Picture from Wikipedia
Monthly Archives: October 2011
The Arab Spring Is Looking A Little Stormy
The Global Post reported today on the elections being held in Tunisia.
The article reports:
Despite deep divisions among the various political parties over Tunisia’s future — the most contentious being the debate between secularists and Islamists — the election itself was a source of both national and regional pride for many Tunisians today.
…“If Ennahda wins, I would like to see sharia [Islamic] law,” said Tawfiq bin Mohammed bin Abdullah, a 62-year-old Ennahda supporter.“There are many women in Tunisia who do not know true Islam. Ennahda will not impose, but it will explain what it is in the Koran. And hopefully they will come to the true Islam.”
Others are drawn to Ennahda not only for its religious message, but for its longer history as a serious opposition group.
“Ennahda, they want to preserve our civil rights,”said 22-year-old Khalil Elalmi, a medical student who was arrested and beaten during the revolution.“They want to preserve our rights and take into consideration the law of Islam.”
“Their objective is to help people get a better life.”
Sharia Law and democracy are not compatible. We need to remember that. One of the most amazing aspects of Brigitte Gabriel’s story (see rightwinggranny.com) was her account of what happened to Lebanon (formerly the garden spot of the Middle East):
Lebanon was 67 percent Christian and was a truly multi-cultural country—there was freedom of religion for all religions. Gradually Muslims immigrated to Lebanon and became the majority of the country. The Muslims formed the Arab Lebanese Army, attacked Christians in a church, and started a civil war. The Muslims killed Christians, burned churches, and committed other atrocities. None of the western democracies came to the aid of Lebanon.
Unfortunately, unless the people involved in the Arab Spring protests wake up quickly, they will see their freedom disappear as quickly as they thought they had obtained it. When the Muslim Brotherhood takes over a country, there is no freedom of religion and no freedom for women.
Leaving Iraq Behind
Image via Wikipedia
I have said before that when America has a weak president (or a president that the world considers weak), the world is less safe. We are about to see the fruit of that as we come to the end of American involvement in Iraq.
CNSNews reported today that:
“Similar to previous Iraqi governments, the (Iraqi) government considers Jewish Iraqi citizens who emigrated from Iraq following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and in the following decades as having renounced their Iraqi citizenship and the possibility of its reinstatement,” says the State Department report.
“Iraq’s criminal Code 201 stipulates that any person promoting Zionist principles, or who associates himself with Zionist organizations or who assists them by giving material or moral support, or works in any way towards the realization of Zionist objectives, is subject to punishment by death.”
In other words, “moral support” of “Zionist organizations,” “promoting Zionist principles,” or working in any way to achieve “Zionist objectives” remain capital offenses in Iraq. We are not leaving behind a government we can live with.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Iranian-backed Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who controls a sizable bloc in Parliament and half a dozen ministries in the current government, issued a fresh threat against the U.S. on Sunday, warning Washington that his militiamen would target any oversized presence at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad designed as he said to compensate for the full military withdrawal and retain influence in Iraq.
…In a press conference on Saturday Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who owes his second term in office largely to the backing of Mr. Sadr after last year’s deadlocked election, sought to project himself as a strong leader who overcame U.S. pressure to keep some troops in Iraq with full immunity from Iraqi law. Mr. Maliki said it was the immunity issue that scuttled a deal and that any U.S> trainers left in Iraq beyond Dec. 31 would not enjoy immunity.
Moqtada al-Sadr is an Iranian puppet. As soon as we leave Iraq, he will begin to move to turn the country over to the Shiites and eventually over to Iran. In March I posted an article at rightwinggranny about a movie smuggled out of Iran called “The End Is Near.” The movie details the foreign policy ambitions of Iran as they await the coming of the Twelfth Imam. The movie makes it clear that Iraq is going to be part of that ‘last days’ alliance. Because we do not have a determined president and because the American people are tired of war, we are letting Iraq fall into the hands of Iran. Shame on us.
An Interesting Perspective From A Respected Voice
Image via Wikipedia
On Friday, Big Government posted a story stating that Lech Walesa will not be coming to New York to get involved with the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The article reports:
The Polish champion of freedom and liberty, founder of Solidarity, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, and first President of modern Poland Lech Walesa had been rumored to possibly be traveling to New York to stand with Occupy Wall Street protesters. Press accounts reporting this “breathless” news had given all of us pause.
The group at Big Government reached out to Mr. Walesa. This is what followed:
When Walesa’s comments hit the AP wire last week, my team immediately reached out to our Polish contacts. We made the point that the political themes of Occupy Wall Street may have started out with some of the principles that we share, but OWS themes were rapidly being morphed into anti-freedom and anti-liberty messages. At the core is the want for a big, powerful central government to dominate the lives of individual citizens.
Using biggovernment.com plus other news sources, rapidly we painted an accurate picture of the groups training, leading, and organizing the “movement.” The movement is organized by anarchists, Code Pink, the American Communist movement, jihadists, anti-Israel, socialist, and anti- free enterprise interests. OWS folks are politically to the left of President Barack Obama.
At the Lech Walesa Institute Foundation in Warsaw, they were thankful to receive this information.
