Switzerland Shocks The World: It Appears That The Ban On Minarets On Mosques Has Passed

Cross posted by Holger Awakens

This is glorious news...and I have to admit I'm holding my breath that it is officially confirmed but it seems very evident that the Swiss have stood up to worldwide islamic pressure and have voted for an amendment to the Swiss constitution that would ban minarets from mosques in the country. I cannot, personally, believe this happened...in Europe? In "neutral" Switzerland?

The exit polls not only show that the majority of legislators backed the ban (which is required) but that 59% of the people voted for the ban.

Now, here are the arguments, from The Telegraph, that were made against the ban of the mosque minarets:

Commentators had said the country risked international pariah status and a backlash across the Muslim world if a ’yes’ vote was achieved.
If the exit polls prove correct it will be a huge shock and Switzerland risks international pariah status and a backlash across the Muslim world.

"The 'Swiss' brand must continue to represent values such as openness, pluralism and freedom of religion. Under no circumstances must it be connected with hatred, animosity towards foreigners and narrow-mindedness," he said.
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, the Swiss justice minister, has suggested that a vote for a ban could fuel Islamist radicalism and violent protests, such as those that greeted Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2006.
"This is not an appropriate instrument for combating religious extremism. It risks the opposite, of serving the cause of fanatics," she said

But here was a statement calling for the ban:

"This minaret is a symbol of conquest and power which marks the will to introduce Sharia law as has happened in some other European cities. We will not accept that," said Ulrich Schueler, an SVP politician and leader of the "stop" minaret campaign.

As we can all see, the major argument against the ban was the fear of islamic reprisals - both inside of Switzerland and all over the islamic world. You saw the reference to the Danish cartoons. Now, I want to look at this statement from a muslim immigrant to Switzerland...read it closely:

Mutalip Karaademi, leader of Langenthal's Muslim community and of Albanian origin, accused Mr Schueler of telling "dirty lies".
"A minaret is a symbol nothing more. It s nice to see a house of god with a minaret or a church steeple or cupolas on a synagogue," he said.
"They call us terrorists. They call us Taliban, so many labels all wrong. They insult us. We love this country, almost more than our own. Our children were born here."

Well, all I can say is CONGRATULATIONS to the Swiss people for having the backbone to stand up to the evil swarm. When a country like Switzerland, which has always prided itself on neutrality and peaceful existence, recognizes that islamic forces are poised to take over their country then one has to believe that countries like France, Britain, Sweden, Germany and yes, America should be able to wake up, too.

Right?

Switzerland appears to have backed minaret ban

Thirty minutes after the referendum finished at midday, Swiss television reported: “The initiative would appear to be accepted. There is a positive trend. It’s a huge surprise.”
According to the respected gfs.bern polling institute an estimated 59 per cent of voters backed the ban. A majority of cantons were also in support of the initiative.
“A majority have voted for a nationwide ban on the construction of minarets,” said the institute’s director Claude Longchamp, speaking on Swiss Radio DRS.
For the Swiss constitution to be changed, the majority of the electorate and a majority of the cantons are required to vote ‘yes’.
A survey two weeks ago showed 53 per cent said they would reject it. Both the government and parliament had rejected the initiative.
Commentators had said the country risked international pariah status and a backlash across the Muslim world if a ’yes’ vote was achieved.
If the exit polls prove correct it will be a huge shock and Switzerland risks international pariah status and a backlash across the Muslim world.
Sunday's vote was forced by members of the far-right Swiss People's party (SVP) which has provoked a national debate over immigration with powerful billboard images.
The stark "stop" posters depicting a Muslim woman in a burka against the backdrop of a Swiss flag studded with missile shaped black minarets have been banned in many towns.
Hanspeter Rentsch, an executive director at the watch company Swatch, has warned that the referendum, and the poster propaganda, could damage Switzerland in the eyes of the world.
"The 'Swiss' brand must continue to represent values such as openness, pluralism and freedom of religion. Under no circumstances must it be connected with hatred, animosity towards foreigners and narrow-mindedness," he said.
Campaigners demanded the referendum to halt "political Islamisation" by amending the Swiss constitution to add a clause stating "the construction of minarets is prohibited".
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, the Swiss justice minister, has suggested that a vote for a ban could fuel Islamist radicalism and violent protests, such as those that greeted Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2006.
"This is not an appropriate instrument for combating religious extremism. It risks the opposite, of serving the cause of fanatics," she said.
But Oskar Freysinger, an SVP MP, compares warnings of anger in the Muslim world to the arguments used by "appeasers" of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
"It is what Chamberlain thought in Munich in 1938. If these are the consequences, it is the proof that what we are doing to defend ourselves is legitimate," he said.
The vote is required because campaigners got over 100,000 signatures on a petition against minarets triggering a vote under the Swiss constitution.
The campaign followed a row over a minaret in the tiny town of Langenthal, in the Bern canton of Switzerland.
Earlier this year Langenthal's 750 Muslims asked for planning permission to add a minaret, 30 feet high, to their mosque in a town with 11 churches and 14,500 inhabitants.
The reaction to the apparently harmless request has polarised Switzerland and crossed borders to feed into British, French, Dutch and Austrian fears over Islam and national identity.
"This minaret is a symbol of conquest and power which marks the will to introduce Sharia law as has happened in some other European cities. We will not accept that," said Ulrich Schueler, an SVP politician and leader of the "stop" minaret campaign.
Muslims have rejected the argument that a minaret symbolises Muslim power. Mutalip Karaademi, leader of Langenthal's Muslim community and of Albanian origin, accused Mr Schueler of telling "dirty lies".
"A minaret is a symbol nothing more. It s nice to see a house of god with a minaret or a church steeple or cupolas on a synagogue," he said.
"They call us terrorists. They call us Taliban, so many labels all wrong. They insult us. We love this country, almost more than our own. Our children were born here."

Happy National Kill A Turkey And Eat It Day...

...AKA Thanksgiving


Here are some interesting facts about Thanksgiving:

1. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States.

2. By the fall of 1621 only half of the pilgrims, who had sailed on the Mayflower, survived. The survivors, thankful to be alive, decided to give a thanksgiving feast.

3. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada. So a belated Happy Thanksgiving to our Northern friends.

