Sparkling... In a Manner of Speaking

From an e-mail conversation with a friend yesterday:

I've been watching the Israel/Hamas conflict as well but have refrained from posting/commenting on it, other than that oh-so-short acknowledgment I posted a few days back. Perhaps I'll jump into the blogosphere discussion now that Israel has launched its invasion. I have no idea what your politics are these days (strange, eh?), but these two articles from Mark Steyn and Victor Davis Hanson pretty much reflect my views... Hanson's in particular.

I'm simply appalled at the fact our Lefty friends, both here and in other parts of the world, choose to side with a genocidal terrorist political entity who's "on the record" as rejecting Israel's right to exist, thinks suicide bombing is a morally acceptable tactic, and whose militias hide behind civilians. The Left's support for Hamas (generally speaking; there are exceptions) is baffling, if not mind-boggling.

There’s another reason I’ve not posted on this subject, as well: there’s nothing to argue about in this space… nothing at ALL. Israel’s response to Hamas’ prolonged aggression is as pure an act of self-defense as there could possibly be. I most definitely should express my support for Israel from time to time, but I don’t think any of the whining about Israel’s “disproportional response*”, the “humanitarian crisis” (bullshit, plain and simple), or any other such drivel merits discussion or comment. We’ve seen this movie before… too damned many times, in fact. Hamas asked for this latest episode of “As The Mid-East Turns Burns;” I sincerely hope they enjoy what they’re getting.

Let’s address the unsaid question I’ve left hanging out there, lest you think I’m totally heartless. Do I have any sympathy at all for the innocents? Some, but not a whole helluva lot. The people of Gaza would do well to remember one of democracy’s truisms: “elections have consequences.” You (Gazans) knew what you were getting when you voted for Hamas… so don’t blame Israel when they come looking for the rocketeers. Think before you vote next time… if you get a next time. And think on that other old saying about living, dying, and swords.

* about which: would A Concerned World prefer Israel just launch 20 or 30 rockets into Gaza City randomly (which is to say into residential areas), on a daily basis? Would that be better? It certainly would be “proportional.”

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Ah. Dunno about you, Gentle Reader, but I sure feel better now. Speaking of feeling better: yesterday we had our second or third Happy Hour of this winter season. We got up to about 65 degrees yesterday, which was warm enough (albeit barely) to sit outside and enjoy a couple of brews and a cigar. We won’t be doing that today, what with a forecasted high of only 45 degrees. Ya takes it as it comes…

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This is scary… real frickin’ scary:

Hundreds of earthquakes have hit Yellowstone National Park, raising fears of a more powerful volcanic eruption.

The earthquake swarm, the biggest in more than 20 years, is being closely monitored by scientists and emergency authorities.

The series of small quakes included three last Friday which measured stronger than magnitude 3.0. The strongest since this latest swarm of quakes began on December 27 was 3.9.

No damage has yet been reported but scientists say this level of activity - there have been more than 500 tremors in the last week - is highly unusual.

[…]

Professor Robert B. Smith, a geophysicist at the University of Utah and one of the leading experts on earthquake and volcanic activity at Yellowstone, said that the swarm was significant.

"It's not business as usual," he said. "This is a large earthquake swarm, and we've recorded several hundred. We are paying careful attention. This is an important sequence."

The last full-scale explosion of the Yellowstone Supervolcano, the Lava Creek eruption which happened approximately 640,000 years ago, ejected about 240 cubic miles of rock and dust into the sky.

I dunno if any of you Gentle Readers happened to see The Discovery Channel/BBC production back in 2005 titled “Supervolcano”… but I did. Which is why I called the above “real frickin’ scary.” An eruption on the scale of that described in the teevee show could really be the end of the world as we know it. There’s good background on Yellowstone’s volcanic activity at the USGS Yellowstone site.

Let us pray.

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The first drop-out…

Bill Richardson is withdrawing his nomination to be commerce secretary, FOX News confirmed Sunday.

Richardson, who will remain governor of New Mexico, is facing a federal grand jury investigation into whether he exchanged government contracts for contributions to three Richardson political committees.

Richardson denies any wrongdoing but the investigation won't be finished before he has to go to a Senate confirmation hearing.

Dang. I thought we were rid of Billy. But… there’s always that investigation. We could still be rid of him, Lord Willin’ and the creek don’t rise.

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Today’s Pics: Yesterday I mentioned that I could always post pics of the grand-babies if’n I ever ran out of my own baby pics. Well, then. Here are two such… taken in Birmingham, Michigan on the Fourth of July back in 2000. Anastasia on top, Amanda on the bottom. I realize these two young ladies ain’t exactly grand-babies. As a matter of fact, both young women have babies of their own now. But ya know how it IS, Gentle Reader. They will always be my grand-babies, even if I live long enough to watch ‘em turn 40.

Fat chance.