have turned the plane sideways, flipped it over and smashed it into very small pieces. Just look at what happened to Ethiopian Airlines flight 961 which ditched into the Indian Ocean near a beach in Cormoros in 1996, killing 125 of the 175 people on board.
That could easily have been the outcome on the Hudson this week, if not for the exceptional skill of Captain Sullenberger.
Footnote: At the bottom of a report on the crash in the Sydney Morning Herald today were the usual Googleads, this time spruiking "Fear of Flying" courses.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
In Their Own Words
I don't think I have anything more to add, other than the words of Benjamin Netenyahu...
'If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel'
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Barak "H" Obama
I was listening to an NPR report on the upcoming innauguration the other day, and one thing struck me as odd.
They were playing clips from the rehearsal.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the 43rd President of the United States, George Walker Bush" the announcer declared.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the President Elect of the Unites States, Barak H Obama."
Um... his middle name is Hussein. "H"? What's with that?
We'll see what they do on the day.
They were playing clips from the rehearsal.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the 43rd President of the United States, George Walker Bush" the announcer declared.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the President Elect of the Unites States, Barak H Obama."
Um... his middle name is Hussein. "H"? What's with that?
We'll see what they do on the day.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
2012
There's a doomsday prophecy bouncing around in my head right now that is making me think about planning for the worst.
Now I know doomsday prophecies are usually rooted in serious use of halucinogens or the waving of chicken bones over alternating lines of salt and sand but this one has some scientific legs that are tied to the cycle of solar flares and magnetic storms.
The sun, according to accepted astronomy, operates in regular 11 year cycles. Right now, we're coming out of a "quiet" period, so quiet that some astronomers have called it "the calm before the storm", and so quiet that 2008 was the first year since 1900 that the sun had a period during which there were no sun spots. Solar flare and magnetic storm activity will gradually rise over the next four years, reaching a peak late in 2012.
You probably already know that solar flare activity can interfere with radio communications and can even knock out satellites. What you may not know is that there can be a profound effect down here on the ground too.
Time for some quick science... The earth, as you know, is magnetically polarised. They don't call them the North and South Poles for fun. We're like a giant magnet floating in space, and our magnetic field deflects and traps charged particles ejected from the sun. Without the magnetosphere, we'd be bombarded with radiation and life on earth would be in trouble.
The sun also has a magnetic field, called the heliosphere, only instead of being relatively stable like ours, the sun's magnetic poles shift around erratically.
Each time there's a solar flare or magnetic storm eminating from the sun, it's magnetically charged. If it's oriented one way, our magnetic shield happily blocks it, creating a very pretty dancing light show in the far north and far south of our planet.
If it's aligned the other way, billions of watts of charged particles bombard the earth. The atmosphere is, literally, electrified. A single storm contains enough electrical energy to power all human activity on earth, and without protection from that much energy. trouble is at hand.
In 1859 a super magnetic storm fused the coils in many telegraph stations, shorted wires and started fires. In fact, if it hadn't been for those telegraphs, we probably wouldn't have noticed because you could count on the fingers of one hand the number of other electrical appliances in use at the time.
Today, though, we live in a different world, where everything, and I really do mean everything relies on electricity and/or electronics.
Which brings me back to 2012...
Astronomers estimate that an 1859 style super storm comes every hundred years or so. That means we're 50 years past the due date, and if the next magnetic storm is "the big one", and if that "big one" is oriented the wrong way, every microchip on earth that's not properly shielded will cease to function.
Copper coils will fuse. Some will even melt as they absorb the massive energy from the atmosphere. Copper coils... you know... like the coils in generators, electric motors, power transformers, radio transmitters and even on your computer's motherboard.
The last time it happened was in 1989 when a relatively minor solar storm shut down the power grid in the North Eastern US and Canada. "Minor."
Are you getting the picture?
If the next cycle of solar storms produces "the big one", and if it's oriented the wrong way, everything we rely on to keep our civilisation functioning will stop working.
First, the power generation system will go down. The huge transformers that convert power coming out of the generators to power we can plug out TVs into will be destroyed, and because this equipment is so specialised, there's only enough manufacturing capability to turn out a couple a month to replace the thousands lost.
