Saturday, June 12, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Rallies across Canada, Europe protest Israel's Gaza blockade
In Montreal, a crowd of hundreds marching peacefully but boisterously carried placards with slogans such as "Boycott Israel" and "I am ashamed to live in the country that calls itself the best friend of Israel."
It was one of several Canadian protests -- with events planned in Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Victoria -- in addition to much larger demonstrations in Europe, which drew crowds of thousands.
Angry protesters chanting anti-Israeli slogans and waving Palestinian and Turkish flags took to the streets of Istanbul, London, Dublin and Paris as well as a string of other French cities.
Nine people were killed last week when Israel used military force on a ship in an aid convoy headed for the Gaza Strip.
Israel has said its soldiers were defending themselves, but the event has ignited international outrage. The slaying of the nine people, many of them Turks, prompted Turkey to recall its ambassador to Tel Aviv and cancel joint military exercises with the Jewish state.
The Israeli blockade has been in effect for four years, ostensibly to stop the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip from bolstering their arsenal to fight the Jewish state.
However, critics have said the blockade goes too far, pointing out the inclusion of such seemingly innocuous objects as chocolate.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
Robin Soderling Vs Rafael Nadal - French Open Final - Roland Garros 2010 - Watch French Open Final Live Online
by Elena Demen(OfficialWire)
NEW YORK, NY
Robin Soderling vs Rafael Nadal - French Open Final - Roland Garros 2010 - Watch French Open Final Live Online
Today the 2010 French Open Final Robin Soderling vs Rafael Nadal will be live at 9:00am EDT. Nadal defeated Hewitt in Semifinal. Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Robin Söderling. This was the first time since the 2004 French Open that Federer did not reach at least the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament. Whatever the results it should be so exciting and intense to watch French Open Final live. Enjoy the action!
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Wednesday, June 2, 2010
What next after Israel’s assassinations flotilla to Gaza?
Enjoy this latest israel israel flotilla flotilla heads and other info. Check back for more of the latest info on israel flotilla! Updated Flotilla Israel and Israel heads for flotilla: What happens after the murders flotilla Israel for Gaza? A Rush to Judgement must avoid the deadly confrontation between Israel and the Gaza-bound fleet of ships. Instead, what is needed is a credible, independent probe of the incident. Read more about The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News
Israeli Raid Flotilla VIDEO: More Mavi Marmara Footage released by Israel more video released Wednesday by Israeli military raid Monday on a flotilla attempted aid to Gaza, that nine dead bear left. The video, uploaded by the Israel Defense Forces on their YouTube channel, is annotated to show what the Israeli army said its attacks on its troops by the activists. Read more about The Huffington Post
Gaza flotilla activists deported witnesses accuse Israel JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel on Wednesday deported more than 600 foreign activists whose accounts of a deadly attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla denied Israeli reports that its soldiers acted in self-defense. Read more about AFP via Yahoo! Canada News
, Israel has confiscated hundreds during Flotilla Raid Israel activists arrested on Tuesday to support his naval flotilla attacks Monday, as reports said new efforts would be made to ferry aid to Gaza. Read more about New York Times
Pressure Mounts on Israel as Activists Vow to Test Blockade Again
Enjoy this latest israel israel flotilla flotilla heads and other info. Check back for more of the latest info on israel flotilla! Updated Flotilla Israel and Israel heads for flotilla: What happens after the murders flotilla Israel for Gaza? A Rush to Judgement must avoid the deadly confrontation between Israel and the Gaza-bound fleet of ships. Instead, what is needed is a credible, independent probe of the incident. Read more about The Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo! News
Israeli Raid Flotilla VIDEO: More Mavi Marmara Footage released by Israel more video released Wednesday by Israeli military raid Monday on a flotilla attempted aid to Gaza, that nine dead bear left. The video, uploaded by the Israel Defense Forces on their YouTube channel, is annotated to show what the Israeli army said its attacks on its troops by the activists. Read more about The Huffington Post
Gaza flotilla activists deported witnesses accuse Israel JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel on Wednesday deported more than 600 foreign activists whose accounts of a deadly attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla denied Israeli reports that its soldiers acted in self-defense. Read more about AFP via Yahoo! Canada News
, Israel has confiscated hundreds during Flotilla Raid Israel activists arrested on Tuesday to support his naval flotilla attacks Monday, as reports said new efforts would be made to ferry aid to Gaza. Read more about New York Times
Pressure Mounts on Israel as Activists Vow to Test Blockade Again
JERUSALEM — Israel faced rising international pressure on Tuesday to ease its blockade of Gaza, as the United Nations Security Council called its approach to isolating the coastal strip “not sustainable” and pro-Palestinian groups planned fresh attempts to test the closing of sea lanes around the Hamas-controlled territory.
