Right Truth

Proof scientists were colluding to push man made global warming mantra

Debbie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:26:35 -0600

Here’s the story, briefly: Hadley CRU is one of the major climate change advocacy organizations. Hackers broke into its database and discovered more than a thousand emails and documents indicating that scientists were colluding with the organization to push the “man made global warming” mantra — irrespective of the actual data. Indeed, in many cases, it appears that the organization, sometimes working with the scientists, was falsifying the data to push the agenda. This stuff pre-dates Al Gore’s “frog in the blender” (or do I mean “frog in the boiling water”?) campaign, but it surely informs the campaign, which started shortly after and continued during this information creation period. (Bookworm Room)

Andrew Bolt at the Herald Sun blog has the story, he has the emails that were hacked and you can go here to read them and Bolt's commentary. We all knew that man made global warming was nothing but a hoax but this is beyond words. In one of Bolt's updates he provides the following:

The Hadley University of East Anglia CRU director admits the emails seem to be genuine:

The director of Britain’s leading Climate Research Unit, Phil Jones, has told Investigate magazine’s TGIF Edition tonight ..."It was a hacker. We were aware of this about three or four days ago that someone had hacked into our system and taken and copied loads of data files and emails."…

TGIF asked Jones about the controversial email discussing “hiding the decline”, and Jones explained what he was trying to say….
So the 1079 emails and 72 documents seem indeed evidence of a scandal involving most of the most prominent scientists pushing the man-made warming theory - a scandal that is one of the greatest in modern science. I’ve been adding some of the most astonishing in updates below - emails suggesting conspiracy, collusion in exaggerating warming data, possibly illegal destruction of embarrassing information, organised resistance to disclosure, manipulation of data, private admissions of flaws in their public claims and much more. If it is as it now seems, never again will “peer review” be used to shout down sceptics.
This is clearly not the work of some hacker, but of an insider who’s now blown the whistle.
Not surprising, then, that Steve McIntyre reports:
Earlier today, CRU cancelled all existing passwords. Actions speaking loudly.

The hacker is now believed to be an insider who’s now blown the whistle.(Sustainability Ninja)

Clarice Feldman at The American Thinker says there is " ... evidence of substantial fraud in reporting the "evidence" on global warming; the unlawful destruction of records to cover up this fraud ,conspiracy,and deceit in the entire operation."

You can bet there will be more on this in the next few day.

Thanks to all who brought this to my attention, including Marcus Wilder - The Naive Abroad and R.J.Godlewski.

Also see an excellent piece at The Reference Frame.

Gore Lied!

National Institute of Prevarication.

Orthodox Net.com Blog:

The conspiracy behind the Anthropogenic Global Warming myth (aka AGW) has been suddenly, brutally and quite deliciously exposed after a hacker broke into the computers at the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit (aka Hadley CRU) and released 61 megabytes of confidential files onto the internet. (Hat tip: Watts Up With That)
When you read some of those files – including 1079 emails and 72 documents – you realise just why the boffins at Hadley CRU might have preferred to keep them confidential. As Andrew Bolt puts it, this scandal could well be “the greatest in modern science”.

The Telegraph: Climategate: the final nail in the coffin of 'Anthropogenic Global Warming'?

From The Examiner:

The University of East Anglia's Hadley Climatic Research Centre appears to have suffered a security breach earlier today, when an unknown hacker apparently downloaded 1079 e-mails and 72 documents of various types and published them to an anonymous FTP server. These files appear to contain highly sensitive information that, if genuine, could prove extremely embarrassing to the authors of the e-mails involved. Those authors include some of the most celebrated names among proponents of the theory of anthropogenic global warming (AGW).
The FTP link first appeared on a blog called The Air Vent. The blog's owner, identified as "Jeff Id", downloaded the file, examined it, and posted a brief summary on his blog. Another commenter, identified as "Steven Mosher," passed the information on to Steven McIntyre's Climate Audit blog and to another blog, The Blackboard, run by a blogger identified as "Lucia." Most recently, blogger Anthony Watts, who runs a blog titled "Watts Up With That?" mentioned the FTP archive in his own blog.
Commentary on all the blogs involved has been brisk, except, oddly enough, at The Air Vent, where only seven comments have been received.
The FTP server is in a Russian domain and uses the anonymous FTP protocol, which does not require a pre-registered user account or password for downloading. The file is named FOI2009.zip, an apparent reference to US Public Law 89-554, 80 Stat. 383, the Freedom of Information Act. (continue at The Examiner)

Army bans press at Sarah Palin event

Debbie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:42:50 -0600

The US government is on the cusp of a takeover if the Senate can buy enough votes tomorrow to consider-to-consider the latest 2074 page health care bill. Read it here if you have the time. Take the time now to contact your politicians. Go here for contact information. Now to what the media would rather talk about, Sarah Palin. Never mind the mess the Obama administration is getting America into, his media would rather trash Sara.

Just do a Google news search or a web search and you will see a small sample of what's out there. Love her or hate her, Sarah Palin is what everybody is talking about. The article that really caught my attention is "Army fears anti-Obama politics at Palin Event". Tell me what you think about the statements contained in the article:

RALEIGH, N.C. – The U.S. Army plans to prevent media from covering Sarah Palin's appearance at Fort Bragg, fearing the event will turn into political grandstanding against President Barack Obama, officials said Thursday.
Fort Bragg spokesman Tom McCollum told The Associated Press that the military post's garrison commander and other Army officials had decided to keep media away from Palin's book signing, which will not include a speech.
The AP and The Fayetteville Observer were protesting the decision to ban media.
"The law couldn't be clearer about this," said AP Associate General Counsel Dave Tomlin. "The government can't admit the general public but keep journalists out."
McCollum said the Army did not want the Monday event to become a platform to express political opinions "directed against the commander in chief."
"The main reason is to stop this from turning into a political platform," he said. "There are Army regulations that basically prohibit military reservations from becoming political platforms by politicians."
He said only one politician can use that platform, "and that person does it as our commander in chief."

"Excuse me" was my first reaction, but as I read on I think I understand the Army's position. They can't decide whether Palin is a politician or not. Technically she is not, she is just a citizen.

Fort Bragg does not hold many promotional events, especially not with political figures, McCollum said. He added that politicians do come onto Fort Bragg in their official capacity to meet with troops or do private events, but not to hold forums or give speeches. He said the Army was fine allowing Palin to do her event, so long as it didn't become a stage for a public political discussion via the media.

Burning Down the Straw Man

Debbie — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:57:42 -0600

Burning Down the Straw Man

By Paul A. Ibbetson

As has been the case for many years, and especially most recently, the charge is that conservatives are falsely railing against a straw man in their observations and accusations leveled against the activities of liberals, and the Obama administration. Before I address this situation directly, let’s take a moment to look at what is meant by the term “straw man.”

The concept of the “straw man” is the observation of the deceptive capability of humankind. When an individual wants to divert attention from a true issue, a false or irrelevant topic is created and attacked, and by doing so, advantage (if not victory) is achieved through such an argument. This is a mixture of misdirection and deception, and in layman’s terms, a battle waged against things that just aren’t there. Defending against the straw man charge is problematic. For conservatives that have the fortitude to stand up to the Obama administration’s attacks on this country, it is not just the repercussions brought forth by angry liberals that are a problem. Going beyond those attacks is the challenge for conservatives to constantly disprove the straw man; that is, that the threats facing this nation being brought forth by the most aggressive socialistic pushers of modern day are more than the fictitious creations of a minority party wishing to grab back the reins of political power.

When it comes to battling the accusations from the left that conservatives are simply attacking a straw man, the strategy liberals have in play is for those who wish to stand up for this country to spend endless time trying to prove the obvious - that this administration is about to destroy the country. This is the epitome of hypocrisy, even from the left which has hit some really highs lately, hitting below the belt pertaining to the best interest of this country. This does not mean that illusionary constructions are not taking place to deceive the public. What it does mean is that the biggest scams on reality today are not coming from the demonized gun toting, Bible-clinging conservatives. Here are the real culprits and the straw man illusionary constructions they are spinning, and why they must be stopped sooner - not later.

The biggest false reality and misdirection that is being framed across the United States is that we, the American people, are living in a state of normalcy and the greatest nation on Earth is being guided by a President, with a supporting cast of politicians, who aspire to promote the continual prosperity of a capitalistic Christian nation. The most deadly of illusions being forwarded daily to the public, and with extreme efficiency, I believe, is the notion that this nation can survive any and all actions of abuse heaped upon it. It’s time to remove the veil of deceit before the face of this country and let all the straw men burn until nothing but the truth stands before us. The truth, unfortunately, is that we are all in big trouble. As the nation goes, we go.

In a country where the waters of the “well of the benefit of the doubt” run deep, President Barack Obama has drawn every drop in his short tenure as commander and chief of the United States. From his lips alone, he has rejected America as a Christian nation and washed his hands of the Biblical (if not humanity’s) responsibility for the unborn. This same president has indebted the nation to our economic opponents to amounts the human mind can no longer fathom, and the numbers keep increasing by the second. Through his minions found in the radical, left-leaning Democrat Party, this president is attempting to socialize the very existence of every man, woman, and child within our borders and bring them to their knees as modern-day slaves.

The question of the acceptance of a fabricated illusion of normality versus the cold reality of impending doom and chaos is nothing new as it has been the unfortunate choice for people throughout history, such as the Romans in the time of Caligula, the Soviets in the time Stalin, the Germans in the time of Hitler, the Iraqis in the time of Hussein, and now the Americans in the time of Obama. The tyrants, methods of destruction, and illusions spun to quell revolt may change but the inevitable outcomes remain the same. Slavery, pain, suffering, economic and physical death have consistently been the end product.

The American people stand in a historical place where others have been before. A place where once a myriad of choices stood, having been squandered, now only the most basic remain. As those before us have had to decide, we can choose to languish in an illusion that all is well, that all will be well, until the bloody end, or we can collectively take up the mantle of responsibility and meet the forces of destruction and unseat them from power and stop the deadly tide that will inevitably destroy us. Let all the straw men burn with their adjoining deceptions despite who may be their creators as this country can no longer afford illusionary constructions when our current situation is so near, real, and dangerous.

Paul A. Ibbetson is a former Chief of Police of Cherryvale, Kansas, and member of the Montgomery County Drug Task Force. Paul received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Criminal Justice at Wichita State University, and is currently completing his PhD. in sociology at Kansas State University. Paul is the author of the books Living Under The Patriot Act: Educating A Society and Feeding Lions: Sharing The Conservative Philosophy In A Politically Hostile World. Paul is also the radio host of the Kansas Broadcasting Association’s 2008 and 2009 Entertainment Program of the Year, Conscience of Kansas airing on KSDB Manhattan 91.9 f.m. www.ibbetsonusa.com. For interviews or questions, please contact ibbetson91.9@gmail.com

A bottle of wine a day keeps the doctor away

Debbie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:35:03 -0600

It used to be that an apple a day kept the doctor away, but now it's a bottle of wine, any wine. Sounds like more fun than an apple. According to the Telegraph, "Drinking up to a bottle of wine a day cuts the risk of developing heart disease in men by half, controversial new research has found." Do you know what's wrong with that statement and with the study?

As with most "studies", one must look at what the study actually says and also at who conducted the study and how it was conducted. The study concluded that:

Drinking anything between a quarter of a glass of wine up to a bottle a day reduces the risk of heart disease.

There's a big difference in a quarter of a glass and a bottle. Does drinking a full bottle increase your benefits? Nope.

Experts warned that the protective effect against heart disease did not get bigger the more people drank but the risk of cancer, accidents, mental health problems and liver cirrhosis do increase with high consumption.
The protective effect did not increase significantly the more people drank and those with the highest consumption,11 units or more – the equivalent to over one bottle of red wine a day – still had a 50 per cent lower chance of heart disease.

Where was the study, which included 41,000 people between the ages of 29 and 69, conducted?

The study, published in the journal Heart, was conducted in Spain, one of the world's largest producers of wine but with one of the lowest death rates from heart disease.

That must have been one fun study, where do we sign up?

It's not just wine, it's any kind of alcohol:

The effects were seen for all forms of alcohol and were not limited to red wine, which previous research has suggested was especially protective for the heart because of substances in the skins of red grapes.

Now that I have informed you of this most worthy information, I'm going to get me a margarita and keep my heart healthy. Cheers!

The Tactical Citizen’s Guide to Understanding Improvised Explosive Devices

Debbie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:35:10 -0600

The Tactical Citizen’s Guide to Understanding Improvised Explosive Devices

by R.J. Godlewski

May 18th, 1927. Bath, Michigan. Andrew P. Kehoe, frustrated by a pending foreclosure on his ranch and infuriated over high taxes levied upon him to pay for the tiny village‟s school, tied his wife to a small milk cart, bludgeoned her to death, and then set his farm ablaze with her body still tied near the rickety hen coup. He loaded his truck with dynamite and old, rusty machinery and drove to the crowded school just eight miles northeast of Lansing and detonated the vehicle. Thirty-eight children and six adults were killed in all, including the Kehoes. It was the worst ever intentional mass killing of schoolchildren in the United States. A few days later, Charles Lindbergh successfully crossed the Atlantic and the devastation in Michigan quickly retreated from the frontlines of newsworthy stories. The devastation had simply disappeared into history as fast as it had erupted.

The devastating effectiveness of improvised explosive devices (IED) – whether of the vehicular- (VBIED) or pedestrian-borne (PBIED) variety – is definitely not a new phenomenon by any stretch of the imagination. The “Philosophy of the Bomb”, indeed, has been around almost from the moment that man first fused raw hatred with gunpowder.1 Today, the destructive power of the IED is nearly limitless – such as the 2,000-pound tamper-proof device that destroyed Harvey‟s Casino in 1980.2 In the eternal battle between Chechnyan separatists and Russian soldiers, IEDs took on several designs that would appear years later in Iraq. These included books that detonated when opened, beer cans that blew up when the tab was pulled, and flashlights that killed their users when turned on.3

The word “improvised” bears scrutiny. Any object that you come into contact with may conceal explosives. A soda can, a leather satchel, a delivery van, or, more disturbingly, the body of any one of the shoppers passing you by while you shop. How will you know? How will you know that the iPod® being enjoyed by the fellow sitting next to you on the bus isn‟t really packed with explosives? What about the new air conditioning unit being installed within your office? What of the fire extinguisher sitting a few feet away from your desk at this very moment? The truth is, you simply can‟t. Not unless you remain one step ahead of the terrorists out to kill you and therein remains a significant challenge. How do you know from where a terrorist is likely to attack? By understanding what is “normal” within your environment, and what is not. (continue reading, pdf)

Note from Debbie:

I can't think of a better time for this article-- with terrorists being brought from Guantanamo Bay Cuba to New York City for trial, with Muslims in the military turning to jihad, to make readers aware of the threat from IED's here in the US. You may say, "oh it can never happen here, to me..." but you would be wrong.

Experts in terrorism have been predicting in recent years that it is just a matter of time before suicide bombers, IED's, and similar terror acts taking place in the Middle East and other places, will be active here in the United States. Being aware of what they look like, how to identify and get the right people to disarm them quickly, or being able to get people around you to safety, is your personal responsibility. Please go read the entire article (pdf), then you can come back here and leave R.J. Godlewski your comments.

And don't you just love that image he created! -- Debbie

While you‟re at it, support the Wounded EOD Warrior project at http://www.woundedeodwarrior.org/

Cultural Revolution in America

Debbie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:54:46 -0600

Cultural Revolution in America

by Gwendolyn Kik at American Daughter

Antonio Gramsci was an Italian marxist who made a plan for the insidious erosion of freedom without overt hostility.

Socialism is precisely the religion that must overwhelm Christianity. … In the new order, Socialism will triumph by first capturing the culture via infiltration of schools, universities, churches and the media by transforming the consciousness of society. ~~ Antonio Gramsci, 1915

Antonio Gramsci was an Italian marxist, who sought to explain exactly why the revolution predicted by Marx had not yet materialized. His conclusion was that the church and the values held by the people were the deterrent. While in prison Gramsci wrote extensively, laying out plans for the overthrow of a capitalistic society. Rather than overtaking the political and economic system by force, his strategy was more subtle and sinister.