No electricity means no refrigeration. No refrigeration means no food in the cities. Food supplies will be gone in just a few days.
Food? That's nothing. Water purification and pumping will also stop. No running water. No water treatment. No sewage system. Drinkable water supplies will disappear within 24 hours.
Pumps will stop working, which means subway and road tunnels will quickly flood.
When the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410AD, they destroyed the aquaducts that fed water into the city. Almost overnight, the population of Rome dropped from more than a million to a few thousand and the city became unlivable. It was the end of Civilisation as they knew it, and the end of the Roman Empire.
Radio communication will also shut down. That battery powered radio you have hidden away somewhere for major emergencies will pick up nothing but static, if it works at all. No TV either. No phones, mobile or otherwise, and no internet. In fact, no electronic communication of any kind. No newspapers or printing presses either. No means other than word of mouth for getting any message or instructions from anyone in charge to anyone else.
No banking. All of our banking records are held electronically, and while the data won't be lost, the bank's won't have an ability to retrieve it. That means no money, which means commere will cease.
Transportation systems, from your car up will no longer function. The electronics will be fried so you won't even be able to get them started. Actually, that's not entirely true. Some properly shielded military vehicles will run though they will be overwhelmed. A few really old diesels will run too, but you'd need to hand start them first and because of the compression of a diesel, that's no mean feat.
Of course, nothing will be flying for the same reason.
A recent report from the National Academy of Sciences estimates that such a storm could "shut down the United States" for months, if not years. They estimate that recovery from such an event could take ten years or more.
They're being conservative, but even if the shut down was only partial and even if it only lasted for a few weeks, the death toll will be far beyond any natural disaster we've ever experienced.
Guns will still work though. That's a bigger problem in the USA than it is here in Australia, but it's a problem everywhere because governments will have no capability to co-ordinate any law and order effort. For the first weeks after the event, it will be survival of the best armed.
Now here's the spooky bit...
The Aztec Calendar Stone, properly called Cuauhxicalli Eagle Bowl and created in 1479, predicts "the end of the world" on December 24, 2011.
The Chinese I-Ching calendar is said to predict the "end of the world" at about the same time.
And finally, the Mayan calendar, on which the Aztec calendar was based, ends on December 21, 2012.
Hmmmm... better disconnect from the grid, get the bunker stocked and the household electrics shielded. Don't complain that you weren't warned.
Now I know doomsday prophecies are usually rooted in serious use of halucinogens or the waving of chicken bones over alternating lines of salt and sand but this one has some scientific legs that are tied to the cycle of solar flares and magnetic storms.
The sun, according to accepted astronomy, operates in regular 11 year cycles. Right now, we're coming out of a "quiet" period, so quiet that some astronomers have called it "the calm before the storm", and so quiet that 2008 was the first year since 1900 that the sun had a period during which there were no sun spots. Solar flare and magnetic storm activity will gradually rise over the next four years, reaching a peak late in 2012.
You probably already know that solar flare activity can interfere with radio communications and can even knock out satellites. What you may not know is that there can be a profound effect down here on the ground too.
Time for some quick science... The earth, as you know, is magnetically polarised. They don't call them the North and South Poles for fun. We're like a giant magnet floating in space, and our magnetic field deflects and traps charged particles ejected from the sun. Without the magnetosphere, we'd be bombarded with radiation and life on earth would be in trouble.
The sun also has a magnetic field, called the heliosphere, only instead of being relatively stable like ours, the sun's magnetic poles shift around erratically.
Each time there's a solar flare or magnetic storm eminating from the sun, it's magnetically charged. If it's oriented one way, our magnetic shield happily blocks it, creating a very pretty dancing light show in the far north and far south of our planet.
If it's aligned the other way, billions of watts of charged particles bombard the earth. The atmosphere is, literally, electrified. A single storm contains enough electrical energy to power all human activity on earth, and without protection from that much energy. trouble is at hand.
In 1859 a super magnetic storm fused the coils in many telegraph stations, shorted wires and started fires. In fact, if it hadn't been for those telegraphs, we probably wouldn't have noticed because you could count on the fingers of one hand the number of other electrical appliances in use at the time.
Today, though, we live in a different world, where everything, and I really do mean everything relies on electricity and/or electronics.
