SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:16 P.M. ET: 

GAZA WAR – For the first time, Hamas rockets reached Jerusalem and Tel Aviv today, essentially changing the nature of military action in the region.  The rockets did little damage.  Some were shot down by Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system.  (Remember when they laughed at Ronald Reagan for wanting to develop anti-missile missiles?  Now they're being used.)  Israel responded by stepping up its air attacks on Hamas positions in Gaza.  At the same time, Obama's Mideast adviser picked today, a day of combat, to deliver a blistering speech in Israel lambasting the Israeli government.  It was sickening, and totally inept, but no one seemed to care.  The world has Obama's number, and has found that it's zero.

SHOCK, SHOCK – Are we to really believe that some images of the "suffering" in Gaza are actually fakes?  From The Blaze:  "An analysis by the BBC has uncovered that many of the images posted under the hashtag #GazaUnderAttack aren’t recent — and weren’t even taken in Gaza.  The hashtag has been used 'hundreds of thousands of times,' the BBC reported, providing a platform for those sharing photographs of what they purport to be destruction caused by Israeli strikes launched in recent days in response to sustained rocket attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza.  'Some of the images are of the current situation in Gaza, but a #BBCtrending analysis has found that some date as far back as 2009 and others are from conflicts in Syria and Iraq,' the BBC reported."  This is hardly the first time that the Islamic militant side has faked photos.  There are countless examples, and Western news organizations are taken in, or want to be taken in.

NO CLASS – From the Washington Examiner:  "The National Organization for Women, one of the nation's largest pro-abortion lobbies, named a Catholic order of nuns to a list called 'The Dirty 100,' a catalog of the 100 entities which filed lawsuits against the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate.  The order of nuns NOW finds 'dirty' are the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious institute for women founded by St. Jeanne Jugan in 19th century France. They are dedicated to care of the elderly impoverished, and describe their spiritual charism as 'grace of hospitality toward the aged poor.'"  NOW has never represented American women.  It represents a fringe, and has never conducted itself with anything approaching feminine sensitivity.  This is another example. 

POTENTIAL TRAGEDY – From Breitbart:  "MURRIETA -- Demonstrators opposed to illegal immigration stood their ground again at the Murrieta Border Patrol station on Monday, where U.S. Border Patrol had been scheduled to transfer a third round of buses, with approximately 140 illegal aliens aboard in total, transferred from overcrowded Texas detention facilities.  For a third time, the buses were rerouted to the San Ysidro, California Border Patrol station, near the U.S.-Mexico border, for processing. The demonstrators gathered in areas to the north and south of the Murrieta station after law enforcement blocked off the road near the station itself. "  This is a flashpoint.  The issue is not the demonstrators, but what happens if the authorities try to clear them.  I fear another Waco.

July 8, 2014