A day after an Israel military raid on an international flotilla trying to breach the blockade left nine foreign activists dead, Egypt, an important partner for Israel in keeping tight control over the flow of goods into the territory, said it would open the land border with Gaza for humanitarian purposes.
Israel’s relations with Turkey, once relatively close, also came under heavy strain. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey called the raid on the Turkish ship, which killed at least four Turkish citizens, a “bloody massacre” and said Israel should immediately end “the inhumane embargo on Gaza.”
At the same time, the volatile Israel-Gaza border seemed to be heating up. Israeli soldiers killed two gunmen from the Islamic Jihad who had infiltrated Israel early Tuesday. Later in the day, the Israeli air force struck a group of militants in northern Gaza who were preparing to fire rockets at Israel, killing three.
While a growing number of countries view the Israeli blockade as counterproductive, causing more harm to the population of 1.5 million Palestinians than it does to Hamas, Israeli officials insisted Tuesday that it was a vital Israeli security interest and even a matter of life and death.
“We know the meaning of allowing these boats to reach Gaza,” Silvan Shalom, an Israeli minister, told Army Radio, warning that they could bring “missiles, mortars and Iranians who will help them arm and train.”
The Obama administration backed the Security Council resolution that condemned “acts” resulting in the nine deaths on the large Turkish boat, the Mavi Marmara. But American officials said relatively little about the matter and diluted demands for condemnation exclusively of Israel. The statement called for an impartial investigation into the confrontation.
“The Security Council deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza,” the statement said, adding that the 15-member body “in this context, condemns those acts which resulted in the loss” of lives.
Israel had issued multiple warnings to the pro-Palestinian flotilla, which was carrying thousands of tons of aid intended for Gaza despite an Israel ban on direct shipments to the territory. Israeli naval commandos intercepted the ships early Monday, setting off a violent confrontation that left the nine activists dead and many other injured, including seven Israeli soldiers.
Israel said its soldiers had acted in self-defense in response to violent resistance to their interception. After the raid, Israel seized hundreds of activists, as well as the ships.
Many of those activists remained in custody in southern Israel on Tuesday, awaiting deportation; at least 48 who had agreed to identify themselves to the Israeli authorities, including a former American diplomat, Edward Peck, and the Swedish writer Henning Mankell, were on their way back home. The government said late Tuesday that it intended to deport all the activists within 48 hours.
Israel did not provide journalists with access to those detained. But some European activists on board the flotilla, who were deported and returned home, disputed Israeli accounts of the confrontation.
Norman Paech, a former member of the Left Party in Germany who was aboard the Marmara, said he had seen only three activists resisting the naval commandos, and called the Israeli response a violent overreaction.
“They had no knives, no axes, only sticks that they used to defend themselves,” Mr. Paech said at a news conference in Berlin after returning from Tel Aviv. He said, however, that he could not rule out that others on the boat had used weapons against the soldiers.
Egypt’s decision to temporarily open its border with Gaza was a victory for Hamas, the Islamic militant group that holds sway in the Palestinian enclave and has sought to raise pressure on Egypt to stop cooperating with the Israeli embargo. The opening of the border caused thousands of Gazans to stream toward the crossing at Rafah.
