…Islamic Jihad leader Khader Habib recently told an audience that the Palestinians must rise up and a launch a third Intifada. In addition, he said that Palestinians must line up behind the resistance and jihad to free Palestinian prisoners.

Well, it seems that Islamic Jihad’s Secretary General, Ramadan Shallah, did not want to be left out.

Palestine Today reports that in a recent speech, Shallah called on Palestinians to “further the way of Jihad and resistance until the liberation of Palestine and release of all Palestinian prisoners.”

Update: It appears that a major rally took place today in the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon today, Ein Al-Hilweh. During the rally, an Islamic Jihad official called for an “escalation of jihad.” Specifically, the official called on people to kidnap Israeli soldiers to force Israel to release more Palestinian prisoners.

Representatives from Hamas, Hezbollah, the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, the Amal movement, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and others partook in the rally.

Turkish sources reported that Prime Minister of Turkey, Receb Tayyip Erdogan, sent a confidential letter to Ismail Haniyya, Prime Minister of the Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip, inviting him to visit Turkey, and informing him that he has decided to grant Haniyya’s government $300 Million.

Jonathan Schanzer wrote shortly thereafter:

…this pledge would cover nearly half of Hamas’s reported $769 million budget next year, and would make Turkey its primary benefactor.

Hamas and Turkish officials deny the report, and Hamas probably won’t submit to an external audit any time soon. But let there be no doubt: Hamas is for sale, thanks to the Iranian nuclear program and the Arab Spring.

….With Iran stepping back, could Turkey step in? From publicly clashing with Israeli president Shimon Peres over Israel’s Hamas policy at Davos in 2009 to sponsoring the ill-fated flotilla that attempted to breach Israel’s blockade of Gaza in 2010, Erdogan has become a champion of the Hamas cause.

In recent years, the Turkish government has provided nominal assistance to Hamas in Gaza through a series of charities. Hamas reportedly now operates on Turkish soil, meaning Ankara is already a patron. And Hamas recently announced that leader Ismail Haniyeh plans to visit Turkey soon.

Now, more confirmation of that IMEMC report has arrived. A diplomat was quoted by Reuters today.

“Iran used to give $250 million to $300 million to Hamas but there have been interruptions in the payments in past year. Our understanding is that there has been no payment since August 2011,” he said.

Hamas Gaza Strip leader Ismail Haniyeh was thought to have “received promises from Turkey to provide the movement and his administration with $300 million a year to help Gaza”.

In addition to this Reuters report, Palestinian news sources are reporting that Yediot Ahranot in its Friday paper is reporting that Turkey has agreed to provide Hamas with $300 million.

The Yediot Ahranot article does not appear to be online currently. If it becomes available I will link to it. If anyone has a hard copy and would like to email it, please do.

Update: Haaretz is now running a similar report to Yediot Ahranot. Israel’s Channel 2 is running a very comprehensive report, well worth the read.

Palestine Today and Al-Quds Al-Arabi are reporting that Hamas has denied the reports, as they did with the December report.

Lastly, Shimon Peres in an interview with CNN at Davos said that Hamas was being funded by Turkey.

Update: Turkey has denied the reports.

Officials from Turkey’s Foreign Ministry approached by Today’s Zaman on Sunday denied allegations that Turkey is offering millions of dollars to Hamas, saying that news featuring these allegations was made up and did not reflect the truth.

“There is no cash aid to Hamas, but Turkey is, of course, engaged in projects to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza,” officials said and added, “A $40 million hospital project is one of them, but the construction material for the hospital is not allowed into Gaza.” Turkey frequently complains about an Israeli blockade of Gaza that Israel says is needed to block weapons from reaching Hamas, which Israel considers its archenemy, but which in reality chokes the Gazan economy and keeps Gazans underserved and underdeveloped.

Twin blasts at Afghan shrines on the Shi’ite holy day of Ashura have killed at least 58 people, with one suicide attack in Kabul ripping through a crowd of worshippers including children.

Tuesday’s blasts in Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, occurred a day after an international meeting in Germany to further efforts to end the Afghan war 10 years after US-led forces drove the Taliban from power.

At least 54 people, including children, were killed in the huge explosion at the entrance to a riverside shrine in central Kabul where hundreds of singing Shi’ite Muslims had gathered to mark Ashura, an official said.