The first step, in Gramsci’s view, is to transform the ideology of the people. His means include using education, the media, and setting up separate organizations whose goal is to manipulate the masses into mindsets that are receptive to marxist ideals. Once traditional/Christian mores have been corrupted and the nuclear family destroyed, the citizens of society will be willing to accept the “new ideas” of the progressive leadership without question.

The second prong of Gramsci’s approach is then, using the democratic process itself, to overtake the government by the will of the people. Where Marx called for defiant “revolution” from the bottom up, the revolution of Gramsci is a top-down model whereby leaders with marxist ideology infiltrate the political parties and enforce their will upon the people.

While many conservatives have been discussing Saul Alinsky and the influence he has had on the current administration, I believe Alinsky only lays out some general guidelines for achieving “social justice.” Gramsci’s model is very specific, global, and extremely relevant to our current political climate in the United States.

Some of the policies and tactics of the Obama Administration have seemed indefensible and unexplainable, even by members of the Democratic party. Our answer to the recession is to spend more money? Asking the news networks to disregard Fox News as a “legitimate” news source? Ramming through health care legislation that is opposed by the majority of American citizens?

None of this seems to make sense … until you are introduced to Antonio Gramsci. I’m anxiously devouring the book Shadow World by Robert Chandler. Chandler is a retired veteran who has been a strategist for the Air Force, the White House, the Departments of State, Defense, Energy, and Justice, and the CIA. Chandler’s book is NOT about President Obama, but actually about the subtle takeover by communist thought in America since the 1920s and the progressive plan for our future.

Chandler lays out the history and migration of communists from Russia coming to America early in the 20th century with plans for transforming our society. These very players clung to the pattern laid out by Gramsci, and began to set up well-funded, non-profit entities to further their goals. These are organizations for affecting public policy, infiltrating and overcoming the university classrooms, changing the economy and creating government dependents, for affecting law through lobbying and legal action and a host of other “fronts” for communist activity.

Many of these organizations exist today, long shedding the labels of “marxist” or “communist” thought. Instead, their agenda is cloaked in the idea of “social justice” or “liberation.” The titles of these organizations sound so wonderful: Center for Constitutional Rights, National Lawyers Guild, Fellowship of Reconciliation, or the Center for National Security Studies. But their very existence is due, in part, to the foundation of the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), which was formed in 1963, and continues to found such leftist organizations.

The Institute for Policy Studies was founded by Samuel Rubin, a dedicated communist, and Phillip Stern (with family members indicted of spying for the Soviets) and is located in Washington, D.C. This think-tank has long beed dedicated to the establishment of a socialist society in America. To further this effort, Rubin and Stern later created the Transnational Institute (TNI) to carry the vision to the world at large. While it is difficult to find a stand-alone Mission Statement for these organizations, such terms as “effective action,” “just security,” “social equity,” and “environmental solutions” to protect the “commons,” are a thinly veiled disguise for promoting their one-world marxist utopia through arms reduction, green justice, worldwide wealth re-distribution and a host of other “effective solutions.”

Shadow World lays out the framework that has been pursued by IPS and TNI, a.k.a. the strategy of Antonio Gramsci:

Ten steps toward an American progressive-socialist-marxist civil society:

change the popular consensus by destroying christianity, the traditional family, and existing social mores

transform the culture by installing a radical Left mind control

attain political power by imposing strict control of the military and law enforcement

restrict freedom by socializing the economy

erase American sovreignty by embracing a world without borders

attain political power by winning democratic elections

dominate both Houses of Congress

restrict freedom of the press and expression

enforce a massive redistribution of wealth from the private and public sector

limit freedom of speech, religion, right to bear arms, and state’s rights

From p.309, Shadow World, by Robert Chandler

Mind you, this book was published in 2008, so there is no way that Chandler could have foreseen the extent to which President Obama’s agenda would so closely follow the Gramsci pattern. When you look at this list, do you not see a representation of the ideology driving the Obama Administration? To what end are we reaching?

Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals is indeed part of Barack Obama’s philosophy. But Rules for Radicals merely gives the day to day solutions for facing conflict on the road to revolution. Antonio Gramsci provides us with the larger picture of transformation — from capitalism to progressive-socialism-marxism. Alinsky shows us how to drive the car, but Gramsci shows us the map of where we have been, where we are and where we are going. God help us, for where we are going.

Please share and recommend this book and information to anyone who will listen. These are historical facts that explain current events in no uncertain terms. We must be aware, we must be vigilant, we must be prayerful for the protection of our freedoms and for the future of the United States of America.

Unilateralism Is Our Only Option

Debbie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:47:51 -0600

Unilateralism Is Our Only Option

By Ted Belman, Israpundit

Last August, PM Salam Fayyad released a Plan to “establish Palestine as an independent, democratic, progressive, and modern Arab state, with full sovereignty over its territory in the West Bank and Gaza, on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.” within two years. Israel took little notice of it.
In early November Haaretz reported it included a secret provision which stipulated a “unilateral declaration of independence”. Then Israel took notice and said ‘If PA Declares State, Israel Will Annex Settlements’.

“If the Palestinians take such a unilateral line, Israel should also consider … passing a law to annex some of the settlements,” Environment Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) said.

MK Danon says that Israel must not settle for annexing settlement blocs, but must rather annex Judea and Samaria in their entirety, except for Arab cities.

Minister Erdan also said Israel has the option of tightening up travel restrictions for Arabs and stopping the transmission of tax money that the Israeli government currently transfers to the Palestinian Authority - money that is collected by Israel for the PA.

Meanwhile, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) and Minister Landau have taken action to introduce bills for annexing Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

The PA also threatening to seek the formal endorsement of the UN but the Eu and the US have turned thumbs down on the issue.

So far Israel has been adamantly against abrogating the Oslo Accords no matter what the provocation. After 15 years of trying to negotiate a deal, perhaps its time for Israel to do so and the PA unilateral declaration, should it happen, could be just the pretext, if pretext is needed.
Everyone knows that there is no diplomatic solutions. Neither party is willing to make the necessary compromises. That’s why the PA talks about a unilateral declaration and the EU and some in the US talk about an imposed solution. Israel also is contemplating a unilateral solution. What might that be?
According to the remarks above, it would involve annexing parts, if not all Judea and Samaria. No land would have to be conquered. Israel has already annexed Jerusalem and the Golan and could do the same for other settlements such as Ariel and Maaleh Adumin and perhaps the Jordan Valley. At a minimum it would signal that these settlements, like Jerusalem, are non-negotiable. (continue reading at Israpundit)

Also see:

The Jewish Taliban in Jerusalem -- Jewish Woman Arrested for Praying in a Prayer Shawl, Dr. Phyllis Chesler

Afghanistan, Iraq Rated Among Most Corrupt Nations, AINA

The Month Before Christmas

Debbie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:58:28 -0600

*Twas the month before Christmas*

*When all through our land,*

*Not a Christian was praying*

*Nor taking a stand.*

*See the PC Police had taken away,*

*The reason for Christmas - no one could say.*

*The children were told by their schools not to sing,*

*About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.*

*It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say*

* December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.*

*Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit*

*Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!*

*CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod*

*Something was changing, something quite odd! *

*Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa*

*In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.*

*As Targets were hanging their trees upside down*

* At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.*

*At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears*

*You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.*

*Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty*

*Are words that were used to intimidate me.*

*Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen*

*On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !*

*At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter*

*To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.*

*And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith*

* Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace*

*The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded*

*The reason for the season, stopped before it started.*

*So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'*

*Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.*

*Choose your words carefully, choose what you say*

*Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS ,

not Happy Holiday !*

Please, all Christians join together and

wish everyone you meet

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christ is The Reason' for the Christ-mas Season!

The above is old but the message is still true this year. Pass it along to your friends. Now below you will find some great posts and an opportunity to have your articles on the Watcher of Weasels site:

COUNCIL NEWS: Only Another Black Conservative won the privilege this week of wining honorable mention on the Watcher’s Council page this week by taking advantage of our link whorage opportunity.

Here’s how you do it:

Make a post on your site linking to this week’s Council winners

Send me an e-mail with the subject line ‘link whorage’ at rmill2k@msn.com with a link to that post and a link to a new piece you’ve written that you want to appear here.

The increased traffic and the resulting fame and glory are all yours!

So, without further ado let’s see what we have this week….

Council Submissions

Soccer Dad - I am not a schnook
Joshuapundit - The Afghan Shuffle
Right Truth- When Muslims Attack
Bookworm Room - The perils of an affirmative action president
The Provocateur - The definitive dossier of Dr. Chacko
The Colossus of Rhodey - The Messiah still in “blame the US” mode in Japan
The Razor - The Ignorance of the Obama Administration
Rhymes With Right - On Judicial Confirmations
The Glittering Eye - Setting Priorities on Carbon Reduction
Mere Rhetoric - Carter II: Obama’s Losing Turkey To Political Islam

Honorable Mentions

Another Black Conservative - Doug Hoffman Unconcedes NY 23 Race

Non-Council Submissions

Submitted By: The Watcher – Powerline- Blind Pig finds Acorn
Submitted By: Soccer Dad – Middle East Strategy at Harvard - How the Saudis radicalized U.S. troops
Submitted By: Joshuapundit – Melanie Phillips - Everything’s Clear To Me Now
Submitted By: Right Truth – GrEaT sAtAnS GiRlFrIeNd - 2nd Hand Buzz
Submitted By: Bookworm Room – Flopping Aces - America’s War of Aggression Against Muslims Confirmed by Abuse Photos
Submitted By: The Provocateur – The Rosisitance - The lawyer in the White House and the spy in federal prison giving away national security secrets
Submitted By: The Colossus of Rhodey – The American - Economic Prosperity: A Step of Faith
Submitted By: The Razor – Common Cents - A Tale Of Two Bows
Submitted By: Rhymes With Right – Big Government - Obama Ally Code Pink targets children of military families for abuse
Submitted By: The Glittering Eye – Thomas Lifson/American Thinker - Obama’s Botched Bow
Submitted By: Mere Rhetoric – HotAir Pundit - President Obama vs. The Rest of the World Greeting The Emperor of Japan

It's a Nuclear, Nuclear, World...

Debbie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:41:39 -0600

You probably remember the nuclear site in Syria that the Israelis took out. That seems to be the tip of the nuclear iceberg. (more below) You may also remember Iranian General Ali Reza Asgari who suddenly disappeared from Iran, is reported to have defected to the West and is now being held in prison in Israel. Asgari was very knowledgeable about Iran's nuclear program and could be very helpful to the Israelis.

According to the report, an investigation by Iranian security officials showed that "Asgari was kidnapped by the Mossad in cooperation with the British and German intelligence services, and was ultimately transferred to Israel."
The report was published on the "Alef" news website, which is affiliated with conservative parliament member Ahmad Tavakkoli, one of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's main critics. (via email, hat tip Michael)

The Last Crusade points out recent reports on nukes, click the links to read the articles:

IAEA inspects nuclear research reactor in Syria

IAEA wants to inspect three secret Syrian nuclear sites

Three more secret Syrian nuclear sites? And just who is behind these sites? North Korea? Iran? Both? Hezbollah?

India’s nuclear plants on alert for possible terror attack

Iran digs hundreds of missile silos – some for misdirection

REPORT: Pakistan has more nukes than India

Saudi Arabia and France Discuss Nuclear Development As Iran Moves Forward (Realite EU)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has started a one-day-trip to Saudi Arabia, in order to meet with King Abdallah in Riyadh. [1] Among other issues such as the Middle East peace process, the two leaders are also expected to discuss the Iranian nuclear weapons development program. [2]

Also on Sarkozy’s agenda during his visit is the signing of an agreement on peaceful nuclear cooperation between Saudi Arabia and France that could lead to the sale of French atomic energy technology to the Gulf kingdom. [3]

However, it seems that the kingdom intents to build up its own nuclear capacities as well. In August 2009 Saudi minister Abdullah Al Hosain disclosed to the Saudi daily Al Watan, that a research center in Riyadh is currently working on plans for Saudi Arabia's first nuclear plant. [4]

Alirza Nurizadeh, an expert from the Arab-Iranian Center for Strategic Studies in London states that such an initiative by Saudi Arabia counters Iranian nuclear ambitions. Mustafa Ozjan, a Turkish Middle East analyst concurs: "the construction of nuclear power plant in Saudi Arabia is a response to Iran's attempts to become a nuclear power in the region." [5]

On March 3rd 2009 Saudi Foreign Minister at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo called for a joint Arab strategy, a common vision to deal with the "Iranian challenge" including its nuclear drive. [6]

On December 16, 2008, Saudi Arabia and other GCC states met with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany to express their concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and to support for the efforts of the six world powers to pressure Iran to halt potential nuclear-weapon development activities. [7] The Saudi Prince Saud al-Faisal urged Iran to comply with its nuclear obligations to spare the Middle East "devastating conflicts, futile arms races and serious environmental hazards."

On March 29, 2008, Saudi Arabia's leading newspaper Okra Reports wrote that the Saudi Shura Council is preparing "national plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards that may affect the kingdom following experts' warnings of possible attacks on Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactors." [8]

Iran triggering arms race in the region

Iran’s developing missile program and test firing, in defiance of UN Security Council Resolutions, causes grave regional security concerns and has cascading effects on leading GCC states particularly Saudi Arabia, to bulk up their militaries. [9]

Saudi Arabia, like other GCC states, has massively improved its deterrence capacity with conventional weapons. Since 2003, Arab military spending has increased to unprecedented levels. The weapons purchased by the GCC states seem well-suited to counter Iranian threats. [10] Saudi Arabia is procuring long-range strike fleets, refueling capabilities, and standoff weapons. It signed agreements to buy at least seventy-two state-of-the-art fighter aircraft. [11] In a deal worth $1.5 billion, the Royal Saudi Air Forces asked the Pentagon to upgrade its AWACS and aerial tanker aircraft with advanced communications and surveillance/ air traffic management systems. [12]

Saudi Arabia along other GCC states strengthen security alliances with Western countries. In 2006, the U.S. launched a Gulf Security Dialogue in which bilateral military committees increase U.S.-GCC security cooperation. [13]

Diplomatic relations

Since the establishment of the Shiite Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iran have had an increasingly difficult relationship. [14] Saudi Arabia fears a nuclear Iran with growing influence of Shiite populations in surrounding neighbor states and inside the kingdom itself. Officials in Riyadh feel that Tehran is threatening the physical security of the Saudi kingdom and even banding together with the Shiite population, which lives in the oil rich regions of Eastern Saudi Arabia. [15] Saudi Arabia is also involved in an extensive number of proxy-wars with Iran: In Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan, Yemen and other places. Experts say that the confrontation between the two strong powers in the region can increase if one of the sides transfers to the military use of nuclear energy. [16]
Footnotes below the fold:

[1] "Nicolas Sarkozy en Arabie saoudite pour une visite de 24 heures," AOL Actualités, November 17, 2009, http://actualite.aol.fr/actualite-france/nicolas-sarkozy-en-arabie-saoudite-pour/article/2009111715432461947236

[2] "Sarkozy urges Middle East peace talks," Agence France Presse, November 17, 2009, http://www.france24.com/en/node/4926938

[3] Michel Abu Najm: "France and Saudi Arabia to Sign Nuclear Cooperation Deal," Asharq al-Awsat, August 30, 2009, http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=17943

[4] Soren Billing: "Saudi eyeing first nuclear reactor," Arabian Business, August 20, 2009, http://www.arabianbusiness.com/565401-saudi-reported-to-be-planning-first-nuclear-reactor

[5] U. Sadikhova: "Development of Saudi Arabia's nuclear program can lead to confrontation with Iran: experts," Trend News, August 24, 2009, http://en.trend.az/news/politics/foreign/1527840.html

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Kate Amlin: "Will Saudi Arabia Acquire Nuclear Weapons?," NTI, August 2008, http://www.nti.org/e_research/e3_40a.html

[9] U. Sadikhova: "Development of Saudi Arabia's nuclear program can lead to confrontation with Iran: experts," Trend News, August 24, 2009, http://en.trend.az/news/politics/foreign/1527840.html

[10] "Arab States Back Pressure on Iran, Rice Says," Global Security Newswire, December 17, 2008, http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20081217_2217.php

[11] Chris Floyd: "US Attack on Iran: Worried Yet? Saudis Prepare for 'Sudden Nuclear Hazards' After Cheney Visit,” Global research website, March 31, 2008, http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8494

[12] Each of the following UN SC resolutions requiring Iran to constrain the development of its sensitive technologies in support of nuclear and missile programs: 1835 (September 2008), 1696 ( July 2006), 1737 (December 2006), 1747 (March 2007), and 1803 (March 2008).

