Our Lone Ranger Heritage

After the attempted terrorist attack on Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day, our head of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano got on television to tell the American People that "the system worked” according to plan.

I happen to agree with her, although not in the way that she meant. Everything “worked”. A terrorist, who managed to get on the plane buying a 3000 dollar one-way ticket in cash, minus a passport or any identification? Got past security with chemicals in his underwear. The system definitely worked for the terrorist. Even his father called the embassy in Nigeria to let us know that his son was a terrorist. I guess someone didn’t get the memo.

The level of incompetence should leave us all speechless. This man was on the “watch list” but not the “no-fly” list. Now we find that the watch list is meaningless, that no one is watching those on that list. What good is it to have these lists of names when it comes to nothing?

The primary purpose of government is to protect the citizens of the country – not give us universal healthcare, not to bailout companies, not to give legislators millions for their state in return for their vote … but to protect each and everyone of us from enemies – foreign and domestic.

Rather than do what is necessary – profile and catch these terrorists before they manage to put a hole in the side of an airliner – they’d rather hope that these “isolated incidents” come to naught. Maybe they’re not sure who they should be looking for? White women in their 70s? Nope. Haitian nuns? Nope. Who could it be? Perhaps Middle Eastern/Muslim men ranging in age from 18-40? Yes.

This terrible situation reminds us that when push comes to shove, we’re on our own. The government cannot and will not save us. Each individual is responsible for their own life. A gentleman from Amsterdam realized what was happening, jumped over his seatmates and stopped the terrorist – saving his own life as well as almost 250 others.

There is a very valuable lesson to be learned here from all of this. We have to start behaving like Americans of not-that-long-ago. This European reminds us of our own proud heritage – the Lone Ranger heritage. Doing what is right. Jumping out of our seats, confronting evil and stopping it head on.

During the 9/11 attacks, we saw the bravery of those who were able to do just that – confront evil and stop it. We see the results in an empty field in Pennsylvania.

Government cannot be depended on to protect us – nor should it. We see how well the system worked for us on Christmas Day. I don’t expect it will get better anytime soon.

Terrorists Must Go

This past Saturday the Israel Defense Forces tracked down and killed three terrorists that were responsible for the drive-by-murder of Rabbi Meir Chai, 45, father of seven children.

According to the Associated Press,

Abbas' prime minister, Salam Fayyad, rushed to Nablus in an apparent attempt at damage control, paying his respects at a large communal wake and condeming Israel. "This attack was a clear assassination, and I believe it is targeting our security and stability,"

The raid took place in the early hours, and the those killed were long time members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. When asked if it was necessary for the soldiers to "open fire", Major Peter Lerner, IDF spokesman said that troops "had to operate under the assumption that they (the suspects) are dangerous."

There are two questions to be asked here.
1. Taking a look at Prime Minister Fayyad's quote we need to wonder about him. Yes, of course it was an assassination but how does this effect your "security and stability"? It only effects the Arabs "security and stability" when Israel has to do the dirty work that the "Palestinians" won't do. It effects "security and stability" since everyone knows that the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades are all one and the same - all terrorists. Terrorists that are in Israeli crosshairs - and they know it. The "security and stability" of the terrorist state are in danger.

2. I would love to know who asked the question if it was necessary to "open fire". The reporter who had the nerve to ask this question should have his credentials taken away from him. These are known members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, known for suicide bombings and murder - why wouldn't the soldiers go in with the assumption that they are dangerous? It would be stupid of them not to.

This whole situation is insane. Why is it necessary for these Arabs to have their own state? Aren't there enough Arab states in the Middle East neighborhood? I think that we're up to 22 of them. What is to be gained by creating another terrorist state in Israel's back yard? Rockets are still coming from Gaza - an area completely under Hamas control, given over by Israel, not one Jew living there. The area of Judea-Samaria (slave name: West Bank) is a haven for terrorists under the PA.

These are terrorists - they may have different club names, but all murder innocents. Rabbi Chai, along with so many others, will never see his children grow up. Why does Israel allow these people to live in the Land? Anyone who does not want to live peacefully there should be made to leave. They have plenty of places to go to - 22 other places. Let them go.

Resettlement works.

Scare the Kids and Kill the Dog

According to Build-A-Bear global warming scientists - there may not be a Christmas holiday this year. In fact, they are so sure of that "fact" that they are warning children on their website that since the polar ice cap is melting, Santa's home (as well as the elves' homes) will be no longer.

Some of the dialogue:

Girl Elf: Santa, it’s gone!

Papa Elf: It’s gone, It’s gone!

Santa: What’s gone?

Girl Elf: Tell ‘em, Dad!

Papa Elf: The North Peak.

Santa: A mountain? A mountain’s gone? How is that possible?

Ella the polar bear: Santa, sir, that’s why I’m here. That’s why we’re here. The ice is melting!

Santa: Yes, my dear, we know, the climate is changing. There’s bound to be a little melting.

Ella: It’s worse than that, Santa, a lot worse! At the rate it’s melting, the North Pole will be gone by Christmas!”

Santa: My, my…all of this gone by next Christmas? I don’t think so.

Ella: No sir, not next Christmas, this Christmas! The day after tomorrow!

Yes, we must scare the children that Santa and his merry little elves will have nowhere to live - and no more Christmas.

Next, we must kill all our pet dogs. Say good-bye to Lassie and Toto, dogs are the worst polluters in the fight against global warming.

Man's best friend could be one of the environment's worst enemies, according to a new study which says the carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle....The Vales, specialists in sustainable living at Victoria University of Wellington, analysed popular brands of pet food and calculated that a medium-sized dog eats around 164 kilos (360 pounds) of meat and 95 kilos of cereal a year.

Combine the land required to generate its food and a "medium" sized dog has an annual footprint of 0.84 hectares (2.07 acres) -- around twice the 0.41 hectares required by a 4x4 driving 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) a year, including energy to build the car.

Global Warming science can be boiled down to these two basic ideas.
* North Pole melting - no more Christmas.
* Keep the car - kill the dog.

And the world will be a better place for it.
Merry Christmas!

Funny... Sort Of

It's wedding season in Yemen and traditionally, that's meant three things: music, dancing and joyously firing an array of pistols, assault rifles, rocket-launchers, anti-aircraft mortars and grenade launchers into the air to celebrate the occasion.

But in the past few years, that last part has been nixed from the program....

For the most part, urban Yemenis are in favor of the disarmament campaign, and are willing to simply adapt their old traditions to a new, gun-less environment. Most urban weddings now feature deafening fireworks displays, which are said to sound remarkably similar to an assault rifle being unloaded into a cement wall. Most urban grooms now pose for pictures with an ornamental assault rifle instead of the real thing. (A least one particularly entrepreneurial vendor in Sanaa has begun renting out bedazzled, gold-inflected AK-47s for just that purpose, Jaleel, the store owner, said.)

