The Unmitigated TRUTH

This Too Shall Passover

2013-04-09T23:43:00.001-04:00

By George:
www.Unmitigated-Truth.com

With just one short week left before the joyous Jewish Festival of Passover, my wife Miriam is heading into the home stretch with her usual frenzy. The house cleaning is mostly done, the shopping for food and incidentals for the Holiday are winding down, and she is starting to relax. We can almost see the traditional Passover Seder table beckoning us just a handful of days away.

I pick at my dinner of unavoidable leftovers, which have to be disposed of before the Passover Holiday. I smile as the events of last year's panicked Pre-Passover scenario flood my mind. The whole "disaster" is still vividly seared into my memory.

Wait, let me start from the beginning. It really began some years ago, when the trusty GE wall oven we owned started showing signs of age. I wan't worried, because I am a very handy guy who can fix things. So when the igniter died, I replaced it. When the door seal wore out, I replaced it. When the control panel died, I replaced it and it kept on working. The self cleaning mechanism failed, so I fixed it with some glue and matchsticks. When later it failed again, I replaced it. But finally the time came when the heatproof wiring started disintegrating and I could no longer safely replace the igniter, I pronounced it time to replace the oven. I had to convince my wife that I could no longer fix it and it would not be worthwhile to have it repaired.

So two years ago just before Passover we went oven shopping. We found a great deal on a Frigidaire wall oven at a local discount store, purchased it, and I set to the installation eagerly.

The unit was "new", but I had some trepidations when there were some handwritten notes on the installation manual, and the gas connection had some pipe dope on it. Though it was supposedly the same size as the oven it replaced, I still found it an inch short for the cabinet cutout, so I shimmed it with some wood on the bottom. Then it was off to the Home Depot for an extension pipe and some connectors to attach the gas line, but not before I had to enlarge the hole where the gas line attached to the unit. I finally completed the installation, covered up the cosmetic misalignments, and happily went to sleep.

Miriam was happy with her new oven, though she claimed it was smaller inside than her old GE. She asked me about the Sabbath Mode that was one feature we considered before purchase, but it turned out that THIS model didn't have it. Somewhat disappointing, but hey, we got a great deal. It did come with the Self Cleaning mode, so it would be all right. As usual, when minor problems cropped up, I was able to handle it.

Then last year Passover came around and the frenzy of the preparations peaked about a week before Passover, it was great to be able to count on the oven cleaning itself. Miriam pressed the "Self Clean" button, the motor whirred, the panel light blinked, paused for a bit, started blinking an error message about calling service and began beeping incessantly. This really annoyed me because a year old oven should NOT be having these problems, but I have replaced a "self cleaning" motor on the last oven, so no problem.

I removed and disconnected the control panel, which finally stilled the nerve-racking beeping, but the motor was not there. Checked the manuals, and it seems the motor is only accessible from the back. This meant that the unit had to be uninstalled and removed, the whole back taken apart just to get to this motor. I admitted defeat, because with less than a week before Passover, I didn't want to attempt it. So what should we do? I felt that I didn't want to invest any more money in an oven that Miriam didn't like anyway, and we should get a better unit since the repair bill seemed to be more than I wanted to spend. Miriam convinced me to get it repaired. The repairman eventually showed up, and after a few tries and with some help from me, got the oven self cleaning again. The cost of the repair and parts came pretty close to the price of the oven when it was "new". But Passover was saved, and that is what counted most, although I started resenting this "expensive" oven. When later the bottom storage drawer fell out and the decorative front glass shattered, I promised Miriam I would order the part, but since it worked fine without the glass, I conveniently kept forgetting about it.

My dinner of delicious leftovers is finished, and I put the plate and fork into the dishwasher. I smile at Miriam who is not quite finished cleaning the kitchen, then on a whim ask. "Did you Self Clean the oven yet?" She replies that she is planning on doing it just before she starts the Passover cooking. I ask "Do you really want to wait for the last moment to try it?" She tells me that she is afraid to use the Self Clean and she hasn't used it for at least 6 months. I suggest that now would be a better time to try than later.

Miriam presses the "Self Clean" button, the motor whirres, the panel light blinks, pauses for a bit, then starts blinking an error message about calling service while it begins beeping incessantly. I am about to start "bleeping" myself, realizing that for the amount of money this oven cost us so far, we could have bought a deluxe model back then. But I try to look on the bright side of things, so I am grateful for my "bad memory" that saved me from ordering the decorative glass front for the bottom drawer, (which I was really planning to do for Passover). I quickly run for my tools to stop that infernal beeping. To forestall my wife from crossing over from "frantic" to "panicked", I assure her that she could get her old reliable GE oven back, all she has to do is order it.

We start surfing for ovens, she makes some calls to distributors and friends, and by next day she announces to me that she found the perfect oven for a great price from a local dealer who came recommended from her friends. Hmmm.. Deja-vu, all over again. She tells me that the salesman was a very nice guy, and that she spoke to him for a while and found out that they knew each others' families etc.. So what about the oven? She tells me that she got the GE model we are looking for and saved $250. This is fantastic. A great unit, for a great price. I call the salesman to arrange for payment and while chatting we figure out that some 30 years ago we attended the same Synagogue, and he tells me that he remembers me. I don't believe him, and ask for his information so I can send him the money. He offers that for an extra $20 the delivery people will haul away the old oven. Great, for what would I do with a perfectly good oven that just refuses to clean itself? I send him the money electronically, and get a promise of an early Wednesday delivery. He also recommends a handyman to do the installation, and finally things are back on track.

Wednesday morning I leave for work, and my wife is now awaiting her new oven. Throughout the day I get hourly reports on the non-arrival of the oven. When I return home from work, I have to take a taxi home from the train station because my wife can't leave the house since the delivery might come any minute. Since I had forgotten to uninstall the old unit last night, I grab my tools and spend 30 minutes uninstalling it. I finish just in time as the delivery van pulls up in front of the house. I ask Miriam to make the call to the handyman to come install it.

The 2 delivery guys are not the most efficient, and it takes them about 15 minutes to figure out how to unload the box and how to get it into the house. Finally the smaller guy straps the box to his back and casually strolls into the house with it. He deposits it in the middle of the kitchen, pulls out the paperwork for me to sign. I suggest they uncrate it first and remove the box, as well as removing the old oven that I already paid for to have removed.. I sign the papers and they leave.

I am standing there admiring the new oven, but something is gnawing at me. Past ovens I have installed, came with an electric plug to connect to the electricity, but this unit only has wires but no plug. All right, I'll have to put a plug on it. I step back to take a good look at the oven, and notice it has no bottom drawer. As a matter of fact, why does this oven only reach to my waist, when it should be up to my chest? Then it hits me that this is NOT the gas oven we ordered, but an electric oven. I tell Miriam to see if the delivery guys are still outside, and get them back here. Luckily they are still outside trying to figure out what to do with the old oven. They come back in, we have them call the store for instructions. The dealer promises to take care of it. The 2 guys remove the new oven and we are left standing there staring at this gaping hole in the kitchen cabinet. I remind Miriam to call off the installation guy, then we drive over to the store to get this resolved.

We get to the store before they close, and although the salesman who sold us the unit is gone, another guy is willing to help us. He checks the computer and tells us that we had ordered the Electric oven, but he can upgrade us to the Gas oven for a mere $130. (Reminder to myself - don't EVER let Miriam order appliances without my verification) The deal is struck and he promises delivery by tomorrow. Miriam insists on a morning delivery, and he says "Yeah, sure". We go home a little happier, and Miriam calls the installer and informs him that she will call him as soon as delivery is made.

In the morning I go to work, looking forward to coming home to a kitchen with a new oven loaded with steaming hot Passover food cooking. Miriam has managed to get the delivery guys' cell phone number, so she keeps calling to find out when they are coming. They no longer answer her calls. Throughout the day Miriam calls me at work with the hourly oven report, "They are still not here". After work I skip going to the gym and head for home to find a frantic wife who is envisioning a Passover without an oven, and a gaping hole in the kitchen cabinet. Frankly, I am not sure which of the two thoughts distressed her more, no oven, or the hole?

Calls to the delivery guys is still unanswered, but finally the truck pulls up in front of the house at about 8pm. This time it takes both guys to bring the box into the house. Unit is uncrated, I examine it and give my approval, ask the two guys to lift the unit into the cabinet cutout, sign the delivery receipt and they leave. I breathe a sigh of relief as Miriam calls the installer. He doesn't answer. Odds are that he isn't coming tonight and the oven HAS to be operating by tomorrow morning, so I shuffle off to get my toolbox. I have done this before, I can do it again. Just one quick trip to Home Depot to get the right coupler, then it's just a matter of coaxing my body into contortions that it can no longer remember. By 12:15am I am done, the oven tested to my satisfaction, I put my tools away and drag my aching body off to bed.

In the morning Miriam is ecstatic and is ready to start cooking. I head off to work with a satisfied smile, while she is anticipating the cooking marathon.

Now for the "ironic" conclusion.

I return from work late Friday afternoon and I barely have enough time left to shower, shave and get ready for the Sabbath. Miriam is still on a high with her new oven, and she tells me about a little "oops". It seems that she had wanted to give the oven a chance to work in, so before anything else, she put some apples with cinnamon in it to bake to get the house smelling good. The name "Baked Apple" should have given her a clue, but instead of baking them, she decided to Broil them. As Miriam relates to me, "The apples exploded", leaving the inside of the new oven coated with burned apples. She shows me the remnants and I comment, "At least now you have a good Self Cleaner, so you can get it cleaned up." She gives me an incredulous look and snaps, "Are you crazy? No way I am going to use the Self Clean NOW before Pesach (Passover), just in case..."

But Passover is once again saved, and that is what counts most.

A Lesson to be Learned.

As I was writing this vignette, it occurred to me that there is a deep spiritual message contained in the above narrative. God has created us all with our own spiritual "Self Clean" mode. It is impossible to live a life of perfect spiritual purity and it's more than likely that we will stumble and sin from time to time. But God has given us a "Self Cleaning" function that we call "Repentance". The caveat is that you should NOT be afraid to use this amazing function, but endeavor to use "Self Cleaning" as often as possible.

The American Plague of Frogs.

2013-02-13T07:10:00.000-05:00

By: George

How do you cook a live frog?

I must confess up front that my familiarity with this subject is strictly hearsay because frogs are not Kosher, and being an Orthodox Jew I don't eat frogs, or torture living creatures. But I did read this on the Internet, so it must be true.

So how DO you cook a live frog? If you boiled up a pot of water and then dropped the frog into it, it would immediately jump out. Frogs don't have to be smart to do that, it is a reflex. They feel pain, they react and jump. Keep trying, and they keep jumping. So short of immobilizing them with a pair of tongs and manually dunking them into the boiling pot, how could you do it?

You do it incrementally. First you put a cold pot of water on the stove, and put the frog into it. Frogs love to be in water, so it will just sit there. Next, turn the flame under the pot on to low heat. As the water in the pot starts to warm, the frog will enjoy the warming water. As the water temperature slowly rises, the frog will bask in the warmth until it reaches a point of pain, and it then tries to figure out what to do. The reflex action never kicks in because the danger wasn't sudden and severe. By the time the frog realizes the danger, it no longer has the ability to muster a jump, so it succumbs to the boiling water.

By now those of you who know me realize that I am NOT offering cooking tips, but I am trying to make a point. Something that should be most obvious to each and every one of us, yet we seem to be oblivious to it.

I look at our Country today and what I see is very demoralizing. I see a government that is criminally out of control. With indiscriminate spending, skyrocketing borrowing, rampant taxation, usurped civil liberties, blatant invasion of privacy and emasculation of the Military, the America I used to live in has faded to a dim memory.

I remember not that long ago, when the Government was unobtrusive, the family was central and the workplace was a second family. When the words "In God We Trust" really meant something, when unemployment was voluntary, traveling didn't involve mandatory sexual molestation, when schools prepared students to excel and think for themselves, not to settle for mediocrity and feel good about it, when not everything was a "right", yet it was all right.

So what happened? What happened to us the American people? When did we all develop national myopia? When did we trade Family values for Reality Show morality?

We see the abolition of God from our schools and public venues, and we don't see danger. We see the re-polarization of the American public along racial boundaries, and we don't mourn for those who gave their lives for Racial Equality. We look on while the Boy Scouts are being demonized for not kowtowing to the homosexual agenda, and we don't recoil in terror. We see creeping Islamism and advocacy of Sharia, the marginazation of moral family upbringing, the transformation of dreaded Evils into today's Virtues, while the God-given virtues of yesterday are being swept into the dustbin of "Progress". We watch the price of gasoline heading for the stratosphere, yet we don't collectively rise up and scream "Enough is enough; we will no longer tolerate this!"

How did we get so complacent, so anesthetized to the mushrooming degradation around us? How did people whose lifeblood was Morality, Liberty and Constitutional Government, end up as silent Sheep in the corral of overreaching egotistical bureaucrats? How did we get ensnared by empty suits spouting empty flowery promises, while they dig the shallow grave of a dying Democracy which they deliberately disemboweled? How did we turn into Sheeple?

The answer is that we are not Sheep, but indeed we are Frogs. Frogs who have been lulled by the comfortably gentle waters of the American affluence. Certain parasitic life-forms were jealous of our way of life, and indeed felt threatened by it. These pond-scums longed to eradicate the righteous people who were making them uncomfortable, but they knew that they could not attack America directly, seeing as to how their Hero and Ally Hitler was defeated by the Allies. So what could they do?

They took a few pages out of the Radical Socialist playbook. Infiltrate and control the education system, the Media, Political Parties, Judiciary,and the Labor Unions, and you have the means to bring the country to it's knees. Chop away at morality, the underpinning of the family, Destroy the Dollar, demoralize and weaken the Military, and instigate civil strife. Of course it has to be done incrementally, or the Frogs will leap out of the pot.

Turn the heat up a notch, click.
Fill children's' malleable minds with radical ideas. Click.
Sex education for teens, click.
Teach immorality, lack of respect for parents and authority, click.
Racier movies, click,
More violent movies, click,
Separation of God from State, click,
Separation of God from Schools, click,
Abortion is the woman's right, click.
Try homosexuality, click,
Unions demand more and more, click,
for less and less production, click,
Entitlements, click,
Destroy Healthcare, click.
Cripple domestic energy production, click.
Cripple NASA and the Military, click.
Gay marriage, click,
Rule by fiat, click.
Sex education for Kindergarten, click.
Late term abortion is fine, click.
Give money and arms to Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaida, click,
Turn your back on long trusted allies, click.
Print money non-stop, clic.
Destroy the Economy, click.
Build up a secret militia, click.
Vilify gun ownership, click
Attack Second Amendment, clic.
etc.., etc... click, click, click.

Yikes.., it's getting way too hot. But by now, imperceptibly, the solid backbone of the American spirit has developed an advanced case of Osteoarthritis. We no longer seem to be able to stand up for OUR rights, while we allow ourselves to be charmed and bullied by a secretive unknown "Leader" implanted into the White House and controlled by our very tormentors. Click, Click, Click.

Praise Allah, the Frogs are ready to eat.

Are American Jews Blind, or Just Stupid?

2013-01-28T21:20:00.002-05:00

By: George

Being an outspoken advocate of Conservative Political Principles, and since I proudly display my Orthodox Jewish roots, I often get asked "Why did the majority of American Jews STILL vote for Obama"? This happens to be an excellent question, considering the apparent diminishing support of Israel by the Obama administration, while openly embracing the Muslim Brotherhood. We have a deteriorating American economy, burgeoning governmental debt, renewed racial tensions, and emaciated foreign policy projection. The answer, however, involves an exploration of the various multifaceted segments of the Jewish population, and their disparate motivations for their choices.
The Jewish population, while mostly practicing the same religion, is not very homogenous in their ideologies. This stems from their backgrounds, their upbringings and their current station in life.