Can you guess which of the below images were taken from the scene of the attacks?

The answer is none of them. These are photos taken from the regular Shi’a Ashura festivities.

Remember folks. It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.

The Experiences of an Englishman in Rocket-Hit Israel

There’s nothing to prepare you for the myriad of emotions that flush through your mind and body when a rocket alert siren sounds. Then there are the thoughts and feelings that grab hold when you hear ground shaking explosions and the sound of police cars and ambulances racing through the city streets soon afterwards. One moment you are going about your daily routine, which might include being in a deep sleep and the next, you are rushing like a startled rabbit towards your designated shelter.

I’ve been living in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod for nearly a year after meeting and falling in love with a beautiful and charming Israeli woman. In this time period there have been approximately a dozen rocket attacks on our city and hundreds more on cities, towns and villages in the surrounding region, including Ashkelon, Beersheba and the unfortunate Sderot. The rockets originate in the Gaza Strip, just over 20 miles away from Ashdod and are being fired by Islamic terrorists intent on killing as many Jews as possible and eventually taking Israel for their own Islamic state.

Let’s briefly study the anatomy of a rocket attack on a major Israeli city. When terrorists fire a rocket, a satellite system picks up the trajectory of the missile and instantly calculates where it is likely to fall. The system then activates a city-wide siren in the location where the deadly warhead is heading. The siren sounds and people rush to either a communal shelter, a safety room within their home or any other place which might offer protection from an explosion and related shrapnel. In Ashdod, we have 45 seconds to get to this safe place. In neighbouring Ashkelon, it is even less.

The rocket alert siren sounds for around 40 seconds.

The rocket alert siren sounds for around 40 seconds. The sound is very similar to the World War 2 siren you hear in old black and white war films. It is omnipresent and comes at you from multiple directions. It’s also very loud and there’s no chance you’ll mistake it for a car alarm. Strangely enough, whilst the siren is sounding, you know you are relatively safe. The danger comes when it stops. That’s when the rockets fall. In nearly all cases that I have experienced, the explosions occurred within 15 seconds of silence descending on the city. It’s a haunting silence for you know everyone is doing the same as you and that is listening for the thuds of falling rockets. Two weeks ago we heard 4 explosions hit the city, one after the other and each louder than the next. Elsewhere on that day, an Israeli civilian who was a father of 4, was killed by shrapnel.

For years, before and during my time in Israel, I’ve heard people in the West referring to the rocket attacks as mere fireworks that do little damage other than a bit of smoke and cracks in the road. I knew this to be untrue, even prior to hearing and seeing the damage they do first-hand. Every day I pass a building still gutted from when a rocket scored a direct hit a few years ago. On Youtube you can see video clips of a 6-storey block of flats half demolished from just one rocket. The only reason why more people are not killed is because of the safety measures the government here has taken in the form of rocket shelters, drills, sirens, surveillance drones and frequent information on what to do in the event of an attack.

The rocket attacks are brutally hard on parents and their children.

The rocket attacks are brutally hard on parents and their children. I’ve been with families when the siren sounded and witnessed the fear in the eyes of burly fathers who would not otherwise flinch from tackling a burglar in the middle of the night. They carry their little crying daughters in their arms and rush to their safety room, knowing full well that a direct hit on their home could mean death. I’ve also seen a mother vomit with fear after rushing her kids into a shelter. They have every reason to be terrified for their children’s safety. In 2004, a toddler and baby were killed when a rocket exploded inside their home in Sderot.

When you don’t have children, the sense of danger and fear is less but not altogether absent. Most rocket attacks have taken place during the night hours when we are asleep. The shock of being awoken by loud Banshee wailing and instinctively racing towards the front door (our shelter is next door) is quite a blow to one’s nerves, especially when you know there is a serious and genuine threat to life careering through the night skies towards you. Yet people here have adapted to these intrusions and within minutes you see people resuming their normal activities, even when there is every chance of another siren sounding any second.

