It's Time to Focus on Mental Illness

Worthwhile reading in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut massacre:

Jonathan Kay: There are other Adam Lanzas out there. Just ask “Anarchist Soccer Mom,” Liza Long

Israel/Canadian Relations and the Canadian Health Care System

Recent articles that I've found important reading:

"No greater friend": The bond between Netanyahu and Harper goes beyond statecraft
An interesting point of view on why Canada's Prime Minister Harper is such a huge supporter of the State of Israel.

End-of-life battles expose the culture clash in Canada's intensive care units
The article talks about "culture clash" but anyone religious or has specific ideas about how they'd like to have control over their end-of-life issues should be concerned about the lack of control they and their families truly have. Coming to a country near you... which reminded me about this next article.

The Ugly Truth About Canadian Health Care
Another must read.

Party at the United Nations!

Okay everyone, let's all give a big round of applause to welcome the new state of "Palestine" to our august body of the United Nations... that's right, this is a great moment.

As for you "Palestine", we know you have no history, no great leaders to point to, no true national identity - but we'll overlook that. We know that you hate the Jews, and what more do we need to say? We do too!

We're sure that you'll enjoy your time here at the UN. There are plenty of other countries that you have much in common with, dictatorships, rogue states, terrorist states - oh, you already know Iran? Of course, they gave you those missiles you shot off into Tel Aviv and Jerusalem a couple of weeks ago. It's always good at know at least somebody at a party.

Freedom? Democracy? Tolerance for religious minorities? Human rights? Respect for your neighboring countries? Nah, details, shmetails, those things aren't important here at the United Nations.

Get comfortable, join a few committees - maybe file charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court once you get the hang of things. We're sure that you can find something to do here at the UN to delegitimize Israel.

Again, everyone please welcome "Palestine" to the United Nations - we are so happy to have you here.

The Peace Talks to Nowhere Good

Religious vs. Secular Egypt

This is the best news that has come out of the Arab "Spring" yet. Secular Egyptians and even the court system are protesting the recent power grab by Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi. It almost gives me hope that something good may come out of the Arab Middle East yet.

Why is this a good thing? It seems that the more secular a Muslim is - the more pragmatic he becomes. He's willing to be more tolerant toward others with whom he does not agree.

On the flip side of that, it seems that the more religious, or devout a Muslim becomes - the more intolerant he is. All of a sudden jihad becomes a leading tenant and the fight against the infidel moves to the forefront of his brain (or her brain - we don't want to be sexist, there have been female suicide bombers).

It is in the US and Israel's interest to have a secular Egypt - they may not love us, but they'll work with us. A religious Muslim Brotherhood has other priorities - working with infidels would not be included in them.

We should hold our breath as the crowds in Tahrir Square get larger.

Brian Lilley & John Robson: Hamas is a death cult

Excellent! A must see!

"Cease-fire" aka "Time to Rearm"

I reprint this article every so often when Israel finds herself in this situation - to remind us all what a "cease-fire" really means in the Muslim mind. In essence it's a chance to rearm and prepare for another war.

What does Israel gain by accepting a cease-fire? Are the rockets from Gaza going to stop? The media is reporting that this conflict began about eight days ago... they're wrong. The conflict began when the rockets entered Israeli airspace, targeting schools and civilians - years ago when Israel evacuated all her citizens out of the Gaza Strip in a show of good will toward the "Palestinians". When the Jews left the Strip, the rockets began flying. I'm glad that  'land for peace' swap worked out so well for us.

Letter to Bibi: Expulsion Blew Up in Our Face

July 24, 2003

Cease-fire?

I do not ride the buses because I'm afraid that I'll be blown up. In fact, I rented a car here in Israel so I would not have to use the convenient and inexpensive public transportation system. My life and the life of every other Jew in this country has been changed because of the Arab occupation of this land.

What about this "cease-fire"? Doesn't that mean that we are working toward peace over here in Israel? One would think so. But the Jewish woman who was blown up in her own home when a suicide bomber walked in might disagree. It was only a "splinter group" that took responsibility.

Two days ago I was sitting at my friend's kitchen table in a suburb of Jerusalem playing cards. All of a sudden I heard shooting from the nearby Arab village. Did someone say something about a "cease-fire"?

What is being touted as a "cease-fire" is something called a "hudna". A hudna is a tactical cease-fire that allows the Arabs to rebuild their terrorist infrastructure in order to be more effective when the "cease-fire" is called off.