Let's start first with a growing segment of Jews who are technologically savvy, who read and react to the raw news that they glean from non-mainstream sources. These Jews, such as myself, analyze the news, make up their mind based on both filtered and unfiltered facts, and in this case, I came to the realization that Obama is NOT a friend of the Jews.

But for this discussion we are discussing the majority of American Jews who still voted Democrat. In order to do so, we have to preface our discussion by iterating the various categories of the Jewish populace. Besides the core Orthodox Jews, there are also Conservative Jews (nothing to do with political beliefs), Reform Jews, Unaffiliated Jews, "Cardiac" Jews (they are Jews in their hearts), and Jews by birth only.

Of these various segments, a significant number of the latter groupings are "Self Hating Jews", who will take positions opposing those of the Orthodox Jewish beliefs. These people are knowingly Liberal, and they purposefully vote against accepted Jewish interests. The psychology driving these people probably warrants its own dissertation.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are many Jewish families who are in the "47%", who rely on governmental assistance for their sustenance due to large families and lack of sufficient income. They vote Liberal for their own immediate benefit.

That still leaves a large segment of Jews who don't fit into the aforementioned categories, who still vote Liberal. This is the segment that befuddles most observers. Why would they vote against their own interest? This is where we get into something that I call "the New York Times factor". Let me explain.

The Jews as a people are very charitable, not only because the Bible exhorts us to be so, but because it is ingrained in our DNA. Where there are people in need, we are there. The Jews were in the forefront in Selma during the struggle for black civil rights. They were leaders in the original Union movement to help the downtrodden workers. They became teachers to nurture the children, lawyers to champion against injustice, and doctors to heal and comfort the sick.

This caring and charitable trait even carried over to the State of Israel, in spite of what the worldwide media would like you to believe. When calamity strikes throughout the globe, the Israeli rescue teams are among the first on the scene. Earth quake in Haiti, Hurricane Sandy, Tsunamis, etc.. It is part of our genetic makeup to help people.

While Jews have been part of America since before its founding, a great influx of Jewish immigrants arrived to our shores in the years surrounding WWII. American partisan politics were never an important part in the lives of a significant segment of this growing Jewish community, but since they were loyal patriotic Americans, they treasured their right to vote. But how will they know who to vote for? The answer for this educated "People of the Book", was the Newspapers. More observant Jews read the Yiddish papers, while the "more worldly" ones settled on the prestigious New York Times as their guide to the issues and candidates. These became the papers they trusted to present them with candidates most in line with their Jewish charitable social views, and was also the reason why they embraced the Democrat Party.

Since then, the fabric of the American society has changed, and the "upstanding" New York Times and the Democrat Party have definitely changed. The above mentioned Jewish community, however, has changed a lot slower. They still place their confidence in the New York Times and sundry other left-leaning Yiddish newspapers for their political guidance.

So in a nutshell, this can help you understand why the voting went mostly Democrat. For the older people, the inertia is difficult to overcome, and if at the same time their trusted "beacon of truth" also vilifies the contender, they believe what they read, and become impossible to reorient. Trust me, I have tried with many "intelligent" professionals.

But the bright side is, that with Obama now totally destroying the economy and the American way of life, these intelligent people will finally figure it out. Of course by then, there will no longer be a "Bright Side".

Here Comes the Party 'A'

2013-01-20T13:00:00.000-05:00

We are happy to welcome a New contributor to our Blog. Enjoy the Point of View, and express assent or dissent with your tasteful Comments.

By: Cutter Bench.

It absolutely amazes me how glibly we toss aside one of the pillars of our civilization! Marriage, after thousands of years of history, is being redefined by the so-called enlightened, and we are told -- as it seems we are always told -- any opposition to this radical agenda is hateful. Not surprisingly, it's the same argument posited by tantrum-addled unruly children, who blanch at the prospect of boundaries being levied by their parents. "They won't allow me to do whatever it is I want to do, Waaah... they hate me." Yes, this childish form of reasoning is an adoptive means of radical-reckoning. Opposing opinions and those holding them, are hateful. Gosh! How does one even begin to refute such vacuous logic? Pandering, for them is virtue; governance, vice.

Cicero said, "The wise are instructed by reason, ordinary minds by experience, the stupid out of necessity, and brutes by instinct." Reason would instruct that Marriage is the province of a Bride and her Groom. We are told however, that we need to experience a more freer, all-encompassing redefinition of marriage. We are told that the established rules and laws of marriage are outdated, archaic, and we need to be more open-minded. After all, imperfect humans have not yet perfected traditional marriage. Therefore, we must allow the self-appointed "enlightened" to morph it into something unrecognizable, a cacophony, some puckish nuptial mockery.

The depth, weight and scope of historical precedence notwithstanding, does anyone have to look any further than the revised marriage application form in order to realize the absurdity of same-sex marriage? Where once upon a time in a land not so very far away, they requested the names of the prospective Bride and Groom, Marriage applicants now have to fill-in the blanks for, Party A and Party B! The irony is inescapable. In their supposed quest to elevate humanity, the purveyors of such nonsense had to sanitize and degenderize its participants. If there's a glimmer of hope, perhaps it's reflected in the recent protestations of people in (of all places) France! Ultimately, time will out. Rest assured, in the meantime there will be a terrible price to pay for this insanity.

2012 Israeli News You May Have Missed

2013-01-07T21:57:00.000-05:00

By George:

I just read this story on "israel today" which headlines "Palestinian rioters march on Jewish vineyards". It struck me ironic that while the Jews struggle to improve their lives, their Arab neighbors find it more desirable to destroy what the Jews have done, rather than emulating their successes.

Then I remembered an article I read over the weekend that summarized the News from Israel in 2012, that you may have missed if you were reading the Main Street Media. It summarizes this news by month, and I figured that I will present this article to you with the addendum of some Muslim "accomplishments" for the same time period.

To make my life easier, I will use TheReligionofPeace.com as a source for the Muslim Data, and if you need further research, that is the place to go.

The article below that I am amending, was published at Aish.com, and is a feel-good article about the Land of Israel.

January - Jewish News

In Israel, rain is regarded as a blessing. In that case, 2012 started off on a wonderful note, with January 2012 breaking all-time Israeli record with 29 days of precipitation.

“Eye from Zion” marked its one-thousandth operation – saving the sight of 1,000 people around the world in the previous six months. The charity, partly funded by the Israeli government, sends leading Israeli doctors to poor countries where they set up temporary, mobile clinics. Founder Nati Marcus said: “We see ourselves as the goodwill ambassadors of Israel and the Jewish people.”

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ranked Israel as the second-most educated country in the world. 92% of Israelis graduate from high school, and 46% have a post-high-school degree. 2012 also saw the beginning of free preschool in Israel.

A malicious photo went viral on Facebook, purporting to depict an Israeli soldier pointing his gun at a young girl. The photo was removed after it was pointed out that neither the gun nor the uniform in the photo were those issued by the Israeli army, and the picture was actually shot during a Pallywood event in Bahrain.

The killers of the Fogel family, murdered in their beds back in March 2011, were praised on official Palestinian TV; one was described by his aunt as “a hero and a legend.”

January - Muslim News

People They Killed - 1148, Wounded - 1608

Countries Attacks Took Place - Afghanistan, Dagestan, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Pal.Auth., Russia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Yemen

February - Jewish News

“For My Next Illusion I will Use Wings,” a collection of short stories by award-winning Israeli author Alex Epstein, became the first book ever “published” entirely on Facebook. Epstein explained that the format gave him a chance to connect with new readers and create a dynamic relationship with his many fans.

Israeli scientists found that starting the day with chocolate cake was ideal. Prof. Daniela Jakubowicz of the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon compared high-calorie chocolaty breakfasts with low-calorie options. Obese patients eating 600 calories of chocolate cake as part of a balanced died lost an average of 33 lbs. after 16 weeks; patients who ate a chocolate-less 300 calorie breakfast gained weight instead.

Scientists at Ben Gurion University of the Negev startled the world by announcing that plants can talk! Pea plants which were deprived of water sent transmissions via their roots to nearby pea plants, which then copied their stressed neighbors and likewise prepared for drought.

February - Muslim News

People They Killed - 807, Wounded - 1338

Countries Attacks Took Place - Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, China, Dagestan, Egypt, India, Iraq, Israel, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Pal. Auth. , Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Yemen

March - Jewish News

The “Photoshop Law” went into effect in Israel, banning the use of underweight models in advertising. The law also mandates that magazines disclose which photos have been digitally manipulated.

Business Week reported that Israel Theme Tours has launched full-package Elvis-themed tours of Israel. The tour features backup singers who toured with the King, Elvis impersonators, and takes in Elvis-themed sites in the Holy Land, as well.

March - Muslim News

People They Killed - 923, Wounded - 1634

Countries Attacks Took Place - Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Dagestan, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Pal.Auth., Philippines, Somalia, Syria, Thailand, Yemen

April - Jewish News

Israel’s Ezer Mizion Bone Registry celebrated saving 1,000 lives since its founding. The registry has expanded thanks in part to the Israeli Defense Forces, which gives every Israeli soldier the option of giving a blood sample to become a potential bone marrow donor.

Naim Araidi, a Druze Muslim citizen of Israel, was appointed Israeli envoy to New Zealand. Araidi, an acclaimed Israeli poet, teaches Hebrew Literature at both Haifa and Bar-Ilan Universities; he won the Prime Minister’s Award for Hebrew Literature in 2008. Araidi said: “After years of representing Israel unofficially, it would be a great privilege for me to do so in an official capacity and show Israel’s beautiful side, as well as the co-existence that, despite all the hardships, can only be maintained in a true democracy.”

Israeli soldiers gave emergency first-aid and saved the life of a 10-day-old Palestinian baby, whose panicked mother rushed her to the nearest army base. The IDF reported this was the third time in recent weeks that local Palestinians turned to the nearest army base for acute medical care.

The Israel Museum’s collection went online with Google’s Art Project.

As the top official in Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, sends rockets into civilian centers in Israel and is dedicated to the Jewish state’s destruction. But this month, his brother-in-law, accompanied by Haniyeh’s sister, traveled to Israel to undergo emergency treatment for a heart condition in Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva.

Psychologist Tal Ben Shahar, Harvard’s most popular professor, returned home to live in Israel. The professor, who became best known for his class on positive psychology, decided he’d be happiest back home in the Jewish State, one of the world’s happiest countries, according to international rankings.

April - Muslim News

People They Killed - 697, Wounded - 1281

Countries Attacks Took Place - Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Ingushetia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kenya, Lebanon, Macedonia, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Yemen

May - Jewish News

Interpol’s annual international crime-fighting convention, held in Tel Aviv, focused in part on cyber-crime, an area which Interpol Secretary-General Ronald Noble said, “The Israeli Police have an extraordinary reputation, worldwide, for being able to investigate, fight it, prevent it, from a crime perspective, a fraud perspective and also from a security perspective.”

At age 24, Israeli mountain climber Nadav ben Yehuda was set to become the youngest Israeli ever to scale Everest. But he gave up his own conquest when, just 300 meters from the summit, he spotted the unconscious body of another climber, Aydin Irmak, of Turkey. “Other climbers jut passed him by and didn’t lift a finger, but I had no second thoughts. I knew that I had to save him,” said ben Yehuda, who carried the unconscious climber down the mountain.

Israel banned smoking in public this month, stopping second-hand smoke in hospitals, restaurants, public pools, and on public transportation.

May - Muslim News

People They Killed - 938, Wounded - 2235

Afghanistan, Algeria, Dagestan, Egypt, Germany, India, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Somalia, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, UK, Yemen

June - Jewish News

Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier held by Hamas for five years with no contact with the outside world, was hired by Yediot Aharonot to be their basketball correspondent.

Dr. Daniel Hillel, whose micro-irrigation techniques revolutionized food production first in Israel and then throughout the world, won the World Food Prize, the foremost award recognizing those who have increased the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.

Acting sensation David Arquette celebrated his bar mitzvah at Jerusalem’s Western Wall. TheScream star was attending a Bar Mitzvah when he was invited to have his own. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the official rabbi of the Western Wall, officiated.

A group of Jewish Russian philanthropists donated $1 million for Israel’s newest award, the Genesis Prize, which recognizes excellence in a variety of fields, honoring those who ascribe their success to Jewish principles.

Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, praised Israel as the world’s leader of innovation and a “tech miracle” – describing Google’s Israeli innovation centers as the company’s most prized, which Google is constantly expanding.

June - Muslim News

People They Killed - 1188, Wounded - 2258

Afghanistan, Algeria, Belgium, Dagestan, Egypt, France, India, Iraq, Israel, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Maldives, Mali, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, USA, Yemen

July - Jewish News

Israeli scientists developed a marijuana that has all of that drug’s anti-pain properties, but without the high-inducing chemicals that make cannabis so contentious.

The stunning remains of a magnificent Roman-era synagogue were uncovered in Huqoq. The synagogue features preserved mosaics, including biblical scenes and inscriptions.

A planned UN-sponsored concert in Jerusalem by Daniel Barenboim’s “East West Orchestra,” which brings together Jews and Muslims to perform together, was cancelled after anti-Israel protestors complained that having both Jews and Muslims in the orchestra implied too much “balance” between the two groups.

Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s new President, sent a warm letter of introduction to Israeli President Shimon Peres – and then strenuously denied ever making such a statesman-like overture to the Jewish state, claiming his initial letter was a hoax.

July - Muslim News

People They Killed - 1094, Wounded - 1940

Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Dagestan, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Ingushetia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Lebanon, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Pal. Auth., Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Africa, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, UK, Yemen

August - Jewish News

A researcher in Israel was able to control a robot in France, simply by thinking about it. Student Tirosh Shapira was hooked up to a computer which sent his brain waves to the robot in France, which he then directed to walk around the room, and seek out people and objects.

Israel tested a new missile alert system whereby messages in Hebrew, Arabic, English and Russian were sent to every mobile phone in the country. In the event of an actual attack, the messages could warn residents of incoming missiles.

Israel increased its ranking in the annual Academic Ranking of World Universities list. Hebrew University, the Technion, Weitzman Institute, Tel Aviv University, Bar Ilan University, and Ben Gurion University of the Negev all made the list of the world’s top spots.

August - Muslim News

People They Killed - 1070, Wounded - 1572

Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Chechnya, Dagestan, Egypt, Georgia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ingushetia, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Pal. Auth., Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, Yemen

September - Jewish News

Israeli pilot Noam Gershony, who was critically injured during 2006 fighting in Lebanon, won the gold medal in wheelchair tennis at the Paralympics in London.

September - Muslim News

People They Killed - 863, Wounded - 1759

Afghanistan, Dagestan, Egypt, France, India, Ingushetia, Iraq, Israel, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Thailand, Yemen

October - Jewish News

Hamas stopped sending mortars into Israel for 48 hours so Israeli workers could lay high speed internet cables into Gaza, to replace the slower dial-up service that previously served the area. “This is Israel’s answer to the hundreds of mortars, to connect the people in Gaza to the world,” said Maj. Adam Avidam, who coordinates security for Israel in the area.

A “Tolerance Walk” in Bethlehem had to be cancelled after participants objected to the presence of Israelis taking part.

Amateur Israeli cyclist Izhar Gafni developed a working bicycle made almost entirely of cardboard. He estimates the bike will retail around the world for about $20.

Operation Dove’s Wings began, bringing the remaining Jews in Ethiopia to Israel. The operation will take approximately one year, considerably longer than the two days in 1991, when over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel.