Based on our discussion and intervention, President Walesa is not going to get involved with the OWS. He is not comfortable with the “organizations” behind the movement. It was not a difficult discussion.
All of us are in danger of being manipulated or used by the media. Sometimes that takes the form of reporting wrong information, sometimes it is in the form of simply leaving out information. As we approach the election of 2012, we need to learn to do our own fact-checking and our own research on the events that are shaping both the world and our country. Obviously, it is not up to me to tell you how to do that, but you need to begin to stumble your way around the internet (if you haven’t already) and look for the ‘back stories’ on the things that are happening now. In the internet age, we have all become our own bureau chiefs, and we need to do our homework to stay informed.
Do The Rules And Words Of The United Nations Mean Anything ?
Image by The Library of Congress via Flickr
This week Israeli IDF sergeant Gilad Shalit returned home to Israel five years after being taken hostage by Hamas. Sergeant Shalit was kidnapped inside Israel in a cross-border raid via underground tunnels near the border with Gaza.
In June 1983, the United Nations passed the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages. The Convention states:
CONSIDERING that the taking of hostages is an offence of grave concern to the international community and that, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, any person committing an act of hostage taking shall either be prosecuted or extradited,
My questions is simple–“Where was the outrage at the United Nations over the kidnapping of this soldier?” To win his freedom, Israel agreed to release 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, including about 400 with “blood on their hands.” That means they were directly linked to the deaths of Israeli Jews in terrorism attacks. If the United Nations were truly dedicated to peacekeeping, shouldn’t they logically be outraged that there are now at least 400 more terrorists loose in the world? At the present time the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), a 56-member group of Islamic nations, is one of the main power blocs in the United Nations. As long as that is the case, the United Nations will not deal with terrorism or brutal dictatorships–in fact, in some cases it will enable and encourage them. It is time the United States took leadership and started a group of peace-loving democracies as a counter-weight to the United Nations. Then, and only then, will there be a world-wide body of nations attempting to work toward peace.
This Is Not A New Story But It Is An Important One
Image via Wikipedia
On May 9, Seth Lipsky posted an article at the Wall Street Journal regarding the case of a 9-year-old American citizen named Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky. Known in the case as MBZ, Menachem was born in 2002 in Jerusalem. He wants the American Embassy in Tel Aviv to issue him a certificate of birth abroad stating that he was born in Israel.
The article reports:
The relevant law is the part of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 2002 that deals with “United States policy with respect to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.” The Supreme Court will adjudicate the provision stating that, for “purposes of the registration of birth, certification of nationality, or issuance of a passport of a United States citizen born in the city of Jerusalem, the Secretary [of State] shall, upon the request of the citizen or the citizen’s legal guardian, record the place of birth as Israel.”
The law passed the Senate and the House–the Senate by unanimous consent. Just for the record, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in the Senate at the time. When George W. Bush signed the law, the article reports:
…he issued a signing statement suggesting that he didn’t intend to enforce that part of the law. The measure, he said, “impermissibly interferes with the President’s constitutional authority to conduct the Nation’s foreign affairs and to supervise the unitary executive branch.”
Now the case is headed to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The article further reports:
Mr. Bush was challenged by the infant Mr. Zivotofsky?via his parents?not long after he was born. In the fight over whether the Supreme Court would take the case, Mrs. Clinton echoed Mr. Bush’s concerns, citing her department’s view that “any unilateral action by the United States that would signal, symbolically or concretely, that it recognizes that Jerusalem is a city that is located within the sovereign territory of Israel would critically compromise the ability of the United States to work with Israelis, Palestinians and others in the region to further the peace process.”
This is ridiculous. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. It has been the capital of Israel since Bible times. The historic record is clear. Aside from that, since when does America have the right to divvy up another country’s capital city? Menachem Binyamin Zivotofsky is not the only child of Americans in the position of having a birth certificate stating that he was born in Jerusalem without mentioning Israel. I think it’s time to stop playing silly games to placate terrorists and tell the truth. Israel has one tiny piece of land amid a sea of Arab countries. Arabs in Israel have more freedom and more economic success in Israel than they do in their own countries. The Arab countries around Israel have mistreated the Palestinians in order to use them as pawns in the war against Israel. We accomplish nothing by trying to placate the Arab countries around Israel. They will not be happy until Israel is destroyed. Until we realize that, all the negotiations in the world will accomplish nothing.
I Don’t Usually Post Household Hints But This Is Amazing !
Image via Wikipedia
As Americans, we are a bit nutty (compared to many other areas of the world) about cleanliness. We use bug spray, bug repellent, ant spray, ant repellent, roach motels, etc. We also worry about what affect these products have on our children and our pets. Well, I came across the most amazing answer to dealing with mice. I live in New England, and in the fall we sometimes get field mice that manage to come into the house. I am a wimp and am not interested in mouse traps. I depend on whatever foster cat we currently have to solve the problem. However, now there is a better way.
Ehow.com posted an article explaining how to get rid of mice using peppermint Altoids. Who knew?
The opening paragraph of the article:
When you have mice in the home, it’s crucial to figure out a way to get rid of them as quickly as possible. If you have peppermint Altoids on hand, you can forget the trip to your local pest control store, and instead use the peppermint Altoids as a natural mouse repellent. The little rodents cannot stand the scent of peppermint, and will go nowhere near it, allowing these small candies to double as an inexpensive mouse repellent.
