Gaddafi Spoof Video Excites Libyans Until...They Find An Israeli Produced It!

A young Israeli man, Noy Alooshe, saw Muammar Gaddafi's televised speech when all manner of things looked strange: his clothing, his arm movements and his speech about how he planned to hunt down anti-government protesters. The result is this video spoof, which Libyans are loving, and most probably don't know an an Israeli created it.

Noy Alooshe:

...the Libyan leader vowed to hunt down protesters “inch by inch, house by house, home by home, alleyway by alleyway,” and immediately identified it as a “classic.”

“He was dressed strangely, and he raised his arms” like at a trance party, Mr. Alooshe said Sunday in a telephone interview, referring to the gatherings that feature electronic dance music. Then there were Colonel Qaddafi’s words with their natural beat.

Alooshe use the music of rapper Pitbull, "Hey Baby," and software to sync the dictator's movements to the music. The Zenga Zenga title is a further spoof on Gaddafi's use of the word "zanqa" which means "alleyway." In a matter of a few days, the video had close to 500,000 hits.

Mr. Alooshe, who at first did not identify himself on the clip as an Israeli, started receiving enthusiastic messages from all around the Arab world. Web surfers soon discovered that he was a Jewish Israeli from his Facebook profile — Mr. Alooshe plays in a band called Hovevey Zion, or the Lovers of Zion — and some of the accolades turned to curses. A few also found the video distasteful.

At the site of the YouTube video, I saw a comment that said "Israel stands with the People of Libya - Long Live Freedom, Long Live Peace." Alooshe, 31, said it was exciting to "be making waves in the Arab world."  He even had some supporters among the Egyptian anti-government forces. Read the entire story here. Watch Gaddafi's speech here. Visit Noy's website, Hovevey Zion (his band) here.

Muammar Gaddafi: Zanga Zanga - I'll hunt you in the alleyways! (video)

Posted by Maggie @ Maggie's Notebook

Anglos' in Texas - It's Over for You!

"It's basically over for Anglos" in Texas. It's a terrible situation that you are in. I am worried," says Demographer, Steve Murdock said.

Two of every three Texas children are now non-Anglo and the trend line will become even more pronounced in the future, said Murdock, former U.S. Census Bureau director and now director of the Hobby Center for the Study of Texas at Rice University.

B y 2040, only 20 percent of the state's public school enrollment will be Anglo, he said. Last year, non-Hispanic white children made up 33.3 percent of the state's 4.8 million public school enrollment.

The state's future looks bleak assuming the current trend line does not change because education and income levels for Hispanics lag considerably behind Anglos, he said.

Unless the trend line changes, 30 percent of the state's labor force will not have even a high school diploma by 2040, he said. And the average household income will be about $6,500 lower than it was in 2000. That figure is not inflation adjusted so it will be worse than what it sounds.

As yet, no similar stats to be found for Arizona, New Mexico and California. Read the story at Texas Politics.

By Maggie @ Maggie's Notebook

How About a Newt Gingrich - Allen West Ticket for November 2012?

Newt Gingrich is such a loose cannon. He says three things I love and then completely decimates conservatism with the fourth. At a Palm Beach County fundraiser, Gingrich said if he wins the Republican nomination for president he will "strongly consider" a Floridian as his running mate. He specifically mentioned new Republican Congressman Allen West, an American hero by every measure and a true conservative, which Gingrich is not.

When West was asked about the Gingrich statement he said this:

“I have to pray about it and I have to clear it with my wife and two daughters,” he added. “I never thought that seven years ago when I retired here I’d be a United States Congressman.”

I would come close to voting for whomever puts West on the ticket for Vice President, because I believe he will hold that person's feet to fire. The other bonus is, I would have the opportunity to vote for West for president in 2020.

How I would love to see West as a VP candidate! Read about West and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) here. Watch West's CPAC 2011 video here. Allen West on The Patriot Act. Watch an incredible speech by West on Empowering Your Spirit. Read about West's amazing military career, and how he did the most he could to protect the men and women serving under him.

