Remember way back in the 1980s when the 3 1/2″ diskette came out? Those little babies could hold a whopping 1.44 mb! Wow! I recall saving up so I could get a 3 1/2″ disk drive on my PC.

Sony has announced that they will cease production of the 3 1/2″ diskette – It’s 15 minutes of fame is up. Even so, 12 million units were sold last year. However,

To put the floppy market in perspective, consider those 12 million disks sold in Japan last year. Together they can hold about 17GB of data, which isn’t even enough to fill a single-sided Blu-ray Disc.

Meryl Yourish hears that there’s a possibility of Israel conceding to the Obama administration on the subject of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem.  With that in mind, she gives us a brief history of how well said concessions have worked out for Israel.

Israel made peace with Egypt in 1979. As a result, Israelis can look forward to regular warnings of terrorist attacks and kidnappings when they visit Sinai resorts. The Egyptian foreign minister calls Israel “the enemy.” Egypt boycotted the annual Mediterranean student conference because it was held in Israel. The Sinai is used to regularly smuggle arms to Hamas. A second Israeli was arrested and held by Egypt for accidentally crossing the border. Egypt restored the Maimonides synagogue and then declared that no Jew will ever pray in it (this was the same guy who said he’d burn any Israeli books he found). That’s just a short list of the benefits of peace with Egypt. Of course, Israel hasn’t fought a war with Egypt since 1973. But Egyptians are arming Israel’s enemies.

Israel left Gaza in 2005. In return, Israel got rockets, mortars, and terror attacks, and a war in 2008. Hamas is in control of the Strip and has been for several years. Hamas has thousands of rockets and missiles stored in bunkers, ready for another attack on Israel when they feel strong enough (or when their Iranian masters give the go-ahead). This was one of the Palestinian demands—the eviction of all Jews from Gaza. They got what they wanted. And yet, there is still not peace between the residents of Gaza and Israel.

Israel left Lebanon in 2000. The United Nations certified that Israel left every square inch of Lebanese territory. Hizballah stockpiled tens of thousands of rockets and mortars, crossed into Israeli territory to kill and capture Israeli soldiers, which started a war in 2006. Now, the UN says that the Shebaa Farms is Lebanese—not Syrian—territory, giving Hizballah the excuse they have wanted for years to say that Israel is still holding Lebanese territory and “resistance” must be used. Hizballah has a stockpile of tens of thousand of rockets, and now Syria is supplying them with Scud missiles.

The last place Obama need to be putting pressure on is Israel.  These other issues should be dealt with before asking Israel to give up anything else. 

Good morning.

1. Can they? They did in the former Soviet Union … and didn’t need given new roles to do it either.
2. This piece is no longer “obscure” news.
3. Network fail.
4. Knifely advice. And yes, I know ‘knifely’ is not a word.
5. G-S and the left.
6. Sin has color? 
7. I’m stuck on “less trendy more stylish,” doesn’t trendy=stylish (asks the very much not trendy nor stylish guy).
8. A meta-comment on the new $100 bill.
9. Two drunks in a warehouse of booze.
10. Lies and the administration. One of the bigger ones.
11. Real or fiction … a quiz.
12. Defending the late Senator McCarthy.
13. Freedom of association.