SATURDAY: 2:30 CNN REPORTS ISRAELI TROOPS MOVING INTO GAZA

DEBKA: BUSH IS SAID TO HAVE SIGNED OFF ON OPERATION

Bush clears way for Israeli ground operation, updates Obama –DEBKAfile Exclusive Report, January 3, 2009, 10:36 AM (GMT+02:00)

DEBKAfile’s Washington source report that in a telephone conversation with prime minister Ehud Olmert, US president George W. Bush okayed Israeli air, sea and ground operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He promised the US would veto a resolution condemning Israel at the UN Security Council meeting next Monday. Early Saturday morning, Jan. 3, Day 8 of Israel’s Gaza operation, US and British media described the Israeli invasion as hours away.

HA’ARETZ: ISRAELI TROOPS TAKING FIRE

“Large numbers of forces are taking part in this stage of the operation including infantry, tanks, engineering forces, artillery and intelligence with the support of the Israel Air Force, Israel navy, the Shin Bet security service and other security agencies.

Meanwhile, the cabinet has authorized an emergency call up of tens of thousands of IDF reservists.”

THE BBC REPORTS A “LIMITED INVASION”

BBC: Israeli ground troops have started to enter the Gaza Strip, Israeli military officials have confirmed, a week after the offensive against Hamas began.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the intention was to “take control” of areas from which Palestinian militants have been firing rockets into Israel.

A BBC reporter in Gaza says it appears to be a limited operation with 10 to 15 vehicles crossing the northern border.

Earlier, Israel intensified air and artillery attacks on the territory.

GUARDIAN: INVASION TO TAKE “MANY LONG DAYS”

HA’ARETZ: ISRAEL TO TURN ATTENTION TO IRAN

This article reports the presence of l00 US soldiers at a radar base in the Negev.

Muslim TV: BOMBING OF A MARKET: MANY CASUALTIES (HARD TO WATCH)

WHY? DOMESTIC POLITICS IN ISRAEL SAID TO BE A KEY REASON AS POLLS SHOW INCREASE IN SUPPORT FOR RULING KADIMA PARTY; WAR USED AS POLITICAL TOOL, NOT JUST SELF-DEFENSE

The Real News reports:

RUSSIA DELIVERED HUMANITARIAN AID TO GAZA

LBN: OBAMA SAYS U.S. MUST ACT SWIFTLY TO ADDRESS ECONOMIC CRISIS

President-elect Barack Obama said that Democrats and Republicans need to act with urgency to address the great and growing economic crisis, warning of double-digit unemployment if swift action isnt taken. These are Americas problems, and we must come together as Americans to meet them with the urgency this moment demands, he said today in his weekly radio address. If we dont act swiftly and boldly, we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double-digit unemployment.

FRIDAY’S NEWS DISSECTOR

DISSECTOR HONORED IN A LAND FAR AWAY
HAITIAN MADOFF EMERGES
CAROLINE KENNEDY MAY GET SENATE NOD

On this first day of the year, the slate has not been wiped clean. We are not starting from scratch. Every problem from 2008, that abomination of an annus horribilis, sleazes into this one:

• Israel still pounding Gaza.
• Bush still hanging on.
• Troops still in Iraq.
• 151 US soldiers dead in Afghanistan.
• Wall Street’s Final ’08 Toll: $6.9 Trillion Wiped Out.

Oh Happy Day!

Well, not so happy — yet. The folks who believe in prophecies, the end-timers, say there will be a demise of the United States in the next six months followed by a world war.

“Some of these prophecies concern the demise of the United States over the next six months, which will be followed by man’s final world war.

This last war will be the result of clashing religions and the governments they sway. Billions will die! This time will far exceed even the very worst times in all human history.”

How cheery. Now that’s something to look forward to.

THE OFFER

The next appeal I read on the web suggests that, in contrast, my life will blossom if only I sign up for their program. How enticing.

“Imagine what it would be like to read the story of your life before it actually happened …

You’d know how to make the most out of the opportunities life gives you … how to avoid negative influences that distract you from achieving your true life purpose … and which path to take in order to have the happiest, most fulfilling life that is available to you.”

That would really be something, wouldn’t it?”

Oh yes, it would be, but I’m too broke to find the right path this way.

But I will be on the path Tuesday evening, January 6th, at 7 PM in West Hartford — the St. James Episcopal Church on 1019 Farmington Avenue:

Dissecting Our ‘Debt’ – The West Hartford Citizens for Peace and Justice is opening its doors at 6 PM to screen “In Debt We Trust.”

After the screening, I will speak on the economic crisis, the links between Congress and credit lenders, and how the relationship[s] have brought about this financial nightmare. The event is free and you are invited.

THE PLACE TO LIVE

An old friend wrote to me from Boston. He had just driven by my old house on Dartmouth Street in Somerville Mass only to discover that no less a personage than our President-elect, yes the one and the same, Barack Hussein Obama, spent part of his Harvard years living around the corner from where I lived. He stayed on Broadway in the neighborhood known as Winter Hill, once home to the mafia’s “Winter Hill Gang,” and now home to a pizza parlor on every corner. There is a legend about “Slumerville:” “Like Rome, Somerville has seven hills.” (thanks to NP) Will Obama’s apartment one day get a historical marker as in George Washington Once Slept Here?

How cool is that?

PERSON OF THE YEAR: Moi?

Finally, even cooler good news in these bleak times, coming to my In-box from the other side of the world, literally, Sri Lanka, where a fellow blogger named Nalaka Gunawardene advised me that he had designated me as the, Moving Images Person of the Year for 2008.

I was bowled over, in part, because this honor came out-of-the-blue, was totally unexpected, and turned my year-end whine into a New Year’s Eve, WOW!

Of course, I thanked ”The Academy” and emailed back across the time zones knowing that usually, it is we, in the so-called “developed world,” who deign to honor heroes in third world countries. To being thought of so generously by a colleague in the country devastated by civil war and the tsunami is a sign that the work we do here at Mediachannel is read and appreciated by folks in other places.

Nalaka responded:

“This was the least I could do for everything you have been doing…and at such personal sacrifice. In these topsy-turvy times, you are a beacon of hope and a great source of inspiration for us fellow media activists who share your vision and ideals of building from the mainstream media’s rubble a new kind of media that is more rigorous, passionate and caring.

It was great meeting you in KL (Kuala Lampur, Malaysia) last May.

I hope our paths will cross more often, as that was a highlight of a year that has been personally hard and depressing for me…but I hang in there, because as Anita Roddick used to say, ‘there’s no bloody alternative but to just slog on.’

Warm regards from sunny and warm Sri Lanka!”

I, for one, am speechless.

On to the news while thinking of the beauty and kindness of Sri Lanka.