New Photo
09.29.04 (2:53 pm) [edit]
Improvements are always better, by definition. :wink:
There is a new photo of myself to the left. I hope everyone likes it. I like it much better than the last one. This one is more sophisticated looking. It's also a little larger.
A very nice upgrade indeed.
Pat Buchanan Can Save MSNBC?
09.27.04 (7:51 pm) [edit]
[i][b]By Jeff Dunetz[/b]
Pat Buchanan may be the only point of difference the network has: A political analyst who just happens to think that the Holocaust was exaggerated, the Jews run the US Government and claims that David Duke stole his ideas.[/i]
I feel bad for MSNBC; it was just a few years ago that it seemed that the Microsoft/GE owned network would overtake CNN to become the number one choice for cable news. But Fox News has come out of nowhere to take over the number one position followed by CNN, while MSNBC has struggled at a distant third.
Since its popularity peak, MSNBC has had undergone some very public missteps with the hiring and firing of Phil Donahue and Michael Savage. Things have gotten so bad just a month ago NBC and Microsoft felt the need to make a very public statement that they are not going to disband the network. Clearly MSNBC is a network that is in need of an identity. Fortunately for them I have a solution that will rescue America’s number three news network.
MSNBC must stop trying to be everything to everybody and grab its own niche so it can generate a broad audience. And an easy answer is staring the network executive’s in their faces. All they need to do is almost all of the on-air talent and build the programming around its most marketable commodity, the man who was once a candidate for President, political analyst, Pat Buchanan. The All-Pat network would generate a loyal audience that no one would dare (or want to) take away.
Think of the programming opportunities:
First thing in the morning the network could present a lighthearted news program (like Fox and Friends) hosted by Buchanan called: [i]Those Crazy Neo-Conservatives Are Not All Jews –Just Mostly Jews[/i]. This fun morning frolic is based on Buchanan’s essay, “Whose War” where he blames the Iraq war on a bunch of mostly Jewish public figures such as Bill Kristol, Paul Wolfowitz, Max Boot and Richard Pearled. Buchanan has charged those public figures with” [i]colluding with Israel to ignite those wars and destroy the Oslo Accords. We charge them with deliberately damaging U.S. relations with every state in the Arab world that defies Israel or supports the Palestinian people's right to a homeland of their own”[/i] he goes on to say, [i]“For whose benefit these endless wars in a region that holds nothing vital to America save oil, which the Arabs must sell us to survive? Who would benefit from a war of civilizations between the West and Islam? Answer: one nation, one leader, one party. Israel, Sharon, Likud."[/i]
When the opening bell on Wall Street sounds, the network’s focus could shift from politics to business news with a show called [i]Things that Jews Own[/i]. This program will focus on another industry traditionally stereotyped as dominated by Jews. From Hollywood to banking, from the media to medicine, each day will profile a new industry with that unique intolerant Buchanan touch.
Even Pat Buchanan needs some time off, so the MSNBC the mid-day hours could feature a game show, just like some of the more popular entertainment networks. Of course it would have to be a high-brow educational show. I have one in mind ...it’s called “Did it Happen?” On this show players would have to guess what events in world history are true or false. The Holocaust, for example, on the all Buchanan news network the answer would be no; it did not happen(Buchanan has challenged the historical record that thousands of Jews were gassed to death by diesel exhaust at Treblinka: "Diesel engines do not emit enough carbon monoxide to kill anybody." -New Republic, 10/22/90)
Another question could be Hitler was a bad guy? On Pat's network the answer would be false. [i]"He (Hitler) was also an individual of great courage, a soldier’s soldier in the Great War, a leader steeped in the history of Europe, who possessed oratorical powers that could awe even those who despised him. But Hitler’s success was not based on his extraordinary gifts alone. His genius was an intuitive sense of the mushiness, the character flaws, the weakness masquerading as morality that was in the hearts of the statesmen who stood in his path."[/i] - St. Louis Globe – Democrat, Aug 25, 1977"
Primetime could feature Pat in “talk show” format. Maybe he could even have a series of “guest hosts” ....people with a similar philosophy about Jews running US government such as former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad. Or to broaden the program’s appeal he could invite white supremacists such as David Duke on to the show. This would fit into the Buchanan point of view. After all, he did once write, “In the late 1940’s and 1950’s…race was never a preoccupation with us, we rarely thought about it….There were no politics to polarize us then, to magnify every slight. The ‘Negroes’ of Washington had their public schools, restaurants, bars, movie houses, playgrounds and churches; and we had ours.” - Right From the Beginning (1990)
Of course before he appeared, David Duke and Buchanan would have settle their feud. Back in 1991 he accused the former Clansman of Theft. David Duke is busy stealing from me. I have a mind to go down there and sue that dude for intellectual property theft." - Manchester, NH Union Leader, December 15, 1991
Overnight programming would consist of a series of documentaries, all based on Buchanan’s writings, for example one could be “American’s or Israeli Spies…the Pro-Israel Lobby”
Turning MSNBC into NNN, the Nazi News Network, and featuring a line-up of all Pat all the time will help the network to finally secure an identity and consistent ratings. The only bad part of the whole thing is that the rest of the present on-air staff would have to lose their jobs; since they are not bigots or anti-Semites they would not fit in.
Of course, GE and Microsoft management would have to buy into this change, but I don’t think it would be a major leap after all if MSNBC felt that his views were abhorrent, they would not permit him to appear on their network. Especially during an election year Pat Buchanan is the only point of difference the network has: A political analyst who just happens to think that the Holocaust was exaggerated, the Jews run the US Government and claims that David Duke stole his ideas.
[i]Jeff Dunetz is freelance writer and a regular contributor to sites such www.jewishworldreview.com and www.aish.com.[/i]
When College Campuses Are Attacked
09.27.04 (6:15 pm) [edit]
I had just finished Geology on one side of campus. I was walking out of the classroom to make the trek across campus to my communications class, when they cornered me and some other fellow students. Shocked at what I was seeing, I became angry and afraid. I wanted to cry. What was I seeing?
Jews For Jesus had attacked my college campus.
They were pretty forceful. They were handing out pamplets and saying things like, "Jesus will save you from eternal damnation! Repent before it's too late!" A pamplet was shoved in my direction. I took it and I tore it up. "Jesus is NOT the Messiah. Jesus is NOT the son of God. Jews for Jesus are NOT true Jews!" I yelled.
Some of them cornered me and asked why I felt that way.
"Because Jesus did not forfil the proper prophacies! There is no world peace! All the Jews are not in Israel! Where is the 3rd Temple?? Jesus is NOT the son of God nor is he the Messiah!" I exclaimed.
"We'll pray for you, you'd better repent. You're going to hell," was the reply.
"You're full of crap!"
"You'd better repent for swearing."
Angered, I made my way to the cafeteria where I wanted to buy some powerade because it was a hot day. Tons more of them. They had fanned out and were in uniform, pushing pamphlets left and right. I went inside and there were stacks of pamphlets. I rushed to throw the piles in the garbage. "Do not believe their LIES!" I shouted, as I went and got my drink and went to pay for it.
Outside again, more had gathered.
"Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokainu Hashem Echad! There is only one God and it is HaShem! There is no Jesus! Jesus is not the Messiah and not the son of God! You desecrate His name with your lies!!" I yelled at them.
"Yes he is the son of God and he'll save you! I'll pray for you!" said one of the girls handing out bucket loads of pamphlets.
"You lie! There is only one God and that is HaShem!" I screamed back at her.
A girl grabbed my arm.
"Shanah Tovah," she said. "My name is Heidi. They make me sick too."
Heidi, as it turns out, is part of the Jewish Student's Association on campus. She had been yelling at the missionaries too.
"They've been here since Rosh HaShanah," she informed me. "I feel like I want to cry, I'm shaking so hard," I said to her. "I know, me too," she replied.
We walked and talked. It felt good to know I wasn't the only one combating these lunatics. We exchanged info. I went to class, still a little upset. By the time I was out of communications class, they'd gone. But they'll be back.
Who are these people that have made me so angry? What is wrong with what they are doing?
The Jews for Jesus are an organization, created by Christians, to prostytize and convert Jews away from Judaism. Their mission, so they claim, is to "save" Jewish souls. In actuality, their mission is to be rid of true Judaism. They manipulate Jewish texts for their agenda. They lie. They're insane. The point is to tell Jews you can belive in Jesus and still be Jewish. Fortunately or unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.
The Jews for Jesus pretend to be Jews, though there is little, if anything, Jewish about them.
They are a cult, in essence, and they are nothing but evil.
An excellent web site for more information is =http://www.jewsforjudaism.com...JewsForJudaism.com; where they outline exactly why this Jews for Jesus group is so downright evil.
I have learned now that my city is on the list for their offensive war against Judaism.
This must be stopped. Jews must empower themselves with the proper knowledge of their heritage and their religion. It is the only way to combat these liars and cheats who seek to convert you and take you away from God. The above website is a great resource to combat them. Jew For Judaism is 25 years running and a great force in truly saving Jewish souls away from these liars. There are resources there on that site that show you why Jews don't take Jesus as Messiah and why these so called Jews for Jesus are so terrible.
We must all lead the fight against this pestalence.
Iran, Israel and the Bomb
09.27.04 (5:47 pm) [edit]
Columnist Jonathan Power misrepresents the nuclear threat from the Mideast.
Last week, =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wo...Iran rejected a call from the International Atomic Energy Agency to cease its uranium enrichment activities, and this week it test-fired a =http://www.newsday.com/news/n...,0,592259.story?coll=ny-worldnews-h eadlinesnewly-upgraded missile that can reach Israel and US troops in the Mideast. Western powers are now attempting, with increasing alarm, to halt Iran's march toward nuclear armament before it's too late.
While these disturbing developments took place, Jonathan Power in the =http://www.iht.com/articles/5...International Herald Tribune (9/22) compared the Iranian nuclear program to Israel's and concluded that 'It is the Arabs who should be worried by Israel's might, rather than the other way around.' Power, a foreign affairs columnist syndicated in dozens of papers worldwide, makes three three main points:
1) The West applies a 'hypocritical' double standard by insisting that Iran stop its nuclear program while allowing Israel to have the bomb.
2) Power blames Israel for Iran's emerging nuclear program, asking: '[W]here is the source of the threat that makes Iran... feel so nervous that it must now take the nuclear road? If Saddam Hussein's Iraq, with its nuclear ambitions, used to be one reason, the other is certainly Israel.'
3) Power claims that Israeli nukes never had deterrence value, and certainly don't today, as Israel faces no 'catastrophic' threat.
Power errs on each of his points:
[b]1) RESPONSIBLE VS. IRRESPONSIBLE NUCLEAR PROGRAMS[/b]
Indeed, there is a double standard applied to Israeli vs. Iranian nuclear programs ― an entirely justified double standard.
Israel is a thriving democracy, where all citizens participate in government and have a voice, where even the most disenfranchised can climb the social ladder, and where injustice can be righted. Democratic nations are characterized by accountability, checks and balances, and recognition of fundamental human rights ― essential elements for responsible nuclear programs.
Iran, on the other hand, is a pure theocracy that institutionalizes dhimmitude (subjugation of non-Muslim peoples), engages in modern anti-Jewish =http://www.jewishvirtuallibra...witch hunts under the pretext of stopping 'Zionist conspiracies,' and =http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhi...hangs 'promiscuous' teenage girls in public squares with impunity.
Iran does not just happen to live in 'one of the world's most dangerous neighborhoods,' as Power claims. Iran, along with Syria (see =http://www.honestreporting.co...HR Special Report), has created this danger. The =http://www.intelligence.org.i...U.S. State Department recognizes that Iran has provided financial aid, arms, training camps, and safe haven to the deadliest terror groups ― Hezbollah (Iran's proxy in Lebanon), Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
And while the free world increasingly fears WMDs and 'dirty bombs' falling into the hands of Islamic terrorists (half of those surveyed in a recent =http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4...AP-Ipsos poll say they 'have concerns that terrorists may be winning'), Iran maintains strong, supportive ties with those terrorists.
