Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com The Barnyard: 2007

Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy New Year !!!!!!


Sitting here on New Year's Eve staring into the glowing fire on the hearth reflecting on the year behind and the year ahead I find myself optimistic. The economy continues to do well, the war is progressing in the right direction, the Democrats and their moonbat base failed in their agenda making fools of themselves in the process while the GOP befuddled them at every turn. My candidate, Mitt Romney, is looking strong at the right time in a dynamic, invigorating primary race for the GOP nomination and the DNC is looking spineless, myopic, completely feckless, and increasingly socialist with an annoying, antagonistic base. I saw where the Mama Moonbat, Cindy Sheehan, and her coterrie of pink clad clowns of Code Pinko are going to disrupt the Pasadena Rose Parade with their communist anti-war I hate America lunacy. Smart move, the folks that watch that grand Parade will be so moved and not in their desired direction. The more the Democrats and their lunatic base continue their antics the better I feel about '08, I hope they continue full-bore.
So Happy New Year all, it sure is going to be interesting!

Saturday, December 29, 2007

A Treat

PBS is doing a Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute, ironic I got to see him in his last New Years performance at the Fox Theater in Atlanta in a legendary night among my friends but that was a couple decades ago. The man could play a guitar like no other, Steve Vai and Yngvie Malmsteen are a different genre, Stevie Ray was special in his own way. He is one of my favorite guitarists ever. He and Double Trouble have pleasured this Goat's ears for many years. Little Wing is my favorite Hendrix song and Stevie does it justice here.


One of his biggest hits.

Campaigning In Iowa: Updated

Cspan is running some speeches from the GOP trail this evening and the Barnyard will be watching.
First up was Mike Huckabee, wow what a populist, many parts of his speech were almost indistinguishable from John Edwards or Obama in their class-warfare rhetoric. He has definitely flip-flopped on illegal immigration among other things and evades his ethics record like a well greased pol. He also has little grasp of economics or foreign policy.
Mitt Romney is next, of course I am biased towards Mitt so you can take me as such.
Update: Mitt stayed on his three legged stump speech, economy, security and families. He doesn't hit other candidates from the stump, staying positive and focusing on his resume of the golden mitt.
Rudy is next, and starts of with security issues first in a more townhall style appearance. He makes a good point that will be missed by many on his record of fighting organized crime in that fighting the jihadi networks is not that different. I will say this, Rudy is a master of retail politics and speaking off the cuff with humor and impact.
Update: McCain is next and opens with a lame joke. He is a great man with flawed politics on too many issues. I am also very tired of the same old jokes over and over again. Nothing new here from McCain same old same old mixed with some liberal populism.
Update: Fred is next, I like Fred and wish he had jumped in earlier because he is right on the issues. He would not have swayed me from Mitt but would have given the campaign more color and gravitas. He is far better in a Q&A than in a straight speech.

Must Reading

These are some sobering and important essays to read as we launch into the primary season to nominate our next president. A couple in American Thinker take a look at Pakistan and what is happening around the globe in Islamic jihad and Jed Babbin looks at attempts by islamists to stifle free speech in the West.
Andrew Walden in TaT

Clouded by illusions that words like "democracy" and "president" mean similar things everywhere, and by the inevitable martyrdom that accompanies a brutal assassination, Americans are rather ill-prepared to understand the unvarnished truth of the problem Pakistan now poses.
"I am what the terrorists most fear" says Benazir Bhutto in an interview to be published now posthumously in the January 6 Parade Magazine. Sounds good to American ears.
But she was grasping and self-interested, a beneficiary of Saddam's Oil for Food scam. Parade, in the kind of unvarnished look only possible before the assassination quotes Bhutto's own niece saying, "She has no legacy of her own except for corruption and violence."


Walid Phares in TaT
The conflict we call the War on Terror still continues at the end of 2007 and all indications are that its battlefields are expected to spread further, and escalate, in the upcoming year.
The following is a global assessment of the confrontation that has taken place since 2001, though the systematic war waged by the Jihadi forces against democracies and the free world began at least a decade before 9/11. This evaluation isn't comprehensive or definitive, but a collection of observations related to major benchmarks, directions and projections.


Jed Babbin in Human Events
Under assault by Muslims and multiculturalists, free speech and freedom of the press are dead in Britain. The same sorts of people who killed them in Britain are killing them in Canada. They and their allies are using the British and Canadian courts and tribunals to bury our First Amendment rights in America.
Muslims -- individually and in pressure groups -- are using British libel laws and Canadian “human rights” laws to limit what is said about Islam, terrorists and the people in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere who are funding groups such as al-Queda. The cases of Rachel Ehrenfeld and Mark Steyn prove the point.

Read all three essays and take them into consideration before you cast your vote, Mitt, Rudy, John and Fred get it, Mike is lost in a cornfield somewhere.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Some Kind Words For Mrs Bhutto

My blogger Platoon leader, Amy, has this video posted.

Pelosi's Year

Hot Air and its team of conservative elves takes a creative look at Madame Speaker's productive year ic the House.

Top Ten Most Corrupt Politicians

Judicial Watch has this years list out and it includes notable Democrats(6) and Republicans including Rudy and of course Madame Hillary. Though the charges brought against Rudy were debunked by the same paper that brought them, Larry Craig's sex scandal is not corruption and charges against Libby were trumped up and not really corruption either.

Judge Bork Supports Mitt Romney

KJ Lopez at the Corner has the text of a radio ad made by Judge Bork for Mitt that is set to air in Iowa. This is a big plus for Mitt as Judge Bork is very well known and liked in conservative circles and should allay many of their fears about Mitt.

JUDGE ROBERT BORK: "Hello, this is Judge Robert Bork.

"These are very important times, and our next President will be called upon to make decisions on some big issues.

"The National Review endorsed Governor Romney, calling him a 'full-spectrum conservative.' I agree. Mitt Romney is the best person to unite the strong Reagan coalition of social, economic, and foreign policy conservatives.

"We need strong leadership on the economy, taxes, immigration, and foreign policy.

"And our next President may be called upon to make more than one Supreme Court nomination. Governor Romney will appoint judges who interpret the law, not activists who legislate from the bench.

"I admire that Governor Romney stood up to the activist court's ruling on legalizing same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. His strong leadership served as a model for the nation.

"This is Judge Robert Bork. I urge you to join me in supporting Mitt Romney for President."

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Swallow First

Jackie and Dunlap get better and better.

Jackie Brings In The New Year

Don't Mess With The Puddy Tat

In a lesson of tragic comedy three idiots apparently taunted a tiger at the San Francisco Zoo and it managed to get out and get to them killing one. Its not like a tiger is a kitty cat you can toy with, they are one of the most efficient killing machines in the wild kingdom. It sounds like one of the idiots may have dangled a leg over the wall giving the tiger a leg up so to speak. I know, that was awful so spare me.