I’m a proud Englishman with a great fondness for the State of Israel. This bond was formed prior to meeting my Israeli girlfriend and came about through sympathy and support for their existential cause. The Jewish people’s brave fight against the theo-political ideology of Islam which has Jew hatred written in their scriptures is one that all decent Europeans and Americans should back Israel in. For years I wished I could do something more for Israel instead of writing essays on why it deserves to exist in peace, from a safe and comfortable desk in England. Finally I got that chance. On most days I feel like any Englishman would, living in, or visiting, the Near East or Mediterranean and that is, a foreigner, which of course is natural. However, on those days when the skies rain rockets and the sirens sound, I feel, if all but briefly, very much an Israeli.

Guest post by Edward Beaman-Hodgkiss

Shahinaz, a sister of Palestinian female prisoner Fotnah Abo Aleish, holds a photo of Fotnah as she celebrates the prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in her home at the Askar refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus October 12, 2011. REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini

 Many people will wonder why on earth Israel would imprison palestinian women to begin with. The answer is these women are no Boy Scouts (or should that be Girl Guides?).

Below is a list of the female palestinian prisoners Israel has apparently agreed to release as part of the deal. I have added more information on those on whom I was able to find some.

1. Randa Muhammad Yusuf Shahatit

2. Abir Isa Amru

3. Iman Muhammad Gazzawi

Iman Razawi, a 23-year-old mother of two from Nablus, was apprehended with a white bag which contained a four kilogram explosive device. Israel Radio reported that the bomb was composed of 4 kilograms of explosives and was packed with nails and metal shards. After being arrested Razawi tried to throw the bag and escape, but she was immediately apprehended.

4. Amal Fayiz Jum’a Mahmud

Israeli security forces thwarted a suicide bombing planned for Tel Aviv when they arrested a Palestinian hermaphrodite armed with a 15-kilogram bomb in the West Bank, Palestinian sources said.

Amal Juma’a, 32, is a hermpahrodite who goes by the name Ahmed, Palestinian Authority sources told Army Radio. The report said the terror attack was planned for Monday.

5. Miryam Salim Tarabin

6. Abir Mahmud Hasan Awda

7. Fatin al-sa’di

8. Wafa Samir al-Bass

In the early morning hours of June 20, 2005, a 21-year-old Palestinian f em ale suicide bomber arrived at the Erez crossing in the Gaza Strip, wearing (extra) stockings that contained approximately 20 lbs. of explosives. The f em ale terrorist, who aroused the suspicion of the Israeli security forces, was taken to a security check during which the explosive stockings were uncovered. She att em pted several times to detonate herself at the crossing and, having been unsuccessful, was brought to questioning. 1 
 
The arrested suicide bomber is Wafa Samir Ibrahim al-Bass, a resident of the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, born in 1984. In her questioning, she admitted to being affiliated with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (Fatah’s operative wing). She also stated that she had been dispatched by the organization’s infrastructure in the northern Gaza Strip to carry out a suicide bombing attack in an Israeli hospital, with the intention of killing Israeli civilians 2. In an interview granted to a Channel 10 reporter, Wafa al-Bass pointed out that ever since she was a little girl, her dream had been, and still was, to be a shahid (“martyr”) and die for Allah’s sake (Israeli TV’s Channel 10, June 20, 2005).

9. Abu Golmi Youssef Lanan

10. Sanabil Nabigh Yusuf Barik

11. Fatina Mustafa Khalil Abu Ayyash

12. A’isha Muhammad A’biyat

13. Hanan Ahmed Ali

14. Nasrin Abu Zina

15. Shalbi Hana

16. Kraja Samud

17. Pollshchuk Irina – Ukraine – 2002 – released

Some Russian women have ended up in Palestine because of circumstances worthy of a good adventure series. Such is the story of Irina Polishchuk, for example, who came to Israel in order to work in the world’s oldest profession. On the job itself, she met her future husband, a Palestinian by the name of Ibrahim Sarhana. It later turned out that Sarhana was a member of a terrorist group. That didn’t stop Irina, however. She not only chose to marry Sarhana and give birth to a child, but she also joined the same underground organization. The happy couple soon took part in a terrorist act by bringing a suicide bomber to the town of Rishon LeZion.

18. Issawi Abd Faiz Ibtisam

19. Sh’hadeh Muhammad Hussein Sana’a – Israel – 2002 – released

Three Israelis were killed and dozens wounded in this suicide bombing on King George Street in Jerusalem (March 21, 2002).
The two females who led the suicide bomber to the attack site: Kahira Sa’adi and Sana’a Shahada.