[13] Tariq Khaitous: "Arab Reactions to a Nuclear-Armed Iran," The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, June 2009, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/pubPDFs/PolicyFocus94.pdf

[14] Tariq Khaitous: "Arab Reactions to a Nuclear-Armed Iran," The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, June 2009, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/pubPDFs/PolicyFocus94.pdf

[15] "Gulf states seek U.S. aircraft, upgrades," UPI, August 18, 2009, http://www.upi.com/Security_Industry/2009/08/18/Gulf-states-seek-US-aircraft-upgrades/UPI-81421250610737/

[16] Tariq Khaitous: "Arab Reactions to a Nuclear-Armed Iran," The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, June 2009, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/pubPDFs/PolicyFocus94.pdf

Bill To Stop KSM US Trial

Debbie — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:02:29 -0600

Congressman Louie Gohmert (R. Tex) is proposing a bill that would prevent terrorists and enemy combatants from being brought to the United States to be tried or imprisoned. This is in response to US President Barack Obama's decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others from Guantanamo Bay Cuba to New York City for trial and the efforts to create a terrorist prison in Illinois or other US states.

Gohmert believes Congress has the right to prevent these terrorists from being tried in US courts. I hope he is right, I hope the bill passes. I will post video when it is available.

64% of Americans do NOT want the terrorists tried on American soil:

This weekend, Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) called people who oppose criminal trials in federal court for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the 9/11 plotters“un-American.” It turns out that there is an epidemic of this lack of patriotism, according to CNN. Their latest poll asked the question of how to handle KSM, and 64% took the “un-American” position of backing military tribunals... (Hot Air)

Count me in that 64%

Controlling Information...

Debbie — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:40:07 -0600

US President Barack Obama has ordered a clamp down on information from various intelligence agencies on Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, instructing the National Security Council to be the only agency issuing news updates, according to Fox News. Is this another attempt by Obama to pick and choose what information gets out, to keep Americans from knowing everything.

The Defense Department is launching a broad investigation -- Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the probe will reach all corners of the Pentagon, ... that the issues raised by the case of accused shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan are larger than the Army. (CBS) Will the media get any real information about the results of this investigation or simply what Obama wants them to hear? The Army will be conducting it's own investigation.

As to those killed by Hasan, a new bill would award those in the military the purple heart, be granted the same legal status as combatant casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq and non-military victims could receive the Secretary of Defense Medal of Freedom -- the civilian equivalent of the Purple Heart. (CNN)

The bill was introduced by Texas GOP Rep. John Carter, who represents Fort Hood in the House of Representatives.

"As far as I'm concerned, this was an attack by an enemy upon American troops on American soil," Carter said Tuesday at a Capitol Hill news conference.
The bill "is about giving soldiers the benefits that other soldiers get when they are unfortunate enough to be killed or wounded in a combat zone."
Granting combatant status would also guarantee beneficiaries of military service members killed in the attack can receive the maximum life insurance benefit, according to Carter's office.

The Europeans are disappointed with Barack Obama. Many voters are disappointed with Obama. September 11, 2001 families are angry with Obama. Now the media should be angry with Obama.

When Muslims Attack

Debbie — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:37:39 -0600

"When Muslims become a majority even in one part of a country where Christians are the majority, they become very vocal, extremist and radicalized," Jonathan Racho of International Christian Concern said. Christians and mission groups are concerned about the growing violence from Muslims in Uganda (and all around the globe) after the latest attack on Christian worshipers near the capital city of Kampala, that injured several and destroyed property.

The Joshua Project, a Christian missions think-tank and research group, puts the number of Christians among Uganda’s 32 million residents at 88.6 percent. Muslims make up about 6 percent of the total population, with pockets where they are the majority.
But even with those small numbers, Uganda has a history of supporting Islam.
"Uganda is a member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which means that Uganda serves to uphold Muslim values and even supports Islam in the United Nations,...

"Christian minorities in the Muslim-dominated areas of Uganda frequently suffer persecution at the hands of the Muslim majority,"... (WND, hat tip David)

The above is true. However, as we have seen over and over, where Muslims are the minority these attacks still take place. So we must be able to identify the enemy from the friend. How do you identify a moderate Muslim from and extremist?

Melanie Phillips says, "I do indeed think that the issue that defines true Muslim moderation is the absence of hostility towards Israel and, by extension, the Jewish people."... "... even among Muslims who would never have any truck with Sharia law or Islamist violence, theologically-based prejudice against Israel and the Jews runs very deep indeed."

But what about those Muslims who are obviously radical and yet no one does anything to stop them, as with Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who wrote "about suicide bombing (which he preferred to call martyrdom) and compared the bravery of the Japanese Kamakazis to Islamic martyrdom"?

The U.S. is attempting to protect Islamic populations, while training Muslim police and soldiers to fight the jihadists. Hasan moved from merely advocating the enemy’s position, which the Army was hesitant to curtail because it might be deemed a violation of his liberal rights to free thought and expression, to joining the fight when he felt forced to make a choice in the face of his impending deployment to a combat zone as part of the American war effort.
There are some 15,000 other Muslims in the U.S. armed forces, but as long as they fight for America, their religion ought not to be an issue. But those who would work to turn their allegiance elsewhere, based on a religious or ideological appeal, must be dealt with as enemy agents and traitors. They must not be allowed to spread their anti-American hatred lest it trigger new acts of violence and terror. (William R. Hawkins)

Political correctness aided the death of 13 people and one unborn baby, and yet President Barack Obama is trying to control the message, control the agenda. There are reasons he does not want investigations into Hasan and at the same time is bringing 9/11 terrorist KSM and four others to New York City.

1) Stop people from focusing in how his administration permitted the worst domestic terror attack in eight years.

2) Avoid a national airing of how liberal policies – restraints on the intelligence community, political correctness in the armed forces -- might have inhibited the military from reining in Hasan.

3) Re-ignite a firestorm on the left and abroad against the aggressive anti-terror policies of the Bush administration. (Dick Morris)

America has some soul searching to do when it comes to our future. We can open our eyes and see the enemy, name the enemy, identify those who might be the enemy, and bring them into the light so whatever their evil plans are they can be stopped before anyone is harmed or killed. Americans have a great capacity for love, understanding, forgiveness. One example is shared by Chuck Norris who, with his wife and children, went to Brooke Army Medical Center to visit and encourage the wounded troops, only to find that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was also there.

... How can one put into words the pride one feels around these brave men and women? Despite the loss of limbs or suffering from some other sacrifice in battle, their resolve and class were off the charts. They were enthusiastic and grateful about our visit, but it was my wife and I who were truly blessed and inspired by them.

Then came a moment that would have been completely surreal if it had not been a staggering reality. As we were visiting the burn unit, we discovered that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the shooter at Fort Hood who murdered 13 and wounded another 30, was being treated in the same facility. To be honest, it made me sick to my stomach and sent shivers of disgust down my spine.
If ever I have experienced a polar opposite, it was in the moment when I was thinking about how Hasan is the sheer antithesis to the character, commitment and service of all the other men and women we met at West Point and Fort Sam Houston. I was equally moved by the civic servants and military medical staff, many of whom knew victims of this assassin yet turned immediately around and became his caregivers. (Townhall)

Amen to that.

Moderate Arab Islamists struggle to steer a democratic course
Splits within the Arab world’s foremost Islamist opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, with its ties to Muslim communities in Germany and elsewhere, could be signs that the group is not interested in democracy. For much of its 80-year history, the Muslim Brotherhood's very name symbolized promotion of a violent, anti-western movement bent on strict imposition of Islamic law. Much of the first generation of the current violent Islamist movements trace their roots to the Brotherhood and were inspired by the organization's radical ideologues.

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi invites 500 Italian women to villa and lectures them on Islam
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi invited hundreds of attractive Italian "hostesses" to a villa in Rome last night for an evening at which he urged them to convert to Islam and told them Christianity was based on a fraud, Italian reports said today. The Libyan leader is in Italy to attend a United Nations summit on world food security. Reports said that Colonel Gaddafi's aides phoned an agency which provides elegantly dressed young women to act as hospitality staff at events.

No TV, no music, beards a must: new rules in a Gujarat riot relief camp

A London-based charity that set up a rehabilitation colony for Muslim victims who lost their homes in Gujarat’s 2002 riots is laying down a hard “Sharia law” for those living there — forcing many to pack up and leave. The Muslim Relief Organisation, run by NRI businessmen in London, built 46 houses in Detral, a village in Bharuch, for families of riot victims. Now it has imposed a blanket ban on what it calls “shaitani” (devilish) things such as TV, music systems and all forms of electronic entertainment.

In contrast:

President Sarkozy says 'no place' for burqa in secular France
President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday again insisted that the head-to-toe veil worn by some Muslim women had no place in secular France. "France is a country where there is no place for the burka, where there is no place for the subservience of women," he said in a major speech on French national identity.

"Don't miss: Terror in Mumbai, a documentary about the terrorist activities in Mumbai last year will premiere on HBO Thursday night. Terror in Mumbai features exclusive intercepted audio tapes of the cell phone calls between the terrorists and their controllers in Pakistan, as well as interrogation footage of the sole surviving gunman. (more)

(Image via Don Surber, click to enlarge)

Warning: Health Care Reform Is Dangerous To Your Health. Avoid All Contact.

Debbie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:29:52 -0600

by Debbie Hamilton

In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress.--John Adams

We do have to wonder about our elected officials. Sometimes it seems as if they suffer from invasion of the body snatchers or a brain transplant when they get to Washington D.C. They spend money they don't have, they take over private businesses, they continue to expand the nanny state. Our politicians could take at least one lesson from Sweeden's Enterprise and Energy Minister Maud Olofsson who said, "Voters picked me because they wanted nursery schools, police and nurses, and not to buy loss-making car factories."

The Swedish government said on Wednesday it would not intervene to take over Saab. Enterprise Minister Maud Olofsson slammed Saab's US owner General Motors for "abandoning" the struggling Swedish car maker. (The Local Sweeden's News in English, hat tip Marcus Wilder)

Voters have only themselves to blame. We live in a society that is ignorant of the issues, they don't really know who it is they are electing, what they stand for and what their policies will do to the country and her citizens. We live in a society that needs warning labels on everything, including baseball bats, to keep people from doing stupid things. Why does a lawn mower have a warning on it not to put your feet or fingers near the blades when the mower is running? Because someone has already done that, hurt themselves and sued the mower manufacturer for tons of money. Plastic laundry bags carry a warning not to let children play with them. Shouldn't parents already know this or are they too stupid to consider the consequences -- the child could suffocate?

This type thinking leads to the terribly misguided notion that behind every tragedy lies a lawsuit. And that brings us to the main problem with health care costs today. With all the thousands and thousands of pages of proposed health reform, the main problem of tort reform isn't being addressed.

We're told that health care for everybody is a moral imperative...

Such is the case with liberal Democrats and their insistence that the moral laws of the universe – laws that have been with us since God breathed life into man (or as some would have it when we rose from the primordial soup) – command Government to supply every citizen (and many that aren’t) with health insurance. [snip]

There is nothing quite like morality imposed at the point of a gun, or which benefits some at the expense of others. (Joseph C. Phillips, Townhall)

The health care bills should come with warning labels "passage will be dangerous to your health - avoid it at every opportunity":

As reported in the Wall Street Journal, John Cassidy of the New Yorker lets the cat out of the bag when he writes on The New Yorker website that we must be clear about what the reform amounts to. "The U.S. government is making a costly and open-ended commitment," Cassidy writes. “The Obama Administration . . . is creating a new entitlement program, which, once established, will be virtually impossible to rescind." And why are they doing it? Again the WSJ quotes Cassidy: Because “ObamaCare serves the twin goals of making the United States a more equitable country" and furthering the Democrats' "political calculus." In other words, the purpose is to further redistribute income by putting health care further under government control, and in the process making the middle class more dependent on government. As the party of government, Democrats will benefit over the long run.”

That might explain why this massive 2000 page bill uses the command “shall”- business “shall” do this, you “shall” do that -- 3,345 times; creates 111 new government boards, commissions and bureaucracies all overseen by a healthcare czar and subjects every aspect of healthcare to government regulation; all this at a whopping cost to taxpayers of $1.5 trillion over 10 years, which will be paid for through a host of new taxes, penalties and fees. In spite of rumors to the contrary; there is no free lunch. (Townhall)

The current economic situation is proving hard on everyone, especially single women. Bob Herbert's recent column in the New York Times, highlights the unemployment situation facing unmarried women and cites a new report by the Center for American Progress, showing the nation's economic turmoil has affected all Americans, the impact on unmarried women has been truly devastating.

The health care bill that will come out of the Senate will indeed be lethal to unborn babies.

Contrary to a popular fallacy that science and religion are at odds with each other, it's quite the opposite.

Science and religion are the best of friends. And like good friends, they complement each other and produce beautiful music together. [snip]

Gallup polling showed recently that for the first time the majority of Americans (51 percent) are pro-life. [snip]

Rather than recognizing that every human being is unique and free, created in God's image, socialism tries to turn us into laboratory rodents, pretending to manage our lives according to predictable formulas. (Star Parker, Townhall)

The Obama administration made a bet -- they bet that it would be to their advantage to make government run health care their priority, over everything else, including the economy and jobs. Their chickens are coming home to roost. The economy is still in trouble and more people are out of work each month. Reports on jobs saved or created are actually being faked.

They "decided to make expensive health care legislation a No. 1 priority at a time when the nation was facing enervating unemployment, now at 10.2 percent and rising far higher than White House projections." Michael Barone, Townhall:

The numbers tell a discouraging story. The three-month moving average of jobs lost fell from 829,000 in January 2009 to 230,000 in June. That's the good news. But in the very months that the stimulus package was supposed to be taking effect, and at a time when the economy appears to have started growing again, movement has been in the other direction, with the three-month average of jobs lost rising to 589,000 in October.

That's bad news indeed, for the nation and for Democratic politicians. So here is a suggestion for the jobs summit. The president should put on again the bipartisan hat he wore during much of the campaign and embrace the proposal by some Republicans for a payroll tax holiday. Cutting our most regressive tax should appeal to Democrats. And it would immediately reduce the cost of job creation. Voting for health care legislation may or may not help incumbents. Voting for a payroll tax cut would.

The question is -- are the majority of citizens smart enough to see what is happening or are they too busy standing with their hands out "please, can I have some more???", waiting for the nanny government to provide for all their needs?

Get out of line and speak out, Congress works for you, not the other way around.

(Images via email, hat tip Michael click images to enlarge)

Social Engineering Disasters IV: The Great Chicago Liar.

Debbie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:43:57 -0600

Social Engineering Disasters IV: The Great Chicago Liar.

By R.J. Godlewski

For all those out there that complain bitterly about their city’s history, Chicago ranks amongst the worst of offenders in whatever category you can commission. You have one of the most notorious prisons of the Civil War, Camp Douglas. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The infamous Chicago “Black Sox” scandal of 1919 (forget about steroids, these guys threw a World Series Championship), the Saint Valentine’s Day massacre of 1929, the deadliest aircraft accident in U.S. history (American Flight 191 on May 25th, 1979), the Chicago Cubs… Well, you get the idea. Chicago just seems to have a black cloud of doom hanging over its head. Speaking of black clouds…

It is sad that Chicago’s history is so steeped in disasters because, frankly, I have always liked the city. Having been raised in and around Detroit, I know disasters when I see them. In 1974 Coleman Young, Detroit’s first black mayor, began his administration by telling all criminals not to strike south of 8 mile road effectively dooming the city to become the most racially divided urban center in the country. The Detroit Lions have not won a championship since the Mayflower draft. And now, two of the Big Three are about to go out of business under the weight of government ownership. Trust me, if it weren’t for Canada next door, Detroit would have the reigning Guinness Record for disasters.

Fortunately for Chicago’s ranking, however, the leadership of Detroit is simply too stupid to elevate themselves onto the national scene. Its last mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, as criminal as any in Chicago, was foolish enough to be caught. The aforementioned Coleman Young invested heavily – in Krugerrands, which at the time were illegal because his brethren in South Africa were suffering under Apartheid. The “Detroit Way” has never been about lying to uphold your innocence. It’s always been about screwing up and enjoying the fame that came with idiocy.