4. The Plymouth Pilgrims were the first to celebrate the Thanksgiving.

5. The Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day in the fall of 1621. They celebrated at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

6. The drink that the Puritans brought with them in the Mayflower was the beer.

7. The Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land.

8. The Pilgrim leader, Governor William Bradford, had organized the first Thanksgiving feast in the year 1621 and invited the neighboring Wampanoag Indians also to the feast.

9. The first Thanksgiving feast was held in the presence of around ninety Wampanoag Indians and the Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, was also invited there.

10. The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.

11. President George Washington issued the first national Thanksgiving Day Proclamation in the year 1789 and again in 1795.

12. The state of New York officially made Thanksgiving Day an annual custom in 1817.

13. Sarah Josepha Hale, an editor with a magazine, started a Thanksgiving campaign in 1827 and it was result of her efforts that in 1863 Thanksgiving was observed as a day for national thanksgiving and prayer.

14. Abraham Lincoln issued a 'Thanksgiving Proclamation' on third October 1863 and officially set aside the last Thursday of November as the national day for Thanksgiving. Whereas earlier the presidents used to make an annual proclamation to specify the day when Thanksgiving was to be held. This was his proclamation:

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the everwatchful providence of almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and provoke their aggressions, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United Stated States to be affixed.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S THANKSGIVING DAY PROCLAMATION,
OCTOBER 3, 1863.

15. President Franklin D. Roosevelt restored Thursday before last of November as Thanksgiving Day in the year 1939. He did so to make the Christmas shopping season longer and hus stimulate the economy of the state.

16. Congress passed an official proclamation in 1941 and declared that now onwards Thanksgiving will be observed as a legal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November every year.



90% of all American households will serve turkey on Thanksgiving. If you':re going to eat the bird, you should know something about them.

Interesting Turkey Facts:

• At one time, the turkey and the bald eagle were each considered as the national symbol of America. Benjamin Franklin was one of those who argued passionately on behalf of the turkey. Franklin felt the turkey, although "vain and silly", was a better choice than the bald eagle, whom he felt was "a coward".
• According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the U.S. at Thanksgiving—that's one sixth of all turkeys sold in the U.S. each year. American per capita consumption of turkeys has soared from 8.3 pounds in 1975 to 18.5 pounds in 1997. Ten years later, the number has dropped slightly in 2007 to 17.5 pounds.
• In 2008, more than 250 million turkeys were raised with an average liveweight per bird of 28 pounds with nearly 6 billion pounds of turkey processed. By contrast, in 1970, only 105 million birds were raised with an average liveweight of 17 pounds and 1.5 billion pounds processed. The turkeys produced in 2008 together weighed 7.9 billion pounds and were valued at $4.5 billion.
• In 2002, retail sales of turkey was approximately $3.6 billion. Forecasts for 2009 expect sales to reach $3.8 billion.
• Age is a determining factor in taste. Old, large males are preferable to young toms (males) as tom meat is stringy. The opposite is true for females: old hens are tougher birds.
• A turkey under sixteen weeks of age is called a fryer, while a young roaster is five to seven months old.
• Turkeys are the only breed of poultry native to the Western Hemisphere.
• Turkeys have great hearing, but no external ears. They can also see in color, and have excellent visual acuity and a wide field of vision (about 270 degrees), which makes sneaking up on them difficult. However, turkeys have a poor sense of smell (what's cooking?), but an excellent sense of taste.
• Domesticated turkeys cannot fly. Wild turkeys, however, can fly for short distances at speeds up to 55 miles per hour. They can also reach speeds of 25 miles per hour on the ground.
• Turkeys sometimes spend the night in trees.
• Turkeys can have heart attacks: turkeys in fields near the Air Force test areas over which the sound barrier was broken were known to drop dead from the shock of passing jets
• The ballroom dance known as the Turkey Trot was named for the short, jerky steps a turkey makes.

What nation eats the most Turkey?

ISRAEL

According to the National Turkey Federation, in 1998 Israel consumed 27.8 pounds per capita. The United States is in second place, at 18 pounds per capita, followed by France (14.3 pounds), the United Kingdom (11.5), Canada (9.7), Belgium-Luxembourg (7.5), and the Netherlands (3.9).



On this Thanksgiving, before you sit down to your feast, take a moment to Thank G-d for all the blessings in your life. And take a moment to remember the men and women serving in our Armed Forces, many of which are far from home in harms way.

May G-d bring blessings upon your families this holiday.

GO FEAST!

Kick A Black Day!

If this happened at any school in the United States there would have been hell to pay. First of all the useful idiots in the media would have broken into their regularly scheduled news program with not only this as breaking news, but hourly updates on the condition of the victims. Each and every government official from the President on down would be commenting on this event with the President holding an kicking summit over ice cream at the White House. School officials would be fired at once with total sensitivity training and classes being taught for days. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would be holding daily rallies in the town. Finally Maxine Waters would hold Congressional Hearings.

So why didn't anything like that happen when a Florida school allowed a 'Kick A Jew Day'?

Ten students at a Florida middle school were suspended after district officials say they participated in "kick a Jew day."

District spokesman Joe Landon says a Jewish student at North Naples Middle School reported being kicked on Thursday. The school's principal addressed the entire student body the next morning and asked for anyone with information about the alleged attack to come forward.

The district determined that 10 students should be punished. They each served one day of in-school suspension Monday.

Landon says the first 20 minutes of the school day, which is normally used for reading and tutoring, will now be used to teach students about respect, kindness and ways to prevent bullying.

No criminal charges have been filed.

I would bet you any amount of money that if the victim was black not only would charges be filed, but they would be charged as adults.

Nice school they have at North Naples Middle School. So nice that they teach the basics in education: Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Anti-Semitism. Just the basics. You can contact them here by e-mail or phone them at 239-377-4600, their FAX is 239-377-4601. I am sure they would love to hear from you on this.

Oh and for the record, the next 'Kick A Jew Day' try kicking these Jews and see what will happen:

Happy Eid al-Adha But No Merry Christmas.

That is the attitude now taken by Best Buy Stores.

A scanned version of the Best Buy Black Friday ad on BestBuy.com wishes Muslims a happy Eid al-Adha, which falls on the extended Thanksgiving weekend.