Sana’a Shahada, 27, from the Kalandia refugee camp, confessed during her questioning that she had been involved with Sa’adi in the infiltration of the suicide bomber. Shahada also revealed that she had been the girlfriend and facilitator of Nasser Shawish, a senior PIJ operative from Jenin, who had recently been arrested by the security forces. She admitted agreeing to his request that she infiltrate a suicide bomber into Jerusalem, revealing that they purchased a bouquet of flowers at the checkpoint at the city’s entrance, which bomber Hashaika held in order to blend in with the crowd on Mother’s Day. Furthermore, she stated that she walked 50 meters behind Sa’adi and Hashaika, because she was wearing traditional Arab garb and did not want to arouse suspicion.

20. Al-Saadi Said Ali Qahara

Kahira Sa’adi, 26, from Al-Ram, is married and the mother of four children. She confessed during her questioning by the ISA that she had guided suicide bomber Muhammad Hashaika to Jerusalem. Sa’adi stated that Abdel Karim Ouweis, a senior Fatah operative in the West Bank who was arrested during operation Defensive Shield and whom she met in the Jenin refugee camp, asked her to exploit her western appearance to infiltrate a suicide bomber into Jerusalem. In addition, she confessed that after the King George attack she agreed to infiltrate another suicide bomber with a bigger bomb.

21. Jiwasi Ziyad Dawa’a

Three Israelis were killed and 59 wounded in this suicide bombing of a Netanya marketplace (May 19, 2002).
The woman who led the suicide bomber to the attack site: Da’a Jiusi.

Da’a Jiusi, a 21-year-old student from Tulkarm, confessed during her ISA questioning that she had been asked by PFLP operatives from Nablus to guide the suicide bomber to the attack. Jiusi also stated that her controller had asked her if she would be willing to perpetrate the attack herself. She refused to sacrifice herself, but agreed to participate in the attack. She told her controller that she was familiar with Netanya, and especially its beach, which she would often visit before the intifada. Jiusi was asked to accompany the suicide bomber to the target and provide cover as an innocent-lookng couple.

On the day of the attack Jiusi entered the city wearing a tight white shirt and tight pants, as well as sunglasses. She carried a brown purse and her hair was tied with a ribbon. She further confessed that, prior to deciding to carry out the attack in the market, they had explored other options, such as the Netanya mall or the promenade area. Upon arriving at the entrance to the market, Jiusi exited the taxi and scanned the area on foot. She then returned, asked the driver to wait, and led the suicide bomber into the market. Jiusi asked the bomber to wait approximately five minutes before detonating the bomb he carried in his bag, so she could get away in the cab. Jiusi returned to the taxi and a few minutes later the explosion occurred.

22. Daragmeh Rawad Hussein Ruma

Rima Daraghmeh intended to carry out a suicide bombing and was caught with the explosives at home. She was also involved in enlisting the woman who carried out a suicide bombing in Afula in 2003

23. Latifa Muhammad Abu Dara’a – Nablus – 2003 – released

Early yesterday morning the suicide bomber, Suliman Abu Awis, a 20-year old resident of Balata refugee camp, and his accomplice Zaber Abu Saris, a 37-year old father of seven from Nablus, left Balata in order to carry out a suicide bombing. They were accompanied by Latifa Abu Dara, a 40-year old resident of Nablus and mother of seven. The woman accompanied the pair to create the impression that the suicide bomber was innocent and to facilitate easy passage to the target in Israel. This was based on the assumption of their dispatchers that women are less thoroughly checked.

The suicide bomber and his accomplice traveled in one vehicle, while Latifa drove a separate vehicle carrying a bag with an 8-kilogram explosive belt, which was intended for the suicide bomber. Later that day, Latifa who walked before the two, opened a path for the bomber and his counterpart, allowing them to pass through checkpoints. In the area of Kafr Kasem, Latifa placed the explosive belt on the bomber and then returned to Nablus

24. Tamimi Aref Ahmad Ahlam

A 20-year-old student and journalist, originally from Jordan, Ahlam Tamimi has resided in Ramallah since 1998. In addition to leading suicide bomber Izzadin Masri to the attack, Tamimi collected intelligence information about the site beforehand. During her questioning by the ISA (Israel Security Agency), she stated that she had carried a camera with her and spoke in English with the suicide bomber, who carried a guitar case with the bomb inside, in order to appear as a tourist.