Benazir Bhutto Assassinated

I don't know what Al Quaeda had to gain by doing this since murdering popular leaders has not proven to be a very good tactic in the past and Bhutto was tremendously popular despite the rampant corruption when she served before. This may backfire on them more than help AQ and its cause, people sour on random violence and killing very quickly and take steps to stop it as the Anbaris did in Iraq. AQ has taken credit for it already and I wonder how the people will like a foreign terrorist group murdering their populist leader?
Everybody that writes on foreign policy is analyzing this so I will be brief. I think it refocuses the domestic debate back to foreign policy to a middlen degree which will benefit the GOP more than the Dems. I'll be keeping more of an eye on Pakistan for a while for sure.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

A Wild And Crazy Year

This past year was anything but boring with the war in Iraq being the big story of course. Last year conservatives were reeling after just losing the House and Senate and the war was going badly with the anti-warnicks reaching a fevered pitch screaming for Administration heads to roll. The moonbats were having heated wet dreams about Karl Rove being frog-marched to prison and Bush and Cheney being impeached and tried for war crimes and conservatives were having nightmares they might succeed. Something happened on the way to the moonbats march for retreat and defeat, President Bush defied them and changed commanders and tactics in Iraq and flipped a switch it seems for victory there. He and the GOP leaders in Congress beat the Democrats at every turn securing funding without retreat strings attached and now we are clearly winning the war.
Democrat leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid promised and campaigned to lead the most ethical and honest Congress ever if the American people put them into power instead they have lead Congress to the lowest approval ratings in history. They have tried to force bills through and even stole votes in order to do so, supported amnesty for illegals and done everything in their power to hamstring our counter-terrorism efforts all to no avail thankfully.
It has been a year of nonstop campaigning for the presidential primaries, a fun thing for political junkies and pundits large and small. I think it has been a good and a prime view of all the candidates.
It was a summer of "Peace Marches" that looked more like clown parades to end the war "Now" that failed to draw any large numbers of people to listen to maniacs raging against America. We saw a presscorps do away with any pretext of nonbias with a constant beat about how we were losing the war even as Gen. Petraeus was turning things around and even made stuff up when the good news didn't fit their narrative. We saw the left wing smear machine try to tar him before his Congressional testimony and have it blow back in their face.
We witnessed the tragedies of the various shooting sprees by madmen that demonstrated the complete idiocy of "gun free zones". The only way to stop a crazed idiot with a gun is with a well placed shot by another gun.
We can't forget all the bimbo coverage of Hollywoods ditzy blonds and all the taudry details when one up and died on them. What with all the partying wrecked cars and DUIs you would think there was nothing else going on other than another dead girl named Peterson.
We had another summer of horrible wilfires in the West exposing the fallacy of forty years of liberal forest management and gross overgrowth.
On the bright side we have turned the corner on the war and are now winning after having killed and captured tens of thousands of terrorists and now Iraq is a place where Sunni, Shia and Christians march for peace in Baghdad and celebrate Christmas Mass together by the thousands. The GOP managed to beat back all the liberal's lunacy in Congress including the Shamnesty supported by the Pres.
Despite the hiccup in the housing and credit markets and gloom and doom from the MSM the economy has absorbed it and continues to grow at a solid rate. The deficit as a percentage of GDP is at historic lows and tax revenues are way up thanks to the Bush tax cuts which the Democrats would love to expire.
Rock ribbed conservative Rep. Bobby Jindal won the Governor's seat in La. and the GOP retained two House seats in special elections the DNC had hopes of picking up. It seems that the Democrat's loose coalition of lefty special interest groups may be ravelling a more than the GOPs as they failed to advance any of their agenda and lost ground on many fronts. The GOP held firm and despite what the MSM media says the vigorous debate in the GOP over our candidates has been very good for the party and has gotten people involved at a grassroots level. The animosity the Press reports is not there, I have friends that support different candidates but we all support the Party and its eventual nominee.
Next year looks to be just as wild and bumpy a ride and the Barnyard is on board and looking forward to it.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas!!!!



Be it known, this gentleman rests merry, God Bless you all, Merry Christmas and happy Holidays !

Poll Grazing

Taking a look at the various polls and Huckabee's, McCain's and Romney's rising it looks like Mike's rise in Iowa and nationally are not at Mitt's expense whose numbers have held pretty steady and risen steadily nationally. It appears Mike's and John's rise have hurt Fred and Rudy the most. Rudy has slipped badly and Fred failed to materialize altogether. Fred is on a last ditch bus ride around Iowa a day late and a dollar short that could pull down some of Huck's momentum. Romney's far better prepared organization will carry Iowa eventually as that is the heart of caucusing.
The big question is will Dr. Paul take his millions and minions and bolt on an independent ticket? Would that hurt the GOP and assure a Democrat victory? I am not so sure it would since most Paulnuts wouldn't vote for anybody but him anyway, or the GOP for that matter, so we are not really losing many votes in fact it may hurt the Democrats more as the antiwar vote could move to him away from the Dems and their big government policies.
Meanwhile over on the other side Hillary's campaign shenanigans and sour plastic personality seem to have worn on Democrat voters as Obama's smiling face and warm oratory are winning over folks in Iowa and New Hampshire where he has pulled ahead. The Clinton Machine seems to have blown a gasket and is blowing alot of smoke and noise as her carefully laid plans for a coronation start to crumble. Obama may just snatch her dreams away from her yet. Believe me when I say there will not be a Obama/Clinton ticket or vice versa, they really don't like each other. A white male southern or mid-western Governor will be the VP candidate for either Hillary or Barack and probably for the GOP as well.
Hillary would be a little easier to defeat than Barack in the general election because she has so many skeletons real and metaphorical in her closet. Obama just changes the narrative to his inexperience, far left Alinskyite positions, big government socialism, and foreign policy naivete. He is a smooth talker and campaigner but he can be beaten with ideas and exposure. I am definately more confident now than I was a year ago that we can retain the Whitehouse and hold our own in Congress.

Eating The Goat

Ouch, but actually goat is really good so all kidding aside, this is a must read piece at Real Clear Politics on the Provincial Recontruction Teams (PRTs) and their work in rebuilding Iraq. This is the sort of ground up approach that has been key to Gen. Petraeus' strategy of engaging the locals to find out their needs beyond basic security and then working with the local leaders to deliver those services, clean water, power, sewage disposal, garbage disposal, etc. This builds trust among the populace and creates much needed jobs removing the toehold for terrorist gangs. Here's a clip but read the whole thing.

Next, O'Friel engaged the provincial council to determine what needs were most urgent. Corruption was a problem, O'Friel tells me, but doing good "is our sword." When his team would finish a project in one neighborhood, like installing a sewage system, he would learn that the local inhabitants of a nearby neighborhood would demand the same from their town leaders. And so, little by little, the corruption has dissipated, first at the local level and then moving up to the provincial level. O'Friel says one of his greatest accomplishments so far has been to develop "a coalition of support within the provincial council that wants to do things differently."

O'Friel also went to the local Iraqi Army unit to ask its help in delivering needed medical care to several rural neighborhoods. The commander, O'Friel said, was skeptical. But after delivering medical care to 1,000 men, women and children on a single day, he changed. "He drank the Kool-Aid," is how O'Friel describes the reaction."Now he wants to do more."

It's small steps like these that serve as O'Friel's metrics for success. "If I can get this army general, who was very skeptical whether this medical program would work, now telling me that he wants to do more, that's a metric," he said. "If I can get members of the provincial council, who were originally trying to scam me, to turn around and offer good projects, that's a metric."

Sunday, December 23, 2007

A Very Hillary Christmas


Madame Hillary's campaign has released their Christmas ad that shows her Highness giving the gifts of big government to the unruly masses all paid for with their taxdollars. It reveals far more about her regressive marxist thinking than she intended to reveal, universal healthcare and pre-K, and retreat in the GWOT, etc. Barack Obama has her panicked as he is gaining real momentum in the early states as she keeps shooting but hitting only her own feet. All of the mud her campaign has flung at Obama has slid off or blownback in her face eventhough they differ very little in ideology or policy. Her ad also shows a certain inside the beltway aloofness that doesn't realize this could have been made as an attack ad as well.