In Chicago, things are very much different. Their attitude has always been the antithesis of Christianity – “do unto others before they can do unto you.” The Chicago Way is a threefold manifestation of organized crime: pay your friends handsomely, attack your enemies relentlessly, and keep your damn mouth shut about it all. Al Capone was nabbed for income tax evasion because the feds could never grab him for bootlegging, gambling, and murder because nobody admitted to what everyone else already knew. Like I said, I know disasters when I see them.

My dad used to regale us kids with stories of him working for Jimmy Hoffa (you know, the guy whose body still hasn’t been found). My dad also cherished his fondest memories of belonging to the Woodward and Six Mile Gang. Once, Jimmy Hoffa himself bailed my father out of jail after my dad was arrested for partaking of an illegal strike. If I recall, my dad had thrown a Coke® bottle through the windshield of a police cruiser or something. Well, at least he freely admitted to his wrongdoing. Remember what I said about Detroit’s way…

Anyway, they do things differently in Chicago. It’s how a young, inexperienced college graduate can move into a multi-million dollar mansion and become a community-organizing lawyer with commander-in-chief aspirations. It’s how a man can sit in a church for two decades and still honestly admit “I ain’t heard a damn thing!” It’s how one can sit in the very living room of a self-avowed terrorist and never learn the definition of the term. The Chicago Way is now in Washington and heading to a community near you.

If you begin to notice how the latest Chicagoan politician of note, our “humble” President, Barack Obama, operates, the Chicago Way will leap out at you. He has bankrupted the nation to feed his friends and employs dozens of czars to keep the rest of us in line. When others call him on his campaign promises, he simply denies that he had ever made such statements of “hope” and “civility”. The Chicago Way is either accepted or you die. For two hundred and thirty years, America steadfastly avoided socialism and now, according to ‘The Way’, it must therefore die.

Like some devilish script kiddie, the Chicago Way has hacked into our national treasure and these amateurish villains are siphoning our resources without regard to the dangers. Emulating our pre-9/11 existence, we simply could not believe that a sitting president of the United States could be so dangerous, so malicious, so treasonously socialistic in agenda in our pre-Obama mentality. Yes, we had George W. and what a feat of accomplishment he was. Yet, for all of the failings of President Bush, his way wasn’t one of the Chicago variety. In fact, he emulated the Detroit Way of proudly accepting his responsibilities. When he launched the Iraq War, he made no pretense about his belief that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction. Many of President Obama’s now-supporters also shared that belief, but when the facts finally came out – they cast blame elsewhere as required by the Chicago Way, never once admitting to their own errors in judgment.

It isn’t very hard to decipher the implications of progressive liberal politics. Just take a look at any major metropolitan center governed by the “elite”. Most of California is bankrupt. As is New Jersey. Detroit is not claimed by anyone but thieves and terrorists. And it gets worse. Just the other day, the government itself issued a report that hinted that tens of billions of dollars in Medicare payments were fraudulent in nature. Now these same socialists want to manhandle the whole of our healthcare industry. In nine months, they have taken over the auto industry, the banking industry, the student loan industry, and want to move into the mass transit industry besides their crown jewel of controlling our very existence through the aforementioned healthcare takeover.

Yet not a peep out of the mainstream media. Not a whimper out of those whose party is supposed to represent the “common worker”. The Chicago Way is simply to destroy the country wholesale instead of each individual community by itself – and not to accept any responsibility for it. That’s some other guy’s fault…

The Ugly Side of Politics

Debbie — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:15:12 -0600

The old saying, "birds of a feather flock together" has never been more accurate than when you look at politics in the United States today. We now have Khomeini's right hand man advising President Barack Obama.

John Limbert will be the senior Iran official at the State Department, replacing Dennis Ross, who has moved to the National Security Council (and who has not been heard from publicly since). Should America be concerned? Yes. Limbert is not a neutral arbiter; he serves on the advisory board of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC).
What is the National Iranian American Council?

The Council is widely considered the de facto lobby for the Iranian regime in America. It opposes sanctions on Iran, soft-pedals any controversial events in Iran, and counsels "patience" regarding Iran's stance towards its nuclear program. The NIAC has been at the forefront of lobbying against continued congressional funding of the Voice of America Persia service, Radio Farad, and grants for Iranian civil society. To top it off, the NIAC has reportedly received funding from anti-Israel advocate George Soros, who at the very least was an honored guest and speaker at one of its symposiums. (He called for a more equitable Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and advocated for America to renounce regime-change as a goal). (American Thinker)

On a completely different note:

His wife must be feeling pretty low these days. First former New Jersey "gay American" Gov. Jim McGreevey cheated on her with a man now he's training to be an Episcopal priest. Wow, just wow.

Photos: J.C. Rice
HOLY SHIFT! Former New Jersey "gay American" Gov. Jim McGreevey bears a cross and works as an assistant to the Rev. Geoffrey Curtiss at a Mass in Hoboken as part of his training to become an Episcopal priest.

Obama caught in another lie, and it's a WHOPPER!

Debbie — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:12:05 -0600

Bombshell: Uncovered Obama Statement — KSM Will Get ‘Full Military Trial’. Video below.

Sedition! Obama said on the senate floor: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is going to get "full military trial with all the bells and whistles" "justice will be carried out in his case"

Trip down memory lane from Naked Emperor News. Via Allahpundit at Hot Air:

The One’s weekly address this morning, JWF makes a good point: Did this guy actually have the brass balls to warn people about turning the Fort Hood trial into “political theater” the morning after he granted Khaled Sheikh Mohammed a jihadist megaphone in New York City?
Don’t think he won’t use that megaphone, either. Megaphones are kind of his thing:
By all accounts, the spotlight during what would be the biggest terrorism trial in U.S. history would provide Mohammed, a man of no small ego, with the kind of attention he craves. A showman, he has reveled in a number of appearances at Guantanamo Bay, tossing self-aggrandizing broadsides from his perch at the front of a courtroom and then retreating into self-satisfied smiles.

“I know him well, and if he gets his way in federal court, it will be a circus,” said Charles D. “Cully” Stimson, who was deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs in the Bush administration. “The court will have to rein in his speechifying and keep the focus on his criminal behavior.”…

Under Mohammed’s original plan for Sept. 11, 10 aircraft were to be hijacked. He was to have been aboard the only one not to crash, and after killing the male passengers he was to deliver a speech condemning U.S. support for Israel, as well as the Philippines and governments in the Arab world.

The 9/11 Commission Report notes: “This vision gives a better glimpse of his true ambitions. This is theater, a spectacle of destruction with KSM as the self-cast star — the superterrorist.”
After thinking more about it, I’m assuming that Obama’s Plan B in case he’s acquitted is to put him on trial in a military court for the attack on the Pentagon. Presumably the charges in Manhattan will be limited to the attack on the Trade Center in order to avoid double jeopardy, although whether that’ll work — i.e. whether the defense can somehow force them to dispose of all potential charges related to 9/11 in the NYC trial — is a question for criminal lawyers.

Others responding to the liar:

Difference Between Jewish And Muslim Terrorists.

Abomination Man

Debbie — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:29:38 -0600

Abomination Man

By R.J. Godlewski

“You see, according to [Obama’s] plan I'm the enemy, 'cause I like to think; I like to read. I'm into freedom of speech and freedom of choice. I'm the kind of guy likes to sit in a greasy spoon and wonder – ‘Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecued ribs with the side order of gravy fries?’ I WANT high cholesterol. I wanna eat bacon and butter and BUCKETS of cheese, okay? I want to smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in the non-smoking section. I want to run through the streets naked with green Jell-o all over my body reading Playboy magazine. Why? Because I suddenly might feel the need to, okay, pal? I've SEEN the future. Do you know what it is? It's a 47-year-old virgin sitting around in his beige pajamas, drinking a banana-broccoli shake, singing ‘I'm an Oscar Meyer Wiener’.” Edgar Friendly [Denis Leary] Demolition Man (1993)

There is a better investment than either gold or platinum. An investment that offers a higher return on capital than any mere precious metal. The interchangeable, divine gifts of freedom and liberty outweigh any speculative enterprise conceived of by man. Gold can be tarnished, if only through greed. Diamonds can be shattered, if only through ignorance. The almighty dollar can be burned, if only through the law. The yearning for liberty and freedom, however, cannot be extinguished by any application of power, deceit, or entitlement. Like the sound of a falling tree in the forest, they only need someone around to discover their value from amongst the immoveable.

“A thousand men, say, go searchin' for [freedom]. After six months, one of them's lucky: one out of a thousand. His find represents not only his own labor, but that of nine hundred and ninety-nine others to boot. That's six thousand months, five hundred years, scramblin' over a mountain, goin' hungry and thirsty. An ounce of [liberty], mister, is worth what it is because of the human labor that went into the findin' and the gettin' of it.” Howard [Walter Huston] The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

Nothing is ever worth having if it isn’t earned. No victory complete if it was handed forth on a silver platter. Inheritance will dwindle if it is not eventually restored and no challenge is an obstacle unless it was overcome. One simply does not fear scaling a ladder if it consists of a single rung. Our freedoms and liberties, as divine gifts, were paid for in the only manner acceptable of a divine gift – through the death and Resurrection of our God. Like all loans, however, we debtors are obligated to pay a hefty annuity to keep us honest. A payment guaranteed by all who have shed their blood on our behalf.

“[Mr. President], do I get the idea that you're tryin' to put a crimp in my social life?” Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty [Gregory Peck] The Scarlet and the Black (1983)

Success – of whatever form – is to be treasured. When we score touchdowns during the Super Bowl, we dance erotically within the end zone. When we pull in a sizeable largemouth bass, we photograph it for posterity. When we graduate from college, we don gowns and silly looking caps. When we procreate, we hand out cigars. All of these are simple gestures when compared with freedom and liberty for without which we would never have football, fishing vacations, selective education, and quality time with our families.

The antithesis of freedom and liberty is to be told what to do, when to do it and how to do it – actions that serve no purpose but to liquefy the human mind. Without effort, there can be no perceived value. Without investment, there can be no capital gain. The competitive, animalistic basis for the human spirit is that our way is vastly superior to anyone else’s – if only from within the confines of our own mind.

When I voice my opinion, for example, its value is measured by the quality of my education, supported by my academic records, and fortified by my lifelong experiences. It is therefore a provable commodity – my education comes from an accredited university, I maintain a minimum G.P.A. of ~ 3.8, and my life experiences would make the fainthearted shit their pants. I have thus earned my opinion for I have not inherited it from others.

President Obama, supported by the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, however, intend to redistribute my “wealth” to those who have not earned their opinions in the same manner, as had I. They want to give equal voice to others who are not even Americans. They want to sacrifice 230 years of Judeo-Christian culture to shore the late arrival of Islam into a nation that is fully incompatible with the doctrines of Muslims.

The Obama Administration, through its attorney general, Eric Holder, wants terrorists to be innocent until proven guilty but clamp down with all measure against those protecting our lives from these same terrorists and radicals. Lady Liberty may be blindfolded, but she is not gagged.

“So you want a [stable economy], huh? Go ask the [Iranians] and the [Venezuelans] and the [Cubans]. They were figuring on safe jobs. They're lined up in front of guns digging each other's graves. The trouble with you, [President Obama], is you think America is just a place to eat and sleep. You [can’t decide] what side your future's buttered on.” Chips Abrams [Sam Levene] Action in the North Atlantic (1943)

The return on investment for freedom and liberty is that we are able to voice our concerns, challenge our leaders, and demand answers to our grievances. They are indebted to us; they hold no leans against us. When the secret service protects the president, for instance, it is for the good of the nation – not that he is inherently more important than, say, the lowliest of the homeless (In America, even they can aspire to become his successor).

The President and his cronies – AG Holder very much included – serve no purpose now but to squash our personal freedoms and liberties. They are succeeding on bankrupting our country on a scale that would make past Republicans look like penny pinchers. They are empowering our enemies while handcuffing our national defense forces. Their desire to “fundamentally transform” the United States of America is blatantly treasonous in both intent and practice.

ARTICLE III: Section. 3. Clause 1: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

Can anyone with a clear and impartial conscience, say that condemning America while overseas in an official capacity, withholding troops from active battle, and granting self-acclaimed enemies of the United States rights and privileges exceeding American citizens is not even remotely treasonous in nature? I will let you be the judge for I am most definitely NOT impartial.

“People my foot, they're democrats.” George Barley [John Brown] The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Of course, this is not just about Democrats. Jackasses are just faster to the finish line than Pachyderms. There is no political party that can grant either freedom or liberty amongst its population for such rights derive internally from God. Regardless, both the Democratic Party and the GOP have worked diligently to subterfuge the conservative values of America. This has to stop.

One thing that has made America stand apart from every other nation on the planet is that we do not define ourselves as anything but Americans. Black or white, rich or poor, Christian or Jew, we are Americans one and all. Yet, the progressive liberals sacrificing both our rights and our future wish to segregate us into eternal class warfare: African-Americans against “Red Neck America”; greedy rich Americans against “hard-working, blue collar types” and so forth.

If we do not stand together, united – and disciplined – two centuries’ worth of battling for our freedom and liberties will come to a screeching halt under the blank check of tyranny. We cannot allow that to happen. We must continue to rise up and demand that our liberties be restored until any thought of socialism or tyranny in America is but a brief footnote in history books. Demand or deny; there is only one course of action for you.

R.J. Godlewski is an independent counterterrorism consultant, the director of the private International Nuclear Emergency Response Team [INERT], and the author of several novels, commentaries, and professional articles. He is also the author and architect of the Independent Counterterrorist training program. His analytical specialties are Middle East terrorism and improvised explosive devices. He is a member of the National Military Intelligence Association, the Golden Key International Honour Society, and the National Rifle Association as well as a veteran of both the United States Navy and Navy Reserve.

Obama Urges Congress: Hold off on Fort Hood investigation.

Debbie — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:37:28 -0600

Again proving what a Muslim sympathizer US President Barack Obama is, by pleading for lawmakers to "resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into the political theater," that "those who died on the nation's largest Army post deserve justice, not political stagecraft," "the stakes are far too high." (USA Today) Obama wants congress to "until federal law enforcement and military authorities have completed their probes into the shootings." He also said "he would hold to account those who missed warning signs." Excuse me? Obama can't hold anybody accountable for anything.

I understand what he is saying, I also know when congress investigates anything it is simply another opportunity for them to get face time on television, use their turn to speak as a partisan bloviating session. I probably sound like I'm contradicting myself here, but I'm not. Yes, there is a need for an investigation of the intelligence agencies and why Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was not stopped and the President does not need to be telling congress what to do on this.

As Ed Morrissey says:

There are two separate issues to be investigated, however, and nothing prevents them from being investigated in parallel. The first is the shootings themselves, which so far appear to be fairly cut-and-dried, at least in terms of identifying the shooter. [snip]

But at the same time, we have to make sure that we don’t have other Hasans waiting in the wings, and we have to fix the failures in our counterterrorism efforts that allowed this to happen.

The Jawa Report says, "So, if the Fort Hood massacre isn't worth investigation by Congress then what is? Bush-hitler, of course!"

Cabinet Meeting.net calls this "nothing more than a stall tactic."

Obama has been a huge apologist, saying to the world America has to share the blame for the hatred terrorist groups and certain countries hold for us. He is also a huge supporter of the Muslim religion. Having Congress investigate this massacre puts Obama in jeopardy of having to face the investigation and it’s outcome, which could easily find that there were warning signs that were ignored because of this man’s religious beliefs (Muslim, if you don’t already know). This is an outcome Obama does not want to face.

Exactly correct. I believe without a doubt that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's religion is at the core of his killing spree and I am having this confirmed each day as new radical connections come to light. Having said that though, there is still the betrayal of Hasan to all that is good about the military. Colbert I. King at the Washington Post says:

Measure Maj. Hasan against the standards of the Army's Seven Core Values. Do that, and it becomes clear that, a jury's verdict notwithstanding, Hasan has failed on every score that matters most to those with whom he served.[snip]
"We're never so vulnerable," wrote artist and author Walter Anderson, "than when we trust someone."

Those Seven Core Values are Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Service. As King says, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan betrayed that trust. By Obama trying to halt an investigation into how Hasan could have slipped by intelligence agencies, he too is betraying America's trust that as our Commander in Chief and President he duty is to keep us safe.

