French Hill News Brief
Well, I still don't believe that it's going to snow in Jerusalem tonight, but it's supposed to snow around midnight. In the mean-time, it is just plain nasty and cold! It's been raining, sleeting, lightning, and anything in between. Just absolutely nasty winter weather. I was so sad that today was the first time I had to take out my winter coat. It's the middle of February, and I haven't had to wear my winter coat until today. In the states, I would have been wearing it since November. So, I guess that I should be happy, but I was hoping to go all winter without having to wear my winter coat. In any event, I couldn't figure out what to write today, so I decided to kind of just peruse the news and see what's happening in the world.
In Olympic news, men's hockey started today. For the third Olympics, the NHLers are playing. And, boy, the stars were shining in Day 1. As has been predicted, even-though Slovakia was ranked low coming into these Olympics, every-one thought that they had the stuff to be the big surprise and sneak into medal contention through the back door. Today, they showed why. Russia, always a high medal contender, lost to Slovakia by a score of 5-3. And, let me tell you, it was a great game. I thought I was watching game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and not Day 1 of the preliminary rounds in the Olympics. These two teams went all out at each-other for a full 60 minutes. It was tied 3-3 until the last few minutes of the game. Then, Minnesota Wild's, Marian Gaborik, scored two amazing goals to give Slovakia the win. Great game, but absolutely spoiled by the fac that the play-by-play guy could NOT, FOR THE LIFE OF HIM, pronounce the players' names. It was absolutely infuriating. If you're announcing a game, don't you think you should learn how to pronounce the players' names, especially on the INTERNATIONAL scene, where names are very difficult and very unique. The worst one was when he mentioned LA Kings', Pavel Demitra. He kept pronouncing his name, DEMITRY! Like, could he not read the back of the guy's jersey, for crying out loud?!?
Anyways, besides that, the hockey is looking good. Canada, expectedly, (they're considered the favorites to win gold) bashed Italy 7-2. The Czech Republic beat out Germany 4-1, and that was also a really good game. Besides for the US, I'm rooting for the teams that have Red Wings players in them, so I was rooting for the Czechs. The big news in that game was that Dominic Hasek, goaltender extraodinare, was injured in the 1st period. It looks like he may have reinjured his groin, which would be really bad. Especially, if it's serious, because he plays for Ottawa, and they're playing awesome right now. Right now, I'm watching the USA-Latvia game, and, surprisingly, USA is losing 3-2 going into the 3rd period. I hope the Americans can get it together, because they're good enough to fight for a medal. It would be a shame for them to go down early like they did back in Nagano, in '98. They really need to play to their potential.
OK, what's happening around the world?
Well, there's that Dick Cheney quail hunting accident thing. I don't really want to talk about it in any depth because I think it was blown completely out of proportion. It was an accident. Mr Whittington wasn't shot with an bullet. It was bird shot. I pray for his recovery, but nobody's trying to cover anything up here. The libs, democrats, and MSM are trying to make this into some sort of conspiracy or scandal that the White House is trying to cover up. In reality, they are doing no such thing, and the media keeps harping on it, trying to uncover any little tidbit they can get their hands on, but, alas, there's nothing. Mr Whittington, I wish you a full recovery, but, let's let this go already, and be done with it.
In international news, Saddam, "How many Kurds can I kill in an hour?", Hussein is on Day 2, supposedly, of his hunger strike. He is, again and for the millionth time, protesting the Iraqi court's legitimacy. His half brother is protesting the court by only sitting in sessions with his pajamas on. I can't help but laugh. I mean, what do these guys actually expect to accomplish? That they'll actually regain some sort of power and control with these antics? When told he was on a hunger strike, the presiding Judge just shrugged at him. He didn't even give him the time of day. Hussein and his bro can't actually expect to gain sympathy with what they're doing, can they? To me, they look like complete idiots, and I can't help but wonder how they ever accomplished all the horrific things they did, and how they ever managed to keep as many secrets as they did. I mean, come on, the Nazis on trial at Nurrenberg had more dignity that Saddam and his cronies have.
But, these outburts and ridiculous antics are part and parcel of the reason that I am NOT in favor of regular and public trials for terrorists. These should be held in private tribunals, so terrorists don't have the podium to rant, rave, and pontifate; essentially making a total mockery of the judicial system and getting opportunities to gain a following. I understand why Saddam's trial needs to be public and open. The world needs to see democracy and the rule of law at work. However, those who are crying and hawing for alleged terrorists and combatants to be tried in a regular civil caurt hasn't watched this trial. It's ridiculous and shouldn't happen. End of story.