Those busy little elves over at Hot Air have already spoofed it and features 'The Cackle'.

Sunny December Sunday

I am worn out after cutting and splitting a load of good eucalyptus firewood, it splits really easy but it is heavy and very hard to cut, even with a new chain on my saw. It is great in the stove though as it burns hot and for a long time with few ashes. Now its time for some beer, BBQ and football.
Can the Patriots be stopped? It sure does not look like it at this point. Manning will get another shot at in the playoffs so we'll see.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Wrong Man To Badmouth

Somebody in Huckabee's campaign went after Rush Limbaugh's conservative credentials calling him a Beltway elitist, big oops. Rush only has a gazillion listeners and today he spent the better part of his show beating Huck around the head and shoulders for his liberal policies on everything but life and guns. Hot Air has the audio and Campaign Spot liveblogged it. Rush and the Golden Microphone of EIB is the wrong enemy to make if you are running for a high office in the GOP.
I am also strongly turned off by his using his faith to deflect criticism of his policy positions something Mitt has never done. Besides using Uncle Remus analogies to discuss foriegn policy may just leave him stuck with quite a liberal tarbaby.

Mitt The Fun Family Man

This a side of Mitt Romney voters need to see more of besides the polished businessman/politician policy wonk. I can't picture any other candidate doing this. From his sons' Five Brothers blog is this clip of Mitt having some fun in the snow with his family last year.

Can you see any of the other candidates sledding with their grandkids and actually heading dowhill themselves?

Letter to a Skeptic


The news is getting a bit depressing and I'm feeling overwhelmed. As its almost shabbat, I thought that I would share with you a response that I recently wrote to an agnostic friend of mine. Enjoy and shabbat shalom.

Dear Skeptic,

I cringe whenever Judaism is reduced to a simply 'be nice' humanism. Judaism is more than just about being an ethical person. Christians can be ethical, as can Muslims, Buddhists, Shintoists or even atheists. Rather, Judaism is about inviting G-d into the world, making this world a more holy place. We are called upon to elevate the material into the spiritual. You write :" It makes no difference if there is a god or not, we are called to higher moral accountability by our faith, we are made to think about each and every action and act we engage in, no matter how trivial, and we are called to invest these actions and all our thoughts and deeds with "holiness" which, to me does not mean anything related to a deity, but holiness in the sense that it sets us apart, makes us think, makes us different than animals who merely exist and consume and procreate." However, I don't see how any of that is true without G-d. Why should I bother myself to help others? If we believe that we are simply evolved animals in a struggle of 'survival of the fittest', it is not in my best interest of helping somebody 'less fit' than me. Why should it be wrong to steal or right to give charity. If anything, if I am stronger, I have the right to take what I see fit. As for chairty, I shouldn't weaken myself for another as this contradicts our most basic drive to survive. In short, there is no 'good without G-d'. In the atheist world, one cannot say that murder is 'wrong' or kindness is 'good'. Not to insinuate that atheists are bad people, G-d forbid, but according to atheism, morality is simply a social construct which can change with time. During the time of the Greeks and Romans, weak babies were discarded in forlorn mountains and left to die. The Roman write Tacitus remarked with wonder that among the Jews 'It is a deadly sin to kill a born or unborn child'. See how morality is subject to change with time but with Torah, a G-d-based morality, it is fixed! In the atheist world, there is no accountability for our deeds and no real reason to do good as opposed to evil (or even if good and evil exist at all!).

Of course, religion has been used as an excuse for violence throughout history. Nontheless, the greatest of history's murderers and perpetrators of atrocities were motivated by atheism. Hitler (yimach shemo) said " The Jews have inflicted two wounds on the world: Circumcision for the body and conscience for the soul. I come to free mankind from their shackles." Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, all were no believer in G-d. None of these people felt any remorse for what they did because they had no fear of accountablity to a Heavenly Deity. Atheism offers no hope for a better future but only offers despair at a meaningless world deaf to your prayers. Without religion, people will find many more reasons to kill each other, whether it is race, colour or over a parking spot. The concept of world peace was only introduced to the world by the prophets of the Jewish people. The prophet Yishayahu (2:4) offers a beautiful future in which "they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." He speaks of (11:6) the time when "the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."

Nobody can answer for G-d why there is so much suffering in this world. However, the fact that this suffering bugs us means that deep down we know that a Just G-d must exist who rules His world in fairness. Otherwise, against whom are we upset. Do we cry 'where are you?' to the emptiness of the godless universe? Questioning does not imply doubt. Avraham said to G-d "shall not the Judge of all the earth do justly?" (Bereishit 18:25). Moses cried out "Lord, wherefore hast Thou dealt ill with this people? Lama hareota la'am haze?" (Shemot 5:22) And yet, these were the greatest of believers. When Iyuv asked G-d to explain the suffering, G-d responded "Where were you when I laid the Earth's foundations...Can you send an order to the clouds for an abundace of water to cover you?... Can you hunt prey for the lion and satisfy the apetite of the king of the beats. Is it by your wisdom that the hawk grows pinions, spreads his wings to the south?" You may call G-d's answer a cop-out but I think that we should remember that, just like someone who sees a second of a movie cannot judge the entire film, so too we can't judge G-d's Justice from our limited viewpoint. We must question, ask for G-d to explain Himself, but in the end we need faith.

"The end of the matter, all having been heard: fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole man. For G-d shall bring every work into the judgment concerning every hidden thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil" (Kohelet 12:13)

I'm also sorry to bend your eye. I can go on and on too.

Shalom,

BK

Cross-posted from For Zion's Sake

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Mitt Gets Another Big Endorsement

My favorite Congressman and staunch conservative Tom Tancredo has dropped out of the race and endorsed Mitt Romney for President. This is huge as he wants to stop Huckabee and Rudy and a massive bump for Mitt's credibility on the issue. I bet a choice Cabinet position was offered to Tom, like DHS. I bet Mitt picks up Duncan Hunter's next with a similar offer maybe SecDef.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Favorite Christmas Hymn? Updated

Update: More from Sissel and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir can be found here, thanks to reader, Stenar. I always have an ear to the music world and I am surprised I missed a heavenly voiced angel like this.

Mine is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman", I have a very strong bend towards the classical like Handel's "Messiah". I have to find this Swedish( correction: a reader points out she is Norwegian) gal I just saw on PBS with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir unreal voice, crystal clear without waver, Julie Andrews comes to mind, Sissel Kyrkjebo was the name I heard, a voice you can listen to and not know the language, pure music.

Bingo, video.



or here for a better listen of this talent. My ears are in love.

Mitt's New Ad

I had been thinking he needed to get this story out there, my coblogress, Lisa, posted it a while back so I will have to rummage around a bit to find it. He closed down Bain Capital and put its substantial resources to work to help find a colleague's 14 year old daughter that had gone missing after attending a concert in New York. They made the News and found her just in time, suffering from an OD. This is the Mitt Romney voters need to know like the story Lisa posted a couple weeks ago about Mitt and his son taking time off the campaign trail to go help a San Diego resident dig out a burnt stump, without camera crew, after the wildfires while on a stop there.

Hmmm?