Which brings me back to 2012...
Astronomers estimate that an 1859 style super storm comes every hundred years or so. That means we're 50 years past the due date, and if the next magnetic storm is "the big one", and if that "big one" is oriented the wrong way, every microchip on earth that's not properly shielded will cease to function.
Copper coils will fuse. Some will even melt as they absorb the massive energy from the atmosphere. Copper coils... you know... like the coils in generators, electric motors, power transformers, radio transmitters and even on your computer's motherboard.
The last time it happened was in 1989 when a relatively minor solar storm shut down the power grid in the North Eastern US and Canada. "Minor."
Are you getting the picture?
If the next cycle of solar storms produces "the big one", and if it's oriented the wrong way, everything we rely on to keep our civilisation functioning will stop working.
First, the power generation system will go down. The huge transformers that convert power coming out of the generators to power we can plug out TVs into will be destroyed, and because this equipment is so specialised, there's only enough manufacturing capability to turn out a couple a month to replace the thousands lost.
No electricity means no refrigeration. No refrigeration means no food in the cities. Food supplies will be gone in just a few days.
Food? That's nothing. Water purification and pumping will also stop. No running water. No water treatment. No sewage system. Drinkable water supplies will disappear within 24 hours.
Pumps will stop working, which means subway and road tunnels will quickly flood.
When the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410AD, they destroyed the aquaducts that fed water into the city. Almost overnight, the population of Rome dropped from more than a million to a few thousand and the city became unlivable. It was the end of Civilisation as they knew it, and the end of the Roman Empire.
Radio communication will also shut down. That battery powered radio you have hidden away somewhere for major emergencies will pick up nothing but static, if it works at all. No TV either. No phones, mobile or otherwise, and no internet. In fact, no electronic communication of any kind. No newspapers or printing presses either. No means other than word of mouth for getting any message or instructions from anyone in charge to anyone else.
No banking. All of our banking records are held electronically, and while the data won't be lost, the bank's won't have an ability to retrieve it. That means no money, which means commere will cease.
Transportation systems, from your car up will no longer function. The electronics will be fried so you won't even be able to get them started. Actually, that's not entirely true. Some properly shielded military vehicles will run though they will be overwhelmed. A few really old diesels will run too, but you'd need to hand start them first and because of the compression of a diesel, that's no mean feat.
Of course, nothing will be flying for the same reason.
A recent report from the National Academy of Sciences estimates that such a storm could "shut down the United States" for months, if not years. They estimate that recovery from such an event could take ten years or more.
They're being conservative, but even if the shut down was only partial and even if it only lasted for a few weeks, the death toll will be far beyond any natural disaster we've ever experienced.
Guns will still work though. That's a bigger problem in the USA than it is here in Australia, but it's a problem everywhere because governments will have no capability to co-ordinate any law and order effort. For the first weeks after the event, it will be survival of the best armed.
Now here's the spooky bit...
The Aztec Calendar Stone, properly called Cuauhxicalli Eagle Bowl and created in 1479, predicts "the end of the world" on December 24, 2011.
The Chinese I-Ching calendar is said to predict the "end of the world" at about the same time.
And finally, the Mayan calendar, on which the Aztec calendar was based, ends on December 21, 2012.
Hmmmm... better disconnect from the grid, get the bunker stocked and the household electrics shielded. Don't complain that you weren't warned.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Thursday, January 08, 2009
And then there's this...
This is a clip from Palestinian TV.
The whole thing is just a bloody mess, driven by a political agenda of hatred lies and manipulation.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
And To Underscore The Point...
Underscoring the point about media bias against Israel is the headline news today about the deaths of 40 Palestinian civillians who were sheltering in a UN school which was hit by Israeli fire.
The headline screamed "More Than 40 Killed In UN School", but a little way down was a quote from a UN spokeperson who said "troops fired mortars at the premises after gunmen mortared their positions from inside al-Fakhora school ".
Why didn't the headline read "Hamas Human Shields Killed"?
I'm personally saddened that 40 innocents died in that attack, and in the end, it will do little for long term peace and stability, but do you blame the Israelis, or do you blame Hamas for putting fighters in what should have been a neutral safe zone.
