Enough said.
Mike
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Another Border SNAFU
You know, with my GPS/RTK equipped tractors and other farm equipment I can run over the same piece of dirt and be off by only a few inches every year, not to mention perform other cool feats like yield and disease mapping, zone building, etc.
The thing is...I'm using the same GPS system the government is using, except their system is even more accurate. You'd think that before they started putting up a fence to separate two countries that they'd do the calculations and waypoints correctly.
Mike
The thing is...I'm using the same GPS system the government is using, except their system is even more accurate. You'd think that before they started putting up a fence to separate two countries that they'd do the calculations and waypoints correctly.
The 1.5-mile barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border was designed to keep cars from illegally crossing into the United States. There's just one problem: It was accidentally built on Mexican soil. Now embarrassed border officials say the mistake could cost the federal government more than $3 million to fix.Disgusting.
When the barrier was built in 2000, the project was believed to cost about $500,000 a mile. Estimates to uproot and replace it range from $2.5 million to $3.5 million.
Mike
Friday, June 29, 2007
This Weeks Torah Portion: Balak
Wishing ya'll a Shabbat Shalom!
Your friends at Chabad – Lubavitch,
Rabbi Chaim & Chavie
******
Join us Shabbat morning at 10:30; for our weekly Shabbat Torah class!
******
Kabbalah in Bozeman! Mark your calendars for an evening with Rabbi Dr. Laibl Wolf of Melbourne, Australia. August 27th at 7:30 PM.
More details to come!
******
This week's Torah portions: Balak (Numbers 22:2-25:9)
******
For candle lighting time in your area:
http://fridaylight.org/page/sunset-almanac.php
******
Why are these Yeshiva students ringing my door bell?
By Rabbi Chaim
Oh, it's so good to be back home in Montana! We had such beautiful weather this week. I have the honor of hosting my mother in law ( Shviger in Yiddish) from San Antonio; and spent all Wednesday in Yellowstone. I must say that it was quite an experience. I mean G-d doesn't become more real then in gorgeous nature. Every part of it, Old Faithful and the Yellowstone River, the Bison and the upper and lower falls are absolutely G-dly. While I was enjoying a family trip, our two wonderful Yeshiva students Effy and Yankie were out visiting Jewish people all over Montana, as I once did, a long long time ago. They are brightening our world with the light of Torah and our brilliant heritage. Talking about light, let's take a look at this week's Torah portion….
Balak , the King of Moab, summons the non-Jewish prophet Balaam to curse the people of Israel. This entire episode is quite interesting, and one must wonder, why is the name of a Torah portion "Balak"? It is well known that historically, Balak was one of our all time worst enemies, so why give him the fame? A few week's ago we read the portion of Korach, indeed an evil dude, but at least he was one of us and eventually his children returned to G-d, but Balak, the Jew hater, come on that's pushing it?
Interestingly enough, this great king of Moab had a Jewish ending. His granddaughter Ruth converted to Judaism and eventually became the grandmother of King David, one of the greatest Jewish leaders of all time! It is also well known that the Righteous Moshiach is a descendent of King David! Simply put: from the worst of the worst – Balak, came the best of the best – Moshiach! The ultimate transformation from darkness to light, bitterness to sweetness, and negative to positive!
This is precisely why the name of the Parsha is Balak, to teach us this vital lesson that even when we sin, we should never give up! If Balak can have a happy ending, then certainly we, the Firstborn Children of G-d, can and will have a happy ending. We have the power to transform our wrongdoings by returning to G-d. It may be our seemingly minute Mitzvah that will add that last ray of light and usher in the coming of our Righteous Moshiach, as prophesized by Balaam!
So as Yankie and Effy ride from Butte to Miles City, from Eureka to Whitehall, it is this Torah message they carry with them. It's never too late, don't every give up and don't ever be down! Your life and soul is in your hands, you can change your life for the better anytime. It may not be easy, it may not happen overnight, and it may be a tough struggle, but it's definitely doable. They are telling you that if Balak can do it, anyone can!
As Anne Frank wrote: "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world ".
The scale I waiting to be tipped, and you can be the tipper!
May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Moshiach speedily. May He protect the armed forces of the United States wherever they may be. Chazak! L'Chaim!
*****
The ETorah is an educational project of
Chabad Lubavitch of Montana
Edwards 0, Coulter 1
Part of the reason I have no trust in John Edwards is his penchant for turning every positive into a negative. Not only would I not send a measley $25 to his campaign (or admit to it), if I HAD made such an egregious error I might ask for a refund, lest it be used on a manicure or pedicure by the candidate himself.
By now the feud between John Edwards and Ann Coulter is part of the public record, thanks to Coulter's appearance on Hardball with Chris Matthews. I agree with Budge's description of Coulter as a (*rhymes with runt). I also agree with the sentiment that by opening his mouth and promoting the notion that Coulter wished he "had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot" his campaign made yet another in a series of blunders which simply show the campaign is not ready for prime-time.
However, it's not the blunder I care about because I firmly believe Edwards stands no chance or winning the nomination, so in the greater scheme of things, his candidacy is every bit as comedic as that of Dennis Kucinich...all the more so because so many believe in him so much. You know what they say about schadenfreude :-)
What really irked me about the episode was not Edwards penchant for foot-in-facts disease but rather Coulter's assumption of the banner of being an ordinary American fighting against the wealthy hypocrite Edwards, who lounges in his 20,000 SF North Carolina home and charges $50K speaking fees to address anti-poverty groups. Coulter seems content at playing the "poor-me" card continually. She speaks of Edwards' wealth as something completely foreign to her.
The problem is that Coulter never allows facts to get in the way when it suits her interests. The photo below is an aerial view of the Coulter residence in Palm Beach County, Florida. A wider angle would show she's closer to the beach than I am to some of my bins and barns, less than a city block or two. What, then, explains, Coulter's complete lack of pigment? Lack of class I can understand, but WTF own a house so close to the beach yet never avails themself of even one dosing of the sun?
Next we have proof that Ann is not the poor girl out to make a living that she wants us to believe she is. Now, I'm not one to make assumptions about someone based upon the value of their real estate (certainly not in my case), but $1.4 million is not a bad nest egg for a terminally single "girl," and I use that term loosely, and that's it's value in 2005, not 2007!
Perhaps Coulter should continue to attack the candidate of her choice, as is her right, but next time save us the opposite of the same "One America" tactic John Edwards does on the stump, because it's more than perfectly clear that BOTH John Edwards and Ann Coulter know nothing of what they speak.
Mike
Thursday, June 28, 2007
What Happened to E Pluribus Unum?
So let me get this straight. Singer (among others) believes in the will of the people when it comes to US policy in Iraq, and that because an overwhelming number of polled individuals in this country are against the war in Iraq that we should withdraw our forces. I don't agree but at least it's a logical argument. However, when the voice of the people are overwhelmingly against granting what amounts to amnesty to millions of illegal aliens (or "undocumented workers," if the term illegal aliens makes you cry), a term he claims is loaded to sound "as vicious as possible," it's simply the fault of a hateful and vindictive electorate bent at keeping the rights they were born with at the expense of those from 'someplace else.'
You see, Singer is not the only one blessed by his birth to be a citizen of the United States. Plenty of us are, but doesn't being a citizen of the United States require us to acknowledge that we are a nation of laws? That we are special among nations? Why then is he so bent on granting the rights and privileges of being an American onto a people whose very presence in this nation spits in the face of our law?
What makes someone who arrived in a worn pair of sneakers across the deserts of the Arizona preferential to someone who applied legally and waited, some for three to 10 years, for the opportunity to join us in the ongoing experiment of the American republic, only to be told they have to wait even longer? Under the immigration bill that was soundly rejected not only by Congress but the American people, millions of prospective Americans would have waited even longer to fulfill their dream because of the preferential treatment this will would have provided literally of millions of lawbreakers. These illegals hardly "live in the shadows of the U.S.," as Singer notes, they're walking around unabated in the United States Capitol, thumbing their nose and giving rule of law, not to mention common sense, the middle finger.
I realize "illegal alien" may sound "vicious" to people like Singer, whose myopic view of the world seems as limited as the view out of the Missoula Valley, but what would he rather call them? Loitering Latinos? Would Singer not claim that someone who broke into his home did so "illegally," or would that be equally as vicious to the trespassing criminal? Perhaps, using his prior logic, or lack thereof, Singer would hand him the keys to the place and put him/her on the deed rather than call the police? But then, I wonder if a man so generous as Singer bothers to lock his door. Perhaps he simply leaves his Mac on the porch, and the keys in his car, you know, for the underprivileged.
The FACT is that low-skilled workers in America cost taxpayers about $22,000 annually, according to the Heritage Foundation's Robert Rector, who has produced a new study that should open everyone's eyes on both sides of the aisle before Congress and the White House gear up to tackle immigration reform again before the end of the Bush era. Rector's study concludes that in 2004 low-skilled workers paid $9,689 in taxes but received $32,138 in benefits. He estimates about a quarter of low-skilled workers are immigrants -- both legal and illegal.
Singer is concerned that an amendment to the bill offered by Rep. Rohrbacher would have forced physicians and nurses to turn over illegal aliens to authorities for deportation yet seems totally unconcerned that at one Texas hospital alone, the care given to illegal aliens costs the hospital $22 million dollars per fiscal year. It's easy to understand why many hospitals without the financial or community resources to stay open are forced to close their doors to everyone, costing their respective communities and citizens access to emergency medical care close to where they live.
Dr. Madeline Cosman wrote a study appearing in the American Journal of Physicians & Surgeons on the costs incurred in providing medical care to illegal and legal alike and concluded, "We must choose either to surrender medicine to illegal aliens, or to fight illegal aliens. Surrender to illegal aliens is surrender to collectivist America: land of moral ambiguity and home of pacifist appeasement. Fighting against illegal aliens is fighting for individualistic America: land of moral strength, and home of responsible liberty. As we fight to reclaim medicine, so we defend our nation."
Victor Davis Hanson, writing for the National Review:
It's important that we continue to make the case for a principled immigration reform that secures our borders, enforces the law, welcomes legal immigrants, and does not provide amnesty for lawbreakers.
Here’s what such a principled and realistic reform would look like, as outlined by Heritage scholars Matthew Spalding and James Carafano:
There is no doubt that Singer and I have many issues in common regarding the need for comprehensive immigration reform, more so than others. However, the usual progressive mantra of calling those opposed to their policy positions nativists, racists, fear-mongers, or loons bent on vigilante justice simply misses the mark of rational and mature debate.
Whatever happened to the notion of E Pluribus Unum? In the past our ancestors arrived from many places, speaking many dialects and possessing many skills that helped build this country from a colonial backwater to what I consider the greatest nation on earth. America assimilates immigrants, we don't stand aside and make way for them, which is what the so-called comprehensive immigration reform bill asked us to do.