Follow the link above to the article to get the details. It is an amazingly easy, safe and simple way to deal with wayward mice!
Did You Want Your Tax Money To Go Toward Building A Car In Finland ?
Image via Wikipedia
ABC News is reporting that Fisker, a start-up electric car company, has received a $529 million federal government loan guarantee and is assembling its first line of cars in Finland, saying it could not find a facility in the United States capable of doing the work. Congratulations, we are growing jobs overseas with American taxpayer money.
In September 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported:
Fisker’s top investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a veteran Silicon Valley venture-capital firm of which (Al) Gore is a partner. Employees of KPCB have donated more than $2.2 million to political campaigns, mostly for Democrats, including President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign contributions.
I’m sure that the fact that the investors of the company are powerful Democrats is purely coincidental. Right.
Fox News reported today:
But Energy Department spokesman Dan Leistikow said none of the U.S. loan money contributed to the production work in Finland.
“The Department’s funding was only used for the U.S. operations,” Energy Department spokesman Dan Leistikow wrote. “The money could not be, and was not, spent on overseas operations. The Karma also relies on an extensive network of hundreds of suppliers in more than a dozen U.S. states.”
He said the first part of the loan, $169 million, supported engineering work at Fisker’s U.S. facilities as the company “developed the tools, equipment and manufacturing processes for Fisker’s first vehicle” — though that work so far has not contributed to a production line in the U.S.
This sort of spending is the reason I don’t support any more jobs bills from President Obama. The jobs bills already passed have done nothing but provide money for wealthy Democrats and union thugs.
Killing The American Power Industry
Yesterday Big Government posted a story stating that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is going to put new rules regarding pollution requirements for power plants into effect before a November 29th hearing which is supposed to evaluate the concerns regarding those regulations. In plain English, the EPA is going to implement regulations seriously limiting the ability of coal-fired plants to generate electricity before the hearing to investigate the consequences of those regulations can occur. These regulations will result in the loss of 1.4 million jobs and higher electricity costs for everyone. Where is Congress? Why are they not crying foul? This is the Cap and Trade Bill the Obama administration could not get through Congress. It is being implemented through the EPA–not through the democratic process.
Image via Wikipedia
The article reminds us:
Some called it a gaffe when current Vice President Joe Biden was caught on video saying, “No Coal Plants Here in America,” during the 2008 campaign. Now, thanks to a bit of curious timing, the Obama administration may be a step closer to achieving that very thing, destroying up to 1.4 million jobs in the progress. The move will also lead to a significant increase in energy prices; however, it may be too late to do anything about all that by the time the information comes to light. And yet some think Wall Street, not Washington, is the problem.
Over-regulation that hurts Americans and American businesses needs to be stopped. If this Congress cannot do that, we need to elect a Congress that will. These regulations will make life more difficult for all Americans.
Good News From Minnesota
Scott Johnson at PowerLIne reported yesterday that the two Somali women who were charged with raising funds for al Shabab in Rochester, Minnesota, were found guilty. I reported on this case at rightwinggranny on Wednesday. There were no question as to whether the women had given money to support terrorism, the only question was what the court was going to do about it. The court, thank goodness, decided to send them to jail. The jury deliberated for about 20 hours.
The article reports:
The ringleader was not exactly remorseful after the verdicts were returned. According to the AP, she stood before the judge and stated through an interpreter: “I am very happy.” She added that she knew she was going to heaven — but first she’ll be stopping off in prison. She condemned people in authority who accused her of wrongdoing (and anyone “who is against Muslims”), saying: “You will go to hell.” I’m pretty sure that includes Judge Davis, but count me in as well.
The local Muslim community showed up at the courthouse to support the women on trial. Again, there was never any doubt about the guilt of the defendants, the support was there simply because the women were Muslims acting in accordance with Muslim law. That alone should provide us with food for thought.
Closing Your Eyes To Danger Does Not Make It Go Away
Yesterday at rightwinggranny.com I posted excerpts from the American Enterprise Institute report on the increased activities of Hezbollah terrorists in Latin America. Last Sunday I reported at rightwinggranny.com on a speech given by Brigitte Gabriel in Massachusetts that night. Ms. Gabriel spoke of the Muslim Brotherhood’s infiltration into the American government.
Today the Daily Caller reported:
Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole confirmed on Wednesday that the Obama administration was pulling back all training materials used for the law enforcement and national security communities, in order to eliminate all references to Islam that some Muslim groups have claimed are offensive.
The article further reports:
In a Wednesday Los Angeles Times op-ed, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) president Salam al-Marayati threatened the FBI with a total cutoff of cooperation between American Muslims and law enforcement if the agency failed to revise its law enforcement training materials.
…Specifically, al-Marayati called for a new “interagency task force” to review the training materials — a task force including representatives of the Islamist organizations the FBI is tasked with monitoring.
We are in serious peril if this sort of thinking continues. I just hope we can hold on until 2012 and elect people who will at least recognize the fact that the number one threat to America at this time is Islamic terrorism. Hezbollah is financed and backed by Iran–they are not Baptists. We need to wake up and pay attention.