Obama's too busy traveling the world and bowing down to others to actually do anything... Oh wait, that's a GOOD thing, he can't do any damage while he on the road... How low will he go? Obama gives Japan's Emperor Akihito a wow bow

How low will the new American president go for the world's royalty? (LA Times)

Currently:

Obama already had ordered a review of all intelligence related to Hasan and whether the information was properly shared and acted upon within government agencies. Several members of Congress, particularly Michigan Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, have also called for a full examination of what agencies knew...
Rep. Howard McKeon, R-Calif., said he wanted to go ahead with an investigation from the House Armed Services Committee, where he is the top Republican. He said he wanted an investigation that wouldn't compromise law enforcement or military investigations that were continuing on separate tracks.
In the Senate, Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, said his Homeland Security Committee was opening an investigation.

Obama said he was not opposed to hearings — eventually. But he strongly pressed lawmakers to hold off until the probes now underway are completed.

Let the investigations begin, bloviating and all.

Clint Eastwood Honored

Debbie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:33:56 -0600

Clint Eastwood, the Hollywood actor, was made a commander in France's prestigious Legion of Honour on Friday, November 13, 2009. (The Telegraph.UK) Good for the French, because Clint Eastwood will never get the recognition he deserves in Hollywood.

Clint Eastwood (R) is congratulated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy after being awarded "Commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur" Photo: AFP/GETTY

French President Nicolas Sarkozy presented the 79-year-old actor and director with the decoration, honouring his body of work, his longevity and his ability to delight audiences around the globe, according to the award citation.

It is unusual for a foreigner to be elevated to the rank of commander of the French Legion of Honour but Eastwood, who went from playing tough guy roles like Dirty Harry to directing critically acclaimed films, said he saw France as his second home. Jacques Chirac, the former French president, had honoured Eastwood as a knight of the Legion of Honour two years ago, and Friday's decoration was a step up for the star to grade three on the legion's five-grade scale.

It's hard to imagine Clint Eastwood being 79 years old. It's even harder to imagine no future films produced by Eastwood and no future acting by him. Hollywood should not have dissed him after Gran Torino came out.

Classic Dirty Harry, "Do ya feel lucky, well do ya punk?"

. .

Iran: Not a Nice Place

Debbie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:59:26 -0600

In Iran, Amnesty International is concerned at a call reportedly made by Asghar Jafari, head of Iran's Police Criminal Investigation department, for a greater reliance on Islamic punishments, especially the amputation of the hands of thieves.

According to the report carried by the Iranian Labour News Agency on 8 November, Asghar Jafari claimed that if such punishments were implemented, crime could be reduced by 90%, though he produced no evidence to support this assertion.

Enter:

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has created a powerful new intelligence organization to try to quell any further public unrest following June's disputed election, an exiled Iranian opposition group said on Thursday.
The new organization, responsible for intelligence and security, is an off-shoot of the Revolutionary Guards and will report directly to the supreme leader's office, according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a Paris-based group that has followers in Europe and claims many in Iran. (Reuters)

And:

Iran has executed a Kurdish political activist charged with being an ''enemy of God'', his lawyer said, ignoring pleas from international human rights groups for his death sentence to be revoked.
Ehsan Fattahian, 27, was hanged on Wednesday in the city of Sanandaj, according to the head of the judiciary in Kurdistan province, Ali Akbar Gharoussi. (SMH)

And:

A court has sentenced a man detained after Iran's disputed election in June to seven years in jail and 74 lashes, the reformist Mowjcamp website said on Wednesday.
The website said Navidi Yekta was the son of a "war martyr," a term used for Iranians who were killed during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, and that he had no previous criminal record. (Reuters)

A U.S. arms-control official said today there is “strong evidence” Iran sought to develop the means to put a nuclear weapon on a missile prior to 2003 and perhaps afterward. (Bloomberg)

Israel has released documents and photographs which it says prove that a shipment of weapons it seized in the Mediterranean originated from Iran. (BBC)

An Italian company that helped build a communications satellite for Iran said Wednesday there are no plans to launch it, denying an announcement made in Tehran this week. (AP)

Iran nuke plant 7 years old. Not so new after all. (AP)

Iran set to launch 200-kg spy satelite into orbit
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

7 Nov. Iran is ready to launch its second homemade spy satellite, with the Safir 2 rocket already in position on its pad, DEBKAfile's military and intelligence sources report. The new satellite weighs 200 kgs, ten times more than Omid 1 (Hope), which was successfully tested only ten months ago, on Feb. 2.

If the second launch succeeds, it would mean that Iran can produce solid fuel-powered rockets with a range of 2,450-2,450 kilometers, which covers not only all of Israel but reaches as deep into Europe as the Polish capital of Warsaw. Heads of the Islamic regime in Tehran hope its second space launch will so astound the Americans and Israelis that they will think twice before going after Iran's nuclear installations. Most of all, they want Israel to count the cost of military action.
On Nov. 4, US satellite photos showed Iran had raised output at its Gchine uranium mine near Bandar Abbas and was producing enough raw ore for processing into two warheads a year. Tehran bars the mine to UN inspections so the international agency cannot determine where the raw uranium is going.On Nov. 5, US and UK media quoted IAEA sources in Vienna as asking Iran to explain evidence that its scientists have experimented with an advanced nuclear warhead design. They referred to the discovery of high-explosive components of a “two-point implosion” device that could enable Iran to eventually install small nuclear warheads on its ballistic missiles.

This process would short-cut and simplify Iran's path to fitting nuclear warheads on long-range ballistic missiles such as the Shehab-4 which is about ready to go operational.

Russia Sits Out Delivery of Iranian S-300 Air Defence Systems

The seesawing decision over the procurement deal between Iran and Russia for the purchase of S-300 air defence systems continues as Russia is still weighing whether to cancel the agreement or fulfil its contractual commitment for the delivery of the state-of-the-art surface-to-air missiles.

Afghans fear infiltration from Iran

Islam Qala, a small border town that forms the gateway between Iran and Afghanistan, is a focus of concern for Afghan officials fighting the Taliban insurgency because some believe Iran is using it to infiltrate guerrillas intent on destabilizing the Kabul government.

Yemen has rejected Iranian "interference" in its affairs after Tehran's foreign minister criticized regional intervention in Sanaa's war with Shiite rebels in a thinly veiled allusion to Saudi Arabia. (continue reading)

Yet Obama thinks he can negotiate with them...

Opportunity awaits you at the Watcher of Weasels Council

Debbie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:10:16 -0600

That's right, the opportunity to read the very best articles on the web and the opportunity for link-whorage, everything a blogger could want. Below you will find this weeks winning articles and your opportunities for fame. You will also find a list of articles I have added at the bottom that you need to know about.

Council Notes: We currently have a seat open for a qualified blogger on the Council up for grabs. If you’re interested, you may apply here…or e-mail me at rmill2k@msn.com for details.
And remember, If you want to see your blog piece listed on the Watcher’s Council page my generous offer of link whorage remains open.
Simply make a post linking to this week’s Council winners and send me an e-mail with the subject line ‘link whorage’ at rmill2k@msn.com. Include a link to the post and a link to the piece you want to appear, and the resulting fame, glory and increased traffic are yours for the taking.
Here’s the complete rundown of this week’s results. Only the Provocateur was unable to vote this week and suffered the mandatory 2/3 vote penalty, but it had no effect on the outcome this week.
I can’t wait to see next week’s exciting entries, and as always, congratulations not only to the winners but to all the participants.
Council Submissions

First place with 2 points! – Joshuapundit - Death By A Thousand Cuts

Second place with 1 1/3 points – Mere Rhetoric - Agitprop-Funding NEA Chief: “Barack Obama Is The Most Powerful Writer Since Julius Caesar

Third place with 1 point – (Tie*) – Bookworm Room - Watch the Democratic Dominoes Fall

Third place with 1 point – (Tie*) – The Glittering Eye - Triage

Third place with 1 point – (Tie*) – The Razor - Suburban Perspective on Rural America

Fourth place with 2/3 points – Right Truth - A Small Nation

Fifth place with 1/3 point – Rhymes With Right - Just a reminder – Hasan not the first

Non-Council Submissions

First place with 2 2/3 points! – Selwyn Duke /American Thinker - Jihad and America, the land that cried sheep

Second place with 2 1/3 points – Villainous Company - Obama doesn’t “get” the military he commands

Third place with 1 1/3 points – Tigerhawk - The Myth of American Heroism

Fourth place with 2/3 points – (T*) – Red County - Tragedy At Ft. Hood

Fourth place with 1 point(Tie*) – MG Hoft - Wash U Shuts Down Freedom Memorial

Fifth place with 1/3 points – Danger Room - Is This China’s Anti-Satellite Laser Weapon Site?

News You Need:

Rubio Keynote Speaker at CPAC, B Right & Early

2010: The list of competitive House seats is a sea of red districts: PoliPundit

Time to put an end to Army bases as gun free zones, NRA, Fox News,

Fury after Scouts shout death threats at Jewish war hero parade, Daily Mail

Cylinders of Excellence, Fore-Left

Gallup: Majority says not gov’t role to ensure universal health insurance, Hot Air

“Regs Make Way for Religion — Sikh, Muslim Allowed to Incorporate Customs into Army Dress.” , National Review

Khalid Sheik Mohammed in the Big Apple, Posted By Uncle Jimbo at BlackFive

Maddow Complains Labeling Hasan 'Terrorist' Would 'Paint the Democrats as Soft on Terror', NewsBusters

Another bogus ACORN lawsuit, Michelle Malkin

Canada to Immigrants: No Tolerance for “Honor” Killing; New Citizenship Guides Spells It Out, Dr. Phyllis Chesler

Want to buy US military wares in Afghanistan? Go to Obama Market., Christian Science Monitor

The Afghanistan Conundrum: What to do When Both Sides Are Right? By Douglas Farah, Counterterrorismm Blog

Google poised to become your phone company, CNN

Kosher Slaughterhouse Manager Found Guilty, CBS

Morning Bell: Big Labor Is Bankrupting Our Country, The Heritage Foundation Blog

Egyptian Christian Man Attacked By Mob for Frequenting A Muslim Brothel, AINA

Thank you former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush, Hill Blog

Coming to America ...

Debbie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:43:51 -0600

September 11, 2001 terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others are coming to New York City to be tried. All this comes as the ranking Republican on the House intelligence committee, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (Mich.), on Tuesday night accused the White House of withholding information on the Fort Hood attack. Bernie Goldberg shrewdly asked when we are going to see a Million Muslim March take place in Washington – in which a million Muslims gather to denounce terror and declare that what Nidal Malik Hasan did was un-Islamic.

From Red State: This is insane.

In a splitting the baby moment, though,

in the announcement Friday will be plans to hold a military tribunal for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, alleged to have planned the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.

So, the man who blew up New York gets a civilian trial and the guy who blew up the Cole gets a military tribunal.

...the terrorist mastermind of September 11th, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be sent to New York City for a criminal trial in a civilian court.
In that trial, the terrorist will get all the rights afforded an American citizen in a criminal trial, including the right to a fair trial, the right to a taxpayer funded attorney, the right to review all the evidence against him, potentially including classified intelligence matters, the right to exclude evidence against him including, potentially, any confession obtained through enhanced interrogation techniques, etc.
At best, this will be a show trial fit not for the American Republic, but a third world kleptocratic totalitarian regime. At worse, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will gain access to classified material he can then leak to other terrorists while New York yet again becomes a target for terrorists. We have already had occasions in this country where terrorists' sympathetic lawyers have conveyed information, orders, and plans to other terrorists.
You can find more details here.
Call your Congressman and Senator right now. Tell them they should use every tool at their disposal to block this. The number to call is 202-224-3121.

From MSNBC reported, via Free Republic: via Gateway Pundit.

Obama initially planned to close the detention center by Jan. 22, but the administration is no longer expected to meet that deadline.
Waterboarding
The New York case may also force the court system to confront a host of difficult legal issues surrounding counter-terrorism programs begun after the 2001 attacks, including the harsh interrogation techniques once used on some of the suspects while in CIA custody. The most severe method — waterboarding, or simulated drowning — was used on Mohammed 183 times in 2003, before the practice was banned.

Intelligent Americans continue to ask What's Behind America's Politically Correct Love of Islam? (see Muslims Against Sharia and Source: WND )

Also the Muslim Brotherhood has now come out for Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.

No surprise there.

You have President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to blame for this atrocity.

The families of those who died on September 11, 2001 are against this move to bring terrorists and enemy combatants to US soil. Debra Burlingame, sister of Charles "Chic" Burlingame III, the pilot of the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 that was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11 , co-founded Keep America Safe with Liz Cheney pleads with Americans to contact Washington. She says these trials will take years because everything will go back to day one. The terrorists wanted to plead guilty and if they had been allowed to do that in Gitmo, their trials would be over in a month.

His confessions are out for all to hear, but will they stand in a US court or be dismissed as braggadocio? He admitted he had personally decapitated kidnapped US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 and admitted to a role in 30 plots...

According to the transcripts released, the self-proclaimed head of al-Qaeda's military committee admitted to:
The organisation, planning, follow-up and execution of the 9/11 operation

Responsibility for the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center in New York, the bombing of nightclubs in Bali in 2002 and a Kenyan hotel in the same year

Responsibility for the failed attempt by the so-called shoe bomber, Richard Reid, to bring down an American plane

Plots to attack Heathrow Airport, Canary Wharf and Big Ben in London, to hit targets in Israel, and to blow up the Panama Canal

A plot to hit towers in the US cities of Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago and the Empire State Building in New York, and to attack US nuclear power stations

Plots to assassinate the late Pope John Paul II and former US President Bill Clinton

He said he had used his own "blessed right hand" to behead Daniel Pearl, according to Pentagon papers. (BBC)

GO TO THE BRAVEST.COM, READ THE LETTER TO OBAMA AND SIGN IT IF YOU ARE AGAINST TERRORISTS COMING TO THE US AND HAVING A PODIUM TO SPEW ANTI-AMERICAN HATRED AND OPEN OLD WOUNDS...

read the letter and CLICK HERE if you would like to add your signature.

(If you get a 404 error, the server is probably temporarily overloaded, please keep trying)

http://www.KeepAmericaSafe.com/

http://www.theBravest.com/

http://www.911familiesforamerica.org/

Al-Taqiyya – Can “Good” Muslims be trusted?

Debbie — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:13:24 -0600

Al-Taqiyya – Can “Good” Muslims be trusted?

By R.J. Godlewski

Now, as I before hinted, I have no objection to any person’s religion, be it what it may, so long as that person does not kill or insult any other person, because that other person don’t believe it also. But when a man’s religion becomes really frantic; when it is a positive torment to him; and, in fine, makes this earth of ours an uncomfortable inn to lodge in; then I think it high time to take that individual aside and argue the point with him.
--Moby Dick, [1851] (Melville 1922, 85)

It is, admittedly, a loaded question and one that I posed to a fellow classmate to stir debate. Raymond Ibrahim, associate director of the Middle East Forum and author of The Al Qaeda Reader, refers to the doctrine of Al-Taqiyya as “Muslim deception vis-à-vis infidels” (Ibrahim, 2009, 1). Ibrahim goes further, “Amazingly, for all the talk that Islam is constantly being ‘misunderstood’ or ‘misinterpreted’ by ‘radicals’, the fact is, as opposed to most other religions, Islam is a clearly defined faith admitting of no ambiguity” (Ibrahim, 2009, 1). What he means is that there is little room for dissent within the Muslim faith:

“Common sense’ or ‘universal opinion’ has little to do with Islam’s notions of right and wrong. All that matters is what Allah (via the Koran) and his prophet Muhammad (through the hadith) have to say about any given subject, and how Islam’s greatest theologians and jurists – collectively known as the ulema, literally, the ‘ones who know’ – have articulated it” (Ibrahim, 2009)

For the uninitiated, taqiyya is bascially a Muslim decree to lie to non-Muslims; a legal concept designed to aid the believers of Islam when they are not within positions of power and is only terminated when they gain that position of power amongst the infidels. In other words, if a Muslim is confronted with an angry mob of Fort Hood survivors, it is perfectly permissible to say that “Islam is a religion of peace” if it means saving yourself from admitting anything to the contrary. Or, in the example that I used during class exercises, it is like telling a fellow counterfeiter that the money that you loaned them is as good as gold.