Since the ad was posted, a message board on BestBuy.com has filled up with plenty of responses. Tuesday morning, a discussion of the ad on BestBuy.com had more than 100 responses. Some of those comments were supportive of the greeting and some called for a boycott of the retailer, including boldly racist remarks.

Here's a look at some of the posts on the BestBuy.com message board :

I worked part time at Best Buy two years ago and am shocked by this! The sad thing is that I think it will cost Best Buy a lot of business, and some MAJOR bad publicity which will hurt the employees who had nothing to do with the decision. What in the heck were you thinking Best Buy?????

-christmas_shopr

Happy Eid Al-Adha but no Merry Christmas? I assume your next advertisements will say Merry Christmas. Otherwise, I will no longer shop at Best Buy. I will shop at those businesses which support Christmas.

-joclaire

Thank you Best Buy for the Eid Greetings!! I plan to spend more money at BB. Thank you for being inclusive of various cultures.

-Peacepro123

Best Buy community supervisor Elizabeth responded to the comments with the following statement :

"Thanks for sharing your point of view regarding our recent ad, which included a wish for a “Happy Eid al-Adha”.

Best Buy’s customers and employees around the world represent a variety of faiths and denominations. We respect that diversity and choose to greet our customers and employees in ways that reflect their traditions.

We do use the word “holiday” in some of our advertising because it is meant to be inclusive to everyone. However, just as we have in the past, we will also reference specific holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa in our weekly ads, store signage and other advertising vehicles.

We encourage our employees to interact with customers naturally and feel free to wish them a Merry Christmas if they are celebrating that holiday.
Thanks again for your feedback."

The full story is here.

I have never seen in recent years an advertisement from Best Buy that read Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukah. Oh no! We just get Happy Holidays!

But not if you are Muslim. There you must be accomidated at all cost. You might upset the Muslims if you don't wish them a Happy al-Adha or whatever the name is. After all our idiotic President told the world that the US is one of the most populist Muslim nations in the world with 0.5% of the US population or 2.25 million. But unlike Christians, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists, Muslims will riot if you anger them. So you must never anger them.

If you expect to ever see Best Buy use the term: Merry Christmas don't hold your breath. But hold your money back and just don't shop there until they do. It is after all YOUR MONEY!

Wednesday's Hero: Rear Adm. Ned Deets

Rear Adm. Ned Deets



Rear Adm. Ned Deets speaks with Frank Chebatar, president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, at the conclusion of the base consolidation ceremony. The two bases consolidated to form Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Fort Story.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Flight 93 Blogburst: Flight 93 father denounces civilian trial for 9/11 terrorists

Tom Burnett Sr:

A military trial will do the same thing--give them justice, give them a chance to talk--but not out, you know, in the public.

Nicely framed and edited by KSTP Minneapolis:



Second Burnett interview here. If only our government, with all its resources, could make 1/100th the sense of this honest patriot, but honesty and patriotism seem to be completely absent from the Obama/Holder makeup. Mr. Burnett says he will fight.


Mr. Burnett is also trying to stop the Park Service from planting a giant Mecca-oriented crescent atop his son's grave

Video expose of what was originally called the Crescent of Embrace design, contains footage of Mr. Burnett and Alec Rawls (author of this blogburst post) at last year's Memorial Project meeting:



To join our blogbursts, just send your blog's url.

The 36 Rules For Life

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. Don’t worry about what people think, they don’t do it very often.

3. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.

4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

5. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you’ve never tried before.

6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

8. A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.

9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.

11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.

12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.

13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

1 4. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.

15. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.

16. A balanced diet is a muffin in each hand.

17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.

18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

19. Junk is something you’ve kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

21. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

22. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

23. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.

24. Someone who thinks logically provides nice contrast to the real world.

25. It ain’t the jeans that make your butt look fat.

26. If you had to identify in one word the reason why the human race has not achieved it’s full potential, that word would be ‘meetings’.

27. There is a very fine line between ‘hobby’ and ‘mental illness.’

28. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

29. You should not confuse your career with your life.

30. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.

31. Never lick a steak knife.

32. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

33. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

34. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she’s pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

35. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that deep down inside we ALL believe we are good drivers.

36. Your friends love you anyway.

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

The Most Dangerous Town In The World

Sderot (pronounced sderr-ROHT) is the only town and the Western Negev is the only region in the entire world in which missiles are fired towards civilian population in the 21st Century.

Yet in spite of the lie by Hamas that they will not fire rockets into Israel again, a promise to the world in fact, missiles have been fired and one exploded inside the city of Sderot.

The Israel Air Force carried out an air strike against terrorist operations in Gaza overnight in retaliation for a Kassam rocket fired at the western Negev on Saturday. The rocket exploded in the city of Sderot, according to the IDF Spokesman's Office, but caused no injuries or damage.

In response, IAF fighter jets targeted and identified hitting two weapons factories in the northern and central regions of Gaza early Sunday. They also struck one smuggling tunnel located in the area of Rafiah, along Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

The air strikes were carried out despite an announcement Saturday by Hamas "Interior Minister" Fathi Hamad that the terror organizations had cut a deal with allied groups to temporarily halt the rocket attacks. Hamad told reporters at a news conference in Gaza the decision had been made in order to give people time to "rebuild" following the IDF's counterrorist Operation Cast Lead.

"The IDF will not tolerate any attacks by terror organizations against Israel and its citizens," said the IDF in a statement.

Nearly 270 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel since the end of last winter's counterterrorist operation on January 18. This is in comparison to more than 3,300 rockets and mortars fired in the year before the IDF carried out the operation, the IDF spokesman pointed out.

In the past month, Hamas terrorists have again slowly begun increasing the number of rocket attacks on Israel, with approximately 15 rockets and mortar shells fired to date.

While 15 is not a large number, they do help to create the atmosphere of terror to Sderot. Sderot is the only town in the world in which between 74% and 94% of children aged 4-18 exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress, says Natal, the Israel Center for Victims of Terror and War. Those numbers are not present in Gaza where according to the Lame Stream Media Anti-Semites, the children of Gaza have experienced the most vicious and inhumane attacks in the history of the world. Where is the PTSD and other psychiatric disorders in these children?

