Sometimes the information on what is going on isn’t found in the obvious headlines–it’s found in seemingly unrelated headlines.  The UK Times Online reported today that the Saudi Arabian government has conducted tests to take down its radar temporarily in order to allow Israel to fly over to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.  I guess the Saudis don’t have a lot of faith in the latest round of United Nations sanctions against Iran.

On Thursday, Investors.com reported on the latest sanctions leveled against Iran.  The article points out that the fact that Brazil and Turkey voted against the sanctions will probably embolden Iran to continue its nuclear program. 

The article points out:

“Somehow, President Bush, the unilateralist, the practitioner of cowboy diplomacy, was able to get all the members on board on sanctions. Obama, charismatic consensus builder, couldn’t. Might it have something to do with the perception of a decline in U.S. power under this new leadership?”

The sanctions did not stop Russia from supplying S-300 missiles to Iran to defend Iran’s nuclear sights, but it looks as if Russia may have cancelled the shipment on its own.  I wonder about this and wonder what will go on between Russia and Iran that we don’t know about regarding the shipment of these missiles.

The article concludes:

“The paper (Britain’s left-wing Guardian) also believes the dubiously re-elected Ahmadinejad comes out the better, having been given “the opportunity of defying the world, and winning.”

“These new sanctions are not aimed at getting Iran to stop going nuclear; they’re aimed at getting Iran to agree to talk — leading to new concessions. And all the while, the jihadists’ nuclear clock is ticking.”

This is not a Republican or Democrat issue.  George Bush was not successful at stopping Iran’s nuclear program either, although I believe he was hampered by a hostile media and a hostile Congress.  I don’t believe attacking Iran is the answer–I believe funding the opposition to the current government any way you can is the answer.  A stronger stand during the unrest after the last Iranian election would have been helpful.  Israel will be condemned by the world if it attacks Iran’s nuclear facilities, but at the same time, most of the world will breathe a sigh of relief. 

One of the problems with telling a lie is that you eventually get found out.  That is what has happened regarding the Obama Administration’s call for a six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.  The Obama Administration stated that he moratorium was declared at the request of a panel of seven experts selected by the National Academy of Engineering. 

Yesterday Power Line Blog reported that the experts have stated that they never saw the recommendation for a moratorium, and in fact oppose it: 

According to Fox News yesterday:

“Salazar’s report to Obama said a panel of seven experts “peer reviewed” his recommendations, which included a six-month moratorium on permits for new wells being drilled using floating rigs and an immediate halt to drilling operations.

“”None of us actually reviewed the memorandum as it is in the report,” oil expert Ken Arnold told Fox News. “What was in the report at the time it was reviewed was quite a bit different in its impact to what there is now. So we wanted to distance ourselves from that recommendation.”

“Salazar apologized to those experts Thursday.”

This is something that needs to be looked at more closely.  It has crossed my mind and the minds of some people much smarter than I am that the handling of the Gulf oil spill is another example of “never let a crisis go to waste.”  I can’t believe this level of incompetence on the part of a group of supposedly smart people.  Let’s look at what the ongoing crisis in the Gulf and the shutdown of the deepwater rigs will do.  It will increase our dependency upon foreign oil–eventually raising gasoline prices to $5 a gallon or more. 

According to Heritage.org: 

To meet the Obama administration’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, some researchers say, Americans may have to experience a sobering reality: gas at $7 a gallon. To reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation sector 14 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, the cost of driving must simply increase, according to a forthcoming report by researchers at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. The 14 percent target was set in the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget for fiscal 2010.”

Remember the EPA takeover of the control of greenhouse gas emissions?  There is a pattern here, and the actions taken by this administration will destroy the American economy.  The only way to prevent the government takeover ov the energy section of our economy is to elect people in November who will take a stand against big government.

The above picture is a recent photo of Gaza’s fruit and vegetable market.  This picture is from the website, Tom Gross Mideast Media Analysis.  If you follow the link, you will find pictures of an Olympic-size swimming pool the Children of Gaza swim in and various menus from some of the restuarants in Gaza.  There is a similar article in the May 27 Jerusalem Post.  This is the story that the mainstream media is not telling.

