EZ Reads 3/2/11

Thanks to all those who sent me information as to why my Gmail has been sluggish lately. For those who are starting to get concerned about losing everything, Lifehacker has some nice options for backing up Gmail.

• I meant to post this yesterday; while I could happily link James Taranto almost every day, Monday's Best of the Web piece was of interest to most of the readership here, as it rips into the "Israel First" myth.
• I'll admit to not really following this story closely, but Jameel has of course been all over it: IDF soldiers opened fire with rubber bullets on civilians. WestBankMama has a great post on the subject, particularly from the point of view of teens who are weighing their feelings against their desire to serve in important IDF roles in the future.
• I've been wanting to write a more substantive post on this, but it just wasn't happening; A Soldier's Mother has a beautiful piece on punishment, learned from a lesson doled out by the IDF on one of its own soldiers.

  How do you punish a soldier who spits at a flag and, in effect, all it stands for? All that soldiers do, every day of their army service, is represented by the flag. [...]
  
  His punishment - he had to create a 2 hour lecture to be delivered to all the soldiers on the meaning of Israel and the flag. To accomplish this, K. explained, the soldier had to travel all over Israel - to the north, to the south, to many of our cities. He had to interview people, Israelis, other soldiers, teachers and Holocaust survivors.

• EoZ is one of a number of people with this short video on women's rights in the Middle East.
• Chana asks if nothing is sacred anymore. Short answer, sadly: Nothing is sacred anymore.