Am I The Only One Wondering About This?
I reported in January at rightwinggranny.com that General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt was appointed lead the President’s new jobs council. In March I reported at rightwinggranny.com that General Electric had paid no corporate income taxes in 2009.
The Wall Street Journal reported:
“”We expect to have a positive tax liability for 2010 when we file our U.S. income taxes later this year,” the conglomerate said in a written response to questions from Dow Jones Newswires. But “we think it will be covered by overpayments.””
“…GE called the Times report “particularly distorted and misleading” on its website Friday. On Monday, GE noted on its website that it paid almost $2.7 billion in “cash income taxes” globally in 2010, “including significant U.S. federal income tax payments.”
“GE also has said that its tax rate has been abnormally low recently largely because of losses suffered by its financial arm, GE Capital, during the financial crisis. The company noted that GE Capital lost nearly $32 billion from 2008 to 2010.
“”Our 2011 tax rate is slated to return to more normal levels with GE Capital’s recovery,” the company said.”
Today the New York Times reported:
General Electric, the nation’s largest industrial company, on Friday reported net earnings for the third quarter of $3.2 billion, up 57 percent from the same period in 2010 despite what the chief executive called a “volatile” economic environment.
The article further reports:
G.E. has been expecting its business for power generation equipment, which involves gas, steam and wind turbines, to improve this year. Profits in that component of its business were down 19 percent in the second quarter.
Does anyone doubt that if the Obama Administration continues to pursue green energy, General Electric will profit handsomely by being well placed in the industry? I seriously doubt that any of this activity is illegal, but it is a glaring example of crony capitalism. The people at Occupy Wall Street are definitely protesting the wrong people–they should be out in front of the White House.
Things That Are Not Conducive To A Good Night’s Sleep
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research posted a report this month on the growing Hezbollah Threat in Latin America. The report is written by Roger Noriega, a senior State Department official from 2001 to 2005, a visiting fellow at AEI and managing director of Vision Americas LLC, which represents foreign and domestic clients.
Some of the highlights of the report:
Hezbollah’s presence in Latin America dates to the mid-1980s, when it began sending operatives into the notoriously lawless region known as the tri-border area (TBA)—where the borders of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay meet—to use it as a principal safe haven for fundraising, money laundering, recruitment, training, plotting, and other terrorist-related activities.Their activity also includes drug and arms trafficking, counterfeiting, forging travel documents, and pirating software and music. Their resulting proselytizing has led to the creation of numerous Hezbollah cells, with an estimated 460 operatives in the TBA by mid-2000.
Hugo Chávez’s track record of anti-Americanism and support for terrorist groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is well-established, but his making common cause with a radical Islamic theocracy in waging asymmetric warfare (unconventional and irregular methods used by a weaker opponent against a stronger opponent) against the United States truly speaks to the depths of his fanaticism. He has allowed Iran to mine uranium in Venezuela and has worked assiduously to undermine economic sanctions against the Iranian regime (for which Venezuela has, in turn, been sanctioned). In recent years, moreover, Venezuela’s Margarita Island has eclipsed the infamous TBA as the principal safe haven and center of Hezbollah operations in the Americas.
The report concludes:
US and other government authorities have identified and sanctioned some of the leaders of these networks, and US law enforcement agencies—led by the Drug Enforcement Administration—have made great efforts to assess and confront this threat by building cases against foreign officials and sanctioning commercial entities that provide support to this criminal terror organization. However, this dangerous network requires a whole-government strategy, beginning with an interagency review to understand and assess the transnational, multifaceted nature of the problem; educate friendly governments; and implement effective measures unilaterally and with willing partners to disrupt and dismantle their operations.
The stakes are clear. In a May 2011 visit to Bolivia, Iranian Defense Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi proclaimed that in the event of any military confrontation between Iran and the United States, “The strong Iran is ready for enemy-crushing and tough response in case of any illogical and violent behavior by the U.S.” There is every reason to believe that such a response would utilize every weapon in Iran’s arsenal, including Hezbollah. But we do not have to wait until an outbreak of military hostilities between the United States and Iran to confront Hezbollah’s continuing efforts to consolidate its presence and expand its influence in the Western Hemisphere. The United States and responsible governments in Latin America need to act now, precisely so that we do not have to respond later.
Please follow the above link and read the entire report. The report is footnoted and contains a lot of information Americans are not hearing from the American press. We need to wake up and start paying attention.
You Always Get In Trouble When You Try To Alter Things After The Fact
Image via Wikipedia
Yesterday National Review Online reported that a number of press releases previously released by the Department of Energy have been retroactively changed in order to remove the name of a solar company that may fail.
CNBC reports:
The changes occurred in two press releases from the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program — the same program that has been the center of controversy surrounding the failed solar company Solyndra.
Both were changed to remove the name of a company that has received negative press attention in recent days, SunPower, and replace it with the name of another company, NRG Energy.
In the April case, the Department of Energy loan programs office announced in a press release on April 12 “conditional commitment” to a $1.187 billion loan guarantee to support the California Valley Solar Ranch project, which it said was “sponsored by SunPower Corporation.”
But that release was later changed on one website to say the project was “sponsored by NRG Energy.” The date on the release remained “April 12, 2011.”