Sderot children want missile fire to stop!



View the video here.

Just imagine this is your home:



Just imagine this is your kitchen on Thanksgiving:



Just imagine this is your bathroom:


Not a pretty picture is it.

There is much you can do. Write your Congressman and Senator, write the President. Tell them that Hamas' constant attacks on civilians (they very seldom target military personal) is unacceptable under The Geneva Conventions of War and other International Agreements.

Contact your local newspaper, especially after they write a story condemning Israel for attacking Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks on Sderot.

Become informed. The people of Sderot have been on the forefront of the War on Terror for the last 8 years. They have put their families at risk, sacrificing good physical and mental health in this war. It is time their stories, their struggle comes out. The Sderot Media Center is a good place to start. Their on-line resource page is full of facts (not propaganda) for you to use, especially if you are a blogger. You can find it here.

I ask all who read this to keep the people of Sderot in their prayers. Pray that G-d will send a miracle to them. That they can live in peace and quiet.

And if you are able to, please send a little donation their way. The funds are used to help the people of Sderot. Each penny you send will bring comfort to citizen of that beleaguered town. Just click here and follow the directions. For those who wish to sponsor one of their projects, just click here. You will discover the projects that the Sderot Media Center is working on.

Just one thing, don't just do nothing.

Moonbats Du Jour!

Somebody is going to find themselves in very hot water. After all threatening a military instillation is not only a serious criminal offense. In this case, it could lead to a charge of accessory to murder in the 1st degree and the death penalty.

Few details emerged Saturday on a reported threat at Fort Benning.

Thursday a solider found a suspicious package and a note threatening a massacre similar to the Nov. 5 attack at Fort Hood, Texas, Elsie Jackson, post spokeswoman at Fort Benning confirmed Saturday.

The anonymous note and package -- reported by The Army Times as a box of 20 hollow-point bullets -- were found Thursday morning outside a motor pool area at Fort Benning, located near Columbus.

The discovery coincided with a visit from Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command, who was in town for Officer Candidate School graduation. The threat prompted a criminal investigation and greater police presence on the Army base, the Army Times reports.

According to a witness on the scene, a box of 20 hollow-point shells and a handwritten note were found under the 197th Infantry Training Brigade.

“The note said ‘tell the commanding general to call off all charges or there will be a re-enactment of Fort Hood,’ ” a witness told Army Times. Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan is charged in the Nov. 5 shooting deaths of 13 fellow service members.

The newspaper, which serves an audience of Army personnel, active and retired, said military police acted quickly on the threat, cordoning off a 20-foot perimeter around the box.

Read the full story here.

A Copycat? Fellow Traveler? Or just plain idiot?

But knowing the PC attitude that prevails in the US Army, they just might give in. After all appeasement worked so well for Czechoslovakia in 1938. Right?

On the Hasan front, it seems that he will be confined to his hospital bed (or prison cell once the real doctors release him). For those who don't understand the military justice system: There is no bail.

Hasan has no feeling from the chest down, limited movement in his arms and has been told that his condition is permanent. Not as permanent as the 14 he killed! But hopefully that will be arranged soon.

Our good friend fiend Hugo Chavez is now defending fellow Venezuelan Carlos the Jackal. Oh Carlos was a very good role model for Chavez. Carlos is the mastermind behind such infamous terrorist attacks as the Munich Massacre and the hijacking of Air France flight 139 which led to the successful Israel rescue of the hostages at Entebbe, Uganda.

Looking like the complete idiot he is, Chavez declared:

"They accuse him of being a terrorist, but Carlos really was a revolutionary fighter," Chavez said during a televised speech to socialist politicians from various countries, who applauded.

In his speech, Chavez also sought to defend other leaders he said are wrongly labeled "bad guys" internationally, including Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Chavez called both of them brothers and said he now wonders whether Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was truly as brutal as he was reputed to be.

On has to wonder if Chavez is a real idiot or just pretending to be one to rise up anger against him. One must assume the worse of him by the company he associates with: Robert (Trillion Dollar) Mugabe, Mahmoud (Monkeyman) Ahmadinejad, and now Idi (The Ugly Gorilla) Amin. These are added to his all time favorites: Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler.

Yes dear Hugo has become a great spokesman for his nation. And if one didn't know better, one could easily accuse Venezuelans of being extreme anti-Semites and not able to produce men with an IQ over the rating of 50.

Finally:

President Obama has appointed Dr. Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe to be the US ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council aka UN Final Solution Council. She should fit right in.

The California scholar and Obama donor tapped to be the first U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council is a fierce critic of the United Nations' human rights record who some watchdogs hope will roll some heads on the controversial panel boycotted during the Bush administration.

What will roll here will be the peals of laughter from Libya, Cuba, and Iran when they eat this Moonbat for breakfast.

In what would be a drastic shift from current policy, she recommended in her 2006 Ph.D. dissertation that the United Nations condition a country's sovereignty on its human rights record. In other words, she argued that human rights abuses can justify invasion.

U.N. critics are cautiously optimistic she'll bring that hard-nosed attitude to the council and be willing to confront the despots and alleged human rights abusers represented there.

"The council has been awful," Hillel Neuer, director of U.N. Watch in Geneva, told FoxNews.com, saying he hopes the Obama administration doesn't think it's going to seek reform through "consensus" on the panel. "I'm confident that Donahoe, given her background, understands that and will take a vigorous approach to holding abusers to account."

Watchdogs, though, are reserving judgment, in part because they are so disenchanted with the panel and in part because Donahoe does not have diplomatic experience.

She does have experience in other matters it seems:

Donahoe also happens to be a top Obama fundraiser and the wife of eBay CEO John Donahoe. During the presidential campaign, she served as chairwoman of the National Women for Obama Finance Committee and was a prolific "bundler."

She hosted one high-dollar fundraiser at her home in 2007, and by the end of the campaign had reportedly raised more than $1 million for the presidential candidate.

So that is the price for an ambassadorship these days. I wonder how much you have to raise to become ambassador to Great Britain? Russia? China? Honduras?

These are today's Moonbats. I am sure there are others, but these just jumped right out at me.

