My best advice to anyone who is currently unemployed would be to apply for a government job–they seem to be the only ones hiring!  Bloomberg.com reported today that according to Labor Department figures payrolls rose by 431,000 last month, including a 411,000 jump in government hiring of temporary workers for the 2010 census.  Private payrolls increased 41,000.  The current jobless rate is 9.7 percent. 

Other statistics cited in the article:

“The so-called underemployment rate — which includes part- time workers who’d prefer a full-time position and people who want work but have given up looking — decreased to 16.6 percent from 17.1 percent.

“The number of temporary workers increased 31,000. Payrolls at temporary-help agencies often picks up before companies take on permanent staff.” 

Unless some move is made to cut taxes in the private sector and to legislate a tax structure that is stable and can be used in economic planning, we will continue to see little or no job growth in the private sector.  Another reason companies are hesitant to hire new employees right now is the confusion about how much government healthcare reform is going to cost.  Until a corporation has a definite idea of what its future spending is, it is going to be very cautious in its hiring practices. 

In the past six months, Massachusetts has undergone some major changes.  Scott Brown was elected to the United States Senate to fill Ted Kennedy’s term, and a Republican was elected to the Massachusetts legislature to replace Scott Brown.  There will be Republican primaries this summer to choose candidates for state, local, and national offices.  Something is brewing.

When I went to my local supermarket this morning, I was stopped by a very polite person who asked me if I was a registered voter.  He asked me if I was willing to sign a petition to put a question on the ballot in November to roll back the Massachusetts state sales tax to 3 percent.  Wow.  I signed.  To learn more about what this ballot question is about, please visit rollbacktaxes.com.  On August 1 of last year, the sales tax was raised from 5 per cent to 6.25 per cent.  Please visit the website to see the calculations on the impact of rolling back the state sales tax.

Yesterday, Breitbart.com posted an article about President Obama’s lastest speech regarding the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  According to the article:

“Seeking opportunity in a crisis, Obama argued for action in Congress as crews struggled into a seventh week to contain BP’s mangled oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. He urged lawmakers to shift the tax-break money toward clean-energy research and approve a major energy bill, now stalled in the Senate, that would slap a price on carbon emissions. “

Meanwhile, marshlands in Louisiana are possibly permanently damaged, and the oil spill threatens the tourist industry in the Southeast.  This is pure opportunism.  This administration believes any crisis can be used to increase taxes or costs of living on every American.  Do they honestly believe that a tax hike on the oil companies will not be passed on to the consumer? 

The fact is that our economy runs on carbon fuel.  Since the environmentalists have closed down much of the easily accessible oil, we are forced to drill in places where drilling is difficult and not totally without risk.  Maybe it’s time to reconsider ANWR.

“None of the four wars in my lifetime came about because we were too strong.  It is weakness that invites adventurous adversaries to make mistaken judgments.  America is the most peaceful, least warlike nation in modern history.  We are not the cause of all the ills of the world.  We’re a patient and generous people.  But for the sake of our freedom and that of others, we cannot permit our reserve to be confused with a lack of resolve.”

                       Ronald Reagan

Yesterday, Power Line posted an article about Andrew McCarthy’s new book The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America.  Andrew McCarthy was the federal prosecutor who prosecuted the “Blind Sheikh,” Omar Abdel Rahman, after the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993.

In responding to a request from the Power Line writers to provide something about his new book, Mr. McCarthy replied.  This paragraph was included in his write-up:

“The problem is that those who say Islam is the problem have the better case. I was first struck by this sad fact during our terrorism trial in 1995, when I had to get ready to cross-examine the “Blind Sheikh,” Omar Abdel Rahman. Though he ended up opting not to testify, I still had to prepare. Back then I thought that if what we were saying as a government were true – if these terrorists were lying about Islam and perverting its doctrine in order to justify mass-murder attacks – then surely I should be able to locate three or four places where the Blind Sheikh had misstated the Koran and the other species of Muslim scripture. I searched high and low, but there were none.”

Just as there are Christians who have no idea what the Bible says (or feel that it is not relevant to today’s world), there are Muslims who are quite comfortable ignoring many aspects of the Koran.  As long as those Muslims live in a country (or area of a country) that is not ruled by Sharia Law, that is not a problem–they can dress as they like, hold hands in public, and women have basic human rights.  However, if they live in a country with Sharia Law, the option of being a ‘moderate Muslim’ is not available.  The problem is that there is an element of Islam that seeks to make the entire world a caliphate ruled by Sharia Law.  The goal is to achieve this by both violent and non-violent means.  The non-violent means are already at work in America–that is what Andrew McCarthy’s book is about.

