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If so, any good?
History did not begin with the Qassams - Haaretz - Israel News: The siege of Gaza did not begin when Hamas seized control of the Strip's security organs, or when Gilad Shalit was taken captive, or when Hamas was elected in democratic elections. The siege began in 1991 - before the suicide bombings. And since then, it has only become more sophisticated, reaching its peak in 2005.
The Israeli public relations machinery happily presented the disengagement as the end of the occupation, in brazen disregard of the facts. The isolation and closure were presented as military necessities. But we are big boys and girls, and we know that "military necessities" and consistent lies serve state goals. Israel's goal was to thwart the two-state solution, which the world had expected to materialize once the Cold War ended in 1990. This was not a perfect solution, but the Palestinians were ready for it then.
Gaza is not a military power that attacked its tiny, peace-loving neighbor, Israel. Gaza is a territory that Israel occupied in 1967, along with the West Bank. Its residents are part of the Palestinian people, which lost its land and its homeland in 1948.
I am rather frustrated with the current affairs in Gaza. I can't imagine how anyone sees the situation differently than I do, but more importantly I can't imagine, whatever side you are on, why the current bombing is necessary or good. Guess there is not much I can do, there are calls for boycotts (not convinced that they will really help, or that they are even coordinated well). There are calls for donations (of course Israel is stopping any money, aid, doctors, IRC, and everything else from getting to Gaza). But I can at least appeal to my elected government officials. So I sent the following to my US Representative, both of my Senators, President Bush, and President Elect Obama: I implore you to take action on the recent troubles in Israel/Palestine. It would seem to be clear to anyone with any moral fiber that Israel has more than "retaliated" for any actions taken by Hamas especially since it is clear that Israel is the violator of the most recent cease fire. The people who are forced to reside in Gaza, who have no escape, no means to defend themselves, no means to even feed themselves and keep warm under the current blockade, are clearly victims of the worst kind.
I don't expect that anything will resolve this current escalation to any one's satisfaction, but at least we can pressure the Israeli government to stop the carnage, and we can work to stop supporting a country that most of the world, and the UN, have branded a criminal due to this and other recent actions which they have taken in clear violation of criminal law. To believe that this is simply "defense of Israel" is a joke as clear as day when the casualties on both sides are compared, and when we remember that Gaza is nothing more than a giant prison.
Please do your best to find any way to cease the current hostilities and save any lives possible if simply just to save the innocent from the arrogant men who presume to speak for them.
Maybe you agree with me or not. But I still wonder why violence and war is the solution we turn to so often to resolve our differences. Sure this is a big complicated mess, but the world is not a zero sum game, I truly believe we can all "win".
Olmert says he talked Bush out of cease-fire vote - Los Angeles Times: Reporting from Washington -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert boasted Monday that he successfully pressured President Bush last week to reverse course on U.S. diplomacy over fighting in Gaza, in an episode that could sharpen tensions between the close allies at a sensitive moment.
Speaking to an audience in Ashkelon, Israel, Olmert said he had called Bush last Thursday and convinced him that the United States should not vote for a pending U.N. Security Council resolution urging a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
Olmert said Bush's agreement "embarrassed" Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice because the resolution was one that she had "cooked up, she organized, she formulated, she maneuvered," according to comments reported by Israel Radio.
"And she was left pretty embarrassed, abstaining on a draft resolution she organized herself," Olmert added.
Just when you thought Bush could do no more harm...
My wife likes this show, and I told her that it was canceled, guess that was mostly just a rumor?
Lipstick Jungle (TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: On November 13, rumors emerged that NBC would cancel the show due to low ratings and it was unclear if the remaining episodes would be aired in the current time slot. However, these rumors are, as yet, unconfirmed. Lipstick Jungle will continue to air their remaining episodes due to a 50% increase in ratings. NBC Chairman Ben Silverman stated that they "may" order more episodes down the line if ratings were to improve.
Not sure if this is the way you compete with low ratings, but convincing people that you're probably going to cancel their show. Wonder if the same goes for "My Own Worst Enemy"...
My Own Worst Enemy (TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: My Own Worst Enemy was an American television drama airing on NBC, and Global in Canada. It premiered on October 13, 2008. The series was produced by Universal Media Studios. Jason Smilovic was the executive producer; David Semel was the director and executive producer. It ended on December 15th after 9 episodes. The final episode ended with a cliff-hanger, and the major plot lines ended without resolution.
Nope, appears that one is dead. NBC already killed "Journeyman" which we both enjoyed. Still can't figure out why "Chuck" is still on, or why "Heroes" isn't rated higher. Clearly I'm not anyone's target audience, or even a good judge of what it takes to run a TV network...
FogBugz - Project Management Software: FogBugz helps teams work together by tracking, prioritizing, and coordinating the thousands of small tasks a development team has to do.
On the tip from A.San I checked out FogBugz and I'm glad he mentioned it. Much easier to get tasks in the system, much easier to group, categorize, organize, and manipulate tasks; and much easier to close them out than my previous solution of Salesforce. And I've only just scratched the surface...
A while back I read about a new symbol that could be appearing on my consumer products: 
Marks on products to indicate the Kosher Certification of one authority or another are quite familiar to most Americans (I think) and "Halal" marks are common throughout the Muslim world, but this mark seems to be the first effort to mark products as acceptable to Muslims in the US. The growth of this sort of thing, especially in the US environment, is clearly going to be a slow thing, but this morning I noticed the mark on a product that was already in my medicine cabinet, Deodorant - Apricot Long Last Stick (2.25oz 18P). IFANCA: About Us: IFANCA's halal certification symbol, the Crescent M, can be found on thousands of products around the globe. In addition, IFANCA maintains close working relationships with many Islamic centers and Islamic organizations throughout the country and the world.
The seem to know their stuff, but who knows what process they go about when certifying products. Still I'll trust this mark over nothing, and it's better than my trying to review a product for Kosher marks, since there is a ton of difference between those marks as well, and I also then have to search for anything with alcohol in it.
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