We must listen carefully to the double talk of Yasser Arafat and Abu Mazen when they call for peace with the Jews. Arafat has always used the peace treaty that Mohammed signed with the Quraysh tribe in Mecca in the seventh century as a model for his peace treaties signed with the Jews.

But why should we care about a peace treaty signed hundreds of years ago?

If we do not understand this important event, we will never understand the situation here in Israel.

Israelis here were thrilled when the latest cease-fire was signed. There were pictures in the newspapers showing our young soldiers jumping for joy. Unfortunately, they obviously do not know that a historical mistake is being replayed. It is based on the history of Mohammed and the tribe of Quraysh.

Mohammed originated from the city of Mecca, which was being controlled by the tribe of Quraysh. But in 622 A.D. Mohammed fled to Medina after being forced from Mecca by the Quraysh tribe for preaching a monotheistic message.

While in Medina, Mohammed signed a peace treaty with the tribe of Quraysh that "agreed to remove war from the people for 10 years. During this time...no one is to lay hands on another...evil [is] to be abstained from, and there is to be no raiding or spoliation."

During the next eight years Mohammed concentrated on building his power base and was soon much stronger than the Quraysh tribe. The treaty quickly fell to pieces and Mohammed attacked the Quraysh tribe in 630 A.D. and took the city. The peace treaty was only a tactical tool against the Quraysh tribe.

Here too in Israel we have the same situation. israel has signed peace treaty after peace treaty with the Arabs who occupy this country. These peace treaties mean nothing when Arafat compares them to the peace treaty between Mohammed and the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. This and every other peace treaty is based on the belief that it is acceptable to deceive your enemy if he is stronger than you.

Peace is certainly an honorable goal, but it requires that all parties act honorably. When it is obvious that when the Arabs are not acting in good faith, a peace treaty becomes a death pact. The treaty of Mohammed and the Quraysh tribe is one to be remembered.

The Arabs here certainly do.

Humanitarian Aid for Terrorists

These numbers were posted on Facebook - to remind all of us that the Israeli attacks are only occurring in order to stop the rockets from falling, and are not indiscriminate attacks like those coming from the Gaza Strip. To show everyone that Israelis care about all human beings - even those who prefer to see every Jew dead. And just a reminder to all - Hamas was democratically elected. I have little sympathy for those who voted them in.

While Hamas fires rockets from Gaza, Israel delivers food and medicine (National Post)

I wrote this article back in August 2011. Nothing has changed - I could have written it today.

Feed the Terrorists - They Need Strength to Fire Rockets into Israel

This tweet from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesperson caught my eye:

#Hamas pounds #Israel w/rockets; Thurs. Israel sent 263 truckloads w/goods into #Gaza for #Palestinian Pop. & sending more today #IDF

Why? Why is Israel sending tons of "goods" into Gaza?

Rockets are being sent into Israel indiscriminately, over a hundred in the last 3 days - people are being hurt and murdered - and Israel is sending goods into Gaza? It's almost a bad joke.

Does Israel think that sending goods into Gaza is going to make them our friends? We know it isn't going to happen. In fact, a poll of "Palestinians" in the "West Bank" and the Gaza Strip published last month proves the point.

Respondents were asked about US President Barack Obama’s statement that “there should be two states: Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people and Israel as the homeland for the Jewish people.”

Just 34% said they accepted that concept, while 61% rejected it.

Sixty-six percent said the Palestinians’ real goal should be to start with a two-state solution but then move to it all being one Palestinian state.

Asked about the fate of Jerusalem, 92% said it should be the capital of Palestine, 1% said the capital of Israel, 3% the capital of both, and 4% a neutral international city.

Seventy-two percent backed denying the thousands of years of Jewish history in Jerusalem, 62% supported kidnapping IDF soldiers and holding them hostage, and 53% were in favor or teaching songs about hating Jews in Palestinian schools.

When given a quote from the Hamas Charter about the need for battalions from the Arab and Islamic world to defeat the Jews, 80% agreed. Seventy-three percent agreed with a quote from the charter (and a hadith, or tradition ascribed to the prophet Muhammad) about the need to kill Jews hiding behind stones and trees.

So basically, these "people" are all for the kidnapping and murdering of Jews and establishing "Palestine" in all of what is Israel today. Yup, sending tons of goods into Gaza is going to do a lot for this relationship. What a waste.

I just don't get it. This is beyond comprehension. These "Palestinians" are bound and determined to destroy the Jewish People and we're trucking in "goods" as good will gestures. They must be laughing at us. How stupid are the Jews?