National Review Reports:
Naturally, the DOE blames ‘outside contractors,’ who “inadvertently” altered the news bulletins while updating the loans program website.
The article at National Review goes on to look at the financial situation of SunPower. The company is deeply in debt and has stated that it will lower its earnings projections for 2011. Meanwhile, the total value of company’s stock dropped from an all-time high of $13 billion to $800 million. Unfortunately, the company has a debt of $820 million. This does not bode will for the future of the company.
The problem here is that old press releases were altered in a way that looks questionable. Unfortunately that seems to be part of the lack of transparency and behind the scenes manipulation that seems to be inherent in this administration.
A Bad Law Made For Good Reasons
Image via Wikipedia
An American dollar says on it, “This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private.” Well, not so fast. KLFY News in Louisiana is reporting:
House bill 195 basically says those who buy and sell second hand goods cannot use cash to make those transactions, and it flew so far under the radar most businesses don’t even know about it.
“We’re gonna lose a lot of business,” says Danny Guidry, who owns the Pioneer Trading Post in Lafayette. He deals in buying and selling unique second hand items.
The purpose of the law is to make tracking those who steal things and sell them easier to track. However, the law of unintended consequences is at work. The law includes Goodwill, garage sales, flea markets, and second-hand stores such as the Pioneer Trading Post. Pawn shops, which have been forced to keep records of their clients for years, are still allowed to accept cash.
The intention of the law is good, but I don’t understand why Goodwill stores or garage sales would be included. Goodwill does not pay people to donate things, so even if they receive stolen goods (which is highly unlikely) the only trace mechanism they would have would be to track those who bought the goods, which would be irrelevant. Garage sales are also an unlikely target. Again, if the goods are stolen, it would be the seller, not the buyer that would be the culprit, so why trace the buyer?
I understand the problem, I am simply not convinced that this is the way to solve it.
Some Insight On The Israeli Prisoner Swap
Image by Israel Defense Forces via Flickr
Andrew McCarthy posted an article at National Review Online yesterday commenting on the recent prisoner swap in Israel. Please follow the link to read the entire article, Mr. McCarthy is a man who truly understands the Arab culture and what this prisoner exchange will mean for the future. However, I am more interested in posting some of the quotes from the Arabic media he cites in the article:
From Fatah–considered ‘moderate’ (as opposed to Hamas):
This soldier was a waif born in a shelter as a result of the deterioration and disintegration of Israeli society. A Zionist soldier, he became seeped with Zionism to the bone… This monster joined the army of Zionist gangs, to carry on the legacy of his fathers, the apes and pigs of the Haganah, Irgun, Stern, and Palmach organizations, in order to carry out the orders of his fascist masters. That was the Zionist soldier Gilad Shalit, 19 years-old when he was captured by the Palestinian resistance.
This incompetent soldier became the most prized soldier in all the armies of the world. He entered the annals of history through the widest gate, and his name went down in the Guinness Book of World Records…. The world was in turmoil as the Arab leaders, the West, and the monstrous mini-state [Israel] waged a five-year publicity and marketing campaign throughout the world in an attempt to liberate the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit…. He was a focus of interest for journalists and political and military analysts in all the electronic and printed media, while the conscience of those flaccid leaders remained unmoved by the [plight of] our courageous heroes and glorious prisoners hidden away in the dungeons of the enemy’s strongholds.
Might I suggest that peace between Israel and its neighbors might be difficult to obtain while the neighbors of Israel refer to the Jews as apes and pigs.
From Jordan, the words of the Muslim Brotherhood:
The Hamas movement must secure a new prisoner in order to free additional [Palestinian] prisoners from the jails of the occupation, because those who will not be released as part of the Shalit deal now feel and understand that their salvation depends on [the capture of] a new prisoner. This great national duty must be fulfilled, if not by Hamas then by any other organization….
The latest exchange deal was great and magnificent … a victory for the Hamas movement and the entire Palestinian people. It confirms that continuing the resistance is the [right] path and option [to take] until the Palestinian rights are restored in full, without exception…. The freed prisoners will be birds of freedom and torches to light the fire of resistance, and they are the incontrovertible proof that the Palestinian right[s] will only be restored through resistance….
Great–we got all those guys back for one prisoner–let’s go get another one!
From Hamas:
As we say goodbye to Shalit, we hope to welcome a new guest, to capture a new soldier, to hurt the enemy in a way that will humiliate and distress him, to pull his soldiers from their tanks and even shoot down their planes, to destroy their vehicles and to lead them, handcuffed, to our jails. This, in order to … liberate those whom the enemy is [still] holding in his prisons and whom he refuses to free because they have shed his blood, humiliated him, killed the best of his soldiers, rubbed the noses of his crack units in the dirt, and forced his leaders to surrender and accept their terms. Goodbye, Shalit, and hello to the new prisoner who will replace you and by means of whom we will humiliate your army and your leadership. We will not surrender, give up or disdain [our duty] until we get back the last of our prisoners and destroy the last of the detention facilities that the enemy has constructed on our own soil…
Same as previous quote.
From Benjamin Netanyahu in 1995:
Prisoner releases only embolden terrorists by giving them the feeling that even if they are caught, their punishment will be brief. Worse, by leading terrorists to think such demands are likely to be met, they encourage precisely the terrorist blackmail they are supposed to defuse.