"It's a lot better now — it's safer, at least. Before, people would sometimes get hit by bullets accidentally," said Mufudh Said, who sells bouquets of fake flowers for weddings from his small store in Sanaa. "It was terrible."

I came across this article and was glued to the screen. It's funny, sort of. (I'm still chuckling.) Liberals are all freaked out about Americans with semi-autos (which means when you pull the trigger - one - bullet comes out) and revolvers (one bullet at a time) ... Yemenites are only happy when they get to shoot fully automatic rifles, rocket-launchers and grenades. Ha. I wonder if a liberal can excuse the trigger happy Yemenite because it's their tradition.

The Godfather is Displeased

So after bashing Fox News and attempting to sideline their reporting, the Don Obama has moved on to other targets. After reporting lower approval numbers than the Godfather would have liked, the Gallup Poll was attacked by the Don's flunky Gibbs.

I am sure a 6-year-old with a crayon could do something not unlike that.” He continued: “I don’t put a lot of stake in, never have, in the EKG that is the daily Gallup trend. I don’t pay a lot of attention to the meaninglessness of it.

There we have it. Don Obama is displeased with anything that doesn't portray him as the important, world-changing figure he thinks he is and tries to marginalize the research that proves the fact that he's an ordinary Socialist mortal.

December 7, 1941 - A Day Which Will Live in Infamy

Sixty-eight years ago 2,390 men, women, and children were killed and another 1,178 more wounded in a surprise attack at the Pearl Harbor military installation bringing the United States into World War II.

Eight years ago over 3,000 people were murdered in the attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. 2,749 of the total were murdered in New York - civilians and first responders.

Sixty-eight years ago the United States was attacked. We identified those who were our enemies - went to war - destroyed them and their dangerous ideologies.

Eight years ago the United States was attacked. We never fully identified those who were our enemies - went to war against a few of those with dangerous ideologies - and we still haven't destroyed them or their ideologies.

It's time to recognize why the United States won World War II.
1. We identified the enemy - and their ideology clearly.
2. We destroyed them without apology.
3. We reconstructed their countries in our own image.

We will not win this "War on Terror" until we do the same.

News of the Week + Commentary

The Kennedy Family in the News -

WASHINGTON — Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has forbidden Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy to receive the Roman Catholic sacrament of Holy Communion because of his advocacy of abortion rights, the Rhode Island Democrat said Friday...

Kennedy said the bishop had explained the penalty by telling him “that I am not a good practicing Catholic because of the positions that I’ve taken as a public official,” particularly on abortion. He declined to say when or how Bishop Tobin told him not to take the sacrament. And he declined to say whether he has obeyed the bishop’s injunction.

These are the rules of the game. If you belong to the Church and you are a strong advocate of abortion - don't expect the two to mix well. Don't blame the Church for not changing their rules for you.

* * * * *

Global WarmingGate - Yes Dorothy, there are Scientists with Political Agendas.

What happened to the good ole days of Global Cooling? That's the disaster scenario that I grew up with.

* * * * *

Israel gives cold shoulder to Hamas' rocket-cessation statement

JERUSALEM, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Hamas announced on Saturday it reached an agreement with other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip to only fire rockets against Israeli targets in response to any future Israeli military incursion into the coastal enclave.

Just hours after the Hamas statement, Israel responded to a rocket attack fired from Gaza earlier on Saturday. Israeli aircraft targeted what the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said were two weapons-making facilities in northern and central Gaza and one smuggling tunnel under the border between Gaza and Egypt.

What rockets officer? I didn't see no rockets! And for sure I didn't know about any weapon-making facilities!

* * * * *

President Obama the Stand-Up-Comedian

Obama did not mention the looming decision in his remarks to U.S. troops, referring to the Afghan conflict only by thanking South Korea for its efforts and expressing gratitude to the American soldiers who have served there.

But he did discuss the region in his meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, whose government has is sending 150 civilian aid workers to Afghanistan.

Obama arrived on the base 3:19 p.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time), and received a rousing welcome from 1,500 troops in camouflage uniforms, many holding cameras or pointing cell phones to snap pictures.

"You guys make a pretty good photo op," the president said.

Standing on a riser wearing a blue suit and red tie, with a cluster of troops and a large American flag behind him, Obama expressed "the gratitude of the American public" and said his meetings in four countries over eight days in Asia will help deliver a "safer more prosperous world for all of us."

He got a huge cheer when he told them he was increasing military pay. "That's what you call an applause line," he said, before boarding his jet and taking off at 4:11 p.m.

The military is one big joke - he's looking for the photo-op and the applause line. That's what you call a good Commander-in-Chief.

Hasan is NOT a PTSD Victim!

Along with President Obama "not jumping to conclusions", the media has been very careful to steer clear of Malik Nidal Hasan's Muslim religion when reporting on the Fort Hood massacre. Rather than focus on the obvious fact that the attack was perpetrated by a Islamic terrorist, the media decided to create a new and novel condition - Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder (rather than Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Amazing, since there was no such condition until the media had to find a direction away from the obvious.

While discussing the attack National Public Radio's reporter Tom Gjelten gives us background on the attacker.

GJELTEN: Nidal Hasan was born here in the Washington, D.C. area in Arlington. His parents were Palestinian immigrants, it seems. He went to local schools, graduating from Virginia Tech, joined the Army. He spent basically his whole adult life in the Army. That's where he received his medical education. He was trained as a psychiatrist by the Army and served for several years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, ironically specializing in the treatment of combat stress. He was then transferred to Fort Hood earlier this year. He was due to be deployed, apparently to Afghanistan. We've heard from various sources that that bothered him, for whatever reason. We know he was a devout Muslim, took his faith very seriously. We can't say, of course, that that was relevant, here.

Right, religion is never relevant.

The ability of the media (and the President) to ignore the obvious is mind boggling - especially when it effects the security even in our own military bases here at home.

I wanted to bring to our readers the reaction of a real hero - J.R. Salzman - a wounded Iraq War veteran who lost his arm while fighting for our freedoms overseas when he heard about the media's contortions. I recommend reading the entire post by clicking on the above link.

