BDE

Nov 14: Thankful for a G-d who knows when a person's time on this earth is done. [Spoiler: last paragraph is not about anything related to what is going on in Israel.]

• Israel made a precision strike on a wanted terrorist today and basically finally started the ball rolling on what is likely to be a casualty heavy operation on both sides Operation Amud Annan (Pillar of Defense) which may have it's origins in the story of the dual pillars that led the Israelites out of Egypt (the pillar of clouds during the day and the pillar of fire at night).
  Israel has been blessed and lucky that most of the damage that has been caused thus far by the recent rounds of lobbing missiles and rockets in the south has been property damage and thankfully not much more serious than people with panic attacks and mostly "light" wounds. Of course the psychological damage may be immeasurable and continue to terrorize for many years to come.

• CNN is not my favorite barometer of international events because of some of more their obvious slanting of the stories, however I do tend to think that the average American is likely to get at least some of their news there. Along those lines, the first time I saw this graphic was around various facebook friends' pages and also here about 2.5 weeks ago. I think it makes the point rather well.

 

• This image is on the front of CNN today and it's caption is
  Hamas: Israeli attack opens 'gates of hell'
  This may be the case, but why did it take a targeted assassination of a known terrorist (who was largely behind the kidnapping and ultimate release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit) and the ISraeli declaration of a major military operation to get the coverage that this situation deserves for several weeks now?

• The Israeli media is preparing it's citizens for a messy operation and indeed the rocket attacks have continued to rain down for hours. It has been and will continue to be a LONG night for the residents of all the locations in the south of Israel - see the map below. the bands of color indicate the amount of time people have to run for shelter when a Tzeva Adom (Color Red Alert) sounds on the civil air defense system speakers. It is now a daily and many times a multiple times a day event for these people who may not have a choice but to live in these cheaper cost-of-living areas. My heart breaks for these people and especially the children and other people who can not understand why this is happening. Or think that this chaotic semblance of life is NORMAL.
  Green band = 15 seconds, blue band = 30, purple band = 30 seconds, orange band = 1 whole minute.

• On another note, I got third-hand news that my arch enemy in the business world had passed away. While it took my breath away, it reminded me that HaShem knows when a person has fulfilled their purpose on this Earth and maybe one of her tasks in her life was to teach me some important life lessons the hard way. While it saddens me to hear of anyone's demise, I had to remember to bless the ultimate judge who makes those decisions. Baruch Dayan Emet.