I am not well-versed within my own Bible, mind you, but one thing that I do remember is that lying is a definite one-way ticket to hell:

“You belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44 NAB)

In comparison, the Koran [4:29] virtually obligates Muslims to lie (Ibrahim, 2009, 1).

When Hasan – there’s that name again – Akbar killed his fellow soldiers in Iraq during 2003, he had written in his diary, “I may not have killed any Muslims, but being in the army is the same thing. I may have to make a choice very soon on who to kill” (Ibrahim, 2009, 2). Six years later, another Muslim soldier bearing the name Hasan made pretty much the same choice – it was Americans who had to die, not his own kind.

Muhammad, the prophet, himself permitted lying (and remember, his rule was law as mentioned above), in one of three circumstances: to “reconcile two or more quarreling parties, to one’s wife, and in war” (Ibrahim, 2009, 2). If I would have ever lied to my wife I would not be here today jotting down these words but, apparently, lying to his wife was no matter of conscience to Islam’s greatest figure. I am so damn glad that I am a Roman Catholic:

“’A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving…’[2482]

“Lying is the most direct offense against the truth…By injuring man’s relation to the truth and to his neighbor, a lie offends against the fundamental relation of a man and of his word to the Lord” [2483]

“By its very nature, lying is to be condemned” [2485]

“Since it violates the virtue of truthfulness, a lie does real violence to another” [2486] (United States Catholic Conference, Inc., 1994, 655-656).

Deception shatters the concept of personal integrity and, as such, I feel only has a place within war where keeping the enemy guessing is a viable survival option. But what of your “friendly, neighborhood Muslim”?

If both Muhammad and the Koran leave open the option to lie for gain, then can we ascertain that devotees of the faith feel comfortable with lying as an everyday tool? Once this option is exploited, can we actually believe a Muslim when he says, “Oh, no. I am not like that. I am a moderate, peace-loving Muslim who is proud to be an American!” Can we?

The reason that I posted this question to my fellow classmate is because the implications of the answer are profound. If the Koran teaches to lie and a good Muslim is one who believes in the very words of the Koran (the crowd that usually faints upon mere thought of the book being flushed down the toilet), then we have to assume that they will lie at the drop of a hat to further their cause. Contrarily, if a person says that they do not lie and do not subscribe to this particular article of their faith, then we can either conclude they are not devout Muslims or that they may be, in fact, lying to us at that very moment. The implications open a whole can of worms, particularly within the military.

Religious freedom to lie and deceive in order to “fit in” and avoid discrimination at the hands of infidels brings into question every oath uttered by every Muslim serving within the U.S. military. It brings into question every statement released by every Muslim group that speaks out following tragedies such as the November 5th Fort Hood shootings. It brings into question both the sincerity and loyalty of every intelligence officer or federal agent recruited by the United States of America. At its most extreme level, we would not even be able to accept President Obama’s suggestions that he is, himself, not a Muslim or influenced by Muslim practices.

I would love to hear how I am wrong within my assessment by any member of the Muslim faith. I pray that someone can tell me that Islam considers lying or intentional deceit to be a sin. I would sleep better at night if I knew that Muslims such as Nidal Hasan and Hasan Akbar were aberrations in the military. Unfortunately, if anyone did tell me anything to the contrary, I could not be certain that I wasn’t being deceived.

References

Ibrahim, R. (2009). War and Peace -- and Deceit -- in Islam. Pajamas Media.

Melville, H. (1922). Moby Dick or The White Whale (8th Edition ed.). Boston: The St. Botolph Society.

United States Catholic Conference, Inc. (1994). Catechism of the Catholic Church. New York: Doubleday.

Feds to seize US mosques, skyscraper controlled by Iran

Debbie — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:07:50 -0600

In what could prove to be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, prosecutors filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets.

The assets include bank accounts; Islamic centers consisting of schools and mosques in New York City, Maryland, California and Houston; more than 100 acres in Virginia; and a 36-story glass office tower in New York.

Confiscating the properties would be a sharp blow against Iran, which has been accused by the U.S. government of bankrolling terrorism and trying to build a nuclear bomb. (AP New York)

The Alavi Foundation is the successor organization of the Pahlavi Foundation, a non-profit organization originally operated by the Shaw of Iran. The Alavi Foundation is part owner of a 36-story New York office tower, is a front for the government of Iran, the US government alleges. The FBI believes money has been used by Iran for it's nuclear program.

The building is owned by 650 Fifth Avenue Company, a partnership between the Alavi Foundation and Assa Corp., the Justice Department said in a news release. The amended complaint alleges that the Alavi Foundation provided services to the Iranian government and transferred money from 650 Fifth Avenue Company to Bank Melli, which is owned and controlled by the government of Iran.
The amended complaint seeks forfeiture of all assets of the Alavi Foundation and Assa Corp., including bank accounts owned by 650 Fifth Avenue Company, the Alavi Foundation and Assa Corp.; and properties owned by the foundation in New York, Maryland, Virginia, Texas and California.
It alleges that the properties were "involved in and [were] the proceeds of money laundering offenses," and that the owners violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, executive orders and U.S. Department of Treasury regulations. (CNN) (Image: The Islamic Education Center is seen in Potomac, Md. on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009. The center rents this building from the Alavi Foundation, which owns the building but does not run the center. Federal prosecutors filed a complaint Thursday seeking to seize the assets of the foundation. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (Jacquelyn Martin, AP / November 12, 2009)

A little history from Rachel Ehrenfeld on Clinton's Iranian Connection:

On Dec. 19, 2008, at 2 p.m., the New York-based Alavi Foundation, which supports Iranian causes, contributed between $25,000 and $50,000 to the William J. Clinton Foundation. This can be best described as the ultimate chutzpah, for on the very same day, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York indicted the president of the Alavi Foundation, Farshid Jahedi, "on a charge of obstruction of justice for allegedly destroying documents required to be produced under a grand jury subpoena concerning the Alavi Foundation's relationship with Bank Melli Iran and the ownership of a Manhattan office building."

This should be interesting.

Purging Government of Republicans

Debbie — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:28:49 -0600

From Red State:

Via Instapundit comes word that the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) intends to purge the federal government of Republican civil servants all in the name of purify the federal bureaucracy.
You can read the OPM memo here.
It is a typical Washington process that many political appointees are able to take jobs within the civil service once their political appointment expires — usually at the conclusion of one administration. What often happens as well is Congressional staffers, before an election or shortly thereafter, will move over to the Executive Branch placed into the civil service, in effect, by appointment.
So, for example, when George Bush became President in 2001, a number of Clinton political appointees became civil service employees. As a result, they became subject to civil service hiring and firing rules, which meant they could no longer be replaced simply for having been a Democratic appointee.
Barack Obama is changing that. He intends to purge all Republicans from the federal bureaucracy retroactive to five years ago.
Read More →

Not so funny

Debbie — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:56:55 -0600

Cartoon hat tip David, click to enlarge.

What should we do about Hasan?

Debbie — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:05:09 -0600

That's the question that everyone was asking concerning Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan during his entire professional history, " What should we do about Hasan?" Apparently the answer was to not only keep him around, but to continue promoting him, all in the name of political correctness. The intelligence agencies aware of his emails to an al-qaeda related imam said they "would have been crucified" if they had launched a full-fledged investigation of Hasan. Political correctness. As a result 13 are dead, 29 injured and an entire military base terrorized.

... "Everybody felt that if you were deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, you would not want Nidal Hasan in your foxhole." ...

When a group of key officials gathered in the spring of 2008 for their monthly meeting in a Bethesda, Md., office, one of the key and most perplexing items on their agenda was: What should we do about Hasan?

Hasan had been a trouble spot on officials' radar since he started training at Walter Reed, six years earlier. Several officials confirm that supervisors had repeatedly given him poor evaluations and warned him that he was doing substandard work.

Both fellow students and faculty were deeply troubled by Hasan's behavior — which they variously called disconnected, aloof, paranoid, belligerent, and "schizoid." The officials say he antagonized some students and faculty by espousing what they perceived to be extremist Islamic views. His supervisors at Walter Reed had even reprimanded him for telling at least one patient that "Islam can save your soul." (NPR)

You can go to NPR and read the entire article, which list all the officials that were present at that meeting, you will be shocked. These same people felt "if Hasan deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, he might leak secret military information to Islamic extremists"and "Hasan might be capable of committing fratricide, like the Muslim U.S. Army sergeant who killed 14 fellow soldiers in 2003 by setting off grenades at a base in Kuwait".

So why was Hasan promoted and sent to Fort Hood and why did these individuals not do something? Read the article.

Clearing up lies:

The Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people last week at Fort Hood, Tex., did not formally seek to leave the military as a conscientious objector or for any other reason, an Army official said, despite claims by one of his relatives that he explored seeking a discharge.(Washington Post)

The Taliban call Hasan a "hero" and warn of "further attacks". StratFor says "it is tactically impossible for a government to identify every aspiring militant actor and to pre-empt every act of violence", and that is true. But this guy was screaming for an investigation.

And here we are again, asking "What will we do with Hasan?". . .

Time for some more Weasel Watching:

Welcome to the Veteran’s Day edition of the Watcher’s council, a group of some of the most incisive blogs in the`sphere. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one of their own and one from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.
NEW AND EXCITING: Want to see your blog piece listed on the Watcher’s Council page? Take advantage of our link whorage opportunity, as Okieand Avi did this week.
Simply make a post linking to this week’s Council winners and send me an e-mail with the subject line ‘link whorage’ at rmill2k@msn.com. Include a link to the post and a link to the piece you want to appear,and the resulting fame and glory are yours for the taking.
So, let’s see what we have this week….

Council Submissions

Mere Rhetoric - Agitprop-Funding NEA Chief: “Barack Obama Is The Most Powerful Writer Since Julius Caesar

The Glittering Eye - Triage

Rhymes With Right - Just A Reminder – Hasan Not The First

Bookworm Room - Watch the Democratic dominoes fall

The Provocateur - Dr. Chacko Comes to Lahey

The Colossus of Rhodey - The problem with Islamic terrorism and the Left

The Razor - Suburban Perspective on Rural America

Right Truth - A Small Nation

Joshuapundit - Death By A Thousand Cuts

Honorable Mentions

Okie On The Lam - Nanny Nancy Pelosi Shoving 1990-Page Health Care Up Our Collective Wazzoo!

Tel-Chai Nation - Turkey’s Erdogan continues with his bigotry

Non-Council Submissions

Submitted By: The Watcher – Selwyn Duke /American Thinker - Jihad and America, the land that cried sheep

Submitted By: The Glittering Eye – Tigerhawk - The myth of American heroism

Submitted By: Rhymes With Right – Red County - Tragedy At Ft. Hood

Submitted By: Bookworm Room – Villainous Company - Obama doesn’t “get” the military he commands

Submitted By: The Provocateur – WSJ Blog - Doctor: I Was Fired for Fighting Hospital’s Ties to Medtronic

Submitted By: The Colossus of Rhodey – The Scientist - Promises, Promises

Submitted By: Right Truth – Right, Wing-Nut - A Nation, Hi-Jacked

Submitted By: The Razor – MG Hoft - Wash U Shuts Down Freedom Memorial

Submitted By: Mere Rhetoric – Danger Room - Is This China’s Anti-Satellite Laser Weapon Site?

Submitted By: Joshuapundit – Ron Radosh/Hot Air - The Nation, Jihad and General Casey

Other articles you may be interested in:

New jihad code threatens al Qaeda, CNN

Virtute et armis - By courage and by arms -- (Veteran’s Day 2009)

Debbie — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:41:07 -0600

Virtute et armis - By courage and by arms -- (Veteran’s Day 2009)

By R.J. Godlewski

Author’s Note: This article is dedicated to the victims and survivors of the tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas on 5 November 2009, the latest victims of runaway Islamic terrorism. My heart and my prayers go out to all and to those who have ever honorably worn the proud uniform of the United States Armed Forces.

I had begun this particular article as something of a semi-autobiographical tribute to the Navy and a photomontage of my active service from boot camp on through separation of service. While I have included these photographs at the conclusion of this piece sans the descriptive commentaries from each shot, I’ve found that I simply cannot write about my service alone. In my eight years plus several months of service (four years active, the remainder in various elements of the Reserves), I cannot attest to anything of enough importance to toot my own horn as it were. In fact, I am quite embarrassed to speak of my two Honorable discharges for contrary to the advertisements running at the time on television; I viewed the U.S. Navy as simply a job and nothing more.

My association with the Navy began in the frigid cold of Great Lakes, Illinois during that infamous holiday season of 1981/1982 when the mercury dropped to minus-45° F. without the wind and eighty-five below with wind chill. During Christmas, recruits were granted parole for the day and allowed to leave the base with our families but the electricity was out in Waukegan and so my parents, grandmother, and youngest sister ate in the local Denny’s frozen to our seats (of what food there was without power to prepare it, I cannot remember).

Graduation was not much better, and I stayed in Great Lakes to attend Basic Electricity and Electronics School (Modules 1-25) and Electrician’s Mate Class “A” School after the Navy, in its infinite wisdom, informed me that I would become an electrician and that I would like it or else. I didn’t; not really. I blew a test midway through “A” school and got bumped from the nuclear program. Eventually, I did get orders to Pearl Harbor, which in itself thawed out my rump but I did not realize that my first command in the fleet, the U.S.S. Jason (AR-8), was once torpedoed by the Japanese during the Second World War.

It was only during our brief deployment to the Western Pacific in 1983 that I felt as if we were making a difference on the world stage. The Soviets had shot down Korean Air 007 when we were docked in Japan and the Jason repaired the ships that were out searching for wreckage. Other than that, I served mostly as a tourist as being in Japan for three straight months (in Yokosuka, then a brief spell in Sasebo after we returned from a month in Subic Bay, Philippines and a week in Pusan, Korea) provided us with an opportunity to peruse the oriental nation.

After my tour with the Jason ended, I was assigned to the U.S.S. Worden (CG-18). I didn’t like it for I was used to a non-combat ship that with women aboard seemed a bit like a cruise ship than a veteran of battle. That and the fact that I had given up on drinking (heavily) during the weekends meant that my attitude needed adjustment. I also developed a reaction to something, probably just psychosomatic and sent on medical hold for a month while they analyzed me to see if my body was functioning properly. It was, but being away from my command for a month sent me on orders to the U.S.S. Benjamin Stoddert (DDG-22). After only six weeks aboard the Worden, the next year aboard the Stoddert made me fall in love with the ship. It was, in my opinion, the best command in the fleet – the Benny Sweat, “Pineapple Fleet’s Finest!” as our command flag pronounced as we passed the Papa Hotel buoy inbound at thirty-four knots.

Unfortunately, aboard the Stoddert, I had only a year left in the Navy and I knew that it wasn’t quite the military service that I had envisioned long before as I snuck into the adult section of the Detroit Public Library as a five-year-old to drool over photographs of B-52 bombers. The truth is, I wanted to become an Air Force pilot after college but could not afford tuition and with my eyes going bad, chose my other great love – the sea.

My service was before push button anything and we used to stand twelve-hour switchboard watches aboard the Jason in 140 ° F. temperatures as the engine room was located directly above the fire room. Usually, we handled the heat by stripping down to our underwear until the skipper showed up for inspection or we were training one of the women.

Then, my service ended with a whimper. Two years inactive Reserves and I received my first Honorable discharge. Six years later, during the lead up to Desert Storm, I wanted to return back into active duty but on the day that I was scheduled to take my physical, the Navy cancelled all rescores (transition into another rating). I knew that we steamship electricians were useless but the Navy correctly assumed that it would be cheaper to train someone from scratch than Navy veterans and so I entered the Reserves as Electrician’s Mate Three Class (eventually for all of seven years!) Godlewski and assigned to Mine Division 125 out of Charleston, SC. They were the harbor minesweepers and therefore considered a shore duty station, which I earned via normal sea-shore duty rotations.

There were three things that I remember from the Reserves. 1.) Because the Southfield, Michigan Reserve center was small enough to be located on the Army site, my unit drilled in a church convent (yes, sailors sharing the halls with nuns and priests!), 2.) During my first and only active duty two-week period, the Soviets tried to overthrow Gorbachev and the military went on alert; and 3.) During my active duty for training period I lived in the Marine barracks, (God bless the Corps! – Great bunch of guys! ;o) ).