I forget where I saw this today but it is seen as a sign of fervency among radical islamists, a prayer mark, a scar/callous/sore on the forehead where they touch their heads to the floor in prayer. Doesn't Revelations say something about the Mark of the Beast being branded on the forehead? As I have come to understand islam, I can point to Muhammed as the Anti-Christ, since he teaches that it is ok to kill and take from the infidels what they desire, indeed to smite off our heads. They have the speech of the Four Horsemen not that of the Messiah.
Regular readers will know to visit Hot Air for Dr. Spencer's weekly dicussion on the Qu`ran, he has been exploring Surah 9, the calling for Judeo-Christian blood if they don't submit, okaying rape, pillage and slavery. As a sidenote the Muslims ran the African slave trade and the vast majority went to Arabia and death. I just found that little snippet interesting about their habit of banging their head on the floor as a status symbol odd.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Jackie On Gun Control

Jackie weighs in again on gun conrol and he doesn't like it very much, here is his take on the Colorado tragedy. The most fundamental right is that of personal security and being able to protect you and yours.

Tenth of Tevet



"Master of the world, the people of Israel are your tephillin; when a simple Jew drops his tephillin on the ground, he picks them up and kisses them. When the people of Israel suffer and are thrown in the dust, isn't it proper that you should pick them up and kiss them?" --Rebbe Levi Yitschak of Berditshev, Ukraine, late 1700's

Tomorrow is the fast of the Tenth of Tevet which marks the day that the wicked Babylonians and Romans began the siege of Jerusalem, the beginning of the end for the First and Second Temples. The Sages declare that every generation in which the Temple is not rebuilt is like the generation in which it was destroyed. Due to our many sins, the Temple has not yet been rebuilt, namely because we have failed 'to set Jerusalem above my highest joy' (Tehillim 137:6). Unfortunately, the Israeli government has not learnt this holy lesson and is prepared to sacrifice Jerusalem.

As long as we don't have a Temple, we are in exile. The Jewish people are in exile physically since we are still endangered and besieged by our enemies, and the world as a whole is in the spiritual exile of agnosticism, heresy, doubt and meaninglessness. When the Temple will be rebuilt, G-d's presence will be manifest on Earth and we will all bask in His glory.


"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged up our harps. For there they that led us captive asked of us words of song, and our tormentors asked of us mirth: 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.' How shall we sing the Lord'S song in a foreign land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not; if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy. Remember, O the Lord, against the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem; who said: 'Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.' O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that repayeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock."

May we merit the rebuilding of Jerusalem, of the Holy Temple, and may Hashem comfort Zion speedily in our days. Hashem, pick up Your holy tefillin and bring us home. Amen, ken yehi ratzon!



PS Sign the Jewish Declaration to the World and "raise Jerusalem above your highest joy"

Cross-posted from For Zion's Sake

Those Extra Black Secret Service SUVs

Ever wonder why there are so many of those big black suburbans in a Presidential convoy? Reader Phil mailed it to me and I found it again at Ace of Spades. Secret Service war porn, This is super badass!

Inside The Birth Of Modern Islamic Jihad

Lawrence Wright's book "The Looming Tower" takes you to the beginning in Egypt and the US and one Sayyid Qutb in the late forties. Wright explores the effect of the establishment of Israel and their easy defeat of the massed Arab armies and the birth of the Muslim Brotherhood that believed they lost because they had left Allah and only by returning to strict Sha`ria law could the be victorious over the Jews and to a lesser extent the West. Their focus was on Egypt only but Qutb's writings spread to the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia.

Wright chronicles OBL's father's rise to prominence with the Saudi family as a contracter for their first oil boom building projects and Osama's travels for jihad. Turns out he was seen as an incompetant fool with deep pockets. He had very little to do with kicking the Soviets out of Afganistan, except money, his Arabs were seen as very poor fighters by the Afgan Muj and were kept out of most of the fighting.

This incredible book covers all the innerworkings of how AQ came to be as well as Hezbullah, etal. It is extensively researched with documented with all the many players in a relatively small movement. I highly recommend this under the Tree if your spouse loves a thriller, then you can read it too, LOL .

I'm Baaack

Good flights, good visit but it is good to be home with a fire going and internet access, LOL. I did log in at the Library when my Mother and Sister went Saturday so I could catch up. Anyway, I read when I fly and will have reviews posted on Lawrence Wright"s "The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11" and Robert Kaplan's "Imperial Grunts" , embedded with our military around the world at the NonCom level, both are must reads for those interested in recent history of the conflicts and efforts we are involved in. Both are excellent writers so they read like great fiction but they aren't. I will put it this way, I like to smoke a cigar when I read so I had to go outside at their house, I was bundled up at midnight in 30 degree weather sitting on the deck reading "The Looming Tower".
I also got to see the "Lord of the Rings " trilogy when TNT ran it this weekend. I admit it I was a Tolkien geek but only got to see the first one on the big screen and was extremely impressed. I played couch potato Sunday and watched it all, again after seeing Fri. and Sat.'s runup, awesome job, just awesome.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

From the Jewish People to the World


(by Rafael V. Rabinovitch)

To the Nations of the World

We, the Jewish people, both in Eretz Yisrael and in the various places of our exile, hereby declare:

1. That the Jewish People are the sole heirs to the Land of Israel, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea;

2. That all the Jewish people, each and every Jew, and only the Jews, have the right to return to the Land of Israel;

3. That the Jewish People have the right and duty to settle the Land of Israel in its entirety, to work the land, to build industry on it, and to do so respecting its holiness as the Torah commands;

4. That any individual Jew, even with the claim of representing the Jewish people, the people and/or government of Israel, or any representative or ruling authority; has no right to give away the collective right of the Jewish people over the Land of Israel;

5. That we will not accept any declaration, agreement, legislation, court ruling or decree that contradicts our right to the Land of Israel. This includes any instance where our right is only partially recognized, or where another people or entity alien to our people is said to share rights over the Land of Israel;

6. That the name of our land is the Land of Israel, Eretz Yisrael, and that we do not recognize the sovereign validity of any name imposed by foreign conquerors, or any people called after such imposed name;

7. That the capital of the Land of Israel is the entire city of Jerusalem, and that this is an unconditional truth not subject to debate or negotiation. No other people or entity of any sort has sovereign rights over that city, and even the collection of all the nations of the world has no such right;

8. That the Temple Mount is our most Holy place, and that no one has the right to violate its holiness and physical integrity. The remains of the First and Second Temple shall not be touched unless it is for the specific purpose of building the Third Temple;

9. That the State of Israel has the duty to keep the Land of Israel on Jewish hands, and any violation of this duty is to us of no validity. We do not recognize any territorial concession, and no peace may come from such thing.


Jews and non-Jews please sign this petition and G-d willing, the world will hear our voice. Post this declaration on your blogs and help propagate the Jewish message!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Proudly Calling for Genocide


Does anybody still doubt the real intentions of the Pseudostinians? This program was produced by the "moderate" Palestinian Authority, Abbas' own Fatah. Know that "Palestine" is simply a codeword for the wholesale murder of the Jewish People.

From Arutz-7:

The Palestinian Authority's Al-Aksa TV broadcasts, produced by Hamas, include children's programming that calls for the genocide of the "people of Zion."

On December 3, 2007, a Hamas children's show broadcast on PA TV featured an impassioned speech by a young boy of approximately nine years old. Speaking in the style of many Islamist preachers, and with an image of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem as a background, the boy declared that the only way to "rescue" the Al-Aksa Mosque from Israel, America and their allies is "by means of force."

