So far, Hamas’s response to Israel’s pummeling aerial attack has been tepid. Not that over 30 rockets fired is trivial, but it’s a far cry from what was expected. YNet’s Alex Fishman offers the following explanation: Hamas is not firing back because it can’t, or at least not yet. Israel’s attack heavily targeted the lower rungs of its command structure and its communications network. The piece is worth a read.
Here’s a report about Israel’s use of brand new mini-bunker-buster bombs, just purchased from the U.S. This, combined with a massive intel effort lasting a year, has led to a major tactical advantage for Israel in the opening days.
And for a blow-by-blow account of the rapidly developing war, take a look at the Muqata blog.
I do not want to harp on Jindal anymore. But if volcano monitoring is so wasteful from the Federal perspective (as Jindal suggested), should hurricane monitoring be done by states affected by those storms? If you live in Tacoma, monitoring volcanos seems pretty practical. If you live in New Orleans the same applies to monitoring hurricanes.
Should we not try to be federalist on federal spending for states so states can have more input on what the priorities really should be?
The Conservative Movement Unguarded. Seriously, good luck GOP and Conservatives. This is not good.
I’ll wait to see the day when Kanye West says, “Barack Obama hates black people” or when Spike Lee makes a “documentary” lambasting the President for trying to blow up the levees.
Simply a precursor to what the dims have in mind for governance. If your state/city is led by the “right” kind of people, you’ll be helped. Look at he ice storm victims in Kentucky. When the citizens of LA had the good sense to elect Bobby Jindal, all sense of helping the people of the state became less politically expedient.
If we’ve learned anything about the leadership in Washington its that they will take care of liberal policies and the rest of us can “fend for ourselves”.
Just remember that the 2nd ammendment in the US Constitution was placed there to ensure that our government remember the rest of the document. Hold on…..
I lived in New Orleans before and after Katrina, and have some first hand perspective. First, just as a matter of record the troops about to leave New Orleans are Military Police Units of the Louisana National Guard -not Federal Troops. Having said that, the organizations that should be commended for their performance during the worst of Katrina are the United States Coast Guard, the Louisana Game and Fisheries Commission, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and the Salvation Army. FEMA and the Red Cross were unorganized and ineffective. The City of New Orleans Government and the State of Louisiana Government were ineffective at best – disastriys at worst. FEMA should take lessons from Wal-Mart and Home Depot who had logistics figured out and went way above and beyond the call of duty to help citizens. My neighborhood was patrolled by troops from the 82nd Airborne and so we had no looting. Other areas were not so lucky. The crime rate in New Orleans due to gangs, dope dealers, and Federal Housing Projects that were essentially “free fire zones” was awful before the storm and in the aftermath was horrendous. Some police officers deserted, but many others left after the storm as their homes were 8-10 feet under water and no effective plan for restoration was or is in the offing. Consequently, the Louisiana National Guard has been on duty ever since as well as units of the Louisana State Police to attempt to keep the peace. Net: the situation there is a failure of government at all levels: before, during and after the storm. The fact that Nagin was re-elected as mayor despite his pathetic performance speaks volumes about the citizenry, and their priorities.
Well, this is quite an interesting story. One thing that I think was missed in the coverage of the initial Federal response is whether or not a Republican president felt historically constrained about sending Federal troops into a southern state with a Democratic governor. Not a perspective likely to have much significance to a member of the MSM. Now, however, with a Democratic Lincoln in office perhaps there will be some more caution in MSM about federal action in the South.
Joe! Volcano monitoring? Seriously.
How many volcanos have erupted with loss of life in the last hundred years in America? Only MT St Helens comes to mind. Loss of life, a handful.
Now, how many hurricanes? How many thousands of lifes lost?
Aloha
I live on the edge of the Hualalai Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. About 80 mile south of us Kilauea has been active for over 20 years. The ongoing monitoring of Mauna Loa and Hualalai’s on going activity suggest an inevitable future eruption. Some scenarios predict less than a 35 minute warning to our town. I realize we a but a small community of little import to the grand scheme of things, but it seems rather important to us.
Paka
Paka Dowd – You’ve omitted the word “federal”. Why should the funding of volcano monitoring in Hawaii be federal? That’s Jindal’s – everyone’s – point.
This is an interesting debate. Volcano monitoring is one of the things I WOULD agree should be done by the feds. Like having a national weather service, and monitoring and studying the subterranean fault lines that run through our continent.
Obviously, Alaska and Hawaii are a long way away from the contiguous 48, so eruptions there aren’t likely to have the big cross-state effect we might see from an eruption in Washington. But we did agree to admit them to the Union, and it doesn’t make sense to me to tell them: OK, folks, you’re on your own for geology, seismology, and vulcanology. We don’t tell Oklahoma that about severe weather.
If nothing else, we have military bases all over Hawaii and Alaska. It would be imprudent to make no provision at the federal level to monitor the health and welfare of the land they occupy.
I like Jindal — hadn’t heard about his objection to federal volcano monitoring. This strikes me as a weird one.
While receiving a dose of criticism from progressives for his Iraq policy, the new president should nonetheless get some kudos for his unilateral troop withdrawal from another devastated, corrupt, seemingly ungovernable region that occurred this morning, albeit with little fanfare.
Yes, like Iraq, President Obama had the resolve not to abandon New Orleans, or worse yet, go with the original Biden plan of partitioning the city into autonomous enclaves run by Crips, Fortunetellers, Latin Kings, Vampires, Bloods, Goths, and cajuns. Had the new President simply acquiesced to political pragmatism, the Big Easy almost certainly would not have healed to once again shine as the gem of the deep south. . .
I like Jindal — hadn’t heard about his objection to federal volcano monitoring. This strikes me as a weird one.
When a off topic subject is brought up by a troll, I just assume that it’s taken out of context or in some way distorted if it’s not an outright lie. The Left lies, it’s what they do, it’s in their nature. And last year they showed it’s a viable political strategy for total victory.