Israeli soldiers shoot children in the head at point-blank range

as we were saying: Demographic problem? Shoot children<read full post and follow links

Bullets in the brain
The Telegraph [UK]: Doctors at a hospital near Gaza are almost overwhelmed by the number of Palestinian children needing treatment for bullet wounds to their heads. Dr. Yahia, a professor of neurosurgery who has worked in both the United States and Britain, believes that the bullet was shot from close range... 'I can't precisely decide whether these children are being shot at as a target, but in some cases the bullet comes from the front of the head and goes toward the back, so I think the gun has been directly pointed at the child'... 'We've had one child with two bullets in the head and nowhere else,' he said. 'We think that this shows something.'

NDP is all that's Left

The Militant Dipper: Falling for Jack. <read full post.

Any one who stands opposed to Stephen Harper has only one choice. Smilin Jack Layton period. The Liberal, Conservative coalition government can only be opposed by New Democrats.
Left leaning Liberals I implore you, stop taking abuse from your own
party, stop apologizing for Gaza and for Afghanistan and join me at my
new party. It's great to have a leader who you can agree with once in
awhile. The blood is already coming off my hands too.

York U - Bargaining in Bad Faith

Ontario NDP Accuse YorkU of Bargaining in Bad Faith | The Dominion <read full story!

Howard Hampton: "This isn't deadlock. This is a university that decided, "We'll lock out
the students. We'll put them in the street. We'll go through the
motions of making it look like we're interested in bargaining and we'll
just string it out, string it out, and then we'll go to the McGuinty
government and ask them to end it."

Harper & Ignatieff together in a state of denial

TheStar.com | Insight | Harper and Ignatieff have heads in the sand

If
the budget demonstrated anything it's this: The government and
opposition are united in a state of denial about the economic crisis
...

First, the depression promises to be worse than most analysts have
been predicting. It hasn't yet hit Canada full-bore. It will. The fact
that the U.S. appears to be re-embracing trade protection only
underscores the point.

Second, neither the governing
Conservatives nor the opposition Liberals seem to understand the
seriousness of this crisis. Rhetoric notwithstanding, both parties
appear to think they are dealing with a problem that will go away in
two years and allow the world to return to business as usual.

...

Yet the government remains grudging. Much of the $12 billion in planned infrastructure spending is contingent upon dollar-for-dollar matching by provinces and municipalities. If they can't come up with their deemed share, it's not clear whether the federal money will be spent.

The unemployed got enough in the budget to win Harper Liberal support, but not enough to help the 58 per cent of jobless Canadians who don't qualify for employment insurance.
...

Yet for Ignatieff's party, the fixation on deficits is driven less
by ideological commitment than desperation. During their last 13 years
in government, the Liberals shredded most of the social safety net they
had once helped to construct.

Their only significant achievements
over this time were their decision not to go to war against Iraq and
the elimination of the federal deficit.

In fact, even the
latter may be an exaggeration. It's arguable that the deficit problem
was solved less by good government than by the worldwide reduction in
interest rates and a renewed global appetite for Canadian raw materials.

Majority of Canadians still see through Harper. Budget fails to impress.

globeandmail.com: Budget fails to quell criticisms of Prime Minister, poll suggests

Although this poll shows that a majority of Canadians support the budget, Harper and his Conservatives are on shakier ground.
Some points to note: 

... voters are now less likely to support the government because of the budget.
... 69 per cent say they still blame Mr. Harper for causing an unnecessary
political crisis late last year when he should have been focusing on
the economy.
...When asked to name the top three beneficiaries of the budget, large
corporations showed up most often. Poor Canadians and older/retired
Canadians were seen as those benefiting the least.

If only the leaders of other countries had the guts that the Turkish leader has to call a lie when he sees one

TheStar.com | World | Turkish-Israeli clash stuns Davos economic forum

DAVOS, Switzerland–Turkey's prime minister stalked off the stage at the
World Economic Forum red-faced Thursday after reproaching Israel's
president over the Gaza offensive by saying ``You kill people."
...
Ergodan brushed past reporters outside the hall. His wife appeared
upset. "All Peres said was a lie. It was unacceptable," she said, eyes
glistening.


Shimon Peres stood up at the World Economic Forum and lied about the
situation in Gaza, and Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Yayyip Erdogan
called him on it.

