Israel has relented and sent fuel into Gaza. I wonder what the response will be? Let’s see how Israel is repaid for this good deed? My bet would be more rockets and mortar shells fired into Israel FROM GAZA by the terrorists of Hamas. We shall see!
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Israel eases blockade; Gaza lights on.
IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel sent fuel to Gaza's power plant on Tuesday, easing its five-day blockade of the Palestinian territory amid growing international concern about a humanitarian crisis. ….

Read the full article here on the Olympian.

I know this is late, but a picture I saw on Rob Whitlock's Flickr Stream gave me the urge to post it.

"'A time comes when silence is betrayal.' That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam [Iraq].

The truth of these words is beyond doubt but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on."

We're going to Ron's...

Six of Ron's 27 handguns.

A Sig Sauer

 Lots more guns...

From http://www.horsesass.org/?p=4159

"Apparently, shamelessly racist smear campaigns aren’t limited to anonymous emails anymore, what with the Clark County Republican Party’s official website front-paging the “Barack Obama is a Muslim” hoax:

Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. […] It is reported that Obama swore his oath of office using the Koran and pictures have shown him standing for the Pledge but not reciting it and holding his hands to his side while others place their hands over their hearts.

This is chilling information about a candidate for the highest office in the Country especially given the radical Muslim claims that they will destroy American from “the inside”.

Really. I’m not making this up. Jon Devore gets the credit for exposing this pathetic attempt at swiftboating Obama, and just in case the Clark County GOP attempts to cover up their shameful hate-mongering, Jon’s captured a screen shot for posterity."

The article goes on to say the post was taken down from the Clark County GOP website. I'm not a  huge Obama fan but this kind of crap is totally lame in my book.

EDIT: UPDATE

To be fair, the Clark County GOP website has posted this:

Briana Waters is an old Olympia resident that is being tried in Tacoma, WA, regarding her alleged involvement in the UW Center for Urban Horticulture arson in 2001. Briana steadfastly maintains her innocence. Her pretrial conference hearing is this Friday, January 25, 2008. It is important to attend wearing court clothes and appropriate attitudes for court. Her life is on the line.

Who is Briana Waters? Briana Waters is a mother, violin teacher and amazing videographer. She did the documentary "Watch" about the successful tress sit/ labor campaign in Randle, WA. She is being persecuted by the government in the "green scare round up".

Why is this important to Olympia? This is important for several reasons. First, the Olympia has been and will be under the scrutiny of mass infiltrations, snitches, and general FBI interrogation. Second, it is important for Olympia to step up and document what the federal government is doing.

This is our amazing community and we have a responsibility to bear witness to this trial about our community and be the alternative media. This is not about the alleged arson. This is about the further suppression of our organizing in Olympia and throughout the world. We have an amazing community and amazing network to get the TRUTH out!

More informations at:

www.portland.indymedia.org. Check out the green scare page.

Here is a repost:

Briana Waters pretrial conference hearing is on January 25, 2008, at 9am. The Tacoma Federal Courthouse is on 1717 Pacific Ave, Tacoma, WA. Please come and bear witness. Dress and act appropriate for the court requested.

Briana Waters trial is slated to begin February 11, 2008 in Tacoma.

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer

A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."

The study was posted Tuesday on the Web site of the Center for Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in Journalism.
...
The study counted 935 false statements in the two-year period. It found that in speeches, briefings, interviews and other venues, Bush and administration officials stated unequivocally on at least 532 occasions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both.

"It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al-Qaida," according to Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith of the Fund for Independence in Journalism staff members, writing an overview of the study. "In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003."

Named in the study along with Bush were top officials of the administration during the period studied: Vice President Dick Cheney, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan.

OMAHA, Neb. -- Police on Tuesday formally charged a 19-year-old man who they believe fired a high-powered rifle at a drive-through restaurant customer from at least 100 yards away.

Kyle Bormann, 19, was charged by Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine in the death of Brittany Williams, 21.

Williams, 21, was shot to death at about 8:40 p.m. Sunday as she sat at the Florence Kentucky Fried Chicken and Long John Silvers near 30th Street and Craig Avenue. Investigators said they believe Bormann used a high-powered rifle, and Williams was a random target.

We constantly hear the stories about someone with a handgun, or an "assault rifle" killing folks. It can still happen with a hunting rifle, and (unless you are an idiot like this guy) getting caught can be much tougher, ie "DC sniper" case. May this young woman rest in peace, may this young man spend some quality time in the state prison, and may incidents like this stop happening so that we can all live a little more peacefully. Hope you, and yours, are all tucked in and safe tonight.

I'm really looking forward to Ledger's Joker in the upcoming "The Dark Knight" (as I'm sure anyone a fan of 1989's "Batman" is, too).

CNN: Actor Heath Ledger dies at 28:

Actor Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday of a possible drug overdose in a Lower Manhattan apartment, the New York Police Department said.

The nature of his death is what I thought could be more related to local discussion.

The pills appeared to be over-the-counter sleeping medication, said police spokeswoman Barbara Chen.

As a former college student I can tell you anecdotally that prescription medication is far and away the choice for changing your mood. I've heard this for a long time - I'm going to say mid-90s - that society was simply training their kids to be drug abusers. Not that it was ever recommended for me, but my parents would have refused to put me on any medication (e.g. for ADD) that was simply to alter behavior.

Statistically these observations are supported. A simple Google search for "drug abuse, prescription medication" will reveal numerous articles from regional and local newspapers all over the United States detailing an increase in the abuse of prescription drug medication (and at the same time a decline in the use of other, more traditional narcotics).

I joke that with prescription medication the "yuppies" figured out a way to make street drugs legal. Unfortunately, I think it's pretty close to the truth.