In addition, Tamimi was responsible for placing a bomb concealed in a can of beer in a Jerusalem supermarket on June 30, 2001, shortly after she was recruited by Hamas. During her questioning she admitted being aware that “she might have died as a martyr.”

25. Muna Jawad Ali Amna

High school student Ofir Rahum, 16, was lured to his death on January 17, 2001.
The woman who seduced and lured the teenage boy to his death: Mona Awana.

Mona Awana, 26, is a Fatah operative from Bir Naballah near Ramallah. She was involved in the kidnapping and murder of Ofir Rahum, 16, on January 17, 2001. Awana, an academic and journalist, was responsible for proposing to her friend, Hassan al-Kadi, a Tanzim operative in Ramallah, to kidnap an Israeli after making contact with him on the Internet. Awana made contact with the boy over the Internet and lured him into meeting with her, after which she led him to the scene of his murder.

26. Aliaa Muhammad Yhya Jaadallah Ja’abri

27. Ramyah Ratab Hassan Abu Samra

Update: In addition, the following female terrorists were released a few years ago for the Shalit video:

1. Ayat Kisi – Sentenced to one year and eight months for attempted murder. Original release date: November 18, 2009.

2. Rojena Riyad Mohammed Jinajira – Sentenced to three years for conspiracy and attempted murder. Original release date: June 9, 2011.

3. Rimat abu Ayisha – Sentenced to nine months for membership in a banned organization. Original release date: November 13, 2009.

4. Haba Assad Halil Alantasha – Sentenced to three years and four months for attempted murder. Original release date: March 03, 2011.

5. Samud Abdullah Halil – Sentenced to one year and eight months for attacking a soldier and possession of a knife with the intent to cause bodily harm. Original release date: December 15, 2009.

6. Mimouna Javrin – Detained without bail pending trial for attempted murder and possession of a weapon with the intent to cause bodily harm.

7. Jihad Abu-Turki – Sentenced to one year and three months for attempted murder and possession of a weapon with the intent to cause bodily harm. Original release date: May 24, 2011.

8. Barah Malki – Sentenced to eleven months for attempted murder and assault of a police officer in the line of duty. Original release date: November 11, 2009.

9. Lila Mohammed Tzalah al-Buhari – Sentenced to eight years and four months for attempted murder. Original release date: October 31, 2010.

10. Fatima Yunus al-Zak – Held without bail pending trial for charges of undergoing paramilitary training, attempted murder, and possession of a weapon.

11. Nifin Halil Abdallah Dak – sentenced to three and a half years for attempted murder. Original release date: January 01, 2010.

12. Kafah Bahash – Sentenced to a year and a half for assaulting a soldier. Original release date: July 02, 2010.

13. Linan Yusuf Abu Ghulma – Sentenced to six years for attempted murder and carrying a concealed weapon. Original release date: September 08, 2010.

14. Shirin Mohammed Hasan – Sentenced to three years and nine months for attempted murder. Original release date: March 04, 2010.

15. Sana’a Tzalah Hagargah – Sentenced to two years in prison for attempted murder and possession of a weapon. Original release date: August 05, 2010.

16. Sabeena Ziad Mohammed Manal – Sentenced to seven years for membership in a banned organization, conspiracy and attempted murder. Original release date: November 19, 2010.

17. Zahoor Abed Hamdan – Sentenced to eight years for attempted murder. Original release date: May 15, 2011.

18. Hiam Ahmed Yusuf Ba’id – Sentenced to three years and four months for membership in a banned organization. Original release date: May 07, 2010.

19. Nahad Farhat Daghra – Held without bail pending trial for assaulting a soldier and possession of a weapon.

20. Najuah Abed Alghani – Held without bail pending trial for membership in an illegal organization and disturbing the peace.

