News Today

Happy New Years everyone. What - you think it’s cheap that I put up a video from last year’s ball dropping? Yeah well me too. You can watch this year’s on tv then just like the rest of us.

Be safe tonight everyone.

Good morning today.com.

Citizen Power had a great post yesterday about the Gaza Strip humanitarian crisis that I would encourage you all to check out. Shellinaya also had a link on there for a petition calling for a cease-fire in Gaza now. Anyone who feels the way that I do about this is encouraged to sign it.

You can also forward this e-mail to anyone else. Let’s get as many signatures on this thing as we can.

Subject: We need a ceasefire and humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Dear Friend,

During a time of year filled with prayers for peace, the volatile Gaza Strip is plagued, once again, by violence and death.

Air strikes in Gaza have killed 300 so far - at least 50 of them civilians - and injured over 600 more. Rockets are striking deep inside of Israel. As the crisis is spirals out of control, it is certain to lead to more civilian suffering and an escalation of the conflict.

To make a profound understatement, the political and historical conflict causing this violence is centuries old and far too complicated to address in an e-mail. The purpose of the petition I just signed is not to assert who’s right and who’s wrong, but rather to ask for real action to stop the violence through an immediate ceasefire.

I just signed a petition asking the UN, the European Union, the Arab League and the U.S. State Department to act to stop this violence. I hope you will too.

Please have a look and take action.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/un_gaza/?r_by=-1932999-qjpm9px&rc=paste

Thanks!

Gaza resident surveying damage, photo by Suhaib Salem / Reuters

Rolling blackouts caused by Israel have left Gaza in darkness. Photo courtesy of the AP.

Editors note - First off I must apologize. I had this whole post typed up before but my computer went all blooey on me. So, you guys are getting the shorter version this time.

Now obviously there are a lot of different feelings about the Israeli attacks on Gaza. We have had multiple posts here on today.com and really all across the internet. It’s important though, with a topic that carries so many personal feelings like this, that we remain objective.

There are a few questions that need to be asked I think. Such as, what is the objective of the Israeli attacks? What do they mean to get out of it? How are they going to achieve this? Is it worth the cost of human life? In a letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the head of the UN Security Counsell, Israeli UN Ambassador Gabriela Shaleb had this to say:

“Israel is taking the necessary military action in order to protect its citizens from ongoing terrorist attacks originating from the Gaza Strip and carried out by Hamas and other terrorist organizations,” said Shalev, adding that Hamas “holds the sole responsibility for the latest events.”

Israel, she continued, “has exhausted all means and efforts to reach and maintain quiet and to respect the state of calm… Israel’s response is aimed solely against the terrorists and their infrastructures in the Gaza Strip. It is not intended against the civilian population. Israel is committed to prevent a humanitarian crisis.”

Photo of Gaza boy surveying the destruction in his neighborhood courtesy of AFP, Mahmud Hams.

Shalev had previously noted that the safety of the Gaza residents was a top priority. This smells like a cop out to me. The bombings have taken out Gaza police centers, freed Gaza inmates from prison, and wreaked havoc on the general population there. On top of this, Israel is only allowing minimal relief supplies to enter Gaza territory so people there are without food, water, electricity and other basic needs. You aren’t preventing a humanitarian crisis, Israel, you’re causing one. It may not have been your objective, but it’s a direct consequence to your attacks.

“No country would allow continuous rocketing of its civilian population without taking the necessary actions to stop it,” Shalev continued in her letter.

Okay, fair enough. A country is allowed to defend its own citizens. Yesterday though, in a show of retaliation Hamas fired several more rockets into Israel, bringing into question the effectiveness of the attacks. Have these air raids done anything to restrict Hamas’s ability to fire rockets? Even Israeli’s are saying no.

So what’s the objective then? Israel is actually being quite mum about the subject, acting carefully to not back themselves into a corner. Since I doubt we’ll get a response on this for a while, let’s turn to the other side.

Photo of Hamas militants by Xinhua / Landov.