(Source: IDF troops kill Palestinian wielding toy rifle near Jenin) Finally, some news from the Holy Land. Today, Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian kid. Allegedly, the 19 year old was carrying around a toy rifle. The elite Maglan unit was in a West Bank town near Jenin to arrest wanted Pals. Apparently, a bunch of Palestinians, who (of course) have nothing better to do, started throwing stones and rocks at the soldiers. When they saw a person amongst the throwers with a weapon, they opened fire. Members of the kid's family are claiming that it wasn't a real gun, and that he was mentally disabled. Well, of course, the soldiers should have known that when they saw the kid aiming what looked like a real enough gun at them. In that split second, when the soldiers must decide whether their lives are in danger, they're being shot at, and need to defend their lives, these soldiers should have been automatically able to identify whether the gun was real, and... of course, obviously, they should have been able to see that the kid was mentally disabled. I mean, the kid had to have had a big "I'm crazy" sign on his chest, or cookoo birds flying over his heads. PLEASE!!
I'm no expert on guns, but I've seen real ones, and those toy rifles look mighty damn real. These types of shootings are becoming more and more common. Kids run at or point these very real looking toy rifles and guns at soldiers, the soldiers think that they are being shot at, and shoot to kill those that they believe are threatening them. It doesn't matter whether these kids are 20 or 12, the question to ask is why in the hell are these kids carrying around toy guns? Even more so, why would they be so incredibly stupid as to point them at soldiers, and believe that the soldiers won't believe they're real?!? We've all played cowboys and Indians. These kids are playing Mujahadeen and Israeli zionist occupying force. They're given these toy guns and taught to believe that one day they'll get real ones. Imagination becomes reality. The soldiers should be playing the game like them. If the kid knows his gun is fake, then the soldier does also. It's just a game, right? I believe these kids are counting on, because they've seen it, the Israeli soldiers not shooting at them. Israeli soldiers go out of their way to protect civilian life in the face of cowardly terrorists hiding among them. Instead of invstigating the soldiers who are doing only what they are trained to do, and what any normal person would do in the same situation, they should be asking the Palestinians why these kids are carrying around these real looking toy guns, and why these kids aren't being taught not to point them at soldiers because they will think that they're real. I'm afraid that the answer might be some-where along of parents retroactively making martyrs out of their children by having them being accidently killed for carrying these guns. I think the rest of the world is afraid of that answer.
And, that's your news brief. Stay tuned. Also, The USA-Latvia game ended in a 3-3 tie.
In Olympic news, men's hockey started today. For the third Olympics, the NHLers are playing. And, boy, the stars were shining in Day 1. As has been predicted, even-though Slovakia was ranked low coming into these Olympics, every-one thought that they had the stuff to be the big surprise and sneak into medal contention through the back door. Today, they showed why. Russia, always a high medal contender, lost to Slovakia by a score of 5-3. And, let me tell you, it was a great game. I thought I was watching game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and not Day 1 of the preliminary rounds in the Olympics. These two teams went all out at each-other for a full 60 minutes. It was tied 3-3 until the last few minutes of the game. Then, Minnesota Wild's, Marian Gaborik, scored two amazing goals to give Slovakia the win. Great game, but absolutely spoiled by the fac that the play-by-play guy could NOT, FOR THE LIFE OF HIM, pronounce the players' names. It was absolutely infuriating. If you're announcing a game, don't you think you should learn how to pronounce the players' names, especially on the INTERNATIONAL scene, where names are very difficult and very unique. The worst one was when he mentioned LA Kings', Pavel Demitra. He kept pronouncing his name, DEMITRY! Like, could he not read the back of the guy's jersey, for crying out loud?!?
Anyways, besides that, the hockey is looking good. Canada, expectedly, (they're considered the favorites to win gold) bashed Italy 7-2. The Czech Republic beat out Germany 4-1, and that was also a really good game. Besides for the US, I'm rooting for the teams that have Red Wings players in them, so I was rooting for the Czechs. The big news in that game was that Dominic Hasek, goaltender extraodinare, was injured in the 1st period. It looks like he may have reinjured his groin, which would be really bad. Especially, if it's serious, because he plays for Ottawa, and they're playing awesome right now. Right now, I'm watching the USA-Latvia game, and, surprisingly, USA is losing 3-2 going into the 3rd period. I hope the Americans can get it together, because they're good enough to fight for a medal. It would be a shame for them to go down early like they did back in Nagano, in '98. They really need to play to their potential.
OK, what's happening around the world?
Well, there's that Dick Cheney quail hunting accident thing. I don't really want to talk about it in any depth because I think it was blown completely out of proportion. It was an accident. Mr Whittington wasn't shot with an bullet. It was bird shot. I pray for his recovery, but nobody's trying to cover anything up here. The libs, democrats, and MSM are trying to make this into some sort of conspiracy or scandal that the White House is trying to cover up. In reality, they are doing no such thing, and the media keeps harping on it, trying to uncover any little tidbit they can get their hands on, but, alas, there's nothing. Mr Whittington, I wish you a full recovery, but, let's let this go already, and be done with it.