Lonely Planet named the Negev as the second best travel destination in the world. (Corsica in France came in first.) The travel company described the region as a “giant greenhouse of development. Think eco-villages, spa resorts and even wineries.”

October - Muslim News

People They Killed - 975, Wounded - 1527

Afghanistan, Cameroon, Dagestan, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Ingushetia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, Ukraine, Yemen

November - Jewish News

Wine Enthusiasts Magazine awarded Israeli wine producer Katzrin its prestigious 2012 “Wine Star” prize, the first for an Israeli winery.

Israel’s anti-missile system, Iron Dome, intercepted 421 of the over 1,000 missiles fired from Gaza in hostilities this month. A new anti-missile system, David’s Sling, also went operational this month, capable of intercepting longer-range missiles.

At an international scientific conference in Tel Aviv, Israeli presenters revealed they’d developed microwaves that affect cancer, but leave regular cells unharmed. The new “millimeter wave radiation” was tested on human lung cancer cells, and killed diseased cells while leaving nearby healthy cells unaffected.

November - Muslim News

People They Killed - 897, Wounded - 1851

Afghanistan, Bahrain, Dagestan, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Pal. Auth., Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Yemen

December - Jewish News

Jerusalem’s neo-Byzantine Inbal Hotel made Conde Nast’s “Gold List” 2012 of the world’s best places to stay.

A study found that 88% of Palestinians support “violent struggle” against Israel, with a minority wanting to resume peace negotiations. By contrast, 71% of Israelis favor peace negotiations, even though many – 67% – feel they won’t ultimately be effective.

Startup Genome, an international organization tracking high tech research, named Tel Aviv as one of the world’s best spots to launch a high tech company.

Coming full circle, this year is shaping up to be the “rainiest winter” in the past 20 years, raising the Sea of Galilee to near-record levels.

December - Muslim News

People They Killed - 611, Wounded - 1079

Afghanistan, Algeria, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen

Crush The Assault Media: Live Free In America

2012-12-23T17:52:00.001-05:00

Reposted with Permission from Hugo Stiglitz Innocence Project blog.

The original of this post can be found at: HERE.

The United States of America is under attack. The Progressives seek to turn back the clock on our great nation. The communist/socialist menace has taken control of our government. There is no longer a difference between the Democrats and Republicans, they have merged into one party, with the same agenda, big government and tyranny. The main stream media has become the State Run Media. But, the one thing I did not expect to see is here and it is the worst thing that could happen to America, the people have become self-indulgent, self-entitled, whiney, worms who feel as if they can impose their will upon others. The tyranny of the majority has replaced personal freedom and responsibility.

History has taught us that civilization in North America, particularly the United States of America (USA), has developed technology that is far superior to what society relied upon centuries ago. But, the Progressives have shown that they are really “regressive” in that they seek to return to wind and solar power. The failure of wind and solar power is simply the failure of nature, clouds and still air led to the development of other energy sources. To this day, the government must fund/sponsor wind and solar companies, despite their continued failure, because the free market will not support them. If you are ineffective, you get left upon the ash heap of history, unless of course there are Progressives in office willing to steal money from working people to fund their regressive, utopian dreams of slaughtered birds and the shimmering acres of solar panels required to run an Xbox, television and cell phone charger. It is time to flog the Progressives for their failure, destruction and thefts of liberty in America.

The Soviet Union said that they would take over America without firing a shot, without war, without the use of nuclear weapons, and it appears that they were right. Despite the fall of the USSR, communism in Russia and China are just as strong as ever. Through the Progressive movement and our Constitution being used against us, there are over seventy socialist/communist/Marxist tools in Congress, directing the course the USA takes and seizing liberty as fast as they can. The redistributionist agenda is designed to eliminate the middle class, leaving just the elite and everybody else. Nationalizing the auto industry, the finance industry and healthcare are all tools of Marxism. The auto industry bailouts are rewards to the unions (who will be dismantled once the transformation of America is complete). The Dodd/Frank Bill is a takeover of the financial industry, designed to crush the poor and middle class, doing away with free checking and driving up the cost of goods and services through increased fees. Mother Russia must be proud to see that their efforts are working so well.

The Democrat party and Republican party are now just two wings of the Big Government Party. The left wants a big government, cradle to grave society and the GOP wants a big government corporate run society. I vote for neither. I choose liberty. A third party is what is needed, but there is no time for that, as tyranny is moving at the speed of smell and it stinks. Those seeking liberty must rally together and take over the GOP, as it is the party that supports more freedom than the other. It is also the party that libertarian minded people have had the biggest success in taking over. If you believe the government should leave you alone, you are needed in the GOP, as precinct leaders, Central Committee Chairman, and state leaders, eventually running the RINO/Progressive/Socialist old guard from the party. The Constitution is the beacon of freedom and the GOP is the vessel to get us back there, if we just seize the wheel and right the ship.

The mainstream media, including the much loathed and maligned Fox News, has become the state run media, carrying the torch for Progressive causes and the Obama agenda, including the push for gun control. Media puppets, such as Piers Morgan and others, are water carriers for Barack Obama and his anti-gun movement, among other things. The media no longer reports the news, they present the elites philosophy and try to impart their audience with what to think and how to feel regarding issues. Facts, who needs them? Every story has a slant, has an agenda and tells you only the things the government and media want you to have. The print media succumbed to communism a long time ago, just look at the headlines from the New York Times prior to World War II.

Despite all the challenges to liberty that America has faced, I never imagined the largest threat to liberty would be from the American people. The self-entitled weasels, who are convinced that despite paying most of the taxes, most of the expenses in America, the wealthy should pay more, so that they can continue to drain the economy, are a disgusting group of failures. They fail, because they do not try, and lacking in personal integrity they won’t. Their battle cry is, “the rich should pay their fair share”, even though they pay ninety percent of taxes now. When talk of a flat tax is begun, they whine, cry, snivel and say it isn’t fair. A flat tax is as fair as it gets, for everyone. But, remember, the self-entitled feel they shouldn’t pay a dime. The tyranny of the vocal has replaced the rule of law (see the Trayvon Martin shooting). They tyranny of the majority has replaced the Constitution (see the attack upon the Second Amendment). There is a better way.

Standing up to the Progressives and their regulations that are smoothing liberty, the economy and the American people is a must. Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals work both ways; it is time that all affected Americans clog the courts with lawsuits against the EPA, seeking injunctions pending trial. Resist tyranny by violating the rules, and simply living free. Good citizens make tyranny possible; bad citizens allow liberty to flourish.

Taking over the GOP is something that is occurring, but not fast enough. More Americans need to get off of their posteriors and get involved in their local GOP. Do some recon and determine who is a RINO, who is a conservative and who the libertarians are. It is time the conservatives and libertarians combine forces against a common enemy, the progressive RINO’s that make up the party power structure. You are either part of the problem or you are part of the solution. Be the solution.

The state run media are advocating taxing the wealthy, not cutting spending, not reforming Social Security and Medicare, and are now pushing Obama’s attempt to disarm the American people. It is time that freedom loving Americans push back against the industrial media complex. The media wants to ignore the Constitution and limit the Second Amendment, either by legislation or Executive Order, not through the rule of law. The only way to change the Constitution is by amendment. If the Second Amendment can be brought under fire, it is time to turn the tables on the media and demand that there be no editorial pages in the paper and no editorial or opinion shows or people on television news or news type shows. The argument being that the news should be just that, news, void of fact or opinion. The Assault Media needs to feel some heat; if one amendment is not safe, none of them are. Free press? Sure, we just need to limit it as words hurt. After all, stopping the Assault Media is for the children, to keep them from incorrect messages, that assault their senses, confuse them and cause turmoil within their heads and hearts. We are compassionate, caring and if the Assault Media is too, they will understand and go along with these suggestions without us having to make a legislative impact. Never mind the “go along to get along” attitude that has allowed the tyrants to run amok, it is time to take the fight to the left.

The tyranny of the vocal and the tyranny of the majority must be stopped. Liberty loving people can stand up and be vocal, be heard, flooding public meetings, demonstrating (yes, protesting, just like the left, but with class), flooding the editorial pages and elected officials offices with letters. As for the tyranny of the majority, this requires demanding adherence to the Constitution and constantly informing the left that we are a Republic, not a democracy.

To live free, be free and leave a legacy of liberty to generations to come, we either act now, in a civilized manner, we act now in a revolutionary manner, or we cease being a free people. The path forward to liberty, from the advancing shadow of tyranny can be achieved without violence, but that requires freedom loving Americans put down the remote and get in the mix. Politics is a contact sport. You either make the contacts, crush the RINO’s and take back America, or you can count on all contact being revolutionary, not political. And, if contact fails on both counts, tyranny wins and you leave a legacy of failure, but, at least you did all you could. Choosing to do nothing, keeping your head in the sand, is a choice and you will be judged by history and by God, for what you do. The power, the real power, lies in your hands. What will you do?

Hugo Stiglitz – Put A Fist In The Face Of Tyranny

We, the People, are De-Voted

2012-11-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

By George:

The article you will read below was written by me close to a year ago, but for whatever reasons, I didn't publish it. I am not egotistical enough to think that the election results would have been different had I published it, but it would have given me the satisfaction to know that I was able to predict the future. So read the story, and at the end I will inject the new reality into the mix.

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Since this year of 2012 is a leap year, that means it is a presidential election year. All the talking heads are pontificating with self-perceived insight into the ultimate results of said election, but I can only listen and shake my head in disbelief. Don't they realize that all speculations may be moot? Someone has to stand up and scream "It doesn't matter who you vote for, because by the time you cast your vote, the winner may already be chosen".

"What the heck are you talking about?"

All right, let me back up a bit to last Election Day, when I went to my local polling place to cast my vote as I have dutifully done every year. Our polling place used the time tested voting machines, you know, the booth with the curtain, the levers that you turn, and finally the handle that you yank to record the vote and open the curtain to release you. The inner workings of the voting machine was a mystery to me that I could only speculate about, but it has gotten us through many Election Days with relatively little fraud. Then our high-speed, digital, Socially Aware world of Facebook and Twitter crowd determined that it was time to modernize our voting system too. The mechanical voting machines using levers and curtain pulls are out, computerized voting is IN.

So with trepidation in my heart, I put on a "show me" smile and went to vote. I was handed a large piece of paper with the candidates' names printed on it, with little circles next to their names. The instructions stated that we were to use a black pen or pencil and fill in the circles for the candidates of our choice. The first alarm bell went off in my tech savvy logical brain. Since the time that I first voted, many years ago, I have never used "paper" ballots. How is changing from mechanical levers to pencil markings to be considered an advancement? But I shrugged, then standing by a table with short partitions on both sides of my allotted two feet of space, I carefully colored in all the appropriate circles . No longer cocooned within the confines of curtains as I made my choices, I knew that in this age of invisible security cameras, my choices could easily be public knowledge. For the moment, I suppressed the thought, and with my ballot in hand, got in line to have my paper "scanned" by the computer.

Aha, the computer. The poll worker who felt that I was unqualified to feed the paper into the scanner, took my ballot and fed it into the scanner. The computer screen flashed the word "accepted" and I was told to move on. Huh??? Alarm bell #2 started clanging. I asked the logical question "How do I know what the computer registered as my vote? Don't I at least get a little printout showing who I voted for?" It was clear to me that when I buy groceries and they scan my items, I get a register tape showing what was scanned, the least this machine should do is verify to my satisfaction that it read the proper candidates. The answer to my query was a curt "This is the system, now move along!" At this point, the alarm bell went on and remained on. I can't believe that we are swithching to a system that not only permits easy fraud, but actually invites it.

So at this point you are probably saying "Oh, you are blowing things out of proportion. This is the future and they must know what they are doing." And I will reply "Yes, I agree." They know what they are doing. They are setting us up for the biggest election fraud ever.

I have been in the computer business for over 40 years, and I have designed, programmed and implemented countless systems. Never in my career could I have gotten away with such shoddy design, such insecure implementation. But then again, I was working for employers who were concerned with system security and data integrity. Here we are ONLY dealing with the future of our country, so it's OK! Is that what we are saying?

What I am saying is that by "modernizing" the election system, we have taken a quantum leap backwards in our ability to ensure HONEST elections. By rushing into computerized voting machines without the proper analysis by real experts, ike myself, we have given the green light to individuals and organizations with nefarious agendas to be able to easily manipulate election results.

So let's discuss the problems inherent in these "computerized" systems. Some we have already touched on, but it's worth repeating. In all computerized systems, you have three main parts, Input, Processing and Output. Of course, each of these main parts has many sub-processes, but I will try to simplify this discussion to avert somnolence.The "Input" part is where the voters select their choices. With the paper system that I just described, it is quite easy to see where there could be problems. Assuming that everyone marks their papers correctly, how do we know what was actually scanned in. There is no indication. Some people in the line in front of me had to have their ballot scanned a few times because it didn't read right. How do I know how the software handles errors. How do I know that while someone was setting up the machines he didn't pre-load data into the system. In addition, with the "old" voting machines, my vote was confidential, and when I pulled the lever, one vote was registered. With this new system, who knows?

Then there are the touch-screen terminals that present the candidates to you on the screen, and you "touch" the screen button to make your choice. Beside the calibration problems, when you are finished, you still don't get a verification receipt of your choice. You don't know what the Program actually records.

For the moment let's assume that the data was somehow gathered honestly and securely. Then when the voting is done, that data has to be transmitted to the main server where it will be combined with all the other gathered data, analyzed and presented to the public as the Election Result. These machines are tied together electronically on a Network. So tell me, when was the last time you heard about computer hackers? Would you believe that these Electronic Voting systems are a breeze for experienced hackers? Yup.... on all levels. The voting machines, the accumulating servers, all the way down the line. Just try to Google the words "voting machine hackers" and you get an eye opener.

But for the sake of argument, let's even assume for now that the voting data has survived through the voting machines and the trip through the network communications, to its final destination, which would be the organization charged with overseeing, analyzing and presenting the election results to the public. This organization would be securely housed in its own Fort Knox, manned by a-partisan or bi-partisan personnell. But alas, that is not the case.The company chosen to oversee and present the American Election Results is a foreign company.

And finally, what more proof do you need of an impending fraudulent elections then the bravado of our Actor-in-Chief who was caught on an open microphone telling the Russians, that since this will be his last elections, after the elections he will have more flexibility to deal with them. You notice that he didn't say "if" he gets reelected.

Welcome to America's first Russian Style Elections.
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Reviewing the above narrative, I must say that I hit the nail on the head. (For the sake of full disclosure, I did update one of the links in the story to bring it up to current day).

We have just come off a very contentious Presidential Election, which all the pollsters called as very close. I followed the run-up to the election along with all of my fellow political observers, and found the momentum swinging towards Romney/Ryan following the debates. The week before Election Day, Romney took the lead in the polls, albeit slightly.

The Romney appearances drew tremendous crowds, on the order of 30 - 50 Thousand, while Obama's draw was diminishing to the point where even with Bruce Springstein as a sidekick, he only drew 2,800 people just days before Election Day.

The evening of Election Day I was surfing the Twitter waves, and found the Romney turnout to be very heavy all over. As the election results were rolling in, most of the states were called as they were expected to fall. My interest was in the "battleground" states. As I was watching the numbers rolling in, I was noticing a relatively big lead for Romney in Wisconsin and Ohio and others. I took a break figuring that the trend will carry through.

Imagine my surprise when later I found the trend suddenly reversing, with ALL the "battleground" states swinging solidly to Obama, giving him the win. My logical mind could not fathom this scenario, since in spite of my warnings about electronic fraud, I really didn't think they would dare to attempt it. But at this point I realized that my worst nightmare had become reality.

