Month: January 2009

Obama is passing it, according to Mickey.

Patrick Tucker searches for the essence of morality:

According to Hauser, the human brain learns right from wrong the same way it learns language. The vast majority of the world’s languages share at least one thing in common: a system of guidelines for usage. This is called grammar. Just as languages have rules about where to put a subject, an adverb, and a predicate in a sentence, so too every culture has a set of guidelines to teach people how to make moral decisions in different situations. So just as learning a language means learning not only words, but also a system for putting the words together, the same is true for morality; there are very specific “commandments” that are unique to every culture, but there are also softer usage guidelines. People who have mastered the moral guidelines of their particular culture have what some might call principles or scruples. Hauser calls this a moral grammar.

This may help explain some of what is going on:

The Israel Air Force used a new bunker-buster missile that it received recently from the United States in strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, The Jerusalem Post learned on Sunday [last week].

The missile, called GBU-39, was developed in recent years by the US as a small-diameter bomb for low-cost, high-precision and low collateral damage strikes. Israel received approval from Congress to purchase 1,000 units in September and defense officials said on Sunday that the first shipment had arrived earlier this month and was used successfully in penetrating underground Kassam launchers in the Gaza Strip during the heavy aerial bombardment of Hamas infrastructure on Saturday. It was also used in Sunday’s bombing of tunnels in Rafah.

The attack on Gaza may be a test-run for Iran’s nuclear sites. In that case, what we may be witnessing is Israel’s initiation of full-scale war with Iran. That would certainly make as much sense as the current stated rationale for invading Gaza.

A Palestinian fireman tries to douse the flames raging at a destroyed printers building in Gaza City on January 3, 2009, following an Israeli air strike. By Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty.

"Our only language with the Jew is through the gun," – the late polygamist Islamist, Nizar Rayyan, last week.

People throw their shoes onto the street in front of the entrance to Downing Street in protest against the continued aerial bombardment of Gaza by Israel on January 3, 2009 in London, England. By Oll Scarff/Getty.

It is hard to find any solid strategic argument for entering Gaza and occupying parts of it for an unspecified amount of time. Some in the IDF clearly opposed it; Spencer argues:

Israel should arbitrarily declare victory and get the hell out of Gaza. Hamas will claim victory too. But it was always going to claim victory, and every hour Israel is in Gaza pummeling them without destroying them is an hour that Hamas will be able to claim that more plausibly, just like Hezbollah did in 2006. That’s how these types of asymmetric wars work; and also why it’s better for the larger party not to launch them.

Israel may not want to hear this now, but it’s playing on Hamas’ strategic terms. Stepping back is the truer "success" at this point.

Even Allahpundit throws up his hands:

The JPost says the goal of the operation is to destroy Hamas infrastructure and seize control of launching pads in the north. For how long, though? Until they pull out in two weeks and the pads are re-seized by Hamas?

I don’t see how Israel "wins" in Gaza any more than I can see how the US can "win" in Iraq. Maybe this current leap into the asymmetric abyss is a necessary proof before neoconservatism really does commit suicide. The danger is: the neocons may take Israel down with them.

And the rationale is explicated:

The IDF Spokesperson’s office issued a statement, emphasizing that this stage of the operation will further the goals of the eight-day offensive as voiced by the IDF until now: To strike a direct and hard blow against the Hamas while increasing the deterrent strength of the IDF, in order to bring about an improved and more stable security situation for residents of Southern Israel over the long term.

How does just war theory defend the deaths of many innocent civilians as a means to increase "deterrent strength"? But notice also the modesty of Israel’s apparent war-aims: a more stable security situation for residents of Southern Israel over the long term. They’re not optimistic about ending those rocket attacks, are they?

(Photo: Israeli Defense Force troops prepare to mobilize on January 3, 2009 on the Gaza/ Israel border. The IDF have this evening launched a ground offensive in Gaza in an attempt to take control of Hamas Qassam rocket launch sites in the region. By Uriel Sinai/Getty Images.)

We may never know, but a new report from TMZ says it was the result of a seizure and was discovered swiftly by nanny, Jeff Kathrein, a photographer and fellow Super Adventure Club member:

Police have said the last time anyone saw Jett was when he went to the bathroom on January 1. His body was discovered by nanny Jeff Kathrein the next day at 10 AM. In fact, McDermott and Ossi say it appears Jett went back and forth to his room and the fatal injury occurred "very shortly" before Jett was found on the bathroom floor — McDermott called it a "small window of time."

McDermott and Ossi tell us two nannies were present on the trip and Jeff was by his side 24/7. There was a baby monitor device by Jett’s side and there was also a chimer in the bathroom when the door opened.

An autopsy will not reveal autism, but it might help clear up some details. Quite why a 16-year-old needed a 24-hour nanny and a baby monitor device remains unclear. Kawasaki Syndrome is not among the likely reasons. A reader who copes with seizures writes:

There are many different sorts of seizures. I have the type where I lose consciousness. It sounds like Jett did as well. I had one on Saturday, and so when I heard this news, I immediately thought about my medication regimen, my home safety, and so on.

I have no idea if Jett had autism, but it is established that he had seizures. Typically, if a person has several seizures over a period of time, and has an atypical EEG, anti-epilepsy drugs (AED’s) are prescribed. I would wonder if he was taking the appropriate drugs, given their public statements and their supposed religious beliefs. If he was not, they are probably now living in their own capital H hell.

People do die from seizures, and can die in several different ways.

A protracted seizure, usually tonic-clonic, where a person loses consciousness, left untreated can cause death – status epilepticus. Obviously, while seizing, people can drown, even in a bathtub. SUDEP is Sudden Unexpected Death in a person with Epilepsy, in which a person is found dead, and 1. the death is unwitnessed, so the cause is not known, but the 2. fact is established that a person had a history of seizures, 3. is otherwise physically healthy, and 4. there isn’t an obvious cause of death. There isn’t a way to talk about statistics associated with it that I know of ~ the risk seems to be attached with how well a person is controlled, compliance with their AED’s, age, seizure history.

Anyway, people on the epilepsy boards are pouring out sympathy to the family, because it is a reality we all push to the back corners of our mind, until we are reminded of the possibility. People are also now busy trying to cram their fears back into those corners and have a normal Saturday, Sunday and so forth.

If Jett Travolta’s seizures remained untreated for theological reasons, the debate is just starting.

After decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana, some police are refusing even to enforce the new civil law, because it’s too much hassle for too little reward and, in their view, unenforceable. There’s a certain whininess involved here, and perhaps a desire by the police to undermine a democratically-backed law. At the same time, a collapse in enforcement might simply reveal this was  hammer in search of a nail and a government in search of a problem.