Then they decommissioned my unit, I moved to East Lansing to attend Michigan State, and the Reserve center there wanted nothing to do with another electrician’s mate. Ergo, my last year in the military saw me living as if I was a civilian, though I had met Sara a few months before I received my second Honorable discharge.

As I have said, my service in the Navy was pathetically boring. I actually feel embarrassed whenever someone thanks me for my service. Perhaps because of this, I have subsequently dedicated my life to doing whatever I could to help this great nation of ours. My efforts to combat terrorism arise from this need to contribute back to the country that I love deeply. I realize how insignificant my own service was because, among other things, many of my fellow classmates at American Military University are presently serving on the front lines in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I find it extremely difficult understanding how they could fight a brutal war and still find an opportunity to further their education. They should be teaching us! Myself, I am having difficulty just trying to convince my Muslim professor that Islamic terrorism is not America’s fault or that Israel is not the bane of the world. These people are out there in an honest to goodness shooting war!

Then something dawned upon me. Here I am studying about terrorists blowing themselves up and taking as many of us along with them as they can. I am learning the intricate art of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), improvised nuclear devices (INDs), and can shoot and fieldstrip AK-47s and AR-15s amongst other weapons and, yet, I cannot relate to those currently protecting our lives. How much further removed, then, is the mind of the rest of America?

Can we truly comprehend what these fine soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines are going through? Can we, for the briefest of moments, imagine what their predecessors accomplished in battles too numerous to recall here? My generation simply did not pass the torch from our brethren in Vietnam to our friends who served gallantly from Desert Storm on through the present wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere throughout the world. We merely handed off a thimble of smoldering embers. They took our infinitesimal gift and restored it to the roaring fire of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

As seemingly inadequate as my own naval service seems today, even more so appears my gratitude to these fine men and women who I shall always admire and appreciate. I have been a writer for three full decades – the same length of time that represents my personal crusade against Islamic radicalism – and yet I cannot find words adequate to show my appreciation to those who are currently serving or have served honorably within the greatest military force the world has ever seen. Towards this end, I shall abdicate and resort to cliché:

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND ALL WHO SERVE HER PROUDLY!

THANK YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pictures below the fold:

Figure 1. R.J. Godlewski in Boot Camp ~ 1981.
Basic boot camp survival dictates that one make light of his introduction to “psychological warfare” and so here I am hamming it up in my underwear. Embarrassing? Yes. Expensive? Damn straight. Ever smuggle a Polaroid into basic training during the height of the Cold War?

Figure 2. R.J. Godlewski (arrow) writing home from Boot Camp in 1981.
Okay, now I’m fully clothed. Just dig those glasses; I went through about a dozen pairs because every time we ran into people during “competitive” marching they shattered against my face.

Figure 3. Company 407th "MASH" during graduation. January, 1982.

Figure 4. Seaman Recruit R.J. Godlewski (arrow) marching in formation during Pass & Review. January, 1982.

Figure 5. Fireman R.J. Godlewski hamming it up in our "A" School barracks. Great Lakes, IL. 1982.

Figure 6. U.S.S. Jason AR-8.
My first fleet command (1982 to 1984). That porthole just aft of the anchor (where you see the red hose coming down) is the anchor windlass compartment. That was my Sea & Anchor detail station and as luck would have it, the electrical controls were right next to the porthole so I sat on an angle iron in front of the controls and got to see firsthand the ports we entered while all the other electricians were down in the shops or standing watch in the 140° F. engine rooms.

Figure 7. U.S.S. Jason AR-8 Electrical shop.
This, I think, was EE01. I served in EE04? which was one deck below just above the aft engine room.

Figure 8. R.J. Godlewski in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 1982.

Figure 9. R.J. Godlewski standing in front of Pearl Harbor chapel.
Boy, was I tanned or what?

Figure 10. U.S.S. Jason AR-8 Engineering berthing.
The arrow points to my bunk for two years and I use to leap up to about the height where you see those boots on top of our lockers, grab the curtain rail, and swing my carcass up into bed. Did I mention that I was in good shape back then???

Figure 11. U.S.S. Jason AR-8 Captain O.C. Martin bestowing letter of appreciation upon Electrician's Mate Third Class R.J. Godlewski ~October, 1983.

This official U.S. Navy photograph was taken somewhere in the Western Pacific, in Japan if I remember my records correctly. I received two letters of appreciation that day – one for outstanding service during the Jason’s Routine Overhaul (ROH) and one for rebuilding the ship’s brig. That girl that you see over my right shoulder and I rewired the brig but our First Class Petty Officer (who rarely showed up during the work) received a letter of commendation for his “work” in the brig.

Figure 12. U.S.S. Jason returns from deployment to Pearl Harbor from deployment to Western Pacific. November, 1983.

Figure 13. EM3 R.J. Godlewski home on Christmas leave 1983.
That’s my mom and our collie Sandy (standing behind her in the kitchen). Of more importance, however, I’ve got that very rocking chair right behind me now in my office. Never, ever give up a comfortable rocker! ;o)

Figure 14. EM3 R.J. Godlewski underway aboard U.S.S. Jason AR-8. July, 1984.
I’ve lost that 28-inch waistline, but I’ve still got those binoculars (purchased at the base exchange in Yokosuka, Japan) sitting on that aforementioned rocking chair at this very moment.

Figure 15. U.S.S. Worden CG-18. Fall, 1984.
My second command, a guided missile cruiser. Only spent about six weeks aboard so there’s not much to tell. Went on medical hold for a month and was re-assigned to a different command.

Figure 16. U.S.S. Benjamin Stoddert DDG-22. Underway off Hawaiian Islands ~ 1985.
My last active duty command. I absolutely loved the “Benny Sweat”. She was most definitely “Pineapple Fleet’s Finest!” as our command flag heralded.

In the lower center of the photograph, you’ll see a hatch leading below. If you took that hatch down one deck and proceed forward, you would run into the engineering berthing compartment (electrician’s, machinists, and boiler techs). My bunk (as in all three ships, third high) was right against the hull on the port side. The missile launcher – that circular monstrosity that you see in the center right of the image – formed our berthing compartment’s aft bulkhead. They used to test that thing that all hours in the morning or night and whenever the launcher would rotate it sounded like a zillion garbage cans being hit with sledgehammers!

Just aft of that hatch – probably beneath where I was standing when I took the photo – was the electrical shop where I worked when not servicing everything else aboard the ship. It was about the size of a small office, so we basically just mustered there in the mornings and left on our assignments.
I once saw the Stoddert, long after I left the Navy, as the background for some exercise program on television. She would eventually sink while being towed to the scrap yard. Fitting, good ships should never be broken down and now she’ll always be part of the sea.

Figure 17. R.J. Godlewski arriving Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
I’m not 100% positive, but I believe that this is when I arrived home after being separated from active duty service ~ November 13th, 1985. I had a couple days of separation leave and so left on the 13th instead of the 16th.
I was happy to get out of the Navy then, but today I am extremely sad. It was a great life for someone just out of high school but the wisdom and maturity of age would have had me do a few things differently. For starters, I would have chosen something a bit more appealing to both me and the Navy than being an electrician. Not that I held any misgivings over the job that I did do, just that I might have been able and willing to stay in until retirement had I truly made a difference. Then again, without electricity, the ships I served aboard wouldn’t have gone anywhere.
ONCE NAVY, ALWAYS NAVY! GOD BLESS THE SAILORS OF THE GREATEST NAVY IN THE WORLD!

A Small Nation

Debbie — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:44:29 -0600

With everything going on here in the United States I have been remiss in my reporting on Israel, but not today. Today Israel is very much on my mind. Watching the memorial service for those brutally killed at Fort Hood by Maj.Nidal Malik Hasan, Islamic terrorist, the media seems obsessed with US President Barack Obama, rather than those that had their lives ripped from them. " This is a defining moment for Obama", say the talking heads. No, Obama has already defined himself. But at least he did not make this memorial about himself, as he usually does.

He bowed down low to the Saudis. He was worried Muslims might be offended. He has made it clear that being Commander in Chief is the last of his priorities. He deserted Israel, the US military in Afghanistan, the people of Georgia, and his far left base. He never misses an opportunity to insult America. He refused to attend the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, but sent an overwhelming big screen video message, again making himself the center of attention.

IRNA via Haaretz is reporting that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Obama must choose - Israel or Iran:

Ahmadinejad addressed the 25th Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Turkey, saying that U.S. President Barack Obama should make a choice in order to fulfill his campaign promise of change.

The Iranian president said that in order to make change, big decisions must be made, and they are awaiting the U.S. president's correct decision regarding which country he supports, IRNA reported.

Ahmadinejad added that Iran cannot accept the extended hand of a country which clasps Israel's hand as well, referring to the U.S.'s traditionally close ties with Israel.

Other nations are already making their decision as to which country they will support, Israel or Iran. Turkey has chosen Iran:

In the secret part of their talks in Tehran on Oct. 28, DEBKAfile's military sources reveal that Turkish prime minister Tayyep Recep Erdogan and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad struck military cooperation deals which promised Iran Turkish military intelligence and air force assistance against a possible Israeli attack on its nuclear sites.

I'm seeing polls that indicate US President Barack Obama is losing support from many of those who voted for him. They are not seeing the change they voted for. Many Jews who voted for him are having second thoughts. President Obama's Middle East policy is in ruins, reports Sammy Benoit at the American Thinker.

The entire settlement issue was caused by the Obama administration's naïveté. What the President and his advisers perceived as a minor concession (a settlement freeze) was for Israel a grave sacrifice. This was a major error by the Obama administration. Their insistence on a freeze and their constant public berating of the Jewish State has turned the Israeli population against Obama, especially the Israeli left, whom Obama would look to for support.

His public blasting of Israel has weakened his support among American Jews, who initially bought into his promise that he was a friend of Israel. The news that Obama was breaking a Bush-era pledge to Israel regarding natural expansion in existing settlements only made things worse. [snip]

If you are looking for the Obama Administration to demand some sort of move from the Palestinian side, don't hold your breath. The POTUS pressures not the Arabs, but only the Jewish State, even though Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas continues to order terrorist acts against Israel. And then there is that new ploy: Mahmoud Abbas, citing the deadlock, said he would not run for another term in the elections scheduled for January.

Please go to the American Thinker and read the rest of Sammy's article, and see the very long list of actions taken by Barack Obama that are anti-Israel.

Israel is a tiny land with a huge heart. I truly believe that America's future is tied to that of Israel. I also believe that America has much to learn from Israel, especially as it pertains to terrorism. Dr. Phyllis Chesler stated that America has just experience what Israel has gone through for years -- a lone terrorist, a suicide attacker, on our own soil, killing our innocent people. I believe she is correct. God willing this will be the last time we experience such horror.

I also pray that our intelligence agencies have learned a hard lesson by allowing Maj. Hasan to go unchecked when all the red flags were there for them to see. There is truly Blood on the Bureau and heads should roll. Among many other red flags was Maj. Hasan telling his classmates and instructors, "I'm a Muslim first and I hold the Shariah, the Islamic Law, before the United States Constitution."

In spite of the facts, red flags, and Hasan screaming "alluah akbar" as he mowed down innocent Americans, our feckless leader Barack Obama refuses to mention Islam or Muslim and said Nidal Hasan may have “cracked” because of stress.

Prime Minister Netanyahu gave a most noteworthy speech (included in it's entirety below), where he ended by saying:

“We are a small people but a great people; a people generous enough to pave a path toward a lasting peace; a people brave enough to thwart the dangers that confront us; and a people creative enough to once again help steer humanity towards a better future for all.”

The United States is a large people, a large nation, also generous, also brave, also creative -- but our leadership has diminished us in our ability to thwart the dangers that confront us and has also stifled our ability to steer humanity toward a better future. Under the leadership of Barack Obama other nations can no longer depend on us to come to their defense. Much of our military can no longer have pride in their Commander in Chief.

Israel is no longer sure she can depend on America to have her back. It is a sad day in our history. While the US has weak leadership, leadership that unquestionably sides with the Palestinians -- Israel seems to have strong leadership at a time when she needs it most.

Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech was sent to be by Ted Belman, Israpundit, with the following comment:

This is one of his best speeches. He keeps calling for “peace”. This is a brilliant strategy. Everybody wants peace. Thus he builds a consensus. Then comes Israel’s need for security. Who can argue about that. Let the politicians negotiate the details.

Meanwhile the Palestinians keep digging a hole from which they cannot extricate themselves. Obama, who’s he? Obama chose to support the weak horse and fell into the hole. Time for him to support the strong horse. Ted Belman

And now, the most excellent speech:

My dear friends, leaders of the Jewish communities of North America,

The history of the Jewish people has been marked by a paradox. We are at once both small and great. We are few in number but luminous in achievement. In the ancient world, the Jews were a small people on the foothills of Asia touching the Mediterranean. But in Alexandria some 2200 years ago, the Bible was translated into Greek, and the world has never been the same since.
“The Jews brought to civilization at least three big ideas: the idea of monotheism, the belief that all people have innate rights that transcend the power of kings, and a prophetic vision of universal peace.

“It is impossible to fully describe the revolutionary impact of these ideas throughout history, nor the poetic power of the Biblical stories that overshadowed much of the literature of the ancient world.
“As in antiquity so in modernity.
“Israel is one of the world’s smallest countries. But our success in science and technology, agriculture, medicine, and the arts belies our size. And on this continent, the Jewish community accounts for less than 2% of the population, yet its creative accomplishments in every field are legend and legendary.
“In modern times, Jews everywhere have made extraordinary contributions to humanity.
“So, smallness and greatness have thus accompanied our people throughout nearly 4,000 years of our history. But our conspicuous achievements often masked our small size and the vulnerability that comes with being small.
“Being prominent but small, we often could not defend ourselves against larger foes who envied our achievements, despised the ideas we championed, and periodically sought to expel or even annihilate us outright.
“The rebirth of Israel did not eliminate such attacks. But it fundamentally changed our ability to repel them.
“In 1948, some 600,000 Jews, their backs against the sea, fended off the assault of much larger enemies sworn to our destruction. We were aided by many of our fellow American Jews. You gave money, arms, and most important, tremendous moral support.
“You helped Israel absorb waves of immigrants, you spearheaded the historic struggle to free Soviet Jewry and you have tirelessly worked to strengthen the American-Israeli alliance which is a cornerstone of Israel’s security. Today, you support Birthright, Masa and Nefesh B’ Nefesh – these are programs that promote Aliyah and strengthen Jewish identity, thereby ensuring that our numbers are not further diminished and dwindled by the forces of assimilation.
“Strengthening Jewish identity can no longer be a task exclusively for the Diaspora.
It is increasingly the responsibility of the Jewish State. Over a decade ago, I was proud to be the first Prime Minister to allocate state funds to bolster Jewish identity outside of Israel.
“And I assure you that in my second term, I intend to do even more.
“The result of our joint efforts has been a stronger Israel. And only a strong Israel can achieve peace. But even a strong Israel is still a small Israel. And a small Israel demands a secure peace. Peace in our land, the peace of Jerusalem, our eternal capital, is one of our oldest longings, expressed in our Psalms and our prayers.
“Peace between Israel and our Arab neighbors: the first and immediate result would spare our children the horrors of war. It would spare our children the horrors of war. It would spare our grandchildren the horrors of war. What a great gift.
“Peace could usher in a new age of economic progress for the benefit of all. We have already signed peace agreements, two of them, with Egypt and Jordan. And we are eager to achieve peace with all our other neighbors, especially with the Palestinians.
“I believe there is no time to waste. We need to move towards peace with a sense of urgency and a sense of purpose. I want to be clear. My goal is not to have endless negotiations. My goal is not negotiations for negotiations sake. My goal is to reach a peace treaty, and soon.
“But to get a peace agreement, we must start negotiating. Let’s stop talking about negotiations. Let’s start moving.
“This past June at Bar-Ilan University, I put forward a vision of peace that has united the vast majority of Israelis.
A Jewish State
“In this vision of two states for two peoples, a demilitarized Palestinian state would recognize the Jewish state.
“Now, what do I mean by a Jewish state? It is a state in which all individuals and all minorities have equal individual rights. Yet our national symbols, language and culture spring from the heritage of the Jewish people. And most important, any Jew from anywhere in the world has a right to immigrate to Israel and become a citizen.
“I want to make it clear: Any Jew, of any denomination, will always have the right to come home to the Jewish state. Religious pluralism and tolerance will always guide my policy.