It is wonderful that Gilad Shalit is home again. I just wonder what the true long-term cost of this agreement will be.
Using Our Courts To Support Terrorism
Yesterday Scott Johnson at Power Line posted a story about a trial that is currently going on in Minnesota.
The article reports:
We have been following the terror trial involving the two Minnesota Somali women who were raising money for Al-Shabab in Rochester, Minnesota. The case against them was submitted to the jury late yesterday in federal district court in Minneapolis.
I don’t think I have seen a lot about this trial reported in the major media. Reporter Allie Shah at the Star Tribune has stated, “if the Somali women are not acquitted, Somalis in Minnesota and elsewhere will think ill of us.” Wow. If they are guilty, it doesn’t matter, we just want to make sure they like us.
The article concludes:
The ringleader and her codefendant stand accused of providing material support to a designated terrorist organization, Al-Shabab, an al Qaeda affiliate. The ringleader has a helluva defense. She wasn’t supporting Al-Shabab or terrorism, she was supporting Islam! Any resemblance to the crimes charged is just a coincidence, or something.
Just as tithing is a part of Biblical Christianity, “Zakat” is a part of Islam. There is a difference, however. When the defendant stated that she was simply supporting Islam, she was correct. The Zakat is supposed to support the spread of Islam. She was simply following the dictates of Islam (Zakat is one of the Five Pillars of Islam).
It will be interesting to see how this case turns out. Under Sharia Law, the women are innocent. Under American Law, the women are guilty. It will be interesting to see which legal system prevails.
An Interesting Series Of Events
Yesterday’s New York Post posted a story about the problem of robberies at Occupy Wall Street in New York City. The article reports:
Occupy Wall Street protesters said yesterday that packs of brazen crooks within their ranks have been robbing their fellow demonstrators blind, making off with pricey cameras, phones and laptops — and even a hefty bundle of donated cash and food.
“Stealing is our biggest problem at the moment,” said Nan Terrie, 18, a kitchen and legal-team volunteer from Fort Lauderdale.
“I had my Mac stolen — that was like $5,500. Every night, something else is gone. Last night, our entire [kitchen] budget for the day was stolen, so the first thing I had to do was . . . get the message out to our supporters that we needed food!”
What is a supposedly unemployed protester doing with a $5,500 computer? If the protester is so oppressed and down and out, where did the money come from to buy the computer? Likewise for all of the other pricey electronics gear? These guys have more ‘stuff’ than the rich they are protesting!
The article further reports:
Meanwhile, the Rev. Jesse Jackson was at Zuccotti late last night as he and about 50 protesters formed a human chain in front of a medical tent after police officers came over to ask about the tent, cops and protesters said.
“Jesse dropped in like a ninja,” said Stephanie Perricone, 21. “He came out of nowhere and helped us all out.”
The officers were asking about the size of the tent when the crowd of demonstrators — including Jackson — stood en masse in front of it.
The cops said didn’t ask for it to be taken down and the issue was quickly resolved.
It makes you wonder what was going on in the medical tent!
Problems For The Global Warming People And For The Obama Administration
Image via Wikipedia
One of the things that is supposed to make our government work is transparency. With the Freedom of Information Act, we the taxpayers can follow the path of a concept as it is discussed and eventually made into some sort of law. That transparency is supposed to be part of the system–except when it is purposely avoided.
Yesterday wattsupwiththat.com posted a story stating that the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) “has learned of a UN plan recently put in place to hide official correspondence on non-governmental accounts, which correspondence a federal inspector general has already confirmed are subject to FOIA. This ‘cloud’ serves as a dead-drop of sorts for discussions by U.S. government employees over the next report being produced by the scandal-plagued IPCC, which is funded with millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars.”
The article at wattsupwiththat states:
CEI reminds OSTP (Office of Science and Technology Policy) that this practice was described as “creat[ing] non-governmental accounts for official business”, “using the nongovernmental accounts specifically to avoid creating a record of the communications”, in a recent analogous situation involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff. CEI expects similar congressional and media outrage at this similar practice to evade the applicable record-keeping laws.
This effort has apparently been conducted with participation — thereby direct assistance and enabling — by the Obama White House which, shortly after taking office, seized for Holdren’s office the lead role on IPCC work from the Department of Commerce. The plan to secretly create a FOIA-free zone was then implemented.
Man-made global warming is a hoax perpetrated by the Obama Administration to pave the way for a government takeover of the energy sector. The government policies that would be enacted in the name of global warming will make all Americans poorer (except those invested in green energy). This is truly a ‘follow the money’ issue. Had the Cap and Trade bill been passed in Congress, the demand for solar panels made by Solyndra would have increased, Solyndra would have raised its prices, and many democrat contributors would have made a profit. Had Cap and Trade passed, the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), which traded carbon credits would still be in business and investors such as Al Gore and many of our leading congressmen would have made a profit. If Cap and Trade can be implemented through federal agencies, it may not be too late to save the portfolios of some of the major Democrat contributors. It really is all about the money.
Please follow the link to wattsupwiththat.com to read the entire article. There is a lot of very good, but very technical information in the article that I did not fully understand. Hopefully it will make sense to you!
