Watch as he steals clothes, to fill this Skyrim village with naked beauties.
New Gaza policy needed. By Giora Eiland
Israel needs to recognize Gaza Strip as de facto state, even if it’s ruled by the ‘bad guys’
The time-out between the latest round of fighting and the one to follow allows us to undertake a strategic assessment of our Gaza policy. Ever since Operation Cast Lead, and especially in recent months, we are managing the struggle using only tactical means. In this framework, we aim to identify the organization that fired at us and then target the rocket launchers. This approach perpetuates a situation whereby every few weeks we see a new round of fighting, a reality whose benefit for Israel is doubtful.
Israel’s policy must be premised on the understanding that Gaza is a de facto state in every way. It has clear geographical boundaries, a stable regime that was elected democratically, and an independent foreign policy. The self-righteous approach whereby we do not recognize the Hamas rule is a folly. The fact that Gaza is a state, even though it’s ruled by the “bad guys,” is better than chaos or the situation that prevailed in the Strip before 2007, when power was formally held by the Palestinian Authority, yet in practice the main military force was Hamas.
We can draw three conclusions from this point of view: First, Israel must not be dragged into distinguishing among three players – the Gaza government, the Gaza population and terror groups. For us, this is a state responsible for any hostile acts originating there. Even the utilization of the term “Hamas’ military wing” is wrong. There is a state, it has an army, and this is how Gaza should be treated.
Secondly, as a state, Gaza is an enemy state. It is possible to maintain economic and other arrangements with an enemy state, but it is not common to keep providing the enemy with electricity, fuel and other goods while it fires at you. The distinction – which the world wants us to make – between a (limited) ability to fight (only) those who fire at us, and the “provision of humanitarian goods” to the innocent population is a grave error that allows the Gaza government to avoid any real dilemma.
Thirdly, there is no way to reach understandings with the international community at times of escalation. Under a state of escalation, the only thing one can discuss is a ceasefire. On the other hand, a period of lull – like the one that started this week – is a convenient time for formulating a policy and ensuring that it is very clear one, both to the West and to Egypt.
This Gaza policy should be premised on five principles:
1. Israel recognizes de facto that Gaza is a state in every way.
2. Gaza is not under occupation. The border between Gaza and Egypt (“The Philadelphi Route”) is completely open.
3. The Gaza state bears responsibility for any hostile acts against Israel originating from the Strip.
4. As long as quiet prevails, Israel will boost the extent of traffic at border crossings and agree to moderate human traffic between Gaza and the West Bank. Any fire directed at Israel, including to “Gaza-region communities,” will prompt an immediate halt to the provision of goods, fuel, electricity, and so on.
5. In any case of attack from Gaza, Israel will respond against the Gaza state, including the elimination of government targets.
The above policy is more appropriate than the other two alternatives: Maintaining the current situation, where Israel’s deterrence is increasingly being eroded, or a ground operation (“Cast Lead 2”).
And something in this context about Egypt: The fact that the Egyptian president is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood is an advantage, as his influence on the Gaza government will be much greater than that of the previous Egyptian regime. Morsi will need extensive American aid (on top of the military assistance, the US also provides Egypt with wheat,) and ending this aid will cause real hunger in Morsi’s country. No Egyptian president at the beginning of the road will risk that. Hence, the American ability to press Egypt is very high. American financial aid must also be conditioned on vigorous work by Egypt’s president to restrain the aggression from Gaza and improve the state of security in the Sinai Peninsula.
![Residents of Slovakia’s Bratislava Region are inching ever closer toward naming a newly erected pedestrian bridge linking the capital to Austria after action movie star Chuck Norris.
An Internet poll set up by the regional assembly will be used to decide on a name for the foot-and-cycle bridge that spans the Morava river. So far, the iconic tough guy is leading the pack with 74% of the vote.
Norris really has no competition to speak of: Austro-Hungarian empress Maria Theresa is currently in second place with a pitiful 8%.
Regional governor Pavol Freso will have the final word on the bridge’s official moniker once the poll closes in April, but he has already vowed to bow to the will of his constituents.
[guardian.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzxadsEslM1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Residents of Slovakia’s Bratislava Region are inching ever closer toward naming a newly erected pedestrian bridge linking the capital to Austria after action movie star Chuck Norris.
An Internet poll set up by the regional assembly will be used to decide on a name for the foot-and-cycle bridge that spans the Morava river. So far, the iconic tough guy is leading the pack with 74% of the vote.
Norris really has no competition to speak of: Austro-Hungarian empress Maria Theresa is currently in second place with a pitiful 8%.
Regional governor Pavol Freso will have the final word on the bridge’s official moniker once the poll closes in April, but he has already vowed to bow to the will of his constituents.
[guardian.]
The faster-than-light neutrino result measured by the OPERA experiment at CERN last September now appears to have been the result of a bad fiber optic connection between a GPS receiver and a computer.
PHI Latin Texts – now online
For years, the best collection of searchable texts from Latin antiquity was the Packard Humanities Institute PHI CD-ROM #5.3, available in the Digital Humanities Center in 305 Butler. Getting these texts available online was the Holy Grail of digital classics research.