Our freedom was earned through the blood and sacrifice of our fathers and mothers, and their fathers and mothers. To the progressive left, this is yet another benefit that they want to bestow upon others... for free - others who claim a right to an America they do not understand. Therein lies the problem – they don’t understand what America is. They think America is a place. They are mistaken. America is an ideal, based on an interpretation of the word “freedom.” Our freedom comes from documents that are stained with the blood and sweat of our ancestors, who laid pen to paper and envisioned an America worth dying for. Those documents contain the words that embody American freedom. Our freedom comes from the philosophy of rule under law and the novel idea that the citizenry should have some input into the laws that govern them. If you break our laws to get here, then, by the very nature of that act, you renounce any belief in the American ideal.
It’s American blood that emblazoned red stripes on our white flag. It was Americans who reached for the stars on that flag. Those stars weren’t free. People died for them. There was no government strong enough to rope those stars. It was the will of the people – the American people. Understand, America is not a place. America is an ideal. It is a work in progress, and you have to believe in it to make it real. If you’ve no respect for rule under law, if you’ve no respect for the American interpretation of the word “freedom,” then you’re of no use to us. You lack the understanding and the will to help us make America real. So go, go anywhere else, but you’re not welcome here. We believe in America.
Mike
You see, Singer is not the only one blessed by his birth to be a citizen of the United States. Plenty of us are, but doesn't being a citizen of the United States require us to acknowledge that we are a nation of laws? That we are special among nations? Why then is he so bent on granting the rights and privileges of being an American onto a people whose very presence in this nation spits in the face of our law?
What makes someone who arrived in a worn pair of sneakers across the deserts of the Arizona preferential to someone who applied legally and waited, some for three to 10 years, for the opportunity to join us in the ongoing experiment of the American republic, only to be told they have to wait even longer? Under the immigration bill that was soundly rejected not only by Congress but the American people, millions of prospective Americans would have waited even longer to fulfill their dream because of the preferential treatment this will would have provided literally of millions of lawbreakers. These illegals hardly "live in the shadows of the U.S.," as Singer notes, they're walking around unabated in the United States Capitol, thumbing their nose and giving rule of law, not to mention common sense, the middle finger.
I realize "illegal alien" may sound "vicious" to people like Singer, whose myopic view of the world seems as limited as the view out of the Missoula Valley, but what would he rather call them? Loitering Latinos? Would Singer not claim that someone who broke into his home did so "illegally," or would that be equally as vicious to the trespassing criminal? Perhaps, using his prior logic, or lack thereof, Singer would hand him the keys to the place and put him/her on the deed rather than call the police? But then, I wonder if a man so generous as Singer bothers to lock his door. Perhaps he simply leaves his Mac on the porch, and the keys in his car, you know, for the underprivileged.
The FACT is that low-skilled workers in America cost taxpayers about $22,000 annually, according to the Heritage Foundation's Robert Rector, who has produced a new study that should open everyone's eyes on both sides of the aisle before Congress and the White House gear up to tackle immigration reform again before the end of the Bush era. Rector's study concludes that in 2004 low-skilled workers paid $9,689 in taxes but received $32,138 in benefits. He estimates about a quarter of low-skilled workers are immigrants -- both legal and illegal.
Singer is concerned that an amendment to the bill offered by Rep. Rohrbacher would have forced physicians and nurses to turn over illegal aliens to authorities for deportation yet seems totally unconcerned that at one Texas hospital alone, the care given to illegal aliens costs the hospital $22 million dollars per fiscal year. It's easy to understand why many hospitals without the financial or community resources to stay open are forced to close their doors to everyone, costing their respective communities and citizens access to emergency medical care close to where they live.
Dr. Madeline Cosman wrote a study appearing in the American Journal of Physicians & Surgeons on the costs incurred in providing medical care to illegal and legal alike and concluded, "We must choose either to surrender medicine to illegal aliens, or to fight illegal aliens. Surrender to illegal aliens is surrender to collectivist America: land of moral ambiguity and home of pacifist appeasement. Fighting against illegal aliens is fighting for individualistic America: land of moral strength, and home of responsible liberty. As we fight to reclaim medicine, so we defend our nation."
Victor Davis Hanson, writing for the National Review:
Few of these well-paid and highly educated people live in communities altered by huge influxes of illegal aliens. Their professed liberality about illegal immigration usually derives from seeing hardworking waiters, maids, nannies, and gardeners commute to their upscale cities and suburbs to serve them well — and cheaply.For the record I agree that it's not economically or logistically possible to send 12+ million illegal's back to where they came from, AND am strongly against the rare case of vigilante justice perpetrated against them by quasi-military groups operating along the southwest border with Mexico. All the reason more to work towards a policy that not only addresses those concerns in Congress, but also satisfy a majority of Americans.
In general, such elites don’t use emergency rooms in the inner cities and rural counties overcrowded by illegal aliens. They don’t drive on country roads frequented by those without licenses, registration and insurance. And their children don’t struggle with school curricula altered to the needs of students who speak only Spanish.
For many professors, politicians, and columnists, the gangs, increased crime, and crowded jails that often result from massive illegal immigration and open borders are not daily concerns, but rather stereotypes hysterically evoked by paranoid and unenlightened others in places like Bakersfield and Laredo.
So, what is the truth on illegal immigration?
Simple. Millions of fair-minded white, African-, Mexican- and Asian-Americans fear that we are not assimilating millions of aliens from south of the border as fast as they are crossing illegally from Mexico.
In the frontline American southwest, entire apartheid communities and enclaves within cities have sprung up whose distinct language, culture, and routines are beginning to resemble more the tense divides in the Balkans or Middle East than the traditional melting pot of multiracial America.
Concern over this inevitable slowdown in integration and assimilation is neither racist nor nativist. It grows out of real worry that when millions of impoverished arrive in mass without legality, education, and the ability to speak English, costly social problems follow that will not be offset by the transitory economic benefits cheap wages may provide.
Those fretting about delays in sealing the border along with proposed fast-track visas, millions of new guest workers, and neglect of existing immigration law are neither illiberal nor cynical.
But their self-righteous critics may well be both.
It's important that we continue to make the case for a principled immigration reform that secures our borders, enforces the law, welcomes legal immigrants, and does not provide amnesty for lawbreakers.
Here’s what such a principled and realistic reform would look like, as outlined by Heritage scholars Matthew Spalding and James Carafano:
Enforce the laws. If properly enforced, laws already on the books could discourage future illegal immigration and deter the employment of illegal immigrants.My friend Dovid also offers up a useful blueprint, courtesy Glenn Reynolds, for the next bipartisan effort at immigration reform.
Gain back control of the southern border. Important border security initiatives are already underway and should be continued.
Emphasize legal immigration. Ensure legal immigration processes are “fair, orderly, and efficient—welcoming those who abide by immigration laws and denying entry and advantages to those who violate the law.” This means no amnesty.
Create flexible legal opportunities to work in the United States. Reforming America’s visa laws to allow for a truly temporary and well-implemented worker program—without any form of amnesty—could help reduce the flow of illegal immigrants.
There is no doubt that Singer and I have many issues in common regarding the need for comprehensive immigration reform, more so than others. However, the usual progressive mantra of calling those opposed to their policy positions nativists, racists, fear-mongers, or loons bent on vigilante justice simply misses the mark of rational and mature debate.
Whatever happened to the notion of E Pluribus Unum? In the past our ancestors arrived from many places, speaking many dialects and possessing many skills that helped build this country from a colonial backwater to what I consider the greatest nation on earth. America assimilates immigrants, we don't stand aside and make way for them, which is what the so-called comprehensive immigration reform bill asked us to do.
Our freedom was earned through the blood and sacrifice of our fathers and mothers, and their fathers and mothers. To the progressive left, this is yet another benefit that they want to bestow upon others... for free - others who claim a right to an America they do not understand. Therein lies the problem – they don’t understand what America is. They think America is a place. They are mistaken. America is an ideal, based on an interpretation of the word “freedom.” Our freedom comes from documents that are stained with the blood and sweat of our ancestors, who laid pen to paper and envisioned an America worth dying for. Those documents contain the words that embody American freedom. Our freedom comes from the philosophy of rule under law and the novel idea that the citizenry should have some input into the laws that govern them. If you break our laws to get here, then, by the very nature of that act, you renounce any belief in the American ideal.
It’s American blood that emblazoned red stripes on our white flag. It was Americans who reached for the stars on that flag. Those stars weren’t free. People died for them. There was no government strong enough to rope those stars. It was the will of the people – the American people. Understand, America is not a place. America is an ideal. It is a work in progress, and you have to believe in it to make it real. If you’ve no respect for rule under law, if you’ve no respect for the American interpretation of the word “freedom,” then you’re of no use to us. You lack the understanding and the will to help us make America real. So go, go anywhere else, but you’re not welcome here. We believe in America.
Mike
Saturday, June 23, 2007
House Blocks Foreign Aid to Saudi Arabia
Something good to report...for a change.
This evening, the House voted on an Amendment offered by Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) to H.R. 2764, The Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008. House Amendment 389 to H.R. 2764 specifically prohibits the use of U.S. funds for assistance to Saudi Arabia and was passed by voice vote.
The final vote on H.R. 2764 was 241-178. Denny Rehberg voted AGAINST this bill for a reason he must be required to explain to at least one of his constituents.
Mike
This evening, the House voted on an Amendment offered by Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) to H.R. 2764, The Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008. House Amendment 389 to H.R. 2764 specifically prohibits the use of U.S. funds for assistance to Saudi Arabia and was passed by voice vote.
The final vote on H.R. 2764 was 241-178. Denny Rehberg voted AGAINST this bill for a reason he must be required to explain to at least one of his constituents.
Mike
This Weeks Torah Portion: Chukat
Wishing ya'll a Shabbat Shalom!
Your friends at Chabad – Lubavitch,
Rabbi Chaim & Chavie
******
We are away, the Shabbat morning class will resume on June 30th.
******
Kabbala in Bozeman! Mark your calendars for an evening with Rabbi Dr. Laibl Wolf of Melbourne, Australia. August 27th at 7:30 PM.
More details to come!
******
This Week's Torah Portion: Chukat (Numbers 19:1-22:1)
******
For candle lighting time in your area:
http://fridaylight.org/page/sunset-almanac.php
******
Can Montefiore unite us?
By Rabbi Chaim
Chavie and I had the honor and merit to join over thirty thousand people; as we prayed at the Lubavitcher Rebbe's resting place on his Yartzeit; at the Montefiore cemetery in Queens, New York. Although trying to focus, I couldn't help but notice the phenomenally diverse crowd joining me in prayer. To my right the were two visible Sephardic Jews, to my left the was a Lubavitcher women with four of her children, behind me there was a totally so-called secular women; and on the other side of the mausoleum was a Rabbi from Lubavitch World Headquarters , a dental supplies businessman, and a Jew from Odessa in the Ukraine.