As a theocracy with a fundamental lack of accountability, Iran's nuclear program brings the free world's great nightmare ― WMDs falling into the hands of Islamic terrorists ― closer to reality.
[b]2) ISRAEL - TO BLAME FOR IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM?[/b]
While Power cites an Israeli 'threat' as the motivation for Iran's nuclear program, in fact Israeli leaders had never challenged Tehran before that program advanced, nor did Israel ever contribute to an armed attack on Iran.
By contrast, the Iranian Mullahs have been clamoring for Israel's demise since the day they seized power in 1979. Witness the Iranians' =http://www.jcpa.org/brief/bri...more recent calls for the extermination of 'the Zionist Entity':
● Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenai explained in Jan. 2001 that 'the foundation of the Islamic regime is opposition to Israel, and the perpetual subject of Iran is the elimination of Israel from the region.'
● Khamenai said in a recent sermon that 'the cancerous tumor called Israel must be uprooted from the region.'
● In Dec. 2001, former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani called the establishment of the Jewish state 'the worst event in history,' and declared his intention to decimate Israel, clarifying that 'one [nuclear] bomb is enough to destroy all Israel,' and that 'in due time, the Islamic world will have a military nuclear device.'
Unfortunately, it's not just talk. Iran actively supports anti-Israel terror through Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. And recall that in January 2002, Iran attempted to smuggle 50 tons of ammunition to Palestinians aboard the ship =http://www.israel-wat.com/oni...Karin A. Iran's nuclear program is clearly an extension of that aggression.
To claim, as Power does, that Iran is developing its nuclear program in response to an Israeli 'threat' is simply a fabrication of the historical record.
[b]3) DETERRENCE AND ONGOING MORTAL THREAT[/b]
Power claims 'there is no evidence that Israel's nuclear weapons have deterred the Arabs from more limited wars or prevented Palestinian intifadas and suicide bombers. Nor have Israel's nuclear weapons influenced Arab attitudes toward making peace.' Power cites the 1973 Arab war against Israel and the 1991 Gulf War as cases in point.
But =http://www.jcpa.org/brief/bri...Gerald M. Steinberg, director of the Program on Conflict Management and Negotiation at Bar-Ilan University, indicates that over three decades
Steinberg also credits the policy with forcing Egypt and Syria to limit their attacks in the 1973 war, and with deterring Saddam Hussein from using chemical warheads in the 1991 missile attacks against Israel (when 39 of Iraq's conventional Scud missiles actually landed in Israel).
Regarding today's threats, Power brushes them off, stating 'there is no evidence that Arab states have invested the financial and human resources necessary to fight the kind of war that would be catastrophic for Israel.'
But as any student of the Mideast knows, the one issue that unites the Arab states ― the illegitimacy of 'the Zionist Entity' ― could at any time erupt. That eventuality must remain a cornerstone of responsible Israeli defense policy.
* * *
ACTION ITEMS:
1) Contact the International Herald Tribune to correct Jonathan Powers' distortions, using the points expressed above: letters@iht.com
2) Be on the lookout for headlines or articles that falsely equate Israeli actions with the growing Iranian nuclear threat. For example:
● "Iran, Israel square off over nuclear facilities" (=http://www.theglobeandmail.co...The Globe and Mail, Sept. 23)
● "Iran, Israel Nuclear Tensions Rise" (=http://www.foxnews.com/story/...,2933,129638,00.htmlAP, Aug. 21)
● "Tensions Escalating Between Arch Enemies Israel and Iran" (=http://www.usatoday.com/news/...AP, Aug. 20)
● "Analysis: Iran, Israel exchange threats" (=http://www.washingtontimes.co...UPI, Aug. 19)
When responding to the media, cite Iran's repeated calls to annihilate Israel, Iran's well-documented support of worldwide Islamic terror, and Israel's effective policy of nuclear deterrence, which has actually enhanced regional stability.
09.26.04 (7:01 am) [edit]
[b][i]By PETER ENAV, Associated Press Writer[/i][/b]
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel shut down for Yom Kippur on Friday, with borders closed and streets deserted as many Jews fasted, prayed and asked for forgiveness on the holiest day of the religious calendar.
As on every holiday, security forces were on high alert. Armed guards were posted at synagogues, and police sent extra officers to the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest shrine, where thousands were expected to gather.
The holiday capped a violent week, with six Israelis killed in three Palestinian attacks - a Jerusalem suicide bombing, a shooting attack on a Gaza army post and mortar fire on a Jewish settlement. Eight Palestinians were killed in the period, including at least six gunmen.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered the army to tighten a closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The closure began last week, with the Jewish New Year's holiday, and is to last until early October.
Since fighting erupted in 2000, Israel has restricted the entry of Palestinians in varying degrees, imposing closures during holidays or at other times of alert. In 2002, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a Passover gathering, killing 29 people.
Before the start of Yom Kippur at sundown Friday, observant Jews swung live chickens over their heads in a Jerusalem outdoor market. The ritual, known as kapara, is meant to expiate sins.
``It is our pleasure to do kapara,'' said Rabbi Avraham Goldstein. ``It means redeeming ourselves, trying to get ourselves clean before the big day of Yom Kippur.''
The Israeli papers were full of tips for the Day of Atonement. The Maariv daily recommended that those planning to fast stay away from fried food during their last meal and instead eat plenty of fresh fruit. It also provided bicycle safety tips for kids who like to take advantage of the empty roads.
However, another article noted rabbinical warnings that bicycle riding was also forbidden on Yom Kippur, which ends after sundown Saturday.
Throughout the country, an air of somber tranquility prevailed.
There was no public transport and the airport shut down. Border points to Egypt and Jordan were sealed.
In most neighborhoods, even the non-religious do not drive. Israeli radio and TV channels went off the air, while shops, restaurants, cafes, cinemas and all places of entertainment were closed.
[i]Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004[/i]
[b][i]By PETER ENAV, Associated Press Writer[/i][/b]
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel shut down for Yom Kippur on Friday, with borders closed and streets deserted as many Jews fasted, prayed and asked for forgiveness on the holiest day of the religious calendar.
As on every holiday, security forces were on high alert. Armed guards were posted at synagogues, and police sent extra officers to the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest shrine, where thousands were expected to gather.
The holiday capped a violent week, with six Israelis killed in three Palestinian attacks - a Jerusalem suicide bombing, a shooting attack on a Gaza army post and mortar fire on a Jewish settlement. Eight Palestinians were killed in the period, including at least six gunmen.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered the army to tighten a closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The closure began last week, with the Jewish New Year's holiday, and is to last until early October.
Since fighting erupted in 2000, Israel has restricted the entry of Palestinians in varying degrees, imposing closures during holidays or at other times of alert. In 2002, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a Passover gathering, killing 29 people.
Before the start of Yom Kippur at sundown Friday, observant Jews swung live chickens over their heads in a Jerusalem outdoor market. The ritual, known as kapara, is meant to expiate sins.
``It is our pleasure to do kapara,'' said Rabbi Avraham Goldstein. ``It means redeeming ourselves, trying to get ourselves clean before the big day of Yom Kippur.''
The Israeli papers were full of tips for the Day of Atonement. The Maariv daily recommended that those planning to fast stay away from fried food during their last meal and instead eat plenty of fresh fruit. It also provided bicycle safety tips for kids who like to take advantage of the empty roads.
However, another article noted rabbinical warnings that bicycle riding was also forbidden on Yom Kippur, which ends after sundown Saturday.
Throughout the country, an air of somber tranquility prevailed.
There was no public transport and the airport shut down. Border points to Egypt and Jordan were sealed.
In most neighborhoods, even the non-religious do not drive. Israeli radio and TV channels went off the air, while shops, restaurants, cafes, cinemas and all places of entertainment were closed.
[i]Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004[/i]
MTV Choose or Lose: A Good Place To Start?
09.22.04 (5:22 pm) [edit]
What do Michael Moore, Jon Stewart, Bill Mhar, Drew Barrimore, James Carville, and Hillary Clinton all have in common?
If you answered that they're all registerred as Democrats, well yes. Yes, you are correct. But that wasn't what I was getting at quite yet, but you're getting very warm there. They also have something else in common as well...
They all took part in Barrimore's documentary "A Good Place To Start" aired only a few moments ago on MTV. There were no republican or conservative representatives on the show.
WHAT a coincidence!
What was this documentary about? It was about getting the youth to start voting, as the MTV mantra goes: CHOOSE OR LOSE! That's just so frikkin' wonderful. Don't get me wrong, I want young people to vote. I've said countless times ad nausium that everyone from 18 to 25 NEEDS to get to the ballot box this November, absolutely 100%! However, where I diverge from MTV is that I think people should think for themselves and choose who ever it is they want to be in charge of the country. They can vote for John Kerry, George Bush, whoever. It makes no difference to me. What matters to me is that people vote. Period. They can figure out for themselves who for. If you ask me, I'll tell you who I'm voting for and why. I'll tell you why I have problems with other candidates, but ultimatly the decision is up to the individual. No peer pressure necissary.
So what's wrong with this documentary that I just sat through?
It's the same issue as =http://www.tblog.com/template...my other article about MTV's peer pressure policies: They're misleading. Fair and balanced? HA! Those two words aren't even in the MTV dictionary! I will say that many of the points "A Good Place To Start" came up with were important. For example, towards the end they showed people, young and old talking about voting. They were all asked to think of one thing that doesn't involve or isn't regulated by voting. The answer was everything that people came up with was wrong. Everything comes down to voting.
Interesting thought exercizes aside, the star-studded cast was so biased it was sickening. Especially by the appearance of Jaba the Hut reincarnated himself, Michael Moore. Where was the conservative celeb guests? You can't tell me they couldn't find any. I can name you several off hand right now.
If you're going to have Jaba -- erm -- Michael Moore, you might as well have Bill O'Reilly on there (even though O'Reilly is WAY more moderate than Michael "Captain Insanity" Moore). How about Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson? Yep, they're republicans AND they're cool. Alice Cooper? Yep, conservative and he votes! Need someone younger? How about Ben Shapiro, writer of "Brainwahsed: How Universities Indoctrinates America's Youth"? Now that I mention him, perhaps it's not in MTV's interest to have him on the show. After all, they're part of the greater problem that his book alludes to.
Come to think about all of it, none of these people I mentioned would be in MTV's interest. Isn't that what MTV is about? Indoctrinating a left-leaning agenda and drumming it into your teen's head? Conservatives wouldn't help what they're true plan is! They want to Brainwash the 18 to 25 year olds into voting as MTV dictates. How silly of me. Yes, getting young people to vote may be a tiny part of it, but there's the greater picture here: Get them to vote ... for the person you advocate, of course.
Why else would we have such an illustrious star-studded, left-leaning bunch of guests without a pro-lifer or anti-gay marriage advocate in sight?
"Choose (John Kerry) or Lose (your popularity and your brain; you didn't use it anyhow).
Please vote this November and please vote for the person YOU choose, not necissarily the person that MTV and the thought police choose for you.
The Genocide Convention
09.22.04 (10:11 am) [edit]
[i][b]CBC News Online | September 20, 2004[/b][/i]
What is the Genocide Convention?
Officially called the "Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide," it was passed by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1948 and came into effect in January 1951.
The convention says that "genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war is a crime under international law" which the parties to the convention "undertake to punish and prevent."
It defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group" by:
Killing members of the group.
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.
Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
How did the term "genocide" come about?
The Genocide Convention came about largely through the efforts of one man, Raphael Lemkin. Lemkin is also credited with coining the term "genocide." Lemkin was a Polish Jew who first began to warn the world about Adolf Hitler's plans to attack Jews in Europe as early as 1933.