One of the killers of the Fogel Family, Hakim Awad, was sentenced to 5 consecutive life sentence and an additional 5 years:

Hakim Awad, 18, of Awarta, and his cousin Amjad, murdered Ehud Fogel (36), Ruth Fogel (35), and their children Yoav (11), Elad (4) and Hadas, who was 4 months old. They were stabbed to death in their home at Itamar on March 12.

Hakim Awad said he did not feel remorse and that he committed the murders “because of the occupation.” The trial of his cousin Amjad, who was a minor at the time of the murder, is not yet over.

All we can hope is that he’s never let out in exchange for some back-room deal or seemingly worthy cause.

Aussie Dave adds: A Soldier’s Mother’s post on this is worth reading.

And before the anger chokes me further – let me say that we should release Hakim Awad. Now, Bibi – make the deal with Hamas. We will release one prisoner – a son for a son. Take your murderer, Hakim – you are welcome to him, and give us Gilad.

Gilad is pure. He was captured when he was 19 years old; Hakim is probably 19 now, or will be shortly. Pure he may never have been; and pure he never will be. What sentence he serves in this life is nothing for what awaits him in the next. I believe that even God was shocked and sickened by what Hakim did and I have complete faith that in His Infinite Wisdom, Hakim’s eternal punishment will be so just and deserved.

Gilad served his nation. Hakim apparently served his. Gilad murdered no one, harmed no one. Hakim massacred an innocent family, a father, a mother, two young boys, and baby Hadas.

There, Hamas – take your murderer and give us Gilad. No, it is not justice, but it is a trade that is worthy because it is not 1,000 for one. And let it be known – if an Israeli soldier so much as sees Hakim Awad – even through the scope of his high-powered gun, Hakim is a dead man.

Take Hakim into Gaza and let him live there – deep within. If we see him, this time, justice will be served with a bullet to his head or if the soldier manages to find it, Hakim’s tiny and useless heart.

Gilad for Hakim – a trade the Palestinians can be proud of. We get our precious son, who stands for all we hold dear. Gilad could have avoided combat duty and been given a lower profile. He chose to fight with the army and demand a high enough profile to get him into the tank division. Gilad served his country with pride and honor. And Hakim, precious son of the Palestinians butchered an innocent baby. He too stands for much of what his people honor.

Photo: Patrick Witty

Well, not everyone.

What were you doing that fateful day? Share in the comments.

Also share links, photos and videos. Hateful and insulting comments will be deleted.

More links:

9/11 Digital Archive

Time Special on 9/11

History.Com Special on 9/11

Newly Released Tapes Reveal Full 9/11 Air Horror

Israel Remembers September 11

Exhibit A: Lauren Booth accusing Israel of all manner of crimes, lauding Hamas, calling for terrorism (e.g. “The Israeli’s will never have a moment’s good sleep in their beds. May they never have a second to taste the sweetness of tranquility so long as one palestinian child rots in their prison or one child dies under their bombs!”), as well as calling for the Arab states to “liberate Al Quds”

Exhibit B: Abdul Wahid, Chairman of the pan-Islamic oganization Hizb ut-Tahrir, speaking of his respect for the fighters “making Jihad” against the Israelis and calling for the libration of Al Quds (“You can’t take an army, which is a nation’s army, a terrorist nation’s army, and defeat it with sincere small fighters. It needs some of those states around to release their armies to burn that land and then that region will see peace like it had in the past. Because the only time that land has seen peace between Muslim, Christian and Jew living side by side was when sincere Islamic rulers ruled with justice.”)

Exhibit C: Shabbir Rizvi with some good old fashioned racist poetry (On Obama: “Uber Uncle Tom history will call you, and a coconut is always white on the inside and black outside”)

Exhibit D: John Rees of Stop The War Coalition seeing no problem speaking at a rally calling for Israel’s violent overthrow, while lauding violent acts against the Israeli embassy in Cairo.

Exhibit E: Sunday The Rabbi Spoke At A Rally Calling For Israel’s Destruction

Exhibit F: Some peaceful scenes from the rally.

More here.

Hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens are currently under attack, with a man already being killed, a woman currently fighting for her life, and many others wounded (including a baby). 

If your thoughts and prayers are currently not with Israel, I’d have to ask “Why the hell not?”

Note: While things look like they are heating up here, I don’t think I am up for live-blogging. Not just from a lack of time point of view; I believe my sanity’s at stake.