Hamas to deliver "final Shalit offer."

Hamas promises to deliver final Shalit offer within days http://tinyurl.com/yzxg7m6

There's something just a little disingenuous about this headline. Almost sounds like Hamas thinks it negotiating on a used car. But of course that's always been the way that the terrorists have negotiated for prisoners. Which such little regard for human life, they demand the release of known murderers and those who plot to murder innocent men, women, and children -- terrorists to anyone with any sense of objectivity, but "militants" or "activists" to the mainstream media and Arab media.

Who can forget the images of the return of Samir Kuntar being cheered by the Lebanese President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Parliament, and so-called religious clerics in Lebanon? Kuntar had been responsible for the "death of an Israeli father and his two children in 1979." But even that description in the mainstream media is not entirely accurate. Truth be told, Kuntar helped to carry out one of the most heinous and brutal crimes in Israel's history, admitting to murdering an Israeli policeman, another man, and the man's 4-year old daughter, who died after her head was smashed against a rock. Kuntar was also convicted of the smothering death of the child's baby - smothered when the mother tried to keep the infant from crying which would have revealed their hiding location.

But, Israel went so far as to release this monster just for the remains of the two soldiers -- Ehud Regev and Ehud Goldwasser -- whose kidnapping sparked the 2006 Lebanese War. For nearly two years, Hezbollah led the families of these two missing soldiers to believe that they were still alive. Really, what kind of monsters continue to inflict such emotional pain?

And now here we are, on the cusp of a deal to return a soldier whose kidnapping was in violation of all sorts of international law and whose whereabouts are unknown to anybody including the Red Cross/Red Crescent, suffice it to say any humanitarian agency. Once again, Hamas flaunts international law, and continues to demand more. And at the end of the day, Israel will have offered up a number of criminals that no civilized society would want on the street, will be either vilified in the media for being the reason that Gilad is not released, or seen as caving if he is.

I've been posting news stories to my Facebook page to the great dismay of many of my friends. So, after multiple admonishments by more than one friend, \ I've taken the plunge and will now be Blogging my way through life n this blog setting. My blogging will include musings on everything from living in New York City as a middle aged single woman to Politics to the Middle East, and anything in between. Topics will sometimes be funny, sometimes morose, sometimes ironic, and sometimes angry. But all topics covered represent something that is passionate to me.

So, for my first entry, let me talk about my hopes for the New Year, which will likely give you a sense of where my future blogs might take me:

a) Gilad Shalit will be returned to Israel safe and sound, both mentally and physically, and Nasrallah will be disemboweled, oops, I mean disempowered.

b) President Obama will get the health care initiative through Congress and the Teabaggers will FINALLY realize they are just one paycheck away from needing a public option themselves.

c) Women who use public restrooms will learn to WIPE THE FREAKING SEAT before they move on (I know, doesn't quite reach the level of importance and urgency as a and b but it's been on my mind for, like, forever!

d) The American public will come to its senses and understand we are in a financial war here at home -- a classic David and Goliath -- Main Street vs. Wall Street. This will start with Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland will rule against the Bankruptcy Trustee in the Madoff fraud, and rule for investors with respect to "net equity."If you agree, join us at www.investoraction.org

d) I will actually have a date for New Year's Eve 2010/11.

So, good night and good luck -- for now.