As I left the Resting Place, I wondered where else in the world do we find such Jewish unity? Jews are known to stick to their own type, yet here it seems like we are all of the same type? What do all of us have in common? Yes, there is the Western Wall, but outside of Israel, is there any one place that attracts every type of Jew? I then remembered something about this week's Torah portion and as usual I found my answer…
The Torah says "The people realized that Aaron had died. The entire House of Israel mourned Aaron for thirty days", the sacred commentaries tell us that the public mourning which followed Aaron's death was never equaled in scope. When Miriam died, only Moses and Aaron mourned for her; and not even for their wonderful and caring leader Moses did all of Israel mourn, since there were many who were antagonistic to him on account of the frequent denunciations that he had directed against them. There was no one, however, who did not love Aaron. His words were always kind and conciliatory, and even when a person sinned, he would never accuse him pointblank of being a sinner, but address him or her with great respect. "My son," he would say "I beg of you, do not act in this way again, for it is not in accordance with G-d's Will".
Whenever he would see a man quarrelling with his wife, he would not leave them be until he made peace between them. There was no one who did not love him, the adults and the young, the men and the women.
My mind then took me back to the resting place - and to the Rebbe's passing and funeral in 1994, when I was just twelve years old - and I realized that the Rebbe - like Aaron- was loved and cherished by every type of Jew; from the simple sandwich maker in Staten Island, to Prime Minister Menachem Begin, from a lonely Jew in Curacao to all of Russian Jewry, because the Rebbe loved every Jew unconditionally and never stereotyped or labeled any Jew; except with the label "Jew".
How true were the words of the former Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Israel Meir Lau when he said "Even though the Rebbe did not have any children, he left thousands of orphan's world wide…"
May his Merit Shield and Bless us!
May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Moshiach speedily. May He protect the armed forces of the United States wherever they may be. Chazak! L'Chaim!
*****
The ETorah is an educational project of
Chabad Lubavitch of Montana
Baucus=Taxus
It looks like Montana's Democrats have taken a page from the the Montana GOP e-mail list playbook. Today's edition of the Montana DemoDigest contained praise for Baucus' and Tester's support of fuel efficiency standards yet somehow forgot to mention that Montana's senior senator, in collaboration with his Senate colleague Charles Grassley from Iowa, has introduced two measures which, if passed, would confiscate the hard earned money of working Montanans to spend on higher prices at the fuel pump, AND unveiled punitive legislation which would raise taxes on all new and existing publicly traded partnerships.
Ignoring the disdain many Democrats had for shady backroom deals when the Republicans were in control of Congress, both of these measures passed out of Committee without the normal process of public hearings and input from relevant public agencies such as the Department of the Treasury and IRS. Perhaps the light of day would have doomed these measures to fail following public input, but luckily for us, one measure has definitely failed and the other seems well on it's way.
Baucus and Grassley had proposed a massive $29 billion dollars in new taxes for the oil industry to be used as a Federal handout to the renewable energy industry. Look, I'm all for renewable energy. In fact I've invested in the high six-figures in Ethanol and Bio-Diesel operations across the Upper Midwest. The Baucus/Grassley legislation would have provided a windfall in money towards energy conservation, wind turbines, hybrid cars, and clean coal technology. The Baucus measure, rather than reward oil producers for finding new oil fields, would have imposed a tax on them for every successful well that they drill. Does that make sense at a time when we wish to decrease the amount of oil we import from Middle East despots. The Heritage Foundation ran the numbers and did some research on the issue, which can be found here. This is an example of the contribution of the average Montanan to Baucus' lamebrained idea. It's now perhaps easy to see why this wasn't mentioned in the weekly DemoDigest!
The FACT is we are years from having either an energy policy based upon hydrogen or having ethanol/bio-diesel available on a fulltime basis anywhere except the midwest and upper midwest. Then, of course, are the facockda ideas from the eco-socialists that we can, today, harness the power of the sun by covering what I only assume to be an area the size of Texas with solar cells to power the country. Feh!
How about a dose of reality. Nuclear power is safe, affordable, and reliable. We need to build more nuclear power plants, and sooner rather than later. If there are concerns that any for-profit company puts safety behind profits then why not allow private capital to build the plant and use the braintrust behind the U.S. Navy's Nuclear Power School to staff and run the plant in cooperation with private industry. We could also benefit from limited exploration in ANWR, just to see what's under the dirt, and we most certainly need to open the Eastern Gulf of Mexico up to oil exploration, even considering the disdain many of the regions Republican governors have to the idea. There is a great dichotomy between our wanting to do something realistic and workable to help solve the energy issue AND actually doing it. Oil wells off Florida's Redneck Riviera? Not on your life, bubba. Wind turbines off the coast of Cape Cod or near Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket? That's where the "Spirit of America" turns to the spirit of conceit.
And from ACU is background on the other Baucus/Grassley measure:
It never fails, whenever the free market is poised to succeed and innovate further, there is always an effort to tax or regulate it from reaching its true potential. The most recent example: efforts to impose new punitive taxes on publicly traded partnerships.Do the Democrats really intend to relocate corporate America to the British Virgin or Cayman Islands? Does Max Baucus REALLY believe that the two proposals he fought for will help Montanans in any way? If he's troubled over the defeat of his tax measure on oil companies why didn't he say so? And why is Baucus and Montana Democrats oddly silent on increasing the tax on capital markets, which harms real investors in the state? Yep, it's political season allright.
In view of several pending and potential Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) by private equity firms seeking to join the public markets, U.S. Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) unveiled punitive legislation in S.1624 late last week to actually RAISE taxes on ALL existing and new publicly traded partnerships.
Like bad tax policy before it, this legislation was offered without the benefit of normal Congressional or Joint Tax Committee hearings or any analysis from the U.S. Treasury or the Internal Revenue Service.
The free market community is united against any new tax increases and will oppose this bill vigorously. Not only is this legislation a major tax increase, it will actually depress tax revenues as other partnerships will choose to stay private or reincorporate abroad – neither of which is good for the economy, the government or investors.
This legislation will more than double the tax-rate for ALL current publicly traded partnerships – the vast majority of which are not even private equity-based partnerships.
Mike
Friday, June 22, 2007
Robots Solve the Immigration Crisis?
Doing the jobs illegal immigrants might soon NOT be doing on the farm is Mr. Roboto...solving the immigration crisis...one byte at a time, perhaps making this little ditty by The Foremen as relevant as ever :-)
Seriously though, I've been interested in this kind of technology since I was an undergrad at MSU. For farmers who grow crops the fact remains that it's simply impossible to grow your farm, your business, and your yields without embracing some form of technology. The RoI makes RTK and GPS guidance a must-have for the corn or soybean grower, among others, and for those without, well, one of us will be around to buy your entire operation at auction sooner rather than later if you're still stuck with the old-fashioned pencil and shirt-pocket notebook to keep track of your operation.
What's down the pike? Robotic tractors won't only be picking our fruit but cabless tractors and combines with RTK and GPS technology will be roaming our fields planting and harvesting our crops, applying chemicals and fertilizer, taking soil samples, and providing real-time yield reports to any remote location. Don't think for a minute that John Deere and Case IH aren't already working on prototypes
Mike
What HE said...
I was going to post something on 3 different subjects but my better has done gone and beat me to it again. I should also mention that if you felt a bit of a chill in the air this evening, it has absolutely nothing to do with Dovid's post on global cooling but is more than likely the result of my agreeing with a Tokarski :-)
Thought you knew everything there was to know about global climate change? Get ready for a paradigm shift...and grab a snow shovel while you're at it.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon "finds the angles -- the stupid, kneejerk, moronic angles -- that transform otherwise unbloggable stories into comedy gold" and blames the tragedy in Darfur on...global warming? If you have the time let me take a couple Xanax and then sit me down and explain why we continue to send our tax dollars to this organization.
And finally (he's not the only one who hates to say it)I found at long last something a Tokarski, a Budge, and a Harris can agree on... to differing degrees. I'm not sure about you, but I thought Sir Isaac might have been off by 57 years.
Mike
Thought you knew everything there was to know about global climate change? Get ready for a paradigm shift...and grab a snow shovel while you're at it.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon "finds the angles -- the stupid, kneejerk, moronic angles -- that transform otherwise unbloggable stories into comedy gold" and blames the tragedy in Darfur on...global warming? If you have the time let me take a couple Xanax and then sit me down and explain why we continue to send our tax dollars to this organization.
And finally (he's not the only one who hates to say it)I found at long last something a Tokarski, a Budge, and a Harris can agree on... to differing degrees. I'm not sure about you, but I thought Sir Isaac might have been off by 57 years.
Mike
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Where's the Outrage?
I've been exhaustively saying the same thing for years. Every now and then it's nice to read a genuine wordsmith and scholar reinforce and expand on the issue for those of whom the moniker "reality based community" is more than an empty vessel in which to store an even more vacuous progressive ideology.
MH
MURDER IN GAZA
VDH Private Papers
Bruce Thornton
Gaza the fighting between Fatah and Hamas has escalated to the point of all-out civil war, replete with dead women and children, kneecapping, and handcuffed prisoners thrown from roofs. Meanwhile in Lebanon, the Lebanese army continues to shell a Palestinian refugee camp, with who knows how many civilian deaths. Arab is killing Arab, Muslim is killing Muslim, and the world basically is shrugging its shoulders.
How different from the intense media attention and the U.N.’s hysteria over Israel’s attempt to root out terrorists in Lebanon last summer. This obscene double standard that strains out the gnat of Israeli self-defense while swallowing numerous camels of Muslim-on-Muslim violence cries out for explanation.
Certainly the scale of alleged Israeli crimes can’t justify fifty years of international hatred and calumny. Since World War II, some 25 million people have died in various conflicts, only 8,000 as a result of Israel’s attempts to ward off a chronic existential threat. In the last decade the slaughter in Sudan has claimed 250,000 lives, a brutal war of extermination with a religious and racist subtext that usually sends “progressives” into fits of righteous indignation. And of course the current mayhem in Iraq, where Muslims are blowing up, torturing, and mutilating fellow Muslims, dwarfs even the lurid lies about Israel’s behavior regularly circulated among Western liberals and leftists.
Yet the supposedly new and improved U.N. Human Rights Council, like its predecessor the discredited Human Right Commission, last year voted to make a review of supposed Israeli “human rights abuses” a permanent activity of every session. Unsurprisingly, in its first year the Council has issued twelve resolutions: nine condemnations of Israel, and three non-condemnatory resolutions on Sudan.
