http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/28/gaza.israel.strikes/index.html

Israel continuing airstrikes and appears ready for a ground invasion

Yeah, Israel is an absolute disgrace and should never have happened.

I have no idea how this can possibly be solved though, at least not with a fair outcome (or as fair as is possible given the circumstances).

yeah i was kind of surprised to see him say MOSLEMS ARE MONSTERS especially when moslem is an outdated inaccurate and somewhat offensive term for muslim. it's like saying negro for black.

I got the sense that he was somehow joking, and just ignored my confusion as to the purpose of the joke.  Also, although it's clearly an archaic spelling, I do not see "moslem" as being any more "inaccurate" than "Muslim." (albeit, possibly more offensive)  Because of crazy pronunciation rules in English, neither effectively conveys مسلم in standard Arabic, although both could with some imagination.

As for the situation in Gaza, I am really not sure what to think right now.  In the US, the news is filtered into meaningless nonsense, so it is too soon for me.  But, my first, and uneducated, impression is that rocket attacks originating from a particular region are no excuse for the wholesale slaughter that appears to be in progress.  Of course, the rockets are only the immediate spark.. and the rockets are not without reasons as well..

he was joking but I don't think he meant to use a slightly offensive term in it as it's a little too subtle, so I was correcting that.

that and as few GW members seem to remember, Marcus is military (and was stationed somewhere over there recently HOOKAH AND YOU) and also votes Republican, so what would be a joke coming out of, say, Lars, might be more of a "heh I'm kidding or am I???" from him.

heres a bush speech that does the same thing:

Thank you, Brian. Laura and I are happy to be here. I'd like to thank the Radio and TV Correspondents Association for providing dinner tonight. And I'd like to thank Senator Webb for providing security. (Laughter and applause.)

I'm glad to see everybody here is enjoying themselves. Don't think I haven't noticed all the drinking that's been going on. (Laughter.) In my State of the Union address, I said we needed to increase the use of ethanol. (Laughter.)

Well, where should I start? A year ago, my approval rating was in the 30s, my nominee for the Supreme Court had just withdrawn, and my Vice President had shot someone. (Laughter and applause.) Ahhh, those were the good old days. (Laughter and applause.) Sorry the Vice President couldn't be here. (Laughter.) He's had a rough few weeks. To be honest, his feelings are kind of hurt. He said he was going on vacation to Afghanistan, where people like him. (Laughter.)

You in the press certainly have had a lot to report lately. Take the current controversy. I have to admit we really blew the way we let those attorneys go. You know you botched it when people sympathize with lawyers. (Laughter and applause.)

Speaking of subpoenas, it's good to see Speaker Pelosi tonight. (Laughter.) Well, some have wondered how the two of us would get along. Some say she's bossy, she's opinionated, she's not to be crossed. Hey, I get along with my mother. (Laughter.)

But between the Congress and the press, there is a lot of scrutiny in this job. Not a day goes by that I don't get scrutineered one way or the other. (Laughter.) The press is a lot tougher the second term. It's reached the point I sometimes call on Helen Thomas just to hear a friendly voice. (Laughter.)

No matter how tough it gets, however, I have no intention of becoming a lame duck President -- unless, of course, Cheney accidentally shoots me in the leg. (Laughter.) Hey, I have 664 days left in the White House. So technically, I'm a temporary guest worker. (Laughter.) Considering what's next -- President Clinton, of course, wrote a very successful presidential memoir, with 10,000 pages or something. (Laughter.) I'm thinking of something really fun and creative for mine -- you know, maybe a pop-up book. (Laughter and applause.)

I'm considering a number of titles -- which do you like? "How W Got His Groove Back." (Laughter.) "Who Moved My Presidency?" Or, "Tuesdays With Cheney"? (Laughter.)

By the way, I'm not sure whether or not Senator Obama is here -- the last I heard he was not coming to the Radio and TV Correspondents dinner -- not enough press. (Laughter.) People Magazine recently had a photo of the Senator there on the beach in Hawaii, his sleek, hairless pecs glistening in the surf. (Laughter.) It shows how biased the press is. Have you ever seen a shot like that of Denny Hastert? (Laughter.)

basically fuck you marcus...ff...fuck you.

bengalis ride trains like THIS *scrunches up, makes "beedle beedle" sound* and gujaratis ride trains like this *lies back, goes "bom bom bom"*

death to israel jesus christ

It's not really any better but from what I gather Hamas has only killed one Israeli compared to 300 Palestinians

Also here is a documentary regarding the history of Palestine-Israel:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/occupation-101-vozes-da-maioria-silenciada/2822253979

Also I don't think Israel is COMPLETELY in the wrong both sides have done bad things...

ISRAEL WHY U BOMBING THE PALESTINIANS? do you realise that this is not any better than israel other than israel has far better accuracy and precision? this basically means that every hour or so, guess what, even israelis have to cower and fear from palestinian rocket attacks! looks like both sides suck!!

its better because you're dismissing the ability to target individual citizens and kill them dead as compared to an RPG. the death toll alone defeats this dude, one person died in Israel over 300 Palestinians were killed in retaliation.

shit if you're going to ignore the death toll with that large of a difference, why not ignore the one death as well? PALESTINIANS MIGHT THROW ROCKS THIS WILL INCONVENIENCE OUR DAILY PATROLS ERGO: DESTROY ALL CARS BELONGING TO A PALESTINIAN.