Gorgon

Well they are completely poinless to me. Does that make me cynical ?. You fail at sarcasm.

It occured to me that saying 'the protesters thought this' or 'the protesters wanted that' is nonsensical. They were a very diverse group, like in any demonstration there are going to be groups within groups, peaceful protesters and violent agitators alike.

Perhaps. And there is fact that if what they really wanted was to fight the Isralis one would think they could come up with better weaponry than clubs. Barricade vital areas of the ship for instance.

It's even easier to mosey in 20 pages after the thread began with new information and be the king of hind vison.

CGI trailers that have nothing to do with the engine are utterly pointless.

George Benson, the king of easy listening. At his best when on the guitar and not trying to be a pop star.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-nQlbmqOKc

I was under the impression that we were talking about Europe. Yes, Israel has less than friendly neighbors. That doesn't mean that it's NOT a good idea to settle things with Palestine, quite the opposite. It's useless now with Hamas at the helm, but there have been more than a few opportunities for a reasonable deal in the past.

Don't think so. He's 'the guy' as far as I know.

Outfit two from the left is hot

I've seen 2 of those. Is that wierd ?.

Everything is in the execution. You aren't gonna know untill its out.

I like it. Bladerunnerish is one of my favorite adjectives.

Don't care whether I will be popping pretty or ugly heads like ripe mellons, they all look the same afterwards.

Well, they are the only ones still doing it. We haven't had much cause for military repression since the Brits left India. Well unless of course you count countries repressing their own people.

Sometimes I wonder if there really is a *truth* or if what we are seeing is evidence of a rift in the space-time continuum giving rise to the convergence of parallel universes. In one universe Israel is the always misunderstood but fair and even handed guardian of democracy fending off Islamic terrorism, in the other it is a jaded hypocrite, content to talk about a peace process but for more than a decade also not genuinely interested in giving up military repression of the Palestinian people to preserve the status quo. That old truism that in war the first victim is the truth seems particularly appropriate. There are just sides, no one is capable of being objective.

Several years ago Israel all but levelled the place to the ground, no doubt they are of the opinion that Gaza would be easier to manage and terrorism more preventable if the people all lived in tents. The threat of terrorism can't be used to justify anything, a lot, sure, not everything.

The Israeli authorities thought the passengers were going to play by the usual 'rules' and passive resistance methods which have developed following the first world bank demonstrations, and the decided that they were going to surprise them and end it before the protesters could get their standoff and be dragged off in handcuffs in front of the cameras. When the Israeli spokesman says that the protesters solely are responsible for the deaths that is simply a logical failure. Israel instigated this. Cause and effect - Israel is responsible regardless of how little they wished or planned for this outcome. They could and should have handled this differently. The media reaction is not surprising, what was known was that possibly up to 16 civilians had been killed following a midnight commando raid. The rumor mill going wild, this person shot, this person wounded. The passengers included some very respectable names, EU parliamentarians and former middle east envoys, and journalist across the board have learned to be wary of any official Israeli -and while were at it also Palestinian- version. There are no official sources not concerned with covering their asses and serving their agenda, none the least bit interested in self scrutiny or getting to the truth. Yes, we have seen passengers attacking the boarders, shooting in self defense is a plausible scenario, but what else is on those video files. If it's anything detrimental to Israel surely we are never going to see it.

It's curious that Israel is not admitting defeat, really...

ok that's pretty odd. I didn't repost that.

If you are suggesting that the goal of challenging the Israeli blockade was not also to make Israel look bad, well that's pretty naive. It wasn't just a relief convoy, it was a relief convoy/ media stunt. The activists expected to use passive resistance, forcing the Israeli authority to be heavy handed in their arrests, pretty much how it played out on the other ships. Add a couple of body bags and the story really starts to have legs.

We don't actually know if there were boxes of weapons or not. I wouldn't exactly call the IDF a reliable source in this. In any case the passengers were a very diverse group, and it wouldn't surprise me if there were at least some who are ecstatic about how all this played out. The political and popular reaction must be an activists wet dream.

If you are suggesting that the goal of challenging the Israeli blockade was not also to make Israel look bad, well that's pretty naive. It wasn't just a relief convoy, it was a relief convoy/ media stunt. The activists expected to use passive resistance, forcing the Israeli authority to be heavy handed in their arrests, pretty much how it played out on the other ships. Add a couple of body bags and the story really starts to have legs.

Why don't you lead the charge, run with it, take your own advice as it were.

They are milking the franchise for everything its got. Can't say I blame them.