So here's another two hypothetical questions...
First, let's say you're a Hamas commander and you want to maximise the effectiveness of your Jihad warriors. Do you put them a) hidden away in buildings, or b) in a UN compound that harbours civillians.
The answer is "b". While "a" might offer you short term protection, once the position is identified, those Jihadists are going to meet their virgins in heaven. In choosing "b", you offer them some protection to allow them to maximise their effect, and if the position is hit, you can capitalise on the bad PR it will generate for the pig Jew infidels. You're not worried about civillian casualties because there's a place in heaven for those who are killed (though you haven't been clear on what the mothers and children are going to do with their 72 virgins each, but that's for another post, I guess).
Second, let's say you're an Israeli field commander, and you identify Jihadists firing on your troops. Do you a) let them go, or b) eliminate them. If you said "a", it's time you went to another blog because opinions expressed here will probably offend.
The headline screamed "More Than 40 Killed In UN School", but a little way down was a quote from a UN spokeperson who said "troops fired mortars at the premises after gunmen mortared their positions from inside al-Fakhora school ".
Why didn't the headline read "Hamas Human Shields Killed"?
I'm personally saddened that 40 innocents died in that attack, and in the end, it will do little for long term peace and stability, but do you blame the Israelis, or do you blame Hamas for putting fighters in what should have been a neutral safe zone.
So here's another two hypothetical questions...
First, let's say you're a Hamas commander and you want to maximise the effectiveness of your Jihad warriors. Do you put them a) hidden away in buildings, or b) in a UN compound that harbours civillians.
The answer is "b". While "a" might offer you short term protection, once the position is identified, those Jihadists are going to meet their virgins in heaven. In choosing "b", you offer them some protection to allow them to maximise their effect, and if the position is hit, you can capitalise on the bad PR it will generate for the pig Jew infidels. You're not worried about civillian casualties because there's a place in heaven for those who are killed (though you haven't been clear on what the mothers and children are going to do with their 72 virgins each, but that's for another post, I guess).
Second, let's say you're an Israeli field commander, and you identify Jihadists firing on your troops. Do you a) let them go, or b) eliminate them. If you said "a", it's time you went to another blog because opinions expressed here will probably offend.
Monday, January 05, 2009
What Would You Do?
Here's a hypothetical for you...
Let's say you're the President (or Prime Minister) of a successful democracy. And let's say that things weren't so good in the country next door.
Let's then say that extremists won an "election" there, and since they took control, had fired more than 8000 rockets at your towns and cities along the border.
And every day, their leaders made speaches about how evil you were, and how they vow to destroy you.
What would you do?
You have a few options. You could cut off their electricity, which you supply. That way, the rocket makers would be working in the dark.
You could cut off their water, all of which comes from your water treatment plants.
You could stop delivering fuel. After all, if they can't drive the rockets to the launch sites, they can't fire them.
Or you could stop deliveries of food. You see, unlike your people, who, by hard work, made your nation what it is, your neighbours don't seem especially interested in intensive farming.
Come on... we all know the answer... don't pretend otherwise... you wouldn't do any of these things... you'd send in warplanes and bomb the crap out of them, and if that didn't work, you'd send in the tanks.
And it wouldn't have taken you years to make that decision either.
Yet today, it is Israel copping the scorn of mainstream media. It is Israel being described as the aggressor.
Ask yourself... what would you have done?
Ask yourself what the United States would have done if hundreds of missiles a day were raining down on San Diego from the other side of the Mexican border. At least the USA isn't being hypocritical in this. For all his faults, George W understands, and knows exactly what he would have done.
So more to the point, ask yourself what Great Britain would do if those missiles were raining on Dover from the other side of the Channel, or what Russia would have done if rockets were raining down from Georgia.
Israel, in fact, has been far more patient that any other country on earth would have been. It has tolerated daily rocket attacks, and the more it tolerated them, the more rockets Hamas chose to launch. Sooner or later, enough was going to be enough.
It's not even about "occupation". Israel pulled all of its troops out of Gaza years ago, handing the Palestinian leadership a golden opportunity to build a nation with the billions of dollars of aid that poured in. Instead, they squandered the chance.