According to a transcript provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the boy told his presumably child viewers that "the Al-Aksa Mosque has fallen into oppressing and malicious hands, the hands of those who know nothing but injustice." Describing the Jerusalem mosque as in "the shackles of the occupation," despite the fact that it is under Muslim Wakf control, the boy went on to say:

"But let me tell you how the Al-Aksa Mosque will be returned, how we shall rescue it from the shackles of the occupation, from the shackles of the Zionist entity. Will it be through conferences? No, not through conferences, but by means of force, because the Zionist entity, your enemy, the enemy of Allah, the enemy of Islam, knows nothing but injustice and the killing of Palestinians, the persevering people on the frontline. Indeed, the [mosque] will be returned only by means of force."

"But look what the Zionist enemy has done, look what Israel and America have done. Look what the allies of Israel and America have done. They have dug tunnels underneath the Al-Aksa Mosque, but the sheikhs and mujahideen of the Al-Aksa Mosque have exposed these tunnels and called upon the Palestinian people: 'Look what has happened, look what has happened.'

"These calls have gone unheeded, my beloved brothers. But is it too late? No, it is not too late. If we all unite, the Al-Aksa Mosque will not remain in the hands of the Zionist enemy, it will not remain in the hands of your enemy, despite all their conspiracies against the Palestinian people."

Later in the programming, a similarly young girl recited a poem that included the lines: "To Al-Aksa, to Al-Aksa - we shall unite our ranks. We will wipe out the people of Zion, and will not leave a single one of them."


This is by no means unique to Fatah. Hamas' Charter, quoted from the Muslims ahadith, speaks of the massacre of the Jews as a prerequisite of the final Hour. "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him..." Hizballah's Hassan Nasrallah has said that "if they [the Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.” Similarly, a 1992 Hizballah statement vowed “open war until the elimination of Israel and until the death of the last Jew on earth.”

These are the same people with whom Olmert is negotiating "peace" (of the grave) talks, the same people who have fired thousands of kassam rockets into Sderot. They have no desire to make peace but to kill every last Jew. Therefore, it is the government of Israel's reponsibility to prevent that and has the moral responsibility and obligation to expel this population of murderers.

The average age in Gaza is 16 years old. Does anybody believe that a pseudo-nation of illiterate, poor teenagers raised on a steady diet of hate and taught that if he murders a Jew, that he will be rewarded eternally with 70 virgins to abuse and brutalize, that such a people are able to make peace and co-exist with the Jews?

Cross-posted from For Zion's Sake

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Going For A Christmas Visit

I am going to be away visiting with my family over the next few days so blogging will be limited to Bar and Lisa's contributions unless I can get my Sister's dinosaur up and running. I am going to put comments into moderation and they will be posted asap, thanks for your patience and understanding.
It will be fun to see my Niece(6) after a couple years, I see a soccer match coming, and spend some quality time with my family and old friends. It will be a fun but whirlwind visit as I pack as many friends and relatives as I can into a long weekend.
See y'all Tuesday, untill then be well !

GOP Debate Today

This was less a debate and more a gotcha question sound bite session, format and staging were horrid and the moderator, worse. What in the heck was Allan Keyes doing up there or Hunter or Tancredo? There are four, maybe five viable candidates with only weeks till voting starts and we need a real debate between them with time for some real answers from a real moderator or panel like, say Newt Gingrich. The format fit Mitt and Fred well and they did the best with Mitt winning easily. Fred may be regretting waiting so long to get into the race as he does have a very solid platform and message, his slow pace would have done better if he had. Rudy was way off his game as was Huckster.
I am sure Shucksterbee was horrified he was going to get hit with his crazy clemencies and attempts to incite anti-Mormon bigotry and caught a break.
All in all its been several good news cycles for Mitt and several awful ones for Mike who is starting to show a penchant for putting a foot in his folksy mouth.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

A Virulent Hatred


"Why was the Torah given on a mountain called Sinai? Because of the great sinah- the tremendous hatred- that emanated onto the nations of the world from there" (Tractate Shabbos 89)

Tom Lehrer's folksong "National Brotherhood Week" says:

Oh the Protestants hate the Catholics,
and the Catholics hate the Protestants,
and the Hindus hate the Moslems
and everybody hates the Jews.


Anti-semitism is the most virulent and deeply-rooted forms of hatred and is commonplace in every single culture and religion. It has an amazing way of transforming itself to suit each new age or epoque and to make itself a part of each new ideology or paradigm. In the ancient world, the Jews were thought to be xenophobic, intolerant of pagan religions. Judaism, and the moral code that it espoused, were hated by the promiscuous and immoral societies which surrounded it.

Christians made anti-semitism an integral part of their theology as well. Their god was a Jew, based himself on Jewish scriptures and aimed his message at the Jews- and yet they rejected him! In retaliation, Jesus tells his worshippers “Behold I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not but do lie; behold I will make them to come and worship before thy feet...” (Revelation 3.9) The strongest homilies against the Jews are found in the writings of "Saint" John Chrysostom who writes: "The Jews are the most worthless of all men. They are lecherous, rapacious, greety. They are perfidious murderers of C. They worship the Devil. Their religion is a sickness. The Jews are the odious assassins of C and for killing God there is no expiation possible, no indulgence or pardon. Christians may never cease vengeance, and the Jew must live in servitude forever. G-d always hated the Jews. It is essential that all Christians hate them." The Church was furious at how the Jews who were very knowledgeable and learned in Scriptures rejected "their" messiah who was so evidently alluded to by the prophets. They charged that G-d replaced the Jewish people and the Church was the "New Israel". The Church spilled rivers of Jewish blood across the centuries during the Crusades, Inquistions, pogroms, expulsions and Holocausts. Even the Protestant reformers continued Christinity's legacy of hatred and judeophobia. Martin Luther, who protested much of Catholic doctrine, was on common ground with the Pope concerning the Jews. Martin Luther, father of Protestantism and whom these "Hebrew" Christian orgnaizations will never condemn, recommended harsh measures to deal with "this rejected and condemned people". "First, to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them." He advocated forbidding the rabbis to teach, burning the Talmud and synagogues and many cruel methods to destroy the Jews.

In the Islamic world, although Jews do not play as heavily in their theology as in Christianity, the Jews were still seen as an accursed people who had incurred the wrath of Allah. Muhammad originally ordered Muslims to pray towards Jerusalem and to fast on Yom Kippur, in the hopes that the Jews accept him as a prophet. When they refused, Muhammad changed the direction of prayer towards Mecca and imposed many restrictions on the Jews. Muhammad claimed that the Jews rebelled against their prophets, were arrogant, miserly, rejected and lying hypocrites. The fatiha, Islam's most basic prayer, beseeches Allah to guide Muslims to "the straight path", "not (the path) of those upon whom Thy wrath is brought down", the Jews. The Jews were not necessarily to be killed (though that featured in eschatological beliefs) but to be humilated, subjugated and demeaned.

When religion lost its influence, anti-semitism did not disappear but took on a new form- racial hatred. Where the Jew could once be saved by simply converting to another faith, the new anti-semitism held that the Jew was of an inferiour race and sought to pollute the pure Aryan race. He was a parasite and had to be dealt with accordingly. This perverted belief led to the death of 6 million Jews in the fires of the Holocaust, as the world stood silent.