Objective assessments of Israel’s misdeeds, then, cannot explain the double standard that vilifies a tiny country’s attempt to survive the attacks of enemies sworn to its destruction. Larger cultural dysfunctions are at work, not least being the corrupt Western media. The major print and television media are filled for the most part with self-styled champions of “social justice,” crusaders not for the truth but for “progressive” ideologies in turn based on incoherent ideals and sheer ignorance of history. Their minds shaped by sentimental Third-Worldism, Marxist demonizations of “colonialism” and “imperialism,” and arrogance about their own moral superiority, many Western reporters are easily turned into the chumps and shills of corrupt Arab regimes and Muslim jihadists. The Palestinian Arabs in particular have brilliantly exploited the useful idiots of the media to construct the narrative of brutal Israeli “occupation” of the Palestinian “homeland,” as documented by Richard Landes and Pierre Rehov, who have exposed the numerous blatant fabrications eagerly swallowed as fact by the media, such as the Jenin “massacre” or the killing of the boy Muhammad Al Durah by Israeli soldiers.
This irrational hatred of Israel on the part of many Westerners is dangerous and short-sighted, as is the failure to understand the true roots of Muslim hatred of the Jewish state. For the modern jihad against the West did not start on 9/11, or even in 1979 with the Iranian revolution. Its first major campaign took place in 1948 when the Arab states ignored a U.N. resolution and attacked a U.N. member state. As significant as this rejection of the Western-crafted international order was, the response of the West — leaving Israel to sink or swim — was even more important. By sitting on the sidelines while a Western democracy battled for its life, the West sent a message: that it would not intervene to protect a cultural brother and a legitimate state when attacked by autocracies and religious fanatics.
The failure to destroy Israel militarily two more times led to other tactics — disinformation, propaganda, phony negotiations, and especially terrorism. And once again, the Western flabby response emboldened the Muslim view of Western decadence and weakness. Suddenly Palestinian “national aspirations” become the rationale for murdering Israelis, even though historically there is no such thing as a distinct Palestinian people. Shrewdly recognizing the West’s media-fed obsession with suffering, the Arabs masterfully generate telegenic images that divorce reality from any moral and historical context. Understanding the West’s Enlightenment fantasy of conflict resolution through discussion and “agreements,” the Palestinian Arabs play that game too, attending conferences and summits, issuing proclamations and “frameworks,” and signing various “accords” that they have no intention of honoring. Knowing that the West is infected with cultural self-loathing and guilt, they play the race card, the colonialism card, or the imperialism card as trumps more powerful even than historical fact or responsibility for the conditions they decry. And convinced that a secular West believes in nothing other than material comfort and security, they unleash terrorism as the ultimate demonstration of their own passionate commitment to their ideals, and of the West’s spiritual bankruptcy.
All these tactics first perfected in the jihad against Israel are being used in the other theaters of the war against the West. Yet we still persist in believing that the assault on Israel is a conflict distinct from jihad, or that jihadist terrorism is created by that conflict and would disappear if it were resolved, or that “moderates” like Mahmoud Abbas genuinely accept Israel’s existence and will peacefully coexist with a nation of despised former dhimmi if only the Palestinians get their own state — all this despite the absence of any empirical evidence from the last fifty years that could support these fantasies.
Meanwhile the U.S. Secretary of State scampers around the Middle East pursing the chimera of the “two-state” solution via “frameworks” and “road maps,” Israel is pressured to show “restraint” in the face of violence, and U.S. tax dollars are sent to Fatah, in the weird belief that it makes sense to help Fatah, who believe Israel should be destroyed in “phases,” prevail over Hamas, who believe Israel should be destroyed right now. In other words, we continue to validate the jihadists’ estimation of our gullibility and weakness, which in turn convinces them that they can win and so should fight on. Why shouldn’t they? After all, they’ve been fighting Israel for over fifty years, and have been rewarded with the Sinai and Gaza. Why wouldn’t they think Al-Andalus is next?
MH
MURDER IN GAZA
VDH Private Papers
Bruce Thornton
Gaza the fighting between Fatah and Hamas has escalated to the point of all-out civil war, replete with dead women and children, kneecapping, and handcuffed prisoners thrown from roofs. Meanwhile in Lebanon, the Lebanese army continues to shell a Palestinian refugee camp, with who knows how many civilian deaths. Arab is killing Arab, Muslim is killing Muslim, and the world basically is shrugging its shoulders.
How different from the intense media attention and the U.N.’s hysteria over Israel’s attempt to root out terrorists in Lebanon last summer. This obscene double standard that strains out the gnat of Israeli self-defense while swallowing numerous camels of Muslim-on-Muslim violence cries out for explanation.
Certainly the scale of alleged Israeli crimes can’t justify fifty years of international hatred and calumny. Since World War II, some 25 million people have died in various conflicts, only 8,000 as a result of Israel’s attempts to ward off a chronic existential threat. In the last decade the slaughter in Sudan has claimed 250,000 lives, a brutal war of extermination with a religious and racist subtext that usually sends “progressives” into fits of righteous indignation. And of course the current mayhem in Iraq, where Muslims are blowing up, torturing, and mutilating fellow Muslims, dwarfs even the lurid lies about Israel’s behavior regularly circulated among Western liberals and leftists.
Yet the supposedly new and improved U.N. Human Rights Council, like its predecessor the discredited Human Right Commission, last year voted to make a review of supposed Israeli “human rights abuses” a permanent activity of every session. Unsurprisingly, in its first year the Council has issued twelve resolutions: nine condemnations of Israel, and three non-condemnatory resolutions on Sudan.
Objective assessments of Israel’s misdeeds, then, cannot explain the double standard that vilifies a tiny country’s attempt to survive the attacks of enemies sworn to its destruction. Larger cultural dysfunctions are at work, not least being the corrupt Western media. The major print and television media are filled for the most part with self-styled champions of “social justice,” crusaders not for the truth but for “progressive” ideologies in turn based on incoherent ideals and sheer ignorance of history. Their minds shaped by sentimental Third-Worldism, Marxist demonizations of “colonialism” and “imperialism,” and arrogance about their own moral superiority, many Western reporters are easily turned into the chumps and shills of corrupt Arab regimes and Muslim jihadists. The Palestinian Arabs in particular have brilliantly exploited the useful idiots of the media to construct the narrative of brutal Israeli “occupation” of the Palestinian “homeland,” as documented by Richard Landes and Pierre Rehov, who have exposed the numerous blatant fabrications eagerly swallowed as fact by the media, such as the Jenin “massacre” or the killing of the boy Muhammad Al Durah by Israeli soldiers.
This irrational hatred of Israel on the part of many Westerners is dangerous and short-sighted, as is the failure to understand the true roots of Muslim hatred of the Jewish state. For the modern jihad against the West did not start on 9/11, or even in 1979 with the Iranian revolution. Its first major campaign took place in 1948 when the Arab states ignored a U.N. resolution and attacked a U.N. member state. As significant as this rejection of the Western-crafted international order was, the response of the West — leaving Israel to sink or swim — was even more important. By sitting on the sidelines while a Western democracy battled for its life, the West sent a message: that it would not intervene to protect a cultural brother and a legitimate state when attacked by autocracies and religious fanatics.
The failure to destroy Israel militarily two more times led to other tactics — disinformation, propaganda, phony negotiations, and especially terrorism. And once again, the Western flabby response emboldened the Muslim view of Western decadence and weakness. Suddenly Palestinian “national aspirations” become the rationale for murdering Israelis, even though historically there is no such thing as a distinct Palestinian people. Shrewdly recognizing the West’s media-fed obsession with suffering, the Arabs masterfully generate telegenic images that divorce reality from any moral and historical context. Understanding the West’s Enlightenment fantasy of conflict resolution through discussion and “agreements,” the Palestinian Arabs play that game too, attending conferences and summits, issuing proclamations and “frameworks,” and signing various “accords” that they have no intention of honoring. Knowing that the West is infected with cultural self-loathing and guilt, they play the race card, the colonialism card, or the imperialism card as trumps more powerful even than historical fact or responsibility for the conditions they decry. And convinced that a secular West believes in nothing other than material comfort and security, they unleash terrorism as the ultimate demonstration of their own passionate commitment to their ideals, and of the West’s spiritual bankruptcy.
All these tactics first perfected in the jihad against Israel are being used in the other theaters of the war against the West. Yet we still persist in believing that the assault on Israel is a conflict distinct from jihad, or that jihadist terrorism is created by that conflict and would disappear if it were resolved, or that “moderates” like Mahmoud Abbas genuinely accept Israel’s existence and will peacefully coexist with a nation of despised former dhimmi if only the Palestinians get their own state — all this despite the absence of any empirical evidence from the last fifty years that could support these fantasies.
Meanwhile the U.S. Secretary of State scampers around the Middle East pursing the chimera of the “two-state” solution via “frameworks” and “road maps,” Israel is pressured to show “restraint” in the face of violence, and U.S. tax dollars are sent to Fatah, in the weird belief that it makes sense to help Fatah, who believe Israel should be destroyed in “phases,” prevail over Hamas, who believe Israel should be destroyed right now. In other words, we continue to validate the jihadists’ estimation of our gullibility and weakness, which in turn convinces them that they can win and so should fight on. Why shouldn’t they? After all, they’ve been fighting Israel for over fifty years, and have been rewarded with the Sinai and Gaza. Why wouldn’t they think Al-Andalus is next?
Friday, June 15, 2007
Icon of Hatred
For Immediate Release
Icon of Hatred
Latest Film by Second Draft
Richard Landes
617-504-7837
Available on YouTube Part I and Part II.
Second Draft releases the third in the series According to Palestinian Sources. Written, researched and produced by Richard Landes, a medieval historian turned media critic, Icon of Hatred explores how the media-created icon of Muhammad al Durah’s death, helped launch a new phase of global Jihad at the dawn of the 21st century.
View Icon of Hatred in Streaming Video or download it in High Definition DVIX for free.
To this day, most Westerners typically greet any effort to discuss the Al Durah MSM scandal, with: “Fuggedaboudit! It’s over. History. Let sleeping dogs lie.” But such is not the way with blood libels. They constantly emit their poison into the information bloodstream. So once the Al Durah “lethal narrative” entered the mainstream of public opinion worldwide it exerted – and continues to exert — an astonishingly noxious influence, blighting our young and global 21st century.
Icon of Hatred explores:
* how PA TV took the footage of what was, at most, an Israeli error, most likely a work of Pallywood, and turned it into an accusation of cold-blooded murder, a proof of Israeli intentions to commit genocide.