The next few days I followed the news closely waiting for the Romney team and the Republicans to demand a recount, but alas, it never happened. In the Non-Obama Media I read an listened to a plethora of articles and videos documenting fraud on a pervasive basis. From the registrations of dead and fictional people, to those bragging about voting multiple times, to eye witness testimony of computerized voting terminals negating Romney votes and giving them to Obama. there is even a video of a programmer testifying in front of a Congressional Committee about him actually writing a program to rig elections at the behest of a politician.

The evidence is there, but when I raise the probability I am suddenly labeled as a conspiracy nut. So what is one man to do?

At this point, I will put my thoughts into another article in which I will try to place this election into perspective from a wider point of view. What that point of view happens to be, you will have to keep guessing until I wrench it out of my gut and put it onto this electronic paper.

But for now, be comforted with the thought that God is the Ultimate Voter.

To Mend a Broken Heart

2012-11-13T22:43:00.002-05:00

By George:

While the events chronicled here are absolutely factual, the names of the doctors have been redacted for obvious reasons

The cold gloomy February day was mirroring my mood as I sat by the window trying to examine my innermost emotions. I was 44 years old and in top physical condition. I worked out at a gym regularly, and my doctor had just given me a clean bill of health. Yet I KNEW that there was something drastically wrong with me. I was positive of it, but I just couldn't convince either my wife or my physician.

I even tried to persuade myself that perhaps it was just my overactive imagination, but the more I tried to rationalize it away, the more my body kept compelling me to do something about it.

It all started the previous summer.

I have never considered myself as being out shape, but since the Jazzercise bug has bitten my wife and daughters, I decided to join a gym too and try to recapture my youthful physique. I had a comprehensive physical checkup prior to committing to my exercise regimen, and with my doctor's blessing I took to the task of rebuilding my body. My wife also did her part by putting me on the latest "Low-Fat" diet, expunging the consumption of my usual “heavy on the grease” Hungarian cuisine.

It wasn't too long before the results of my workouts became evident. My muscles started taking shape, I was filled with renewed energy, and I felt great. As the weather turned warmer, I even abandoned the car as the form of commute, and decided to ride my bicycle to work. This was very convenient for me because I worked less than three miles from my home, and had a wife and two teenage daughters at home who NEEDED my car more than I did. I was happy to be able to take the healthy route to work.

I have been commuting by bike for about four weeks before I had my first indication of something amiss. The ride that morning was uneventful, as no drivers tried to cut me off or push me off the road. My stamina had improved to the point where I no longer needed to shift the bike into low gear to get to the top of the slight hill as I approached my workplace. I started my sprint up the hill, but this time before I reached the crest, a wave of nausea swept over me, accompanied by a slight burning sensation in my lungs. I got off the bike and walked the last couple of hundred feet to work, but the nausea went unabated.

At work I sat down at my desk, put my feet up and tried to relax, but by now the nausea was joined by a feeling of impending doom. I picked up the phone and called my doctor, only to hear a recording saying that he was away for the day and referred me to a doctor covering. My boss, who was worried by this time because I probably looked the way that I felt, suggested that I call a nearby doctor that he used. I called his doctor and tried to explain to the nurse what I was feeling. She very efficiently informed me that I have an 11:30 appointment with the doctor. Since it was about 9:30 when I called, I snapped that it would probably be too late by then, and hung up. I sat at my desk trying to breathe deeply to relax, while debating with my co-workers and myself the merit of calling an ambulance. Eventually the feeling subsided and I realized that I just might live through the day after all.

Next day I went to my doctor for a complete physical. With great apprehension I awaited the results of the examination and the EKG, and was relieved to hear that there was nothing wrong with me. As to the previous day’s episode, he couldn’t explain it, but he told me that since I had no family history of heart problems, didn’t smoke, exercised regularly, and had low cholesterol, it was probably nothing and I shouldn’t worry about it.

Easier said than done. Worry I did, because the burning sensation I had felt in my lungs kept cropping up from time to time. At the gym while I was “pumping iron” I was fine, but when I hit the treadmill or the bike, the burning started. So I did the only logical thing… I stopped using the treadmill and the bike.

At home the burning feeling would sometimes recur when I exerted myself, but not always. I mentioned the burning to my wife as we were strolling one evening, and she immediately diagnosed me as having a hiatal hernia. I told her that I didn’t think so, but by then I had already decided that I just had to find out what was the cause of my discomfort.

My doctor had told me that my heart was okay, so since I felt the burning in my lungs, maybe something was wrong with them. I decided to find out for myself. I made an appointment with a local radiologist friend for a chest x-ray. When the results showed that my lungs were perfect, I accepted the diagnosis with mixed emotions. I was happy that my lungs were fine, but more and more that would point to a conclusion that I was trying to avoid. It had to be my heart.

In the weeks that followed, the burning in my lungs got worse to the point where I couldn’t walk up a slight grade without stopping every 50 feet or so. It was at this time that I got my final impetus to resolve my situation. I was a few minutes late for Mincha (afternoon prayer service), so in haste I sprinted the last 30 or so feet. It was then that I first felt the proverbial elephant standing on my chest. The feeling didn’t last long, but the crushing chest pain that lingered in my memory convinced me that my suspicions were correct, and my pain was cardiac related.

So on that dismal February day, I resolved to get to the root of my apprehension. I made an immediate appointment with a cardiologist friend to get a stress test. He examined me, took my blood pressure, did a resting EKG and told me that I was in perfect health, but to humor me he would give me a stress test. He hooked me up the EKG and I started pedaling the stationary bike. He kept his eyes on the EKG strip, and after pedaling about two minutes he asked me if I felt anything. I smiled and said that as a matter of fact, the burning sensation has started. He let me pedal for about another minute and then told me to stop.

My cardiologist tried to comfort me by saying that while the stress test showed a problem, it was not serious because the EKG showed a "distal" (away from the heart) blockage. But to put my mind at ease, he suggested an Angiogram to assess the extent of the problem. To his wide mouthed amazement, the Angiogram film (there were no videos back then) showed a 95% blockage at the bifurcation of the LAD (Left Anterior Descending artery). He tried to explain to me that the reason that it showed to be "distal", is because I was working out, which created more arterial paths. Since I didn't understand it, I took his word for it.

My cardiologist friend recommended that I undergo an Angioplasty procedure to clear the obstruction, and over my wife's objections, I agreed to have it done. It was MY heart, I felt the problem escalating, and I didn't want to go shopping around and take a chance of having a heart attack. My friend set me up for the procedure to be done at St. Luke's Medical Center in Manhattan, and the doctor doing the procedure would be Dr. K., whom he called "The Father of Angioplasty". He explained to me that I will be having the best doctor, and it will be done in a non-teaching hospital to make sure the doctor himself will be doing the procedure. St. Luke's also has a heart surgery center, which is necessary as a standby whenever an Angioplasty is done, just in case there are any complications. I happily agreed.

On Monday, March 9th, 1992, I checked into the hospital for the short procedure, after acing my pre-surgical tests. As I was sitting in the room trying to stay calm, a tall gentleman walked in flanked by a young intern in green scrubs. He introduced himself as Dr. K, and told me that he will be my doctor for the procedure. I apprehensively glanced at the young man in green, and announced "I want YOU to be doing the procedure, and not him". He assured me that the "resident" will be there only to observe, and they left to get ready.

I was sedated instead of anesthetized because I was told that I needed to be awake to be able to follow instructions to reposition my body during the procedure. As the catheter was introduced through my femoral artery and snaked through my body to the blockage at my heart, I tried to listen to and follow the conversation around me. I was quite surprised to hear Dr. K. saying "... now move the catheter a little more, and inflate it for 2 minutes... that didn't work, so inflate it for 5 minutes...". In my sedated condition I was confused, because it sounded to me like the resident was doing the procedure and Dr. K. was "directing" him. He kept trying to clear the blockage, eventually telling the resident to inflate the catheter for 20 minutes, when suddenly I sensed that something was wrong. The conversation around me changed in timbre and pace, and I couldn't follow what was going on. I remember Dr. K. leaning over me to tell me that there was a problem and I have to be taken immediately to surgery. My sedated mind said "O.K.", and I was whisked off to the operating room.

As I was being wheeled down the corridor, my wife appeared, and in a tremulous voice inquired about what was happening. I couldn't follow the conversation, but I did manage to get one sentence out. "Doctor, could you please give my wife some Valium?" Then quickly I was under the bright spotlight of the operating room, frantic activity around me, someone leaning over me saying something, and then...

I awoke slowly and I found myself gagging. I have never been on a ventilator before, and it took me about a minute before I relented and let the machine stuff air into my lungs at its own pace. By then the nurse had noticed my stirrings, and a short time later freed me from the tyrannical mechanism. I was very weak, but I tried to assess what my situation was. I was aware that my chest has been "cracked", but I still didn't know exactly was done to me.

Finally they allowed my frantically worried wife in to see me, and I started to get some answers. I was in surgery for over 8 hours and I had a double bypass. The angioplasty procedure had torn my artery apart, and if not for the doctor using the catheter as a quick emergency shunt, I would have died right there. The surgeon had to spend an inordinate amount of time just cleaning up the "mess" left by my blown-out artery. My cousin from California who is a physician, told my wife to check my legs for signs of surgery. When she found none, he told her that the surgeon did the bypass using the mammary artery instead of using veins from the legs, which was a more permanent and better way. Somewhat relieved, I surrendered to the blissful prodding of the Sandman.

That week I worked hard to get back on my feet, and by the following Monday I was ready to leave the hospital. When Dr. K. gave me my release instructions, he made the following statement. "We don't know why you had that blockage. You were low risk, no family history, you exercise and don't smoke, have low cholesterol and the surgeon found your arteries to be squeaky clean. You don't need to be on medications, and I can't even tell you to be on a diet". I took those instructions very seriously, and made sure that my wife no longer tried to deprive me of my natural Hungarian sustenance. You see, while trying to figure out what caused my problems, I humorously concluded that since my arteries were previously well "lubricated" by the Hungarian cuisine, putting me on a low-fat diet removed the lubrication thus resulting in a blockage. Little did I realize that 15 years later a study would actually prove that low-fat and no-fat diets are actually detrimental to the heart.

Leaving the hospital that Monday, my wife insisted on driving due to my infirmity. We did, however, stop on the way home to attend the funeral services of my wife's cousin. I also insisted on stopping off at my workplace to inform them that I'll be back in a few weeks. Three weeks after the surgery I returned to work, followed two weeks later by our visit to Israel for Passover, which included some ice skating recreation. I was back to my normal functioning.

But wait, that's not the end of this story. When I returned to my cardiologist friend for a checkup, he seemed reluctant to chat with me. Whether talking to him or his partner (I never knew he had a partner), it was all business with every word carefully parsed. I was confused, but I figured that they felt uncomfortable about my botched procedure. So I shopped around for a different cardiologist which proved to be a chore, since they all wanted to put me on medications that I knew I didn't need.

Seven years later I was attending a function where I happened to sit next to a local cardiologist. During our conversation I related to him my Angioplasty debacle. He sympathized with me, and he wanted to know who did the procedure. When I told him it was Dr. K., he got this incredulous look on his face and said. "Dr. K.? Everybody knew that he was an alcoholic. And it was about that time when he disappeared off the face of the earth". I was speechless (which is a rarity for me), but that explained the reluctance of my cardiologist friend to speak to me. I guess he was afraid I would sue. I never did see my friend since then, but I heard that he had a heart attack a few years back.

As for me, I finally found a cardiologist who agreed not to push drugs on me, and I have managed to keep my diet quite edible for the past 20 years. Can't say that my story since my Angioplasty has been uneventful, but that's for another narrative at another time.

An Accomplished President

2012-10-28T19:21:00.000-04:00

By George:

Once again I am passing along something that I came across in my travels through the Blogosphere. I cannot take credit for its content, but it is something that will either make you think, or make you stop thinking.

It is entitled:

President Barack Hussein Obama's Accomplishments.

First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it.

First President to go on multiple "global apology" tours and concurrent "insult our friends" tours.

First President to bow to a foreign leader.

First President to refuse release of his college transcripts and Student Loan documentation.

First President to refuse release of his medical, travel, and White House visitor records.

First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.

First President to surround himself with left wing anarchists and extreme left wing radicals.

First President to appoint 45 czars to replace elected officials (Cabinet members) in his office.

First President to witness the downgrading of the United States credit-rating.

First President to spend MORE than any other President in U.S. history, over $ 5,000,000,000,000 in just 3 1/2 years.

First President in history to NOT have a Congressional approved National budget during his ENTIRE term in office.

First President to violate the War Powers Act.

First President to give American Taxpayer money to a foreign government for that government to drill for oil and then state that America would be their number ONE user of the extracted oil.

First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly issued years ago.

First President to actively try to bankrupt an American industry (coal).

First President to require all Americans to purchase a product(Health Care) from a third party.

First President to spend about $ 821,000,000,000 (CBO estimate - Independent review indicates true 10 year cost of the stimulus bill is $2.527 trillion in spending with another $744 billion cost in debt servicing. Total bill for the Generational Theft Act: $3.27 trillion) on 'shovel-ready' jobs when he stated there was no such thing as 'shovel-ready' jobs and laughed about it on National TV.

First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of a company (General Motors) to his union supporters and then direct the Secretary of the Treasury to TERMINATE about 20,000 Non-Union pensions (Delphi).

First President to by-pass Congress and implement part of his Dream Act through executive fiat.

First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation of illegal (non-violent) immigrants across the U.S.

First President to side with a foreign nation concerning State Immigration legislation (Mexico vs. Arizona).

First President to allow cities to disregard Federal Sanctuary City Laws.

First President to have his DOJ terminate a lawsuit against a group of individuals (Black Panthers) who were terrorizing voters at a polling place.

First President to demand a private company hand-over $ 20,000,000,000 to one of his political appointees.

First President to tell a CEO of a major corporation (Chrysler) to resign.

First President to terminate America's ability to put a man in space.

First President to cancel the National Day of Prayer and to say that America is no longer a Christian nation.

First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present.

First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law (DOMA) unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it.

First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly spoke-out on the reasons for their rate increases.

First President to tell a major company (Boeing) in which state it is NOT allowed to locate a factory.

First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN) but directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to NOT PROSECUTE Wall Street financial firms for illegal Mortgage Securities activities.

First President to fire an inspector general of Ameri-Corps for catching one of his friends in a corruption case.

First President to whisper to a foreign government representative(Russia) to wait until AFTER the Presidential election because then he will have more latitude with concessions concerning the European Missile Defense System issue.

First President to invite a member of a terrorist group (Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood representative) to visit the White House.

First President to golf 73 separate times in his first two and a half years in office, 102 to date.

First President to go on 17 lavish vacations, including date nights and Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends paid for by the taxpayer.

First President to have 22 personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife.

First President to repeat the Holy Quran & say that the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth.

First President to routinely create division (Class Warfare, Women's Rights, Racial tension, Immigration Reform, Same Sex Couples, Religious Freedom, etc.) between the American people.

First President to tell the military men and women that they should pay for their own private insurance because they volunteered to go to war and knew the consequences if they were wounded.

-----Then he was the First President to tell the members of the military that THEY were UNPATRIOTIC for balking at the last suggestion.

First President to order the DOJ to take to court a Seal Team member who wrote a book about Osama bin Laden's mission BUT allowing his own administration to LEAK highly classified information, and make a movie, about the same mission in addition to other significant LEAKS which will endanger our military men and women and foreign intelligence contacts.

-----Then he was the First President to tell retired military members that THEY were UNPARTIOTIC for questioning his administration about LEAKING CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.

