A photostory and article from www.uruknet.info, a website for “Information from Occupied Iraq,” calls to question the weapons used by Israel’s military forces and also a first-person narrative from a Lebanese journalist coping with the casualities and life in these war-torn times.

I’d post more of the photos but they’re too gruesome. The picture of the three-year-old boy above was one of the few where a victim’s face was actually viewable. If you think you can handle viewing these atrocities, then click here.

OK, so these images have been running rampant on the web and in the blogosphere for the last few days but in case you missed it…

Aww, isn’t that sweet? Cute little Israeli girls writing “From Israel, with love” on tank shells…

I wonder, at what age do they get to fire rounds into Lebanese buildings?

Stephen Colbert’s brilliant way with politicians has attracted mainstream media attention again. This time it’s because Colbert got Congressman Robert Wexler to say, among other foolish things, “I enjoy cocaine because it’s a fun thing to do,” during his appearance on The Colbert Report last week. In response to Good Morning America and Today Show pieces on the appearance, The Colbert Report put together a hilarious segment that begs the serious question–What is more fake, the news or the funnies? You can watch it here.

In his MySpace blog (reprinted on Davey D’s forum), Phonte of Little Brother details his experience performing at a southern hip hop festival alongside pop-rap stars Three Six Mafia, Rick Ross, Dem Franchize Boyz, and others. Now for those not familiar with Little Brother, they’re, well, in Phonte’s words: “three college educated niggas who ain’t trappin and/or reppin one particular hood or housing project = The Cosby Show in the eyes of most niggas….real talk.”

While most of the other artists at this event make repetitive, catchy, pop-rap that follows the current standard of crunk, Little Brother make conscious hip hop. In fact, their concept album “The Minstrel Show” was a spoof on black artists being forced to put on a show. Their music surely clashed with the collar-poppin, white-tee wearing fans. But did they get booed off stage? Nope, not even that. What Phonte feels was much worse…complete silence.

“I really wonder sometimes if my music is that ‘intelligent’ or are niggas just that dumb?”

Read more as he analyzes and breaks down today’s rap fan.

Laila El-Haddad calls her blog “Raising Yousuf: a diary of a mother under occupation.” She’s Palestinian and lives in Gaza. She’s lately been to the US and has appeared on NPR. Her blog puts a face on the events we’ve grown used to reading about and watching on TV, including the events unfolding in Lebanon right now. It also shows in the everyday details of family life, the impossible reality of the politics of the Middle East, the pure whackness of basing anything on the unapologetic desire to see whole other nations, cultures, people simply go away and never come back. That’s the path that always ends in border security walls, ethnic cleansing and final solutions, and that makes routine family life– ie, life– impossible.

Here’s an excerpt:

Things are bad in Gaza. Very bad. Not to mention of course in Lebanon, where Yassine’s family lives, in the Wavel refugee camp in Baalbeck, a Hezbollah stronghold.

They, of course, along with all of Lebanon, are blockaded by an air and sea, so Yassine has sort of become a double-refugee now: he can go back neither to Palestine, nor Lebanon. It brings back very bad memories for him, having grown up during the civil war there, and narrowly escaping mass slaughter at the hands of Syrian-backed, Israeli-advised, Phalangists in the Tel Zaatar camp, where his family originally lived, and where his uncle went missing.

Of course, what’s happening in Lebanon provides some uncertain relief for Gaza residents, where 82 Palestinians have been killed in the past 12 days, 22 of them children.

I was finally able to reach my Aunt who is doing an amazing job updating her blog under such duress, and who recently published an op-ed about the situation in the Boston Globe. She was dazed and anxious, but had her wits about her. They had not gotten electricity in 24 hours when I spoke to her; people have been standing in long lines to purchase candles.

And of course, Rafh is still closed; 8 people have died waiting to get home. Egypt, following Israeli orders, is refusing to open the gates.

The nights are turning into days, and days into nights, as the sonic booming shocks them awake, shattering windows and terrorizing the population. The stress is taking its toll, but to quote my Aunt, though they are not living with ease, they are living with resolve.

Medicines are also running dangerously low. And to add to the misery, Israeli tanks have blockaded northern Gaza– where my Aunt lives, and where our house is– from southern Gaza– where my 84 year old grandmother lives on her own.

I think of them every day. I still cringe when I see news helicopters; or fireworks; or thunder; Today we had a thunderstorm, and the thunder was so loud it scared Yousuf, who thought it was gunfire and shelling, as I tried to assure him he was safe. But I wondered, inside of myself, does safe have an address?