However, the Palestinians leadership, and especially the leadership of Hamas, has learned one lesson very well over the last ten years or so. They've learned how to fight the war of public opinion and in this conflict, the truth is in danger of being lost.
Here are some facts you might like to consider, facts you won't see or hear in mainstream media. because some have used the opportunity to spread misinformation about Israel’s actions, intentions and the overall situation in Gaza.
Following are examples of fabrications – refuted by factual accounts provided by international aid organizations, Arab leaders, and Palestinian journalists.
Fiction #1: There’s no food in Gaza and people are starving.
News reports, including one produced by TV station France 2 on Dec. 29, showed a Gaza resident in a food store saying:“Apparently, there is nothing, as you can see. There are no natural products for the kids. There is no milk. There is nothing here.”
Fact: Warehouses in Gaza are filled to capacity, according to international aid groups. In the same France 2 TV clip referenced above, upon closer inspection, shelves filled with food can be seen in the reflection of a refrigerated door in the store.
The World Food Program informed Israel that it would cease shipment of food to Gaza because the warehouses there are at full capacity, with enough food to last two weeks.
During a one-day period alone – Dec. 31– Israel facilitated the transport of 29 truckloads of food, including 15 truckloads of flour, into Gaza. As Hamas was firing rockets and mortars during Israel both during and after the ceasefire, Israel facilitated the delivery of 2,500 tons (delivered on 93 trucks) of humanitarian aid, medical supplies and medication through the Kerem Shalom cargo terminal.
Since the beginning of the current conflict, about 6,500 tons of aid have been transferred into Gaza at the request of the international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments.
Fiction #2: Gaza has no medical and other aid supplies to help the injured.
Fact: During the first 5 days alone of Operation Cast Lead, Israel has facilitated the delivery of 6,500 tons of aid – 179 truckoads -- into Gaza at the request of international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments. The deliveries include basic food commodities, medication, medical supplies and blood units. Another 106 truckloads of humanitarian aid are expected to arrive in Gaza on Jan. 31. The crossings to Gaza are open for the transfer of humanitarian aid from all international organizations, in full cooperation with the Israeli authorities and without restriction. In a one-day period – Dec. 31 – Israel enabled the transport of 9 truckloads of medicine and medical supplies, along with 10 ambulances, into Gaza.
Fiction #3: Israel is refusing to allow injured Gazans into Israeli and Egyptian hospitals for treatment.
Fact: Israel has allowed a number of Palestinians into Israel for medical treatment they couldn’t receive in Gaza. On Dec. 31, for example, 12 Palestinians accessed Israel for medical treatment in Israeli hospitals. Two of those evacuated were injured children; the remaining were chronically sick people, and their escorts, who were allowed into Israel for treatment not available in Gaza.
Further, Hamas – in an effort to exploit the suffering of innocent civilians - has refused to allow injured Palestinians to leave Gaza to go to Egypt for treatment. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu al-Gheit said earlier this week that Hamas was not allowing wounded Palestinians to cross the border into Egypt for treatment: “We are waiting for the wounded Palestinians to cross. They are not being allowed to cross.” Asked who was to blame, he referred to Gaza by saying, “Ask the party in control on the ground in Gaza.”
Fiction #4: Israel is purposely targeting civilians.
Fact: While Israel goes out of its way to minimize civilian casualties, Hamas actually places civilians in harm’s way and uses them as shields. Because Hamas is known to use civilian residences to hide their weapons, on Dec. 27, the Israeli military – before launching an attack on such storehouses - called thousands of civilians in Gaza on their cell phones and left Arabic-language messages urging them to leave homes being used for weapons storage.
On Dec. 30, a reformist Iranian newspaper published a statement by a student organization that criticized Hamas for risking civilian lives, including children, by hiding its forces in nurseries and hospitals. The Iranian Culture Ministry shut down the newspaper after it printed the statements.
Israel has publicly stated time and again that it regrets the loss of any civilian life and considers each one a tragedy. However, both Iran-backed Hamas and Iran-backed Hezbollah have a history of faking deaths and funerals. For example, in Spring 2002, Palestinians were filmed as they attempted to stage a fake funeral as part of a gross exaggeration of the number of people killed in Jenin. The film shows Palestinians wrapping, then carrying a ‘corpse’ on a funeral pier; the ‘corpse’ falls off several times and gets back on – including in front of a large and surprised crowd.