Wednesday’s Washington Times posted an article about and a picture of President Obama’s meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas with the customary handshake.  Along with that handshake, $400 million dollars went to the Palestinian Authority.  Just for the record, when it was decided in 1917 that a Jewish state would be established in the Middle East, the land that was known as Palestine was given to the Jews.  At that time there were no Palestinians–just a few nomads on camels that wandered through the area.  In 1920, at the League of Nations Conference of San Remo, the boundaries for the new state of Israel were drawn up.  They included that land that is now Jordan west to the Mediterranean Sea.  That land was to be the new State of Israel.  In 1921, Britain reneged on that agreement and gave 75% of the land it had promised Israel (then considered East Palestine) to the Hashemites, who had been driven out of Mecca and Medina by the Wahabi Muslims.  Thus, Trans-Jordan was established as a Palestinian Arab state with land that had been promised to Israel. 

Israel was to have what was considered West Palestine (25 percent of what they were originally promised).  I guess that’s why I have such a hard time sympathizing with the terrorists who have continually tried to take land away from Israel since 1948.

Contrast the photo-op with President Obama and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas with the total lack of a photo-op when Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington recently.  We as a country are on the wrong side of history in the struggles between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.  This administration seems to have a tendency to support tyranny over democracy.  This needs to end.

Joint Resoltuion 26 was voted on in the Senate yesterday and did not pass.  The vote was 47 yeas and 53 nays.  All the Republicans voted for the bill, and six Democrats voted for the bill.  You can find out more about the bill and the vote at Thomas.gov.  The six Democrats who voted for the bill were Evan Bayh, Blanche Lincoln, Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson, Mark Pryor, and Jay Rockefeller.

According to Thomas.gov, Joint Resolution 26 is described as “A joint resolution disapproving a rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to the endangerment finding and the cause or contribute findings for greenhouse gases under Section 202 (a) of the Clean Air Act.”

In simple terms, this is the Cap and Trade legislation that President Obama could not get through Congress.  It is now law–it will be implemented through the Environmental Protection Agency.  This is bad news for everyone (especially the U. S. Constitution).  We can expect all utility bills to increase rapidly; we can expect more government control over the cars we drive and how much we drive them.  We can expect more restrictions on the use of our own natural resources, and we can expect a very negative impact on an already struggling economy.

There was a second bill sponsored by Jay Rockefeller that would also have stopped this power grab, but because of procedures, it would need sixty votes to get to the floor of the Senate.  I don’t think that is likely, but I would love to be wrong.

I apologize for not knowing how to embed a video.  If I knew how, this video would stay at the top of this blog for a very long time.  Please follow this link to YouTube to watch what happened at a Question and Answer session at a Tea Party in Douglas County.

On Sunday, June 6, the Wall Street Journal posted an article by Arthur Laffer on the coming expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts.  Contrary to idea that these were only “tax cuts for the rich”, these tax cuts were structured to keep the economy growing by putting money in the pockets of consumers at all economic levels. 

According to the article:

“On or about Jan. 1, 2011, federal, state and local tax rates are scheduled to rise quite sharply. President George W. Bush’s tax cuts expire on that date, meaning that the highest federal personal income tax rate will go 39.6% from 35%, the highest federal dividend tax rate pops up to 39.6% from 15%, the capital gains tax rate to 20% from 15%, and the estate tax rate to 55% from zero. Lots and lots of other changes will also occur as a result of the sunset provision in the Bush tax cuts.”

One of the basic rules of economics is that you don’t raise taxes during a recession.  If you follow the above link to the article, you will see the graph showing what happened in the early 1980’s when President Reagan lowered tax rates.  Mr. Laffer believes that the inverse of this graph will occur if the Bush tax cuts expire. 

It is doubful that Congress will take responsibility for the economic meltdown that follows the expiration of these tax cuts, but the American people need to hold them responsible.  It is important to remember that when tax rates go up, the amount of revenue received goes down.  When tax rates are lowered, the amount of revenue coming in to the government increases because the amount of taxable economic activity increase.  This seems illogical, but historically has been proven to be true.  If you google the “Laffer Curve”, you will see the evidence of this.

The only conclusion I can draw from the fact that Congress seems to be willing to let these tax cuts expire is that the only hope America has is to elect a new Congress.  Support your Congressional candidates that call for less spending and renewing the Bush tax cuts.

CNS News is reporting today on an end run the Obama Administration is about to do around Congress.  Because the Cap and Trade (also knows as Cap and Tax) energy bill is stalled in Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency is planning to regulate carbon and other greenhouse gasses under the Clean Air Act.  If this is carried out, Cap and Tax will essentially be put into effect without anyone having the chance to vote on it!  Some Congressmen are objecting to being cut out of the lawmaking process.  They have proposed a bill to stop the power grab.