He was largely ignored and in 1939, after the Nazis invaded Poland, he was forced to flee to the United States. When he tried to warn U.S. government officials about the Holocaust he was again ignored, with officials maintaining that his claims of what was happening in German-occupied Europe were "rumours."
Then Lemkin was inspired by a speech by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that described what Germany was doing in Europe as "a crime without a name." In 1944, he published a long, scholarly account of what was then known about the Holocaust, including copies of Hitler's anti-Jewish decrees. It was called Axis Rule.
In the book Lemkin introduced a new word "genocide" describing a crime that went beyond murder to the annihilation of a people. Within a week of publication of the book, the Roosevelt administration released a statement that it now had evidence to "substantiate" the facts of the Holocaust. Then the news media plucked the term "genocide" from the book reviews and began using it in news coverage.
The Genocide Convention
In the years after the Second World War, the new United Nations began work to update what are called "the laws and customs of war." While negotiators worked to update the Geneva Conventions that set the rules for warfare, Lemkin began a major lobbying effort at the UN to create a law that would outlaw – if not prevent – new attempts to wipe out a people. A year after the war, in December 1946, and after a debate over whether to use the narrow term "extermination" or Lemkin's wider "genocide," the UN passed a resolution calling for a new convention, and the secretary general asked Lemkin to write the first draft.
It took almost two years of debate for the United Nations to agree on a definition, but on Dec. 9, 1948, before the Cold War began to split the organization, the General Assembly unanimously adopted the Genocide Convention.
Lemkin then turned his energy to making sure that the convention was ratified. By Oct. 16, 1950, 20 countries had ratified and the Genocide Convention became international law. Canada ratified the convention on Jan. 12, 1951.
There was one key exception. The United States initially refused to ratify the convention, arguing, as it does now against the International Criminal Court, that it might be unfairly used to target Americans. The convention fell off the American agenda until one senator, William Proxmire, pushed over the years to have it ratified. He made 3,211 speeches before he was partially successful.
One reason the convention was ratified by the Americans was that then president Ronald Reagan was embarrassed by the controversy over his visit to a German war cemetery that contained the remains of members of the Waffen SS; after the visit the Reagan administration pushed the ratification to mollify critics.
The U.S. Senate finally ratified the convention in 1986, 40 years after it was first drafted, but, as Samantha Power says in her book The Problem from Hell, it was "so laden with caveats that it carried next to no force," restrictions pushed by conservative senators such as Jesse Helms, Orrin Hatch and Richard Lugar. It officially became U.S. law in November 1988.
Enforcing the convention from Saddam to Sudan
So far, the Genocide Convention has had the opposite effect to what Lemkin intended. Power and other critics point out the convention does not give governments the numbers of dead or displaced required to constitute genocide, so they have used the wording of the convention to avoid enforcing it.
The slaughter in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge had occurred before the U.S. ratified the convention, but a year after the ratification, in March 1987, Iraq's Saddam Hussein began a campaign against the Kurds, which included poison gas attacks and the displacement of thousands. Although the United States now calls the campaign genocide, it didn't at the time because officially there was not enough proof that Saddam was committing genocide against the Kurds.
The U.S. and other nations used similar arguments in both Rwanda and Bosnia, saying there was not enough information, or that what was going on did not fit the legal definition of genocide. The Clinton administration, which was wary of intervention after the collapse of the U.S. mission in Somalia, had a deliberate policy of avoiding use of the term genocide in references to Rwanda, even though 800,000 people were killed in the first 100 days of the civil war.
On Sept. 2, 1998, a Rwandan mayor, Jean-Paul Akayesu, became the first man convicted of genocide by an international tribunal for directing and inciting local mobs to rape and murder Tutsis. Even in that case, there were legal arguments whether or not what happened in Rwanda was genocide. The tribunal eventually ruled that any "stable group" that was targeted could be subject to genocide, a definition that did not satisfy most critics even though it did narrow the options for politicians who wanted to avoid using the term.
Will Darfur be different?
On Sept. 9, 2004, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared before the Senate foreign relations committee to testify about the killing and displacement of people in the western region of Sudan known as Darfur.
Powell told the senators that an investigation by U.S. officials had found a "pattern of atrocities: Killings, rapes, burning of villages committed by Jinjaweed [militias] and government forces against non-Arab villagers… [were] a co-ordinated effort, not just random violence." He then said "the evidence leads us to the conclusion, the United States to the conclusion, that genocide has occurred and may still be occurring in Darfur."
Powell went on to say: "So let us not be too preoccupied with this designation. These people are in desperate need and we must help them. Call it civil war, call it ethnic cleansing, call it genocide, call it 'none of the above.' The reality is the same. There are people in Darfur who desperately need the help of the international community."
But Powell did not offer intervention by the United States, which may not be possible with much of the U.S. army tied up in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying "no new action is dictated by this determination. We have been doing everything we can to get the Sudanese government to act responsibly."
He then said it was up to the African Union to intervene in Darfur and provide enough troops to monitor the situation.
Heh heh. Shut up, Bevis! Heh.
09.22.04 (10:10 am) [edit]
Ok, so I HAD to share this hilarious photo with you. A little background story first, my brother and mother were driving along somewhere (I don't remember where) and my little brother spotted this scene as they drove by. Hysterical in laughter, he whipped out my mother's camera phone and took this picture (I hope you can make out what the sign says):
Alright, that's enough for now. LOL! This has been your Bevis & Butthead moment for today!!!
Dan Rather's Apology
09.20.04 (4:22 pm) [edit]
[i]A statement from Dan Rather of CBS News:[/i]
Last week, amid increasing questions about the authenticity of documents used in support of a 60 MINUTES WEDNESDAY story about President Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard, CBS News vowed to re-examine the documents in question -- and their source -- vigorously. And we promised that we would let the American public know what this examination turned up, whatever the outcome.
Now, after extensive additional interviews, I no longer have the confidence in these documents that would allow us to continue vouching for them journalistically. I find we have been misled on the key question of how our source for the documents came into possession of these papers. That, combined with some of the questions that have been raised in public and in the press, leads me to a point where -- if I knew then what I know now -- I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question.
But we did use the documents. We made a mistake in judgment, and for that I am sorry. It was an error that was made, however, in good faith and in the spirit of trying to carry on a CBS News tradition of investigative reporting without fear or favoritism.
Please know that nothing is more important to us than people's trust in our ability and our commitment to report fairly and truthfully.
What does the name “Rosh Hashanah” teach us?
09.19.04 (8:21 am) [edit]
The words “Rosh Hashanah” literally translate as “HEAD of the year.” Calling the first day of the year a name like “First of the Year” or “Beginning of the Year” would seem more appropriate. Yet, the choice of the word “Head” comes to teach us something about the day, telling us that it is more than just the first day on the calendar.
The head controls all of the body's functions, even those of the nervous system and heart. A person's health depends on the health of the head—physically, mentally, and emotionally. Calling the first day of the year “Head of the Year,” teaches us that this holiday determines what will happen to us during all of the other days of the year.
Rosh Hashanah is a day designated for joyfully accepting G-d's supremacy and authority, and resolving to be a better servant of His. We coronate G-d as King over the world and our personal life. We make New Year’s resolutions, desiring to deepen our connection to G-d and make Him the active focus of our lives. In achieving these Rosh Hashanah goals, we create a healthy “Head of the Year” and thereby guarantee that the whole new year should be “good and sweet.”
The primary faculty invested in the head is the ability to discern: between right and left, black and white, good and bad, right and wrong. On Rosh Hashanah we are asked to take a close, honest look at ourselves and distinguish the aspects of our individual personas which need improvement – to the greatest detail possible. Not only are we judged from Above (i.e. were we “right” or “wrong”), but the very way in which each of us approaches our ability – and responsibility – to actively direct our actions effects the course of the coming year.
The “Head of the Year” challenges us to examine ourselves and discriminate our past and future bearings. What do I regret? What still needs improvement? How shall I go about perfecting myself?
In addition, the word “hashanah” can also be related to the Hebrew word meaning “altered,” “transformed,” or “changed.” Thus, "Rosh Hashanah" can mean "a changed head" – or a new, transformed state of consciousness. In short, Rosh Hashanah beckons each one of us to prepare for a new reality, both in our own personal spheres, as well as that of the entire Creation.
In case you were wondering, I was absent from my blog (and school as well as work) from the 15th until now for Rosh Hashanah. Don't worry though. I'm still here. :) Next holiday up: Yom Kippor Friday night of the 24th. If you're curious as to when the next Jewish holiday is, you can always find a countdown at the top on the right side column of my blog.
Shanah Tovah!
(Have a good year)
Sad Situation in Sweden
09.14.04 (11:55 am) [edit]
Honest Reproting subscriber Robert Skole is a reporter and author who has lived for many years in Sweden, where the media is, he says, 'viciously anti-Israel.'
This week, Skole alerted HonestReporting to this cartoon, published in Sweden's largest morning daily, =http://www.dn.se/Dagens Nyheter. Penned by the paper's staff cartoonist, it appeared on the 'Family' page, a section of light columns and 'humor':
[i]Man with the dog: "I don't think one should build walls between people."
The Jew: "Damn anti-Semite!!"[/i]
One had hoped such a portrayal of the stereotypical, wicked Jew would have disappeared with the Nazis, but it's alive and well in Sweden today.
Send comments on the cartoon to Dagens Nyheter's ombudsman: ombudsman@dn.se
Robert Skole reports that this cartoon is far from unique:
[i]Day after day, week after week, year after year, the Swedish media run a constant stream of news stories, editorials, photographs, letters and cartoons attacking the State of Israel. In the Swedish media, Israel is portrayed as the aggressor, an occupying force that violates human rights and international law, and should get out of 'Palestine.'[/i]
One example is the headline 'The Crucifixion of Arafat,' applied to an editorial that appeared in =http://www.aftonbladet.se/Aftonbladet, the most widely circulated newspaper in Sweden, on the eve of Easter 2003, while Operation Defensive Shield was underway.
Some more recent examples:
● The Swedish Journalists' Union's weekly publication, =http://www.journalisten.se/Journalisten, is regularly filled with anti-Israel invective. A search of its online archives shows 37 Israel stories since 10/98, almost all highly critical of Israel. Jan Guillou − whose writing lionizes Arab dictators and butchers − was elected president of the Association of Journalists by its 5,200 members.
(Guillou co-authored a book about Iraq in the 1970s, praising Saddam Hussein's prisons as 'better than Swedish apartments,' and predicting that Jews who fled from Iraq to Israel would soon choose to return. A few days after the 9/11 attack, Guillou wrote in Aftonbladet that the New York death toll 'was about one-third of those innocent people killed when Israel attacked Lebanon in early 1980s.' And the day after 9/11, an international book show in Sweden held a moment of silence for the American victims. Guillou, then president of the Association of Journalists, walked out in protest that there was never a moment of silence for Muslims killed by Americans and Israelis.)
● The Sept. 7, 2004 issue of Journalisten included a long, sympathetic interview with Robert Fisk, the Beirut-based Mideast correspondent whose anti-Israel vitriol is unmatched (see =http://www.honestreporting.co...here and =http://www.honestreporting.co...here). Fisk makes himself out to be fearlessly 'independent,' not afraid of criticizing Israel, 'unlike many others.' Journalisten's fawning interviewer never asked the key question: How long would Fisk stay alive if he wrote the truth about the Arab dictators and terrorists he dwells among?
● Last week, the first-ever $33,000 =http://www.annalindhsminnesfo...Anna Lindh Stipendium, in memory of the Swedish Foreign Minister murdered last year, was given to =http://www.honestreporting.co...Amira Hass, an Israeli journalist who identifies so closely with the Palestinians that she's lived for years in Palestinian-controlled Ramallah (site of the infamous lynching). Hass received the usual obsequious Swedish media coverage granted to Israelis who criticize Israeli policies, and was praised for 'her uncompromising reporting... contributing to the understanding of the Palestinians' situation under Israeli occupation. By informing the Israeli public on daily life in Palestine, she contributes to creating conditions for meaningful dialogue.'