In international news, Saddam, "How many Kurds can I kill in an hour?", Hussein is on Day 2, supposedly, of his hunger strike. He is, again and for the millionth time, protesting the Iraqi court's legitimacy. His half brother is protesting the court by only sitting in sessions with his pajamas on. I can't help but laugh. I mean, what do these guys actually expect to accomplish? That they'll actually regain some sort of power and control with these antics? When told he was on a hunger strike, the presiding Judge just shrugged at him. He didn't even give him the time of day. Hussein and his bro can't actually expect to gain sympathy with what they're doing, can they? To me, they look like complete idiots, and I can't help but wonder how they ever accomplished all the horrific things they did, and how they ever managed to keep as many secrets as they did. I mean, come on, the Nazis on trial at Nurrenberg had more dignity that Saddam and his cronies have.
But, these outburts and ridiculous antics are part and parcel of the reason that I am NOT in favor of regular and public trials for terrorists. These should be held in private tribunals, so terrorists don't have the podium to rant, rave, and pontifate; essentially making a total mockery of the judicial system and getting opportunities to gain a following. I understand why Saddam's trial needs to be public and open. The world needs to see democracy and the rule of law at work. However, those who are crying and hawing for alleged terrorists and combatants to be tried in a regular civil caurt hasn't watched this trial. It's ridiculous and shouldn't happen. End of story.
(Source: IDF troops kill Palestinian wielding toy rifle near Jenin) Finally, some news from the Holy Land. Today, Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian kid. Allegedly, the 19 year old was carrying around a toy rifle. The elite Maglan unit was in a West Bank town near Jenin to arrest wanted Pals. Apparently, a bunch of Palestinians, who (of course) have nothing better to do, started throwing stones and rocks at the soldiers. When they saw a person amongst the throwers with a weapon, they opened fire. Members of the kid's family are claiming that it wasn't a real gun, and that he was mentally disabled. Well, of course, the soldiers should have known that when they saw the kid aiming what looked like a real enough gun at them. In that split second, when the soldiers must decide whether their lives are in danger, they're being shot at, and need to defend their lives, these soldiers should have been automatically able to identify whether the gun was real, and... of course, obviously, they should have been able to see that the kid was mentally disabled. I mean, the kid had to have had a big "I'm crazy" sign on his chest, or cookoo birds flying over his heads. PLEASE!!
I'm no expert on guns, but I've seen real ones, and those toy rifles look mighty damn real. These types of shootings are becoming more and more common. Kids run at or point these very real looking toy rifles and guns at soldiers, the soldiers think that they are being shot at, and shoot to kill those that they believe are threatening them. It doesn't matter whether these kids are 20 or 12, the question to ask is why in the hell are these kids carrying around toy guns? Even more so, why would they be so incredibly stupid as to point them at soldiers, and believe that the soldiers won't believe they're real?!? We've all played cowboys and Indians. These kids are playing Mujahadeen and Israeli zionist occupying force. They're given these toy guns and taught to believe that one day they'll get real ones. Imagination becomes reality. The soldiers should be playing the game like them. If the kid knows his gun is fake, then the soldier does also. It's just a game, right? I believe these kids are counting on, because they've seen it, the Israeli soldiers not shooting at them. Israeli soldiers go out of their way to protect civilian life in the face of cowardly terrorists hiding among them. Instead of invstigating the soldiers who are doing only what they are trained to do, and what any normal person would do in the same situation, they should be asking the Palestinians why these kids are carrying around these real looking toy guns, and why these kids aren't being taught not to point them at soldiers because they will think that they're real. I'm afraid that the answer might be some-where along of parents retroactively making martyrs out of their children by having them being accidently killed for carrying these guns. I think the rest of the world is afraid of that answer.
And, that's your news brief. Stay tuned. Also, The USA-Latvia game ended in a 3-3 tie.
posted by Olah Chadasha @ 2/15/2006 11:14:00 PM
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4 Comments:
I got criticized in the past for writing that Israeli soldiers should shoot first and ask questions later when confronted with someone carrying a toy weapon.
Really? I'd like to know by whom. Probably by people who have never been in a life or death situation, right? People who have no understanding about the situations that soldiers face believe that they have the right to criticize their decisions and choices. People who believe that in a split second, less than that, soldiers should be able to distinguish between a real and toy gun when it's pointed at them are incredibly arrogant and incredibly naive.
Don't let anyone get away with criticizing you about stuff like this. You're absolutely right, and they're absolutely WRONG.
-OC
What idiot parents would let their child (especially a mentally handicapped one) carry a toy gun in an area like that?
Exactly!! That's their mentality. They're preparing their kids to carry the REAL THING.
-OC
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