I’m more than a little angry right now. Yes, I’m irate that some sh-tbag Major (“sh-tbag” is often used as a technical term in the Army) opened fire on a group of his fellow Soldiers killing 12 and wounding 30. But that’s not even what is under my skin right now. What is bothering me is the general reaction of our media and those stupid enough to think this was not an act of terrorism, but was caused by supposed PTSD caused at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

You want to know what PTSD is like? I'll tell you. You have nightmares that go on for weeks. Mine would always be the same. Wherever the window was in the room in which I was sleeping I would see a bright white flash. I would wake up screaming to my wife “Get up! Get the f-ck up! An IED just went off!” Sometimes I would just wake up screaming in agony as I relived the moment where my right arm was ripped from my body by an Iranian shape charge....

If you can get PTSD from treating soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center then why the hell haven't more people snapped? Why haven't all the therapists in physical therapy and occupational therapy, and all the staff on Ward 57 ran around shooting up the place? They have seen far more wounded Soldiers than this POS ever did. My occupational and physical therapists, like many of the civilian personnel at Walter Reed, have been there since the beginning of OEF. They have taken care of countless (probably hundreds) Soldiers with a variety of different injuries.

Let us not dishonor those who serve by lumping Hasan with them by claiming he has a form of PTSD. It's dishonest to do so. Hasan is a terrorist - plain and simple.

The Arab Occupied Territories

In honor of the recent threats of the "Palestinians" to unilaterally declare a state I am revisiting here an article I wrote back July 2003. This article gives us a very clear idea of who the "Palestinians" are.

***

It is only in Israel that I am lucky enough to travel in a bulletproof bus. This week I went to visit a good friend and her very cute children in the city of Beitar. This trip took me into the Arab occupied territory of Judea/Samaria (aka West Bank). I decided not to take my car into the occupied territories because I was afraid that my rental car would not be able to make the trip due to unforseen circumstances ie. molotov cocktails, snipers, and other "problems". Instead I took the bulletproof bus.

On my 15 minute trip out of Jerusalem to Beitar I thought about being under "occupation". Occupation is another word for being held hostage. Jews living here in Israel are being held hostage by the Arabs living in this country. We are afraid to ride the buses, afraid to go shopping, and afraid to drive the roads.

I have been doing a lot of traveling while here in Israel. When I first arrived, I was getting directions to a outlying suburb of Jerusalem when the woman giving me directions gave me a shocker. She said to make sure not to miss my exit because I would end up in the Arab city of Ramallah. This means sure death. As I was driving that evening I made sure to pay attention to all the signs pointing me to that particular suburb, I was scared to miss my exit. I was scared to be murdered because I am Jewish.

We saw the blood frenzy several years ago when two Jews made a wrong turn into Ramallah. The Arab police there picked them up and took them to the police station supposedly for their own safety. News traveled quickly and the entire city showed up at the station. The police did not bother doing their human duty - to protect innocent lives. They instead beat the two Jews to death, then threw their bodies out the window to the crowd outside. There was almost nothing left to identify the bodies with when the Arabs later returned the bodies to Israel. Instead we see the inhumanity of it all when one of the Jews cellphones rang while all this was happening. One of the murderers answered the phone and found that it was the wife of one of the Jews. He told her that he was busy murdering her husband. Occupation means that you cannot travel your own land for fear of making the wrong turn on the highway. I cannot assume anything different if I should G-d forbid make a wrong turn.

On the other hand, we need to keep in mind that Arabs can walk freely in any city in Israel without a worry of being murdered in the street. Every day I see Arabs going anywhere they want in any city going along their business. They are still allowed to ride the buses, still allowed to go shopping and drive the roads. There have been no instances of Jews lynching Arabs like was done to the Jews in Ramallah. Who is under "occupation" here?

How did we come to such a situation here in Israel? Israel won a defensive war against her Arabs neighbors in 1967, when they announced to the world that they were going to drive her into the sea. In the span of a week, Israel won the eastern half of Jerusalem as well as Judea and Samaria. There has been no other country that hands back the land that it wins in war. Especially not back to the enemies that tried to destroy her in the first place. Especially if doing such a thing would make your country an indefensible 9 miles wide.

As a result of winning this war, Israel has inherited the Arabs living in these areas. Of course none of these Arabs wanted their own state when they were occupied by Jordan before 1967. Only when under Jewish control does it become important. We can see Arab priorities clearly here. Arab statehood becomes a must when it comes to displacing the Jewish identity with the Land of Israel and not before.

I am glad that I have come to visit in the Land of Israel. It is only here that I can understand what it means to be a people under "occupation".

Cultural Sensitivity Gone Mad

All of us have been taught to be culturally sensitive to others. The question is how far this sensitivity extends. To the clothing someone wears? To the food that someone eats? Or does it include other things?

Fellow students knew Major Malik Nidal Hasan as a strong and vocal defender of suicide bombings and being against U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. He even provoked arguments with other soldiers who supported the wars. Why wasn’t anything said?

"The system is not doing what it's supposed to do," said Dr. Val Finnell, who studied with Hasan from 2007-2008…"He at least should have been confronted about these beliefs, told to cease and desist, and to shape up or ship out...."

But Finnell said no one filed a formal, written complaint about Hasan's comments out of fear of appearing discriminatory.

"Out of fear of appearing discriminatory". Thirteen soldiers are now dead, 30 more are wounded because Hasan's classmates were scared of looking culturally insensitive to his Muslim beliefs. It wasn't worth it to make a fuss.

Some may point to this as an extreme example. It isn't. Cultural sensitivity has gone mad. We look to our educational system to learn how we should be viewing other cultures.

The goal of multicultural education is not only to teach children about other groups or countries. It is also to help children become accustomed to the idea that there are many lifestyles, languages, cultures, and points of view…[and] to attach positive feelings to multicultural experiences (Dimidjian, 1989).

Indeed. There are "many lifestyles, languages, cultures, and points of view" around the world. Shouldn’t these cultures be considered valid, even if different from our own?

Slavery in the United States had to be abolished. Why? The South had a "cultural tradition" of slavery going back two hundred years. Why couldn't the Southern states be left to have their way of doing things – live and let live - and chalk it up to cultural differences? The reason is because the United States stands for freedom and liberty for everyone - a person can not be property. To have slavery in a free country was antithetical to the founding.

What about countries without the traditions of freedom? Can we absolve them of their obligations because they have their own "cultural traditions"? What if their "traditions" include slavery? The subjugation of women? Honor killings? Polygamy? Should we respect their "traditions" as equal to our own? And in the words of multicultural education, should we "attach positive feelings" to these "traditions"?

Canada has recently been struggling with the polygamy issue. British Columbia has been attempting unsuccessfully to prosecute a break-off Mormon sect for polygamy. The issue has recently been sent to the Province's Supreme Court for their judicial opinion.

Isn't it the right of a man to have more than one wife? Why should it matter to us... it's their "tradition".