According to the article:

“The Republican-led measure coming to a vote late Thursday would stop the Environmental Protection Agency from carrying out rules to regulate carbon and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.
 
“At least four Democrats have indicated their support for the legislation, and the vote is expected to be close. The measure will produce the most important vote this year on the climate change issue and is seen as a test of where lawmaker sentiments lie.”

The bill to stop the EPA power grab has the support of Democrat Senator Jay Rockefeller, who stated, “I believe we must send a strong message that the fate of West Virginia’s economy, our manufacturing industries and our workers should not be solely in the hands of EPA.”  He is correct.  This is a power grab and needs to be stopped.

The supposed justification for this action by the EPA is a Supreme Court decision in 2007 which stated that the Clean Air Act should allow the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases if they were shown the be a health risk.  The EPA then decided that Global Warming was a health risk and therefore they should be allowed to regulate these gases.

Senate Joint Resolution 26 comes up for a vote today.  Please call your Congressman and tell him (or her) to stop the EPA power grab.

The Chicago Sun Times is reporting today on the opening remarks made by defense lawyer Sam Adam Jr. during the trial of Rod Blagojevich, who is charged with scheming to sell or trade President Obama’s US Senate seat.

Attorney Adams attempted to make the case that Mr. Blagojevich was “an insecure but honest politician who unwittingly got himself in this mess by trusting the wrong people.”  This is going to be an interesting trial.  There is a real chance here that a lot of the ugly underside of Chicago politics will be revealed in this trial.  Evidently there are many hours of wiretapped conversations that may be played in the course of the trial.  It will be very informative to see who was making deals and what those deals were.

Rod Blagojevich is expected to take the stand as a witness during his trial.  Get out the popcorn, this is going to be very entertaining. 

Politico.com today reports that in yesterday’s primary elections, being endorsed by Sarah Palin was a definite asset.  Ms. Palin endorsed four candidates; of those four, three won or moved on to a runoff election.

Nikki Haley, running in the primary for Governor of South Carolina, was the victim of a serious smear campaign with very little evidence to back it up.  Sarah Palin endorsed her and she carried about 49 per cent of the vote.  Because Ms. Haley did not receive 50 per cent of the vote, there will be a runoff election on June 22.

In endorsing Carly Fiorina, Sarah Palin went against the Tea Party, which supported Chuck DeVore.  Sarah Palin, in endorseing Ms. Fiorina, cited her pro-life stand and her 100 per cent NRA rating.   Carly Fiorina will run against Barbara Boxer in November.

Sarah Palin supported Terry Branstad in the Iowa gubernatorial primary.  Again, this was not the obvious choice, but Terry Branstad won.

The forth candidate Ms. Palin endorsed, Cecile Bledsoe, was defeated (52% to 48%).  Ms. Bledsoe was running for Congress in the Republican primary for the Arkansas 3rd Congressional District.

The point being illustrated here is that regardless of how you feel about Sarah Palin, she has the ability to pick candidates successfully.  Her backing probably made the difference in the South Carolina gubernatorial primary and in the California Senate primary.  I don’t know whether or not Sarah Palin is planning to run for President in 2012, but at any rate, she is no longer a newcomer who can be ignored.  She has shown herself to be a very able politician. 

One of the things that has happened in this country over the past fifteen years or so is the growing influence of the SEIU (Service Employees International Union).  Their past president, Andy Stern, was the most frequent visitor to the White House during President Obama’s first year in office.  They are aligned with ACORN and generally have a lot of influence on elections.  However, people are beginning to wake up and see that this influence is not always positive.  Chris Christie is taking them on in New Jersey on the issue of salaries and pensions of public employees and will probably win, but I can guarantee that it will be an uphill climb. 

The SEIU supported Bill Halter in a Democrat Primary for Senate in Arkansas.  Former President Clinton and President Obama both supported Blanche Lincoln. 

Politico.com reported yesterday:

“A senior White House official just called me with a very pointed message for the administration’s sometime allies in organized labor, who invested heavily in beating Blanche Lincoln, Obama’s candidate, in Arkansas.

“”Organized labor just flushed $10 million of their members’ money down the toilet on a pointless exercise,” the official said. “If even half that total had been well-targeted and applied in key House races across this country, that could have made a real difference in November.””