Although some reports say a quarter of the deaths during “Operation Cast Lead” have been civilians, Palestinian terrorists’ history of deceptions and false claims require reporters to work to verify such information.
During Israel’s defensive war against Hezbollah two years ago, the phenomenon was so common that it became known as “Hezbollywood.” One of the best-known instances was when a man purporting to be a rescue worker at the site of a bombed village appeared in various photos in the international media, repeatedly displaying the same child’s dead body at different times – and in different poses – throughout the day. The man, identified as Salam Daher, wore a green helmet in all of the photos, earning himself the nickname “green helmet guy.” Daher was also found to have directed a camera shooting the scene.
Fiction #5: Israel has cut off electricity to Gaza.
Fact: In the past, Hamas officials have committed deceptions such as pulling dark curtains in mid-day while holding a meeting to make it look as though they were being forced to work by candlelight – a sham exposed by journalists who showed that it was actually daylight outside at the time. The ruse was carried out with the complicity of some Arab satellite TV stations. More recent such deceptions have come to light as recently as November 2008, when Palestinian Authority officials said Hamas staged new blackouts to try to get sympathy from the international community and provoke civilian violence against the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Further, terrorists in Gaza have fired rockets at – and hit - the power station in the Israeli city of Ashkelon that provides Gaza the majority of its electricity. The terrorists also have fired on Israeli workers at a depot that provides fuel to Gaza and a suicide bomber destroyed lines providing electricity from Israel into Gaza.
"There's no shortage of fuel in the Gaza Strip and the Electricity Company is continuing to function normally," a PA official said in November. "Our people in the Gaza Strip have told us that the blackouts are all staged as part of the Hamas propaganda…There's enough fuel in the Gaza Strip,” he said. "Even when Israel reduces the fuel supplies, Hamas continues to smuggle tens of thousands of liters through the underground tunnels."
Fiction #6: Palestinian journalists are unbiased and show what’s ‘really’ happening in Gaza.
Fact: Some Palestinian journalists are manipulating and exploiting unintended victims of the Israeli strikes. Said one Palestinian journalist, members of the Palestinian media are ‘directing’ civilians to cry and telling them what to say in interviews: "A mother of one of the martyrs stood by the door of the intensive care unit while crying... relatives and those around her were telling her what she should say to the television cameras: 'Say your son [before he died] prayed and went out.' Another tells her: 'Curse the Arab leaders'... The journalists [in the hospitals] are going overboard in their insensitivity and taking advantage of the [difficult] moments, with the explanation that they are showing this to the world. One cameraman told a mourning mother: 'Hit your face, cry, do some action.'"
Again ask yourself, what would you do if you were the leader of a country facing daily rocket attacks from your neighbour. You'd cut off their electricity. You'd stop sending food and medical supplies to your enemy, and then you'd launch military strikes. You certainly wouldn't call the people in the way of the bombs on their cell phones and tell them to get out of the way, or send them ambulances.
So next time you, or your freinds, work colleagues or family, start making moral judgements about what Israel has done over the last few days, ask yourself the question... what would you have done?
Let's say you're the President (or Prime Minister) of a successful democracy. And let's say that things weren't so good in the country next door.
Let's then say that extremists won an "election" there, and since they took control, had fired more than 8000 rockets at your towns and cities along the border.
And every day, their leaders made speaches about how evil you were, and how they vow to destroy you.
What would you do?
You have a few options. You could cut off their electricity, which you supply. That way, the rocket makers would be working in the dark.
You could cut off their water, all of which comes from your water treatment plants.
You could stop delivering fuel. After all, if they can't drive the rockets to the launch sites, they can't fire them.
Or you could stop deliveries of food. You see, unlike your people, who, by hard work, made your nation what it is, your neighbours don't seem especially interested in intensive farming.
Come on... we all know the answer... don't pretend otherwise... you wouldn't do any of these things... you'd send in warplanes and bomb the crap out of them, and if that didn't work, you'd send in the tanks.
And it wouldn't have taken you years to make that decision either.