Another "tradition" Canadians are being forced to confront is child rape. Some in the Canadian military in Afghanistan haven't successfully reconciled their Western values with those of the native population. A former Canadian soldier, Travis Schouten, was so disturbed by what he witnessed, he began drinking and almost destroyed his own life.

Should we be "attaching positive feelings" to this "tradition" as well? Was Schouten not being sensitive enough to Afghani “culture”?

What about the "tradition" of female genital mutilation dating back 1,400 to 2,000 years. Does it matter how old a "tradition" is? Shouldn't we show more sensitivity toward that "tradition"? Why not?

A letter responding to a BBC News story about female genital mutilation says,

It is wrong for us to take the moral high ground and condemn the cultural practise of others as barbaric...We must first understand the role of circumcision in those African societies that practise it before we result in outright conclutions [sic] and condemnation.

Really? The writer is declaring it "wrong" to take the "moral high ground" as he puts it. If so - our values must be equal to those who value female genital mutilations. If we are not willing to condemn such acts, we must be giving our tacit approval of them.

This writer must also want us to give our approval to slavery as well. There are at least 27 million people enslaved around the world. Is slavery now acceptable?

We can bring example after example of monstrous "traditions" from around the world. Who are we to take the "moral high ground"? Perhaps these slave owners would like to immigrate to the United States or Canada with their "property" - are we going to stop them? Will we turn a blind eye to all these abhorrent "traditions" when they occur in Africa or the Middle East, but put up a roadblock to them when they approach our shores?

Where are the limits to cultural sensitivity? At what point can we say “enough”?

The Declaration of Independence makes it very clear what Western Civilization stands for: Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. We must make it clear to all people around the world that we are not ashamed of our Western values. We believe that all people, wherever they may live, are given these rights by their Creator - that we have no interest in importing their "traditional" values - and are willing to take the "moral high ground" and condemn their "traditional" values as barbaric, and not welcome here or anywhere else in the world.

Cultural sensitivity is fine and wonderful when restricted to food and other inconsequential things, but not when it comes into conflict with basic Western values of human life and dignity. Calling these terrible acts what they are - barbaric - rather than pretending they are equal to our own Western values costs people their lives around the world. We saw at Fort Hood the results of cultural sensitivity. This ‘sensitivity’ has gone too far.

Islamic Terrorism at Fort Hood

These are the 13 brave soldiers who were murdered by Malik Nidal Hasan, an Islamic terrorist, at Fort Hood on November 5th.

It is impossible to ignore the fact that Hasan is an Islamic terrorist. All who knew Hasan were aware of his extreme Muslim views.

His presentations for school were often laced with extremist Muslim views, one source said.

"Is your allegiance to Sharia [Islamic] law or the United States?" students once challenged Hasan, the source said.

"Sharia law," the source says Hasan responded.

It is truly a disgrace that Hasan was allowed to remain in the military. This was a terrorist act - plain and simple.

Amazingly enough - there are still some who are not aware that the attack on Fort Hood was conducted by an Islamic terrorist. Here are a few tips to help you out if you're "not sure" you know a terrorist.

1.) If your neighbor begins giving away his belongings, including multiple copies of the Koran, while suggesting that he is "going away," you might know a terrorist.

2.) If your health care professional suggests that the answer to your depression, marital ills, loneliness, or post-traumatic stress is to begin praying to Allah and attending the local mosque, you might know a terrorist.

3.) If a colleague from your department leading a seminar veers off topic and begins suggesting that infidels should be decapitated and have boiling oil poured down their throats, you might be working with a terrorist.

4.) If a guy dressed up like Osama bin Laden shows up at the local convenience store, or appears at the office wearing a shalwar-kameez, you might be in store for some live ammunition directed your way. And you are probably in the presence of a terrorist.

5.) If the subject of your electronic surveillance repeatedly attempts to contact an Imam who is also an Al-Qaeda recruiter known to be in contact with suppliers to Osama bin Laden and associates of the Blind Sheik al Rahman and whose phone number is found in Ramzi Binalshibh's apartment, you might be surveilling a terrorist.

6.) If someone in your office, shop, store, mall, street or stadium yells "Allahu Akbar!" you had better run or seek cover. At this point you definitely know a terrorist.

This would be funny if it weren't sad in the wake of the Fort Hood massacre. It's time to bury our honorable dead and identify this attack for what it was - an Islamic attack on American soil, no "ifs", "ands" or "buts" about it.

Veterans Day

Yesterday was Veterans Day. I hope that everyone took a moment to thank the amazing people who put their lives on the line for the rest of us. If you didn't - go ahead and do that today.

The Things That Make A Soldier Great - Edgar Guest

The things that make a soldier great and send him out to die,
To face the flaming cannon's mouth nor ever question why,
Are lilacs by a little porch, the row of tulips red,
The peonies and pansies, too, the old petunia bed,
The grass plot where his children play, the roses on the wall:
'Tis these that make a soldier great.
He's fighting for them all.

'Tis not the pomp and pride of kings that make a soldier brave;
'Tis not allegiance to the flag that over him may wave;
For soldiers never fight so well on land or on the foam
As when behind the cause they see the little place called home.
Endanger but that humble street whereon his children run,
You make a soldier of the man who never bore a gun.
What is it through the battle smoke the valiant soldier sees?

The little garden far away, the budding apple trees,
The little patch of ground back there, the children at their play,
Perhaps a tiny mound behind the simple church of gray.
The golden thread of courage isn't linked to castle dome
But to the spot, where'er it be — the humblest spot called home.
And now the lilacs bud again and all is lovely there
And homesick soldiers far away know spring is in the air;
The tulips come to bloom again, the grass once more is green,
And every man can see the spot where all his joys have been.

He sees his children smile at him, he hears the bugle call,
And only death can stop him now — he's fighting for them all.

Happy 234th Birthday Marines!

This is a must read article for all who recognize the sacrifices the Marines have made bringing freedom around the world and security at home.

Semper Fi!

The Marines' Hymn

From the Halls of Montezuma
To the Shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country's battles
In the air, on land and sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title
Of United States Marine.

Our flag's unfurled to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in ev'ry clime and place
Where we could take a gun;
In the snow of far-off Northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes;
You will find us always on the job
The United States Marines.

Here's health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve
In many a strife we've fought for life
And never lost our nerve;
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven's scenes;
They will find the streets are guarded
By the United States Marines.

Fort Hood Martyrs

13 soldiers gave their lives for the country today when Major Malik Nadal Hasan opened fire at Fort Hood today. We honor their memories.

Illegals, Democrats and House Representation

Today's news reminded me of an article I wrote regarding this very problem back in 2003.