H/T Hot Air Pundit

Cross-posted by Maggie @ Maggie's Notebook

British Rapper Lowkey "Sings" About America in America

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk


Reference is made to my last posting about the hip hop event scheduled at UC Santa Cruz (America's Wackiest University) on March 2 sponsored by the Committee for Justice in Palestine. One of the performers is someone named Lowkey (Kareem Dennis), a British-Iraqi rapper whose works tend to be pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel and anti-American.. The same group of performers is schedulted to appear March 1, at UC-Irvine-sponsored by the Students for Justice in Palestine.

Here are the lyrics from Lowkey's hit entitled, Obama-Nation.

Lowkey – Obama Nation (Official Lyrics)



[Intro]


This track is not an attack upon the American people,


It’s an attack upon the system within which they live.


Since 1945 the United States has attempted to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments,


In the process the US has caused the end of life for several million people,


And condemned many millions more to a life of agony and despair.






[Verse 1]






The strength of your dreaming prevents you from reason,


The American dream only makes sense if you’re sleeping,


It’s just a cruel fantasy; their politics took my voice away,


But their music gave it back to me,


The land where the lumpen are consumed by consumption,


Killing themselves to shovel down food in abundance,


I guess a rapper from Britain is a rare voice,


America is capitalism on steroids,


Natives kept in casinos and reservations,


Displaced slaves never given reparations,


Take everything from Native Americans,


And wonder why i call it the racist experiment,


Afraid of your melanin, the same as it’s ever been,


That aint gonna change with the race of the president,


I see imperialism under your skin tone,


You could call it Christopher Columbus syndrome.




[Chorus 2x]




Is it Obama’s nation? Or an abomination?


Is it Obama’s nation? Or an abomination?


Is it Obama’s nation? Or an abomination?




Doesn’t make any difference when they bomb your nation.




Oh say can you see by the dawn’s early light,


What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,


Whose broad stripes and bright stars through perilous fight,


For the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.




[Verse 2]




The world’s entertainer, the world’s devastator,


From Venezuela, to Mesopotamia,


Your cameras lie, cause they have to hide the savage crimes,


Committed on leaders that happen to try and nationalize,


Eating competitions? while the worlds been starving,


Beat up communism with the help of Bin Laden,


Where would your war of terror be without that man,


Every day you create more Nidal Hassan’s,


Kill a man from the military, you’re a weirdo,


But kill a wog from the Middle East you’re a hero,


Your country is causing screams that never reach your ear holes,


America inflicted a million Ground Zero’s,


Follow the dollar and swallow your humanity,


Soldier’s committing savagery you never even have to see,


Those mad at me, writing emails angrily,


I’m not anti-America, America is anti-me!




[Chorus 2x]




Is it Obama’s nation? Or an abomination?


Is it Obama’s nation? Or an abomination?


Is it Obama’s nation? Or an abomination?




Doesn’t make any difference when they bomb your nation.




And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,


Gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there,


Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave,


For the land of the free and the home of the brave,




[Verse 3]




I don’t care if him and Cheney are long lost relations,


What matters more is the policies, I lost my patience,


Stop debating bringing race into the conversation,


Occupation and cooperation equals profit making,


It’s over; people wake up from the dream now,


Nobel peace prize, Jay Z on speed-dial,


It’s the substance within, not the colour of your skin,


Are you the puppeteer or the puppet on the string?,


So many believed it was instantly gonna’ change,


There was still Dennis Ross, Brzezinski and Robert Gates,


What happened to Chas freeman? (AIPAC),


What happened to Tristan Anderson?,


It’s a machine that keeps that man breathing,


I have the heart to say what all the other rappers aren’t,


Words like Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan,


The wars on, and you morons were all wrong,


I call Obama a bomber cause those are your bombs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Am I offended? You bet. Let's put this in perspective. This guy is a Brit, not an American. I do not expect any loyalty from him to my country.

Is this an example of free and constitionally-protected free speech in America? Yes, absolutely, unequivocally and all-day long.

But what gets my jingoistic juices flowing is that this puke can come here, stand on our soil, trash our country, our president, our military, and our national anthym. On our own soil.

And he is sponsored by a group of dopey, brain-washed American college students to boot.

What is it about (once) Great Britain that continually sends pukes like Dennis, Ben White, George Galloway and so many other clowns to our country to tell us how screwed up we are? Look at their own country. Now he have that ibn sharmota Anjem Choudary coming to protest in favor of sharia in front of the White House, for God's sake!