But now the Grail is at hand, as the Latin texts from PHI 3.5 are now online. Approximately 350 authors, representing almost all classical literary texts up to 200 CE (with a handful of later authors) are now readable and searchable online.
Bookmark this URL for easy access:
or
or do a TITLE search in CLIO for Classical Latin Texts.
Boomerang for Gmail - Email Scheduling Plug-In. By Heinz Tschabitscher
The Bottom Line
Boomerang for Gmail can schedule emails you send and postpone emails you’ve received; the former are sent reliably when desired and the latter disappear from your inbox to turn up again prominently at the preset time.
It’s a pity Boomerang is not available for other email services as well and works only with Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
- Boomerang lets you schedule mail for later
- You can also postpone messages so they return to your inbox as new at a specific time
- Boomerang offers handy shortcuts (such as “Tomorrow morning”) and can send at random times, too
Cons
- Boomerang is only available for Gmail and only in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox
- You have to grant Boomerang access to your Gmail messages for it to work
- Editing scheduled emails is far from straight forward
Description
- Boomerang for Gmail is a browser extension to schedule emails for the future.
- You can pick future send times for emails and replies you send — until Jan 19, 2038.
- Boomerang understands some natural language {such as “5 min” or “next week”), and can pick a random time, too.
- Using Boomerang, you can also postpone messages you have received. They are archived until the desired time.
- When a postponed message re-appears, Boomerang can mark it unread, star it, and put it on top of the inbox.
- You can always find postponed messages under the “Boomerang” label. Messages scheduled for sending are in “Boomerang-Outbox”.
- You do not have to be logged into Gmail or have it open for Boomerang to work.
- Boomerang for Gmail supports Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.
Guide Review - Boomerang for Gmail - Email Scheduling Plug-In
Have you ever received and read an email, then did nothing because its time had not yet come? Have you ever forgotten to get back to such an email?
Who knows, right? Who knows what’s in the inbox, archive or labels?
Boomerang can. Plugging into Gmail as a Chrome extension, Boomerang for Gmail can schedule emails in two essential ways: it lets you postpone mail for later so it appears in your inbox again automatically; and it lets you send emails in the future, dutifully delivery them when their time has come.
When composing a message or reply, in addition to using “Send”, you can click Boomerang’s “Send Later” and pick a time. You can specify any date and time, of course, and Boomerang understands some natural language (such as “next week” and “1 month from now”); the button also offers some shortcuts, though: “in 1 hour” and “Tomorrow afternoon”, for instance. If you’re adventurous and fancy seeming unpredictable, you can also have Boomerang choose a random time today or within the next week or month.
When viewing a message you won’t deal with right right now, you can click Boomerang’s “Boomerang” menu and pick a time. The choices are the same as for sending mail. When the preset time has come, the postponed email will re-appear in the Gmail inbox. You can choose whether you want Boomerang to mark such messages unread, label or star them. Boomerang can also make sure postponed messages appear at the top of the inbox, not buried under their original date. All these settings are general, though, and cannot be picked per message.
Boomerang’s “Send Later” menu is not the most elegant interface. It’s practical, though, and it works. Boomerang works by labeling messages and using Gmail’s IMAP interface to access these; not the most elegant interface perhaps, but it works. Editing a future message after you have scheduled it more or less does not (you can move messages from the “Boomerang-Outbox” to “Drafts” and re-schedule), and even editing drafts can be a tad tricky with Boomerang.
All in all, Boomerang is a simple and useful idea executed without frills and in very practical a manner. Now, support for other email services and browser, and possibly a way to postpone and schedule via just IMAP from desktop and mobile email programs would be swell.
Oldie: Driving home one night..
Bob was driving home over the Golden Gate Bridge at about 90mph. Wouldn’t you know, a cop jumped out and clocked him with radar.
Bob pulled over like a good citizen; recalling Rodney King and recent illegal alien incidents. The cop walked up to the window and said, “You know how fast you were going, BOY?!?”
Bob thought for a second and asked, “Uhhh, over 55?”
“93mph son! 93mph in a 55 zone!”
“But if you already knew,” replied Bob, “Why did you ask me?”
Ignoring Bob, the officer continued, in his normal charming fashion, “That’s speeding and you’re getting a ticket and a fine!” The cop took a good look at the Bob and said, “You don’t even look like you have a job! Why,… I’ve never seen anyone so scruffy in my entire life!”
Bob recanted, “I’ve got a job! I have a good, well paying job!”
The cop leaned in the window, and with the smell of day old donuts on his breath, said, “What kind of a job would a bum like you have?!?”
“I’m an asshole stretcher!!!” replied Bob.
“What you say, BOY?!?” asked the patrolman.
“I’m an asshole stretcher!!!”
Of course the cop asked, “What does an asshole stretcher do?” Bob explained, ” People call me up and say they want to be stretched, so I go over there and start with a couple of fingers, then a couple more, and then one whole hand, then two. Then I pull them farther and farther apart until it’s six feet across.”
The cop, absorbed with the images in his mind, let down his guard and asked, “What the hell do you do with a six foot asshole ?”
Bob nonchalantly commented, “You give it a radar detector and stick it at the end of a bridge!”