● HonestReporting readers will recall the episode when Israel's ambassador to Sweden pushed over a Stockholm 'art' installation =http://www.honestreporting.co...glorifying a Palestinian suicide bomber. The event was covered almost without exception in Sweden as a 'violation of free speech' and 'arrogant invasion' of Swedish culture. A commentator in one important paper, Dagens Nyheter wrote that the ambassador's actions were inspired by the 'God of Vengeance of the Old Testament.'
Robert Skole asks: Why is Sweden ― known for its Nobel Prizes and solemn proclamations of peace and neutrality ― so viciously anti-Israel? His answer:
[i]1) As in the rest of Europe, it's fashionable in Sweden for the political left to despise Israel and glorify Arafat, Hamas and the Palestinian 'freedom fighters,' and 2) the old, moth-eaten communists and the new radical left dominate the Swedish media and public debate on international affairs.[/i]
Some publications do try to be honest ― like [i]Svenska Dagbladet[/i], a morning daily, and magazines like the Jewish Chronicle. But with a Jewish community of about 15,000, compared with the 300,000-400,000 Muslims in Sweden (total population 9 million), the voices of fairness toward Israel are, Skole says, 'whispers against a hurricane.'
On February 10, 2004, under the headline 'Jews in Sweden are afraid to be known as Jews,' Ha'aretz reported that
[i]Daniel Schechner, a 21-year-old law student from Stockholm, makes sure to conceal even the slightest hint of his Jewishness when he goes out in public... He uses his non-Jewish last name, which he asks the reporter not to print. He does not dream of walking down the street while wearing a skullcap, and when he went to Israel, he told people that he went to another country... Schechner says that when he and his friends speak about "Jewish" subjects like synagogue or kashruth, they use code words...[/i]
And that's the sad situation in Sweden.
[i]Robert Skole covered Swedish business and industry for 25 years, reporting for McGraw-Hill publications.[/i]
Holy Moley! This is insane: Wisconsin Man Throws Baby Out of Car
09.14.04 (10:42 am) [edit]
How can someone do this? This entire story is just creepy! I'm baffled and totally disturbed by this story. Wow...
[line]
GREEN BAY, Wis. (Sept. 14) - A man threw his fiancee's 8-month-old daughter out of a car as he fled police after being accused of domestic violence, authorities said. The girl, strapped in a carseat, was unhurt but the man later was fatally injured in a crash.
Dana Bettin, 23, died Sunday, three days after the dramatic highway chase that ended when he crashed his fiancee's car into an unoccupied squad car.
At one point, he slowed down, opened the car door and dropped the baby in the car seat onto the highway, sending it tumbling toward the middle of the roadway.
"As the baby was flying toward me I noticed that she was crying very hard and looked scared," Wisconsin State Patrol Sgt. David Catalano said Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show, which aired video of the incident.
"Fortunately she was seat-belted into the child seat so that as it slid forward on the highway and then rolled over she escaped without any injuries," he said.
Sheriff's Sgt. Dan Pamenter told The Post-Crescent in Appleton that the man at first tried to put the baby out of the car on the shoulder, but the door car was in his way. He eventually pulled back into traffic and pushed the baby out as he was accelerating.
"His car was jerking back and forth," Pamenter said. "I didn't know what he was doing. He seemed to care for the baby."
"I was pretty certain he wasnt going to stop until he crashed," Pamenter said.
The chase continued at speeds up to 100 mph.
The pursuit ended on U.S. 41 when Bettin had a minor collision with a vehicle and then crashed into an unoccupied squad car. The car he was driving rolled over and he was pinned underneath. He died at a hospital in Green Bay.
Catalano spoke to the baby's mother on Monday and said the girl is doing fine.
"Her mother is very devastated about everything right now," he said. "It was her fiance involved and she's very upset."
[i]09/14/04 09:36 EDT
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. [/i]
[line]
What the F***?
An Awesome Quote & A Cartoon
09.13.04 (3:42 pm) [edit]
So I read this quote in NEWSWEEK this last week in the Perspective:
"[b]If you are listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you are a bigger moron than they are. Why are we rock stars? Because we're morons.[/b]" --Alice Cooper, discussing rock and politics
And then I clipped this out of the newspaper:
True wisdom.
What If ...
09.12.04 (10:43 am) [edit]
I know others have posed this question before, but I'd like to take it a step further. Every once in a while, I like to pose a question in order to make an intellectual exercise. So, I have two questions for everyone to answer.
[u][b]Question A:[/b][/u] What if Bush wins the election? What will you do? If you blog, what will be your reaction in the blogsphere?
[u][b]Question B:[/b][/u] What if Kerry wins the election? What will you do? If you blog, what will be your reaction in the blogsphere?
I can give you my answers. For question A: I will say, "Alright. Great. I will salute the president and I will support him so long as he has the people of this country in his best interest." I will continue to blog on issues that need to be talked about.
For question B: "Though I probably didn't vote for him, I respect and salute him because he is now our President." I will be happy to support him as long as he makes the right decisions and has the people of our country in his best interest. And of course, I will continue to blog on issues that need to be talked about.
Either way the elections come out, there will be no sour grapes from me. Whomever the people chooses as their leader must be respected.
That's how I feel.
How about you?
In Loving Memory 9-11-01
09.10.04 (9:07 am) [edit]
Tomorrow marks three years since terrorists changed our nation forever. In those three years, much has happened. We are a changed people. We live with the scars of that terrible day. But through our ability to carry on we have shown that nothing will keep our spirit down. Those people died in a senseless mass murder. All we can do is what is right and keep living our lives. That is the only way to show that the terrorists will never win, for they can never crush the American spirit.
Terrorists wish to wreak havok accross the globe. We shall not let that happen. If we were to do so, every single terror victim who has died, not just on 9-11, will have been lost in vain.
If you wish, you can leave your comments and prayors below for your loved ones and those who have lost.
Thanks and have a safe weekend!
Baby Tiger Triplets: Photo
09.09.04 (2:49 pm) [edit]
I first heard about them on Fox News a minute ago and I decided to do a web search. They are so adorable! Each one was born with different colouring and they say that both parents have a white tiger grandparent. Too cute!
[i][b]Three female Bengal tiger cubs, with gold, white, and brown fur colors, from left, look from their box on Saturday, Sept. 4, 2004, in a photo released by the Hollywood and Safaripark in Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock, western Germany, on Monday, Sept. 6, 2004. Born on July 15, 2004, the three yet unnamed cubs surprised the park's director and wardens by presenting themselves in three different fur colors. Their parents - brown Bengal tigers Rani and Ratscha - both carry recessive white genes. Director Fritz Wurm explained that the rare golden fur of one of the girl cubs is a mix of brown and white. (AP Photo/Hollywood and Safaripark, Udo Richter)[/b][/i]
Everyone all together now: AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW WWWWWWWWWWWWW!
UNDERSTANDING PALESTINIAN POVERTY
09.09.04 (1:49 pm) [edit]
On Sept. 7, [url=http://story.news.yahoo.com/n...]Agence France-Presse[/url] released an article entitled 'Most Palestinians live in poverty, on two dollars a day.' Why are most Palestinians so tragically poor? The AFP reporter turns to a U.N. representative who blames Palestinian poverty on four sources:
Israel's blockade of the territories, destruction of assets [in Palestinian areas], expansion of Jewish settlements and the separation barrier.
Israel is thereby accused of complete responsibility for the unfortunate state of the Palestinian economy. The AFP report provides no dissenting voices, and Israel is not granted the right of response to any one of these serious allegations.
This article is not merely anti-Israel ― it's sloppy journalism at its worst.
AFP fails to acknowledge the mounds of evidence that while Israeli anti-terror policies have created some hardships, the primary reason for Palestinian poverty is irresponsible Palestinian leadership, whose embezzlement, diversion of funds to terror, and failure to invest in infrastructure have left the average Palestinian destitute.
HonestReporting encourages subscribers to write to AFP (contact@afp.com), using the documentation below.
Since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the international community has shown unprecedented generosity toward Palestinians, donating approximately [url=http://www.ujc.org/content_di...]$5 billion[/url] to the Palestinian Authority. The [url=http://tinyurl.com/6gnof]World Bank[/url] noted recently that 'donor disbursements to the Palestinians currently amount to approximately $1 billion per year or $310 per person ― one of the highest per capita rates in the history of foreign assistance.' (By comparison, the [url=http://www.marshallfoundation...]Marshall Plan[/url] to rebuild Europe after World War II provided $68 per year, in today's dollars, to Europeans.)
So where's all the money going? A recent, [url=http://eufunding.org/FPC2004R...]in-depth study[/url] from the independent [url=http://www.prweb.com/releases...]Funding for Peace Coalition (FPC)[/url] found overwhelming evidence that 'European aid has not reached its intended target ― the Palestinian people. It has been diverted towards graft, terrorism and incitement to hatred.'
While direct PA payments to terror gangs (with Yassir Arafat's own signature as authorization) have been documented [url=http://www.intelligence.org.i...]since 2002[/url], the FPC continues to find a 'compelling connection' between EU aid and funding of Palestinian terror. Just one point of evidence cited by the FPC: An interview with PA officials and Fatah leaders on the [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wo...]BBC[/url] in November 2003 revealed that the PA had reimbursed $50,000 of monthly expenses to one of the deadliest terror groups, the Al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades.
So the EU, now the single largest donor to the PA, literally contributes to keeping bands of terrorists on the PA payroll. Precious funds intended to ease Palestinian poverty are used instead for suicide bombs targeting Israeli civilians.
But checks to terrorists are small change compared to Yassir Arafat's record of personal theft. Over the course of his 'revolutionary' career, Arafat has siphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars of international aid money intended to reach the Palestinian people.
Estimates of the degree of Arafat's wealth differ, but are all staggering. Last year, [url=http://www.forbes.com/2003/02...]Forbes[/url] magazine listed Arafat in its annual list of the wealthiest 'Kings, Queens and Despots,' with an fortune of 'at least $300 million.' [url=http://www.haaretzdaily.com/h...]Israeli[/url] and [url=http://www.cbsnews.com/storie...]US officials[/url] estimate Arafat's personal holdings at between $1-3 billion. [url=http://www.frontpagemag.com/A...]Rachel Ehrenfeld[/url], Director of the American Center for Democracy, arrives at a figure of $1.3 billion and laments:
[i]This money is enough to a) feed 3 million Palestinians for 1 year, b) buy 1,000 mobile intensive care units, c) fund 10 hospitals for a decade, and d) would still leave $585 million to fund other social projects.[/i]
And while the average Palestinian barely subsists, Arafat's wife Suha (at left) in Paris receives $100,000 a month from PA sources, as reported on [url=http://www.cbsnews.com/storie...]CBS' 60 Minutes[/url]. That CBS report also noted that Arafat maintains secret investments in a Ramallah-based Coca Cola plant, a Tunisian cellphone company, and venture capital funds in the U.S. and the Cayman Islands.
Arafat also uses foreign aid funds to pay off cronies who bolster his autocracy: A recent =http://www.google.com/search?...+Performance+and+Reforms+ under+Conflict+Conditions International Monetary Fund report indicates that upwards to 8% ($135 million) of the PA's annual budget is handed out by Arafat 'at his sole discretion.' The 2003 budget for Arafat's office, which totaled $734 million, was missing $34 million that Arafat had transferred to pay unidentified 'organizations' and 'individuals.' And Ehrenfeld notes that this IMF report 'did not take into account Arafat's control of 60 percent of the security apparatus budget, which leaves him with at least an additional $360 million per year to spend as he chooses.'