(Hizbullah poster of Al-Durah with picture from October 2, of Israeli soldier firing rubber bullets at rioters protesting al Durah’s “death”, photograph October 14, 2000)
* how this “blood martyr” became the icon not only of the “Al Aqsa Intifada,” but of global Jihad, catapulting Jihadism from the margins to the center of Muslim “street,” making suicide bombing the weapon of choice.
(Bin Laden narrating his recruiting video in which Muhammad al Durah appears as a key, introductory section.)
* how Al Durah became the symbol of outraged compassion in the West, fueling an anti-Zionist crusade that aligned the “human rights” and “anti-war” left with the most murderous theocrats on the globe. And how, in embracing the Muslim equation of Israel with Nazis, European intellectuals have encouraged the surge of Islamist triumphalism not only in the Middle East, but within their own countries.
(Place de la République, Paris, October 6, 2000, amidst cries of: “Death to Israel, Kill the Jews.”)
In the history of psychological warfare, the Al Durah icon was an atom bomb, perhaps the first. No single event stirred Global Jihad Warming more ardently. We still suffer from its fallout.
Icon of Hatred offers a potent “red pill” for those who wish to awaken from the virtual reality that the MSM have spun around our understanding of the Middle East conflict with their “grand frame” of “Palestinian David vs. Israeli Goliath.” It sheds a stark light on the dynamics of war and mega-death that, hatched in the tragic crucible of the Arab Israeli conflict, now haunt this whole earth. The fate of the al-Durah Icon of Hatred offers that rare single narrative that unpeels multiple layers of the cultural folly that has placed the West in its current danger and disarray.
View Icon of Hatred in Streaming Video or download it in High Definition DVIX for free.
Icon of Hatred is Part III of According to Palestinian sources…
Viewing Parts I and II first is recommended.
Part I: Pallywood (Streaming) (High Definition) (YouTube)
Part II: Al Durah: The Making of an Icon (Streaming) (High Definition) (YouTube)
Part III: Icon of Hatred (Streaming Video) (High Definition DVIX) (YouTube I and II)
Part IV: Rebuking the Media (in production).
Richard Landes is Professor of Medieval History at Boston University, the animator of The Second Draft, and blogger at The Augean Stables. Having analyzed a major dossier of forgeries around the dawn of the second millennium, he has turned his attention to another, and far more dangerous constellation, that permeate our MSM at the dawn of the third millennium.
Faulty Memories
If you haven't been following the dust-up between The Politico and the lefty blogger community you're missing a real doozy. I've often thought BarbinMD (Barbara Morrill) and McJoan (Joan McCarter) from DailyKos were among some of the most shrill voices around, so it didn't exactly take a lot of evidence to convince me of their agitprop.
After spending part of the day catching up on the brouhaha concerning Harry Reid's pronouncement of current (and soon to be former) Chairman of the Joint Chief's of Staff General Peter Pace as "incompetent," there should be little doubt that the screeching voices of at least two of the frontpagers on the Daily Kos community are nothing more than propagandists, pure and simple. These are among the same folks that mocked Lewis "Scooter" Libby for not remembering details of events which happened a year or more ago, at the time, yet can't seem to remember THE MONEY QUOTE from a blogger conference call which happened 24 to 48 hours previously. Imagine that.
Michael Goldfarb of The Weekly Standard writes:
In much the same way, the Left is blaming the current situation in Gaza on President Bush and the US for not "engaging" Hamas as a partner. Like you can engage and treat as equals any terrorist organization just because they happen to win an election. But no! We have ourselves to blame..or so goes the mantra from the Left. The truth is that Gaza today is a testament to the failure of the entire 14-year project of creating the Palestinian Authority, retrieving Arafat from exile, and attempting to drag the Arabs of Palestine, against their will, into western political modernity. In much the same way, our continued presence in Iraq, in order to create a "stable democracy," by dragging Iraqi political culture into modernity, is a fallacy.
Laying blame at the foot of George Bush for the mess in Gaza, or General Pace for the mistakes in Iraq, seems to have a dim-bulb hanging-out-at-the-coffee-shop feel to them. I know it’s best to just hurry past the contradictions, especially when they involve the reshuffling of positions in order to condemn the Bush administration. But it's too enjoyable, almost delicious in fact, to avoid the conclusion that here, the faulty memories of the most shrill and bitchy voices on the Left, are diminished by their omissions of fact not only concerning Harry Reid's comments, but of Gaza as well. More on the latter in another post.
It would seem, to the untrained eye, that BarbinMD and McJoan personify the very negative characterizations of the mainstream media that is the crux of what I always thought the blogger movement was "fighting," or rather "crashing the gate" of the establishment press. From where I'm sitting, it looks like that while some of them were crashing the gate, the others snuck around the back and helped themselves to the office equipment.
Mike
After spending part of the day catching up on the brouhaha concerning Harry Reid's pronouncement of current (and soon to be former) Chairman of the Joint Chief's of Staff General Peter Pace as "incompetent," there should be little doubt that the screeching voices of at least two of the frontpagers on the Daily Kos community are nothing more than propagandists, pure and simple. These are among the same folks that mocked Lewis "Scooter" Libby for not remembering details of events which happened a year or more ago, at the time, yet can't seem to remember THE MONEY QUOTE from a blogger conference call which happened 24 to 48 hours previously. Imagine that.
Michael Goldfarb of The Weekly Standard writes:
Another interesting undercurrent to this is the contempt of the left-wing bloggers for the Politico, and the Drudge Report, which often links to the site. The story was "based on unsubstantiated, third-party recollection," says Geiger, under the headline "The Politico Fails Journalism 101." "Politico, the online soul-mate to the Drudge Report, has gotten into the habit of creating news stories through innuendo, omission, outright error, and now today, out of thin air," was the line from Kos blogger BarbinMD (is that a professional opinion, doctor?). And the grand wizard of Politico haters once complained that Drudge and the Politico are "poisonously joined at the hip."Dean Barnett posts:
Well, for all that griping, it seems the Politico nailed this story, and Drudge just did what he always does--amplify it. Dr. Barbin still contends this is a non-story--though, apparently factually accurate despite protestations to the contrary--because it was just "a throw away line...that Harry Reid said to the unable-to-be-reconfirmed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's face." And Geiger puts off the outrageous statement Reid claims to have made to the senator's "tendency to speak like the straight-talking, former boxer that he is." If it's all true, then Reid's a brave man, but a jerk nonetheless. The other possibility, of course, is that he's full of it and never said any such thing to Pace--in which case, he's still a jerk, but not so stupid as to question the integrity of this nation's highest ranking officer to his face.
The lefty bloggers, for their part, have shown themselves to be totally inept. They failed to report the comments, then they denied Reid ever made them while making their own unsubstantiated allegations, and now they defend the comments as irrelevant--and without even the slightest doubt as to their validity. Which is worse?
Now, here’s where things get weird. After yesterday’s Politico report, the Daily Kos went on the offense. Barbara Morrill who blogs as a Kos frontpager under the name of BarbinMD was on the conference call, and she accused the Politico of making up a story “out of thin air.” Greg Sargent of TPM Café (a left wing blog – more about them and their political affiliations in a bit) interviewed Barb, and Barb brayed, “"I don't even recall Pace's name specifically being mentioned. If it was, he did not say that he was incompetent."Like many, I too believe the US policy in Iraq, and the war in general has been conducted incompetently, but General Pace is merely following orders from his Commander In Chief.
Barb’s fellow Kos front-pager Joan McCarter, who blogs under the pseudonym McJoan, was also on the conference call and also apparently lives in a blizzard of forgetfulness. She told Sargent, “I don't remember him saying anything like that. I can't swear he didn't say it. But I have no memory that he actually did. It's not in my notes." At least McJoan showed enough common sense to allow herself a little wiggle room, unlike her obstreperous and shortsighted colleague. MyDD’s Jonathan Singer also opted for the wiggle room school of propagandizing. Sargent reports Singer saying, “I don't remember him calling Pace incompetent." He added that while he couldn't promise that he hadn't done it, "I just don't recall those statements."
Ultimately, Singer’s and McJoan’s decision to go for the wiggle room turned out to be a wise one. Another participant on the call, a guy named Bob Geiger (who I’ve never heard of ) not only remembered Reid’s remarkable comment but reported it. I guess I’m not the only one who doesn’t consider Geiger a player. The other six bloggers on the call (all from the far more prominent MyDD, Daily Kos and AmericaBlog sites) apparently forgot to include him in their plans to “forget” Reid’s comment...
At this point, it’s only fair and fitting to offer a tip of the cap to TPM Café, Greg Sargent and that site’s proprietor, Josh Marshall. I don’t much care for their politics, but I do appreciate what they do. They are intellectually honest and, unlike so many other leftwing bloggers, not utterly bereft of intellectual integrity. In truth, there are a lot of left wing bloggers like this, but they’re not the ones that Harry Reid wants to hang out with. Lord knows I seldom agree with Andrew Sullivan these days, but the thought of Andrew engaging in the kind of shenanigans that the left wing bloggerati did here is laughable...
In much the same way, the Left is blaming the current situation in Gaza on President Bush and the US for not "engaging" Hamas as a partner. Like you can engage and treat as equals any terrorist organization just because they happen to win an election. But no! We have ourselves to blame..or so goes the mantra from the Left. The truth is that Gaza today is a testament to the failure of the entire 14-year project of creating the Palestinian Authority, retrieving Arafat from exile, and attempting to drag the Arabs of Palestine, against their will, into western political modernity. In much the same way, our continued presence in Iraq, in order to create a "stable democracy," by dragging Iraqi political culture into modernity, is a fallacy.
Laying blame at the foot of George Bush for the mess in Gaza, or General Pace for the mistakes in Iraq, seems to have a dim-bulb hanging-out-at-the-coffee-shop feel to them. I know it’s best to just hurry past the contradictions, especially when they involve the reshuffling of positions in order to condemn the Bush administration. But it's too enjoyable, almost delicious in fact, to avoid the conclusion that here, the faulty memories of the most shrill and bitchy voices on the Left, are diminished by their omissions of fact not only concerning Harry Reid's comments, but of Gaza as well. More on the latter in another post.
It would seem, to the untrained eye, that BarbinMD and McJoan personify the very negative characterizations of the mainstream media that is the crux of what I always thought the blogger movement was "fighting," or rather "crashing the gate" of the establishment press. From where I'm sitting, it looks like that while some of them were crashing the gate, the others snuck around the back and helped themselves to the office equipment.
Mike
This Weeks Torah Portion: Korach
Wishing ya'll a Shabbat Shalom!
Your friends at Chabad – Lubavitch,
Rabbi Chaim & Chavie
******
Join us Shabbat morning at 10:30; for our weekly Shabbat Torah class!
******
Kabbala in Bozeman! Mark your calendars for an evening with Rabbi Dr. Laibl Wolf of Melbourne, Australia. August 27th at 7:30 PM.
