and the beat goes on.....

Another day... more dead

The Lebanese Red Cross said the airstrike in Qana, in which at least 34 children were killed, pushed the overall Lebanese death toll to more than 500.

The airstrike prompted thousands of demonstrators into downtown Beirut to join angry protestors, who broke into the UN headquarters following the raids.

Condi is making a hasty retreat back to Washington, skipping a planned meeting in Beirut. Angry Lebanese officials said it was their government that called off the meeting.

And Tony Blair is dealing with a "full-scale cabinet rebellion" after his former Foreign Secretary warned that "Israel's actions risked destabilising all of Lebanon."

For all the talks here and meetings here and there, the only thing I see being accomplished is a lot of thumb-twiddling. Why?

After reading more than 2 dozen blogs this morning on the subject, my optimism meter still registers a big fat zero. Most take a position strongly backing Israel, or strongly supporting Lebanon, or strangely enough, stauchly supporting Hezbollah.

I get a sense that many people want this to drag on, for whatever reason.