Fresh Loaf

After Iran’s nascent green revolution was forced from America’s collective consciousness by Gov. Mark Sanford’s public loss of virginity, Michael Jackson beating it, and Sarah Palin quitting to prove she’s no quitter, many of my friends were dismayed. Quite a few of them complained about how titillating news is always pushing important news out of the limelight.

For a long time, I thought obsessing on nonsense was a luxury enjoyed by prosperous, peaceful societies. Humans are born with enough mental capacity to hunt for food and fight off predators and rivals. Because our society is prosperous and orderly, I thought, we Americans can’t help but devote our unused mental capacity to stupid things like “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.” OMG, have you seen Danielle’s sex tape? OMG, she’s so trashy!

Continue reading Don’t Panic!

(Illustration by Andisheh Nouraee)

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• More violent crimes in metro Atlanta — this time in Roswell — even after Mayor Franklin announced yesterday that crime is down around these parts.
• Unemployment hits 16-year high. More than 11 million Americans are now unemployed.
• Hamas and Israel say no to the U.N. demand for a ceasefire.
• Sarah Palin wants Katie Couric to know that Couric “is not the center of everybody’s universe,” further proving how behind on media information Palin is. Literate people have known that for awhile.
• With no writers’ strike to worry about this year, the Golden Globes award ceremony is back on. Now the stars will have to party hard enough for two year’s worth.
• Obama’s planned stimulus package was met with derision from both parties. Not surprising since Democrats are frequently against tax cuts and Republicans are frequently against financial assistance.
• Russia and Ukraine manage to get along. Maybe they should clue other fighting nations into the finer points of nonviolent negotiation.

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(Photo by Sameh Habeeb)

Israel says it’s attacking Gaza to stop cross-border rocket attacks into southern Israel by Hamas militants. Because launching rockets at populated areas is an act of war, Israel says its bombings are justified.

Hamas is attacking Israel with rockets because Israel has enforced a devastating economic blockade against Gaza for the past year and a half. Additionally, Israel’s military has controlled Gaza’s borders, airspace, and sea access for 41 years. Because economic blockades are an act of war, Hamas says its rocket strikes are justified.

In other words, Israel is attacking Gaza because Gaza was attacking Israel because Israel was attacking Gaza. Ctrl-A. Ctrl-C. Ctrl-V. Repeat.

Instead of talking about which side is at fault, let’s focus for a minute on all the innocent people who are suffering.

The Gaza Strip is a tiny and crowded Arab enclave on the Mediterranean — as small as Little Rock, Ark., but with 1.5 million people jammed in. It’s as densely populated as Bangkok.

On Dec. 27 and 28, Israel dropped more than 100 tons of bombs and missiles on the place. Israel insists its weapons are aimed at Hamas combatants, not civilians.

Sadly, many innocent Gazan civilians have thus far failed to make the distinction between bombs intended for militants and bombs intended for them. It seems that when bombs land on the heads of Gazan civilians, they die regardless.

As of New Years Eve, the United Nations says 320 of Gaza’s 1.5 million residents have been killed by Israeli airstrikes. An additional 1,400 have been injured.

The U.N. claims that 62 of those killed are civilians. The U.N. also says its civilian death count includes only women and children. Either there’s no such thing as a civilian man in Gaza, or the U.N. is vastly undercounting the number of civilian dead. (more…)

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