But let the show go on. I won't be there because I can't stand hip hop nor do I consider it music. I just hope that the majority of students who pass by this monstrosity and hear the anti-American lyrics stop and think about who is putting it on.

And draw the obvious conclusions.

Olive Tree Initiative Event at UC Santa Cruz

By Gary Fouse
fousesquawk


On March 2, the UC Santa Cruz (America's Wackiest University)  Committee for Justice in Palestine is hosting a hip-hop event featuring among others, a British rapper named Lowkey (true name Kareem Dennis). Below is the Facebook announcement. If you go to the text and click "see more", you will come to a page that informs you that (anti-Israel) Jewish Voice for Peace and the Olive Tree Initiative ("and other human rights organizations") will have information tables at the event.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=198159456865294

The performers.

Lowkey is more than just a rapper and pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel  activist. Much of his work denounces our country as well. Here is what Nolan Chart and The Blaze have to say about Lowkey.

http://www.nolanchart.com/article8348.html

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/meet-the-british-rapper-who-sings-anti-american-and-anti-israeli-anthems/

Another featured performer, Shadia Mansour, is a British-Palestinian rapper, who performs on the West Bank. Here is an article about her by BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11215298

Also appearing is British activist Jody McIntyre. Below is an article written by McIntyre for the Independent (UK):

http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2010/12/15/jody-mcintyre-who%E2%80%99s-apathetic-now/

Then there is "Logic", another rapper "on the rise" who has teamed up with Lowkey on recordings.

So what does this all mean? For those of you unfamiliar with the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI), this is a group formed a couple of years back at UC-Irvine. It sends groups of UC students to the West Bank and Israel to meet and interact with both pro-and anti-Israeli figures and organizations. The stated intent is to expose Jewish, Muslim and other students to both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Orange County, the project has received funding (for travel of Jewish students) from the Rose Project, which, in turn, was created by the Orange County Jewish Federation. They maintain that sending Jewish students on these trips better equips them to deal with the anti-Israel arguments as they return home and defend Israel against her detractors. The Olive Tree Initiative, which has the firm support of the University of California and its satellite campuses, has now spread to other UC campuses.

Yet many in the Jewish community are troubled by some of the pro-Palestinian figures who are involved in the itinerary. Several of these figures appear to have ties to the virulently anti-Israel International Solidarity Movement (ISM), whose program and goal is the deligitimization of Israel. (And the ISM may be the very least of their troubling associations.)  For example, George S. Rishmawi, who lives in the West Bank and spoke recently at UC-Irvine, is a popular contact for OTI. He was a co-founder of ISM.

Now it appears that something else is emerging in connection with OTI on several campuses. There appears to be a surprising relationship between OTI and the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), known as Committee for Justice in Palestine at Santa Cruz. In the case of Santa Cruz, why is OTI being labeled as a "human rights" organization? And does their participation in this event imply that they as an organization are supportive of the Palestinian cause, when their announced policy is to be open to both sides? SJP makes no pretence of being open to both sides. They are fervently pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel.

Let me also be clear here; the SJP is a legal, recognized student organization on many US campuses. If a student who is involved in OTI truly believes in the Palestinian cause according to his or her own conscience, be he/she Christian, Muslim, Jew, or otherwise, that is a decision for the individual to make.

On the other hand, the OTI sells itself to donors as an entity where students of all religious persuasions can be exposed to both sides of the issue and hopefully calm down the rhetoric on campus-a worthy goal. The problem is that if OTI is, indeed, a participant in this event at Santa Cruz hosted by the Committee for Justice in Palestine ( to say nothing about the participation of Jewish Voice for Peace), even more questions have to be asked about the relationship between these two entities and the true balance of the OTI. Anyone who supports Israel and donates to OTI has the right to have this matter clarified.

It's Cute, It's Cuddly, It Likes To Attack Iranian Computers!

It is back, or it never left, either way it is driving the Iranians meschuge!  It is the worm Stuxnet and this is its latest round of carnage upon the Iranian Nuclear Program:

In a major setback to Iran's nuclear program, technicians will have to unload fuel from the country's first atomic power plant because of an unspecified safety concern, a senior government official said.

The vague explanation raised questions about whether the mysterious computer worm known as Stuxnet might have caused more damage at the Bushehr plant than previously acknowledged. Other explanations are possible for unloading the fuel rods from the reactor core of the newly completed plant, including routine technical difficulties.

