Shomer Shabbos

Single, double, triple pay -- I ain't gonna work on Saturday.

Good Shabbos everybody.

Concision

In what is perhaps the shortest news article I have ever seen, Hamas claims to have hit an Israeli Air Force base outside of Tel Aviv today with rockets fired from the Gaza strip.  As Josh Nanus points out, this might be the first time Hamas' has targeted something other than defenseless civilians.  

Common Interests

Gen. David Petraeus spoke in D.C. yesterday about some shared interests the United States and Iran may have in Afghanistan.  Though making it clear that any increased cooperation was to be decided by policymakers, Petraeus did say that Iran does not want "ultrafundamentalist extremist Sunni forces" to gain control, nor see opium production increase.  

The idea coincides nicely with the incoming president, who has voiced considerations of a dialogue with Iran.  

'Having said that," the general said, "I'm sure there's an element (in Iran) that is determining how they can make life miserable for the coalition and the alliance and Afghan forces as well. NATO troops in Afghanistan have intercepted small amounts of weapons coming in from Iran.  

Also interesting is the reporter's use of the word "loggerheads" in describing the relationship between the US and Iran in the last paragraph.  Loggerheads?  Really?  

Mad in Malaysia

Malaysians, led by the Malaysian Muslim Consumer Association (MMCA), are boycotting in great numbers US products for the United State's support of Israel in the Gaza conflict.  

Coca-Cola has been pulled from many grocer's shelves and more than 2,000 Muslim restaurant menus.  A spokesman for Coca-Cola said, though deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza strip, the boycott would do little more than hurt the local Malaysian economy.  The company employs 1,700 Maylasians, 60% of which are Malay Muslims.  

"A boycott is the best way for us to protest Zionist cruelty . . . as consumers (we) can weaken the economy of countries like Israel and its ally the U.S.," said a MMCA leader.  Good luck on that last one, guys.  

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has called for sanctions on Israel.  

Op-Ed

Here's an op-ed in US News & World Report arguing why the military strike in Gaza may be counterproductive to Israeli interests.  It explains more explicitly a statement made in an earlier post by Norman's International regarding the effect the strike will have once a cease fire is reached and it's time to come to the negotiating table.  

In sum, ". . . the consequence is not the pacification of the target population but an intensification of violence."

Or, maybe not.  Here's an Op-Ed that says, while unfortunate, there is literally no other option --Israel must respond with overwhelming force if anything is to change; if Israel is to continue existing, something has to change.  

Strategic Partnership

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Georgian Foreign Affairs Minister Grigol Vashadze gathered at the White House today to sign the United States-Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership.  Vashadze looks forward to growing engagement with the west, while Condi looks forward to feeling that mustache scratch softly at her face.    

The Future of Capitalism

French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed financial experts in Paris to discuss "the future of capitalism," seeking to create a new system of international financial governance and institutions.  

Merkel suggested a "powerful new economic council at the UN," reports France24.com.  Both urged the US not to stand in the way of tighter financial regulation, which they blame the current crisis on -- a good sign for those of us eager to get past the Reagan-Thatcher era.  

The goal, said European leaders involved in the two-day event dubbed "New World, New Capitalism," was not to end capitalism or finance as we know it, but to foster the "return of the state" as a regulator.  

Tony Blair, chairing the event, told attendees -- Amartya Sen, Pascal Lamy and Joseph Stiglitz, among other notables -- that the current system of seven powerful economies making global financial decisions is an "absurdity" in these times, calling for the inclusion of a wide array of emerging economies and interested parties.  

"We have mid-20th century international institutions governing a 21st century world," he said, calling for the reformation of the IMF and the World Bank.