I was going to post this morning some quibbles about otherwise intelligent comments on hybrid cars in the NYT by automotive critic Jamie Kitman, but it seems rather tastless in the face of yet another suicide bombing at Tel Aviv’s Central Station, ending a “hudna” that lasted only a couple of months. The always reliable religious psychopaths at Islamic Jihad have claimed responsibility for an average Middle Eastern terror attack (eight dead so far), stereotypical in every way except that Hamas is now in control of the PA. Unlike the usual condemnations of violence from Mahmoud Abbas and Saeb Erekat, CNN reports the Hamas reaction as follows: A Hamas spokesman, in an interview with Al-Jazeera television, described the attack as an “act of self-defense” against the Israeli occupation.
Well, there you have it. No condemnation from those in authority so far, only justification of mass murder. Meanwhile, that other crew of religious psychopaths in Tehran is sending fifty million to the gang on the West Bank. Will this be used to finance suicide bombings? If not, what will it be used for?
UPDATE: Haaretz now says nine are dead. They also have more complete quotes from the various Hamas authorities:
Hamas official spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called the attack “a natural result of the continued Israeli crimes against our people.”“The Israeli occupation bears responsibility for the continuation of its aggression. Our people are in a state of self-defence and they have every right to use all means to defend themselves,” he added.
“We think that this operation… is a direct result of the policy of the occupation and the brutal agression and siege committed against our people,” said Khaled Abu Helal, spokesman for the Hamas-led Interior Ministry.
Earlier, Moussa abu Marzouk, a Hamas leader abraod, told Al-Jazeera television that “the Israeli side must feel what the Palestinian feels, and the Palestinian defends himself as much as he can.”
At least we know where they stand. The Israeli government, according to Haaretz, holds Hamas responsible. Wouldn’t you?
ìA Hamas spokesman, in an interview with Al-Jazeera television, described the attack as an “act of self-defense” against the Israeli occupation.î
I am surprised by the Hamas spokesmanís bluntness. There seemingly was no effort to be subtle and ìnuanced.î Israel must retaliate immediately. It cannot allow itself to be talked into a so-called diplomatic response. This is the time for bloodshed.
Hamas has seemingly has no strategy of reapproachment with Israel, no sense of “let’s try to get together,” since we are bankrupt and need the money. It will be as destructive as it has been in the past. Its statement speaks volumes.
Now the world waits to see what the new guy – Olmert – will do.
Roger:
I read the hybrid article. He leaves out the most salient fact about hybrids. Hybrids are not the most fuel efficient cars, diesels are. The most fuel efficient vehicle on the market in actual use (as opposed to the deficient EPA numbers) is the Jetta TDI. Diesels are not only more efficient in operation, they are more efficient over the fuel cycle since it takes less energy and therefore produce less pollutants to make diesel fuel then it does to produce gasoline. There is no reason that you couldnít produce a hybrid powered by a diesel engine but that is not how things are developing. Hybrid technology is merely a marketing gimmick that produces some marginal improvements in mpg. Diesels engines can get 50% better gas mileage over their gasoline equivalents.
The “the usual condemnations of violence from Mahmoud Abbas and Saeb Erekat” aren’t quite the full story of what’s been happening today. I’ve blogged it here
Roger:
The most refreshing aspect of Hamas is that they don’t play the doublespeak game of peace in English, war in Arabic.Or at least not as often Fatah would say, “oh, this is terrible, bad, bad, and then have their “military wing” plot and take credit for the attacks. It would be as if President Bush tried to seperate himself from our “military wing” and claim that he had nothing to do with our Armed Forces. The press allowed this open lie to be spread and I am glad it is over. Not because I am not weaping for the victims. But because we need to wake up and realize that the only difference between Hamas and Fatah was clarity and honesty. Hamas is bent on the destruction of Israel and they say so and they act on it. Fatah was just keeping the destruction option rhetorically quiet while funding the martyrs brigades and claiming they detested their actions.” This is terrible. Now here is the money and the weapons, do it again.”
Hi Roger,
The hudna was just a smokescreen, anyway. Islamic Jihad had been launching (or attempting to launch) attacks since it was declared, in a typical Palestinian “triaagulation:” two parties act reasonable in public (and in English), while the third blows up kids getting some falafel in the middle of Tel Aviv.
The Palestinians made their choice in their elections, and they voted for war. Let Israel complete its barrier, let the US and EU keep cutting off the money from Hamas, and let the Palestinians stew in their own pot.
