I woke up rather late this morning, having partaken of way too much holiday cheer last night, to a whole bunch of not-so-cheerful news.
Another attempt on the life of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. He escaped unharmed, but fourteen people died in the suicide bomb attack and many more were injured.
A plane crash off Benin in West Africa in which dozens were killed. The plane was on its way to Beirut.
An Israeli helicopter gunship took out the head of Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip along with two of his buddies, but also killed two civilians in the process.
At least two Three Four dead so far and several wounded in a suicide bombing near Petach Tikvah (a suburb of Tel Aviv). Recently relaxed security measures have been re-imposed in the territories.
And last, as well as least, from the footage shown this morning on television, it appears that two men had a great deal of trouble arranging the kafiyya intended to represent Chairman Arafat on his empty chair at Midnight Mass in Bethlehem. And Ha'aretz has a particularly clueless piece of piffle on this subject today. Yes, it's time for the annual whine-fest over how Israel stole Christmas in Bethlehem.
Not much peace on earth or good will on display today. At least not in the news. But to all of you who are celebrating Christmas and working to kindle the spark of those worthy sentiments in your lives and homes and families, I wish you a healthy, happy, peaceful and bright holiday.