Today, except for in the Islamic world, the belief that Jews are 'C-killers' is not acceptable. In public discourse, no legitimacy is given to the idea of the inferiour semitic race. However, anti-semitism is far from gone. The traditional anti-semitism of the past has been replaced with the rabid anti-Zionism that is evident in the world's hatred of the Jewish State. While in public one will not hear 'Death to the Jews' (except of course by the Muslims), the call of 'Death to the Zionists' is acceptable and is even made in mainstream universities. Instead of killing Christian babies to use their blood in matzot, Israeli soliders murder Arab children indiscriminately. No longer plotting world domination by the Elders of Zion, the US is a pawn of Israel and went to war to protect its interests.

Anti-Zionism is a deadly new form of anti-semtism and one that has intense legitimacy in the eyes of the elitist left. Anti-Zionism is the denial of a homeland to an entire nation simply because they are Jews. It is also the legitimization of the murder of Jews in Israel by painting Israel as a colonialist apartheid state. If the Jews are invaders, the natives have every right to use any means to repel them. In this vein, the anti-Zionist shrugs when he hears that Jews have been blown to shreds in a bus bombing or a toddler shot in the head by an Arab murderer, just as the world responded apathetically to the news that entire communities were being shot or gassed in Europe. Israel is expected to remain calm in the face of overwhelming hatred and constant attacks and to never retaliate, for fear of using "disproportionate force", as if a country can only kill 5 enemies if 5 of its citizens have been killed.

Every time the anti-Zionist clamours about Israeli "apartheid" practices or "war crimes", he is wishing to see the smoke rising from the chimneys of Auschwitz (G-d forbid). When he speaks about "Palestinian" "resistance", he is getting ready for the Final Solution to the Zionist Problem. Do not be fooled! Despite his slick and articulate words and flowery talks of peace and freedom, he remains a wolf in lamb's clothing. "Thine enemies are in an uproar; and they that hate Thee have lifted up the head. They hold crafty converse against Thy people, and take counsel against Thy treasured ones. They have said: 'Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.' For they have consulted together with one consent; against Thee do they make a covenant; The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also is joined with them; they have been an arm to the children of Lot." (Psalm 83) They plot the destruction of the Jewish people!

Anti-Zionism must not be given forum to speak and anti-Zionists must not be given liscence to spread their hateful poison. It is in essence a rationalization for genocide (G-d forbid). One cannot claim to be pro-"Palestine" and pro-Israel at the same time because "Palestine" is merely a euphemism for the wholesale slaughter of the Jewish people. And to that I say: 'Never Again!'

Cross-posted from For Zion's Sake

Is Jackie Endorsing Mitt ?

Jackie on Mitt's speech.

Its A Horse Race

With less than a month till the primary voters go to the polls to select who will be our standard bearers it has become a real race in both parties. Hillary's broom seems to be running out of magic as Barack is a making a big move on her in all the early states just as Huckabee has put the heat to Mitt and Rudy out of nowhere.
Mitt Romney picked up a huge endorsement today, National Review has come out for Mitt. I doubt there are very many conservatives that don't read National Review or parts of it at NRO.
Mike Huckabee is finding out what it means to be a player as the opposition research is starting to come out, it seems Gubner Huck had a penchant for releasing and giving pardons to violent felons that had come to Jesus. He is getting hammered in the blogosphere, good grief Ron Paul is far more conservative and Republican than this guy. Ace is on him here , here and here.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Can't Report Good News From Iraq So Lets Make Up Some Bad

Well, well, well, it seems a story about an AQ massacre attack on a small Shia village as reported by the MSM never happened, Ace of Spades has the story.
Meanwhile Mike Totten and Mike Yon are reporting from the ground in Iraq. Totten is in Fallujah with another outstanding dispatch.

“I don't think people really know what to expect from any of this,” he continued. “It's like people say: you only get the bad news on TV. They don't get to hear about how Fallujah is doing good now. I'm sure they'd hear about it if something bad happened. But these people are doing better, the schools are open, businesses are open, people are cleaning up their own city. They're starting their own neighborhood watch. They have their own police force now, their own government. People don't get to hear about that. I think that's important for people to know. You shouldn't focus so much on people who mess up. I mean, people have messed up. Bad stuff has happened. But you should focus on the percentage of people who are doing good as opposed to the percentage who are doing bad. There's a lot of good going on over here. And there's a lot of good people in this city.”

Yon is in Baghdad writing about a previous embed with the Brits in Basra when the fighting was still hot but sends along this report from Doura by LTC Jim Crider.
For the past few days we have hosted media embeds from the New York Times and the USA Today. We also brought down Iraqi television recently to show them the progress we have made in Doura. When I met the Iraqi reporter in the Green Zone he was visibly nervous and asked if we had any active snipers in the neighborhoods where we planned to travel. Not surprisingly, he was by himself as his partner failed to show likely out of fear. We reassured him as he admitted that he had not been to Doura since before the war. Once we arrived he saw the streets full of families, vegetable markets, new sidewalks, remodeled schools, parks, and some very nice murals on the walls. As it turned out, we could hardly keep up with him as he interviewed over twenty people on the street and in their cars about the situation. This is important in our current strategy as we spread the news even within the city of Baghdad about real progress. In the past, the Iraqi Government has used security as an excuse for inactivity so the media can help remove that misconception.

Church Killing Horror

The big story of course is the deranged nuts that decided to shoot up a church and a mall lately. Thank God the Church had a plan in place and armed citizen volunteers in place in case something like this happened, the mall did not. Only four innocent people had to needlessly die before one of those armed citizens took him out, a sharp shootin' gal with a law enforcement background. Good thing The New Life Mega-Church in Colorado Springs is not a "gun free zone" or it could have been really ugly as the nut was heavily armed. Kudos to the Church leadership for the forward thinking in having such a plan in place and a hero's praise for that courageous lady for doing what needed to be done by taking that bastard out and one of the wounded was a Viet-Vet who purposely distracted the vile slug so others could gain cover.
Michelle is running it as her top story so she has all the links and updates as it unfolds.
My Prayers for the families in these horrible tragedies.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Friday, December 07, 2007

Want To Laugh

Dragon Lady, mother hen of the Barnyard and great friend, has one of her best Fractured Fridays posted, swallow first.

A Day To Always Remember

Sixty six years ago we were attacked at Pearl Harbor, so I send you over to friend of the Barnyard's Benning has a great write up.

Newsbusted

I must say Newsbusters has become one of my favorite sites and they have this fun weekly video clip.

Mitt's Speech Reax

The reactions among the blogosphere and punditry are overwhelmingly highly positive to outstanding. Whether you support Mitt or not you have admit he gave a great speech, looking and sounding very presidential. Many are saying this was an historic speech on par with some of the best in our past. There has been some parsing here and there but most of it by lefty MSMers that want religion not to exist in their secular socialist paradise that they rule. Mitt has become a gifted orator and communicator and showed some genuine passion in his delivery. It didn't hurt for it to be at the Bush Library with the former President and First Lady in attendance with the Library Presidential Seals on the podium and behind him. To top it off, Mitt penned the speech himself.

No Wonder Hillary Is Panicked

I tell you what if he gets past the Clinton Machine Barack Obama is going to be a lot more difficut to beat in the general election than she will. Make no mistake about it he is a hard left partisan Alinskyite activist but listen to him speak and he has the Big O, Oprah, out on the trail with him guaranteeing huge enthused crowds. I saw this little clip at the Campaign Standard and have heard a couple of his speeches all fluff but very well delivered.

He has charisma, a ton of money and he's not Hillary or the preening pony. He is running down Hillary with a well run clean campaign and she is crashing and burning. This could get very interesting.....