Bringing the Palestinian people out of poverty would require building an infrastructure that is no longer utterly dependent on foreign aid and jobs in Israel. But almost none of the PA budget has been directed to this end. The situation is best summarized by Mohammad Dahlan, former PA Interior Minister, who recently told =http://www.guardian.co.uk/isr...,2763,1274051,00.htmlThe Guardian that of all the funds donated to the Palestinian Authority, a total of $5 billion 'have gone down the drain, and we don't know to where.'
Education is one key to building a sustainable Palestinian economy. But Palestinian schools and universities are infested with terrorist ideology and incitement. [url=http://story.news.yahoo.com/n...]This was the scene[/url] at back-to-school day at a West Bank university earlier this week ― huge portraits of terrorist 'heros' hovering over students perusing new schoolbooks.
Why doesn't the PA allow foreign aid to promote a sustainable Palestinian future by removing such incitement and educating toward peace?
Other highly symbolic episodes: When an [url=http://www.cbsnews.com/storie...]American convoy[/url] traveled to Gaza last year to interview potential Palestinian Fulbright scholars, it was blown up by local terrorists. And as documented by =http://www.pmw.org.il/4%20Loopholes%20in%20US%20 Anti-Terror%20Laws_b.htmPalestinian Media Watch, $500,000 of USAid funds was used recently to build 'Martyr Salakh Khalaf Stadium.' Salakh Khalaf, better known as Abu Iyad, was head of the Black September terrorist organization, and was responsible for the murder of two American diplomats in Sudan in 1973, and the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972.
Yet Agence France-Presse ignores all of these points, relying instead on one dubious source to blame Palestinian poverty solely upon Israeli strictures. In truth, the primary reason for Palestinian poverty is the criminal failure of the Palestinian leadership to serve its own constituency ― despite massive international aid intended to promote precisely that goal.
Comments to AFP: contact@afp.com
The Talmud In Anti-Semitic Polemics
09.08.04 (6:52 pm) [edit]
Recently there has been a renewal of attacks on Judaism and Jews through recycling of old accusations and distortions about the Talmud. Anti-Talmud tracts were originally developed in the Middle Ages as Christian polemics against Judaism, but today they emanate from a variety of Christian, Moslem, and secular sources. Sometimes such "studies" have blatantly anti-Semitic tones; sometimes they are more subtle. Yet all of them remain as false and pernicious today as they did in the Middle Ages.
Because of their unfortunate freqyent reapperance, there is a need to formally reut these accusations and canards. The Anti-Defamation League developed the Following essay that explains in an honest and scholarly way the Talmudic teachings as understood by the Jewish religious authorities.
For the full PDF file click here: http://adl.org/cgi-bin/MsmGo....%2Ecfg&host_id=42&page_id =5638144&query=talmud+non +jews
More information can always be found at: http://www.adl.org
09.08.04 (3:46 pm) [edit]
This is unacceptable. The IOC should saction Iran for this. You know they won't. This is why I can't stand the Olympics. Everyone's supposed to put aside their differences and compete. This guy wasn't punished and he was rewarded by his country for being a racist asshole. This is plain and simple downright racism here. But it's ok, because it's against Jews. :evil:
I'm totally outraged!
[line]
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has paid a judo champion who avoided an Olympic match against an Israeli the same $125,000 prize money it awarded its gold medal winners, the official Islamic Republic News Agency said Wednesday.
Though Arash Miresmaeli "did not get a gold medal, he earned eternal honor by his refusal," Mahmood Ahmadi Nejad, Tehran's conservative mayor, said, according to IRNA.
Miresmaeli had reportedly said that he would not meet Ehud Vaks in Athens as a gesture of sympathy with the Palestinian people. On the day of the bout, Miresmaeili, a favorite in the under-66 kilogram class, was declared overweight and disqualified.
Iran does not recognize Israel and bans any contact with the Jewish state.
Arash Miresmaeli's $125,000 reward was the same the government gave to weightlifter Hossein Rezazadeh and taekwondo champion Hadi Saei Bonehkohal, who both won in Athens.
By missing weight, Miresmaeili could claim there was no political motive and thus avoid sanctions. The International Judo Federation investigated and concluded that he didn't miss his weight to avoid the bout.
Miresmaeli was the world judo champion in 2001 and 2003 and finished fifth at the Sydney Olympics. He carried the Iranian flag at the opening ceremony in Athens.
[line]
What a bunch of outrageous bullshit.
This is unacceptable. The IOC should saction Iran for this. You know they won't. This is why I can't stand the Olympics. Everyone's supposed to put aside their differences and compete. This guy wasn't punished and he was rewarded by his country for being a racist asshole. This is plain and simple downright racism here. But it's ok, because it's against Jews. :evil:
I'm totally outraged!
[line]
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has paid a judo champion who avoided an Olympic match against an Israeli the same $125,000 prize money it awarded its gold medal winners, the official Islamic Republic News Agency said Wednesday.
Though Arash Miresmaeli "did not get a gold medal, he earned eternal honor by his refusal," Mahmood Ahmadi Nejad, Tehran's conservative mayor, said, according to IRNA.
Miresmaeli had reportedly said that he would not meet Ehud Vaks in Athens as a gesture of sympathy with the Palestinian people. On the day of the bout, Miresmaeili, a favorite in the under-66 kilogram class, was declared overweight and disqualified.
Iran does not recognize Israel and bans any contact with the Jewish state.
Arash Miresmaeli's $125,000 reward was the same the government gave to weightlifter Hossein Rezazadeh and taekwondo champion Hadi Saei Bonehkohal, who both won in Athens.
By missing weight, Miresmaeili could claim there was no political motive and thus avoid sanctions. The International Judo Federation investigated and concluded that he didn't miss his weight to avoid the bout.
Miresmaeli was the world judo champion in 2001 and 2003 and finished fifth at the Sydney Olympics. He carried the Iranian flag at the opening ceremony in Athens.
[line]
What a bunch of outrageous bullshit.
Care Packages For The IDF!
09.08.04 (7:54 am) [edit]
I got the following in an email and thought it best to pass it along! :)
[line]
Shalom from Jerusalem,
An exceptionally difficult year is drawing to a close. Our soldiers in particular have gone through an extremely demanding period. Though we all sincerely pray for peace, the New Year does not appear to offer a respite.
Israel's combat soldiers, regular and reserves alike, have their hands full. Terrorism is on the rise, here and globally; our soldiers must always be on extreme alert. There are numerous spectacular successes in protecting the Jewish people, most of which go unreported. The majority of these soldiers are just 18 or 19 years old, recently out of high school. Forever vigilant, they are being attacked and shot at; compare this life to teenagers you know.
You have been sending delicious treats including Pizza, Burgers, Ice Cream and Hot & Cold Soup to our soldiers. We see first hand how your generous gifts and messages of support and gratitude enormously boost
their morale. It is very meaningful to them to know that they have support from all around the world and that people like you appreciate their daily trials and tribulations. We know that many have found the time to respond to you directly.
Again this Rosh haShana send New Year wishes and gifts to the soldiers, and to their families. The gifts include Honey, Chocolate and traditional Honey Cake. They will be personally delivered to soldiers in the field in time for the New Year.
Please visit our site to see what the soldiers are saying to you and read what people like you have written to the soldiers.
For further details and to send the Honey Package, or for that matter Pizza, Ice Cream, Cold Soup or Burgers, please click here on http://www.PizzaIDF.org.
Thank you all once again for your support of our soldiers. It is really very much appreciated.
We wish you and your families a Shana Tova from here in Israel, a year of peace, god health, prosperity and good news.
Shimon Aharon
www.PizzaIDF.org
P.S. Your gifts of over $250 are eligible for a US IRS tax deduction. We have prepared a certificate that you can send to your relatives & friends, telling them you have sent a Rosh haShana gift to our soldiers and their families. Please tell your friends about this splendid way to bless our soldiers by clicking here: http://www.PizzaIDF.org/SendT...
Questions From A Commenter
09.08.04 (7:44 am) [edit]
In response to my last post, someone left me this comment:
[i]» newbie [outside user] Wednesday 09.08.04 [3:39 pm]
Questions:
1. What's your opinion of Islam as a whole?
2. What's your opinion of Palestine as a whole?
3. Do you even recognize the Palestinian nation?
4. Would you disagree to the suggestion that the formation of Israel as a nation was illegitimate to begin with?
5. Would you disagree to the suggestion that Israeli settlers are a big reason as to why Palestinians are so gosh darned mad?
6. Would you agree to this suggestion :
Zionism is a reaction to Nazism:
as
Modern Intifada is a reaction to Zionism[/i]
I replied on the comment thread, but I'd like to post my response here in order to make the truth more public.
Reply to: newbie
1. What's your opinion of Islam as a whole?
I think if they want me to have a good opinion of them, they'd better start condemning the murder of innocents. There are good muslims out there that do this. Until Islam as a whole starts to wake up and smell the chummus, I'm wary of them.
2. What's your opinion of Palestine as a whole?
There is no Palestine. "Palestine" is the name given to the land of Israel by the Romans during the Roman occupation in the time of the second temple. It comes from the word "Phillistine" which was an ancient and barbaric people who died out many thousands of years ago. The name was meant as an insult to the Jews who lived there. The people who call themselves Palestinians today are actually decendants of Turks leftover from when the Ottoman Empire ruled the territory.
3. Do you even recognize the Palestinian nation?
No, read above.
4. Would you disagree to the suggestion that the formation of Israel as a nation was illegitimate to begin with?
Absolutely not. Over the last 3,000 year history of that territory known as Israel, only a Jewish nation has been an indipendant ruling entity, dating all the way back to before King David. There has never been an indipendant nation on that land that wasn't Jewish. The land belongs to the Jews. God gave it to them over 3,000 years ago and He has kept his promis ever since. Even your holy Koran agrees with this.
5. Would you disagree to the suggestion that Israeli settlers are a big reason as to why Palestinians are so gosh darned mad?
No. Palestinians are so "gosh darn mad" because they are taught lies in their schools and made to hate Jews from a young age. A culture of bigotry permiates these people. They will stop at nothing to see all of the Jews "thrown into the sea." They do this out of their hatred for all Jews, and in an extension, all non-Muslims.
6. Would you agree to this suggestion :
Zionism is a reaction to Nazism:
as
Modern Intifada is a reaction to Zionism
No. Modern intifada IS racism. Your ananolgy is false.
Zionism is a reaction to racism
as
modern intifada is a reaction to poor education.
Reality Check: The Terrorist Rationale ~> I Get Hate Comments.
09.07.04 (6:55 pm) [edit]
Tonight I recieved some hate comments. Nothing unusual. I've gotten them here before. I've been privaledged recently, though, to have had a lull in comments of that persuasion. No matter how often you get them, they're always a reality check and a wake up call.
At any rate, the comments never scare me, as I'm sure they're aimed to do. They definatly won't stop me from blogging here. That's just silly. I fear hardly anyone, let alone little ignoramouses on the internet with a bigoted axe to grind. However, I'm sure their point is to be a form of terror. The writers of these comments use intimidation as their tactic to make me stop what I'm doing and be afraid. Thus, the authors can be loosely considered a kind of terrorist. No matter what you may consider them, you can not deny that they reflect the image of a very real problem.
The comment went as follows:
[i] َلله أَكْب[outside user] Wednesday 09.08.04 [10:35 am]
Reply to: RedTigress
Jews are evil. Jews have a secret plan to conquer the world, as revealed in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion". Jews consume the blood of Christian children on Passover. Jews are the children of apes and monkeys. And if Jesus were to reappear today, Jews would murder him (again!).
It is the job of every Muslim to become a martyr and kill Jews and Westerners. A martyr killing the infidels experiences the greatest joy. People who send their children to martyrdom are good parents. There can be no peace between good Muslims and the rest. Jews must be pushed into the sea.[/i]
As [url=http://dragonbait22.tblog.com...]Dragonbait22[/url] said when I showed her this, "that really is scary shit." Yep. I must say, better in this form than something worse. Best to let the little troll blow of steam here than with someone else's life. That is, if this is for real. It wreaks of troll, I'll tell you that. However, because of it's nature, I should take it somewhat seriously, I suppose.