First President to direct his DOJ (Lawyers for SALE) to "do nothing" but whitewash the financial institutions mortgage fraud, pushing for a settlement that included fines but no fraud or criminal investigations for the major banks who intentionally sold toxic securities and “robo signed” foreclosures. Glen Greenwald: “it’s official, Obama is corrupt”.

First President to tell the World a "TERRORIST" attack on our Libyan Consulate and killing of our Ambassador and three other Americans was because of a "VIDEO".

A Poetic Plea

2012-09-29T22:14:00.001-04:00

By George:

As you know, from time to time I publish content from emails I receive that I find amusing or has a message. This time I am sharing with you a poem that someone had posted as a comment on a story I read on CNSNews.com. This one is both amusing and has a message. Enjoy.

T'was the night before elections,
And all thru' the town,
Tempers were flaring
Emotions ran up and down.

I, in my bathrobe
With a cat in my lap,
Had shut off the TV,
Tired of political crap.

When all of a sudden,
There arose such a noise,
I peered out my window,
Saw Obama and his boyz

They had come for my wallet,
They wanted my pay
To hand out to others
Who had not worked a day!

He snatched up my money,
And quick as a wink,
Jumped back on his bandwagon
As I gagged from the stink.

He then rallied his henchmen
Who were pulling his cart.
I could tell they were out
To tear my country apart!

'On Fannie, on Freddie,
On Biden and Ayers!
On Acorn, on Pelosi'
He screamed at the pairs!

They took off for his cause,
And as they flew out of sight,
I heard him laugh at a nation
Who wouldn't stand up and fight!

So I leave you to think on this one final note...
IF YOU DON'T WANT SOCIALISM, GET OUT AND VOTE !!!!

Author unknown

The Understanding Heart.

2012-09-04T21:07:00.000-04:00

By George:

While the events chronicled here are absolutely factual, the names of the doctors have been redacted for obvious reasons

Monday, May 7^th - I looked up from my work, glanced at my watch and realized that I had ten minutes to catch my usual train home from the hospital where I work. I quickly grabbed my stuff, put my computer to sleep, and bid my coworkers goodnight. Since the downhill walk to the train is about 8 minutes, I was not too concerned; still I didn't saunter along, but proceeded with alacrity.

Arriving at the train station I noticed that my heart was racing, and I was puzzled because I didn't think that I was walking that fast. The train arrived and I got on, figuring I just needed a little rest to get my heart back to normal. I sat by the window staring at the passing scenery, feeling the unusual staccato pounding unabated in my chest. I took my pulse and it was racing at 155 beats a minute. Having been a paramedic in my younger days, I had an idea of what was happening, but I was not ready to admit it to myself. When I got off the train some 50 minutes later, the manic drummer was still pounding its incessant beat.

My wife was waiting at the station as usual, and during the short trip home I was mulling my options. When she announced that she was going out to do some shopping with her friends and my pulse was still racing, I asked her to do me favor and drive me back to the hospital first. I explained what was happening, but instead of driving me, she called the local ambulance corps who showed up with a paramedic on board.

The paramedic slapped the EKG leads on me and verified my suspicion that I was indeed in atrial fibrillation (a-fib). Protocol called for an IV and 20mg of Cardizem slow push. I said OK, and by the time we arrived at the Emergency Room, my heart was back in normal (sinus) rhythm. In the emergency room about a half dozen doctors checked out my neurological responses, took some blood tests, and eventually determined that everything seemed to be perfectly normal.

Although the ER doctors wanted to keep me for observation and additional tests for another 3 hours, I opted to go home.

A few days later we made an appointment with my cardiologist to try to figure out what happened to me, and above all, why? My doctor’s associate saw me, and after examination he found nothing wrong. He gave me scripts to have an Echo Cardiogram and a Nuclear Stress Test done, and to wear a Holter Monitor for a day. Great, now we'll find out what is wrong. He said that he is giving me Heparin to thin my blood because I am at risk for a stroke, but I countered that my blood is thin enough because I am taking aspirin, Vitamin E, Fish Oil and Ginkgo daily, all of which thin the blood. Still my analytical mind wanted to know why it happened, and I asked the question. He told me that we may never know why, but we'll treat it with medication. I asked him "Could it be that it was caused by...", but never got to finish my sentence before the doctor held up a hand and said, "Stop. Whatever you will tell me will be wrong." Not exactly the right attitude to hit me with, and it resulted in me giving him a lecture on how throughout my whole life I always had to diagnose my own illnesses, because the doctors either didn't believe I was sick, or made the wrong diagnoses.

Thursday, May 17th – All the cardiac test were completed, and since I was at this time coughing up my lungs, I also went to my Primary Care doctor for a checkup. He diagnosed a case of bronchitis so he gave me the stronger antibiotic Levoquin instead of Zithromax. Went home, took the Levoquin and hit the sack.

At 1:36am I awoke and decided to make a pit stop. I quickly sat up in bed, put my feet on the floor, but before I had a chance to stand up, the pictures on the wall turned psychedelic and there was no up or down. Fighting nausea, I tried to find the bed so I can lie down, and having finally found it, I cocooned myself and tried to stop the swirling. I told my frantically concerned wife that I had a major case of Vertigo and it wasn’t getting any better. So for the second time in less than a week, she summoned the local Ambulance Corps. They put me on a "stair chair" and carried me to the ambulance, but not before I did something I haven't done for at least 40 years. I barfed. And just to be consistent, I repeated it shortly after arrival to the Emergency Room.

After examination and tests by the ER doctor, the parade of "specialists" started. Cardiologist, Neurologist, Electro Physiologist, the guy who empties the trash and God only knows who else. Consensus ran toward the Vertigo having been caused by my taking the Levoquin, so they changed my antibiotic to Zithromax. They gave me a few doses of anti-vertigo medication, and when that didn't relieve the vertigo, I was admitted to the hospital for observation. Spent a restful Saturday under the wonderful care of the nursing staff and my empathic wife, but still the only way I could make the ten step trip to the bathroom was by desperately hugging the IV pole. By Saturday night I was able to walk the hallways unassisted, albeit reeling like a happy drunkard after a night of reveling. That was good enough for me to get discharged, and we returned home.

A few days later we revisited my cardiologist to receive the verdict on my tests of the previous week. All were fine, showing no damage to my heart. He stopped me from taking the last dose of the Zithromax because it was not good for my heart. In addition, he told me to keep away from antihistamines to for the same reason, which eliminated all medication usually prescribed for Vertigo. Since I was still doing a great "drunken" imitation walking, I asked him what I could do about my vertigo (which my research told me was BPV). He gave me the name of a good ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) doctor, who upon examination agreed with my diagnosis, and told me that it will take 4 to 6 weeks for my body to acclimate to the vertigo, which it later did.

Since my cardiologist had suggested that a neurologist examine me to make sure that I didn’t suffer a stroke, I consulted a neurologist who sent me for a brain MRI. The MRI results showed my brain to be perfect (in spite of what my Liberal friends keep telling me).

By the end of June my body has adapted to the vertigo, and life has returned to normal. I had resumed my uphill walks from the railroad station to my office, weather permitting. On a sunny Tuesday morning, I hopped off the train, glanced towards my waiting shuttle bus, and decided to walk to work. About a block and a half later, I suddenly felt my heart switch gears into the trotting cadence of atrial-fibrillation. I tried to judge the most prudent choice between returning to the shuttle bus or plodding slowly uphill to the hospital, and I decided on a slow trek onward. When I reached the next street and waited to cross, one of my coworkers pulled up and offered me a ride. (Hmmm.. Very interesting since in all my years of walking to work, no one ever stopped to offer me a ride, and my coworker told me that this is the first time he ever picked anyone up.) Gratefully I accepted, and he dropped me off at my office. I sat at my desk for a while, but eventually I called a doctor friend at the Emergency Room, and told him that I’ll meet him there in ten minutes. I walked to the ER, was admitted, and told my friend that I had a-fib and needed 20mg of Cardizem slow push. He verified my claim with an EKG, and gave me the Cardizem. When I told him that I’d be fine in 20 minutes, he smiled knowingly and said he didn’t think so and most likely I’ll be admitted to the hospital. He returned 25 minutes later, glanced at my monitor showing a normal sinus rhythm, and asked incredulously “Did you will yourself back into normal rhythm?” I gave him an “I told you so” grin, and asked him if he had any idea why my pulse rate was straddling 50, instead of my usual 60? He said that it was normal as long as it didn’t cause me any negative symptoms. I thanked him, decided to take the day off and went home with my wife.

This time the return to normalcy was lagging, because periodically any movement that was jarring to my body, caused my heart to flutter and skip a few beats. In addition, there was also the feeling of tightness in my chest from time to time. As these feelings persisted for an additional day, I reluctantly called my cardiologist, only to find that the office was closed for the day with just one doctor “on call” in the hospital. I had him paged twice to no avail. Growing more desperate, I called my neurologist, who sent me to see his own cardiologist. After this surrogate cardiologist examined me and listened to my complaints, he suggested that I check myself into the hospital immediately for an angiogram. As we left his office, my mind was awhirl. This whole thing was escalating out of control. I tried to reach my cardiologist one more time, and this time his associate called me back. I related to him what has been happening and what the doctor has just set up for me to do, and he said that he himself would do the angiogram for me tomorrow morning. I agreed, and my wife drove me directly back to the hospital to be admitted and prepared for the procedure.

After a night of thinning my blood with a heparin drip, I was ready for the procedure. My doctor pointed out to me that while he is checking for blockages in the arteries, he would immediately put in a stent if he does find one. He wanted to make sure that I realized that if that were the case, I would have to be taking medications in spite of my stubborn reluctance to do so. I acquiesced, so he jabbed a giant needle into my femoral artery (ouch). The procedure took about 30 minutes, and when it was done, I was still “stent”less. It seems that he didn’t find anything warranting intervention. As I walked out of the hospital that Friday afternoon, I felt great both mentally and physically. Not only was my mind relieved, but also all my previous symptoms were gone.

Two weeks later when my regular cardiologist returned from his extended vacation, I was there for checkup and chat. He reviewed the charts, read the angiogram report and gave me his verdict. He can’t put me on a Beta-Blocker because of my slow heartbeat, but since my cholesterol was borderline high and the angiogram did show a few small lesions, his solution was to put me on a statin drug, which he admitted that I would have to take for the rest of my life. I asked why couldn't I simply reduce the cholesterol with just diet and exercise? His brusque reply was "It won't work and my recommendation is the statin, but you do what you want." I chose the "what you want". Determined to get my body back into shape, I asked him for a note so I can rejoin the gym. He did better than that, by giving me a note to start Cardiac Rehab, which is a gym paid for by my insurance. Before leaving I asked my question. Why is this suddenly happening now? The answer once again was “Don’t know, but we can treat it.”

My wife started me on the Mediterranean Diet, and I started getting used to grazing in the salad pastures. Fortunately, putting avocados into the salad, drowning it in olive oil and sprinkling it with salt and cayenne pepper, makes it actually taste good. No alcohol, no coffee, no cake, minimum of meats, minimum of breads and pastas, lots of fish, vegetables and fruits, and suddenly I then understood why the word diet starts with the letters “die”. What kind of life can you have without cake, coffee and alcohol? But man learns to adjust. Other than the diet, I returned to normal life and started looking forward to having our grandchildren (and our daughter) visiting us for two weeks. Still had periods of irregular heartbeat, but it seemed like I always had it, so it didn’t bother me.

In the interim, my wife convinced me to visit her doctor who is “brilliant”, and we went. I appreciated the fact that the doctor was actually taking time to try to figure out what was wrong with me and what could have caused it. She sent me for quite a few blood tests to try to determine. In the lab they drew 16 vials of blood, and I was wondering if I had enough blood left to make it back to my desk. Later when the lab results came back, I was elated to note that everything was fine, and my cholesterol had dropped to the bottom half of the normal range with only one month of diet and exercise.

The Saturday preceding the arrival of the grandchildren, my wife and I were basking in the anticipation of the arrival of the 3 boys, whom we haven’t seen in person for over a year. After the Sabbath meal, I retired for an afternoon nap with a smile on my face. My wife woke me in time for Mincha (the afternoon prayer service), and as I was getting ready, my heart was pounding an irregular beat. I proceeded to the Synagogue just a few houses down the street, but about halfway through the services I felt my heartbeat switch to the dreaded a-fib. I went home and told my wife to make the call. The paramedics arrived, verified the EKG, and administered the Cardizem as an IV drip. By the time we arrived at the ER, my heartbeat was normal. The ER staff went through the perfunctory motions by now, told me to go see an Electro Physiologist (EP) as per my cardiologist, then released me to await pickup. Called Doctor S., the most recommended EP, but he was not available until after Labor Day. Managed to get an appointment with his partner for a week earlier.

The grandchildren arrived, and the first week flew by as we bonded. My plan was to take a vacation day while the kids were here, and I chose Tuesday of the second week to spend the day with them. I awoke early on Tuesday morning to shower and catch the early Synagogue prayer service, so by the time the kids get up, I’ll be all ready for them. My plans were slightly derailed, because my heart was once again irregular and pounding. I quickly showered, said my prayers at home, then woke my wife and asked her to drive me to the ER. This time we’ll nip it in the bud, and I’ll be back home before the kids are up and ready. My wife was frantic, but she managed the drive to the hospital without getting us killed or arrested. By the time I was registered and placed in a bed, I was in a-fib.

By now my wife was an old pro at this. She started giving orders to the ER doctor. Give him 20mg Cardizem slow push. Why is his blood pressure so high? Why is this taking so long? The ER doctor was understanding, but a little rattled by the incessant questioning. When 15 minutes later the a-fib hadn’t reverted and my wife’s concerns were apparent, he gave me an additional 25mg of Cardizem. This did the trick, and more. Back to normal rhythm, but the heartbeat down to about 40. That took care of my early release, since they would not release me with such slow heartbeat. I insisted on seeing an EP while I was waiting, and after a four-hour wait it was Dr. S. who arrived. He scanned my chart and made his pronouncement. A pacemaker would not really help me avoid a-fib, so he recommended an anti-arrhythmic drug that might help me. I would have to be admitted to the hospital for 3 days and be under observation while starting the medication(, since some people are actually harmed by this drug). He didn’t actually tell me the last part, but I looked it up later on the Web. Told him we’ll let him know what we decide. I asked the ER doctor why they don’t just give me Cardizem to have at home, so I can take it myself if I feel something coming on. He thought it was a great idea and wrote out a script. My daughter brought the children to visit me in the ER, but by then I was ready to leave. Of course my plans with the kids were shot, but we managed to get some quality time together nevertheless.

Next day at work I happened to bump into the CFO of the hospital in the hallway. Having been aware of my health issues since he is also a good friend, he asked me how I was feeling. I brought him up to date in a few sentences, and he asked me if I have been to see Dr. T.? I said that it didn’t occur to me to go see the hospital’s Chief of Cardiology. He told me to go see him because he is a “savant”. I thanked him, returned to my desk and called Dr. T.’s office. He was in a meeting, but his nurse interrupted the meeting to relate my case to him and he instructed me to see a different EP before coming to see him. (It was much later that I found out that my friendly CFO had already told him to expect my call.) I then called the recommended EP for an appointment, and managed to pull enough strings to be able to see him first thing in the morning.

I was at the EP’s office on time, but had to wait a while until the doctor showed up to open the door. Filled out all the forms for the umpteenth time, got a couple of EKGs and was examined by the doctor. His assessment was that the Anti-Arrhythmic medication is not good for me, what I need is a pacemaker. Great! Two EPs give me two diametrically opposed solutions. I told him that I wanted to see Dr. T. before making a decision, and he picked up the phone, dialed Dr. T.’s number and got me an appointment for the following Wednesday. I thanked him, got dressed and got ready to leave, when I got a call from Dr. T.’s secretary. She said that Dr. T. just got a cancellation, and could I be there in a half hour. I replied that I could be there in five minutes since I was right next door.