Gene Therapy For Broken Bones

Imagine an Emergency Room in the future. Imagine you with a badly broken bone. A break so bad that the doctors are contemplating surgery. Now imagine these same doctors taking blood an bone marrow samples from you to separate the platelets and stem cells to inject into the break for it will heal it faster.

That is the new therapy developed at Hadassah University Medical Center by Prof. Meir Liebergall and Prof. Eithan Galun.

A team at Jerusalem's Hadassah University Medical Center has managed for the first time in the world to separate platelets and adult stem cells from the blood and bone marrow of patients with fractures and inject them - causing the bones to meld in a quarter to third of the time it usually takes to repair bones, and repairing some breaks that without the therapy would fail to heal at all.

Prof. Meir Liebergall, chairman of the orthopedics department on the Ein Kerem campus, gene therapy expert Prof. Eithan Galun and colleagues worked for years on the technique, which he said involves a "breakthrough in concept and overcomes major scientific and logistical problems."

All seven of those who received the experimental cell-based therapy have seen the broken tibias in their legs heal, even though the fractured bone in at least one control group patient who received only conventional treatment of screws or bone grafts failed to meld. Instead of taking six to nine months to heal, the fractures treated with adult stem cells and platelets healed in two months.

Liebergall told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that the experiment was conducted in patients aged 18 to 60, with most of them toward the younger side of the range; all of them broke their leg bones in sports activities or accidents. He said the technique is most suited for high-impact fractures rather than broken hips in osteoporosis patients, whose fractures usually meld after surgery. Fractured bones do not heal easily in some patients when the anatomical structure of the fracture area is problematic or when there is a relative lack of muscle and ligament.

Under regional or general anesthesia, the patient undergoes a short procedure to remove 50 milliliters of mesenchymal bone marrow cells and 100 milliliters of blood from the hip area, which is often done for bone-marrow transplants on certain cancer patients. Adult mesenchymal stem cells can differentiate into a variety of cell types.

Read the full story here.

All that yelling and screaming about embryonic stem cells and it seems that adult stem cells work just as well, perhaps even better.

This breakthrough has been 10 years in the planning, with a generous grant from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. A grant that has run out, but hopefully will be renewed.

Millions of people each year break a bone or two. This gives them hope of a faster recovery.

Please Nominate Monkey in the Middle

Nominations are now open for the 2009 Weblog Awards. Just click here and place your nomination in for Monkey in the Middle.

It is easy to do, takes only a few minutes and will not harm the environment or your health.

So remember Truthseekers, nominate Monkey in the Middle and let the playground take its place among the greats.

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The Warning Signs Were Out There.

As far back as 2007 officials at Walter Reed knew that there were problems with Nidal Hasan, yet they did nothing. They chose to ignore the signs for whatever reason they had.

Two years ago, a top psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was so concerned about what he saw as Nidal Hasan's incompetence and reckless behavior that he put those concerns in writing. NPR has obtained a copy of the memo, the first evaluation that has surfaced from Hasan's file.

Officials at Walter Reed sent that memo to Fort Hood this year when Hasan was transferred there.

Nevertheless, commanders still assigned Hasan — accused of killing 13 people in a mass shooting at Fort Hood on Nov. 5 — to work with some of the Army's most troubled and vulnerable soldiers.

Read the full story here.

I wonder if Hasan was a Christian or Jewish would he have gotten the same easy pass that he did.

Just read the memo and wonder what the US Army considers to be good psychiatric care?

The Memo:

National Capital Consortium
Psychiatry Residency Program
Borden Pavilion, Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Bldg.6, Rm. 2059, 6900 Georgia Ave, NW
Washington DC, 20307-5001
XXXXXXX

Consortium Participating Instructions: Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, National Naval Medical Center, Malcolm Grow USAF Medical Center

May 17, 2007

Memorandum for: Credentials Committee

Subject: CPT Nidal Hasan

1. I am the program director for NCC Psychiatry Residency Training Program. I took over as PD in MAR 2007 and was Assistant PD from July 2006. I have been a faculty member of the residency since July 2004.

2. This memo is based on my personal knowledge of and the documented incidences in CPT Hasan’s Resident Training File.

3. The Faculty has serious concerns about CPT Hasan’s professionalism and work ethic. Clinically he is competent to deliver safe patient care. But he demonstrates a pattern of poor judgment and a lack of professionalism. In his PGY-2 year, he was counseled for inappropriately discussing religious topics with his assigned patients. He also required a period of in-program remediation when he was discovered to have not documented appropriately an ER encounter with a homicidal patient who subsequently eloped from the ER. He did successfully remediate this problem. At the end of his PGY-2 year, he was placed on administrative probation by the NCC GMEC for failure to take and pass USMLE Step 3 and to obtain an unrestricted state medical license by the end of his PGY-2 year; as a result he was not promoted to PGY-3 on time. He did eventually complete step 3 and get a license and was promoted to PGY-3. He was counseled for having a poor record of attendance at didactics and lower than expected PRITE scores. One year he failed to show for his PRITE examination at all. During his PGY-3 year, he was counseled for being consistently late to NNMC morning report. During his PGY-4 year, he was discovered to have only seen 30 outpatients in 38 week of outpatient continuity clinic. He was required to make this missed clinic time up using his elective. He failed his HGT/WGT screening and was found to be out of standards with body fat % and was counseled on that.
Lastly, he missed a night of call for MGMC ER and then did not respond to numerous pages by my office the next day.

4. Take together; these issues demonstrate a lack of professionalism and work ethics. He is able to self-correct with supervision. However, at this point he should not need so much supervision. In spite of all of this, I am not able to say he is not competent to graduate nor do I think a period of academic probation now at the end of his training will be beneficial. He would be able to contain his behavior enough to complete any period of probation successfully. My purpose in writing this letter is to give the credentials committee the benefit of full disclosure and the opportunity to modify CPT Hasan’s plan of supervision following initial privileging.

5. I did discuss this memo with CPT Hasan and informed him I would be adding it to his initial credentialing paperwork.

6. POC is the undersigned and may be reached at 202-XXX-XXXX or email at XXX/

Sincerely,

Scott Moran, MAJ, MC
Program Director
NCC Psychiatry Residency Training

A memo like that by a civilian hospital would destroy anyone's career, regardless of race or religion. But not in the military. What the US Army only wants is diversity for the sake of diversity. Not competency. Thus Hasan's passing grade and promotion.