The Numbers Versus What We Have Been Told
Today’s Wall Street Journal posted a piece by Douglas Schoen, who previously served as a pollster for President Clinton, detailing the ideas of the people at Occupy Wall Street.
The article reports:
The protesters have a distinct ideology and are bound by a deep commitment to radical left-wing policies. On Oct. 10 and 11, Arielle Alter Confino, a senior researcher at my polling firm, interviewed nearly 200 protesters in New York’s Zuccotti Park. Our findings probably represent the first systematic random sample of Occupy Wall Street opinion.
Our research shows clearly that the movement doesn’t represent unemployed America and is not ideologically diverse. Rather, it comprises an unrepresentative segment of the electorate that believes in radical redistribution of wealth, civil disobedience and, in some instances, violence. Half (52%) have participated in a political movement before, virtually all (98%) say they would support civil disobedience to achieve their goals, and nearly one-third (31%) would support violence to advance their agenda.
This is not representative of most Americans. The article also points out that contrary to what the media has told us, only 15 percent of the protesters are unemployed (the national unemployment rate is 9.1 percent). The protesters polled also represent some really bad news for President Obama. The article reports:
An overwhelming majority of demonstrators supported Barack Obama in 2008. Now 51% disapprove of the president while 44% approve, and only 48% say they will vote to re-elect him in 2012, while at least a quarter won’t vote.
Fewer than one in three (32%) call themselves Democrats, while roughly the same proportion (33%) say they aren’t represented by any political party.
The article concludes:
Put simply, Democrats need to say they are with voters in the middle who want cooperation, conciliation and lower taxes. And they should work particularly hard to contrast their rhetoric with the extremes advocated by the Occupy Wall Street crowd.
Douglas Schoen understands what is going on. It’s a shame that the Obama administration does not seem to be listening to his wisdom.
There Are Two Sides To This Discussion
Image via Wikipedia
Tampa Bay Online reported this morning that Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit has been returned to Israel in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. I am overjoyed that this man is reunited with his family. That part of the story is wonderful.
The part of the story that has two sides is the release of more than 1,000 terrorists from Israeli jails. This makes a statement to the world that Israel places a high value on human life. It also may encourage future kidnappings.
The list of prisoners to be released from Israeli jails includes many terrorists involved in the planning of suicide bombings and the killing of Israelis. The list was posted at the Jerusalem Post website on Sunday. There are some aspects of this release that have at least a small positive aspect–Israel no longer will have to feed these terrorists and pay to keep them in jail and the character of these people is such that they may not be an asset to the countries where they will be living.
There is another aspect of this prisoner swap that I heard a former member of the Israeli special forces discuss. He believed that when Gilad Schalit was captured, the Israelis should have began killing jailed Palestinian terrorists until Schalit was either killed or released. While I understand the logic behind this, I am not sure this is the right approach. It definitely would have discouraged further kidnappings, but it would have to be done a few times before the kidnappings stopped, and I doubt any kidnapped victims would have been returned alive. Also, I don’t think that the government of Israel is strong enough to act this forcefully, nor am I convinced that is the proper course of action.
Anyway, I rejoice that Gilad Schalit is home again. I pray that there will be no more kidnappings in the future.
An Amazing Comment From Parenting.com
Image via Wikipedia
What follows is part of an article at Parenting.com:
We know the unemployment rate (over 9 percent) and the number of us living in poverty (more than 46 million. That’s roughly one in seven). But Occupy Wall Street is not helping those people. Occupy Wall Street is a temper tantrum in a private park. And it’s parents, moms and dads, i.e. us, who are to blame.
At some point on the parenting evolutionary chart, we went from restrained to indulgent. We went from being parents to being friends. Peewee baseball games stopped keeping score. Everyone got a trophy. If there was a problem, there was always a Boogieman: allergies, ADD, auditory processing, a bad teacher. We stopped saying “no,” and started saying “no because…” We negotiated. We gave them options (Cinnamon Life and Frosted Mini Wheats? Big Time Rush or iCarly?). We told them they could be American Idols and astronauts, all while knowing they were tone deaf and terrible at chemistry.
Those kids went to college, and got useless degrees (full disclosure: film major with a psychology minor). They graduated, and then failed at being American Idols and astronauts. Without a decent set of coping skills, they’ve turned rejection into anger. They’ve lived a life where there were always options, where they never lost, where they thought the moon overhead followed them. They’ve been kicked out of the nest, having never been told their wings don’t run on batteries.
And now somebody owes them $150,000 for their education. No one said your major in horticulture was a coupon good for one free career.
This is the crop from the seeds planted in the mid-1960’s. We need to get back to disciplining our children in a way that gives them both structure and hope. We need to teach our children a work ethic that includes planning for the future and doing the work necessary to achieve that future. The author of this article hit the nail on the head.
Why It Is Difficult To Get Anything Done In Washington
It’s not just that President Obama seems to be spending all of his time away from the White House–either on the road or the golf course–it is what he is saying when he addresses crowds on the road.
Yesterday RealClearPolitics posted the following:
“My plan says we’re going to put teachers back in the classrooms, construction workers back to work,” President Obama said at a campaign event today. “Tax cuts for small businesses, tax cuts for hiring veterans, tax cuts if you give your workers a raise –- that’s my plan.”