Senate Democrats have blocked a GOP attempt to require next year's census forms to ask people whether they are a U.S. citizen.

The proposal by Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter was aimed at excluding immigrants from the population totals that are used to figure the number of congressional representatives for each state. Critics said Vitter's plan would discourage immigrants from responding to the census and would be hugely expensive. They also said that it's long been settled law that the apportionment of congressional seats is determined by the number of people living in each state, regardless of whether they are citizens. A separate survey already collects the data.

The plan fell after a 60-39 procedural vote made it ineligible for attachment to a bill funding the census.

Take a look at my original article - unfortunately nothing has changed.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, there are approximately 11.3 million illegal immigrants in the United States - and could be as high as 15 million. If these illegals are being counted into the census as being part of the population of the state - this has a direct impact on each state's representation in the House of Representatives and in turn effects the number of electoral votes each state is assigned when voting for the President of the United States. The fight for stronger border enforcement should not be ignored during this time as the mid-term elections of 2010 come closer.

Need a Flu Shot? Go to Gitmo!

Yes, it's true. Despite the flu shot shortages across the United States, our Gitmo detainees are getting vaccinated against the "Swine Flu".

The Pentagon will offer the H1N1 vaccination to detainees at the U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay, officials there said Friday.

The Pentagon made the decision based on U.S. government assessments that people held in detention facilities are at high risk for the pandemic, said Maj. Diana R. Haynie, a spokeswoman for Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay, which is in charge of holding the suspected terrorists.

"Detainees at JTF Guantanamo are considered to be at higher risk and therefore they will be offered the H1N1 vaccination," Haynie said.

"JTF Guantanamo conducts safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detainees. As such, we must provide detainees the medical care necessary to maintain their health," she said.

Wait, I'm confused. Why are the detainees (a.k.a. terrorists) getting the H1N1 shot again? Because they're at higher risk? How is that possible? Aren't they stuck on an island? Have any of them traveled to Mexico lately? Can someone explain this to me please.

It gets better.

The vaccinations will be voluntary for the detainees, who will be briefed on the virus and the vaccine prior to deciding whether to receive the latter.

This is great. I would love to see this. These terrorists will be "briefed on the virus and the vaccine". We're treating these people as reasonable, thoughtful individuals who don't have an interest in seeing all of us dead. Again, I'm confused. Didn't we pick these people up on the battlefield murdering our soldiers? Aren't they in Guantanamo because they are dangerous?

The article wraps up with the line,

Some of the detainees have already voluntarily taken the seasonal flu shot, Haynie said.

I feel better now. So while there are shortages all over the United States (and Canada) of the H1N1 vaccine and the regular old flu shot - our Gitmo guests are ahead of the game and already have gotten theirs. I'm glad to hear it.

Technical Difficulties

In case anyone was concerned why I have not been writing, please put your mind at ease. I have not given up writing (G-d forbid) rather, I have been involved in the process of immigration. Yes, a very exciting topic indeed.

I have been working on something called permanent residency. I am from the United States, but have moved to Canada - our northern neighbor. Not because I am running away from the Obama government (altho' it really is good timing), but because I got married to a Canuck. Go figure :)

Permanent residency will allow me to work and function here as a "normal" person. Currently I am not allowed to work or that would violate the terms of me living here. So generally I've been spending my time writing - up till now. My application became due and I wasn't able to procrastinate any longer... and therefore I haven't been writing on anything other than the application forms.

But the long nightmare is over. The application has been sent to the government and we'll see what happens. I should be back writing my insightful pieces very soon (as soon as I can decide on what to write - so much to choose from!)

All the best to everyone!
Shira

The 2009 Tea Party

How the information outlets are covering this gathering.

Fox News: Tea Party Express Takes Washington by Storm

CNN: Party Movement has Anger, No Dominant Leaders

UK Mail Online: Up to Two Million March to US Capitol to Protest Against Obama's Spending in 'Tea-Party' Demonstration

MSNBC: Protesters Vent at Obama, Spending

Never Forget, Never Forgive

Patrick Henry and the Land of Israel

No shockers here. The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana has called on the United Nations to unilaterally declare Palestine a state without waiting for an agreement between the Israelis and "Palestinians".

Of course we don't expect much from the European Union or the United Nations for that matter - but just to reiterate the ridiculousness of the situation. Israel has attempted again and again to make peace. Negotiations with people who have no interest in making peace.

While making these attempts at peace - Israel has weakened herself. No other country in the world would be surrounded by countries that don't recognize her existence and have called for her destruction and continue to weaken herself militarily in the hopes that something will change. To those who say that some of those surrounding countries do have peace treaties with Israel - I ask if those treaties will hold when the dictators of those countries are overthrown or if the balance of power moves away from the Jewish state. Who will guarantee Israel's safety? The United Nations?

Jews are a hopeful people. Each and every peace treaty points to that hope of peace for the future.

It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth and listen to the song of that siren... Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?
... I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging the future but by the past.
.... What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not... deceive ourselves any longer... we have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated... Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult... In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer room for hope....
It is in vain to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry Peace! Peace! but there is no peace.

Patrick Henry spoke these words over 200 years ago, but could have easily spoken them today. The lessons of history must not be ignored or relegated to books.

Jews have lived by The Book for 4000 years and have a long history of success and failure. It is when we study our history and find our strength in G-d that we succeed and when we don't... we fail. There are many Jewish leaders to learn our lessons from, but that isn't enough for some - we may also take our lessons from those non-Jewish leaders as well. Thank you Patrick Henry.

The "All-Purpose" Grandma (Revised)

Look! It's the "All-Purpose" Grandma! We can use her anywhere... in any speech... on any topic!

We'd never heard of Madelyn Dunham, Barack Obama's white grandmother, before March 18, 2008 until she was invoked in Obama's race speech in Philadelphia as a way to defend a 20 year friendship with his pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother -- a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

Insert collective gasp. He admits that this woman sacrificed for him and raised him, but then goes on to broadcast on national television the fears that she privately confided in him. Where is his sense of decency? But wait, there's more! In a follow-up radio interview Obama tries to clarify his remarks:

The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity, but that she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know there's a reaction in her that doesn't go away and it comes out in the wrong way.

Aside from the audacity of claiming that all whites are racists, what's fascinating here is that we don't actually know her views on other ethnic groups at all. We're taking his word for all of her insecurities since his campaign never made her available for comment. In fact, people who knew her were shocked by his remarks.

"I was real surprised that he indicated that," said Dennis Ching, who was a 23-year-old management trainee under Dunham beginning in 1966. "I never heard her say anything like that. I never heard her say anything negative about anything. And she never swore.