Conservatives and Liberals vote to turn back the clock on pay equity for women in Canada

Pay equity: U.S. moves forward, Canada falls behind | NDP

“What comes as a shock is that the Liberals, who were so critical of
those cuts, would now support a budget that entrenches these regressive
policies.”

After they see that Iggy is just Dion in wolf's clothing, will the Liberals toss him out and elect Bob Rae?

CBC.ca News - Political Bytes - Obit: the coalition

With Michael Ignatieff and the Liberal party accepting the latest Harper budget, asking little in concessions, we see that things are back to exactly the way they were before the election. The Conservatives putting forth bad policies, and the Liberals, although saying the policies are bad, backing them. Nothing has changed. The majority of Canadians are still shafted.

Maybe the Liberals will see their error in choosing Iggy and turf him out in favour of Bob Rae. It remains to be seen.

I'm not keen on the same old coalition - Conservatives & Liberals - with the Conservatives making the policy, and the Liberals either abstaining or going along with things even though they don't like it (instead of standing up for what they believe is right).

The Liberals have thrown away a large voice for Canadians in Parliament. The people who voted Liberal no longer have a Liberal voice in parliament - they have Conservative supporters instead (that's not what/who they voted for). The only federal opposition voice left is the NDP. And in Quebec, I can see the Liberals losing more seats to the Bloc next election for this.

"Ignatieff says he is prepared to swallow"

globeandmail.com: Tories put on probation; coalition declared dead

Is Ignatieff the same or worse than Dion here?
Not only is he accepting a bad budget, the Liberals are going to vote for it (instead of abstain from it, like the Dion Liberals), and demand pretty lame concessions.

Bad news from the Liberals

globeandmail.com: Ignatieff to call for changes to budget

It seems that the Liberals are going to roll over and accept this lame budget:

The MP said there would be some Liberal positioning on the issue, but that more individuals were leaning toward letting the government live than pushing to defeat it.

More Israeli war crimes

Israel accused of war crimes over 12-hour assault on Gaza village | World news | The Observer

In testimony collected from residents of the village of Khuza'a by
the Observer, it is claimed that Israeli soldiers entering the village:

• attempted to bulldoze houses with civilians inside;

• killed civilians trying to escape under the protection of white flags;

• opened fire on an ambulance attempting to reach the wounded;

• used indiscriminate force in a civilian area and fired white phosphorus shells.

If the allegations are upheld, all the incidents would constitute breaches of the Geneva conventions.

The
denunciations over what happened in Khuza'a follow repeated claims of
possible human rights violations from the Red Cross, the UN and human
rights organisations.

Israel continues to murder Palestinians after the ceasefire

First Palestinian shot dead after Israel's unilateral ceasefire_English_Xinhua

A Palestinian farmer
was shot dead on Sunday morning by an Israeli soldier in Khan Younis in
southern Gaza Strip, becoming the first fatality since Israeli declared an
unilateral ceasefire, local witnesses said.

    The witnesses said the farmer was killed while checking his farm.

White-Phosphorus and its use in Gaza

Special: White Phosphorus and its use in Gaza - International Middle East Media Center - IMEMC < read me.

Reports of usage in Gaza: The Los Angeles Times reported January 12 that 20 homes burnt, one women killed and several injured from the use of WP in Gaza writing:“One landed in my kitchen and caused a fire,' said Zohair Mohammed abu Rejila, 35. 'I went to put it out, but another one landed on Mayar, my baby daughter. It was like a block of fire, a piece of plastic on fire. When I knocked it off her, it exploded and out came this heavy white smoke with a very bad smell.' http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg...story

Al-Jazeera TV reported on its use for several days between December 29-January 9 and aired footage of several civilian victims of white phosphorus bombs showing characteristic burns. One teenage girl, Jamila Al-Habash, had both of her legs amputated and an interview with Dr. Raed Al-'Areeny from Al-Shaifa Hospital explained the need for amutation because of the WP adherence to and reaction with soft tissues penetrating even to the bones.

Footage released also show the characteristic images of shelling in neighborhoods with WP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVY4NUKowzg http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/20....html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq-b_40IKfs On January 12, 2009, Human Rights Watch issued a report demanding Israel stop using WP (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/01/10/israel-stop-unlaw...-gaza)

Death toll continues as Israel continues its assault on Gaza using White-Phosphorus

18th day under attack: Gaza death toll reaches 940 with 4200 injured - International Middle East Media Center - IMEMC < read me.

