is scheduled to present at the 27th Annual J

Her voice reaches far and wide, penetrating every defense and torturing every sanctuary.No place is safe.The pain is unbearable, incessant, and never-ending; she does not allow a reprieve. She pauses to draw breath, and the world sighs in relief; a mistake, for she thenwith increased vigourunleashes that horror once again on her now unsuspecting prey.It is a bombardment of the senses; a demolition of all faith in that once-revered icon, now degraded to the levels of mortal men, and shattered beyond any hope of resurrection.Purpose complete, and hunger appeased, she lowers her voice to a whisper. To the world, it seems she has subsided, but she has merely shifted focus.The dragon never rests.... GAZA (Reuters) - For Palestinians hunkered down under Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip, among the most powerful symbols of the conflict are the home-made rockets militants have fired at Israel, and which Israel says it is now determined to stop. WorldNicknamed Qassams in reference to an Islamist fighter of the 1930s more than 4,000 have been fired since 2001, killing 18 people in Israel before last month's Israeli offensive. Four more have died in rocket fire since December 27.While there is pride among Gazans that militants are able to strike 40 km (25 miles) into Israel with home-made weapons, there is concern that the tactic has prompted far more death and destruction through Israeli retaliation than it has wrought."I always disagreed with the rockets," said a Gazan man in his 40s, unwilling to give his name for fear of reprisals from the militants as he sheltered from the latest Israeli bombardment on the city of Gaza Tuesday."Not because I do not support resistance but because Israel's reaction is always bigger and more destructive."Our rockets cause fear or kill one; their missiles and bombs wipe out whole families and destroy buildings," he said.The bombardments by the armed wing of Hamas and other groups have certainly caused fear and distress in Israel, with towns such as Sderot, less than a mile from the Gaza border, crippled by uncertainty and dependent on air-raid sirens.Hamas' longer-range rockets smuggled, Soviet-designed Grads and Katyushas can reach 40 km, putting larger Israeli cities such as Ashkelon and Ashdod in range.MIXED RESULTS"I urge Hamas to stop the rockets," said Umm Mohammed, a mother visiting her son in hospital in Gaza. She also preferred not to use her formal, full name."They are not going to beat Israel today, they can do it some other time. They need to prepare themselves better."Yet mixed with the concern that the rocket fire may be doing more harm than good for Palestinians is a sense of pride that Palestinian militants have managed to develop a weapon that causes Israel so much consternation and disruption.In the first intifada, or uprising, against Israel in the late 1980s, militants depended on stones, gunfire and petrol bombs to attack Israelis.

In the second intifada that started in late 2000, suicide bombings were a more common threat.That threat has not gone away, but the lockdown of Gaza and the concrete and steel security barrier around the West Bank make it far more difficult for suicide bombers to enter Israel. Instead, long-range rockets have emerged as a weapon of choice."Rockets have terrorized the Israelis," said Hani, 25."Name me one Arab state that has ever in history fired a missile into Ashdod or Yavneh, apart from Iraq," he asked."Even if Gaza was wiped off the map, history will write in golden letters that some thousand Gazans fought the strongest army in the Middle East."That pride in the militants' rocket-firing exploits extends even to those who question their ultimate effectiveness. As one man said Tuesday, imagining developments far beyond Qassams: "I wish we could have a nuclear bomb to drop on Tel Aviv."(Editing by Luke Baker and Alastair Macdonald) World. IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc to Present at 27th Annual J.P MorganHealthcare ConferenceNORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Jan 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ IPC The HospitalistCompany, Inc.

(Nasdaq: IPCM), a leading national physician group practicecompany, announced today that its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, AdamSinger, M.D., is scheduled to present at the 27th Annual J.P MorganHealthcare Conference in San Francisco, CA.Event:J.P. Morgan Healthcare ConferenceDate: Thursday, January 15, 2009Time: 1:00 PM Pacific Time (4:00 PM Eastern)Place:Westin St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco, CAThe Company will upload a revised investor presentation to the investorrelations section of its Web site () on January 13, 2009. A live Web cast of the Company's presentation will also be available byvisiting the investor relations section of the Web site.

A replay of thepresentation will be available for 30 days.About IPC The Hospitalist CompanyIPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: IPCM) is a leading nationalphysician group practice company focused on the delivery of hospitalistmedicine services. IPC's physicians and affiliated providers manage the careof hospitalized patients in coordination with primary care physicians andspecialists. For more information, visit the IPC website at Shapiro Stephanie CarringtonIPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc. The Ruth Group(818) SOURCEIPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc.Devra Shapiro of IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc., 1-818-766-3502; orStephanie Carrington of The Ruth Group, 1-646-536-7017,.