Dr. T.’s examination was short but thorough. By the time he saw me, he was already fully familiar with my chart, judging by the questions he asked. When he was done with the exam, we adjourned to his office to discuss my options. I told him about the two different solutions I received from the two EPs, and he smiled. “What do you want me to do? Play Solomon?” He told us that the easiest way to treat my problem is to implant a Pacemaker to increase my heart rate, and then give me a Beta-Blocker to prevent the a-fib. However, being aware of my extreme resistance to invasive procedures and taking medication for the long term, he was willing to start with something else. First he challenged me to improve my cholesterol numbers even further. I promised I would. He then reviewed the medications and supplements I was taking, and I listed them all. He evaluated them one by one.

“How much Aspirin?”  I replied with 325Mg.
“Good – how much Vitamin A?”    “10,000.”
“Good – how much Vitamin D?”  “3000.”
“Too much, cut it down to 1000 – how much Vitamin E?”  “400IU”
“Good, but you have to take Vitamin C with it to help it work properly.”

When we got to the Ginkgo, he looked up and said, “Are you aware that studies now show that Ginkgo Biloba can cause you to have a-fib?” It took a few moments to absorb what he said, and then I asked him if he is telling us that my taking the Ginkgo could possibly cause all my problems? He smiled and said that he wanted me to stop the Ginkgo, modify the other supplements per his recommendations, and he gave me a trace amount of Inderal to prevent the arrhythmias. He suggested that I try Meditation as an additional mind/body control, and he also assented to become my regular cardiologist. We thanked him profusely and I returned to work.

It is now four weeks later. The grandchildren are back home, the house is once again quiet, I have gotten to enjoy the “diet” (though I miss my Friday night Kiddush wine), and with the Ginkgo removed from my vitamin regimen, the intensity and frequency of the flutters and the skipped heartbeats have slowly abated.

I am cautiously optimistic, but at the same time seriously realistic. Four weeks do not prove that we have solved the problem, but I am eating healthy, losing weight and working out.

Yes, I still have a long road ahead of me, but I am sure of a positive resolution. Throughout this narrative you might have noticed many lucky coincidences, which in reality are nothing more than manifestations of God’s guiding hand. And although it’s scary to think that I might have chosen an irreversible alternate treatment, in hindsight I can see the path that God charted to shepherd me to my inevitable destination.

Reflections on the Truth of Obamacare

2012-08-02T18:42:00.002-04:00

By George:

For the moment, the behemoth known to us lovers of Liberty as Obamacare, is in play. I have not yet heard of anyone who can honestly state that they know the totality of the bureaucracy contained within its 2700 pages. Neither can you find any politician of the Liberal Democrat persuasion who has any realistic idea of the financial burden time bomb ensconced within the labyrinth of its 1,147,271 words, or has even read any of it. Yet, it is our reality, and for now we have to live with it.

So in order to get some sanity and a realistic perspective on this subject, I have requested an interview with the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) of one of the major hospitals in the New York area. If there is anyone who would have made it his business to know about the ins and outs of Obamacare, it would be him, since this affects all aspects of healthcare, including hospitals.

I have put together a list of questions on the topic, but I know that my readers are extremely intelligent (except for a handful, and you know who you are), and I need your help. Please send me your questions regarding Obamacare, or healthcare in general, and I'll make them part of my interview.

Pose your questions as a Comment, or send your questions directly to my email at unmitigatedtruth@yahoo.com. The interview responses will be published on this blog, and we will all be as fully informed as possible on a vital commodity that affects all of our lives.

Stay healthy, and stay POSITIVE.

Bordering on Insanity

2012-06-20T20:05:00.000-04:00

By George:
http://www.unmitigated-truth.com/

One of the many controversies roiling the political scene today is the issue of Illegal Immigrants. I happen to be uniquely qualified to discuss this topic, because about 56 years ago, my parents and I entered these United States of America as immigrants from Hungary. It was during the Hungarian Revolution when we "escaped" from Hungary, and as "refugees", eventually settled in America. (The story of our odyssey probably warrants an article, or maybe even a book).

So against this backdrop, I will offer my opinion on this topic, and via logic, unearth the truth buried deep beneath the "male bovine excrement" of the Media.
(I will use an "imaginary" Liberal co-worker named Harry as my foil, to relate an "imaginary" discussion I had with him yesterday on this subject).

So what is the situation that is fueling this rhetoric of divisiveness? In two simple words, it's Illegal Immigration.

Harry: "Don't be so insensitive, George. Just call it Immigration, or just call them 'undocumented immigrants'."

O.K., let's analyze what exactly is happening. There are people who are citizens of, and live in another country. For whatever reason, these people decide that they want to live in America. They pack some bags, and when no one is watching, they sneak over the border into this country and take up residence here. Are they Immigrants? By the strict Webster's definition, yes. Did they enter the Country legally? NO! Ergo the title of Illegal Immigrants. Of course the terminology of "Illegal Aliens" is more accurate, but let's not quibble.

Harry: "These people only came here because of the horrible conditions in their own Country. You should be able to relate to them, because you did it yourself 56 years ago."

Yes, you are correct about my being an immigrant, but here is the difference. When my parents and I crossed the Hungarian-Austrian border, we went straight to the authorities to advise them, and to seek temporary asylum while we found a country that would accept us as immigrants. We were placed in a "holding camp", and stayed there for about 3 months while we waited for the American Embassy to issue us entry Visas. In other words, we did it the legal way.

Harry: "Still, these people are hard workers and they help our economy."

On the contrary, they are part of the reason why the unemployment is so high. Think about it. Let's take a low number like 20 million for the number of illegals. If only half of them are employed, that means that they have taken the jobs of 10 million American Citizens. Then there are 20 million people sucking up our resources like Hospital Care, Schools, Municipal Services, etc...

Harry: "Still, they are already here and you can't just deport them all. Most of them are good family people who are only trying to improve their lives. Isn't that the American Dream?"

Once again, what part of ILLEGAL don't you understand? Let me give you an analogy that might help. To put it on a personal level, think of yourself as you go to work every day. You work hard to provide the basics for your family. You own a house, (or perhaps just rent a nice apartment,) feed and clothe your family, and manage to put some money aside for some extras. Then one day you come home to find that a handful of people broke into your house, and have decided to stay in your living room. They help themselves to your food, use your bathroom and are wearing some of your clothes. What would your reaction be? Would you say that they are searching for the American Dream, welcome them to stay, and give them a weekly allowance, or would you call the Police and have them "deported"?

Harry: "But it's not the same thing. Immigration is totally different".

No it's not different. It is exactly the same, but on a larger scale. This Country is OUR home, we built it, shaped it and paid for it. So now that our Country is more desirable than theirs, it does NOT give them the right to break in and help themselves to our property. And furthermore, just because they are already here illegally, does NOT obligate us to treat them as welcome guests.

Let me point out, that I am not against immigration. Immigrants are the backbone of our great Republic, but those were LEGAL immigrants. Those were people who stood in line, sometimes for a long time, to have the privilege of becoming Americans. It is those who feel that they can flaunt our sovereignty and our laws by just dropping in uninvited, that I have a problem with.

Harry: "All right, but you can't blame the children who were brought here by their parents, and especially the ones that were born here."

Yes, I can see how emotionally that would be different, but let's go back to our analogy. When you confront the group of people who have invaded your home with the intent of living there, your wife goes and calls the police. The police arrive, along with a group of well intentioned "squatter advocates" who argue that since the squatters consists of two adults and their 5 children, it is morally wrong to ask them to leave your home. The children had nothing to do with coming there, and as for the parents, you can't break up families. The Police tell you that their hands are tied, because a law was passed to allow them to say in your home. So what would your reaction be to this scenario?

Harry: "The analogy that you give is totally wrong because the immigrant issue is nothing like that!"

I realize that you can't see the point, but that is because you are a Liberal. To you, the Illegal Alien issue should be dealt with on a "feel good" basis, because you don't see it affecting you directly. You refuse to accept the truth of them dragging down the economy, instead you feel a moral superiority when you blame everything on George Bush. You can't see the similarity to the analogy, because if you did, then you would have to face the unmitigated truth. It is much easier to be generous with other people's properties.

At this point I will end the "imaginary" discussion with Harry, and since I have outlined the problem, let me offer a possible solution. I do not claim to be the first one to think of these ideas, but let me just list them in order to illuminate the way to restoring our Country to its former glory.

Seal all the borders, like every other country in this world does.
Pass a law that would punish any employer who knowingly hired illegals. Fine them in a meaningful way, and publicize their infraction. Enforce this law.
Withhold free education and other services from illegals.

There are more suggestions that could be offered, but in my opinion, if these suggestions were followed, the Illegal Immigration problem would solve itself.

But until that happens, the only other alternative is to give the illegal immigrants free access to all the Liberal people's homes.

Elusive Happiness.

2012-06-14T20:00:00.000-04:00

By George:
(www.Unmitigated-Truth.com)

Here is another in the continuing series of interesting emails that I receive. Makes you want to go - Hmmm....

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

I have to admit...this is brilliant...and never heard it put this way.....plain and simple!!!

Many Muslims today are not happy!

They're not happy in Gaza.
They're not happy in Egypt.
They're not happy in Libya.
They're not happy in Morocco.
They're not happy in Iran.
They're not happy in Iraq.
They're not happy in Yemen.
They're not happy in Afghanistan.
They're not happy in Pakistan.
They're not happy in Syria.
They're not happy in Lebanon.

So, where are they happy?

They're happy in Australia.
They're happy in the UK.
They're happy in Canada.
They're happy in the US.
They're happy in France.
They're happy in Germany.
They're happy in Italy.
They're happy in Sweden.
They're happy in Denmark.
They're happy in Norway.
So……They're happy in every country that is not Muslim.

And who do they blame for the unhappiness?

Not Islam.
Not their leadership.
Not themselves.

THEY BLAME THE COUNTRIES THEY ARE HAPPY IN, AND THEY WANT TO CHANGE THEM TO BE LIKE THE COUNTRIES THEY CAME FROM, WHERE THEY WERE UNHAPPY.

Excuse me, but have I missed something here............

Remembering the Munich Massacre

2012-04-29T09:59:00.000-04:00

By George:
www.unmitigated-truth.com

This Sunday morning, as usual, I was listening to "Religion on the Line". When I turned the show on, they were conversing with Ankie Spitzer, who has dedicated her life to the memory of the horrific terrorist event of the Munich Massacre.

I realize that most young people today have never heard of the Munich Massacre, but that is probably why it is most important that event this come to light again. We have become so acclimated to acts of terrorism today, that the murder of a dozen people may not make much of a ripple on the news front. But 40 years ago, this was big news EVEN to people who were not Jewish.

A group of Palestinian murderers had gained entrance to the Israeli contingent at the 1972 Olympics being held in Munich. Before it was over, 11 Israeli athletes were murdered while the world looked on. Then after it was over, the world quickly forgot about it.

It is now 40 years later, and Ankie Spitzer, whose husband was one of the Jewish lives snuffed out by terrorism at this event, is trying to get the Olympic committee to devote a moment of silence during this year's olympic event. As you can probably imagine, they want nothing to do with it. But she will not give up.

Ankie has gotten signatures from the athletes who are now assembling for the 2012 London Summer Olympics, and she is trying to get signatures from all of US to present to the Olympic committee. We who care about victims of terrorism everywhere, we who want to keep the memory of the eleven murdered Israeli athletes alive, are requested to sign this petition.

You can go to their website established for this purpose and add your voice to the rising chorus. The chorus that declares to the world "We Will Remember, because we Care."

The Truth About the Obama Mystique (read as "Mistake")

2012-04-24T22:00:00.000-04:00

By George:
www.Unmitigated-Truth.com

Although I have covered this topic more than a year ago in a lighter vein in an article entitled "The Play Must go on - NOT", I will this time, however, approach this subject with the severity that it deserves. I have given this issue a lot of thought, and I can't believe that this plain truth has eluded everyone else. Is it some form of cognitive dissonance, or are they just in a state of denial? I listen to talk radio, I watch political television shows, I peruse the pundit-sphere, yet everyone seems to be oblivious to the most obvious certainty: Barack Hussein Obama is NOT our President.

Wait, wait... Before you send for the men with the straightjackets, hear me out. Let me present the facts, follow and research my links, and then you can either categorize me as a whacko, or marvel at my mental acuity to see through facades.

All right, I'll start with a clarification of my previous declaration. Of course Barack Hussein Obama is the person that we elected as the President of the United States of America. What I will hopefully prove to you is that he is NOT the person calling the shots in this presidency.

So where should we start.Let's start with the fact that Obama is a great orator. Immediately we have to qualify this statement with the fact that he cannot "orate" without the use of a TelePrompter. Using just paper notes, he is mediocre at best, and without prepared text, he sounds like an idiot. Don't take my word for it, but check out the videos.

Obama is known as a "brilliant scholar", yet I challenge anyone to show me anything he has said without a pre-written script that exemplifies brilliance. While any slight gaffe of George W. Bush was amplified as comedy fodder and proof of dull-wittedness, this selfsame public media hides Obama's verbal stumbles in their fawning adoration. Most people have not heard the "I have been to all 57 States with only 1 left to go, ... Alaska and Hawaii" comment. Or perhaps his pronunciation of "corpsman" as "corpse-man" twice in the same speech. Or lecturing the Supreme Court Justices on Constitutional Law, while displaying total ignorance of the Constitution. Etc..., etc... But he is "brilliant". We are not privy to his educational transcripts because they are locked up tighter than Fort Knox, but trust us, he is "Brilliant".

So what is it that draws people to him. Without doubt, people are mesmerized by his charisma and they are moved by his "oration". He is affable, handsome, and charming, but then again, so is your pet dog. But most people wouldn't want their pet pooch to be President.

So here is an intellectual exercise to start with. (We probably should subject all politicians to this test). Let us take ALL the speeches that Obama has given or will give, and chuck them into the wastebasket. They are meaningless, since he is only reading what someone has written for him. Ignore them. Mute the audio. Now, without the verbal distraction, let us analyze what he has DONE. Not what he has said, but what he has done.

Make a list of major actions he has taken since assuming the presidential mantle, and add three columns to the right, titled "Beneficial to America or her Allies", "Detrimental to America or her Allies", and "Beneficial to our enemies (read "Muslim Brotherhood")". Now go down the list, and check off all the applicable columns for each item. Do you see a pattern? Without the flowery words to color your perception, the deeds do tell the real story.

I will give you a handful of items to start off your list. (If you need more help, start here.)

The Stimulus plan
NASA Cut backs and re-direction
Elimination of off shore drilling
Blocking the Keystone pipeline
Libya involvement
Healthcare
Killing Osama Bin Laden
Supreme Court Appointments (2 Liberals)
Buildup of Debt
Support for Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt

When you have finished with your list, you will note that most of the actions that he has taken are either undermining the foundation of our country, are beneficial to the Arab Oil Producers, or both.

So let me now ask you this question. What if someone were to groom a charismatic, handsome, well spoken young actor to play the role of the President, write all his speeches, choreograph his appearances and give him his talking points, then somehow manage to get this actor elected to the Presidency. How would that presidency differ from the Barack Obama presidency?

But let's speculate a little further. Suppose the "entity" that groomed such a "Manchurian Candidate" president wanted to destroy America and the American way of life. What would they have such a president do while in office? Logic dictates, that since America is too powerful for an overt military attack, the only way to destroy this Democratic society is from within, by rotting away the underpinning values and principles. So how could that be accomplished?