Dr. Hassanen told IMEMC over the phone that doctors are witnessing burns and disfigured bodies of victims, adding that the injured are arriving with a powder on their skin. On Saturday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Israeli Army to stop using White Phosphorus in its artillery shells against the Gaza Strip. Researchers of HRW said that they observed white-phosphorus use on January 9th and January 10th near Gaza City and Jabalia,.

Using this type of artillery, in this manner is banned by international humanitarian law, the group added. The shells are capable of burning human flesh right down to the bone and are capable of setting structures, fields and other civilian facilities on fire. The group added that using these kind of shells against one of the most densely populated areas in the world causes magnified harm, and called on Israel to stop using these shells.

Remember that school that Israel targeted a few days ago ...

UN: IDF officers admitted there was no gunfire from Gaza school which was shelled - Haaretz - Israel News

"In briefings senior [Israel Defense Forces] officers conducted for foreign diplomats, they admitted the shelling to which IDF forces in Jabalya were responding did not originate from the school," Gunness said. "The IDF admitted in that briefing that the attack on the UN site was unintentional."

He noted that all the footage released by the IDF of militants firing from inside the school was from 2007 and not from the incident itself.

Israel continues to target civilians in Gaza as the UN demands a halt to the aggression.

In spite of UN Resolution (1860); army continues offensive killing 29 Palestinians on Friday - International Middle East Media Center - IMEMC

On the ground, in Gaza, hospital, medics, civilian areas and homes, school, universities and mosques are including in the Israeli shelling and in the so-called self defense.

Descendents of the Holocaust now committing the same crime.

Bil'in demonstrators remind the world of the Holocaust - International Middle East Media Center - IMEMC

This angry message was to remind the world of the Nazi Holocaust and of the promise made by the international community to never allow another Holocaust to happen, while this promise is being broken by the same people whose ancestors were victims of the Holocaust.

Interviews with US congressmen regarding Gaza

kucinich.us - Al Jazeera interviews Congressman Kucinich on Gaza

Point - US arms are supplied to Israel for defence purposes only - not for invasions. Israel is breaking contract rules with the USA regarding its use of the supplied arms

Point - Israel broke the ceasefire agreement by bombing Gaza on Nov. 4th. Hamas only starting firing rockets in retaliation AFTER Israel broke the ceasefire.

Point - the majority of US congress put the onus on Hamas to stop firing rockets and to recognize Israel's right to exist as a nation, and see Israel as doing nothing wrong in it's bombing and killing of hundreds of innocent civilians (which is a war crime - targeting civilians) and do not ask Israel to recognize Palestine as a nation (or to stop invading and besieging Palestine).

Harper about faces again on Senate reform

globeandmail.com: Harper pushes to gain control of Senate

Seeing that his is up against a stronger opposition this time, Harper has decided to scrap his ideas of Senate reform and continue to appoint senators until the Conservatives have a majority in the Senate. Is this fair and ethical? No. Is it allowed in the rules? Yes.

He is running scared.

Time to take the government away from the minority Conservatives and put it in the hands of the majority - the opposition parties > The Coalition.

But bombing innocent trapped civilians is okay...

TheStar.com | Ontario | Jewish leaders blast CUPE

Please tell me how the current siege and invasion of Gaza is okay and not an abuse of civil, moral and ethical rights.

I think Canada should boycott Israel until Israel plays nice. And I think we should stop selling oil to the USA until the USA stops sending military aid to Israel to help kill civilians in Palestine. Until the USA demands that Israel stop the siege of Palestine, we should cut them off too.

Oh, poor Israel

TheStar.com | Columnist | Israel must fight its battles alone

Oh, they are not allowed to join in fights and kill other people in other countries. Oh, they are limited to only genocide against Palestinians.
Oh, no one understands them - that they have to bomb the crap out of innocent trapped civilians they have had under siege for decades.

Oh, they have to over-react against people who have very little in ways to fight back and who do little relative harm to Israelis.

Maybe, just maybe, if Israeli stopped besieging the Palestinians and allowed them to be a free nation, and stopped the illegal settlements stealing the Palestinian land, THEN the Palestinians would stop throwing rocks at them and stop firing inneffectual homemade bombs at them and the world would show Israel some respect.

Oh Rosie, you are sooooo out to lunch with your analysis.

And then they will bomb them again

TheStar.com | World | Israel to halt Gaza operations for 3 hours

And then they will seal off Gaza again and bomb the people, again, who have just received aid.