In the old US Army, Hasan not only would have been investigate for his anti-American, treasonous (it is treason to side with the enemy during war-time) views, but would have failed in his quest to become a psychiatrist, been given a discharge (or asked to resign) and forced to pay the taxpayers back for his medical school.

No one would have died at Ft. Hood, and Hasan could have emigrated to one of the 57 Islamic countries that could have used his talents.

Oh for the good old days!

I'm So Excited! I Just Can't Hide It!

Today is the Great American Smokeout. And for my regular visitors to the playground, it is my 60th Day Smoke-Free.

There are many reason to quit smoking. I could blog for days describing the reasons. If you smoke you know them. What you may not know are the benefits to not smoking:

Two Hours After Quitting.

Nicotine begins to leave your system. Some people may feel withdrawal pangs. This is a good sign. Your body is cleaning itself out. Hang in there. Within two days all the nicotine by-products will be gone.

After Six Hours.

Heart rate and blood pressure decrease (although it may take up to a month for them to return to their normal rates).

After Twelve Hours.

The carbon monoxide is completely out of your system. Your lungs work more efficiently and you can do more without becoming short of breath.

After Two Days.

Your sense of taste and smell sharpen. In addition, your breath, hair , fingers and teeth will be cleaner.

After One Week.

Most withdrawal symptoms are completely gone.

After Two Weeks.

Your circulation improves. So does your confidence level because you feel good about your progress. You begin to think of yourself as a non-smoker.

One To Nine Months.

Your body's overall energy level increases. Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease.

Within Two Months.

Blood flow to your hands and feet improves, keeping them warmer. Your skin looks healthier.

Within Three Months.

The cilia (a hair-like cleaning system in the lungs) begin to recover and remove the mucous, so you can cough it up, cleaning your lungs and reducing the chance of infection. You may notice increased coughing for a few days.

After A Year.

Your risk of lung cancer is reduced and you have less of a risk of heart disease. Fifteen years after quitting, the risk approaches that of someone who has never smoked.

Then there are some side effects that the doctors will not tell you:

20 minutes after quitting.

You begin looking for loopholes in your quit commitment, thinking about postponing the whole arrangement until after the next millennium begins.

After 8 hours.

You have already contemplated at least three murders and several other brutal acts of violence.

After 24 Hours.

Your city or town declares a mysterious and unforeseen water shortage, while municipal sewers are suddenly overwhelmed.

After one week.

You have consumed enough calories to sustain a Bengali village of 2000 for four years. Food shortages become critical within your region; pets and local wild animals become nervous.

After two weeks.

Quitzits establish early outposts on your face. Risk of Browser's Butt Syndrome (BBS) rises to equal that for 13-year-old boys with new computers and internet access. Smileys appear in your writing and begin to replicate :)

Within one month.

You have already begun to pester smokers and complain about the smell of their obnoxious cigarettes; IQ returns to low double-digits; Quitzits begin to function autonomously. Exclamation point shortages prevail across the land.

After six weeks

You may have experienced your first bowel movement since your quit began; if not, be patient, it will happen within a few more weeks.

After two months.

You begin to forget the pain and misery of the first week without cigarettes, and are wondering if you could, perhaps, remind yourself of what you've been missing; Quitzits establish territorial treaties with each other (with the exception of the Jewish and Arab Quitzits. They will be at war a bit longer).

After five months.

Intelligence returns to at least 60% of its pre-quit level; concentration remains a problem, at only 50%; carpal tunnel syndrome incidence exceeds all known levels for any keyboard-intensive occupation; you have typed more words than are contained within all the works of William Shakespeare, but with more flair and "sparkle".

After six months.

You wonder why you ever waited this long to quit.
It's way, way, worth it.

Yes it is worth it. I am pretty sure that murder committed during your quit is considered legal if the victim was smoking and blowing smoke in your direction. It would make an interesting case for the Supreme Court.

If you need help there are many on-line resources for you to use. I have been using QuitNet www.quitnet.com. They have a great group of people there. And a wonderful HTBC. Those guys helped me out of a tight spot a few times (Celery is Under the Left Rear Tire).

And a very special shoutout to Sabra of Stilettos in the Sand. She is on her first few days of a quit (Hell Week) and I know she can make it.

One secret I have is to take an Altoids every time I want a smoke. I gave up an $8 a day cigarette habit for a $1.5 a day Altoid habit. My lungs are clear and my breath is sweet smelling. Whatever helps you to quit works!

So let us celebrate today! Here is a video to make the celebration sparkle:

Pointer Sisters - I'm So Excited.

Goodness, Gracious, Great Ball Of Fire!

It measured between 0.5 kiloton and 1.0 kilotons, it lit up the Utah sky, it landed some where in the Western Utah Desert. And it happened on Tuesday Night. It was the Great Utah Ball of Fire!

A fast-moving meteor lit up the night skies over most of Utah just after midnight Wednesday. Moments later, the phones lit up at KSL as people across the state called to tell us what they saw and ask what it was.

Scientists are calling it a "remarkable midnight fireball." The source of all the excitement was basically a rock, falling from space.

In addition to KSL, witnesses to the meteor quickly began call 911.

"I'm currently driving, but I just saw a giant blue flash in the sky, and it came down into the city," a caller from Ogden said.

A caller in Bountiful told dispatchers, "It flashed from the west, and it lit up the whole freakin' neighborhood."

A Salt Lake City caller said, "Ma'am, I'm not kidding you. I am terrified."

Professor David Kieda is chair of the University of Utah's astronomy department. He said the energy of the meteor coming into Earth's atmosphere was so powerful it has to be measured in Terawatts.

"It's almost like the consumption of the United States all at once. It was a fraction of a second," Kieda said.

When a meteor enters the atmosphere, it gives off a lot of heat and light. Folks at the Clark Planetarium say this rock was big--between the size of a microwave and washer-dryer unit.

Continue reading here.

Meteor Streak Lights Up the Night Across the State of Utah




20 years ago the people would have panicked thinking the bright flash of light would have been a nuclear explosion.