Israel also will face a fresh test in coming days of its policy of intercepting sea shipments, which it tightened after the 2008-2009 Gaza war. The pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement is planning to send a 1,200-ton cargo ship, the Rachel Corrie, to challenge the naval blockade as early as next week.
Israeli officials vowed that it, too, would be stopped.
“There will be lessons learned” at the tactical level, one government official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly. “But the policy is the policy. We are talking about another interception at sea.”
Israel began transferring to Gaza the cargo it had unloaded from the six-boat flotilla at a naval base in the Israeli port of Ashdod. The military said it included toys, some wheelchairs and a lot of used clothes.
Col. Moshe Levi, commander of the Israeli military’s Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration, said there was “no need for this cargo.” Tons of supplies, including medical equipment, have been going into Gaza all year through the Israeli-controlled land crossings, he said.
While condemnation of Israel in the Security Council is not uncommon, the criticism at the emergency session called by Turkey and Lebanon was notable for both its vehemence and for the broad array of countries demanding an independent investigation.
Gérard Araud, the French ambassador, said the death toll indicated that “there was disproportionate use of force and a level of violence which nothing justifies and which we condemn.”
Several envoys said Israel was in violation of international law, not least because Security Council Resolution 1860, passed in January 2009 during the Gaza war, called for ending the blockade and opening unfettered access to humanitarian assistance throughout the strip.
The United States, which habitually defends Israel in the council, said the attempt to run the blockade by sea had been ill-advised.
“Direct delivery by sea is neither appropriate nor responsible, and certainly not effective, under the circumstances,” said Alejandro D. Wolff, the deputy permanent representative of the United States. But he also described the situation in Gaza as “unsustainable” and called on Israel to undertake a credible investigation.
Reporting was contributed by Fares Akram from Gaza, Mona El-Naggar from Cairo, Dina Kraft from Tel Aviv, Rina Castelnuovo from Ashdod, Israel, and Alan Cowell from Paris.
A day after an Israel military raid on an international flotilla trying to breach the blockade left nine foreign activists dead, Egypt, an important partner for Israel in keeping tight control over the flow of goods into the territory, said it would open the land border with Gaza for humanitarian purposes.
Israel’s relations with Turkey, once relatively close, also came under heavy strain. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey called the raid on the Turkish ship, which killed at least four Turkish citizens, a “bloody massacre” and said Israel should immediately end “the inhumane embargo on Gaza.”
At the same time, the volatile Israel-Gaza border seemed to be heating up. Israeli soldiers killed two gunmen from the Islamic Jihad who had infiltrated Israel early Tuesday. Later in the day, the Israeli air force struck a group of militants in northern Gaza who were preparing to fire rockets at Israel, killing three.
While a growing number of countries view the Israeli blockade as counterproductive, causing more harm to the population of 1.5 million Palestinians than it does to Hamas, Israeli officials insisted Tuesday that it was a vital Israeli security interest and even a matter of life and death.
“We know the meaning of allowing these boats to reach Gaza,” Silvan Shalom, an Israeli minister, told Army Radio, warning that they could bring “missiles, mortars and Iranians who will help them arm and train.”
The Obama administration backed the Security Council resolution that condemned “acts” resulting in the nine deaths on the large Turkish boat, the Mavi Marmara. But American officials said relatively little about the matter and diluted demands for condemnation exclusively of Israel. The statement called for an impartial investigation into the confrontation.
“The Security Council deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza,” the statement said, adding that the 15-member body “in this context, condemns those acts which resulted in the loss” of lives.
Israel had issued multiple warnings to the pro-Palestinian flotilla, which was carrying thousands of tons of aid intended for Gaza despite an Israel ban on direct shipments to the territory. Israeli naval commandos intercepted the ships early Monday, setting off a violent confrontation that left the nine activists dead and many other injured, including seven Israeli soldiers.