Come September when these wonderful, "peaceful" and tolerant people come to the United Nations to ask for a state - I'm sure they'll remember the good ole' days when the Jews were trucking in "goods" to help them out... even while they were sending rockets raining down on Ashkelon and Be'er Sheva. I'm sure that they really care.

It's amazing that some still assume that the "Palestinians" in the "West Bank" are somehow different than the ones in Gaza. Again, remember that this poll includes both groups... and again, remember that Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza are already in unity talks - which means that the United Nations will be thrilled to announce new terrorist states in the West Bank and in Gaza as well. Another bad joke.

Since the "Palestinians" have decided to forgo all negotiations and treaties signed with Israel - Israel should say that all is null and void. It's time to annex Judea/Samaria (aka the West Bank) and end the Arab occupation of Jewish land. We have a 3000 year history the Arabs do not respect or recognize. If those Arabs living in Judea/Samaria cannot handle living in a Jewish State - they are welcome to leave. No one is stopping them.

And as it's said - don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Restraint?!

Calls for "restraint" have begun. Yes, restraint. After months of hundreds of missiles raining down on Israeli heads - murdering, injuring and destroying - Israel finally decided to do something serious. They killed a top Hamas terrorist, best known for orchestrating the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit. Oh, it was then that the world decided to finally take notice of Israel's "aggression".

Rather than cheering on the Israelis and complementing them on a job well done - we hear calls for Israeli restraint, even from the United States.

Obama said Israel had the right to defend itself against Hamas' missile attacks from Gaza. But he urged Israel not to launch a ground assault in Gaza, saying it would put Israeli soldiers, as well as Palestinian citizens, at greater risk and hamper an already vexing peace process. 

"If we see a further escalation of the situation in Gaza, the likelihood of us getting back on any kind of peace track that leads to a two-state solution is going to be pushed off way into the future," Obama said.

I wonder what message this sends to the democratically elected Hamas government in Gaza - the world won't say a word about the hundreds of rockets targeting school buses and innocents trying to live their lives - but when the world is made a safer place by the assassination of a chief murderer - "restraint" is called for. The message is clear: Jewish blood is cheap.

Not only is Jewish blood cheap - we'll even reward these attacks by more "peace" talks, more talk of another terrorist state on Israel's border. A second "Palestinian" state - since Gaza is State #1.  Don't escalate this war, the President warns Israel, we're trying to have "peace" talks with these terrorists - never mind that they don't have an interest in peace - just in seeing Israel and her citizens in pieces.

No other nation in the world would tolerate even a single missile entering their airspace. Not the French, and especially not the Germans. Imagine the United States allowing such a thing to happen without an overwhelming response. But the world calls for "restraint" from Israel even after they've shown restraint - allowing hundreds of rockets to rain terror on her civilians without complaint.

Jewish blood is cheap and the Arab world knows it. They know the world doesn't care about the Jews...go ahead, feel free to send the rockets.

Calls for "restraint"? What a joke.

Please donate to One Family Fund, a great organization dedicated to Israel's victims of terror.

Veterans Day/Remembrance Day 2012

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- John McCrae

Today we commemorate Veterans Day in the United States and Remembrance Day in Canada. Please take the time to thank a veteran and take the time to support a veterans organization as well. These listed are only suggestions.

Final Salute Inc. - help homeless female vets

Fisher House Foundation - housing for military families near hospitals/rehab

Canadian Hero Fund - help support Canadian military personnel and their families

Barbarians in the Streets

A violence prone-minority with a bad attitude and no sense of humor. Yep. Seems like you've met the Muslims before... (thx Talya for this perfect description)

Yes, the humorless Muslims are back and protesting in a city near you. Not only in the nascent pan-Islamic caliphate, but in London, England. That darn YouTube video seems to really be getting under their skin. Ten thousand Muslims descended on Google's office in London as part of a lead up to a "million-strong march in Hyde Park" to demand a ban of the video.

We shouldn't be too surprised. We know that Muslims have no sense of humor and expect the rest of us to play along with their lack of understanding of basic human rights. Free speech is still free speech whether it offends them or not.

The best part of this protest is that they call on other religions - Jewish and Christians - to join in a call for civility.

"Organisations like Google are key players and have to take responsibility for civility. You can't just say it doesn't matter that it's freedom of speech. It's anarchy."

Sheikh Siddiqui, a barrister from Nuneaton, said he wanted to form a coalition with the Church of England, Catholics, Jewish groups, Trade Unions and even Conservatives to encourage their ranks to join his "campaign for civility".

"We want everyone in society to recognise these people are wrecking our fragile global society. We want the Church, the Synod, Jewish groups and establishment figures involved," he said.