" I never heard Madelyn say anything disparaging about people of African ancestry or Asian ancestry or anybody's ancestry," Slom [Sam Slom, a Bank of Hawaii economist then, who is now a Republican state senator in Hawaii] said.

We heard about Dunham more recently within the context of the current health care debate. In an April 2009 New York Times interview, President Obama was discussing end-of-life care when we hear his grandmother invoked again.

…I mean, I’ve told this story, maybe not publicly, but when my grandmother got very ill during the campaign, she got cancer; it was determined to be terminal. And about two or three weeks after her diagnosis she fell, broke her hip….

And she elected to get the hip replacement and was fine for about two weeks after the hip replacement, and then suddenly just — you know, things fell apart.

I don’t know how much that hip replacement cost. I would have paid out of pocket for that hip replacement just because she’s my grandmother. Whether, sort of in the aggregate, society making those decisions to give my grandmother, or everybody else’s aging grandparents or parents, a hip replacement when they’re terminally ill is a sustainable model, is a very difficult question.

Is Obama saying here that it's too expensive to do surgery on "old people" if they'll only live a little while longer? What about Jane Sturm who asked about her mother who's now 105 who had a pacemaker put in five years ago? "Is there any consideration that can be given for a certain joy of living... or is it just a medical cutoff at a certain age?" Obama replied, "I don't think that we can make judgments on people's spirit..." but that "maybe you're better off not having the surgery but taking the pain killer." In other words, we're saving money on the backs of the elderly and terminally ill patients.

Grandma was brought up once again in Colorado just last week,

What you can't do... is start saying things like, we want to set up death panels to pull the plug on grandma… I mean, I just -- first of all, when you make a comment like that -- I just lost my grandmother last year. I know what it's like to watch somebody you love, who's aging, deteriorate, and have to struggle with that.

Awww. Now we're all supposed to feel bad for Obama. He lost his grandmother, how dare anyone criticize his health care plan. It’s all about him rather than the end-of-life health care rationing that's certainly coming down the road if the plan is passed through Congress. By making it personal, he’s closed the discussion.

Madelyn Dunham has become the all-purpose excuse for anything that Obama needs a pass on. He needed a way out of his predicament with Reverend Wright. He needed a pass through the health care debate and the hard questions by calling upon the memory of his grandmother and what pain he went through when having to make decisions about her health.

I wonder what the next big crisis Obama will face in the future when we'll see his grandmother invoked once again to give him cover.

Ted Kennedy, the End of an Era

Take a look at this link of Ted Kennedy's life. Lesson to be learned: Don't attempt to be a moral voice after you've murdered someone.

The "All-Purpose" Grandma

Look! It's the "All-Purpose" Grandma! We can use her anywhere... in any speech... on any topic!

We'd never heard of Madelyn Dunham, Barack Obama's white grandmother, before March 18, 2008 until she was invoked in Obama's speech on race in Philadelphia as a way to defend a 20 year association with his pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother -- a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

Insert collective gasp. He admits that this woman sacrificed for him and raised him, but then goes on to broadcast to the whole of the United States the fears that she privately confided in him. Where is his sense of decency? But wait, there's more! In a follow-up radio interview Obama tries to clarify his remarks:

The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity, but that she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know (pause) there's a reaction in her that doesn't go away and it comes out in the wrong way.

Besides for the audacity of claiming that all whites are racists, what's fascinating here is that we don't actually know her views on other ethnic groups at all. We're taking his word for all of her insecurities since his campaign never made her available for comment. In fact, people who knew her were shocked by his remarks.

"I was real surprised that he indicated that," said Dennis Ching, who was a 23-year-old management trainee under Dunham beginning in 1966. "I never heard her say anything like that. I never heard her say anything negative about anything. And she never swore.

" I never heard Madelyn say anything disparaging about people of African ancestry or Asian ancestry or anybody's ancestry," Slom [Sam Slom, a Bank of Hawaii economist then, who is now a Republican state senator in Hawaii] said.

We recently again heard about Dunham more recently within the context of the health care debate currently raging. In an April 2009 New York Times interview President Obama was discussing end-of-life care when we hear his grandmother invoked again.

[The President:] Now, I actually think that the tougher issue around medical care — it’s a related one — is what you do around things like end-of-life care —

[Interviewer:] Yes, where it’s $20,000 for an extra week of life.

THE PRESIDENT: Exactly. And I just recently went through this. I mean, I’ve told this story, maybe not publicly, but when my grandmother got very ill during the campaign, she got cancer; it was determined to be terminal. And about two or three weeks after her diagnosis she fell, broke her hip. It was determined that she might have had a mild stroke, which is what had precipitated the fall.

So now she’s in the hospital, and the doctor says, Look, you’ve got about — maybe you have three months, maybe you have six months, maybe you have nine months to live. Because of the weakness of your heart, if you have an operation on your hip there are certain risks that — you know, your heart can’t take it. On the other hand, if you just sit there with your hip like this, you’re just going to waste away and your quality of life will be terrible.

And she elected to get the hip replacement and was fine for about two weeks after the hip replacement, and then suddenly just — you know, things fell apart.

I don’t know how much that hip replacement cost. I would have paid out of pocket for that hip replacement just because she’s my grandmother. Whether, sort of in the aggregate, society making those decisions to give my grandmother, or everybody else’s aging grandparents or parents, a hip replacement when they’re terminally ill is a sustainable model, is a very difficult question.

Is Obama saying here that it's too expensive to do surgery on "old people" if they'll only live a little while longer? What about Jane Sturm who asked about her mother who's now 105 who had a pacemaker put in five years ago? "Is there any consideration that can be given for a certain joy of living... or is it just a medical cutoff at a certain age?" According to Obama "I don't think that we can make judgements on people's spirit..." but that "maybe you're better off not having the surgery but taking the pain killer." The upshot being that we're saving money on the backs of the elderly or terminally ill patients.

Grandma's brought up once again in Colorado just last week,

What you can't do -- or you can, but you shouldn't do -- is start saying things like, we want to set up death panels to pull the plug on grandma. I mean, come on. (Applause.) I mean, I just -- first of all, when you make a comment like that -- I just lost my grandmother last year. I know what it's like to watch somebody you love, who's aging, deteriorate, and have to struggle with that. So the notion that somehow I ran for public office, or members of Congress are in this so that they can go around pulling the plug on grandma?

Awww. Now we're all supposed to feel bad for Obama. He lost his grandmother, how dare the Republicans criticize his health care plan in less than glowing terms. He's made it a personal attack. It's all about him rather than the end of life health care rationing that's certainly coming down the road if the plan is passed through Congress.