“The Republicans plan, Obama says, boils down to this: ‘Dirtier air, dirtier water, less people with health insurance.'”
First of all, based on his past performance, does anyone really believe President Obama wants to lower anyone’s taxes? Second of all, Republicans have families too. Does anyone believe they support dirty air, dirty air, and no health insurance? These are the kind of statements that make bipartisanship almost impossible.
The Hill posted the following yesterday:
President Obama mocked the intelligence of Republicans on Monday while making the first stop of his three-day bus tour, implying GOP lawmakers didn’t pass his $447 billion jobs bill because they weren’t smart enough to understand it.
“Maybe they just couldn’t understand the whole thing all at once,” Obama said during an address in Asheville, N.C., that had all the trappings of a 2012 campaign event, including a crowd chanting, “Four more years.”
“So we’re going to break it up into bite-size pieces so they can take a thoughtful approach to this legislation,” Obama said one week after the Senate rejected moving forward on the jobs bill.
The fact that the taxpayers are paying for this campaign tour is annoying enough, but the attitude of the President makes it very hard to move forward together. The election is more than a year away, and the President is in campaign mode being totally obnoxious.
This Will Never Happen But It Is A Wonderful Idea
Image via Wikipedia
On Friday CNSNews posted an article about a bill that just passed the House Foreign Relations Committee in the House of Representatives with a vote of 23-15. The bill is the U.N. Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act (H.R. 2829). It would force the U.N. to change its funding mechanism from the current system of “assessed” contributions to voluntary ones. In simple terms the bill would allow the United States and other members of the United Nations to fund only those activities and agencies it regards as being efficiently managed, and in the national interest. Obviously, had this law been in effect in the 1990’s, we might have avoided the food for oil scandal. Frankly, what the bill would actually do, other than save taxpayers millions of dollars, would be to defund the United Nations. Considering that the United Nations lost its way a long time ago, I really think that is a great idea. Unfortunately, I am probably not the majority opinion.
The article reports:
In a letter to Ros-Lehtinen [Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.)] on Wednesday, Clinton (Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State) expressed strong opposition to the measure, saying if it reached the president, she would recommend a veto.
Citing U.N. missions in Iraq and Afghanistan as examples, she argued that international engagement through the U.N. comes at a fraction of the cost of acting alone.
“This bill also represents a dangerous retreat from the longstanding, bipartisan focus of the United States on constructive engagement within the United Nations to galvanize collective action to tackle urgent security problems,” she wrote.
“If we act to diminish our global stature, the United States would surrender a key platform from which to shape international priorities, such as obtaining tough sanctions on Iran.”
During the hearing, Ros-Lehtinen referred to Clinton’s letter, and in particular the suggestion that the legislation could harm U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan because other countries would not share the burden by paying for U.N. missions in those countries.
“Does the administration have such little faith in our allies and in our diplomacy – which they pride themselves on – to think that they would not share the burden of fighting Islamist extremists unless the U.N. forced them to?” she asked.
Has it occurred to anyone that the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) is the most powerful bloc in the United Nations and is not going to do anything to significantly limit the actions of radical Islam?
Learning To Look Behind The Stories
John Hinderaker at Power Line posted an article yesterday about the efforts by some media outlets to begin the tearing down process of all Republican presidential contenders. I’m hoping that the electorate is too sophisticated to fall for this ploy.
Mr. Hinderaker states:
The election is still over a year away, and yet “news” stories intended to bring down leading Republican contenders are appearing on pretty much a daily basis. I’m not sure I will be able to stand it for another 12 months.
The Associated Press’s story of the day on Herman Cain relies on battlefield preparation that has been done over the last year by the far left: “Long ties to Koch brothers key to Cain’s campaign.” This is one of those wink-wink pieces; you wouldn’t really get the point unless you are aware of the left’s over-the-top campaign against Charles and David Koch, two of the very few seriously rich people who support conservative causes.
The story in the Associated Press goes on to list the various questionable associations between Herman Cain and the ‘evil’ Koch brothers. The Koch brothers are the force behind Americans for Prosperity, a group that supports conservative causes. Therefore the liberal media has painted a target on their backs. The media is also trying to link any Republican candidate they can to them–two birds with one stone.
The attack on Romney is more subtle. The article reports:
Try as it might, the Times (New York Times) is not able to put Romney in a particularly bad light. On the contrary, it appears clear that he was an unusually effective leader in this aspect of his life, as in all others. But the Times has a purpose: it wants to rally potential Obama voters who are appalled by the economic performance of the Obama administration, by letting them know that Romney is a man of deep religious conviction. This, to many readers of the NY Times, is weird. The Times hopes that the idea of Romney’s religious faith will horrify some voters even more than Obama’s policy failures. And, as to some liberal and atheist voters, it probably will.
The growth of the alternative media is not totally the result of brilliance on the part of those involved in it–it is the result of a mainstream media that has lost its way. I am hoping that the American voter is too smart to fall for the tricks the media will use to try to win a second term for President Obama. It’s a shame that the media cannot honestly report the accomplishments of President Obama and those candidates likely to run against him.