A pox on them.
Roger;
The hudna should not be allowed to be presented as any form of moderation. In it’s stripped down form it was this. Go back to the 67 borders, the wet dream of every left wing peacenik, and we will delay taking the rest of Israel and driving the Jews into the sea. wait, I apologize, that was too harsh. Jews could stay if they agreed to the dhimmi laws and agreed to live under sharia law. Yes, you can stay, wear yellow Star of David markers, walk in the gutter when Muslims pass, live in ghetto’s, lose your right to testify against Muslims if you are the only witness to a crime committed against your family by a Muslim, and allow yourself and your community to be attacked if a Danish newspaper prints cartoons that offend Muhammed. Such a deal! How could any Jew refuse such a kind and generous offer.
Isn’t it about time for the civil war between the evil Hamas and the corrupt Fatah. Something to keep those pukes busy for a couple of months destroying what little remains of their pathetic infrastructure. I’m on pins and needles all a‚Äòtingle waiting to see who would win…the bad guys, or the bad guys. Fighting over Iran‚Äôs 50 million could be a good start.
Gee, but which side would our media root for? The bad guys…or…umm…the other bad guys? Well, whoever it is – it’s sure to be all America’s fault in the end. At least that has a certain comfortable monotony about it.
To use a famous Hollywood phrase (from a time when Hollywood had giants)…what a bunch of maroons.
Hybrids are not the most fuel efficient cars, diesels are.
Even more efficient since we can run biodeisel through them. In fact, we can run biodeisel distilled from used vegetable oil in most of the existing deisel engines. Less expensive than petrol based fuel, no pollutants (that have been found at this point) and very good mileage (hey, its deisel).
But then, the Liberals probably wouldn’t feel as smug riding around in a 1992 Volvo Wagon that had an exhaust that smelled faintly of french fries… and the Conservatives wouldn’t want to run the Oil industry out of business.
But, by God we can all FEEL good about arguing over it.
As for the hunda and the continued mess in that part of the world:
I say “Go For It”, to everyone. By Gods after this many decades, if you still can’t get along then someone needs to dominate the others. I’m in favor of the “Let them fight it out” scenario. We don’t condemn either side and allow them to ravage each other for awhile. Eventually someone will give in, or everyone will die… but thats probably the end result anyway.
Jerry…I don’t see any reason why “hybrid” and “diesel” are mutually exclusive. A hybrid should be able to operate with any prime mover.
A broader point is that an emerging technology, like hybrids, shouldn’t be looked at only as a snapshot in time. Unless these things are unlike just about every other product ever manufactured, they will be subject to a learning curve: with every increase in volume, ways will be found to improve the technology and to reduce the manufacturing cost. Whatever the motivations of the buyers of todays “Pious” and equivalents, they are helping to move the technology further out on the learning curve.
Roger:
On the Hamas thread, I think it is high time that Palestinians be held collectively responsible for these atrocities. We had no qualms about holding the Germans and Japanese responsible for Hitler and Hirohito.
Targeted killings are fine when they can be accomplished, but Israel will not prevail unless it unleashes collective punishment on the Palestinians. They claim to love death; let’s take them at their word.
dclydew: Biodiesel is a good way to use waste oil and fat, but it’s hopeless as a replacement for oil imports. By the time you replaced 10% of petroleum, all our agricultural land would be devoted to soybeans and other oil crops.
Photo:
Try the laws of thermodynamics as a limiting factor. We would all like to believe that there is some magic technology that would allow us to double or triple fuel economy. Sorry to day that is a fantasy.
Jerry, I think you’re missing my point. The laws of thermodynamics apply to airplanes, too, and it is in the aerospace industry that the concept of the learning curve was developed.
Surely unit number 50 million of a hybrid battery will cost less to produce, on a per-watt-hour basis, than unit number 100 thousand of an equivalent system. From a pure manufacturing standpoint, processes will be improved, automation will be taken to higher levels, purchasing of components will be done more ruthlessly, and tooling and startup costs will be allocated over a larger base. This is before even considering improvements in the device itself.
Curmudgeon,
” By the time you replaced 10% of petroleum, all our agricultural land would be devoted to soybeans and other oil crops.”
Perhaps, it depends greatly on the crops being chosen for biofuel. Corn and Soybean are not the top producers (Corn not by a long shot).