More details to come!
******
This week's Torah portions: Korach (Numbers 16:1-18:32)
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For candle lighting time in your area:
http://fridaylight.org/page/sunset-almanac.php
******
Rabbi, why is my wife in love with G-d?
By Rabbi Chaim
I have been told "Sure G-d created man before woman. But then you always make a rough draft before the final masterpiece ". This saying came to mind as we passionately discussed the role and power of the Jewish woman at Tuesday's ethics class. What is Torah's view on women? Do Torah observant Jews treat their women with the proper respect and honor? Is Torah chauvinistic? Later that evening it dawned upon me that the answer to all those questions is in our weekly Torah portion of Korach….
In the awful story of Korach's rebellion against Moses, Aaron, and G-d, there was only one individual whose life was spared; because he chose to return to G-d in the nick of time. Who was this rescued fellow? The Talmud tells us that it was On Ben Peles, the leader of the tribe of Reuven. Truth be told, something about this doesn't seem right. Korach was a man who had it all. He was very wealthy; he was an outstanding Torah scholar, a wise and learned man. He was the descendent of one of the most prestigious Jewish families, the sons of Kehot, who were given the special privilege of carrying the covers of the Ark. Additionally; Korach was on great terms with both Moses and Aaron. On Ben Peles, on the other hand, was neither particularly clever nor well connected. It is therefore surprising that each of their lives took such an unexpected turn?
The Talmud tells us that the difference in their behavior was due to the conduct of their respective wives, and it is in this Torah event where we bear witness to the enormous influence Jewish women wield over their husbands.
Korach had a wife who fueled his resentment and humiliation over his secondary status. This led Korach to instigate the rebellion, for which the earth swallowed him and his 250 followers. She told her husband "Just take a look at what your first cousin Moses does. First he proclaims himself king. Then he has his very own brother made High Priest; an open form of nepotism. Aaron's two children are appointed as their father's assistants. Then he has the audacity to demand that all the Jews give him and his brother a share of all their crops. What outright greed this all symbolizes! Why hasn't G-d given you anything?"
In contrast, On Ben Peles's wife advised him not to participate in Korach's insurrection and at the very last second, his wife rescued her entire family from destruction. She told her husband "Darling, what are you personally going to benefit from this entire fight? Are you going to become a Kohen? Are you going to become a Levi? What personal gain will this fight get you? No matter which side wins, you're the loser. Why are you getting yourself involved in something from which you have absolutely nothing to gain? You will just make Hashem upset.
As you can see a Jewish woman is the bedrock foundation of the home. The woman was given the infinite power from G-d to be the Akeret Habayit, the Jewish Homemaker, the embodiment of the highest ideals of Jewish womanhood. Korach's wife, unfortunately, chose to be the O'keret Habayit, literally a woman who destroys and uproots her home.
So my dear friends, we must recognize the spiritual powers of the woman in our life, and allow them to build a proper Jewish home. Women are inherently and genetically more spiritual and G-dly then their wonderful husbands, and without distraction or fear of being laughed at, they can grow in their spiritual life; and their families will grow along with them.
So next time your wife has a spiritual epiphany, sit back, relax and listen closely. She is speaking from her essence which puts ours to shame.
It is for good reason that King Solomon Says in Proverbs "He who finds a wife finds happiness; it is a favor he receives from G-d".
May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Moshiach speedily. May He protect the armed forces of the United States wherever they may be. Chazak! L'Chaim!
*****
The ETorah is an educational project of
Chabad Lubavitch of Montana
Lovin' L.A.
I'm in LA to essentially collect on a favor owed to me by my Brother In Law. I'll be an extra in an episode of CYE. More to follow....
Mike
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Go. Help Sderot!
For those not in the know, the Israeli community of Sderot has been under almost daily rocket and rifle fire from Gaza, and many residents have either fled or been evacuated elsewhere.
In response to the crisis in Sderot, Arutz-7/Israel National News.com is responding by launching a weeklong Sderot Emergency Solidarity Campaign.
Call-in during their 12-hour Live Telethon Broadcast from Sderot
Sunday, June 10, 3pm-3am Israel Time (6am-6pm MDT)
Call (800) 270-4288 to pledge during the live broadcast
Proceeds go to the Sderot Hesder Yeshiva's Hand-in-Hand Assistance Project
Listen to the broadcast
Pledge Your Support in A7's Week-Long Online Emergency Campaign
Click Here to Pledge Your Support on IsraelNationalNews.com
Proceeds go to the Sderot Hesder Yeshiva's Hand-in-Hand Assistance Project.
Every little bit helps.
Mike
In response to the crisis in Sderot, Arutz-7/Israel National News.com is responding by launching a weeklong Sderot Emergency Solidarity Campaign.
Call-in during their 12-hour Live Telethon Broadcast from Sderot
Sunday, June 10, 3pm-3am Israel Time (6am-6pm MDT)
Call (800) 270-4288 to pledge during the live broadcast
Proceeds go to the Sderot Hesder Yeshiva's Hand-in-Hand Assistance Project
Listen to the broadcast
Pledge Your Support in A7's Week-Long Online Emergency Campaign
Click Here to Pledge Your Support on IsraelNationalNews.com
Proceeds go to the Sderot Hesder Yeshiva's Hand-in-Hand Assistance Project.
Every little bit helps.
Mike
Sharpton Pontificates
I'm not saying I disagree with Sharpton's sentiments concerning Ms. Hilton, but is there really ANY reason he should be involved in the issue, other than shameless self promotion?Mike
Oh My...
You'd have to reach back to last February to remember the brohaha concerning presidential candidate John Edwards hiring and then later accepting the "resignation" of who at the time was his chief campaign blogger, Amanda Marcotte.
Despite all his other faults, it seems he made the right decision.
Mike
Despite all his other faults, it seems he made the right decision.
Amanda Marcotte: "Break something. Set something on fire. Tonight you can find a way to resist."Just once I'd like to see someone actually take responsibility for their words and/or remarks rather than claim, in hindsight, that it was just a "joke." Seems the joke's on Ms. Marcotte. It remains to be seen if this issue causes any blowback for Mr. Edwards...not that it will matter much.
Mike
Friday, June 08, 2007
This Weeks Torah Portion: Shelach
Wishing ya'll a Shabbat Shalom!
Your friends at Chabad – Lubavitch,
Rabbi Chaim & Chavie
******
Join us Shabbat morning at 10:30; for our weekly Shabbat Torah class!
******
Kabbala in Bozeman! Mark your calendars for an evening with Rabbi Dr. Laibl Wolf of Melbourne, Australia. August 27th at 7:30 PM.
More details to come!
******
This week's Torah portion: Shelach (Numbers 13:1-15:41)
******
For candle lighting time in your area:
http://fridaylight.org/page/sunset-almanac.php
******
Would Moses join the G8 summit?
By Rabbi Chaim
So, eight world leaders got together to talk about global issues; as they all enjoyed lavish meals and fanfare (and some demonstrations) in Germany. Bush and Putin were trying to warm up the new cold war, Merkel was worried about the climate change and Sarkozy seemed to be enjoying his first get together with the leaders of the so-called free world. As I surfed the G8 news, I wondered if a leader like Moses would be invited to such an event? And if yes, would he feel comfortable in the presence of the other world leaders? By Divine Providence, the answer to this question is found in this week's Torah portion…
As Moses sends off the spies to scout out the land of Israel, The Torah tells us that " These are the names of the men Moses sent to scout the Land, and Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua" and as Rashi explains "He prayed on his behalf, May G-d save you from the counsel of the spies; thus changing his name to Joshua, which in Hebrew means just that". Now, if Moses knew that the spies were sinners before hand, he would've never sent them. So then why did he only pray for Joshua? Why didn't he pray for all of them?
Throughout Jewish history there were three righteous leaders who lived at a time when the general population was corrupt, Noah, Abraham and Moses. Noah was very righteous, but he worried about himself and his family. He didn't go out of his way to educate and mentor his fellow citizens. If they approached him and asked "why are you building this massive ark"? He would respond "G-d is bringing a great flood and if you don't repent, you will die". All in all, Noah was self centered and cared primarily about the spiritual wellbeing of his inner circle. Abraham was one notch higher, as he spread the faith in G-d to everyone everywhere. Yet, that wasn't good enough, because Abraham tried to transform everyone to be Tzaddikim – righteous and pious as himself. When Abraham realized there are no more holy guy's left in Sodom, he gave up and let them burn.
Then along came Moshe….Moses, was a different breed. He was a true Jewish shepherd who cared for his entire flock with all his heart and soul. So when the Jews messed around with the Golden Calf, Moses interceded on their behalf and begged G-d for clemency. He told G-d, that either you forgive them or please be so kind and delete my name from your Torah. Moses was no imbecile, he knew that amongst those Jews, there were some that intentionally instigated this wacko idea of a Golden Calf, but Moses is a leader and he cares for his flock no matter what.
True Jewish leaders, post Mount Sinai leaders, do not only deal with their inner circle or only with the grade-A students, they deal with every Jewish person, no matter what their background, affiliation or level of involvement is. The spies didn't want the Jews to go into Israel, because they would then have to connect to G-d via the physical, taking the physical and transforming it to spiritual. They wanted everyone to be like them; righteous enough to bond with their heavenly Father without dealing with the real world.
Moses knew that Joshua, the next Jewish leader, must deal with every Jew, even the simple and distant. He therefore prayed for him, prayed that he doesn't fall for the somewhat selfish ideas of his fellow spies. He wanted Joshua to remember that he must care for every Jew; and your average Jew can only connect to G-d by utilizing his involvement with the physical world for G-d.
So Moses was certainly the type of leader that really cared for his nation. He didn't use his leadership to advance his political career or to enjoy the limelight for a couple of years, he utilized his leadership position to make sure that every one of his constituents – every Jewish person – was in the best of shape and on best of terms with his Creator on High. The G8 would be Moses free.
The world needs a Moses or two – Leaders who really care!
May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Moshiach speedily. May He protect the armed forces of the United States wherever they may be. Chazak! L'Chaim!
*****
The ETorah is an educational project of
Chabad Lubavitch of Montana
Finklestein---DENIED!
Norman Finklestein has been denied tenure at DePaul University.
Good Shabbos!
Mike
Good Shabbos!
Mike
Climate Change Tax
Please tell me there will be no advocates of a similar measure in the US from the usual suspects on the Left. May believes it's "politically brave" to call for carbon taxes. From where I'm sitting it's called political suicide.
Are we seeing the burgeoning of a new movement that, for lack of a better term, I'll call Eco-Socialism, or is she just another batshit crazy individual in the conclave?