“What does a Jewish state mean for the Palestinians? They must abandon the fantasy of flooding Israel with refugees, give up irredentist claims to the Negev and Galilee, and declare unequivocally that the conflict is finally over.
“Yet, even after we achieve peace it may take years for the spirit of peace to permeate most levels of Palestinian society. Therefore, any peace agreement we sign today must include ironclad security measures that will protect the State of Israel.
“Here comes that paradox again.
“Israel is powerful but small. No matter where our final borders are drawn, Israel will remain exceedingly small. I am not sure you know how small Israel is. The United States and Canada are each roughly 400 times the size of Israel and the Arab world is 500 times the size of Israel. Egypt alone is roughly 40 times larger and even a small country like Jordan, our neighbor to the east, is almost four times as big. Israel is bigger than Rhode Island, but that’s about it.
“Small countries are not necessarily insecure. Belgium and Luxemburg are small but they today are not insecure. Yet if their neighbors included radical regimes bent on their conquest and destruction with terror proxies firing thousands of missiles on their people, believe me, they would feel insecure. Anyone would.
“Because of our small size and the radical and violent neighborhood in which we live, Israel faces security threats like that of no other nation.
“A few facts to drive the point home.
“A few days ago, the Israeli navy interdicted a ship carrying hundreds of tons of rockets and explosives from Iran bound for Hezbollah via Syria. Last week, Hamas tested a rocket with a range of nearly 40 miles.
“Now, for a large country, that might not be too consequential. But in tiny Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah now have the power to reach Tel Aviv.
Demiltarization
“Israel’s security therefore requires that any territory vacated in a future peace agreement must be effectively demilitarized.
“An effective demilitarizion of Palestinian areas is an essential component of peace recognized by successive American presidents. I want to assure you Israel is willing to make great concessions for peace. But there can be no concessions on Israel’s security. We have to ensure that weapons do not flow into the Palestinian areas in the West Bank, which overlooks Tel Aviv and surrounds Jerusalem.
“We cannot permit another Gaza or South Lebanon in the heart of the country. What we want is a durable peace, a peace that can be defended. We fervently hope that such a peace will hold, but we must be prepared to defend ourselves in case it doesn’t.
Goldstone Report
“The UN report on Gaza, which falsely accuses Israel of war crimes for legitimately defending itself against real war criminals, in effect seeks to deprive us of the right of self-defense. This report must be firmly rejected.
“We are proud of the Israeli Defense Forces. We are proud of our sons and daughters who are defending our country every day. We know that our army, Israel’s army, is as moral as any army on earth. In supporting the IDF and rejecting this report you’re sending a message to terrorists that they cannot get away with firing on civilians while hiding behind civilians.
“And you do something else. You support peace. For only an Israel that can defend itself is an Israel that can take further risks for peace.
“I thank President Obama for resolutely opposing this twisted UN resolution.
“I applaud the overwhelming vote last week in the American Congress condemning this biased report.
“I know there are many Canadian friends with us here today. I wish to extend my thanks to Prime Minister Harper for his staunch support for Israel’s right of self-defense.
“Last week, I watched a joint exercise of the IDF and some 1400 American soldiers to improve Israel’s defense against incoming missiles. I salute these American soldiers, and I thank their President, their Commander in Chief, President Obama for his commitment to Israel’s security. On behalf of the people of Israel, I send my condolences to the American servicemen and women who were killed at Fort Hood last week.
“My friends,
“My government is working to advance peace and we are not just talking.
“We have removed hundreds of security checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank. I personally extended the hours of operation on the Allenby Bridge and I’ve removed bureaucratic hurdles to Palestinian economic development.
“These efforts, along with measures taken by the Palestinian Authority to improve security, have spurred an unmatched boom in the West Bank and has made life better for ordinary Palestinians.
“For the first time in years, businesses, banks and industry are sprouting. Restaurants, theaters, and shopping malls are overflowing. Thousands and thousands of Palestinian jobs are being created.
“I think we can do a lot more to improve the reality on the ground, and we will. I intend to do a lot more.
“Prosperity can help advance peace – but only so far. To truly resolve the outstanding issues between us, we must begin and complete peace negotiations.
“We should not place preconditions for holding talks. Such obstacles to talks were never set in the 16 years of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. From the day my government was sworn in seven months ago, I have been calling for peace negotiations to start.
“I said I would go anywhere, anytime to advance peace. And no Israeli government has been so willing to restrain settlement activity as part of an effort to re-launch peace talks. So I say today to the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas: let us seize the moment to reach an historic agreement. Let us begin talks immediately.
“I know there are many skeptics. I am not one of them. I believe that peace is possible. I know how committed the Israeli people are to peace and how committed I am to make peace. But I need and we need a determined Palestinian partner as well. A partner willing to shoulder the risk and burdens as we are.
“I believe that with good will and with courageous leadership on both sides, and no less important, with the continued support of the United States, peace can become a reality. We can surprise a skeptical world.
“Achieving peace is a great challenge facing Israel. At the United Nations in September, I spoke of another great challenge: preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability. The Iranian regime tyrannizes its own people, sponsors and supplies terrorism, and openly pledges to wipe Israel off the map. Imagine how much more dangerous this regime would be if it had atomic bombs.
“The responsible members of the international community must unite to prevent this grave threat to the peace of the entire world.
“I support President Obama’s continued efforts toward these ends, and I appreciate the firm position taken by the leading European countries. We must not succumb to the Iranian regime’s deceit and cunning. We must stand together to stop Tehran from realizing its nuclear ambitions.
“In addition to achieving peace and preventing a nuclear Iran, there is a third momentous challenge before us – reducing the world’s dependence on oil.
This would help cleanse our world after more than a century of industrial pollution.
“It would help our economies by decreasing our dependence on depleting resources. And it would end the massive transfer of wealth to some of the world’s most odious exporters of terrorism and fanaticism.
“Here’s the question: can we dramatically reduce our dependence on oil?
“Remember, sometimes, one or two inventions can change centuries of habit. For many centuries, salt was highly valued for preserving food. Caravans of camels carried it across the deserts, and it was nearly worth its weight in gold. The salt trade helped build economic empires, and the world’s dependence on salt showed no signs of slackening.
“But then came two inventions: canning and refrigeration. Virtually overnight, salt lost its immense value. The same thing may happen to oil. Scientific and technological breakthroughs could dramatically reduce the world’s dependence on petroleum. And Israel could play an important role in making that happen.
“You know, of course, about our high-tech companies and venture capital funds, our engineers and scientists, our patents and our Nobel laureates. In biotech and agro-tech, in solar energy and desalination, and in many other fields, Israeli innovation is transforming the way we live.
“Two perceptive writers recently wrote a book called, “The Start-Up Nation”. We are the start-up nation. Now we must use our minds to help achieve breakthroughs in the field of clean energy. For example, Israel could apply its unique expertise to the juncture of water and energy. The global need for water is rapidly increasing. Yet, a third of the cost of producing clean water is energy. Sea-water in abundance can be readily desalinated with solar power and channeled inland.
“Having mastered both of these technologies, Israel can make a decisive contribution to alleviating water shortages around the world, especially in the growing economies of Asia and the parched expanses of the Middle East.
“I am in the process of establishing a national commission that will bring together Israel’s finest scientists, businessmen and engineers. We hope to work with other governments and experts to dramatically reduce our dependence on oil in the next decade, providing an example to be emulated by the rest of the world.
“If we could cross the oceans, fly the skies, and reach the moon, we should be able to harness water, wind and sun to power our world.
“My friends,
“I know that these three enormous challenges – achieving peace, preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and developing alternative energies - seem daunting.
But I want you to remember another mission whose success seemed completely implausible when Theodore Herzl embarked on it over a century ago.
“The challenges confronting Herzl’s vision of a Jewish state were not less than overwhelming. Most of the world’s Jews lived in Europe and had no intention of moving to the barren land of their forefathers.
“Few saw the clouds gathering on the horizon. Fewer still saw the need for action. But with a clear plan and a prophetic sense of urgency, Herzl helped the Jewish people overcome their tragic condition of powerlessness.
“His implausible idea gathered so much force that within a few decades our people emerged from the worst massacre in history to establish an independent state in our ancestral homeland. And then our small people then dedicated itself to the great task of building a modern Jewish state.
“In an understandable moment of frustration, Herzl lamented, “The tragedy of the Jewish people is that we do not believe in ourselves.”
“But Herzl did not lose faith. He said, “We are strong enough to form a state”. “We possess all the human and material resources for this purpose.”
“If we will it, he famously said, it is no dream.
“My friends,
“We have learned from history that if the Jewish people are united and determined, if we harness our hopes and our dreams, the hardest tasks are within our reach.
“We are a small people but a great people; a people generous enough to pave a path toward a lasting peace; a people brave enough to thwart the dangers that confront us; and a people creative enough to once again help steer humanity towards a better future for all.”

On a side note, the Missing Persian Army Has Been Found and it's all Israel's fault as usual.

Protest on Nancy Pelosi’s home turf, San Francisco, November 15, noon ’til, at Bookworm Room

A Perfect Postcard To Send To Pelosi (x-rated)

Blood on the Bureau: How J. Edgar’s Boys are distancing themselves from National Security.

Debbie — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:59:56 -0600

Blood on the Bureau:

How J. Edgar’s Boys are distancing themselves from National Security.

By R.J. Godlewski

As the world uncovers more details from the terroristic actions of Islamist apologist Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the underlying question that demands to be answered is how those charged with preventing such atrocities could have allowed a self-acknowledged “Soldier of Allah” to penetrate the honorable ranks of our esteemed U.S. Army. Sadly, there is only one culprit so egregious, so diabolical enough to permit such an outrage: political correctness.

In a world where a traitor by any other name is no longer a traitor, much of this infamy is shouldered by those who serve no other purpose than to make certain that such tragedies are never experienced by the American citizenry they are under oath to protect. Instead of stopping evil in its tracks, they are bound by a few to protect the excuses of the aggressor. Instead of making an example out of our enemies, they seek to uphold their virtues as models to follow. Instead of America First, it has become Americans Last as the innocent are vilified and the guilty condoned.

Tomorrow, November 11th, Veteran’s Day, is a day in which the whole of America honors those who have proudly worn the uniform of the United States Armed Forces. We owe them every respect we have and even then, it would take a lifetime of admiration and courtesy to scratch the surface of our indebtedness. Sadly, however, many of the civilians in charge of these brave forces – some of whom have never even touched a uniform of the military – have long since abandoned patriotism in favor of sectarian political correctness.

Major – and I use the term with much trepidation – Hasan murdered 13 brave soldiers and wounded dozens of others because, as a society, we have come to fear terms such as “rag head” more than treasure the actual lives of those dying to protect ours. As soon as Nidal Malik Hasan began uttering challenges to the government and people that he served – and who paid for his education and welfare – he should have been disciplined and removed from the military service. A simple resignation would have ended his torment over having to serve a military that was at war with his “own kind” since 1979. Instead of quitting, he continued to sap American taxpayers for every penny that his Islamist ass could procure.

Soldiers are not governed by the U.S. Constitution; they are led by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or UCMJ. Many an officer has been tarnished, even removed from service, for “behaviors unbecoming an officer” that were more moderate than Hasan’s criticism of the military and government or even his fascination with blonds providing lap dances for the so-called “Soldier of Allah” who presumably was fabricating his own paradise of seventy-seven virgins.

Although plenty of blame exists to spread around regarding the sickening Hasan affair, none deserves more chastisement than those walking the venerable halls of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI is the principal agency within the United States charged with defending the country against thugs like Hasan and the vermin who support him. Instead of stopping the Fort Hood assassin when they had a chance, they looked the other way, preferring to excuse his unpatriotic behavior as some variant of free speech. Soldiers are not allowed to express themselves freely – not while they are under oath, under commission, and under war.

So, the question begs to be asked, why did the FBI leave so many brave soldiers and civilians to be fed to the lion? There are two reasons, actually. First, the FBI is a law enforcement organization. This means that they are predicated upon concepts of post-event response. They arrive onto the scene only when a sufficient crime has been detected. When astronomer Cliff Stoll detected Soviet cyber agents infiltrating our nuclear research laboratories, the FBI refused to help until the damage could be proven to exceed $1 million dollars. When Canadian citizens of Middle Eastern descent were buying up prepaid cellular phones (very much a tool of the trade for terrorists planting IEDs) throughout the Midwestern United States for transport back into Canada – ostensibly an export violation – the FBI wafted on the seriousness of the matter.

The second reason the FBI is so ineffective at stopping dedicated terrorists is that they prefer to concentrate on building “water tight” cases. Unfortunately, such complete investigations are usually terminated once justice is served and the Bureau retreats to concentrate on acquiring another concrete conviction. Ties to informants, for instance, are severed when no longer needed. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in comparison, will stroke the sensitivities of an agent for years, even decades, preferring to treat them as an invaluable member of a family than a one-time-use-only tool. The CIA will thus cull every tidbit of “color, symbolism, folklore, histrionics, and invective” to ensure that instinct remains a viable tool of the hunt.

America, however, has thrown Pandora’s gates wide open to Islamic terrorism well before nineteen Arabs learned from us how to fly our friends and neighbors into our fellow citizens. Barriers to attack were destroyed when President Carter fired thousands of CIA officers in the months right before the Islamic infestation of Iran kidnapped our embassy staff for 444 days in 1979. Despite persistent attacks against the American embassy in Beirut (1983), the Marine Barracks in Beirut (1983), the American Embassy Annex in Beirut (1985), Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland (1988), the World Trade Center in New York (1993), the Khobar Towers in Dhahran (1996), the American embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (1998), and countless other attacks too numerous to repeat outside a thick volume, our political leadership in Washington has refused to acknowledge that Islam is at war with the United States regardless of whether we refuse to return the favor.

When the CIA positioned itself to take down threats such as Osama Bin Laden (1993) and other radical extremists (1995), President Bill “I’ll lob cruise missiles from afar” Clinton turned the FBI loose on the Agency. What happened next was that a Bureau that distinguishes a few malcontents from the ummah that sires them hamstrung America’s covert warriors against the radical faith. J. Edgar Hoover’s boys no longer work for an investigative agency; they now work for the For Broader Islam branch of the U.S. Government.

The Bureau no longer hires those who are prepared to travel to the ends of the earth to bring our adversaries to justice. They now seek to appease and to promote as any brief visit to their Website illustrates. When the pre-9/11 national census proved that America was overwhelmingly Caucasian and, arguably, Christian, the Bureau seeks to amend this “discrepancy” by apparently softening its focus on national security. The value of diversity is that we are not all supposed to look exactly alike, but to misuse this rule of God is to sacrifice our own little enclave to those who demand that everyone think and act alike.

The massacre at Fort Hood rests squarely upon Nidal Hasan and there can be no more adequate justice than were he to be hung, drawn, and quartered in full view of the public. His actions were premeditated, religiously inspired, and treasonous beyond that of Benedict Arnold. That we – American taxpayers all – paid for his education, salary, and very likely his criminal defense, serves to show the true damage offered by political correctness.

The blood of the innocents, however, spills onto the hands of everyone at the Bureau who sat idly while this traitor worked through our midst and it is a stain that simply cannot be washed away. Islam, being as much a political entity as a “religion”, is a threat to global democracy. Radical Islam is a threat to the Republic of the United States of America. Until we face this indisputable fact, there will be more Foot Hood massacres in the future and someone professing to Islam will perpetrate every single one. Do the math – if nothing else, FBI agents can calculate. It is time to return to good old-fashioned American gut instinct.

Right Truth

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Burning Down the Straw Man

A bottle of wine a day keeps the doctor away

The Tactical Citizen’s Guide to Understanding Improvised Explosive Devices

Cultural Revolution in America

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Honorable Mentions

Non-Council Submissions

It's a Nuclear, Nuclear, World...

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When Muslims Attack

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Clint Eastwood Honored

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Non-Council Submissions

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Al-Taqiyya – Can “Good” Muslims be trusted?

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Purging Government of Republicans

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Council Submissions

Non-Council Submissions

Virtute et armis - By courage and by arms -- (Veteran’s Day 2009)

A Small Nation

Other good reading:

A Perfect Postcard To Send To Pelosi (x-rated)

Blood on the Bureau: How J. Edgar’s Boys are distancing themselves from National Security.