Not entirely serious about Gaza

In all the coverage about the atrocious situation in Gaza, I havent seen anyone ask what Hamas were thinking  when they condoned the rocket attacks on Israel.  What did they expect to achieve?  

[At this point, I should make clear that I do not absolve the Israeli authorities of responsibility for the attack.  This is not an attempt to reduce the disapprobation due to one side by questioning the tactics of the other].

I can't help imagining a Hamas committee sitting around in the style of a TV comedy show, like the Stoneybridge council (or, for younger readers, the Vicar of Dibley).  In my head, they're  saying things like, "It's pretty boring around here - what shall we do to liven things up?".  Or, "Israel is blocking our supplies; let's fire more rockets at them.  That's failed to work for the last 40 years, why change now?". 

In which we actually go to a party

Saturday was Jane's 42nd birthday party, postponed from a couple of weeks ago because Jane had the flu.  So Mrs HTC and I bussed our way over to The Village in Leith, where we had a great time.  It had been a long while since we'd seen Jane and it was good to catch up.   Jane provided home-made cakes and snacks and some of us guests bought some bottles of wine - although when I saw the reasonably range of whiskies behind the bar I opted to drink a Lagavulin instead.

We didn;t know many people but did recognise some faces from many years ago.  We chatted about friends we have in common (including some inhabitants of LJ).  We chatted about books, and sbout working with or for mental health charities (Mrs. HTC is vice-chair of the Lothian Autistic Society).  The conversation strayed, as all good conversations do.

There are lots of good people in our world; we should try and see them more often.