While the exact reason behind the fuel's removal is unclear, the admission is seen as a major embarrassment for Tehran because it has touted Bushehr -- Iran's first atomic power plant -- as its showcase nuclear facility and sees it as a source of national pride. When the Islamic Republic began loading the fuel just four months ago, Iranian officials celebrated the achievement.

Iran's envoy to the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency in Vienna said that Russia, which provided the fuel and helped construct the Bushehr plant, had demanded the fuel be taken out.

"Upon a demand from Russia, which is responsible for completing the Bushehr nuclear power plant, fuel assemblies from the core of the reactor will be unloaded for a period of time to carry out tests and take technical measurements," the semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted Ali Asghar Soltanieh as saying. "After the tests are conducted, (the fuel) will be placed in the core of the reactor once again."

"Iran always gives priority to the safety of the plant based on highest global standards," Soltanieh added.

Calls to the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom for comment were not answered Saturday afternoon.

The spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said the fuel unloading was nothing unusual.

"It's a kind of technical inspection and to obtain confidence about the safety of the reactor," Hamid Khadem Qaemi told the official IRNA news agency. He accused foreign media of blowing the issue out of proportion.

The Bushehr plant is not among the aspects of Iran's nuclear program that are of top concern to the international community and is not directly subject to sanctions. It has international approval and is supervised by the U.N.'s nuclear monitoring agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

In a report released Friday about Iran's nuclear program, the IAEA said that Tehran informed the agency on Wednesday that it would have to unload the fuel rods. The agency said it and Tehran have agreed on the "necessary safeguards measures."

A senior international official familiar with Iran's nuclear program said the IAEA had no further details. He said unloading and reloading fuel assemblies is not unusual before any reactor startup. The official asked for anonymity because his information was confidential.

Soltanieh and other officials have not specified why the fuel had to be unloaded, but Iranian officials denied any link to the Stuxnet computer virus.

"Stuxnet has had no effect on the control systems at the Bushehr nuclear power plant," Nasser Rastkhah, a senior official in charge of nuclear security, told the official IRNA news agency.

Foreign intelligence reports have said the control systems at Bushehr were penetrated by the malware -- malicious software designed to infiltrate computer systems -- but Iran has all along maintained that Stuxnet was only found on several laptops belonging to plant employees and didn't affect the facility's control systems.

Some computer experts believe Stuxnet was the work of Israel or the United States, two nations convinced that Iran wants to turn nuclear fuel into weapons-grade uranium.

The Islamic Republic is reluctant to acknowledge setbacks to its nuclear activities, which it says are aimed at generating energy but are under U.N. sanctions because of concerns they could be channeled toward making weapons. Only after outside revelations that its enrichment program was temporarily disrupted late last year by Stuxnet did Iranian officials acknowledge the incident.

The startup of the Bushehr power plant, a project completed with Russian help but beset by years of delays, would deliver Iran the central stated goal of its atomic work -- the generation of nuclear power.

But the inauguration of the facility has been delayed for years. Iran said when it began inserting the fuel rods in October that the 1,000-megawatt light-water reactor would begin pumping electricity to Iranian cities by December. But it pushed back the timing to February, citing a "small leak" and other unspecified reasons.

The Bushehr plant itself is not among the West's main worries because safeguards are in place to ensure that the spent fuel will be returned to Russia and cannot be diverted to weapons making.

The United States and some of its allies believe the Bushehr plant is part of a civil energy program that Iran is using as cover for a covert program to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Iran denies the accusation.

The Bushehr project dates back to 1974, when Iran's U.S.-backed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi contracted with the German company Siemens to build the reactor. The company withdrew from the project after the 1979 Islamic Revolution toppled the shah and brought hard-line clerics to power.

In 1992, Iran signed a $1 billion deal with Russia to complete the project and work began in 1995.

Under the contract, Bushehr was originally scheduled to come on stream in July 1999 but the startup has been delayed repeatedly by construction and supply glitches.

The spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said the fuel unloading was nothing unusual.

The unloading of fuel rods only a few months of loading is NOT a routine occurance at any Nuclear Power Plant in the world. It is a sign of a problem either within the plant, with the fuel rods, or both.  I doubt that the Iranians will be able to bring the plant back on-line any time soon.

