IAF strikes Gaza in response to Kassam rocket firing

The air force hit three targets in the Strip including weapons factory; IDF says it holds Hamas responsible for all terrorist activity in Gaza.

Talkbacks (1)

Two people were wounded Saturday night in an IAF strike on Gaza, according to Palestinian rescue services.

The IAF hit three targets in Gaza, including a weapons manufacturing factory in Central Gaza. Direct hits were confirmed.

The attack came in response to the firing of a Kassam rocket from the Gaza Strip that landed in a Sha'ar Hanegev regional council kibbutz overnight Friday leading to one woman suffering shock.

No damage was reported and the woman was treated on scene.

The IDF said in a statement that it "holds the Hamas terrorist organization solely responsible for maintaining the calm in the Gaza Strip and for any terrorist activity emanating from it."

The IDF said it would also "continue to respond harshly to any attempt to use terror against the State of Israel."

This is the latest in a series of escalations along the Gaza border.

Last Tuesday the IDF in cooperation with the IAF opened fire upon several Palestinians seen approaching the Gaza border fence. One person was killed.

IDF forces in the area suspected the cell of attempting to plant explosive devices along the border. They opened fire and IDF confirmed hitting one of the suspects.

Napolitano to hear air security tips in Israel

(Reuters) - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will use a visit to Israel this week to assess passenger vetting and other counter-terrorism measures at its Ben-Gurion Airport, government officials said on Sunday.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano speaks at a White House forum
on intellectual property theft and the risks of counterfeited products for U.S. consumers
at the White House in Washington in this December 14, 2010 file photo.

Napolitano, whose tenure has been dogged by two attempted al Qaeda attacks on U.S.-bound planes as well as traveler protests at intrusive airport pat-downs and screenings, was due to arrive in Israel by Monday for several low-key professional meetings.

"She'll be consulting with the Airport Authority, among other things," said an official briefed on the visit, which will include other countries.

Security at Ben-Gurion, Israel's main international airport, is considered to be among the most effective in world aviation, though civil liberties groups chafe at what they call a policy of singling out Arab passengers for extra scrutiny.

A New Year, have you thought about Death and Passwords?

By Dale Taylor (Intel)

Earlier this year one of my friends was killed in a small plane accident. His family still does not have access to his email and Facebook accounts. To send messages they post to his wall for other of his “Friends” to see.

So much of our lives are now online. In the event something happens, who will know where or how to pay your bills? Where your critical documents are? How about paperless accounts that might have assets to manage? With a new year just hours away I want to mention briefly that we all need to consider just how to pass along our critical information to others in case something happens to us. Consider that one of the most critical last words you could say might just be your password!

There are many ways to pass along password information to others. I use encrypted documents to keep all of my online records safe, so having the key to the encryption method I use is very critical or nothing can be accessed. Easiest of course is to simply share the information with a trusted companion or family member. The issue of account access is additionally complicated when you include Wills and other issues you wish to make known to family members.

To help address these concerns there are many methods available. I’ll include a sample below to show a few companies that have ways you can automate the process.

www.legacylocker.com Once notified of your demise via an official death certificate, Legacy Locker will contact people whose names you’ve provided. You can divide up who gets what information and thus send different account information or assets to different beneficiaries. It’s free to have one beneficiary and up to three assets. It’s $29.99 a year for unlimited beneficiaries and assets.

For quicker access to your assets, you can setup an email based system.

www.deathswitch.com uses periodic e-mails based on a schedule you set up. If you fail to respond to an e-mail after a certain period of time, Death Switch delivers e-mails you’ve prepared in advance to the person you’ve designated. You control the timing and messaging so consider offline scenarios such as a hospital visit before you send out messaging presuming death. There is no charge for the basic service. To send multiple e-mails, you pay $19.95 a year for up to 30 e-mails with attachments.

http://www.assetlock.net uses a system where several of your friends need to log in to confirm your passing. Once the critical number has been reached a time delay is triggered after which your information will be released as you scheduled and determined.

As you can see, there are many ways to manage your documents. Some banks also offer critical document storage methods too. The key to all of this is to plan for and determine in advance how you would like your affairs to be managed in the case of some type of critical event or death.

Israeli military looking into protester's death

JERUSALEM (AP) -- The Israeli military said Sunday it was investigating the death of a Palestinian woman overcome by tear gas fired by soldiers at a West Bank protest.

In an unrelated incident Sunday, a Palestinian man was killed in the West Bank after trying to attack Israeli troops at a checkpoint, Palestinian and Israeli security officials said.

Contradictory accounts were given of the circumstances surrounding the death Saturday of the 36-year-old protester, Jawaher Abu Rahmeh, a day after she inhaled the gas at the weekly demonstration against Israel's West Bank separation barrier in the village of Bilin.

Tear gas is meant to be a non-lethal crowd control method and is used routinely by Israeli troops at protests. But doctors say the gas can kill on rare occasions if a victim has a pre-existing condition.

Dr. Mohammed Eideh, who treated Abu Rahmeh in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, said she had asthma. Her parents said she did not.

Verizon Drops Galaxy Tab Price to $499, Tosses in $60 in Free Movie Rentals (Updated)

Is Verizon ringing in the New Year with a price drop to its Samsung Galaxy Tab (our review)? According to one of our peeps and that picture above, stores should be changing out displays to reflect a $499 price change, plus an added bonus of $60 worth of free movie rentals through either the Blockbuster app or Media Hub. Wait, weren’t we just talking about a price drop being critical to the Gtab on Thursday? Why yes we were.

Update: We just confirmed through a second store connection. They also pointed out that if any of you purchased a Galaxy Tab within the last 14 days for $599, you should head back into the store and get a refund of $100. Sweet deal.

I should point out that I’m still seeing a $599 price point online in both Samsung’s and Verizon’s stores, so this could be a special in-store promotion or maybe it’s just too damn early on New Year’s Day for anyone to be caring about things like this.

Does $499 have you dying to buy one?

Cheers Daniel!