It's a bad joke. Muslims calling on other religious groups that are regularly terrorized in Muslim countries. Christians are murdered and churches are burned all over the Islamic world. Jews, as well, are a hated minority - terrorized and murdered regularly - with the Muslim hope of complete annihilation.

The Muslims are not to be underestimated - they are flexing their muscles in the streets of London. They are testing the limits of a liberal democracy - in the country that gave the world the Magna Carta and John Locke - by calling for limits on freedom of speech, but at the same time using that same freedom to march by thousands in the streets attempting to impose their 7th century sensibilities onto our modern world with the implicit threat of violence.

Self-employed businessman Ahmed Nasar said he was worried the video could lead to violence in Britain in the same way as it had abroad. "If you push people too far," he said, "You will turn the peaceful elements into violence."

The western world is under siege in the name of tolerance and "civility". To accept limits on free speech simply because that speech offends a particular group - to self censor due to fear - is where we are headed by not countering this march. In essence, we are destroying our own freedoms in order to avoid conflict - but unfortunately acquiescence is appeasement. Rather than bringing peace, we are bringing conflict by not making it clear that our western freedoms are not negotiable.

Barbarians are in the streets. Where is Charles Martel?

Vice-Presidential Debate Impressions

I call the debate a tie. Vice President Joe Biden is a good debater, but Representative Paul Ryan definitely held his own. Joe Biden seemed to find just about everything Ryan said funny. Some have been saying that it's a nervous tic, or just a way to be condescending. I agree with the latter. Many on the left do not debate ideas - perhaps they are unable to - they would rather mock them and belittle those who hold them. I was not surprised by Biden's antics, but wish Ryan would have called him out on them. Ryan was too polite, too deferential to Biden.

The economy is in the toilet, but only took 10 minutes worth of debate time. Why bother with discussion about a 16 trillion dollar debt or the death of Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid for those of us under 40? Do we really expect them to exist when we get old enough to need them?

The question about their personal beliefs about abortion was a waste of time. Who cares? Law of the land is Roe v. Wade, and even if that Supreme Court case were to be overturned, it does not make abortion illegal in the United States - let's repeat that - it does not make abortion illegal. It does kick the abortion question back to the states where it belongs. Each state would make their own decisions about the abortion rights. Don't worry, California and New York will always have abortion - and if you're really stressed about it - just come to Canada, where there are no - let's repeat that - no limits on abortion.

After the debate I caught a couple comments by others - A.B. Stoddard made a good point about the debate. It won't change anything, but it will make the Democrats feel better, especially after President Obama's pathetic attempt at the first presidential debate. I have to agree, no one expected much from this debate other than tuning in to see how Ryan was going to do and to see how far Biden was going to shove his foot down his throat.

Another comment I heard was from Chris Matthews - a "brilliant" political analyst. He said that people care more about abortion than about Benghazi. If this is true, then I'm scared. Four Americans, one of them an ambassador to Libya, were murdered in a terrorist attack on 9/11 in Benghazi, Libya. First, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came on television to condemn the supposed anti-Islam video that caused the riot that supposedly got out of control that killed those four men - then condemned the murders. But even that condemnation (if you can call it that) was weak - no anger, no passion - that Americans were murdered in cold blood. Never mind that there was no riot - and the fact that the administration took weeks to actually call it "terrorism", since that word doesn't readily exist in their vocabulary - that those in Benghazi asked for more security and didn't get any... the Middle East is quickly becoming a Muslim Brotherhood fraternity and the Obama administration has the audacity to proclaim that since they killed Osama Bin Ladin all is well with the world.

It's scary to think that anyone may actually believe that the world is a safer place to live in since Barack Obama took charge. The fact that four Americans were murdered with no serious repercussions proves to the world, and the Muslim terrorist world in particular, that we are weak - that our representatives can be attacked and murdered at will. And if our diplomats - who are supposed to have special immunity - are open to attack, what does that say for Americans traveling abroad?  The Obama administration's foreign policy has been a disaster, not just for the immediate future - but for the next generation or two.

Im looking forward to the next Presidential debate. I will say that the highlight of the last one was the question about the proper role of government. Obama babbled on about something, darned if I know what it was - and Mitt Romney clearly pointed to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Excellent.

Baby Boy!

In case anyone was wondering where I've been the last little while, I have been busy with life. We have welcomed an adorable baby boy to our family about two weeks ago and been trying to juggle everything since then. Life is good, thank G-d!

A wonderful Rosh HaShana (New Year) to the Jews out there. Please G-d, this should be a peaceful, healthy and successful year for all of us and the entire world.