Madelyn Dunham has become the catch-all, all purpose, excuse for anything that Obama needs a pass on or an excuse for. He needed a way out of his predicament with Reverend Wright. He needed a pass through the health care debate and the hard questions being asked by ordinary Americans by calling upon the memory of his grandmother and what pain he went through when having to make decisions about her health.

I wonder what the next big crisis Obama will face in the future when we'll see his grandmother invoked once again to give him cover.

Canada and the Health Care Debate

At a time in the United States where the Canadian health insurance system keeps getting invoked, here in Canada the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) have realized that they have a problem. Incoming CMA president Dr. Anne Doig agrees with that assessment.

"We all agree that the system is imploding, we all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize," Doing said in an interview. "We know that there must be change," she said. "We're all running flat out, we're all just trying to stay ahead of the immediate day-to-day demands."

"(Canadians) have to understand that the system that we have right now - if it keeps on going without change - is not sustainable," said Doig.

Remember that Canada's system has only to deal with 33.6 million people, while the United States current population is just over 300 million people. If Canada who has a population the tenth of the United States and is unable to keep their system running - what does that say for the U.S. if it changes to a Canadian style health care program?

Obama's Senior Moment (8/14/09)

Medicare for All Isn't the Answer (8/13/09)

The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare (8/11/09)

Memo: Dissent is no Longer Patriotic

Did everyone get that memo last week? It's official. Dissent is no longer your patriotic duty as an American. Yes, it's true.

For eight years it was a liberal's official patriotic duty to dissent... dissent which included a full length movie about the murder of President George W. Bush, of posters equating Bush with Hitler and the Nazis, of calling our soldiers' actions in Gitmo comparable to what could "have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others..." And here we are now, in 2009, it is no longer patriotic to criticize the president or his policies.

It's no longer patriotic to concern ourselves with policies that are inherently destructive to the American way of life. While it seems that dissent and discontent are good for the goose, it is not good for the gander. In fact, if one disagrees with the current President and his Democrats... you will be de-legitimized and possibly sent to the hospital.

After years of calling conservatives Nazis, it seems that the Democrats have accustomed themselves to using this type of language. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi accused those who oppose the House health care bill of "carrying swastikas and symbols like that" to town hall meetings... in effect calling those protestors Nazis. She and Steny Hoyer (D-MD) went on to call their criticisms "un-American". John Dingell (D-MI) has picked up the ball and said that the protestors remind him of the Ku Klux Klan... so in other words... protestors are racists.

Anyone who disagrees with the Obama healthcare plan is now a racist or a Nazi. Democratic officials determined to have "talks" with their constituents (many who are Democrats themselves) are bringing with them muscle to make sure their message is heard. SEIU (Service Employees International Union) is being used as the muscle. We see the results. Kenneth Gladney's attorney writes a letter describing the treatment that Mr. Gladney received at a St. Louis town hall meeting as a black conservative.

I am Kenneth Gladney’s attorney. Kenneth was attacked on the evening of August 6, 2009 at Rep. Russ Carnahan’s town hall meeting in South St. Louis County. I was at the town hall meeting as well and witnessed the events leading up to the attack of Kenneth. Kenneth was approached by an SEIU representative as Kenneth was handing out “Don’t Tread on Me” flags to other conservatives. The SEIU representative demanded to know why a black man was handing out these flags. The SEIU member used a racial slur against Kenneth, then punched him in the face. Kenneth fell to the ground. Another SEIU member yelled racial epithets at Kenneth as he kicked him in the head and back. Kenneth was also brutally attacked by one other male SEIU member and an unidentified woman. The three men were clearly SEIU members, as they were wearing T-shirts with the SEIU logo.

Kenneth was beaten badly. One assailant fled on foot; three others were arrested. Kenneth was admitted to St. John’s Mercy Medical Center emergency room, where he was treated for his numerous injuries. Kenneth was merely expressing his freedom of speech by handing out the flags. In fact, he merely asked people as they exited the town hall meeting whether they would like a flag. He in no way provoked any argument or altercation, as evidenced by the fact that three assailants were arrested.

[Here is the video of this attack.]

Is this what we can expect? Violence, threats and de-legitimization of our concerns? Time to re-write that First Amendment protecting our right to free speech and assembly. Keep checking your in-box for that memo.

More about this by Dennis Prager.

A Photo is Worth More than a Thousand Words

Barack Obama striding ahead trying to look Presidential, while ignoring the "stupid" white officer, Sergeant Crowley, helping the wonderful Professor Gates down the stairs.

Compare this to President George W. Bush, who took the time to help Senator Byrd.

Sometimes the Office doesn't make the Man.

Worthwhile reading - take a look at this article.

Welcome to Obama-Care!

This is what Obama-Care is going to do to New Yorkers. Very scary.

Investor's Business Daily has also discovered that Obama-Care is going to outlaw private medical insurance as well.

We must not let this happen. Obama-Care will destroy our health care system.

Good Morning... Have Something to Read

The Mystery of Sarah Palin - Feminists and Sarah Palin

Now They Tell us about His Pipe Dream - New York Times finally does a background check on Barack Obama.

Obama is in Russia, but Honduras is Where the Action Is - Prager on the real situation in Honduras

Michael Jackson and the Clueless Media

On a day where there's non-stop coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial everywhere you may turn, I found a silver lining to all of it. The American People are not as enthralled with Jackson as the media seems to think.

In the non-scientific poll on cnn.com at the time of this writing (11:50am) the question posed is this:

How will you watch coverage of Michael Jackson memorial?

The fascinating fact is that an overwhelming majority will not be watching coverage of the memorial.

The results are:

TV 13% 18895
Web 10% 14792
Not watching 78% 117370

Total Votes: 151057

While this is not a scientific poll, it once again shows us all how disconnected the media really is from reality. No surprises there.

Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall

"Don't you think you'd be safer down on the ground?"

"What tremendously easy riddles you ask!" Humpty Dumpty growled out. "Of course I don't think so! Why, if ever I did fall off - which there's no chance of - but if I did ---" Here he pursed up his lips, and looked so solemn and grand that Alice could hardly help laughing. "If I did fall," he went on, "the King has promised me - ah, you may turn pale, if you like! You didn't think I was going to say that, did you? The King has promised me - with his very own mouth - to - to ---"

"To send all his horses and all his men," Alice interrupted...

Some have wondered why I have a quote from Alice's Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll on the sidebar of my blog. We all know the story, as does Alice. While walking through the woods and meeting all sorts of strange characters, Alice happens upon an egg sitting precariously on top of high wall and has the discussion we see above.