The victory by Blanche LIncoln is this preimary is interesting.  Even the Democrats in Arkansas are not as liberal as the SEIU–Bill Halter challenged Blanche LIncoln from the left–he was more liberal than she was!  Ms. Lincoln voted for Obamacare, but for the unions that was not enough.  If I were a union member, I think I would be more than a little upset about how my union dues were being used.  Unions were started to help their members receive fair wages and to make sure workers were treated fairly–not to control elections.

Ed Morrissey posted an article at Hot Air today about the Virginia firm nHealth, which announced that it will close its doors at the end of the year.  The company stated that the uncentainties created by the Democrats’ health care overhaul are the reason for the closing. 

According to the article:

“The firm, nHealth, appears to be the first to claim that the new law has driven it out of business. “We don’t know what the rules are going to be, and, as a start-up, our investors need certainty,” nHealth CEO and President Paul Kitchen told POLITICO. “The law created so much uncertainty that is beyond our control.””

This is what the healthcare reform bill will do–it will drive private insurers out of business so that the government can take over health care.  The nHealth company issued the kind of health insurance that saves subscribers money–high-deductible, HSA-driven plans that put patients in charge of routine care and leave insurance to cover the crises instead.  That type of company is actually part of the solution to the high cost of health insurance–not part of the problem–and Obamacare has driven them out of business.

“Repeal and Replace” needs to be the goal of the House of Representatives and Senate after the 2010 elections.  Even if we can’t repeal Obamacare, the House of Representatives can refuse to fund it.  That is why we need Republicans and fiscally conservative people elected to the House of Representatives.  Support whatever local candidate fits that description.

Please do not follow this link unless you are prepared for graphic images.   Normally I would not post something this graphic, but unfortunately, that is part of the story.  Camera.org (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) has posted pictures showing how Reuters edited pictures of the Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmari,  Two pictures of the activists on the ship were cropped in such a way that the knives in their hands did not show in the pictures.

There is an update on the story posted on the Camera.org site today that states:

“Reuters photo archive (pictures.Reuters.com) now includes both the earlier cropped version of the photos, as well as the original, uncropped version.   Reuters representatives continue  to justify the cropped pictures by insisting that cropping the edges of a photo is normal editing procedure for photographs.  Perhaps so, but the fact that the cropping was carefully limited to the specific evidence of  the “peace” activists’ weapons has prompted the Israeli government press office to weigh in on the matter with a letter to Reuters CEO Tom Glocer demanding a clarification of the apparent photo abuse  by Reuters.”

The battles in the Middle East always involve propaganda.  The question becomes, “Who can you trust as a news source when looking at news from that area of the world?”  Generally I have found that the press releases on the website of the Israeli Defense Force have the most reliable information.  Although they are a part of the Israeli government, they seem dedicated to telling the truth.  They are also a good source of information about the propaganda coming from the other side.

Today’s Boston Herald posted a story about a retired U.S. Marine who runs a high school ROTC program in Worcester.  Major Stephen L. Godin has been told that he will be fired if he does not pay union dues.  Major Godin is the senior naval science instructor at the Naval Junior ROTC Unit of North High School. 

According to the article:

“Major Godin, a 20-year Marine veteran until 1994, who flew F-4 Phantoms and was deployed five times, said he refuses to join the union because he receives all his benefits, including health insurance and half his salary, from the military. Unlike other teachers, he doesn’t earn a stipend for after-school activities, such as the hours he spends coaching the high school’s regional champion drill team. His salary is dictated by the U.S. Military, not labor negotiators, Godin said.”

I guess I just don’t understand.  Why should anyone be forced to join a union or pay union dues?  This is the battle that Governor Christie is fighting in New Jersey.  The unions have taken over the schools and state jobs, and their demands are such that New Jersey (and other states) are going bankrupt.  If the man is doing a good job, and his job is not paid by teh City of Worcester, someone needs to tell the unions to go away.

Yesterday, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is moving three deep-water drilling platforms from their current locations off the Louisiana Coast to foreign locations.  This is the result of President Barack Obama’s deepwater drilling moratorium. 

According to the article:

“In separate letters to top federal officials Monday, two major trade groups urged the federal government to protect what they claim are more than 100,000 jobs by reducing the six-month stoppage and by introducing new safety regulations more quickly.

“The Offshore Marine Service Association, the national trade group for U.S.-flagged vessels working in the energy sector, suggested to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that the safety measures Obama demands can be established by the federal Minerals Management Service in less than a month.”