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Jackie And Dunlap Discuss Rudy



They take on Romney's gardeners as well, I am a Mitt fan and this is funny!


They take on the big Os here, Obama and Oprah, classic.

Jackie Slaps Huckabee Around A Bit

If you don't believe me maybe Jackie will help, sounds like Jackie likes my man Mitt.

Mitt is an American running for President not as a Mormon running for President.
Huckabee is a Baptist preacher running for President as a Baptist preacher.
I have as many theological problems with Southern Baptists as I do Mormons, for example Huck believes the earth is only 6,000 years old and rejects evolution and intelligent design theories. To me that is pretty bassackwards, I am man and I cannot limit the enormity of God, evolution is God's gift of survival and science and its discoveries are His domain as well. How can man limit the power of God? Ask a Southern Baptist like Pastor Huckabee, Baptist preacher man. Mike Huckabee is a very good and decent man with some very disturbing ideas and not fit to be POTUS .
Update: I am not disqualifying mike for his religion but because besides being prolife he is quite liberal compassionate conservative on tax and spend. That is what made Mitt's speech so important is it took that issue off the table and put in the freezer. My above comment makes me sound like a huge hypocrite and I own up to it, but I think my comment puts things in perspective about how it is easy to find quirks in any particular form of Christianity ,Judaism, or Islam, so as Mitt suggests, its off the table for discussion.

Faith In America: The Romney Speech


Powerline has the complete speech video
I am biased as a Mitt supporter but I thought it was an excellent speech. The response from the crowd was very enthusiastic. The text is here if you did not get to listen to it. I will post the video when I can find the code. Here are some of my favorite lines. Hot Air has the video of course.

"As a young man, Lincoln described what he called America's 'political religion' – the commitment to defend the rule of law and the Constitution. When I place my hand on the Bible and take the oath of office, that oath becomes my highest promise to God. If I am fortunate to become your President, I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest. A President must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States.

"It is important to recognize that while differences in theology exist between the churches in America, we share a common creed of moral convictions. And where the affairs of our nation are concerned, it's usually a sound rule to focus on the latter – on the great moral principles that urge us all on a common course. Whether it was the cause of abolition, or civil rights, or the right to life itself, no movement of conscience can succeed in America that cannot speak to the convictions of religious people.

"We should acknowledge the Creator as did the Founders – in ceremony and word. He should remain on our currency, in our pledge, in the teaching of our history, and during the holiday season, nativity scenes and menorahs should be welcome in our public places. Our greatness would not long endure without judges who respect the foundation of faith upon which our Constitution rests. I will take care to separate the affairs of government from any religion, but I will not separate us from 'the God who gave us liberty.

"Recall the early days of the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, during the fall of 1774. With Boston occupied by British troops, there were rumors of imminent hostilities and fears of an impending war. In this time of peril, someone suggested that they pray. But there were objections. 'They were too divided in religious sentiments', what with Episcopalians and Quakers, Anabaptists and Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Catholics.

"Then Sam Adams rose, and said he would hear a prayer from anyone of piety and good character, as long as they were a patriot.

"And so together they prayed, and together they fought, and together, by the grace of God ... they founded this great nation.

Moderate Murderers


Here are our "moderate" peace partners:

Palestinian Authority radio contest featured a laudatory biography of Adolf Hitler replete with his military victories, heroism and no mention of the Holocaust.

"His golden year was 1940, when his armies invaded Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Holland, and Belgium and defeated France…By mid 1942, his country controlled the largest land area in Europe…He refused to surrender and continued to fight for two more years, but, his bitter end came in the spring of 1945 when he took his own life…Who is he?" was the question broadcast as a Voice of Palestine radio contest on November 27.

The question was part of the official Palestinian Authority-run radio’s Ramadan quiz - rebroadcast this past week, and documented by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).

The broadcast presents Hitler heroically, detailing his two Medals of Honor in World War I, his rise to power, his launching of World War II and specifies country after country that he conquered.
(From Arutz-7)

Before you listen to a Pseudostinian claim that there was no Holocaust or that Germany should be made to pay, not them, consider the ties between the Nazis and the Arabs of "Palestine". The chief Islamic authority during the War, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, Mufti of Jerusalem, was a great admirer of Hitler, spent the war years with him in Germany, thwarted plans to allow Jews to immigrate to Israel and escape the Nazis, helped recruit Bosnian Muslims to join the SS and planned to build a death camp modeled on Auschwitz near Shechem (Nablus), among other things. "Arise, o sons of Arabia," he exhorted his avid pro-Nazi followers. "Fight for your sacred rights. Slaughter Jews wherever you find them. Their spilled blood pleases Allah, our history and religion. That will save our honor."

Not to be outdone by the Arabs, the IDF is now disarming Israeli settlers in Judea and Samaria- not like there's any use for weapons there.

The IDF is conducting a large scale operation to confiscate weapons from the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, according to Channel 10 TV. The purpose of the operation is described as "putting the settlers' gun permits in order."

The security coordinators of the communities in Samaria have been summoned to a meeting with IDF officers Thursday, and community leaders are convinced that the IDF intends to collect many of the weapons in the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
(From Arutz-7)

No danger at all... like this:

Two Israeli-Arabs from Jaljulia, aged 17 and 21, were indicted in a district court in Tel Aviv on Thursday for planning to carry out terrorist attacks as part of al-Qaeda's calls for worldwide jihad.

The two are accused of planning to stab an IDF soldier at the Kfar Qassem junction in order to steal his weapon and use it to shoot at other soldiers at the intersection.

The pair was arrested during a joint operation by the Shin Bet, Border Police and Police special forces unit.

Both men also admitted to planning to knife a security guard at the entrance to the Sde Hemed community. They planned to enter the town with the stolen weapon in order to shoot at community residents.
(From Ynet News)

These two men were Israeli citizens, not poor oppressed Pseudostinians. They have more political rights than any Arabs in any Arab country, a higher living standard and all the advantages and privileges that Israeli democracy entails. When will the Israeli elite realize that democracy and a higher quality of life will not make the Arabs love us? The Arabs believe that Israeli belongs to them and they will never be satisfied until that happens. Such a thing (G-d forbid) will never happen so it is foolish to try to placate and accomodate them. Their human rights must be protected but should they wish to exercise their political determination, they are free to do so in any of the 22 Arab countries. The door is thataway...

Cross-posted from For Zion's Sake

Yet Another Example of What Makes Romney Special




I have told the story of Mitt Romney having shut down Bain Capital to look for a co-worker's missing teenage daughter back in the 90s but this, might possibly, trump even that.
CLick the link for the full story but here is the jist.
"specifically San Diego where fires raged just a short while ago. Apparently, a certain Reed Fisher, whose home and property were damaged by the fire, got a call from someone in the local LDS Church offering to help clean up. After telling them about a burnt tree with 20 year old roots that he had been unable to remove, the brother showed up at 7 AM on a Wednesday morning, along with his father, who turned out to be none other than Mitt Romney...minus the press corp....
They were really going at it with power saws provided by the LDS Church. Then I got a Big Surprise. First I saw Matt, then beside him with chain saw buzzing away was a candidate for President of the United States!!! You guessed it!! Matt Romney was there with his DAD, "MITT ROMNEY", former governor of Massachusettsand republican presidential candidate. He was actually in Levi's and a blue T shirt and tennis shoes, with leather gloves and goggles. He was really sawing away at my stump! Others who were there working were LDS Bishop Jim Davies, Greg Davis and 6 LDS Missionaries. Oh and I almost forgot the Secret Service bodyguards were nearby standing guard. The Mormon Missionaries were there because they have been reassigned to disaster relief projects all over San Diego where the fires burned. They got assigned by their leaders to come to our home at 11372 Luz Place that morning. There were no local news media. Mitt and Matt Romney were just being good neighbors helping neighbors. Mitt was in Southern Calif for some meetings later in the day up..."