We ignore both the violent and non-violent attacks on our culture at our own risk.

Last week Big Journalism reported that President Obama and General McChrystal have asked Michael Yon to leave Afghanistan. 

The article reports:

“And yet nobody in the media seems to have much of a problem with Michael Yon being removed from the front lines by Obama/General McChrystal. Yon has openly stated the problems in Afghanistan right now and how we could lose this war, unless changes are made. He has been critical of the current rules of engagement that have put our troops in danger and could actually make this war like the Vietnam that the leftist media claimed it was early and often when Bush was president (it’s strange you don’t hear those comparisons from them anymore).

“Yon’s reward? He’s lost his embed status, banished to Bangkok. Yon could return but his access might be limited and you can’t just pop in and out of that theater like it’s the neighborhood movie palace.  Mess with Yon enough and his resources wear thin, but his patience will not.  You will not stop this soldier. He is the ultimate warrior for those who fight and die for this country. His reports are honest, chilling, gripping and are as reflective of the battles they represent as anything I have ever read.  But this administration is making it as difficult for him to do his job. You can’t believe this is by accident. The most critical battle in Afghanistan is about to take place, the battle for Kandahar, and the voice of the American soldier is not allowed in.”

I don’t always like or agree with Michael Yon’s reports, but I respect his honesty and his experience.  He was the voice who spoke out against the current rules of engagement which will result in more American soldiers getting killed and more Taliban soldiers living to fight another day.  As someone with a family member currently serving in Afghanistan, I am disturbed by the current rules of engagement.  As a former green beret, Michael Yon understands the impact those rules have and had the courage to speak against them.  That may be why he is no longer there.

If we are truly to have freedom of the press in America, Michael Yon needs to be back in Afghanistan, embedded with the troops and reporting the truth.

Yesterday, Andrew McCarthy posted an article in the New York Post about the war to preserve western culture.  This is a war that America to a large extent is not fighting, but is being fought against us. 

In his article, Mr. McCarthy cites some of the evidence of the war:

“In 1991, Mohamed Akram, a US-based chieftain of the Brotherhood, penned a memo for the eyes of the central leadership in Egypt. Later seized by the FBI, this self-described “Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America” outlined the game-plan for what the organization regards as its “civilizational” war against the West:

“”The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.””

The goal is to bring the world (including America) under sharia law.  We need to understand what that means.  Sharia law includes all aspects of life–it is not simply limited to religion.  Sharia law controls economics–interest is not allowed on loans.  It controls social life–women must be completely covered–they may be arrested if their clothes are too tight or too revealing, holding hands in public by an unmarried couple is a crime, coverting to another religion from Islam is punishable by death.  Women may be stoned for adultery; homosexuals are hung.  This is not what we understand as freedom.

There are some problems with western culture.  I would love to turn the clock back fifty years in terms of culture–I think “Father Knows Best” was much better television than “The Simpsons”,  I’m not necessarily into bobby socks, but I do think skirts should be long enough to cover most of your thighs.  I am not sure clothes are manufactured in America for anyone over the age of eighteen.  I would like to see adolescence begin after age thrteen and be over by age twenty–I think western culture has turned it into a way of life!  But even with its faults, I think western civilization is the culture that most successfully allows people to achieve whatever goals they may have and reaping the approriate rewards.  The idea of a worldwide caliphate is unacceptable to me, and I suspect it would be unacceptable to any American who understands exactly what it means.  The cultural war against an Islamic society in America is one that we need to fight.

This picture is from the Israel Defense Force (IDF) Blog.  I think it says it all.

On May 21, Israel Today reported that the United States has joined the United Nations group the Alliance of Civilizations which began in 2006.  The stated goal of the group is to bridge the gap between Muslim and western civilizations.  However, that is not actually what they have done. 

The Jerusalem Post reported in May that George Bush had refused to join the organization because of its anti-Semitic tendencies.  The Jerusalem Post pointed out that the present administration feels these concerns have been addressed:

“The officials said earlier fears about the “imbalances” in the group, which was set up by Spain and Turkey, had been addressed after the US expressed “serious concerns” about the alliance’s 2006 report. That document focused on the Middle East and identified Israel’s “disproportionate retaliatory actions in Gaza and Lebanon” as a main cause of Muslim-Western tension.”

This is not an organization America needs to be a part of.  The group holds the United States and Israel responsible for all problems between the western culture and the Muslim culture.  We need to remember that the Muslim culture is not an ‘open, tolerant’ culture.  You can’t build a Christian church or a Jewish synagogue in Saudi Arabia.  How many mosques have been built in America?  We need to remember that part of the Muslim culture is the total subjugation of women.  They are not inclined to be flexible in that area either.  The purpose of this organization is the bring the west into Muslim ideas–not to bring harmony.  Sharia law dictates that anyone who converts from Islam to Christianity should be killed–that doesn’t sound like a desire to co-exist–that sounds like a desire to take over.  This is a bad decision–it will not promote peace, it will encourage more Muslim activity aimed at destroying western culture.