What is it that Hamas wants? Why are they firing rockets into Israel? Well this requires a little bit of a history lesson. In 2005 Israel pulled its troops out of Gaza in what was heralded as a huge step towards peace in Israel. In all actuality though it was only a half-step, if that much even. Though they didn’t have troops in Gaza anymore, Israel did have control of their borders, maritime or otherwise, and their airspace. By working with Egypt to place economic sanctions and only sporadically opening border crossings Israel has been economically suffocating the troubled region for a while now. Sounds like a fair enough claim to me too, Gaza has a right to protect its citizens as well. A more comprehensive time-line of the events in Gaza can be found here.

One Hamas military commander told TIME magazine that his organization could stop Islamic Jihad, a far smaller group, from launching the rockets.

“But why should we?” he said. “We offered the Israelis a truce, based on accepting a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, and they rejected that.”

Finally, what are the consequences of the attacks? Well this is a question that only time will be able to answer, but it has created a very scary situation in a very unstable part of the world.

Photo of arab protesters by AP.

Protesters are grouping all across the middle east to speak out against Israel’s aggression. In Iran a group of influental clerics are signing up volunteers to fight against Israel. Parliaments in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and other countries around the middle east are burning the flag of Israel in a show of defiance. China, the United States, Turkey, Egypt, the U.N. and the E.U. are all begging for Israel to reconsider its strategy.

As I struggle to find silver-lining in this whole situation, I can only arrive at one word. Hope. Hope that both sides learn a lesson from this whole ordeal about the value of human life, hope that one day we can move past the violence that has plagued this region for centuries.

Photo of empty airport in Gaza by Olly Lambert.

So we have yet another scary situation brewing now, as U.S. officials are blaming the recession for waning relationships with China.

“The American economic slump is running into the Chinese economic slump,” says Derek Scissors, a research fellow at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation. “It’s creating the conditions for a face-off between Beijing and the U.S. Congress, possibly leading to destabilization of the world’s most important bilateral economic relationship.”

Why is this so scary? Because as this site had pointed out previously, we owe China a boatload of money. To the tune of over half a trillion dollars. Until now the growing country has been willing to invest in the United State’s national debt (see it on the right side of my blog, constantly going up) but China’s exports fell for the first time in seven years. Many signs seem to point towards the Chinese not being so gracious in the future. I wonder how president-elect Barack Obama will handle this situation when he takes office on January 20th.

More on this story later.

A brief note from the editor - This really doesn’t apply to 99.9% of the people who read and comment on my blog, but after yesterday I feel it has to be said. I realize that certain topics can inspire passionate feelings from people. This has always been a website that encourages good-spirited and good-humored debate. Yesterday we broke away from that a little bit. I don’t want this to be a trend. Look - Anybody is allowed to say whatever they want on here. You’ll never see me delete a comment so think about what you say before you put it down (as a journalist I have a fundamental beef with censorship). Just, for the sake of not ruining anyone’s day over my little old blog… keep it respectful. Or sarcastic. Because at least that’s funny. Okay? Okay!

. . .

Now on a more somber note I have to follow up on my post from yesterday, because the details coming out of Israel are absolutely horrific. Photos courtesy of the Associated Press.

Death totals out of Gaza continued to rise today as Israel waged forward with its offensive into the war-weary region. 290 people now have been confirmed dead, including 20 children under the age of 16 and 9 women. Over 800 people have been reported wounded as well. The Israeli attack has been the deadliest ever against Hamas. Late into Sunday night the unclaimed dead were stacked into piles outside of makeshift field hospitals, chilling images of partial body parts wrapped in blankets, waiting to be identified.

Hundreds of Gazan refugees fleeing the fighting rushed the Egyptian border, trampling one Egyptian guard to death in the process. All across the middle east huge crowds gathered to protest the fighting. European leaders such as French President Nicolas Sarkozy are pressuring Israel to relent the attacks. Even Turkey, who is an ally to Israel in the region, is pressuring Israel to stop. Turkey’s Prime Minister called the attacks an “assault on humanity” in a statement earlier today.