Today we don't panic as much but will we feel the same if the nutcases in Iran get a nuclear weapon?

Bolton Discusses Global Arms Treaty on NRA

Bolton says that we have entered a very critical period. Bolton speaks on the Obama administration’s attempt to internationalize gun control and threaten our 2^nd amendment rights.

Go to NRA and enter “global arms treaty” on search function (top right of main page) to see the video.

Former U.S. ambassador discusses the U.N.’s anti-gun agenda. Ginny Simone speaks with John Bolton about the Obama administration’s position on the International Arms Trade Treaty and the consequences of such an agreement for American gun owners. Bolton says that there is no doubt that the “real agenda here is domestic firearms control,” and he explains that controlling civilian ownership is a priority for anti-gun countries such as Britain, Australia and Japan, among others.

The U.N. fears that If the Obama administration turns out to be just one term they must move rapidly on this treaty. The U.N. wants to move rapidly during this narrow window of opportunity.

Bolton warns that this is a very dangers time we are entering into:

There’s a lot the administration can do via executive agreement that won’t require Congressional approval at all. . . .

Obama is our first post American president . . .he doesn’t believe in American exceptionalism, . . .

Our adversaries around the world see this administration as weak, indecisive . . .we are in a very vulnerable period . . . They have been waiting a long time for this opportunity . . .they are going to drive to push through everything they can . . .

Bolton says that Obama wants to avoid a 2^nd amendment fight by using his executive agreement powers.

What about Civilian ownership?

A very slippery slope especially with this administration. . .

Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton,President,Obama,Gun control,global arms treaty,NRA,U.N.,United Nations,globalism,individual freedoms

New Hope For Burn Victims

Hat tip to Elder of Ziyon

It is hard to treat burn victims. Very hard to insure that their wounds will not become infected. Hard to properly administer antibiotics. Hard on the patient who is in pain, and the caregivers who want to alleviate the patient's suffering.

Thus the new bandage developed by Prof. Meital Zilberman of Tel Aviv University's Department of Biomedical Engineering just might be the answer:

Despite advances in treatment regimens and the best efforts of nurses and doctors, about 70% of all people with severe burns die from related infections. But a revolutionary new wound dressing developed at Tel Aviv University could cut that number dramatically.

Prof. Meital Zilberman of TAU's Department of Biomedical Engineering has developed a new wound dressing based on fibers she engineered -- fibers that can be loaded with drugs like antibiotics to speed up the healing process, and then dissolve when they've done their job. A study published in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research – Applied Biomaterials demonstrates that, after only two days, this dressing can eradicate infection-causing bacteria.

The new dressing protects the wound until it is no longer needed, after which it melts away. "We've developed the first wound dressing that both releases antibiotic drugs and biodegrades in a controlled manner," says Prof. Zilberman. "It solves current mechanical and physical limitations in wound-dressing techniques and gives physicians a new and more effective platform for treating burns and bedsores."

Prof. Zilberman's new wound dressing, which does not yet have a formal name, is designed to mimic skin and the way it protects the body. It combines positive mechanical and physical properties with what medical researchers call "a desired release profile of antibiotics."

While the concept is simple, the technology is not. Skin, Prof. Zilberman explains, serves a number of vastly different purposes. "Wound dressings must maintain a certain level of moisture while acting as a shield," she says. "Like skin, they must also enable fluids from the wound to leave the infected tissue at a certain rate. It can't be too fast or too slow. If too fast, the wound will dry out and it won't heal properly. If too slow, there's a real risk of increased contamination."

Prof. Zilberman's new wound dressing, which does not yet have a formal name, is designed to mimic skin and the way it protects the body. It combines positive mechanical and physical properties with what medical researchers call "a desired release profile of antibiotics."

Unlike oral antibiotics, locally-applied antibiotics can target and kill harmful bacteria before they enter the body to cause further infection, sepsis, or death. "People who suffer from large burns don't usually die from the condition itself. The fatal culprits are the secondary bacterial infections that invade the body through these vulnerable burned areas," says Prof. Zilberman.

The new TAU dressing inhibits bacterial growth and is biodegradable, which helps doctors avoid constant wound cleaning and redressing, allowing the body to do the work on its own. "When administered at the wound, a doctor can give relatively high but local doses of antibiotics, avoiding any toxicity issues that arise when the same amount of antibiotic passes through the body," explains Prof. Zilberman, who worked on this research with Jonathan Elsner, her PhD student.

Prof. Zilberman is now starting the early stages of clinical trials on animal models. So far, her wound dressing has passed physical and mechanical tests in vitro and in bacterial inhibition tests in the laboratory. She is also seeking a strategic partner to co-develop the research and take it to the commercial stage.

Read the full story here.

A little known fact about Tel Aviv University:

In independent rankings, TAU's innovations and discoveries are cited more often by the global scientific community than all but 20 other universities worldwide.

Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research programs, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.

Israel is the 100th smallest nation in the world. It has a population of just a bit over 7 million people. It is the only true democracy in the Middle East. It has very few natural resources and is the size of New Jersey.

Yet it is producing more medical advances than all 57 Islamic nations combined.

This is just another one of those advances.

Well done Prof. Zilberman!

Rachel's Heart

Rachel Casey is a very special 2 1/2 year old. She is warm, loving, with a smile a mile wide. But Rachel has a problem. She has down syndrome and a very bad heart.

The night I meet with Gerry and Theresa Casey, Jerusalem is enjoying its first wintry weather of the year. However, for the natives of Sligo in the northwest of Ireland, the storm brewing outside is reminiscent of the type of climate they have tried to escape this past year to give their little girl Rachel, born with Down's syndrome and serious heart defects, a better quality of life.

"We were told by doctors in Ireland that a warm climate could increase Rachel's life expectancy for up to five years," says Gerry, 40, who officially arrived here with Theresa, Rachel and the couple's three older children - Sean, nine, Emma, seven, and Louisa, five - in December.

Looking lovingly at his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter as she mischievously makes her way around the family's living room, the doting father adds proudly: "I really think it has worked, because today she stood up for the first time without holding on."

While this milestone might seem like only one small step for a child struggling with life-threatening health complications, for the Casey family it is the culmination of a year filled with great progress, adventure and a little bit of Irish luck.