Yet today, it is Israel copping the scorn of mainstream media. It is Israel being described as the aggressor.
Ask yourself... what would you have done?
Ask yourself what the United States would have done if hundreds of missiles a day were raining down on San Diego from the other side of the Mexican border. At least the USA isn't being hypocritical in this. For all his faults, George W understands, and knows exactly what he would have done.
So more to the point, ask yourself what Great Britain would do if those missiles were raining on Dover from the other side of the Channel, or what Russia would have done if rockets were raining down from Georgia.
Israel, in fact, has been far more patient that any other country on earth would have been. It has tolerated daily rocket attacks, and the more it tolerated them, the more rockets Hamas chose to launch. Sooner or later, enough was going to be enough.
It's not even about "occupation". Israel pulled all of its troops out of Gaza years ago, handing the Palestinian leadership a golden opportunity to build a nation with the billions of dollars of aid that poured in. Instead, they squandered the chance.
However, the Palestinians leadership, and especially the leadership of Hamas, has learned one lesson very well over the last ten years or so. They've learned how to fight the war of public opinion and in this conflict, the truth is in danger of being lost.
Here are some facts you might like to consider, facts you won't see or hear in mainstream media. because some have used the opportunity to spread misinformation about Israel’s actions, intentions and the overall situation in Gaza.
Following are examples of fabrications – refuted by factual accounts provided by international aid organizations, Arab leaders, and Palestinian journalists.
Fiction #1: There’s no food in Gaza and people are starving.
News reports, including one produced by TV station France 2 on Dec. 29, showed a Gaza resident in a food store saying:“Apparently, there is nothing, as you can see. There are no natural products for the kids. There is no milk. There is nothing here.”
Fact: Warehouses in Gaza are filled to capacity, according to international aid groups. In the same France 2 TV clip referenced above, upon closer inspection, shelves filled with food can be seen in the reflection of a refrigerated door in the store.
The World Food Program informed Israel that it would cease shipment of food to Gaza because the warehouses there are at full capacity, with enough food to last two weeks.
During a one-day period alone – Dec. 31– Israel facilitated the transport of 29 truckloads of food, including 15 truckloads of flour, into Gaza. As Hamas was firing rockets and mortars during Israel both during and after the ceasefire, Israel facilitated the delivery of 2,500 tons (delivered on 93 trucks) of humanitarian aid, medical supplies and medication through the Kerem Shalom cargo terminal.
Since the beginning of the current conflict, about 6,500 tons of aid have been transferred into Gaza at the request of the international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments.
Fiction #2: Gaza has no medical and other aid supplies to help the injured.
Fact: During the first 5 days alone of Operation Cast Lead, Israel has facilitated the delivery of 6,500 tons of aid – 179 truckoads -- into Gaza at the request of international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments. The deliveries include basic food commodities, medication, medical supplies and blood units. Another 106 truckloads of humanitarian aid are expected to arrive in Gaza on Jan. 31. The crossings to Gaza are open for the transfer of humanitarian aid from all international organizations, in full cooperation with the Israeli authorities and without restriction. In a one-day period – Dec. 31 – Israel enabled the transport of 9 truckloads of medicine and medical supplies, along with 10 ambulances, into Gaza.
Fiction #3: Israel is refusing to allow injured Gazans into Israeli and Egyptian hospitals for treatment.
Fact: Israel has allowed a number of Palestinians into Israel for medical treatment they couldn’t receive in Gaza. On Dec. 31, for example, 12 Palestinians accessed Israel for medical treatment in Israeli hospitals. Two of those evacuated were injured children; the remaining were chronically sick people, and their escorts, who were allowed into Israel for treatment not available in Gaza.
Further, Hamas – in an effort to exploit the suffering of innocent civilians - has refused to allow injured Palestinians to leave Gaza to go to Egypt for treatment. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu al-Gheit said earlier this week that Hamas was not allowing wounded Palestinians to cross the border into Egypt for treatment: “We are waiting for the wounded Palestinians to cross. They are not being allowed to cross.” Asked who was to blame, he referred to Gaza by saying, “Ask the party in control on the ground in Gaza.”
Fiction #4: Israel is purposely targeting civilians.
