Well London is shaping up to be damn hot this week.
I am glad I invested £250 in an air conditioning unit for our bedroom, as I find it hard to sleep when the temperature goes of 25°C never mind well over 30°C! We have relocated Lauren into our room so she gets the advantage of the cool air too.
However I wanted to post something a bit more serious on my Blog (for once).
I am very concerned about what is going on in Israel and Lebanon. Clearly the terrorist / militant activity in Lebanon is not a good thing, but does anyone else think that Israel is over-reacting slightly?
Also it grieves me that the US always stand firmly behind Israel. I know they have invested a lot into the Israeli state, but you have to take a step back sometimes and go "hang on a minute"! What is next? Nukes launched into Beirut?
I hold up my hands and admit that I don't understand a lot of the politics or history that is going on here, but from your lay-man's perspective it all seems a bit over the top and is not being condemned strongly enough by our leaders.
OK, enough serious stuff for now... I'm going to fill in some answers to the quotes in the comments fields.
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OK, the movie quote answers are done as far back as Hitchhikers. If you want older ones then please drop me a note.
I have to admit to knowing very little about the region, but do know there has been unrest for 100s of years.
To me, on the face of it, looks as though Israel are over-reacting, but they've always been an agressive force and seem to want to hit first before being hit. Maybe that's due to all the attacks they've had, or because they know they've got full US backing??
On US backing, yup the US always back them and always will. Not really a suprise from America there is it?
That region has always been in turmoil. Persoanlly, I think it's partly to do with the constant high temperatures - as high temperatures increase number of violent acts. But the fact is that Israel are the power in the region. Yet even so, they have enemies on all sides. Enemies that - luckily - choose to act through intermediates rather than face a twtichy Israel themselves. As as interesting fact, an air raid from Jordan, Syria or any of the rest could be over at least one main Israeli city in five miniutes. They have a fortress mentality not helped by George Bush being in power. Clinton would have stepped in at this point to try to calm things down. Even worse, this new Israeli Prime Minister is probably being lead my his generals. You know, he says something must be done. They present him with a target list.
Hawks and Doves - a phrase more readily associated with US Administrations, though seems appropriate.
Scary really.
This is worth a view
The BBC newsreal looks interesting... will have to wait until I get home though as those feeds are blocked here.
Why is the US so far up Israel's arse? They give them weapons, nukes, aid etc etc etc... I don't get it? Surely the Jewish lobby in the US isn't that big?
The Cold War set the sides. US and Israel vs. Soviet Union and the mainstay of the Arab world (gulf states aside). Traditional military alliance there. There's the powerful jewish lobby in the US, of course. But the BIG one is guilt. Guilt for doing nothing about the Holocaust.
SO the US feels guilty about the Holocaust but is happy to sit back and watch the Israeli's do the same thing to the Palestinians... Nice double standards!
Sounds about right though.
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