To start, use any means to gain the overt or covert co-operation of the Media, politicians, education system and the Labor Unions. This is how you get your candidate elected, keep him in office, and control the ignorant "Sheeple".
Destroy the economy by building up crushing Debt, regulate industries into oblivion, and then nationalize them.
Incite racial tensions.
Foment class warfare.
Weaken the military, cut back on armaments, reduce troop strength.
Destroy the family unit and family values.
Start legislating by fiat, to get the citizenry acclimated to dictatorship.
Teach a revised American History to vilify our Historical heroes.
Denigrate America on the world stage by apologizing for our perceived evils.
Minimize Religion and God, while redirecting people's faith to the Government.
Rush your agenda ahead without giving people the chance to think and discuss.
And above all, lie, lie and lie, until your lies are accepted as truth by your sycophants.

Now tell me, how many of the above points has our Actor-in-Chief not done yet? There is an amazing video by "Americans for a Limited Government " that I found since I posted this. Check it out and then compare notes with the points above. There is so much more to present, but I believe in (relative) brevity, however, let's throw just a few more facts on top of the pile.

During his childhood, Obama was telling people that he "will be the President".
In his private comments to Medvedev (that was captured on an open microphone), Obama seemed sure of his re-election.
Today the Obama Administration announced: "The war on terror is over". (In light of what I have discussed, you must read this.)

Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and others on the "sane" side have been saying that what Obama is doing to the economy and the Country in general, is done on purpose. Rush and the others are right, but they have yet to come to the realization that Obama is not doing the planning, he is just the tool utilized to attain this end. Obama is NOT the Socialist architect, he is only the demolition crane operator.

So you will ask me, as others have, "So who is this mysterious "entity" that controls the Obama Puppet?" Interestingly, as I was finishing this article, I came across a headline by Allen West stating "MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD & OTHER EXTREMIST GROUPS ARE INFLUENCING U.S. STRATEGY". Mr. West, you almost have it right. Unfortunately, they are not just influencing, but in this case, controlling. I do not make this statement lightly, but my logic and analytical skills are pointing there, so I am sticking with it. Are we witnessing the End of America? (More disturbing revelations to follow.)

And finally, way after this article was published, I made the acquaintance of another blogger, who had published a very similar post from a way different vantage point. Check it out. Two great bloggers couldn't possibly be wrong. There are a few other "must see" videos in this category that totally back my argument up

So tell me, do YOU think that I'm crazy, or will you do you own due diligence and come to the same realization? Either way, tell me.

The American Divorce Agreement

2012-03-26T22:31:00.000-04:00

By George:

As you know by now, from time to time I will reprint something that I receive via email if I believe my readers will enjoy. The article below is one of those, so tell me if you like this idea proposed below....

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Since we are not going to get gasoline back to $1.50 per gallon and coffee to $2.00 per pound maybe this would be a solution we could live with.

This is so incredibly well-put, I can hardly believe it's by a young person, a student!! Whatever he runs for, I'll vote for him!

DIVORCE AGREEMENT -

Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, regressive, Marxists, and Obama supporters, et. al.:

We have stuck together since the late 1950s for the sake of the kids, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course.

Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right for us all, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

Here is a model separation agreement:

Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by land mass, each taking a similar portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy. Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides had such distinct and disparate tastes.

We don't like redistributive taxes, so you can keep them.

You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU.

Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA, and the military.

We'll take the nasty, smelly oil industry and you can go with wind, solar, and bio-diesel.

You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore, and Rosie O'Donnell. You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them.

We'll keep capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart, and Wall Street.

You can have your beloved lifelong welfare dwellers, food stamps, homeless homeboys, hippies, druggies, and illegal aliens.

We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's and rednecks.

We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .

You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us.

You can have the peace-niks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.

We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values.

You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, political correctness, and Shirley McLain. You can also have the U.N., but we will no longer be paying the bill.

We'll keep the SUV's, pickup trucks, and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find.

You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors.

We'll continue to believe healthcare is an earned luxury and not a right.

We'll keep "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "The National Anthem."

I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute "Imagine", "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", "Kum Ba Ya," or "We Are the World".

We'll practice trickledown economics and you can continue to give trickle up poverty your best shot.

Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name and our constitution and our flag.

Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like-minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you answer which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.

Sincerely,

John J. Wall, Law Student and an American

P.S. Also, please take Ted Turner, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Barbara Streisand, and Jane Fonda with you.
P.S.S. And you won't have to "Press 1 for English" when you call our country.

**If you can't stand behind our Military, please feel free to stand in front of them!**

Dé·jà Vu, All Over Again.

2012-03-20T19:00:00.000-04:00

By George:
(http://www.unmitigated-truth.com/)

History repeats itself, and nowhere is this truer than with Jewish history. We cannot help but draw parallels between the historical story of Purim, and the events unfolding in the current day Middle East. The similarities are eerie.

The tiny country of Israel is once again facing an existential threat necessitating decisions that her very survival hinges on. One of her neighbors is on the verge of of procuring nuclear weapons, with the leaders of this country publicly salivating over the prospects of eliminating Israel and the Jews as soon as they have the means. The terrorists in Gaza are bombarding Israeli cities daily with rockets, that make life precarious for those within reach. And now, a "million" anti-Israel activist (promoted as The Global March on Jerusalem) are threatening to surround Israel from the immediate neighboring countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt, to march across the Israeli borders towards Jerusalem on March 30th, with the purpose of overwhelming the Israeli defense forces and "take over" Jerusalem.

In the past during crises of similar magnitude, the severity of the decision making was somewhat mitigated by the realization that the United States was steadfastly in the background as a staunch ally, and Israel's enemies, thought they outnumber the Jews in the order of 500 to 1, were recalcitrant to test the resolve of the hulking giant.

Alas, with the advent of the current administration in Washington, this perceived protective shadow in the background faded to ephemeral haze and wisps of fairy dust. Moreover, the Presidential rhetoric and demeanor tends to weigh in on the side of the Muslim cause. From president Obama's Cairo speech that openly courted the adoration of the Muslim Brotherhood, to his implicit favoring of the (so called) Palestinian side in negotiations with his declaration that Israel should start negotiations from a pre 1967 border position. From the belligerence he has shown to the Israeli Prime Minister, to his bowing, kowtowing and apologizing to Muslim leaders.

When I try to analyze world events, I tend to step back and logically look at the total picture from a distance. What the heck is really going on? Are we seeing the whole picture? How does it all fit together, and how can we make sense of it? What would account for the actions, or for obvious inactions? And since I am an Orthodox Jew, I will always try to see what it is that God is orchestrating with the unfolding events. It is on this point that something my Rabbi pointed out in his weekly sermon, coalesced some thoughts in my mind.

The Jewish people throughout the world have just celebrated the Holiday of Purim. For those of my readers who may not be familiar with this joyful Jewish Holiday, may I suggest reading about the Purim Story. But for now, I will give you the wry humorous quip of a friend, who described the story of Purim as: "They tried to kill us, we survived, let's feast". While this is essentially correct, what exactly was the circumstance of our peril, and how were we saved?

I would do no justice to the Purim story by condensing it to a paragraph, so I hope you will take a few moments to familiarize yourself with the narrative of the Book of Esther. What I do want to discuss, is something that has bothered me yearly as we read the Megillah in the Synagogue. It is a question that I am sure has bothered others, but I have never heard discussed.

The narrative in The Book of Esther takes place at about the year of 250 BCE, when a significant portion of the Jewish population lived in Persia, known today as Iran. A scheming, power-hungry Viceroy by the name of Haman is "upset" that a certain Jew, named Mordechai, does not bow down to him, so he convinces the King to let him issue an order of genocide against ALL the Jews in the kingdom, in the King's name. This proclamation is then promulgated throughout the kingdom, and a specific date, still 11 months in the future, is declared "Kill The Jews" day.

The Jews of Persia have been trying to be loyal Persians, but now they realize that they are slated for extermination. So with 11 months to go, what do they do? Do they dispatch emissaries to the King to have the decree annulled? Do they start packing up and start moving out of the danger zone? Do they start forming defensive militias? No. They do what Jews have always done when their lives are on the brink. They repented their sins, fasted and prayed to God for salvation.

And salvation does come through a series of twists and coincidences, that result in the hanging death of the protagonist Haman, and the elevation of his chief antagonist, Mordechai to his former position as the Viceroy to the King. But at this point in time, the edict to "kill the Jews" is still in force throughout the Persian kingdom, so the newly appointed Viceroy requests the King to annul the decree. To his surprise and horror, the King replies that once a decree is issued in the king's name, it cannot be annulled. However, the King hands Mordechai his royal signet ring, and tells him to issue any other proclamation that he feels might help. And here is the interesting part.

Mordechai comes up with a brilliant solution. He sends the following proclamation to all the Jews in Persia, in the King's name. "The day before your enemies are to murder you, the King gives you permission to be pre-emptive and kill all those who have threatened you and are ready to kill you". Wow! Picture this. The Jews are facing annihilation, but they can't do anything physical about it until they get PERMISSION from the Ruler. Does this ring a bell to you? History is repeating itself right in front of our eyes.

We are now watching as the sovereign Jewish State of Israel is threatened by a Persian (Iranian) madman, who has openly threatened Israel and is said to be willing to sacrifice half of Iran, to be able to destroy Israel. But while Israel is ready to mitigate the danger pre-emptively, the leaders of the "free world" tell her "You can't defend yourself until WE give you PERMISSION". If we were not witness to these developments, we wouldn't believe it.

It is interesting to note, that a few days before Purim this year, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu gave President Obama a copy of The Book of Esther. I wonder if he underlined the parts I was just referring to.

So what is the bottom line? Are the Jews once again facing a Holocaust? Will history repeat what happened a short 65 years ago, when nobody would believe that Hitler was serious about his intentions? Will the world once again sit idly by and then commiserate after the fact? Is this the lesson of History?

Or should we take a page out of the Book of Esther, and paraphrase the advice of Mordechai to Queen Esther? When Esther hesitated to approach the King regarding the fateful edict, Mordechai admonished her by saying, "If you won't help by interceding with the King, the Jews will be saved some other way, but then you and your household will be destroyed." In other words, If the Jewish people pray to God, He will save them, it's just a matter of how.

Perhaps this was the message that Netanyahu was alluding to when he presented President Obama with The Book of Esther. God WILL save His people from the evil intent of their enemies. However, if you are not the instrument of their deliverance, then that deliverance will come from another source, and you and your household "will have missed the boat."

Reboot

2012-03-19T22:00:00.001-04:00

By George:

You, my readers, may have been wondering why I have been silent in these pages for a while now. I could answer that in one of two ways. I could spin you a tale of circumstances, coincidences and wonderment, or I could tell you the straight Truth.

Well, since this is The Unmitigated Truth, I cannot do anything but embrace verity. While my absence was precipitated by the demise of my computer, and then some international travel encroached on my availability, the honest answer is that I was lazy and I kept putting off the resumption of these posts. This phase is thankfully behind me, so with my new iPad in hand my new iMac at home, you can look forward to hearing from me regularly.

Though I haven't posted any articles lately, that doesn't mean that I have lain fallow. I have about a dozen articles started, and now I will finish them and present them to you for your edification. I am looking forward to your comments and feedback.

The Passing of Common Sense.

2011-11-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

By George:

From time to time, as you know I like to re-publish words of wisdom I glean from emails or other sources. This time I saw this item as a comment posting, and since this was the first time I have see this, I will attribute it to: Retired Marine MSgt in Marana, Az.

The Passing of Common Sense.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, *Common Sense*, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
Why the early bird gets the worm;
Life isn’t always fair;
and maybe it was my fault.

* Common Sense* lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

* Common Sense* lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

* Common Sense* lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

* Common Sense* took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

* Common Sense* finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

* Common Sense* was preceded in death;

by his parents, Truth and Trust,
by his wife, Discretion,
by his daughter, Responsibility,
and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;

I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I’m a Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

It’s just common sense folks:

Get out to the polls in November 2012 and VOTE zer0bama and his communistic, progressive cronies out of office.

===================
Once again, thanks to Retired Marine MSgt in Marana, Az., and/or to whoever was the original author of this.

The Hypocrisy of Equivalence

2011-10-25T21:31:00.000-04:00

By George:

During the recent joyful Jewish Holiday of Succoth (a.k.a. Feast of Tabernacles), my wife and I spent time with our family in Brooklyn, New York. I will not belabor the "Feast" part of the Holiday except to say that for now the operative word is "diet". But as a balance to the carnal overindulgence, we were spiritually buoyed by the uplifting services at the magnificent Young Israel Beth El Synagogue, highlighted by the vocal gymnastics of Cantor Miller and the Choir, and complemented by Rabbi Moshe Snow's highly inspiring and cerebral Sermons. And as I was submerged in one of his artfully imparted messages, I realized that I had to share those words with the readers of my blog.

I will not attempt to relay the Sermon verbatim, but I will paraphrase the gist of it, and then embellish it with sprinklings of my own commentary. Apologies to Rabbi Snow for any divergence from his intended statement..

The Rabbis in the Talmudic Tractate corresponding to the Holiday of Succoth, relate the order of the Services in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem for the duration of this 8 day Holiday. Each day the Priests would perform the Temple Sacrificial offerings in a descending count, starting with 13 offerings on the first day, followed by 12 the next day, then 11, 10 ,9, 8, and finally 7 on the seventh day. The total offerings added up to 70, which the Talmud explains, corresponded to the 70 Nations of the World (at that time). The 70 offerings were a prayer to God to facilitate atonement for the sins of the World population at large. Then once the atonement for the other Nations has been effected, a single Sacrificial Offering was performed on the eighth day to atone for the sins of the Jews of Israel. This yearly Holiday tradition lasted for the duration of the Temple's existence, until it was destroyed by invading enemies.

Following the tragedy of the Temple's destruction, a Rabbi lamented, "Woe is to the Nations of the World who have lost something, but don't even know what." He was referring to the fact that the Jewish Nation had taken the initiative to regularly beseech God for the welfare of the other Nations of the world, something that was now no longer possible due to the lack of the Holy Temple.

During his tempestuous rule of the Jewish Kingdom, King David had penned the Psalms, which chronicled his praise for God, his prayers and his dialogue with God. If you peruse Psalm Chapter 109, it starts as follows:

1. For the conductor. Of David, a song. O God of my praise, be not silent. 2. For the mouth of a wicked man and the mouth of a deceitful man have opened upon me; they spoke with me with a lying tongue. 3. And with words of hatred they have surrounded me, and they have fought with me without cause. 4. Instead of my love, they persecute me, but I am at prayer. 5. They have imposed upon me evil instead of good and hatred instead of my love.

The Rabbinic commentators point out that King David was not talking about affront to himself, but was instead documenting his Nation's interaction with surrounding Countries. While the Jewish State was offering love, the others returned lies, hate and aggression.

And so it has been throughout the ages. The Jews have always extended their hands in peace, offered their services to their host countries, and time after time have been repaid by malicious hate, lies and persecution. This has changed little, up to and including today.

We have just witnessed the prisoner swap that Israel had "negotiated" with the captors of a young soldier named Gilad Shalit. This young man was kidnapped 5 years ago by a terrorist group who infiltrated the borders of Israel. He has been kept in total isolation for the 5 years, with no visits allowed from the outside, including from the Red Cross.

You would think that the bond of fealty to its citizen demonstrated by the Jewish State would draw praise from the world politic. You would think that by agreeing to the release of 1027 convicted terrorists and murderers from Israeli jails to gain the freedom of a single innocent young Jew would shine a positive light upon Israel. Instead, we are witnessing a noticeable lack of acclaim upon the world stage, punctuated by such comments as we read from the self righteous Amnesty International who declared on their website:

“This deal will bring relief to Gilad Shalit and his family after an ordeal that has lasted more than five years. Many Palestinian families will feel a similar sense of relief today when they are reunited with their relatives, many of whom have spent decades under harsh conditions in Israeli detention," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Director.