Are we seeing the burgeoning of a new movement that, for lack of a better term, I'll call Eco-Socialism, or is she just another batshit crazy individual in the conclave?
Greens' climate plan sees 12-cent tax at the pumpsMike
Carbon toll is price to avert environmental `catastrophe,' May says
OTTAWA–The Green party wants Canadian drivers to pay an extra 12 cents a litre at the gas pumps as the price of averting environmental "catastrophe."
Leader Elizabeth May is boasting that her party is the only one politically brave enough to call for carbon taxes that would discourage automobile use and finance other tax cuts that would allow consumers to make smarter environmental choices.
"Right now, the Green Party of Canada is the only Canadian political party prepared to state this obvious reality," May said yesterday. "We will use those carbon taxes to reduce taxes elsewhere."
May rolled out her party's environmental plan yesterday in part to coincide with the G-8 meeting starting today in Germany, where Canada's action on this issue – or lack of it – is a major story.
The Green leader had harsh words for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his announced intentions to be a "bridge" between countries that have signed on to the Kyoto air quality accord and the United States, which hasn't.
"If we stop being with the rest of the world and start siding with George Bush, we are global saboteurs and that's what Mr. Harper is doing right now in Germany," May said.
The environmental challenge is similar to the space race about 50 years ago in which then-president John F. Kennedy said the United States would put a man on the moon, May said.
"He couldn't prove it when he said it. He could mobilize the resources, fix the political will, and engage the public's spirit and imagination in a bold, collective venture," she said. "Surely we can do the same thing for purposes of survival."
May sees the political landscape divided on the environment, with Harper's government on one side and the Greens, Liberals, New Democrats and the Bloc Québécois, with differences on their degrees of activism, on the other.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Jon & Max Stand Up
Once, twice, three time's the charm. I've phoned our respective Senate offices no less than three separate times today to encourage BOTH Senator Baucus and Senator Tester to do the right thing and vote against cloture on S. 1348, technically called the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 but popularly and correctly known as the "Shamnesty Bill." For a welcome change, I'm glad they see it my way ;-)
Perhaps now the Congress will see fit to actually roll up their collective sleeves and do something serious about the problem of illegal immigration. Secure the border, in part by building the fence Congress authorized and funded last year. Fix the visa program so that people can be properly tracked, as Congress demanded be done by 2005. Bolster the Border Patrol so that they have enough agents to get the job done. When Congress has done that and rebuilt some of the credibility that they tossed away since the last time they visited the subject some 20 years ago, then let's talk about normalization in a rational manner, and without adding entitlement programs like the DREAM Act.
My "part-time" senator, Byron Dorgan (D-ND) wrote a cogent piece on the issue in NRO which can be found here. His Senate colleague, Jeff Sessions (R-AL), provides a variation on a theme of Letterman's Top Ten list by providing 20 Loopholes in the Immigration Bill, which can be found here.
A recent study from the Heritage Foundation found that the cost of so-called Comprehensive Immigration Reform" approaches $2.6 Trillion, that's trillion with a T! Before we provide such a payday to those criminals who aren't bothered with entering the United States legally we should be obliged to not only secure our border and arrest and deport as many illegals as possible BUT make sure that the folks who we do allow into this country are treated equally... which doesn't mean granting a blanket amnesty to the millions here from south of the border and then requiring hundreds of thousands more,who actually endeavor to do it legally, wait for years in limbo.
Mike
Perhaps now the Congress will see fit to actually roll up their collective sleeves and do something serious about the problem of illegal immigration. Secure the border, in part by building the fence Congress authorized and funded last year. Fix the visa program so that people can be properly tracked, as Congress demanded be done by 2005. Bolster the Border Patrol so that they have enough agents to get the job done. When Congress has done that and rebuilt some of the credibility that they tossed away since the last time they visited the subject some 20 years ago, then let's talk about normalization in a rational manner, and without adding entitlement programs like the DREAM Act.
My "part-time" senator, Byron Dorgan (D-ND) wrote a cogent piece on the issue in NRO which can be found here. His Senate colleague, Jeff Sessions (R-AL), provides a variation on a theme of Letterman's Top Ten list by providing 20 Loopholes in the Immigration Bill, which can be found here.
A recent study from the Heritage Foundation found that the cost of so-called Comprehensive Immigration Reform" approaches $2.6 Trillion, that's trillion with a T! Before we provide such a payday to those criminals who aren't bothered with entering the United States legally we should be obliged to not only secure our border and arrest and deport as many illegals as possible BUT make sure that the folks who we do allow into this country are treated equally... which doesn't mean granting a blanket amnesty to the millions here from south of the border and then requiring hundreds of thousands more,who actually endeavor to do it legally, wait for years in limbo.
Mike
The Apartheid State of Israel
A virtual tour of the apartheid State of Israel can be found here.
Brilliant, simply brilliant, Annie!
(Kippah-Tip Pamela Geller)
Mike
Brilliant, simply brilliant, Annie!
(Kippah-Tip Pamela Geller)
Mike
Friday, June 01, 2007
This Week's Torah Portion: Behaalotecha
Wishing ya'll a Shabbat Shalom!
Your friends at Chabad – Lubavitch,
Rabbi Chaim & Chavie
******
Join us Shabbat morning at 10:30; for our weekly Shabbat Torah class!
******
This week's Torah portions: Behaalotecha (Numbers 8:1-12:16)
******
For candle lighting time in your area:
http://fridaylight.org/page/sunset-almanac.php
******
Are Jews Fundamentalists?
By Rabbi Chaim
While Chavie and I were out shopping over the Memorial Day weekend (not on Shabbos , of course), I was pleasantly surprised. As Chavie was trying something on at the Anthropologie dressing room - a store I never knew about prior to my wedding – I was waiting patiently on a husbands couch, and on the coffee table there was a book called " Things I Want My Daughters to Know" by Alexandra Stoddard, and in the few minutes I had to skim through it, I was fascinated by one particular chapter called "Your Soul is not for Sale", in which she describes to her daughter how there are certain spiritual principals in a person's life that are not changeable, period. I was touched and Thanked G-d that there are still people out there educating their kids this way, and I instantly thought about this week's Torah portion….
G-d tells Moses "When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall cast their light toward the face of the menorah …." Aaron, the High Priest, was commanded to light the Menorah in the Holy Temple, which spread light and warmth throughout Israel and the entire world. Regarding the Menorah the Torah tells us "to raise an everlasting flame; " the Menorah must burn constantly. King Solomon says in Proverbs "The soul of man is a lamp of G-d", and we know that the Torah is not merely a history book, but rather a way of life for Jewish people in 2007, so how do we light our Menorah today? And how can we make sure it burns continuously?
Last night, as we studied Ethics of Our Fathers in Helena, we discussed the idea of setting buffer zones, principals and fences in our life, that we will never break come what may. The Jewish people were certainly blessed as a whole, that throughout history, our righteous Sages set guidelines for us to follow; thus holding us back from transgressing G-d's Will. Yet, occasionally we must set things straight on our own. No one knows your inner self, better then you, and therefore, you must make sure that there are lines you will never cross. As she wrote to her child "Your Soul is not for sale", yes, sometimes we surrender to our evil inclination, but our Soul, our Torah based principles must never be given-up, no matter what.
Indeed, this is the message that Moses is telling us in this week's Torah portion. We must light the Menorah, we must make sure that our inner G-dly flame is alive and well, we nourish it through Torah and Mitzvot, and that flame must burn constantly. It will not necessarily always have as much oil and rocking umf as it needs, we will slack off here and there, but we can never let the flame burn out totally. Yes of course, there is a bond that every Jew has with G-d no matter what, for we are his children, and you can't fire your child! However, we shouldn't rely on that; and we must set rules and regulations for ourselves, that will keep that flame burning brightly forever!
One person may keep his flame alive by fasting on Yom Kippur, the other by laying Teffilin every day, and his or her buddy may do it by eating only Kosher at home, but whatever your Torah foundation may be, make sure to stick to it, because it is this Mitzvah that nourishes your soul and bring G-d's light and blessings into your home, office and community.
As Francis Bacon, the British statesman and philosopher said "Consistency is the foundation of virtue"
Don't raise your spiritual white flag!
May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Moshiach speedily. May He protect the armed forces of the United States wherever they may be. Chazak! L'Chaim!
*****
The ETorah is an educational project of
Chabad Lubavitch of Montana
Better Luck Next Time
Other folks have often taken me to task over my stance on Israel and Zionism...some even claiming to be Zionists themselves when it's patently obvious they know nothing about the subject at hand.
At some point in the recent past Missoula's legend in his own mind, Mr. Mommeleh Momzer, thought it appropriate to include me in making a larger point about "how far removed militant Israel backers are from Israel itself..." vis a vis the Winograd Report and Israel's bungling, even pursuing, it's self defense in the Lebanon campaign last year. It's manifest that neither smarts or knowledge carry much cachet with the leftards in the west, which is why it's perhaps easier for them to simply show contempt for others whose arguments they can't quite grasp.
It seems, afterall, that I'm not quite so far out of the mainstream as others might have you believe.
A recent poll of Israeli's conducted by Angus Reid Global Monitor shows the following:
Poll: Checkpoints Not a Health Issue for PA Arabs
Mike
At some point in the recent past Missoula's legend in his own mind, Mr. Mommeleh Momzer, thought it appropriate to include me in making a larger point about "how far removed militant Israel backers are from Israel itself..." vis a vis the Winograd Report and Israel's bungling, even pursuing, it's self defense in the Lebanon campaign last year. It's manifest that neither smarts or knowledge carry much cachet with the leftards in the west, which is why it's perhaps easier for them to simply show contempt for others whose arguments they can't quite grasp.
It seems, afterall, that I'm not quite so far out of the mainstream as others might have you believe.
A recent poll of Israeli's conducted by Angus Reid Global Monitor shows the following:
Is it possible to reach peace with the Palestinians?Highlighting yet another point of contention from those who always criticize Israel at every turn, yet are oddly silent concerning the internecine violence within various Palestinian factions, is word of yet another poll contradicting the conventional wisdom, or lack thereof, of those on the left:
Yes 31%
No 69%
Do you support the "land for peace" formula?
Yes 28%
No 58%
Do you support the evacuation of settlements within the framework of a unilateral withdrawal?
Yes 28%
No 72%
(Source: INSS Methodology: Interviews with 709 Israeli adults, conducted in March 2007. Margin of error is 3.7 per cent.)
