Israel, Hamas, and moral idiocy  —  Much of the world's response is a false moral equivalence that simply encourages the terrorists.  —  Israel's decision to take military action against Hamas rocket attacks targeting its civilian population has been long in coming.

Another bad choice by ethically bankrupt gov  —  The people of Illinois didn't need another reason to throw Gov. Blagojevich out of office.  —  They had plenty already.  —  But on Tuesday, the governor gave the state one more excellent reason, this time by going back on his word and appointing …

Gonzales Defends Role in Antiterror Policies  —  WASHINGTON — Alberto Gonzales, who has kept a low profile since resigning as attorney general nearly 16 months ago, said he is writing a book to set the record straight about his controversial tenure as a senior official in the Bush administration.

Arab youths open fire on Israelis working at mall in Denmark  —  A group of Arab youths opened fire Wednesday evening on a number of Israelis working at a mall in the Danish city of Odenza, some 200 kilometers north of Copenhagen.  —  The Israelis, who were operating a stall in the shopping center, were lightly wounded in their legs.

Village Voice Lays Off Nat Hentoff and 2 Others  —  The troubled Village Voice laid off three employees Tuesday, including Nat Hentoff, the prominent columnist who has worked for the paper since 1958, contributing opinionated columns about jazz, civil liberties and politics.

Bobby Rush on CNN  —  Here's Rush arguing for the importance of a black senator.  To which I respond—Nigga, please!!  —  I don't know if I've shifted politically or what.  But after watching a black man named Barack Obama—who couldn't get into the Democratic convention eight years ago …

HAMAS H.Q. BOMBED; POWER LINE, TOO  —  Talk about disproportionate response.  Just an hour or so after Power Line posted a series of videos from the Israeli Defense Forces—videos that, as Scott discovered, YouTube had pulled—we experienced a Denial-of-Service attack from a cabal …

The problem with Israel-Palestine blogging  —  Everyone engaged in it is interested in proving that one side is righter than the other.  Since no action in the region has occurred without plausible provocation for 4,000 years or so, this requires constantly shifting the metrics by which you measure whichever side you happen to favor.

Private firm may track all email and calls  —  The private sector will be asked to manage and run a communications database that will keep track of everyone's calls, emails, texts and internet use under a key option contained in a consultation paper to be published next month by Jacqui Smith, the home secretary.

Nobody Goes There Anymore, It's Too Crowded  —  I think trying to build housing in shopping malls is a potentially promising idea.  It's a reminder that I've been meaning for a while to write a post about separating the idea of “walkable urbanism” from the idea of “living in a city.”

Let Detroit Build Profitable Cars  —  UAW chief Ron Gettelfinger doesn't seem to get the picture.  Let's help him.  —  In the continuing battle over Detroit, UAW chief Ron Gettelfinger doesn't seem to get the picture.  Let's help him.  —  With shareholders virtually wiped …