On Sunday, Breitbart.com reported that the United States is supporting a United Nations Resolution for a nuclear-free Middle East.  The resolution targets Israel, but makes no mention of Iran. 

According to the article:

“The resolution adopted by the United Nations on Friday calls on Israel to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and urges it to open its facilities to inspection.

“It also calls for a regional conference in 2012 to advance the goal of a nuclear-free Middle East.

“Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, with around 200 warheads, but has maintained a policy of deliberate ambiguity about its capabilities since the mid-1960s.”

It really doesn’t take much thought to figure out how long Israel will continue to exist in the neighborhood it resides without the threat of using nuclear weapons.  The Arab nations have finally figured out a way that they think they can put an end to the Jewish state wihile looking peace-loving. 

I think Walid Shoebat summed up the situation when he stated, “The Holocaust never ended but the victims have decided to defend themselves…”

America is doing a very foolish thing by siding with the Arab nations against Israel.  We are supporting thuggery instead of democracy.  That sort of thing always comes back to bite you.

Any discussion of the “two-state solution” to the problems in the Middle East needs to consider a few of the things that have happened since Israel turned over the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to the Palestinians.  First of all, Hamas, who controls the Gaza Strip, gained that control through violence against Fatah.  Secondly, Hamas has, as part of its charter, the pledge to eliminate the state of Israel.  Third, how much of the aid from around the world poured into Gaza has been used to infrastructure–roads, hospitals, industries that produce jobs?  How much has been used to buy weapons?  Is the only profession in Gaza terrorism?

Today, My Way (part of AP news) is reporting that thousands of residents of Gaza are fleeing Gaza–taking advantage of the currently open border between Gaza and Egypt.  Egypt announced today that it was temporarily opening its border with Gaza.  The site also reports that there are two more boats headed for the Israeli blockade.  They are expected to arrive later this week or early next week.

We need to remember why Israel is blockading Gaza.  We also need to mention that this is not a true blockade–the Israelis are letting boats dock in Israel, have their cargo checked, and shipping that cargo to Gaza (if the cargo is not weapons and rockets).  This is not a blockade–it is a necessary move for Israel to survive.  According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1,750 rockets and 1,528 mortar bombs fired from the Gaza Strip struck southern Israel in 2008.  Would any other country in the world be asked to tolerate that kind of continuing attack on civilians?

Jonathan Schanzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, posted an article at The Weekly Standard about some of the people involved in the incident involving the Gaza Strip-bound flotilla.  The group that put the flotilla together was Turkish IHH (Islan Haklary Ve Hurriyetleri Vakfi in Turkish).  The group was banned by the Israeli government in 2008 for its ties to terrorism finance.  The United States also designated the group as terrorists in 2008 stating that the group was started by the leadership of Hamas in order to transfer money into Hamas.  In the past, the group has provided aid to Muslims, but that is not the total picture of its history.

According to the article:

“…the organization is not a force for good. The Turkish nonprofit belongs to a Saudi-based umbrella organization known to finance terrorism called the Union of Good (Ittilaf al-Kheir in Arabic). Notably, the Union is chaired by Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, who is known best for his religious ruling that encourages suicide attacks against Israeli civilians.  According to one report, Qardawi personally transferred millions of dollars to the Union in an effort to provide financial support to Hamas.”

Terrorist organizations typically use charities as front organizations to raise money and to do charity work with the aim of radicalizing communities.  Some of the charity work includes paying money to the familites of suicide bombers.  This is not charity as we know it.

This was not an innocent group of well-intentioned people bringing supplies to a besieged Gaza.  Israel (and Egypt) routinely let supplies in after inspecting them.  This was an attempt to get something in without its being inspected.  Please note that Egypt is also attempting to prevent the flow of rockets and weaponry into Gaza–it’s not just Israel.

The ship and its crew and passengers are now in Israel.  Israel is examining the cargo.  There may not be weapons on this ship, but you don’t have to be brilliant to conclude that if this ship had been given uninterrupted passage, the blockade would have ended and the next ship would have been loaded with weapons.

I’m sure we will be hearing more about this in the coming days.  We just need to remember that the war against Israel by Hamas is a propaganda war as well as a military war.

UPDATE:  The news is reporting today that Egypt has opened its border with Gaza.  I would also like to note that the protest signs in Turkey were written in English!