Israel said its soldiers had acted in self-defense in response to violent resistance to their interception. After the raid, Israel seized hundreds of activists, as well as the ships.
Many of those activists remained in custody in southern Israel on Tuesday, awaiting deportation; at least 48 who had agreed to identify themselves to the Israeli authorities, including a former American diplomat, Edward Peck, and the Swedish writer Henning Mankell, were on their way back home. The government said late Tuesday that it intended to deport all the activists within 48 hours.
Israel did not provide journalists with access to those detained. But some European activists on board the flotilla, who were deported and returned home, disputed Israeli accounts of the confrontation.
Norman Paech, a former member of the Left Party in Germany who was aboard the Marmara, said he had seen only three activists resisting the naval commandos, and called the Israeli response a violent overreaction.
“They had no knives, no axes, only sticks that they used to defend themselves,” Mr. Paech said at a news conference in Berlin after returning from Tel Aviv. He said, however, that he could not rule out that others on the boat had used weapons against the soldiers.
Egypt’s decision to temporarily open its border with Gaza was a victory for Hamas, the Islamic militant group that holds sway in the Palestinian enclave and has sought to raise pressure on Egypt to stop cooperating with the Israeli embargo. The opening of the border caused thousands of Gazans to stream toward the crossing at Rafah.
Israel also will face a fresh test in coming days of its policy of intercepting sea shipments, which it tightened after the 2008-2009 Gaza war. The pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement is planning to send a 1,200-ton cargo ship, the Rachel Corrie, to challenge the naval blockade as early as next week.
Israeli officials vowed that it, too, would be stopped.
“There will be lessons learned” at the tactical level, one government official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly. “But the policy is the policy. We are talking about another interception at sea.”
Israel began transferring to Gaza the cargo it had unloaded from the six-boat flotilla at a naval base in the Israeli port of Ashdod. The military said it included toys, some wheelchairs and a lot of used clothes.
Col. Moshe Levi, commander of the Israeli military’s Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration, said there was “no need for this cargo.” Tons of supplies, including medical equipment, have been going into Gaza all year through the Israeli-controlled land crossings, he said.
While condemnation of Israel in the Security Council is not uncommon, the criticism at the emergency session called by Turkey and Lebanon was notable for both its vehemence and for the broad array of countries demanding an independent investigation.
Gérard Araud, the French ambassador, said the death toll indicated that “there was disproportionate use of force and a level of violence which nothing justifies and which we condemn.”
Several envoys said Israel was in violation of international law, not least because Security Council Resolution 1860, passed in January 2009 during the Gaza war, called for ending the blockade and opening unfettered access to humanitarian assistance throughout the strip.
The United States, which habitually defends Israel in the council, said the attempt to run the blockade by sea had been ill-advised.
“Direct delivery by sea is neither appropriate nor responsible, and certainly not effective, under the circumstances,” said Alejandro D. Wolff, the deputy permanent representative of the United States. But he also described the situation in Gaza as “unsustainable” and called on Israel to undertake a credible investigation.
Reporting was contributed by Fares Akram from Gaza, Mona El-Naggar from Cairo, Dina Kraft from Tel Aviv, Rina Castelnuovo from Ashdod, Israel, and Alan Cowell from Paris.
A Perfect Game, Except for One Call
Armando Galarraga, a 28-year-old Detroit Tigers right-hander with a nondescript career record, had faced 26 Cleveland Indians hitters on Wednesday night and retired them all. The 27th, Jason Donald, a rookie shortstop playing his 15th major league game, was all that stood in the way of a record third perfect game of the season.
On Galarraga’s 84th pitch of the game, Donald slapped a grounder between first and second. First baseman Miguel Cabrera ranged well to his right, squared up and threw perfectly – yes, perfectly – to Galarraga covering first. The throw beat Donald to the bag. Galarraga beat Donald to the bag. Galarraga’s foot came down on the bag, and….