I can still hear the words of Rabbi Snow echoing in my ears as he thundered "How dare Amnesty International equate the kidnapping and holding hostage of an innocent young man with the incarceration of murderers and terrorists"? Amnesty International trumpets the words "harsh conditions in Israeli detention" in reference to hard-core terrorist and murderers who were still able to complain about not having enough visits from their families, yet Amnesty International will not mention, much less condemn, the solitary confinement of the young Israeli in a dungeon for 5 years without ANY visitors.

But at least our American Administration was supportive of the prisoner swap. Or were they?

The New York Post had reported that President Obama was "personally pleased" with the swap for the release of Gilad Shalit. Later, upon finding out that some of the murderers released had killed U.S. citizens, the American Administration had "objected" to the release of those terrorists. So is this just another indication of the clueless leadership of the current Administration, or are they Racists by saying that if terrorist murder Israeli citizens, it's not as bad as when they murder U.S. citizens?

Then of course there are those Anti-Semitic kooks that seem to find legitimacy by writing for the British publication, The Guardian. To them, the freedom of one Jew in exchange for 1027 Arabs is Israeli racism, by implying that one Jew is worth more than 1000 Arabs. (I didn't make this up)

A friend has sent me the link to this video, which puts this article into the visual form.

Finally, I don't want to end this post on a down note, so I will relate a story that came to mind as I was citing Psalm 109 above.

A couple riding on the highway noticed a bumper sticker on the car in front of them that read:

"Pray for Barack Obama - Psalm 109 verse 8".

They were intrigued about the meaning of the message, and when the husband remembered that he had a Bible in the glove compartment, he asked his wife to look up and read the quote. They both broke up in laughter when the wife read:

Psalm 109 verse 8 - May his days be few, and may someone else take his office of dignity.

The Secret Power of Herman Cain.

2011-10-23T21:40:00.000-04:00

By George:

From time to time I like to sit back, relax, and try to take the "big picture" view of a topic, and analyze it with my impeccable logic. This time my Logic Alert was triggered by the "surprising" surge of Herman Cain.

I follow the political scene, but mostly I try to put myself in the shoes (not literally - ugh!) of the majority of Americans who might end up voting on Election Day. Having studied people throughout my life, I have come to the realization that the way people react to Political candidates has nothing to do with logic or the candidate's competency. It has everything to do with the voter's "indoctrination" and visceral reaction. Bear in mind that I will be referring to the General Public, not the cadre of Political Aficionados.

Let me illustrate. In the last Presidential Elections, which candidate was the MOST competent? Oh, by now you can't even remember all the candidates, but you will have to agree that probably the least competent candidate, judging by most criteria, was Barack Obama. Yet he was elected. Why? It was "indoctrination" and visceral reaction.

The American people have lived through the Civil Rights movement, and although the members of the non-white population have gained the freedoms, rights and acceptance as part of a homogeneous society through the efforts of the American majority, still we are constantly berated by "activists" that we are Racist. Accusations coming from activists with a vested interest in maintaining this mental attitude (due to the fact that this is their sole Raison d'être). This constant drumbeat has impinged on our subconscious.

So when the last elections came around and a charismatic "African American" candidate came to the fore, the voters "reacted". No need to check qualifications, because if we are African Americans then he is one of us, and if we are Caucasian, then we want to prove that we are not Racists. Indoctrination and visceral reaction.

So what does this have to do with the success and rise of Herman Cain? O.K., let's continue.

Since the last Presidential Elections, the American Public has had buyer's remorse regarding Barack Obama. They realize that they have been had and would like to rectify their mistake. But how can we do this? If we are Democrats, there will be no other Democrat candidate in 2012, so let's see if the other Party has someone we can vote for without "guilt". If we are Conservatives or Republicans, then we have a plethora of able and competent candidates to select from, but... but... but, we have to choose someone to run against Barack Obama. We don't want to be accused of being Racists.

Indoctrination and visceral reaction kicks in. Wait, there is Herman Cain. He is certainly competent (unlike Obama), and nobody can call me a Racist. Herman is my Man. Cain will be able.

As a postscript I would like to add that as far as I am concerned, most of the Republican candidates are worthy of the Presidency, and although the candidate of my choice is not among the current crop, I will be happy to vote for anybody on the ballot who is NOT Barack Obama.

What a Mysterious Waste of a Truck.

2011-10-16T16:00:00.000-04:00

By George:

When I first started this blog in September of 2010, I didn't want to start off with anything controversial, so I chose to do a story about a tractor trailer truck that I have been walking past for many months. The truck was almost brand new, parked next to an abandoned building, and has not moved for about 6 months when I wrote the article. If you don't know what I am referring to, read the article here before continuing.

As mentioned above, I wrote that article as a lark just to get my "feet wet" in the blogging business, and then continued with more important topics. But as the months progressed, I continued to trek past this selfsame truck, and questions percolated through my curious, and now suspicious mind. Why would someone park a truck worth about a quarter million dollars, keep it in running condition, yet not use it? So I started to do some inquiries.

But wait.... rather than rewriting the story. let me just copy the text of the email that I eventually sent to Homeland Security about it. Yes, I DID eventually contact THE Homeland Security with the following email, and since I have NOT had any response from them, I am sharing this information with you, my readers.

FROM: UnmitigatedTruth
TO: securitythreat@hq.dhs.gov

I had called earlier today to express my concern regarding a fully operation 53" tractor trailer that I have been documenting for about the past two years. Initially I have written about this truck in a posting on my blog as a curiosity, but to me it appears that it might be more than that.

Please read the initial posting at http://www.unmitigated-truth.com/2010/09/case-of-lonely-truck.html and then I'll fill in the the rest of the saga.

Attached are photographs that I have taken along the way when I thought that I should start documenting this. They are in numerical sequence, and most of them have the date and time stamp on them. I had to remove some of the photographs because it was over the limit, so the rest of the photos will be in a second email.

After I published the blog article, a friend who knows someone at the Carlstadt, NJ police department, managed to get me the phone number of the listed owner of the truck. I called the number, left my return number, and the next day got a call from a very nervous sounding man speaking with an accent that I wasn't sure of. When I told him that I noticed the truck parked in the same place for a very long time and was wondering why a perfectly good truck was not being used, he tried to assure me that it was being used. I told him that I am NOT calling in any official capacity, but just out of curiosity, and we ended the conversation. Subsequent to my conversation with the owner, the truck was moved backward about 15 feet. As for the assurances that the truck was being used, I have been checking the wheel hub odometer on the trailer, and it has not been moved. I decided to continue documenting with photographs as needed.

I have documented in the blog article that I had given all the pictures (up to that point) to both the Carlstadt, NJ police department and the Bergen Record reporter along with the maps showing the truck, but I got no feedback from either. The truck remained in the same place. Since then, whenever I chance upon a police cruiser belonging to Carlstadt, I would tell the officer about the truck, and each time they said that they would check.

left for vacation the middle of April, 2011, and didn't resume my morning walks (due to foot injury) until the middle of May. When I resumed my walks, I noticed the truck missing. I happily told my coworkers about the truck finally being gone, but about 3 weeks later the truck reappeared at the same place. When I got to work that day, I had a nagging feeling that something changed, so the next time I walked by I took another set of photographs of the truck.

Sure enough, the front license plate had changed. I then checked the odometer and was surprised to see that the truck had only moved .1 (one tenth) mile in the past 3 or more weeks while it was gone. Everything else remained the same.

To me the situation of an expensive truck being idled in perfect running condition seems suspicious. I was frustrated at not being able to get any answers, until my coworker suggested that I contact the Homeland Security Department, which I now readily did.

If you do decide to investigate, I would appreciate if you could give me some feedback via email of the resolution, whether it is benign or perhaps sinister. I would also appreciate if you then also give me permission to share the results with the readers of my blog. Of course, if there should be any reason not to share it, I would certainly comply.

f there are any questions that I have not answered or if you have any questions I haven't thought of, please either correspond with me via email, or my cell phone. Thank you for your efforts on our behalf.

George xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Unmitigated-Truth.com
Cell xxx-xxx-xxxx

So there you have the update that I sent to Homeland Security on June 21, 2011. I received no response, and the truck reamained as it was. I won't include all the photos I sent to HS, but I will show you the change in license plates and odometer readings. Please note the dates on the photographs.

This is the original license plate.....

This is the odometer before my vacation.....

This is the license plate after my vacation.....

...while this is the odometer after my vacation.....

As you can clearly see, the truck had traveled .1 (one tenth) mile while it was being re-registered.

When my office was relocated last July to our original location and I no longer had the occasion to keep an eye on the truck, I figured that this was the end of the truck story for me. Luckily, one of my co-workers drives near the truck location on his way to work, so I asked him to keep an eye on the truck for me.

Not really expecting any changes, I was quite surprised when he told me that he saw someone doing something to the truck, then he showed me a photo of another license plate change. He also took a shot of the odometer. His photos (displayed below) are not the best quality and don't have a date stamp, but they were taken just a few weeks ago.

And there you have the story up to now. You can check on the truck on satellite photos, or you can go visit it (using the satellite map in the original story, or if you need more info to find the truck, email me).

All I ask you, my readers, is if you have a theory about this mystery or find out what the real story is with this truck, please let me know so I can satisfy my curiosity, and also the curiosity of other readers.

I'm in a Seattle Frame of Mind.

2011-09-28T17:47:00.000-04:00

By: George

Recently we had two new GRANDsons in the space of a few weeks, one was in Las Vegas, then the second in Seattle. I flew out to Vegas (no wife) for a 23 hour turnaround, and I wrote about that visit in my article The Eternal Covenant along with some pictures. Then a few weeks later my wife and I went to Seattle for a few days to celebrate the second grandson's circumcision. I started to write that one up too, but my daughter didn't want me to put it on the blog, so I didn't.

However, I will give you a cute little vignette from our Seattle visit. The last day we were there, we went for a walk downtown of the little town where they live. While my wife and daughter went into a shoe store, I hung around outside to soak up some rays. Right in front of the shoe store was a big beautiful shiny motorcycle, with the chrome polished to a showroom sheen. I called my 6 year old grandson over to look at it, figuring that he would enjoy it (the grandkids in Vegas and Israel go ga-ga for stuff like this).

He ambles over, gives the motorcycle a serious once-over and says "This thing produces more pollution than a car". After I recovered my voice, I asked him why he would say that. He pointed to the double chrome exhaust pipes and said "This has 2 exhaust pipes, but a car has only one". I smiled knowingly, and explained to him that it only seems that way to him because the 4 to 6 cylinders of a car are routed to one exhaust, while each of the 2 cylinders of the motorbike has its own exhaust pipe. He thought about that for a moment and declared, "What a waste of metal!" I had no answer for that.

So that's how they raise the kids in Seattle. (I did NOT paraphrase his words, but quoted him exactly).

The Eternal Covenant

2011-07-12T23:00:00.018-04:00

By George:
(Published at www.unmitigated-truth.com)

I know that it's not in good taste to congratulate one's self, but in this case I would like to congratulate myself and my wife on the birth of a new grandson. The blessed event took place in Las Vegas, and since we of the Hebrew Faith take our Covenant with God seriously, all male children have a "Bris" (are circumcised) on the eight day after birth, as part of our side of the Covenant (assuming a healthy child, or as soon after as possible).

So this past week I took a remaining vacation day from my regular job (you didn't really think that I was making a living off this blog, did you?), and flew to the city of triple digit temperatures to celebrate my grandson's "Bris" with the family. Needless to say, I enjoyed the very short time available to me, by basking in the glow of all three grandkids (and I must add, parents). The Mohel's performance was a cut above the rest, and in no time our little Zechariah Menashe (Zachary) joined the 4000 year long chain of Jews who have bonded into the mosaic of the Eternal Covenant established between God and our patriarch Abraham.

But no matter how much you try to cram into 23 hours, it is never enough time to speed-bond with long distance grandchildren. When departure time rolled around, it was difficult to maintain my usual public facade, so I decided to occupy my mind with memories of the day as I started my trek homeward.

As I settled into the uncomfortable Economy Coach seat, I smiled as I recalled how after waking at 6am that morning I took a shower while the rest of the house still slept, but heard noises in my room as I stepped out of the shower. Wrapping a towel around me, I confronted my two older grandsons who have already liberated their presents from my carry-on. After some wet hugs and kisses, I quickly got dressed, said my morning prayers, and we bonded while waiting for the others to awake. Not long after, my daughter made her appearance with the star of the upcoming event, and I really had my hands full. At 9lbs +, he was still as light as a feather, and I quickly got used to holding a baby again.

Fighting the weariness encroaching on my thoughts, I recalled taking the two boys to the crafts store in the afternoon for some additional mementos, while still later we spent time building the models that they had picked out. And as we roared down the runway for liftoff, my thoughts returned to the ceremony of the Bris. The Mohel flew in from Los Angeles just for this occasion, and returned home shortly after the conclusion of the rite. He was highly skilled, and I mentally compared his 45 second perfect procedure with the half hour procedure used by doctors at a hospital I once worked at. Experience will always win out. I smiled at the striking contrast, before weariness gently caressed my eyelids into oblivion.

At the Friday night Sabbath meal later that evening, I was reading some articles that I had printed off the web concerning the weekly Torah portion and current events. As I perused the weekly article written by Rabbi Berel Wein for publication in the Jerusalem Post, I realized that it was no coincidence that he was highlighting the Covenant of "circumcision". And although I have just returned from Vegas, I realized that God does not roll the dice of coincidence, and this was meant to remind me and focus my thoughts on the Biblio-Historical events encroaching on the idyllic news of the day.

Whether you are Jewish or not, it would behoove you to read the arguments presented by Rabbi Wein in his article (linked to in the previous paragraph, and here), since that will save me from having to express the exact thoughts he so eloquently penned. And while he brings up the impending ballot initiative in San Francisco to BAN circumcision of infants and ties it into the resurgence of ancient Greek debauch lifestyles, he stops short of closing the loop. I, on the other hand, will not be so gentle.

In his treatise Rabbi Wein states:

In my opinion there is another aspect to the Greek problem that has seeped into Western and Jewish society over the past few decades. And that is that all of the negative facets of ancient Greek culture and lifestyle have returned with a vengeance after having lain dormant for millennia.

Hedonism, uninhibited sexual activity, pornography, child abuse, glorification of the body, sanctioned euthanasia for the “misfits” of society, terrible intolerance of “others,” rampant public glorification of homosexuality, and a hatred of Judaism and Jews with their “quaint” rituals, are all recognizable and even dominant aspects of current society.

Well, if all that sounds like today, then you got his point. And as I mentioned in previous articles, this kind of behavior preceded the downfall and disappearance of the Greek and Roman Empires, and most recently the Nazi Regime in Germany. Would you believe that today's society has rediscovered the secret to societal destruction?

Do you think that it is a coincidence that the city hell bent on outlawing Circumcision is none other than San Francisco? The city where homosexuals are celebrated, where they are considering criminalizing pet sales, but where it's fine to kill unborn children and there are more abortions than births. They will now attempt to "protect" the children that managed to avoid abortion, by banning Circumcision. Of course they are also Atheists, or they would realize that they might be at God's tipping point. I wouldn't be surprised if He tried to "shake" some sense into them very soon.

I sincerely hope that the decent citizens of San Francisco will vote a resounding NO on the ballot proposal if it does show up on election day. But should they enact the ban, they will soon realize that the Covenant that they are attempting to annul is protected by a much Higher Power.