Maybe it’s my imagination, but the impact of the Obama Administration on the private sector of the American economy is staggering.  The oil platforms that are being removed will not come back.  The removal will destroy an already struggling Louisiana economy.  The removal will also increase our dependency on foreign oil imports.  Meanwhile, the east coast fishing industry is being destroyed by new regulations (see rightwinggranny.com article of May 17, 2010).  The car industry has been partially taken over, the banking industry has been partially taken over, the healthcare insurance industry is being taken over, and unemployment nationwide is still almost 10 per cent.  The major job increases have been in government jobs.  We need to stop a minute and look at the whole picture–not just pieces of the puzzle.

If we want to stop this runaway train that has taken over our economy, we need to seriously consider how we vote in November.  Look at the voting records of your local, state, and national candidates.  If they support big government programs, vote them out.

The hope for Louisiana is Governor Bobby Jindal.  I have told this story before, but I will tell it again.  I met Governor Jindal at the New Orleans aquarium years ago when he was coming out of the elevator pushing one of his children in a stroller.  My daughter stopped him and said how much she appreciated his contributions to Louisiana.  I told him then that I was from Massachusetts and hoped that I would have the opportunity to vote for him for President some day.  I still feel that way.  He is a smart, able executive who is the best hope for Louisiana at this time.  I only wish he lived in Massachusetts!

Politico is reporting today that Helen Thomas is retiring–effective immediately.  She is months short of her ninetieth birthday.  Her statements regarding Israel were reprehensible, and I believe show that she cannot be expected to objectively report any news from the Middle East.  I wish Ms. Thomas well in the future and hope that at some point her views on Israel will change.

CBN News is reporting today on a protest of the building of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York.  More than five thousand people from across the country converged on New York City for the protest.  Many of them had lost family members on September 11, 2001.  The slap in the face is that the planned Mosque will open on September 11, 2011.  One of the comments made during the protest was that the building of a mosque represents victory to a Muslim.  This mosque would be a Muslim celebration of their destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11.

The man behind the mosque, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, has some questionable ties with radical Islam.  In his writings, he advocates Sharia law.  There are also questions as to where the $50 million to construct the mosque is coming from. 

The article points out:

“Many of the protestors were immigrants, including Russian Jews, Arab Christians and Indians who love American freedoms and who fear the growing Islamization of America is slowly eroding that liberty.

“”We are very happy. America has given us freedom of religion, but we do not want to destroy this country! Islam wants to destroy this country that’s the big difference between them and us,” said Narain Kataia, an Indian American.”  

A New York City community board has already approved the construction of this mosque.  The protesters hope that their protest might cause the city board to review that approval.  There are many places in New York City to build a mosque.  Ground Zero does not have to be one of them.

John Hinderaker at Power Line reported yesterday that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard are ready to provide a military escort for ships attempting to break the blockade of Gaza by Israel. 

The article concludes:

“The prospect of a Revolutionary Guards escort tells you all you need to know about the “peace and freedom convoys.” If Iran follows through on this threat, it would seem that the prospect of war will become very real. One wonders what could have happened on the international scene over the last sixteen months to embolden Iran to threaten such a provocation.”

When America has a weak President (or a President who appears weak), the world is less safe.  I am not sure who said that, but it appears to be true.  A President who has not stood strong on America’s support for Israel also seems to be a problem.

Iran would love a war between Israel and anyone this summer.  As Iran completes its development of a nuclear bomb, it needs to divert the attention of the world from that program.  Anyone’s war with Israel will do.  Because world opinion (fed by Arab propaganda) tends to be against Israel (even when they defend themselves), this would be the perfect diversion.  Unfortunately, a lot of innocent people will be harmed in the process.

If you are a praying person reading this, please pray.

Today’s Washington Examiner posted an editorial about a Harvard Business School study of the effects of pork barrel projects on local businesses.  The researchers at Harvard studied forty years of data to see what effect kickbacks like the “Louisiana Purchase” and “Cornhusker Kickback” have on the businesses in their areas.  The study began with the assumption that when a senator was given a powerful committee assignment, he would begin the channel pork back to his state.   It was also assumed that the businesses in that state would benefit from this action.  Well, that’s not what they found out.