So, with some inspiration from DB22, I thought it would be interesting to delve into this comment and examine it, contextually. By the way, you can find the full comment thread here: http://www.tblog.com/comments...
First off, let's think about what probably causes this kind of hatred to erupt in the first place. The first thing that comes to mind is, of course, hate. That is, the kind of hatred of the blind variety. What causes the hate? Many factors incorperate themselves into this. One of them is culture & education. In many Muslim cultures, they educate their children to hate Jewish people. At the root of this is misinformation. False libels such as mentioned in this person's post, such as the blood libel (that Jews drink the blood of non-Jews), the Libel of deicide (the alleged murder of Jesus Christ), the Libel of world conquest (as outlined in the false publication, the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion") all are well known and taught as truth in Muslim countries accross the globe.
It's a problem. All we can do is fight back with proper information and mass education to counter these false and hateful claims. This commentor's ignorance has allowed him to miss out on peaceful discourse and ultimately, happiness within one's self. That's why blogs, like mine, are very important in combating this phenominon of hate. People need to see the truth and to learn what Jews practice, who they are, and what they stand for. When people can see that first hand, it starts to dispell the lies and falsehoods that cause hate and ultimatly hate crimes.
After we realize all of this, it becomes apparant that there is a downword spiral that is acheived due to all of these lies, misinformation, and blind hatred. This is the stuff that causes people to murder other people. This is what causes parents to send their children to kill themselves as they kill others. The phraise "F***ed up" comes to my mind at this point.
The sad part is, it doesn't have to be that way.
People can open their minds and get out there and talk to one another. Once we try and understand where the other is coming from, it puts a cork in all of this violent behavior and cutts it off at it's roots: hate.
Let us all learn from the example of this commenter who left his stench upon my blog. Though his words are false and ugly, we can learn how NOT to act. We must start to see eachother as human, not the "children of apes and monkeys." Those are just tactics used to dehumanify the other person and, therefore, justify their murder. "Well, if they're the children of apes and monkeys, then it's not wrong of me to hurt them." That is the wrong logic to go with and it contributes to horrible crimes against humanity.
Let this be an example to us all of what hate can turn us into.
We all need to gain the maturity and insight to withstand this hatred and rise above it.
This has been your Reality Check.
SPECIAL REPORT: SYRIA
09.07.04 (11:15 am) [edit]
The horror of terrorism again shook the world this week, as the Beslan slaughter of innocents revealed another nation under siege by cold-blooded killers. Russian President [url=http://www.cincypost.com/2004...]Vladimir Putin[/url] immediately linked the Beslan attack to 'the worldwide network of terrorism' and demanded a more determined response to the threat: 'We showed weakness, and the weak are beaten.'
How must the free world now exhibit strength? Though news reports generally fail to convey just how, political and intelligence leaders acknowledge that a key requirement is uprooting that worldwide terror network ― which uses the nation of Syria as a central hub of activity.
Syria, since 1979 a perpetual member of the U.S. State Department's list of [url=http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls...]nations sponsoring terrorism[/url], continues 'to provide political and material support' to Hamas and 'to permit Iran to use Damascus as a trans-shipment point for resupplying Hizballah in Lebanon.'
Earlier this year, a [url=http://www.news.scotsman.com/...]leading Syrian dissident[/url] and the [url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ne...]former head[/url] of the coalition's hunt for Iraq's WMDs claimed that part of Saddam Hussein's chemical and biological weapons were hidden in Syria. Additionally, a number of Iraqi officials ― including members of Saddam's family ― were granted [url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/...]refuge in Damascus[/url] after the collapse of the Iraqi dictator's regime, and many of the [url=http://www.washingtontimes.co...]foreign fighters[/url] responsible for attacks against coalition troops are believed to have entered Iraq through Syria.
In a comprehensive report on Syrian support of Hamas in Israel, [url=http://www.meib.org/articles/...]Gary Gambill[/url], editor of the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, summarized:
[i]Since the mid-1990's Damascus has been the operational headquarters of the Hamas military wing and a nexus for the transfer of external funds to Hamas operatives in the territories. Syria and Syrian-occupied Lebanon have become major conduits for funneling weapons and explosives to Hamas and safe havens for training hundreds of its operatives... most of the deadly Hamas suicide attacks [of 2001-2] have been linked to Damascus.[/i]
And the Syria-Hamas link remains in place. In the aftermath of last week's double suicide bombing in Be'er Sheva, Israeli Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. [url=http://www.timesdispatch.com/...]Moshe Yaalon[/url] pointed his finger at the Hamas leadership in Damascus, which most likely directed the attack: 'Anyone responsible for terror against us shouldn't sleep soundly at night.'
Syria has long made opposition to Israel and the democratic West a top priority. When the U.N. Security Council overwhelmingly voted in favor of a [url=http://www.un.org/News/Press/...]December 2002 resolution[/url] condemning the al Qaeda-led hotel bombing in Kenya and the attempted missile attack on an Arkia Israeli Airlines flight, Syria voted against the resolution. Why? The Syrians 'could not accept the repeated mention of Israel in the text.'
Syria has waged three wars against Israel, invaded Israel's borders, supported Hizballah terrorists in southern Lebanon for nearly three decades, and ― as documented by Gambill, [url=http://www.jcpa.org/brief/bri...]Eyal Zisser[/url], [url=http://www.jcpa.org/brief/bri...]Amos Gilad[/url] and others ― actively enabled ongoing terror against Israeli civilians via Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hamas's top political leader, Khaled Mashaal, lives in Damascus under the protection of the Syrian regime.
The Syrians have a stockpile of ballistic missiles about ten times that of the Iraqi arsenal under Saddam Hussein, and have proximity and geography on their side. Former Israeli defense minister [url=http://www.jcpa.org/brief/bri...]Moshe Arens[/url] concluded in 2002 that in the immediate future, 'the [missile] threat that Israel most likely will have to contend with' is that of Syria.
But Syria ― a totalitarian, Stalinist regime since 1963 ― is not just a neighborhood bully toward Israel. The Syrians have maintained over 17,000 troops within Lebanon since 1976, when Syria shuffled its military across the border to help quell a year-old Lebanese civil war (which continued for another 15 years). Since then, Syria has dominated Lebanon's politics and controlled that nation's official structures, all the while claiming its presence was necessary to ward off 'radical action emanating from Israel.'
But this rationale is clearly absurd. In 2000, Israel withdrew its forces from southern Lebanon, in fulfillment of its obligations under U.N. Resolution 520 to respect 'the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and political independence of Lebanon under the sole and exclusive authority of the Government of Lebanon through the Lebanese Army throughout Lebanon.'
Unshaken in its resolve to control Lebanon, Syria has remained the power broker there. Just last week, Syria won a political victory as Lebanon's puppet parliament put off real elections, and instead pushed through a constitutional amendment that extends the expiring presidential tenure of Syrian lackey Emile Lahoud by a full three years. As [url=http://www.boston.com/news/gl...]Boston Globe[/url] editors wrote, 'Syrian bosses made a mockery of Lebanese independence.'
Finally, the United Nations has said 'enough.'
By a vote of 9-0 with six abstentions, the [url=http://ods-dds-ny.un.org/doc/...]U.N. Security Council[/url] moved on Thursday (Sept. 2) to block Lahoud's false appointment, and once again called for 'free and fair presidential elections' to restore Lebanese sovereignty. The precursor to this determined _expression of international discontent was the United States' own [url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin...:1:./temp/~c108k5nGHM::]'Syri a Accountability Act,'[/url] passed in May of last year, which placed sanctions on the Syrian regime for failing to fulfill its obligation to cease occupying Lebanon.
But Syrian leader Bashar Assad's cronies in the Lebanese Parliament ignored the U.N. motion on Friday (Sept.3), and as The [url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/0...]New York Times[/url] reported, 'rubber-stamped Syria's order to keep its handpicked president in office.'
The implications of this matter reach far beyond Lebanon's shores. The [url=http://www.jpost.com/servlet/...]Jerusalem Post[/url] commented that the U.N.―Syria conflict is 'a microcosm of the broader issue':
[i]With Western resolve, Lebanon can be turned into a test case for the introduction of new rules of the game in a region contaminated by the kind of terror activity that Syria habitually condones, encourages, and harbors.[/i]
In the wake of this week's Russian school massacre, the [url=http://www.jpost.com/servlet/...]Russian foreign minister[/url] visited Israel and expressed his solidarity with those fighting against the terrorist bands and nations that support them:
[i]Terrorism has no nationality ― it is an international evil. We will do everything in our power to strengthen the global coalition against terror, in which Israel and Russia are very active.[/i]
Given recent developments, HonestReporting encourages subscribers to promote greater awareness of the Syrian menace ― using the key points above ― to urge your news outlets, community and elected leaders to keep the pressure on Syria, lest more terror strike the Mideast and the world.
[i]HonestReporting[/i]
A Quote & Also Something Neat!
09.07.04 (10:01 am) [edit]
Just was browsing around the politics section this morning. You know how it is, scan and look to skip over "[i]A'W'OL Drunkard bastard poopie head arrrrrgggghhhh[/i]" boring and repetitive blog titles to find the diamonds in the ruff. Today, I found two great ones that y'all might have missed because of the organized chaos created by "[i]those we shall not name[/i]."
First up, neat-o quote that I found on [url=http://www.tblog.com/template...]rcarter8766's blog[/url]. Give him some love and comments after this! :)
Quote:
"[A] wise and frugal government...shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government." --[b]Thomas Jefferson[/b]
I really like that one.
Ok, secondly, in case you missed it on [url=http://www.tblog.com/template...]TigerGrrl's blog[/url], she has a website up where the entire world is voting for the United States President. See what the results are and see how your candidate measures up in the court of global public opinion here: http://www.betavote.com/
I find it interesting that the Faroe Islands favours Bush 45to 12. That is, 78% vote for Bush, while 21% for Kerry.
And, it also comes as no big surprise that France votes 113 for Bush and a staggering 1564 for Kerry. That is 6% votes for Bush from the Frenchies and 93% for Kerry. It almost makes me want to vote for Bush on priciple just to piss off the French! (Of course, we all know that is no reason to vote for someone and I was merely joking ... though it is fun to piss off France, even if it's on a sidenote!)
And I find if VERY interesting that Israel is basically split almost 50/50. Israel's numbers are 96 for Bush 99 for Kerry. That makes it 49% votes for Bush and 50% votes for Kerry from Israel. Most interesting!
That's all for now.
Hope you enjoy!
Bush Belly-Ring
09.06.04 (6:49 pm) [edit]
I saw this --> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayIS...;category=4103&item=4 923603149&rd=1 on ebay when I was browsing for political stuff. I had to share it with everyone here, just in case someone was looking for a particularly fashionable peircing accessory this november! :wink:
Confessions of a one-issue voter
09.06.04 (6:21 pm) [edit]
[i][b]By Jeff Dunetz [/i]
http://www.jewishworldreview.com" title="http://www.jewishworldreview.com" target="_blank"http://www.jewishworldreview....[/b]
America has always been a safe haven for Jews and a friend of Israel. Jews have bravely fought for this country, served in its government, and contributed to its society in so many ways. The US was the first country to recognize Israel, and has supported it with aid ever since — in an attempt to nurture what is still the region's only democracy.
Since being attacked on its own turf almost three years ago, America has joined the war against terrorists, the same enemy that Israel has been fighting for the last 40 years. The ironic thing is that since the US joined the war on terror, American Jews have felt threatened by accusations of a duality that doesn't exist. Many of us have struggled within ourselves to reconcile with this supposed duality that began to rear its ugly head in September of 2001. Certainly the recent allegations of Israel's spying on the US have not helped this struggle, even though the latest accounts seem to suggest that the charges may have been overblown.