(PS from Goat, Lisa put the link in the headline if you are looking for it)

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Totally Cool


Robot war porn for those interested in really cool stuff. From Hot Air.

John Bolton Blasts The NIE And The Left

From Hot Air, John Bolton with Bill O'Reily, this is good. One thing I should note is several of the authors of the NIE are viruntly anti-Bush and Bolton hints at this towards the end.


If Iran, in fact, did shelve their program in '03 it vindicates Bush and if they have restarted it, it still vindicates him so take that moonbats.

Want To Forget OPEC

With gas and oil prices up partially due to a weaker dollar we have the opportunity to remove ourselves from OPEC dependency and shatter global oil prices by exploring our own massive reserves with Canada and Mexico that dwarf Middle-Eastern oil reserves. Ace of Spades points to this report (in pdf) from the DOE on just the shale oil in the Green River formation of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming not to mention the off shore fields in the Gulf of Mexico and both coasts and ANWR. We could drive the price of oil way down if the environuts would just let us. I am talking about trillions of barrels of oil just sitting there waiting to be pumped out.

The largest known oil shale deposits in the world are in the Green River Formation, which covers portions of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Estimates of the oil resource in place within the Green River Formation range from 1.5 to 1.8 trillion barrels. Not all resources in place are recoverable. For potentially recoverable oil shale resources, we roughly derive an upper bound of 1.1 trillion barrels of oil and a lower bound of about 500 billion barrels. For policy planning purposes, it is enough to know that any amount in this range is very high. For example, the midpoint in our estimate range, 800 billion barrels, is more than triple the proven oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. Present U.S. demand for petroleum products is about 20 million barrels per day. If oil shale could be used to meet a quarter of that demand, 800 billion barrels of recoverable resources would last for more than 400 years.
...Shell anticipates that, in contrast to the cost estimates for mining and surface retorting, the petroleum products produced by their thermally conductive in-situ method will be competitive at crude oil prices in the mid-$20s per barrel. The company is still developing the process, however, and cost estimates could easily increase as more information is obtained and more detailed designs become available. [PA note: even if costs turned out to be 3X, its still economically viable at today's prices]

Development Timeline. Currently, no organization with the management,
technical, and financial wherewithal to develop oil shale resources has announced its intent to build commercial-scale production facilities... [PA note: by 2007 Shell had already started ramping this in Canada]


Meanwhile the Democrats are smoking their crack-pipe again wanting mandates on renewable sources of energy other that hydro, or nuclear and what would those be, wind, solar? We have another very abundant source of cheap energy, coal, and as technology has improved it has become a much cleaner source than in the past. Townhall has an informative piece today on alternative energy and coal fired electric plants.

Every week brings new claims that clean, free, inexhaustible renewable energy will soon replace the “dirty” fuels that sustain our economy today. A healthy dose of reality is needed.

Over half of our electricity comes from coal. Gas and nuclear generate 36% of our electricity. Barely 1% comes from wind and solar. Coal-generated power typically costs less per kilowatt hour than alternatives – leaving families with more money for food, housing, transportation and healthcare.
By 2020, the United States will need 100,000 megawatts of new electricity, say EIA, industry and utility company analysts. Unreliable wind power simply cannot meet these demands.


I have looked into solar since I live in sunny Ca. and have a Southern facing roof line and it would cost about $17,000 for me to install. My power bill averages about $50 bucks a month doing the math means about 25 years before it pays for itself possibly less if energy costs soar, not a fiscally prudent move. I use a very renewable source for heat, wood, in a very efficient stove. Trees after all convert CO2 to oxygen that they release for me to breath and sequester the carbon as their body for me to burn for warmth and I get needed exercise cutting and splitting it, dual purpose. I cut my winter power bill by 75% as a result since installing my stove and that is with my thermostat set a 55 and being chilly all the time now I am warm and cozy with the joy of a fire on the hearth.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

To My Jewish Friends

Heres to your victory over the pagans of Greece!

A blessed and happy Chanakkuh! May the Menorah give its light to the world for eternity!

Sidenote: This is my third Christmas season in my neighborhood and for the first time since I have been here my street is lighting up with Christmas lights, a handful of homes have decorated quite extensively and it is great. I have not decorated my house before but now I want to, it looks so nice.

Ouch If You Are Mike Huckabee: Updated With Video


Via Hot Air
The mother of the girl raped and murdered by Wayne Dumond, a convicted rapist that Huckster lobbied the parole board for his release has come out to ABC news saying she will do whatever it takes to prevent him from getting the nomination. I agree, the more I learn about the man the less I like and I once liked him alot, even got a thank you comment for a favorable post I made last spring from his campaign chair. He is to soft and compliant and hides it behind his Christianity, he is a decent man but not fit to lead America on illegal immigration, crime or against rogue regimes. He got caught with his hand in the till one too many times for me. A preacher man gone politician is not always the wise one but often the corrupted one. Hot Air has more on the story. Besides he is way to nanny-statist, big government can fix everything for me.

A Missouri mother says she will do "whatever it takes" to stop former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee from becoming president, because he freed the man who went on to rape and murder her daughter, Carol Sue Shields (pictured).

"I can't imagine anybody wanting somebody like that running the country," Lois Davidson of Adrian, Mo., told the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

Wayne Dumond was initially sentenced to life plus 25 years for raping a 17-year-old Arkansas high school cheerleader. In 1999, a parole board voted to free Dumond, after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee announced his desire to see him released.

NIE Report On Iranian Nukes: Updated

Well the new National Intelligence Estimate is out and it says Iran shelved their atomic bomb ambitions back in '03, hmm, I wonder what happened in '03 to get them to do that along with Libiya. I take what they have to say with a healthy dose of salt considering how little we actually know about it and how flawed these reports have been in the past. Gateway Pundit has a great roundup on the topic.
Meanwhile Israel is saying don't be so stupid as to take it seriously that Iran is not trying to build an indigenous nuclear capability with weapons in mind. Whatever the situation our next President and Congress must be prepared and capable of dealing with the worst case scenario not the rose colored glasses scenario of flowers, cups of tea and rounds of Kumbaya. The Democrats have demonstrated their complete inability to deal with serious foriegn policy issues besides run away or attempt to bribe for peace. Iran and what to do about this rogue regime should be a major topic next year in Congressional and Presidential races because if they did shelve their plans in '03 after Saddam fell then the Bush Doctrine is vindicated and if they didn't the Bush is still right in continueing the pressure in the international community especially in the ME as the Arab countries are just as leery of the Persians as Israel is. Several of the Emirites have given Israel overflight permission should they choose to strike preemptively as they did in Syria recently at a reported nuclear facility which some believe to be a nuclear bomb factory not a reactor from NoKo. Even if Iraq and Afganistan are largely stabalized by then the ME is still a very messed up region and our next leaders need to be ready and able to deal with it and the Democrats have demonstrated they prefer the head in the sand approach, ignore and deny.

Update: Don at American Power has a great comprehensive post up, a must visit and read