According to the article:

“In fact, the study found that in the years following a congressman acquiring a powerful committee assignment, the average company in his state cut back capital expenditures by 15 percent. In one prominent example, Alabama went from receiving $6 million less in annual earmark spending than other states to $90 million above the state average after Republican Sen. Richard Shelby assumed the chairmanship of the Senate Intelligence Committee in 1997. Shelby earmarked $15 million for low-cost fabricated housing, but the study found that one of Alabama’s largest suppliers of this housing, Homes Inc., correspondingly reduced capital expenditures by 79.5 percent and downsized its work force by 30 percent.”

Essentially, the study found that federal spending distorts the free market and is not good for the economy.  This is not good news for Senators attempting to win re-election by ‘bringing home the bacon’, but if the word of this study gets out, it may be very good news for American taxpayers!

Yahoo News reported yesterday that a Cairo court has upheld a ruling that will strip Egyptian men married to Jewish Israeli women of their citizenship.  The court requires that each case be considered separately, with no appeal. 

According to the article:

“The court’s decision is taking into account Egypt’s national security,” the judge said.

Lawyer Nabil al-Wahsh said he originally brought the case to court in order to prevent the creation of a generation “disloyal to Egypt and the Arab world.”

Children of such marriages “should not be allowed to perform their military service,” he said.

The number of Egyptian men married to Israeli women is thought to be around 30,000, according to Wahsh. Only 10 percent of them are married to Arab Israelis.

“This ruling is for the benefit of Egypt, a nation of leadership, history and civilisation,” Wahsh said. “It is for the protection of Egypt and Egypt’s youth and its national security.”

.”The decision comes as Israel continues its assault on those who love peace. The latest example is the aggression against the aid boat which was heading towards the blockaded Gaza Strip,” he added.

 

As long as this kind of animosity toward Israel is acceptable in Arab countries and Arab courts, there will be no peace in the Middle East.

My Fellow Americans:

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest — until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them — help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment — let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace — a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

Franklin D. Roosevelt – June 6, 1944

Since the early 1990’s, there have been sources of news other than the three major networks, the New York Times, and National Public Radio.  First there was the rebirth of AM radio, then the internet, then FOX news.  These additional news outlets have had an impact on American politics.  The forged papers regarding George W. Bush’s National Guard service that CBS put forth would have been accepted by the American public if the blog LIttle Green Footballs had not pointed out that the font used in the documents did not exist at the time the documents were supposedly created.  The ‘blue dress’ that was revealed on the Drudge Report during the Clinton Administration impacted the view people had of President Clinton.  Alternative news sources are now an acceptable way for people to investigate a story on their own and draw their own conclusions.  That fact is not always appreciated by some of the people in power.  There is an expression “when you tax something, there will be less of it.”  Keep that in mind as you read the following.

Yesterday’s Washington Times reported that the Federal Trade Commission is investigating the idea of taxing internet websites.  Aside from the fact that this will limit the free distribution of news, it is another example of the government stealing money from the people who earn it.  The government makes no contribution to internet websites, the people who author them do the work.  Why in the world should the government make money from them?

The article states:

“In other words, government policy would encourage a tax on websites like the Drudge Report, a must-read source for the news links of the day, so that the agency can redistribute the funds collected to various newspapers.”

Loosely translated, that means taking money from the websites that are profitable (advertisements, etc.–just for the record, this website is not profitable!) and giving to businesses that are not profitable, thus overriding free enterprise.  If newspapers were more balanced in their reporting, I believe they would be more successful.  The alternative media has arisen out of need–that is why it is successful.  The taxing of internet news is dangerous to our freedom as well as to our pocketbooks.

This is the text of the Balfour Declaration::

Foreign Office,
November 2nd, 1917.

Yours sincerely
Arthur James Balfour

The Balfour Declaration declared the intention of Great Britain to establish a Jewish state in Palestine.  In 1920, the League of Nations drew up the map to establish the Jewish state.    In 1920, at the League of Nations Conference of San Remo, the boundaries for the new state of Israel were drawn up.  That state included land extending west to the Mediterranean Sea and east through what is now known as Jordan.  At the same time, Arab statehodd was granted to Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.  That land was referred to as (Eastern) Palestine.  On January 4, 1919, Feisal ibn-Hussein, representing the Arab Kingdom of Hedjaz, and Chaim Weitzman, representing the Zionists, signed a formal agreement establishing the Jewish homeland.  Feisal ibn-Hussein agreed to abandon all claim of his father to (Western) Palestine if he secured Iraq and Eastern Palestine as Arab territories. 