Everyone remembers where they were when they found out about the attacks on 9/11. I was sitting in my office when I received an IM from my brother telling me of the first crash and urging me to turn on the TV. I remember surreal visions from my car as I drove home later in the day: the shocked people who were crowding the streets, struggling to get off that tiny island as soon as possible. The impenetrable curtain of black over the East River I saw out the car window as I went over the 59th Street Bridge was accompanied by a noxious smell of burning seeping in through the car vents.
Perhaps my most vivid of personal memories of that day came over the car radio. Tuned in to my usual fare WFAN a sports radio station, I listened in shock as two afternoon sports hosts, Mike Francesca and Chris Russo blamed the tragedy on the United States' support of Israel. They went even further suggesting that Jews in the U.S. needed to take a loyalty oath to decide between America and Israel. I do not know if they ever apologized or tried to explain their insensitivity. After two weeks of waiting, I stopped listening to the station.
As we go through the campaigning season, those small-minded words resonate in my consciousness louder and louder. In just a few short months, we will be casting our votes for president and as that date approaches, it becomes increasingly clear that it is wrong for Jews to separate their love of Israel from their selection of the next leader of the free world.
When that curtain closes behind me in November, I will be voting based on one issue — which candidate will be best for Israel. And with all due respect to Messrs. Francesca and Russo (and based on their comments very little respect is due) there is no paradox created by a loyalty to both Israel and the United States The best candidate for Israel is also be the best one for the United States.
There are some very important issues being discussed by the Presidential candidates. The economy for instance, it has been in tough shape since early 2001. Also important are the social welfare issues, such as education and affordable medicine for our seniors. But each time I try to focus on those issues, I see the panic of people trying to get out of Manhattan and that impenetrable black cloud that changed the entire world as it was still hovering over the East River.
The number one issue facing the United States and Israel is the war against terrorism. Everything else pales by comparison. Before we get to work on the economy and social issues, we need to make sure that our children and grand children won't have their flesh splattered on the walls of an ice cream parlor by a homicide bomber motivated by a religious cleric intent on killing as many civilians as possible.
Recently France went on high alert because of the fear that they were going to be the target of a major terror attack, in Iraq they have had two of their journalists kidnapped and threatened with beheading. It is ironic that even though it is the nation that lead the diplomatic fight against the invasion of Iraq— -even though its government has nursed Palestinian terror to adulthood with its support of Arafat, France needs to worry about terror. Still the French government does not understand the issue. But we Americans must! The Islamic terrorists believe that France and French culture is evil. America is the great Satan and Israel is the little Satan vilified by the Islamic world not because of the West Bank and Gaza, but because it is a beachhead of western culture in their "Neighborhood".
Very few countries understand this. That is one of the reasons why the US and Israel are just a few of a small group of nations locked into this battle to protect our children against the terrorist world. If (G-d forbid) there was no Israel, there would still be terrorists, they would just be concentrating more of their energy in North America, Western Europe and Russia.
Terrorists learn fast. When Arafat was rewarded for all his years of murder with Oslo, the PLO learned that terror worked and it brought about this present wave of terror in Israel. The withdrawal from Lebanon was another positive learning experience for terror.
September 11 was not the first terrorist attack on the United States. That attack was foreshadowed by incidents such as the first trade center bombing and the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. Those earlier acts were treated by the United States as crimes, each perpetuated by small group of terrorist operators. It was only after 9/11 that this country realized that there was a worldwide network of people willing to kill them selves to bring down our way of life. Only after 9/11 did we stop searching for "criminals" and begin a war against terrorism.
There is a clear distinction between the two candidates on this issue. John Kerry tends to talk about terrorism as a crime. In an appearance on Fox news, Kerry quoted what he wrote in the book The New War: He said, "In that book, I wrote about how we needed to strengthen our ability to be able to fight international criminal crime, including terror." In another selection of the book, which he did not cite on Fox, the senator claimed, "The damage done by international crime is rarely as specific and dramatic as that of a terrorist attack, but in fact it is greater."
Thus when he said in his book that Yassir Arafat was a role model for other terrorists, (because he has made a transformation from outlaw to statesman) it was in the context of jurisprudence, prisoners being able to be rehabilitated.
While history has shown this viewpoint as naïve, Kerry's suggestion that Arafat has been rehabilitated is not an indication of support of the PLO leader. It is an indication of something scarier, belief in the ability for terrorists to rehabilitate.
I can't tell you if Mr. Kerry views have changed since his nomination. But I can tell you that recently he has missed key votes in congress designed to support Israel's war against terrorism. This may be an indication that does not want to show his true hand until after the election.
Even his views on nuclear proliferation into Iran show his naiveté on the ability of terrorist supporting regimes to change. At the beginning of July Kerry said; "We should call their (Iran's) bluff, and organize a group of states that will offer the nuclear fuel they need for peaceful purposes and take back the spent fuel so they can't divert it to build a weapon." That's right the good senator believes the terrorist supporting government of Iran will change their policy regarding building nuclear weapons, all you have do is give them nuclear fuel and threaten to call them liars if they siphon of some to build a bomb.
Less then a week after his nomination, Kerry argued that the Bush administration is encouraging the recruitment of terrorism. He continues to claim that Bush should do more to reach out to other countries; especially the European nations who through their quiet acquiescence, support Palestinian terrorism. The Democratic nominee seems to forget that just two weeks before his statement, in a vote spearheaded by France and the EU, the United Nations General Assembly completely ignored terrorism as the reason behind the security fence that Israel is building.
Kerry would prefer that we reach out to France, whose government has hindered the war against terror at every opportunity, hoping that they will win greater support of the Arab world; and ultimately supplant the US as the leader in the free world. The only problem is if we do not eradicate the Islamic terror threat; there may not be a free world to support.
On the other hand, President Bush for all of his failings in the way the Iraqi is being executed; war sees terror for what it is. In a speech he made on March 19th he said, "The war on terror is not a figure of speech. It is an inescapable calling of our generation. The terrorists are offended not merely by our policies - they are offended by our existence as free nations. No concession will appease their hatred. No accommodation will satisfy their endless demands. Their ultimate ambitions are to control the peoples of the Middle East, and to blackmail the rest of the world with weapons of mass terror. There can be no separate peace with the terrorist enemy. Any sign of weakness or retreat simply validates terrorist violence, and invites more violence for all nations. The only certain way to protect our people is by early, united, and decisive action."
That is the issue facing the United States and Israel, and the World. That is the issue facing much of the world even though nations such as France (and since being attacked earlier in the year, Spain) are still convinced that if they keep their heads in the sand long enough the problem will just go away. Terrorism should not be treated as a mere crime as Mr. Kerry suggests— it is a fight for our lives. That is a fact obvious to anybody who commutes into the city this week. There have been NY State police on every Long Island Rail Road train. Penn Station is filled with soldiers in full combat gear with their fingers chillingly close to the triggers of the machine guns they are holding the ready position. It is obvious in Russia where over 100 people have been killed in terrorist bombings in just the past week. It is obvious in Beersheba where Palestinian murderers blew up two busses this week killing 16 people.
In the hearings before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, Condoleezza Rice said, "I think that that's actually where we've had the biggest change [since 9/11]. The President doesn't think of this as law enforcement. He thinks of this as war."
US Senator Hollings has claimed that the war against terror has been waged so that the Hebrews will vote Republican in the next election. At the same time much of Europe has continued its support of terrorism by vilifying Israel for trying to destroy the tunnels that have long represented the terrorist supply lines.
We are all bracing to find out what the terrorist learn from the World Court in The Hague, their recent decision has said that terrorism is not a crime or an act of war, but building a barrier to protect yourself against terror is.
A MONEY/ICR poll taken in July reported that 36% of the registered voters in the US felt that the war on terror is the most important issue in the upcoming election. While the fight against terrorism was the number one choice, the percentage (36%) was surprisingly low.
With the UN, World Court, EU and much of the international media all giving tacit or complete approval to some terrorism, as both Jews and Americans we must fight for what is right. We cannot as Mr. Kerry feels, take a cue from world's majority opinion. This coming November, we must vote to continue the fight against the Islamic terrorists, so that our children and grand children never have to see that black cloud in their own back yard. So our cousins in Tel Aviv and Haifa and Jerusalem will be able to send their kids to school on buses without having to worry if they will be coming home in one piece, and even for the people in Spain and France whose governments have nursed terrorism to maturity with their double standards and appeasement of Palestinian terror.
Once we defeat those who would blow up our families, we can work on the other issues, the economy, unemployment, and of course bigoted sports jocks.
[i]Jeff Dunetz is a regular contributor to Jewish World Review. [/i]
09.05.04 (8:41 am) [edit]
Jerusalem, Israel, Sep. 5 (UPI) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Sunday agreed to cooperate in combating terror.
Sharon's office said the Israeli Prime Minister telephoned Putin and advocated diplomatic and intelligence efforts to destroy terror.
"The two agreed to cooperation on matters relating to security, intelligence and humanitarian issues," an Israeli statement said.
Sharon's call came just hours before Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Israel for a day's visit as part of a swing through Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.
An Israeli foreign Ministry statement said Lavrov and his Israeli hosts would discuss the diplomatic process, regional issues, and "the recent horrific attack on the school in southern Russia."
During Sunday's cabinet meeting, Sharon said the free, decent and human world "must unite and fight this terrible plague (of terrorism) that has neither boundaries not limits."
Jerusalem, Israel, Sep. 5 (UPI) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Sunday agreed to cooperate in combating terror.
Sharon's office said the Israeli Prime Minister telephoned Putin and advocated diplomatic and intelligence efforts to destroy terror.
"The two agreed to cooperation on matters relating to security, intelligence and humanitarian issues," an Israeli statement said.
Sharon's call came just hours before Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Israel for a day's visit as part of a swing through Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.
An Israeli foreign Ministry statement said Lavrov and his Israeli hosts would discuss the diplomatic process, regional issues, and "the recent horrific attack on the school in southern Russia."
During Sunday's cabinet meeting, Sharon said the free, decent and human world "must unite and fight this terrible plague (of terrorism) that has neither boundaries not limits."
09.05.04 (8:33 am) [edit]
Does the world learn now? Some of the terrorists were Arab Muslims, not just Chechniyans. Those animals shot children in the back as they tried to escape the collapsing gym! What will be done? My heart and prayors to the families of the fallen. This must never happen again!
Where is the UN? Where is their condemnation for this? Where is their Hague??? The UN stays silent while murderers enjoy themselves! I say the UN is aiding them by their lack of condemnation. The UN is just as evil and vile as these monsters who did this if there is no condemnation nor vow to make this right!