The progress in Rachel's health and physical achievements was made possible by heart surgery performed at the Schneider Children's Medical Center for Israel in Petah Tikva and through a variety of therapeutic treatments and support she received at the Jerusalem-based Shalva Association for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children. The adventure came in the form of the family's unlikely cultural experiences this year and its daring travel across the entire region. The luck part stems primarily from Gerry's work.

A captain in the Irish Defense Forces, he is one of 11 Irish army officers posted to the Middle East as part of a 153-strong multinational United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) peacekeeping mission based in five countries (Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Israel) for observation purposes under the 1948 international agreement.

Finish reading here.

Rachel is a blessing for her family, never a burden. Looking at the face of that angel, how could any person deny life to her (or the thousands of others like her).

And she is fortunate to have a family that will go the extra mile, in this case travel to Jerusalem, to give her the chance to live.

May G-d smile down upon Captain Casey and his family. May G-d bestow the blessings of joy and peace upon this family. And may little Rachel live a long and loving life.

The Shape Of Things To Come!

The Shape of Things to Come is a work of science fiction by H. G. Wells, published in 1933, which speculates on future events from 1933 until the year 2106. The book is dominated by Wells' belief in a world state as the solution to mankind's problems.

And like all dreamers, liberals actually believe the propaganda of the One World Order being a benevolent dictatorship of the elites showering down their wisdom upon the unwashed masses.

A few days ago, the so-called experts and doctors examining the costs and effectiveness of early screening for breast cancer came down from their proverbial Mount Sinai and delivered the following pronouncement:

Women in their 40s should not get routine mammograms for early detection of breast cancer, according to updated guidelines set forth by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

Before having a mammogram, women ages 40 to 49 should talk to their doctors about the risks and benefits of the test, and then decide if they want to be screened, according to the task force.

For women ages 50 to 74, it recommends routine mammography screenings every two years. Risks and benefits for women age 75 and above are unknown, it said.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is worried that women might get upset if they discover a lump in their breast. May have undue worry when they have their annual mammogram. It is just easier to pat the poor, dumb creatures on the head and send them back to the kitchen to cook their hubby dinner. Let the men decide what the best type of medicine you need to have.

Too bad nobody told these so-called experts that 15% of Breast Cancer survivors discovered their cancers in time by self-examination and routine mammograms.

Funny how this emerges just when Obama's health care bills have huge cost overruns in them. Strange that noone is looking to see how much money will be saved by insurance companies (especially government run ones) once they adopt these new recommendations.

But why stop with Breast Cancer. Why not continue on this idea and stop routine, yearly Pap Smears. After all, a false positive will lead to worry in that department.

Great Britain stopped Pap Smears for women under 25, and they were able to reduce costs by 10% (and increased cervical cancer deaths by 10%).

We could stop testing for Ovarian Cancer too. Why not? Not many women get Ovarian Cancer, and absolutely no men will contract the disease. According to the new ideas in Government Health Insurance, women's health doesn't really matter. So why even give the poor, defenseless things (they really cannot do much and are quite dumb about the world) yearly health exams. Once every 3 to 5 years will do better. If you let them even have that.

Oh the left talks big on equality. On Human rights. On cheep affordable Health Coverage for all. All except poor and middle class women. It is ok to let them die of a disease that is survivable if caught early and treated.

But not in the future America where the price of a test is worth infinitely more than a human life.

Wednesday's Hero: Staff Sgt. Dennisur Thompson

Staff Sgt. Dennisur Thompson



Staff Sgt. Dennisur Thompson, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, overcompensates a left turn while on a driving simulator as a part of the Save a Life Tour in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

A 9/11 Memorial That Honors The Victims And Not The Terrorists!

It is just too bad it is outside of Jerusalem and not southwestern Pennsylvania.

A bright blue sky could not hide the gray shadows of pain that marked the eyes of the families of the victims of the "9/11" terrorist attack that found themselves in Arazim Park in Jerusalem on Thursday. They had gathered together with international dignitaries and Israeli leaders to dedicate a new monument to the their loved ones, who lost their lives in the senseless 2001 attack on America by the Al Qaeda terrorist organization.





Designed by award-winning Israeli artist Eliezer Weishoff and commissioned by the Jewish National Fund-USA/Keren Kayemet L'Israel (JNF-USA/KKL), the memorial depicts the World Trade Center and Pentagon through sculpture and landscape architecture.

People from nations around the world lost their lives that morning, among them a number of Jews, including Israelis. Fewer Jewish New Yorkers than usual were present in the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, however, because many had stopped on their way to work to vote in fiercely-contested local primary elections.

The 30-foot high bronze sculpture commemorating the event and honoring the memories of the victims is composed of a waving American flag transformed into a memorial flame. The monument rests on a base of gray granite, part of which comes from the original Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan, destroyed in the mammoth airliner attack eight years ago. The sculpture, which was funded by the Bronka Stavsky Rabin Weintraub Trust, is surrounded by a circular, crater-like plaza and reflection area tiled in stone.

The Jerusalem monument is one of the first major international memorials to mark the terrible event and honor the memory of its victims -- and the only site outside of New York to recognize the names of every victim of the attack.

Memorial donor and native New Yorker Edward Blank explained that he funded the project as a means of expressing the myriad conflicting feelings he struggled with after the tragedy. "My wife died just a few days before 9/11," he said, "and then the whole world was sent reeling by the events of that day. I was looking for a meritorious way to recognize the many feelings I was having, and this memorial was the perfect fit."

U.S. Ambassador to Israel James Cunningham attended the ceremony dedicating the monument, as did U.S. Congressman Erik Paulsen, who led a delegation from the United States. They were joined by Israeli Cabinet ministers, Knesset members and many families of the victims of 9/11, as well as other distinguished guests.

Read the full story here.

Strange how the people of Israel can design and implement a memorial to the victims of terror that will grow and bloom as time goes by. How strange that the designers never considered facing it towards Jerusalem, just on the road to the city. Nor does it face Mecca as the Flight 93 Memorial does.

When you visit Israel, take a moment outside of Jerusalem and visit this memorial. It is well worth your time and trouble to do so.