In 1921, Britain reneged on the original agreement and give away 75 percent of the land it had promised to Israel.  The country of Transjordan was given to Abdullah, brother of Feisal ibn Hussein.  Abdullah, a Hashemite, was in Transjordan because the Wahabi Muslims had driven the Hasemites out of Mecca and Medina, where they had been custodians of the holy sites for centuries.  Transjordan was set up as a Palistinian-Arab state.

This short history lesson is in response to a statement by reporter Helen Thomas at the White House Jewish Heritage Celebration on May 27, 2010.  When asked to make a statement relative to the Jewish Heritage Celebration, Ms. Thomas stated, “Tell them (the Jews) to get the hell out of Palestine.” and went on the claim that the Jews were occupiers and needed to go home to Germany, Poland, and the United States.  It is really sad to see that kind of ignorance and bigotry in someone who is supposed to objectively report news.  If you would like to see the YouTube video of her statements, go to YouTube, put “Helen Thomas tells Jews to go back to Germany” in search, and you will find the entire statement.  I refuse to post the link here.

Historically, Israel is Jewish land.  Jerusalem was the capital of ancient Israel.  The Arabs are in charge of the vast majority of land in the Middle East, but for some reason, they want to destroy the Jewish state.  It makes no sense.  The amount of land in the state of Israel is the equivalent of a matchbook cover on a football field.

The best quote I have heard on the problems the Arabs have with Israel is from Walid Shoebat, who said, “Why is it that on June 4th 1967 I was a Jordanian and overnight I became a Palestinian?”

There was never even a concept of a Palestinian state until the Arabs lost the 1967 war.  At that time they began a propaganda war that there needed to be two states in Israel.  The goal has always been for the destruction of Israel.  Until that goal changes, there will never be a peaceful solution.

UPDATE:  Ms. Thomas evidently is having second thoughts.  Her website now has the following statement:

“I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians. They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance. May that day come soon.” 

No comment.

NOTE:  The maps above came from the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

On June 2, the Canada-Israel Committee released the statistics on the amount of humanitarian aid that Israel routinely allows to go into the Gaza strip. 

According to the article:

“Over one million tons of humanitarian supplies were delivered by Israel to the people of Gaza in the past 18 months – that’s equal to nearly one ton of aid for every man, woman and child in Gaza. 

“In the first quarter of 2010 alone (January-March), Israel delivered 94,500 tons of supplies to Gaza. It’s very easy to miss what that actually means for the people of Gaza. The breakdown includes:

• 40,000 tons of wheat – which is equal to 53 million loaves of bread;
• 2,760 tons of rice – which equals 69 million servings;
• 1,987 tons of clothes and footwear – the equivalent weight of 3.6 million pairs of jeans; and
• 553 tons of milk powder and baby food – equivalent to over 3.1 million days of formula for an average six-month-old baby.

“This reflects a long-term effort on the part of Israel to deliver a massive and comprehensive supply of aid to Gaza’s civilians, while restricting the ability of Hamas to import missiles that have been launched at the cities of southern Israel. In 2009 alone:

• During the Muslim holy days of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha, Israel shipped some 11,000 head of cattle into Gaza – enough to provide 8.8 million meals of beef;
• More than 3,000 tons of hypochlorite were delivered by Israel to Gaza for water purification purposes – that’s 60 billion gallons of purified water; and
• Israel brought some 4,883 tons of medical equipment and medicine into Gaza – a weight equivalent to over 360,000 260-piece mobile trauma first aid kits.”

Before we get all sympathetic to the starving Gazans, we need to look at some of the above numbers.  Life in Gaza is probably not fun–the government is not really concerned with the needs of the people there–they are only concerned with destroying Israel.  The government is run by Hamas–a terrorist organization.  Terrorists have not historically turned out to be good government administrators.  I have no idea if the people of Gaza are happy with Hamas as their government.  Hamas defeated Fatah (another terrorist organization) to take over Gaza.  Until Gaza has a government that does not routinely lob rockets at civilian populations in Israel, they can expect to stay under an arms blockade.

Marty Lamb is running for Congress in the third Congressional District in Massachusetts.  His campaign released this today.

MARTY LAMB FOR CONGRESS

For more information on Marty’s candidacy, voters can visit his website www.MartyforCongress.com or follow him on twitter and facebook.

We need Congressmen with the courage to stand up for what is right.  I will be voting for Marty Lamb.