Whatever was paid for the Stuxnet worm was money very well spent.  It has out performed expectation and is still going strong.

Siraj Wahhaj at UCF

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk






Knight News.com has a report on last night's appearance by Siraj Wahhaj at the University of Central Florida.

http://knightnews.com/2011/02/ucf-assigns-police-to-protect-imam-regulate-media-protesters/

It appears that Wahhaj had on his moderate face last night since he knew he was speaking to a mixed audience. During the Q and A, he stated that in a non-Islamic country, Shariah law would not be applicable. (Of course, the first step would be to change a non-Islamic country into an Islamic country.)  Apparently, Wahhaj left his more radical comments to other events when he doesn't have to worry about non-Muslims being present. In more unguarded moments, he has been known to loudly tell his audiences not to take non-Muslims for friends. He has also been quoted as telling his followers to go into the prisons and convert African-Americans to Islam so they can come back to the inner cities and carry out jihad with Uzis. And of course, there is that little matter back in 1993 when he was mentioned as an unindicted possible co-conspirator in the World Trade Center bombing by US Attorney Mary Jo White. There is also that little relationship he had with Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman (The infamous Blind Shiekh), for who he testified as a character witness.

"In time, democracy will crumble, and there will be nothing, and the only thing that will remain will be Islam." -Wahhaj (The Rant)

"A little over a year later, addressing an audience of New Jersey Muslims, the same Wahaj articulated a rather different vision from his mild and moderate invocation in the House. If only Muslims were more clever politically, he told his New Jersey listeners, they could take over the United States and replace its constitutional government with a caliphate. "If we were united and strong, we'd elect our own emir [leader] and give allegiance to him. . . . [T]ake my word, if 6-8 million Muslims unite in America, the country will come to us." In 1995, Wahaj served as a character witness for Omar Abdel Rahman in the trial that found that blind sheikh guilty of conspiracy to overthrow the government of the United States. More alarming still, the U.S. attorney for New York listed Wahaj as one of the "unindicted persons who may be alleged as co-conspirators" in the sheikh's case."

-Daniel Pipes

In addition, Creeping Sharia has an audio of a Wahhaj speech:

http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2011/01/15/ground-zero-mosque-imam-replaced-by-radical-linked-imam/

I guess Wahhaj didn't say any of those things last night to his college audience.


It also appeared that the campus police were enforcing who could record the event as described in the linked article. In spite of that, a wonderful time was had by all as the gullible UCF students learned what a moderate and kindly old grandfather Wahhaj is. And why not? They paid for it out of their school fees.

Saturday Morning Funnies #16

It is time once again for me to tickle your funny bone.

The following are public service announcements regarding the turmoil in Wisconsin.

The elected officials were finally found and returned safe and sound to the State House. It was there that they started their temper tantrum.

Note to Leftist Moonbats:  An elected official working within the framework of a Constitution is NOT a Dictator no matter if he disagrees with your view point or agrees with it.


Public Sector Unions vs. America




A public service announcement from one of our resident LOLCats:

Sensible little pussy.

VERY FUNNY LOLCATS



This is from The Grouch

Rules for High School Students

Rule No.1: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teen-ager uses the phrase "It's not fair" 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule No. 1.

Rule No. 2: The real world won't care as much about your self-esteem as much as your school does. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain that it's not fair. (See Rule No. 1)

Rule No. 3: Sorry, you won't make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a Gap label.

Rule No. 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'til you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he's not going to ask you how you feel about it.

Rule No. 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren't embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.

Rule No. 6: It's not your parents' fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of "It's my life," and "You're not the boss of me," and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it's on your dime. Don't whine about it, or you'll sound like a baby boomer.

Rule No. 7: Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.

Rule No. 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn't. In some schools, they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone's feelings be hurt. Effort is as important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life. (See Rule No. 1, Rule No. 2 and Rule No. 4.)

Rule No. 9: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don't get summers off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up every day. For eight hours. And you don't get a new life every 10 weeks. It just goes on and on. While we're at it, very few jobs are interested in fostering your self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to self-realization. (See Rule No. 1 and Rule No. 2.)

Rule No. 10: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs. Your friends will not be as perky or pliable as Jennifer Aniston.