Still, Israeli leaders say the attacks are necessary in order to cripple Hamas’s ability to attack Israel. As more heavy rockets pounded the region Israeli troops reinforced the border with tanks and heavy weaponry, and the Israeli cabinet approved calling up a reserve of 6,000 soldiers possibly to be used in a ground invasion.

This isn’t a movie people. This isn’t CSI or reality TV. This chaos is happening now. People’s lives are being ripped apart. Loved ones are being lost forever. Children who had their whole lives ahead of them are now being buried. And as the violence continues the hatred and anguish between both sides is swelling.

It makes me so sad when I have to pull this one out. Tsk tsk tsk.

Text of address below:

Good morning. This week, Americans are gathering with family and friends across the country to celebrate the blessings of Christmas and the holiday season.

As we celebrate this joyous time of year, our thoughts turn to the brave men and women who serve our country far from home. Their extraordinary and selfless sacrifice is an inspiration to us all, and part of the unbroken line of heroism that has made our freedom and prosperity possible for over two centuries.

Many troops are serving their second, third, or even fourth tour of duty. And we are reminded that they are more than dedicated Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guard – they are devoted fathers and mothers; husbands and wives; sons and daughters; sisters and brothers.

This holiday season, their families celebrate with a joy that is muted knowing that a loved one is absent and sometimes in danger. In towns and cities across America, there is an empty seat at the dinner table; in distant bases and on ships at sea, our servicemen and women can only wonder at the look on their child’s face as they open a gift back home.

Our troops and military families have won the respect and gratitude of their broader American family. Michelle and I have them in our prayers this Christmas, and we must all continue to offer them our full support in the weeks and months to come.

These are also tough times for many Americans struggling in our sluggish economy. As we count the higher blessings of faith and family, we know that millions of Americans don’t have a job. Many more are struggling to pay the bills or stay in their homes. From students to seniors, the future seems uncertain.

That is why this season of giving should also be a time to renew a sense of common purpose and shared citizenship. Now, more than ever, we must rededicate ourselves to the notion that we share a common destiny as Americans – that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper. Now, we must all do our part to serve one another; to seek new ideas and new innovation; and to start a new chapter for our great country.

That is the spirit that will guide my Administration in the New Year. If the American people come together and put their shoulder to the wheel of history, then I know that we can put our people back to work and point our country in a new direction. That is how we will see ourselves through this time of crisis, and reach the promise of a brighter day.

After all, that’s what Americans have always done.

232 years ago, when America was newly born as a nation, George Washington and his Army faced impossible odds as they struggled to free themselves from the grip of an empire.

It was Christmas Day – December 25th, 1776 – that they fought through ice and cold to make an improbable crossing of the Delaware River. They caught the enemy off guard, won victories in Trenton and Princeton, and gave new momentum to the beleaguered Army and new hope to the cause of Independence.

Many ages have passed since that first American Christmas. We have crossed many rivers as a people. But the lessons that have carried us through are the same lessons that we celebrate every Christmas season – the same lessons that guide us to this very day: that hope endures, and that a new birth of peace is always possible.

Thank you, and have a wonderful New Year.

Is there something wrong with me? I know that for multiple reasons (Holocaust, technology, religion, whatever excuse you want to use) we’re supposed to support Israel, but… 200 people killed in the Gaza Strip yesterday. Struck by modified F-16 fighter jets who were apparently going after 12 different Hamas targets. I suppose they felt if they leveled whole neighborhoods of housing and development that they were bound to hit something.

I guess I just don’t see the difference to a desperate man strapped to a bomb in a crowded plaza than I do the Israeli generals who feel killing 200 people living inside their own country is justified because their religions are different. What, are the Israeli’s supposed to be justified because they’re using advanced weaponry (that they probably got from us) whereas the Palestinian “terrorists” have to resort to throwing rocks and home-made bombs? I’m starting to feel bad for the terrorists. This would be the equivalent of me fighting a wild-fire with only a bucket of water.

Seriously though, this question is plaguing my mind today. What justification can someone give me that makes it ok to label one side terrorists and one side right and just?

There is none, it’s just people killing people. People on top making decisions that take away the lives of thousands of innocents.

I’m out.