And suddenly, Jim Joyce became famous. Joyce, the first-base umpire, called Donald safe.
Replays indicated what Galarraga, Cabrera, Tigers Manager Jim Leyland and perhaps even Jason Donald’s mother thought: the runner was out. Has there been a more glaring safe call at first base in a high-profile moment since Don Denkinger called the Kansas City Royals’ Jorge Orta safe in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series?
Denkinger later reviewed videotape of the play and acknowledged that replay showed he had made a mistake; call it E-U. “I was astute enough to recognize that the man was clearly out,” Denkinger said. “The call was wrong.”
Joyce, a major league umpire since 1987, had his own chance to go to the tape, and he didn’t like what he saw.
“I just cost that kid a perfect game,” Joyce said, according to The Associated Press. “I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay.”
There is no provision for review by the umpires of plays like this one during a game. Do you think there should be?
Simply put, Ken Griffey Jr. showed us how baseball should be played
Years from now many people will sit on their porches, and when some hot shot rookie comes up or some center fielder glides into the spotlight, they will say with a wry smile, "Yeah, but I saw Griffey play."
The prime of Griffey is what lasts, and in his era there was absolutely nobody like him. With Griffey, unlike Willie, Mickey and the Duke, there will be no songs written as homages for great center fielders as contemporaries. From 1989 through 2000, Griffey hit 438 home runs -- the next closest center fielder in that time was Ellis Burks with 247. In those 12 years Griffey also hit .296, stole 173 bases and won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves, providing the definitive statement of what a baseball player should be, what the old timers used to say was straight out of the Spalding Guidebook.
Ken Griffey Jr. finishes his career with 630 home runs, 1,836 RBIs and 10 Gold GlovesThe images are as indelible as that long-striding elegant stroke of DiMaggio. Griffey gave us the statuesque pose after clubbing a home run, as if stopping in his tracks to admire the beauty of the ball in flight. The cap worn backward. The pell-mell leaps and jumps across turf, tracks and walls in pursuit of any fly ball, no matter the danger it may bring. And maybe above all else, with neither bat nor glove in hand, the textbook cutting of the bases on his 270-foot dash to home plate with the winning run of the 1995 Division Series to defeat the New York Yankees and save baseball in Seattle. That someone with such power could run so swiftly was a wonder to behold.
No one could measure up to the young Griffey. Sadly, that included the aging Griffey. The second half of Griffey's career largely was a scrubland of injuries and not-what-he-used-to-bes. Griffey had his last 100 RBI season at age 30. He hit .296 in his career through that season, but .260 after that in almost 1,000 games. He hit 438 homers through age 30 -- early on, he was supposed to be the heir to Hank Aaron's record 755 homers -- but hit only 192 after.
And of course, the one constant, from the blissful 19-year-old kid who wouldn't know if that day's opposing starter was left-handed or right-handed, to the 40-year-old, heavy-legged bench player who ran out of time with the Mariners, was that every year the World Series was played without him. Griffey had three cracks at the postseason, two with Seattle and once upon hitching a late-season ride with the Chicago White Sox. And yet though he played with such greats as Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson and Alex Rodriguez, he never made it to the Fall Classic in 22 tries.
History, too, will raise Griffey a little higher because so many of his contemporaries were lowered by their decision to use performance-enhancing drugs. That decision, too, set him apart. Unfortunately, Griffey also was one of many transcendent stars who gave no dissenting voice to The Steroid Era, one of many in the coalition of the willing. It rankled him, those close to him used to say, that one-dimensional players would pass him in the public consciousness as major stars, only because of the boost of the juice. But never was he comfortable with answering questions on the topic, as were players such as Frank Thomas, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Curt Schilling. He didn't want in on the debate.
In the end, what mattered was Griffey gave us as sublime a picture of how baseball should be played as anybody in his lifetime: well, hard and, as we want to believe, clean. And in that manner, in that window of history, he stands alone.
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