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[b]1 hour, 20 minutes ago [i]By Richard Ayton and Oliver Bullough [/b][/i] BESLAN, Russia (Reuters) - The sound of weeping mothers who lost their sons and daughters in Russia's school siege drifted out of the homes of Beslan on Sunday as the first burials were held for some of the 338 people killed. Alina Khubechova celebrated her 11th birthday the day before Chechen separatists seized her school last week. Four days later her grief-stricken parents buried her, grasping a picture of the pretty brown-haired girl with white ribbons in her hair. The president of North Ossetia, a southern province where the hostage drama unfolded, apologized for failing to avert it. "I fully understand my responsibility," Alexander Dzasokhov told doctors and relatives of the wounded children in a hospital in the regional capital Vladikavkaz not far from Beslan. "I want to beg your pardon for failing to protect children, teachers and parents," said the regional leader, who looked distressed with tears in his eyes. In another sign of officials taking responsibility for the bloodbath, the regional Interior Minister Kazbek Dzantiyev offered his resignation. It was not accepted. Official accounts say forces moved on the school gymnasium on Friday after Chechen separatists holding 1,000 people hostage started firing on children fleeing in panic from two explosions. It was the bloodiest end to a hostage crisis in decades. Half the dead were children. The rest were teachers, parents and relatives attending festivities on the first day of term. North Ossetian spokesman Lev Dzugayev said 428 people remained in local hospitals and 260 were unaccounted for. A number of serious cases were taken to Moscow and other cities. The carnage has thrown President Vladimir Putin's policy in the turbulent Caucasus region into disarray and raised serious doubts about whether he can end Chechen separatism. The siege followed bombings aboard two airliners and near a Moscow metro station. FUNERAL PROCESSIONS Ambulances that on Friday ferried the injured to hospital, spent Sunday standing by at the funerals to help relatives overcome with grief. Grieving relatives left front doors and windows open, according to local custom. "Beslan is such a small town," said Zoya, who attended Alina's funeral. "What did we do to deserve all this?" Others pressed on in search of missing relatives, forced to tour local hospitals in hope, and morgues in trepidation. Rimma Butueva, a doctor, spent days looking for her cousin Rosa, missing along with her 9-year-old son. "We did not give up hope until the end," she said. "But when we saw her body we understood we wouldn't find her eldest son. The worst was recognizing him by his clothing." Orthodox churches across Russia held memorial services and Putin declared Monday and Tuesday days of national mourning. Putin, a former KGB spy who came to power four years ago promising to stamp out separatism, said the security forces needed to rethink their approach to tackling such emergencies. Questions have persisted about the storming of the school and how the gunmen managed to transport huge quantities of explosives and ammunition into the school. Soslan Bidoyev, 23, was shocked by his brother's account of events at the school when it was seized last Wednesday. "He told us that when the hostages were brought in, the gunmen made the adults pry open the gymnasium floor. They took out supplies of weapons from underneath the floor," he said. Such accounts strengthened the view that the gunmen were well prepared and had local help, and fueled the anger of residents who accused Putin of making only a token visit to the town and failing in his duty to protect them. Valery Andreyev, local head of the FSB security service, was quoted by Moscow radio station Ekho Moskvy as saying the militants may have received help from local police, possibly because they were coerced.
Car Accident Blues
09.03.04 (9:55 am) [edit]
So last night I had a semi-head-on collision. Some idiot was coming around a corner in my parking lot on the wrong side of the street and wacked into me. Just wonderful.
And he said, "I didn't see you until I hit you." Great, buddy. Thanks a lot. Perhaps having his headlights on might have helped him see me?
Dude had a black BMW SUV. You gotta love that.
I called my insurance to file the claim. He was filing at the same time I was, the woman on the phone told me. That idiot claims his car isn't drivable. Boo frikkin' hoo. It looked pretty drivable to me! He sure drove away from the site ok. Aside from a cosmetic issue, it's drivable.
The guy lives in my apt complex, it turns out. Naturally, I went over and took some pictures today.
Does this look undrivable to you??
His headlight is a little crunched, but since he doesn't use them anyhow what's his problem? Seriously though, that is some damage, but when you're going 15 mph in a parking lot and cutting corners on the wrong side of the street, and you own an SUV (whcih doesn't do well in collisions -- most SUVs don't fare well in collisions), gee I wonder....
Then there's always my car. It's got almost no damgage because it's, well, a "tank." This is my beautiful chariot...
Notice how my car is kind of crunched also. It's also made of steel since it's an '84 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale. My hood won't shut properly anymore since it's crunched. And I've got some lovely battle scars now, as you can see. Do I care to really get hat fixed? Maybe eventually, but I don't care that much, honestly. The car cost me $300.
Not only that, since I am poor and I have such a crap car, where does this guy get off exaggerating like that? He's the one with the expensive car. Do I look like I'm made of money in my crap-mobile? He's lucky I'm an honest person and not a gold-digging lump of crud. Not to mention, HE hit ME!!!
I just can't believe what a dick this guy is, pardon my language. I was going about 5mph coming from the direction of my apt. See, the road/alleyway/driveway/wh atever you want to call it forks. I was coming from one vein, he was coming from the other. The two merge into one. Hence, why it was a semi-head-on when we touched at the point of the triangle. He so should have been on the right side of the street.
I didn't see him until just before he hit me. I moved my right hand onto the horn and let out a honk as I put on the breaks. But by the time I had done both, it was too late. It all just happened so fast. And the more time that passed, the more pissed I got. I said, "oh it looks like minor damage." He said, "That's not minor." To which I replied, well my arm hurts (referring to my left arm that held the wheel while my right moved to the horn).
Needless to say, last night my left wrist swelled up nicely and I have a doctors apt tomorrow just to document what's going on and make sure I'm really ok. My knees also hit the bottom of the dash under the stearing wheel. Got a little bit of a bruise there. Ah, but asshole's BMW has a few scratches! Call Scottland Yard!
:evil:
09.03.04 (9:13 am) [edit]
[b]Remarks by Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) as Prepared for Delivery at the 2004 Republican National Convention on Wednesday, September 1, Evening Session 10 - 11 P.M. EDT[/b]
NEW YORK, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The following are remarks by Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) as prepared for delivery at the 2004 Republican National Convention:
Since I last stood in this spot, a whole new generation of the Miller Family has been born: Four great grandchildren.
Along with all the other members of our close-knit family -- they are my and Shirley's most precious possessions.
And I know that's how you feel about your family also.
Like you, I think of their future, the promises and the perils they will face.
Like you, I believe that the next four years will determine what kind of world they will grow up in.
And like you, I ask which leader is it today that has the vision, the willpower and, yes, the backbone to best protect my family?
The clear answer to that question has placed me in this hall with you tonight. For my family is more important than my party.
There is but one man to whom I am willing to entrust their future and that man's name is George Bush.
In the summer of 1940, I was an eight-year-old boy living in a remote little Appalachian valley.
Our country was not yet at war but even we children knew that there were some crazy men across the ocean who would kill us if they could.
President Roosevelt, in his speech that summer, told America "all private plans, all private lives, have been in a sense repealed by an overriding public danger."
In 1940 Wendell Wilkie was the Republican nominee.
And there is no better example of someone repealing their "private plans" than this good man.
He gave Roosevelt the critical support he needed for a peacetime draft, an unpopular idea at the time.
And he made it clear that he would rather lose the election than make national security a partisan campaign issue.
Shortly before Wilkie died he told a friend, that if he could write his own epitaph and had to choose between "here lies a president" or "here lies one who contributed to saving freedom", he would prefer the latter.
Where are such statesmen today?
Where is the bi-partisanship in this country when we need it most?
Now, while young Americans are dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrat's manic obsession to bring down our Commander-in- Chief.
What has happened to the party I've spent my life working in?
I can remember when Democrats believed that it was the duty of America to fight for freedom over tyranny.
It was Democratic President Harry Truman who pushed the Red Army out of Iran, who came to the aid of Greece when Communists threatened to overthrow it, who stared down the Soviet blockade of West Berlin by flying in supplies and saving the city.
Time after time in our history, in the face of great danger, Democrats and Republicans worked together to ensure that freedom would not falter. But not today.
Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator.
And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.
Tell that to the one-half of Europe that was freed because Franklin Roosevelt led an army of liberators, not occupiers.
Tell that to the lower half of the Korean Peninsula that is free because Dwight Eisenhower commanded an army of liberators, not occupiers.
Tell that to the half a billion men, women and children who are free today from the Baltics to the Crimea, from Poland to Siberia, because Ronald Reagan rebuilt a military of liberators, not occupiers.
Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. And, our soldiers don't just give freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at home.
For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.
It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.
No one should dare to even think about being the Commander in Chief of this country if he doesn't believe with all his heart that our soldiers are liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home.
But don't waste your breath telling that to the leaders of my party today. In their warped way of thinking America is the problem, not the solution.
They don't believe there is any real danger in the world except that which America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy.
It is not their patriotism - it is their judgment that has been so sorely lacking. They claimed Carter's pacifism would lead to peace.
They were wrong.
They claimed Reagan's defense buildup would lead to war.
They were wrong.
And, no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than the two Senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.
Together, Kennedy/Kerry have opposed the very weapons system that won the Cold War and that is now winning the War on Terror.
Listing all the weapon systems that Senator Kerry tried his best to shut down sounds like an auctioneer selling off our national security but Americans need to know the facts.
The B-1 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, dropped 40% of the bombs in the first six months of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The B-2 bomber, t
[b]Remarks by Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) as Prepared for Delivery at the 2004 Republican National Convention on Wednesday, September 1, Evening Session 10 - 11 P.M. EDT[/b]
NEW YORK, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The following are remarks by Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) as prepared for delivery at the 2004 Republican National Convention:
Since I last stood in this spot, a whole new generation of the Miller Family has been born: Four great grandchildren.
Along with all the other members of our close-knit family -- they are my and Shirley's most precious possessions.
And I know that's how you feel about your family also.
Like you, I think of their future, the promises and the perils they will face.
Like you, I believe that the next four years will determine what kind of world they will grow up in.
And like you, I ask which leader is it today that has the vision, the willpower and, yes, the backbone to best protect my family?
The clear answer to that question has placed me in this hall with you tonight. For my family is more important than my party.
There is but one man to whom I am willing to entrust their future and that man's name is George Bush.
In the summer of 1940, I was an eight-year-old boy living in a remote little Appalachian valley.
Our country was not yet at war but even we children knew that there were some crazy men across the ocean who would kill us if they could.
President Roosevelt, in his speech that summer, told America "all private plans, all private lives, have been in a sense repealed by an overriding public danger."
In 1940 Wendell Wilkie was the Republican nominee.
And there is no better example of someone repealing their "private plans" than this good man.
He gave Roosevelt the critical support he needed for a peacetime draft, an unpopular idea at the time.
And he made it clear that he would rather lose the election than make national security a partisan campaign issue.
Shortly before Wilkie died he told a friend, that if he could write his own epitaph and had to choose between "here lies a president" or "here lies one who contributed to saving freedom", he would prefer the latter.
Where are such statesmen today?
Where is the bi-partisanship in this country when we need it most?
Now, while young Americans are dying in the sands of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrat's manic obsession to bring down our Commander-in- Chief.
What has happened to the party I've spent my life working in?
I can remember when Democrats believed that it was the duty of America to fight for freedom over tyranny.
It was Democratic President Harry Truman who pushed the Red Army out of Iran, who came to the aid of Greece when Communists threatened to overthrow it, who stared down the Soviet blockade of West Berlin by flying in supplies and saving the city.
Time after time in our history, in the face of great danger, Democrats and Republicans worked together to ensure that freedom would not falter. But not today.
Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator.
And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.
Tell that to the one-half of Europe that was freed because Franklin Roosevelt led an army of liberators, not occupiers.
Tell that to the lower half of the Korean Peninsula that is free because Dwight Eisenhower commanded an army of liberators, not occupiers.
Tell that to the half a billion men, women and children who are free today from the Baltics to the Crimea, from Poland to Siberia, because Ronald Reagan rebuilt a military of liberators, not occupiers.
Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. And, our soldiers don't just give freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at home.
For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.
It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.
No one should dare to even think about being the Commander in Chief of this country if he doesn't believe with all his heart that our soldiers are liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home.
But don't waste your breath telling that to the leaders of my party today. In their warped way of thinking America is the problem, not the solution.
They don't believe there is any real danger in the world except that which America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy.
It is not their patriotism - it is their judgment that has been so sorely lacking. They claimed Carter's pacifism would lead to peace.
They were wrong.
They claimed Reagan's defense buildup would lead to war.
They were wrong.
And, no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than the two Senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.
Together, Kennedy/Kerry have opposed the very weapons system that won the Cold War and that is now winning the War on Terror.
Listing all the weapon systems that Senator Kerry tried his best to shut down sounds like an auctioneer selling off our national security but Americans need to know the facts.
The B-1 bomber, that Senator Kerry opposed, dropped 40% of the bombs in the first six months of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The B-2 bomber, t