Poll: Checkpoints Not a Health Issue for PA Arabs
(IsraelNN.com) A poll of Palestinian Authority Arabs said that the vast majority never experienced any problem when seeking medical help because they were prevented from passing through IDF roadblocks. A host of international groups, such as the Doctors Without Borders group – one of whose employees was arrested recently for plotting to kill Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert – have accused Israel of exacerbating health problems for PA Arabs by preventing them from receiving treatment by holding them up for hours at the checkpoints.Then there's this:
But the poll, conducted by a professional PA polling group, showed that in actuality, the checkpoint issue had a negligible impact on Arabs seeking health care. 25% of those polled who said they had been denied treatment for health problems cited the high cost of medical care as the main problem. Other major reasons cited were long waiting times (23%) and a lack of qualified personnel in PA health facilities (17%). Only 6% said they were held back for a significant period by a checkpoint.
A poll carried out by the Knesset channel found a majority of Israelis want no more withdrawals from parts of the Land of Israel – not even for "real peace."Makes one wonder if the theme song for these people shouldn't be courtesy of The Fray...
The poll, conducted by the Dahaf Institute for the Knesset Channel – found that even in the case of a what was termed a “real peace deal,” 68 percent of Israelis would not agree to withdraw from the Golan Heights, 53 percent from Judea and Samaria and 86 percent from the Western Wall.
Mike
Thompson Gets It
I'm not sayin' I support an individual who has yet to declare his candidacy... but I like what I'm hearing from Fred Thompson.
MH
Living in Terror
Let me ask you a hypothetical question. What do you think America would do if Canadian soldiers were firing dozens of missiles every day into Buffalo, N.Y.? What do you think our response would be if Mexican troops for two years had launched daily rocket attacks on San Diego -- and bragged about it?
I can tell you, our response would look nothing like Israel's restrained and pinpoint reactions to daily missile attacks from Gaza. We would use whatever means necessary to win the war. There would likely be numerous casualties on our enemy's side, but we would rightfully hold those who attacked us responsible.
More than 1,300 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza since Palestinians were given control two years ago. Israelis, however, have gone to incredible lengths to stop the war against them without harming Palestinian non-combatants. But make no mistake, Israel is at war. The elected Hamas government regularly repeats its official promise to destroy Israel entirely and replace it with an Islamic state. Hamas openly took credit for killing one woman and wounding dozens more last week alone.
The Palestinian strategy is to purposely target and kill Israeli civilians. Then, when Israel goes after those launching the attacks, Palestinians claim to be the victims. If Palestinian civilians aren't hurt in the Israeli attacks, they stage injuries and deaths. Too often, they garner sympathy and support from a gullible or anti-Semitic media in the international community.
Israelis, themselves, are often incapable of facing the damage they inflict in self-defense. Knowing this, Islamic extremists are using their own populations as human shields.
I'm beginning to wonder how much longer this vicious plot will work though. International sympathy for Palestinians has diminished as the same Islamofascist extremists have brought havoc to Madrid, Bali, Somalia, London and elsewhere. More importantly, Israelis themselves are suffering so badly, they may be on the verge of losing their sympathy for the people who have sworn to kill them.
Imagine what it would be like to live, knowing that a rocket could fall on you or your children at any minute. Half of those who live nearest to Gaza have fled their homes. Those remaining are traumatized by daily warning sirens and explosions.
The irony is that Israel has the military might to easily win the war that is being waged against them today. They haven't used that might, in the past, out of compassion for Palestinian civilians and because it could trigger a wider regional conflict.
That balance of power is about to change, though. If Iran develops nuclear weapons, the very existence of this tiny nation of Israel will be threatened. The Iranian regime has left little doubt that it intends to see Israel "wiped off the map.” Hamas is using the same language, not coincidentally, and has announced it will begin launching missiles into Israel from the West Bank too.
If the world doesn't act to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions, it must be prepared for the consequences of Israel defending itself.
MH
Living in Terror
Let me ask you a hypothetical question. What do you think America would do if Canadian soldiers were firing dozens of missiles every day into Buffalo, N.Y.? What do you think our response would be if Mexican troops for two years had launched daily rocket attacks on San Diego -- and bragged about it?
I can tell you, our response would look nothing like Israel's restrained and pinpoint reactions to daily missile attacks from Gaza. We would use whatever means necessary to win the war. There would likely be numerous casualties on our enemy's side, but we would rightfully hold those who attacked us responsible.
More than 1,300 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza since Palestinians were given control two years ago. Israelis, however, have gone to incredible lengths to stop the war against them without harming Palestinian non-combatants. But make no mistake, Israel is at war. The elected Hamas government regularly repeats its official promise to destroy Israel entirely and replace it with an Islamic state. Hamas openly took credit for killing one woman and wounding dozens more last week alone.
The Palestinian strategy is to purposely target and kill Israeli civilians. Then, when Israel goes after those launching the attacks, Palestinians claim to be the victims. If Palestinian civilians aren't hurt in the Israeli attacks, they stage injuries and deaths. Too often, they garner sympathy and support from a gullible or anti-Semitic media in the international community.
Israelis, themselves, are often incapable of facing the damage they inflict in self-defense. Knowing this, Islamic extremists are using their own populations as human shields.
I'm beginning to wonder how much longer this vicious plot will work though. International sympathy for Palestinians has diminished as the same Islamofascist extremists have brought havoc to Madrid, Bali, Somalia, London and elsewhere. More importantly, Israelis themselves are suffering so badly, they may be on the verge of losing their sympathy for the people who have sworn to kill them.
Imagine what it would be like to live, knowing that a rocket could fall on you or your children at any minute. Half of those who live nearest to Gaza have fled their homes. Those remaining are traumatized by daily warning sirens and explosions.
The irony is that Israel has the military might to easily win the war that is being waged against them today. They haven't used that might, in the past, out of compassion for Palestinian civilians and because it could trigger a wider regional conflict.
That balance of power is about to change, though. If Iran develops nuclear weapons, the very existence of this tiny nation of Israel will be threatened. The Iranian regime has left little doubt that it intends to see Israel "wiped off the map.” Hamas is using the same language, not coincidentally, and has announced it will begin launching missiles into Israel from the West Bank too.
If the world doesn't act to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions, it must be prepared for the consequences of Israel defending itself.
Double Standard Watch
Double Standard Watch: Dumbing down the debate over the Arab-Israeli conflict
Alan Dershowitz
The complex conflict between the Arab and Muslim world on the one hand, and Israel on the other, is first-page news around the world. It is also at the forefront of discussion on many university campuses around the globe.
I have visited many such campuses over the past several years and am distressed to report that the level of discourse has become increasingly dumber, shriller, and less nuanced. Name-calling has replaced serious academic discussion. This is particularly so among hard left Israel-bashers. Israeli policies certainly warrant just criticism, as do the policies of Israeli’s enemies.
I am not talking about such comparative and contextual criticism. I am talking about abusive words that contribute nothing of substance to the quest for peace. Indeed, by demonizing Israel and dehumanizing its supporters, this kind of hate speech encourages those who oppose a compromise peace and discourages those who seek it.
The favorite rhetorical reversal of the hard left is to call Israel and its supporters “Nazis.” Listen to Ali al-Mazrui, professor of humanities at the State University of New York – Binghamton, director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies, and former North American spokesman for the Islamic extremist group Al-Muhajiroun:
‘Israeli neo-Nazism reversed the scale of genetic values favored by German Nazis. Both forms of extremism exaggerated the impact of the Jewish factor. The Nazis thought the Jewish impact was negative. The Israeli extremists erred the other way.’ ‘As for the trend towards militarization, Israel has indeed become the most efficient war machine since Nazi Germany.’Norman G. Finkelstein, a Hizbullah-supporting ideologue up for tenure at Depaul University, has repeatedly analogized Jews to Nazis and said that he “can’t imagine why Israel’s apologists would be offended by comparison with the Gestapo.” When criticized for these and other comparisons, Finkelstein responded, "Nazis never like to hear they're being Nazis." Finkelstein finds support from Rutgers Professor Robert Trivers, a most recent winner of the Crafoord Prize, who published excerpts from a letter he sent to me in The Wall Street Journal:
Regarding your rationalization of Israeli attacks on Lebanese civilians, let me just say that if there is a repeat of Israeli butchery toward Lebanon and if you decide once again to rationalize it publicly, look forward to a visit from me. Nazis -- and Nazi-like apologists such as yourself -- need to be confronted directly.Hamid Dabashi of Columbia views supporters of Israel as "Gestapo apparatchiks."
Joseph Massad of Columbia has compared former Israeli PM Ariel Sharon to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
Professor Leighton Armitage, an adjunct lecturer in political science in the Business and Social Sciences Department of Foothill College in Northern California, uses the Nazi analogy frequently.
What are [the Israelis] doing with the Palestinians, every day? They’re killing them. They’re not taking their glasses and gold fillings, and everything else, as far as I know, but they are still slaughtering these people. It’s exactly what Hitler did to the Jews.Closely related to the Nazi name-calling is the absurd claim that Israel’s actions in relation to Palestinian terrorists is a “Holocaust,” comparable to the systematic genocide of six million innocent Jews.
José Saramago, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature, was quoted as saying, “We must ring all bells in the world to tell that what is happening in Palestine is a crime, and it is within our power stop to this… We can compare it to what happened in Auschwitz.”
Nicholas De Genova, a Columbia University assistant professor of anthropology has said that:
The heritage of the victims of the Holocaust belongs to the Palestinian people. The state of Israel has no legitimate claim to the heritage of the Holocaust. The heritage of the oppressed belongs to the oppressed--not the oppressor.Another Columbia professor, Bruce Robbins, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, has said that “The Israeli government has no right to the sufferings of the Holocaust.”
Columbia Professor Hamid Dabashi likened Israel’s presence in Jenin to the Nazi conduct of the Holocaust after canceling classes to lead a protest against the Israeli incursion into the terrorist stronghold of Jenin.
Prof. Fawaz Gerges, ABC News Consultant and Sarah Lawrence College professor said on National Public Radio in a discussion about the Holocaust Denial conference in Iran, that
I really believe that both the Jews and the Palestinians, basically, are, have suffered from similar historical injustices.The most recent entry into this parade of name-calling is Jimmy Carter, who insists on calling Israeli policies in the West Bank, “apartheid.” This sort of name-calling obscures the reality that the Palestinians could have had their own state if they accepted the Barak-Clinton offer at Camp David. To heighten the irony of the pot calling the kettle black, Jimmy Carter has praised Yasser Arafat for rejecting the offer of statehood, and almost certainly advised him to reject it at the time. (See Alan M. Dershowitz, A Real Dialogue Would Have Been Better, accessed at Ex-President for Sale Part 4, (http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976898907) Carter therefore bears at least some of the responsibility for what he calls “apartheid.”
This name-calling – “Nazis,” “Holocaust,” “apartheid” – turns a complicated issue into simple-minded sloganeering. It dumbs down the debate. It drowns out the nuanced constructive criticism of particular Israeli and Palestinian policies. And it discourages peace efforts.
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