• Here in Israel, we have still yet to learn the lesson: We are no longer defending Israel. We are now defending the siege. The siege itself is becoming Israel’s Vietnam.
• Haaretz columnist Bradley Burston • Regarding what this whole mess with Hamas and the humanitarian ship shows. Simply put, Israel is blundering its way into a massive mess. As Burston puts it, “In going to war in Gaza in late 2008, Israeli military and political leaders hoped to teach Hamas a lesson. They succeeded. Hamas learned that the best way to fight Israel is to let Israel do what it has begun to do naturally: bluster, blunder, stonewall, and fume.” Ouch. He also criticizes the country’s toxic political situation that makes things like this happen. This is an Israeli newspaper trashing Israel’s policies unforgivably. That says a lot. source

• It seems like every freaking day now. We don’t necessarily think it’s our place to tell a bunch of teenage girls what to think, but the Justin Bieber love is a bit much. This kid, at the tender age of 15 (he turns 16 on Monday) seems to have Twitter’s trending topics by the throat. And tonight, there he was, right behind Chile. You know, a massive earthquake that’s killed hundreds. Our question: Is he really taking over Twitter? We did some research.

His YouTube roots

• Usher discovered him on YouTube. Perhaps it’s fitting that Bieber, teen pop’s first true social media phenomenon, was discovered that way. The interesting thing is that the videos prove that he’s really talented, and just happens to be pushed by the major labels. Interesting. source

Bieber’s rank on the charts

• 6th Bieber’s album peak, which he hit back with “My World” back in December source
• 16th Bieber’s single peak, which he hit in October with “One Less Lonely Girl” source
• 2nd Bieber’s Twitter peak, which he’s at this week, according to tracker What the Trend source

• Why is he peaking now? Simply put, he has a lot of buzz behind him – he sang the opening line to “We Are the World 25,” for example – and, more importantly, he has a new album
  coming out at the end of next month. That was quick.

Popularity against major news stories

• Chile For now, Bieber’s popularity with teenage girls can’t hold a candle to one of the largest quakes to hit in 50 years.
• #hcr Last year, health care was more popular than Bieber. After Scott Brown’s win, Bieber consistently trumps it.
• Haiti While the Haiti quake was huge at first, of Twitter, Bieber has started topping the crisis in recent weeks.

Popularity against major pop stars

• Jay-Z The rapper basically owned Twitter the week of his album release in September. But he faded quickly. Bieber hasn’t.
• Gaga Lady Gaga might be the best comparison to Bieber – consistently popular week after week, moreso than Bieber.
• Miley On the teen-pop front, his biggest competitor is losing her grip in terms of social media influence. Bieber’s ahead now.

Conclusion: Is Bieber as popular as he looks?

• perception Every time you look at the trending topics, the perky teenage boy seemingly has the site in his (and his record company’s) pocket.
• reality Bieber has never straight-up owned Twitter’s real estate, but he has shown a lot of consistency over the last month or so. source

• 33 aftershocks in the wake of the earthquake, the latest in Argentina
• 700+ number of times the quake is stronger than the Haiti quake source

• $894 billion the size of the health care bill Nancy Pelosi introduced today; that’s similar to the size of the senate bill
• 36
  million people will benefit from the bill, which will cut future federal deficits by about $30 million over ten years source

• 54.5 average number of searches Google users make on a monthly basis; if you’re us, you make that many in an hour, possibly in half an hour (we search a lot)
• 26.9 average number of searches Yahoo and Microsoft users make; if you took their numbers and combined them, Google would still average more source

• District 9 is indeed pretty good. In fact District 9 is a lot of things, most of them very positive. One thing it isn’t, though, is original.
• CinemaBlend writer Josh Tyler • In an article called “Too Close To Call: 10 Ways ‘District 9’ Is An ‘Alien Nation’ Knockoff,” where he dissects the similarities (and differences) between the two films – and in the case of “Alien Nation,” the spinoff TV series. Our question: Are there worse things to be than an “Alien Nation” knockoff? We’re not talking about the worst movie of all time here. • source

• David Axelrod stammers “Meet the Press” had Obama’s main strategist trying to explain why HuffPo’s Nico Pitney asked a planned question at a press conference. Watch him sweat.
  
  
• Fareed Zakaria comparesFareed Zakaria (one of our favorite CNN analysts, BTW), compares Iran to the fall of Communism in Europe, and says it’s unlikely Iran will fall the same way. He sides with Obama.
  
  
• Fox News disagreesFox News brought on analyst Dr. Walid Phares for “Fox and Friends” to debate whether the U.S. should intervene in Iran. His answer? Yeah, Obama needs to stop being timid.