Rule No. 11: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.

Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.

Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.

Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You're welcome.

It took me over30 years to figure out Rule #12.  I'm 17 months smoke-free.

Coming out of the Middle East now:

Looks like Israel will be getting screwed again.

The latest Latma:


Arab democracy band and the UN saves the world



This has come out just in time for Israeli Apartheid Week Support the Hitler Jugend:

Visit Elder of Ziyon for more posters explaining what Apartheid really is.

Have A Great Week!!!

The Most Shelled City In The World

A couple of articles from The Most Shelled City In The World.

1 million Israelis are asking: "Who's next?"

Last night, Wednesday the 23rd of March, was the first time since Operation Cast Lead that an Iranian Grad missile exploded in Be'er Sheba, 40km from Gaza.

Arriving at the scene of the rocket strike Thursday morning, in the Northern neighborhoods of Be'er Sheba, brought me back to the terror scenes in Sderot of the past few years. For several years, rocket attacks were part of my daily routine living and working at the Sderot Media Center. When the Tzeva Adom (Code Red) sounded, I would go to the neighborhoods where the rocket exploded and film the scene. The next day, I would return, documenting the 'the day after, listening to the stories of residents on what occurred to them the day before.


Video: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

In Be'er Sheba, I saw the same scenes I'd witnessed in Sderot: shattered car windshields; the shrapnel holes making "windows" on the homes; the radius of damage from where the missile exploded; the 'cover up' of the missile hole; like nothing happened and expecting the people to go back to normal; the holes in the iron doors; the Shabbat candles standing among shattered glasses; pictures of Rabbis hanging untouched on what remained of the walls; frightened and excited residents of the damaged or destroyed homes who just want to share their personal experience with the world; hearing story, counting the amount of times I heard the words; Luck, coincidence, and miracles.

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

Be'er Sheba resident Chen Saban, a Sapir College student in her early twenties whose house was hit, described how she and her family were lucky enough to reach the secured room on time, saying she never expected her home to be hit. She said it was ironic because she goes to Sapir College, which is only a few km away from Gaza. Chen, who is supposed to get married in the next 3 weeks, is no longer certain about her future in Be'er Sheba and how she ill be able to plan her life living there.

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

It was amazing to hear all this because it took me 45 minutes to drive from Sderot to Be'er Sheba, which is 40km from Gaza, with residents having 60 seconds to run for the shelter once the siren goes off. And still the same reaction and comments of the frightened and traumatized people.

Today, the more than 1 million Israelis who live in the range of 40km from Gaza are not feeling as secure as they did yesterday, asking themselves "who is next?"

Yitchak Akli a resident of the Be'er Sheba neighborhood said: "We should learn from

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

the experience of 'cast lead'' that this would happen, they have (missiles) and hiding them, to launch and fire them at the right time, on any target in Be'er Sheba. It's a matter of time. They've learned our capabilities and they've learned us".


Since the last "cease fire" 530 rockets and missiles have been fired towards the South Western, past of Israel.

The Iranian Grad missile exploding in Bair-Sheba is a reminder how that a few months ago the Shin-Bet reported that there's a stack of over 5,000 Iranian missiles in Gaza, all of them having a range of 40 KM.

This is especially troubling because, in November 2009, Hamas test-fired a missile test towards the Mediterranean, reaching 60 KM, which is the distance from Northern Gaza to Tel-Aviv.

In November 2010, the ITIC reported that Hamas has missiles with an 80km range.

Almost everyone in the Western Negev knows not it's not "if'" but "when"' the next missile escalation starts, leading to the next Gaza war.

After living in Sderot for the past 5 years, watching the construction of 5,000 new bomb shelters, you don’t have to be a prophet to understand that the highest authorities in Israel know there has not been a permanent end to the rocket fire. Being realistic, Israel has to be prepared for many more years of conflict on the Gaza border.

Photo: Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center

While Iran is certainly a threat for Israel, the biggest delegitimization threat for Israel, is with no doubt Gaza. Add to this the uprisings in Egypt and North Africa, bringing to power groups that have already declared they will end the "peace treaty" with Israel.