Fact: While Israel goes out of its way to minimize civilian casualties, Hamas actually places civilians in harm’s way and uses them as shields. Because Hamas is known to use civilian residences to hide their weapons, on Dec. 27, the Israeli military – before launching an attack on such storehouses - called thousands of civilians in Gaza on their cell phones and left Arabic-language messages urging them to leave homes being used for weapons storage.
On Dec. 30, a reformist Iranian newspaper published a statement by a student organization that criticized Hamas for risking civilian lives, including children, by hiding its forces in nurseries and hospitals. The Iranian Culture Ministry shut down the newspaper after it printed the statements.
Israel has publicly stated time and again that it regrets the loss of any civilian life and considers each one a tragedy. However, both Iran-backed Hamas and Iran-backed Hezbollah have a history of faking deaths and funerals. For example, in Spring 2002, Palestinians were filmed as they attempted to stage a fake funeral as part of a gross exaggeration of the number of people killed in Jenin. The film shows Palestinians wrapping, then carrying a ‘corpse’ on a funeral pier; the ‘corpse’ falls off several times and gets back on – including in front of a large and surprised crowd.
Although some reports say a quarter of the deaths during “Operation Cast Lead” have been civilians, Palestinian terrorists’ history of deceptions and false claims require reporters to work to verify such information.
During Israel’s defensive war against Hezbollah two years ago, the phenomenon was so common that it became known as “Hezbollywood.” One of the best-known instances was when a man purporting to be a rescue worker at the site of a bombed village appeared in various photos in the international media, repeatedly displaying the same child’s dead body at different times – and in different poses – throughout the day. The man, identified as Salam Daher, wore a green helmet in all of the photos, earning himself the nickname “green helmet guy.” Daher was also found to have directed a camera shooting the scene.
Fiction #5: Israel has cut off electricity to Gaza.
Fact: In the past, Hamas officials have committed deceptions such as pulling dark curtains in mid-day while holding a meeting to make it look as though they were being forced to work by candlelight – a sham exposed by journalists who showed that it was actually daylight outside at the time. The ruse was carried out with the complicity of some Arab satellite TV stations. More recent such deceptions have come to light as recently as November 2008, when Palestinian Authority officials said Hamas staged new blackouts to try to get sympathy from the international community and provoke civilian violence against the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Further, terrorists in Gaza have fired rockets at – and hit - the power station in the Israeli city of Ashkelon that provides Gaza the majority of its electricity. The terrorists also have fired on Israeli workers at a depot that provides fuel to Gaza and a suicide bomber destroyed lines providing electricity from Israel into Gaza.
"There's no shortage of fuel in the Gaza Strip and the Electricity Company is continuing to function normally," a PA official said in November. "Our people in the Gaza Strip have told us that the blackouts are all staged as part of the Hamas propaganda…There's enough fuel in the Gaza Strip,” he said. "Even when Israel reduces the fuel supplies, Hamas continues to smuggle tens of thousands of liters through the underground tunnels."
Fiction #6: Palestinian journalists are unbiased and show what’s ‘really’ happening in Gaza.
Fact: Some Palestinian journalists are manipulating and exploiting unintended victims of the Israeli strikes. Said one Palestinian journalist, members of the Palestinian media are ‘directing’ civilians to cry and telling them what to say in interviews: "A mother of one of the martyrs stood by the door of the intensive care unit while crying... relatives and those around her were telling her what she should say to the television cameras: 'Say your son [before he died] prayed and went out.' Another tells her: 'Curse the Arab leaders'... The journalists [in the hospitals] are going overboard in their insensitivity and taking advantage of the [difficult] moments, with the explanation that they are showing this to the world. One cameraman told a mourning mother: 'Hit your face, cry, do some action.'"
Again ask yourself, what would you do if you were the leader of a country facing daily rocket attacks from your neighbour. You'd cut off their electricity. You'd stop sending food and medical supplies to your enemy, and then you'd launch military strikes. You certainly wouldn't call the people in the way of the bombs on their cell phones and tell them to get out of the way, or send them ambulances.
So next time you, or your freinds, work colleagues or family, start making moral judgements about what Israel has done over the last few days, ask yourself the question... what would you have done?
Saturday, January 03, 2009
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