Friday, August 18, 2006

Treason in a Cup of Tea?

Who in the world would see a cup of tea as a sign of treason? Apparently Hezbollah does.

According to a report by CNN, the Israeli army entered a barracks in Marjeyoun which had a white flag flying outside of it. While inside the barracks they were served tea by members of the Lebanese army.

Hezbollah, being a terrorist organization, does not understand the way armies historically behave under a white surrender flag. It's not an act of treason to honor the white flag you are flying and show a little bit of courtesy. But in all fairness, Hezbollah was not the only upset party.
The Lebanese government cannot decide how to react. The interior ministry reportedly had the commander of the base arrested. However, the acting interior minister spoke up for the members of the barracks. The Lebanese government is in a sticky situation due to its own inability and/or refusal to squash Hezbollah. Welcome to the special "hell" for fence sitters.

Read the whole thing here. (Hat tip: Pajamas Media)

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Comment Moderation

I never thought that I would have to enable my comment moderation. It's not like I get that many comments in the first place. I don't even mind the rare snarky comment. However, what I do mind are advertisement links in the comments sections, especially when the post is a memorial one. Don't leave a link to whatever crap of the day you are selling in a post about a family member who passed away. It's rude and disrespectful.

To those of you who would leave a comment on this blog, please tolerate the word verification and the delay in approval of your comments which will be sent to my email.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Luke Armstrong

Yesterday was the funeral of my cousin, Luke Armstrong. He died on August 2nd and was 23 years old. He had been battling testicular cancer. Luke's cancer was diagnosed in June at stage 3. Because the testicular cancer cell is a week cancer cell the doctors were hopeful of a recovery. For a while he seemed to improve, but on Wednesday his heart gave out. I was not very close to him, but I will miss him.

Luke had taken courses in Veterinary Assistance Technology and was enrolled in the University of Nebraska at Kearney for this fall semester before the diagnosis. He was very excited about attending UNK and was planning to re-enroll this spring when his treatments were over. Luke loved animals and I won't ever think of him without thinking of his little dog Simon.

Rest in Peace Luke.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

One Year Ago

One year ago Steven Vincent, blogger and author, was murdered and his translator, Nour, nearly killed in Basra, Iraq. I loved his blog and was stunned last year when I read that he was killed.

His old blog has a tribute to him and links to NRO articles about him. His book In the Red Zone is available at Amazon.com. I'm embarrassed to say it’s still on my list of books to read.

Kesher Talk has a round up of bloggers remembering Steven Vincent.

My prayers are with his family and friends. RIP Steven Vincent.