It's a fascinating encounter. Humpty Dumpty obviously knows that he's doing something dangerous. Despite his protest that "there's no chance" of him falling off, he tells us that he has a promise from the King Himself that he'll send all his horses and all his men... to presumably put him back together again. And we know... that all the kings horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty back together again.

It's not so much the end result that should concern us - that Humpty lay in pieces - but in the trust that he has in the King and His promises. Since the King has promised him therefore Humpty goes on to live his life in a dangerous, self-destructive way. He no longer has to take personal responsibility for his actions. The King's promises will protect him.

The lack of personal responsibility resounds all around us with headlines such as "Why Do We Overeat? Author Blames Fat, Sugar, Salt", or McDonald Sued for Making Kids Fat, and why we're blessed with warnings on coffee cups telling us that the coffee may be hot and pictures on hairdryers with a line drawn through water. Duh, you think?!

Self-destructive behavior is rampant whether we realize it or not. Do we really need government to save us? Are we as naive as Humpty Dumpty that the King Himself will come to our defense? Perhaps.

President Obama has surrounded himself with czars.

There's a drug czar, a U.S. border czar, an urban czar, a regulatory czar, a stimulus accountability czar, an Iran czar, a Middle East czar, and a czar for both Afghanistan and Pakistan, which in Washington-speak has been lumped together into a policy area called Af-Pak.

There are upward of 20 such top officials, all with lengthy official titles but known in the media as czars, and next week there will be one more, when Obama appoints a czar for cyber-security who will be charged with improving the security of computer networks.

And let's not forget our newest czar... the domestic violence czar. No, she won't be beating on Obama when she's upset, rather she is there to remind us that domestic violence is a serious issue. Great, we don't know that it's a serious issue that we need to create a new government job to "remind us"?

Why is Obama establishing jobs for people whose jobs are already being done by others? A drug czar... aren't the police and ATF dealing with that? What about the border czar? Can we say... border patrol? What the heck is an "urban czar"? Iran/Middle East/Afghanistan/Pakistan czars... I'm sorry, I thought that was the State Department's territory. I'm sure I'm not the only one confused, but wait there's also the health czar... I wonder if they'll start regulating what we are allowed to eat. Oh, my mistake - government already does that.

Don't worry everyone - government is here to save us from ourselves through the duplication of high paying government jobs and the destruction of personal responsibility. Don't worry about eating unhealthy foods... government will prevent restaurants from serving you transfats rather than you having to think about what you're putting in your mouth. Government is here to make your life smooth without bumps and without thinking or taking responsibility for your actions. Don't worry about a thing... I have the King's Word Himself that He'll take care of you.

Happy July 4th!

The Star-Spangled Banner

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Plastic-bag initiative fails to catch on (National Post, 30 Jun 2009, Page A5)

---

Plastic-bag initiative fails to catch on
BY SHANNON KARI
National Post
30 Jun 2009

A month after Toronto enacted a bylaw that forces businesses to charge customers 5� per pastic bag, other Canadian cities seem disinclined to follow suit, yet the measure continues to generate controversy. Calgary and Hamilton have rejected similar...read more...

Tech Tags: National Post newspaper CANADA

Here in Toronto we recently had the Ontario provincial government decide to make all businesses charge customers 5 cents for each plastic bag needed. The idea was to push people into bringing their own bags with them and reducing the number of plastic bags out there. I was very upset the day that I found out about this new tax. Other customers were not impressed either.

One woman I spoke to wanted to know where the new money was going - to the government or to the businesses? It seems that the money is going to the businesses. What's interesting is that some of the larger businesses are donating some or all of this new new money to charitable causes. This is a fascinating twist - business using a tax as a promotional tool... clever.

It seems that other provinces were thinking about forcing this new tax on businesses and according to the article above, it isn't going well at all. What's even better is that there are those here in Ontario who may be taking the government to task and trying to find this tax unconstitutional and an imposition on business practices. I welcome such action.

I understand that the government is trying to limit the amount of plastic floating around the streets - however - there has to be a better way to do it. Placing a tax on individuals is uncomfortable for businesses who actually have to collect... and makes shoppers unhappy that during this time of penny-pinching they're being taxed once again.

Happy Canada Day! Eh!

Canada has a tremendous history fighting for freedom around the world. Canadians have a lot to be proud of.

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

And since it is Canada... here's the anthem in French.

Ô Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

Happy Canada Day!

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New Beginnings for the Middle East

Last week President B. Hussein Obama visited the King of Arabia prior to the now-famous Cairo speech. The King clarified for President B. Hussein what was on his mind. A settlement of the "Palestinian" problem.

King Abdullah told Obama during his visit to Riyadh last week that Arab patience was wearing thin and that a solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict would be the "magic key" to all issues in the region, al-Hayat said, quoting what it called informed sources.

"We want from you a serious participation to solve the Palestinian issue and impose the solution if necessary," the Saudi monarch told Obama, according to the paper, which is owned by a nephew of the monarch. It did not elaborate.

"...impose the solution if necessary." These five words sounded a loud alarm in head and sent me into my own archives where I found a similar quote regarding the "Palestinian" issue by an Obama advisor, Samantha Power.

Unfortunately, imposition of a solution on unwilling parties is dreadful. It's a terrible thing to do, it's fundamentally undemocratic …. And, unfortunately, it does require external intervention, which, very much like the Rwanda scenario, that thought experiment, if we had intervened early.... Any intervention is going to come under fierce criticism.

Never mind the Rwanda comparison... or the Holocaust comparison made by President B. Hussein just the other day.

Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust... Six million Jews were killed -- more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today....On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people -- Muslims and Christians -- have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than 60 years they've endured the pain of dislocation.

Yes, because "dislocation" and "Holocaust" sound so much alike - the murder of 6 million innocents on one hand and the "dislocation" of people who chose not to become part of Israeli society when given the choice, and left to rot by their Arab brethren in the surrounding countries on the other. Gosh, that's a close comparison when I think of it.

"Dislocation" is when 900,000 Jews are thrown out of their homes of 3000 years without a penny to their name - billions stolen from them by their Arab governments. Dislocation is when the last Jews of Yemen are forced to leave their homes due to threats on their lives and property. Dislocation is in no way comparable to mass murder. It is obnoxious and minimizes what was done to the Jews by the Nazis. It also minimizes the sacrifices that the American People made to free Europe from totalitarian rule only 65 years ago.

President B. Hussein has named his Cairo speech "A New Beginning". What kind of new "beginning" is this? A beginning without moral clarity?

When the King of Arabia starts to sound like Obama advisors... it's time for all Americans to wonder about this "new beginning" and what it means for Israel and our Middle East policies.