Summer is over
Intern training is finally over and I am incredibly happy about this fact. The downside is that we don't get any break and tomorrow the new students come, which means I'll be working literally all day and into the evening. This is a damn shame as I was liking campus being nice and quiet.
The summer as of tonight is officially over.
How Israel Learned to Love the Bomb
I've kept some pretty strong feelings about the issues in the Middle East mostly to myself, resisting some strong urges to write about them in my LiveJournal. Among my friends, and those who read LiveJournal, there are some significant differences of opinion about Israel and all things even vaguely related.
The recent events have significantly changed my opinion and position I once held towards Israel, and I will avoid going into those in any detail lest I step on more than a few toes.
What I want to write quickly about instead, is the recent discovery that only hours before the scheduled ceasefire began, Israel carpeted much of Southern Lebanon with cluster bombs [Google News Link]. Why cluster bombs? History has shown they are not effective in focused strikes for very obvious reasons. Israel's government claim they were engaged in a campaign of 'focused strikes' against enemies of their state, however, the use of cluster bombs hardly shows a focused attack as they are intended to cause light to moderate damage across a wider range than traditional munitions. Israel justifiably accused Hezbollah of hiding behind Lebanese civilians and charging that the loss of civilian life is their fault. Does it seem disingenuous to then use a weapon that is so wide and wreckless in its destruction and which carries a dark legacy of use against civilian populations?
So why all of a sudden switch over to a less effective weapon given the goals claimed by Israel from the get-go? Why pick a weapon that is sure to be more devastating to civilian populations and less useful for attacking military targets? Why start using a weapon which is known to cause injuries and deaths for years to come?
The psychological effects of the weapon are certainly one aspect. But what many people fear is that Israel deliberately selected the weapon and its timing in using the weapon because cluster bombs are famous for not working properly. A single bomb carries clusters of explosive packets (or bomblets), these packets upon reaching a certain altitude or hitting the ground detonate...ideally.
Often these packets don't explode as they are intended leaving behind something very similar to a landmine. Not only must Lebanon rebuild from Israel's attacks on their infrastructure (who knew Hezbollah were disguising themselves as bridges and roads!?), but they must also cope with the lasting humanitarian dangers of the explosive landmines that Israel was so courteous to introduce to them in the last hours before "peace". I'm inclined to agree with critics of Israel (the UN and much of the world) on this one: the heavy use of cluster bombs displays a shocking lack of morality within the IDF, and one which is deplorable, morally unjustifiable, deeply questionable within the ideological principles of the Geneva Convention, and disgusting to see from an ally of the United States.
EDIT: The United States has launched an official inquiry into Israel's use of cluster bombs before the ceasefire deadline. We all know its purely symbolic (criticizing Israel is political suicide in this country), but its good to see even the US sees this as morally questionable.
The summer as of tonight is officially over.
How Israel Learned to Love the Bomb
I've kept some pretty strong feelings about the issues in the Middle East mostly to myself, resisting some strong urges to write about them in my LiveJournal. Among my friends, and those who read LiveJournal, there are some significant differences of opinion about Israel and all things even vaguely related.
The recent events have significantly changed my opinion and position I once held towards Israel, and I will avoid going into those in any detail lest I step on more than a few toes.
What I want to write quickly about instead, is the recent discovery that only hours before the scheduled ceasefire began, Israel carpeted much of Southern Lebanon with cluster bombs [Google News Link]. Why cluster bombs? History has shown they are not effective in focused strikes for very obvious reasons. Israel's government claim they were engaged in a campaign of 'focused strikes' against enemies of their state, however, the use of cluster bombs hardly shows a focused attack as they are intended to cause light to moderate damage across a wider range than traditional munitions. Israel justifiably accused Hezbollah of hiding behind Lebanese civilians and charging that the loss of civilian life is their fault. Does it seem disingenuous to then use a weapon that is so wide and wreckless in its destruction and which carries a dark legacy of use against civilian populations?
So why all of a sudden switch over to a less effective weapon given the goals claimed by Israel from the get-go? Why pick a weapon that is sure to be more devastating to civilian populations and less useful for attacking military targets? Why start using a weapon which is known to cause injuries and deaths for years to come?
The psychological effects of the weapon are certainly one aspect. But what many people fear is that Israel deliberately selected the weapon and its timing in using the weapon because cluster bombs are famous for not working properly. A single bomb carries clusters of explosive packets (or bomblets), these packets upon reaching a certain altitude or hitting the ground detonate...ideally.
Often these packets don't explode as they are intended leaving behind something very similar to a landmine. Not only must Lebanon rebuild from Israel's attacks on their infrastructure (who knew Hezbollah were disguising themselves as bridges and roads!?), but they must also cope with the lasting humanitarian dangers of the explosive landmines that Israel was so courteous to introduce to them in the last hours before "peace". I'm inclined to agree with critics of Israel (the UN and much of the world) on this one: the heavy use of cluster bombs displays a shocking lack of morality within the IDF, and one which is deplorable, morally unjustifiable, deeply questionable within the ideological principles of the Geneva Convention, and disgusting to see from an ally of the United States.
EDIT: The United States has launched an official inquiry into Israel's use of cluster bombs before the ceasefire deadline. We all know its purely symbolic (criticizing Israel is political suicide in this country), but its good to see even the US sees this as morally questionable.
- 30% of Americans don't remember what year 9/11 took place. Some news is good even when its old. [SFW]
- How many more places can we stick batteries before electronic devices are a total joke? Check battery-operated forks off the list. [SFW]
- Put the fear of GOD into your Wireless network. Ah, the Death Star of wireless receivers. [SFW]
- Another game powered by Google Maps: It's a lot like RISK and multiplayer in your browser! [SFW]
- Drinking juice is no better than drinking soda in many ways. It's sad how few of my friends drink water. [SFW]
- Cybermen Call Centre...not particularly funny, but I feel obligated to post even old Doctor Who spoofs. [SFW, Volume]
- The Interweb Medley: A Giant Horrible Squishing-together of the Interweb's catchiest songs! [SFW]
- A cat that is illegally adorable. [SFW]
- I think my obsession with horrible things from India is beginning to go too far. [SFW, Volume]
- Someone has invented a Prayer Antenna! Yaaaay! [SFW]
- A Golden Oldie: Star Trek Inspirational Posters (For all three of you who haven't seen these). [SFW]
- Are the Democrats plotting Bush's impeachment? This guy thinks so. [SFW]
- Do you have half an hour to kill watching ridiculous yo-yo tricks? [SFW]
- A video defending Atheists? Sure, why not though I wish many of them would more fully embrace humanism. [SFW, Volume]
- Well, if a Pokemon-like battle decides it the Wii is definitely the winner. [SFW, Volume]
- Well, now I can hate Paris Hilton and Hello Kitty. Ah, it still burns even though its a month old. [SFW]
