Hogmanay Instahoglets

By Cernig

Hogmanay (pronounced [ˌhɔgməˈneː] — with the main stress on the last syllable) is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year (Gregorian calendar) in the Scottish manner. Its official date is 31 December (Auld Year's Night). However this is normally only the start of a celebration which lasts through the night until the morning of Ne'erday (1 January) or, in some cases, 2 January which is a Scottish Bank Holiday.

And hae a guid New Year, yin and aw! As ever, I reserve my right as a Scotsman to get a wee bit tipsy and you may not see me posting again for a day or two. But for now, some linky goodnes...

- Alberto Gonzales says he's a casualty of the War on Some Terror. No, really.

- "What moral energy remains if torture is disregarded?  The only excessive timidity here is not honestly dealing with brutal reality." Why G.W. Bush should be frogmarched before the Hague

- No Gaza ceasefire yet and nothing will be solved without one. Meanwhile, the IDF continue to target only terrorist headquarters...like the Gaza Community Mental Health Center. Thus the IDF makes a mockery of the idiotic logical fallacies of their tame pundits - like Gollum Dershowitz. Are the Israel-right-or-wrong and pro-torture sets entirely congruent?

-Fisk: "Israeli soldiers cannot take revenge for their 2006 defeat in Lebanon by attacking Hamas in Gaza – not even to help Ms Livni in the Israeli elections."

- Pakistani unofficial officials say top Lashkar commander, Zarar Shah, has admitted a role in the Mumbai attack during interrogation.

- Any time the Wall Street Journal sets out to “help” unions, you know they just want to hear them squeal like a pig.

- The Muslim Grab Bag Fallacy: Will the Obama administration address its Muslim audiences as equals or as clients to be tutored?

- Ownership Society+Unregulated Markets=Crash+Burn. As you are probably aware, most subjects in experiments get paid for their time and trouble, but this is an economic experiment. So, in keeping with the way economics works, we figure that you will derive so much benefit and pleasure for your participation in this experiment that you will have to pay to participate.

- Revenge of the Surge: "Merry Christmas, fellow citizens. Odds are now almost certain that your country will be in a state of war throughout your lifetimes, and possibly throughout your children’s lifetimes as well."

Comments

[Peter G.]

Greetings Cernig. Best wishes for a happy new year to you and all the crew here at Newshoggers. Thanks for a most excellent and nuanced blog. You're probably right to avoid blogging while tipsy or even commenting as I have learned to my own dismay. Enjoy the scotch.

[Howard]

No Gaza ceasefire yet and nothing will be solved without one.

Beats me why they say Israel is rejecting a "ceasefire".

Israel is simply insisting that the cessation of hostilities include both sides (ie. Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israeli cities). That used to be the meaning of "ceasefire".

Hamas says that halting the rocket fire is out of the question and thus blocking the notion of a ceasefire from the get-go.

And a lot of people are pretending that they don't understand this.