The harsh response that Israel received from the world media and many governments during and after Cast Lead, after the Flotilla incident, and right up to today is actually a modern-day version of a very old demonization of Jews and Israel. A tremendous effort is being made to delegitimize Israel, with the goal of eliminating the Jewish state. How Israel will deal with this threat?

How should Israel deal with this threat?  Brig.-Gen. (res.) Amatzia Chen believes that the current  policy has failed.

"In all of the previous wars, starting from the 1956 Suez Operation, through the Six Day War and in the Yom Kippur War as well, the IDF took the fight into enemy territory," Chen recalled. "The security concept was that of fighting the war we choose, and seizing the initiative. But since 1982, after that rally in Rabin Square, Rabin and Peres decided, for political reasons, that the strategy needs to be changed and that we should only go to war when there is no choice - i.e., when the sword is on our neck."

Chen said that since that decision was made, Israel has lost its deterrent capability. "Our enemies understood the dramatic change in Israel's security concept as a position of weakness. In any case, they had ceased threatening us with regular armies and turned instead to the weapon of terror. They murdered hundreds of Jews inside Israel, but controlled the bloodletting so as to enable Israel's leaders to maintain the concept that one does not go to war as long as there is a choice."

"Every Israeli citizen knows that the Israel of today is not the Israel of pre-1982."

Chen said that artillery fire on Gaza is not a proper response to the missile attack on Be'er Sheva. "We are a nation that wants to live, and there is no point in fair play when it comes to terrorists. That is not how terror is defeated. The State of Israel is a sovereign state that needs to formulate a proper strategy. Unfortunately, the strategy today is that if you are fired upon you fire back. We are, in effect, signaling to the enemies that they can continue using the same method in the future, too."

There is great anger in Sderot, a city with more bomb shelters than playgrounds.

Speaking from the city of bomb shelters

By Dave Balson

Like everyone else on the planet, I have heard about the "complicated" situation in the Middle East my whole life: promises to fix it, hopeful negotiations that crumble behind closed doors, rockets, wars, treaties, stalemates, etc. Round and round it goes until, exasperated, I figure both sides are unwilling to reach the type of tough-but-straightforward agreements that brought peace to Ireland and South Africa, and I give up. "It's complicated" is a Facebook status, not a diplomatic agreement.

I spent the last two weeks in Israel. The trip was free, as it is to any Jew, through a program called "Taglit Birthright." To any students who come from a Jewish background, I suggest checking it out. It is a free trip to Israel, if nothing else.

Last Wednesday I visited Sderot, a town of about 20,000 people in the western Negev desert, less than a mile away from the Gaza strip.

Sderot has been the target of more than 10,000 rockets fired from Gaza since 2000. Gaza is controlled by the militant Islamic group Hamas. Sderot is the only town in the 21st Century where rockets are being continually fired at a civilian population.

To deal with the rocket attacks, the town has a siren that gives residents a 15-second warning to get into a bomb shelter.

Stop for a moment and consider how far you could get in 15 seconds. Could you get to the nearest bathroom? The nearest car? The nearest stairway?

Sderot is the bomb shelter capitol of the world. Every house has a bomb shelter. Apartment buildings have bomb shelters crawling up their sides. Every bus stop is a bomb shelter and others are spaced in between; there is a bomb shelter about 15 seconds away from most places.

If you are a child in Sderot, you should hope you are in school when the rockets come. Older schools have been retrofitted with huge steel shields on their outer walls and roofs. Newer schools are literally giant bomb shelters, their paltry playgrounds nothing but dust and three safe cubes awaiting the siren's call.

Other parts of town have the type of playgrounds we grew up on: ladder up, slide down, monkey bars and the wall with a clear bubble that never made sense. They have painted a castle a nice shade of purple, and made two long concrete snakes look so vibrant and fun, you could almost forget they, too, are bomb shelters. Between 70 to 95 percent of children in Sderot have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper.

So why are people still living in this god-forsaken place? There are a few reasons. For one, housing is much cheaper there (feel free to guess why). For another, Sderot has one of the most lively and productive music scenes in the Eastern Hemisphere. The town is home to more chart-topping bands than any other in Israel and rivals any in Europe.

But the real reason people stay is because they feel they must. Sderot is internationally recognized as part of Israel. If they leave, if they give up, what happens to the next town? And the next? Rockets from Gaza can hit Israel's economic and cultural centers - Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, respectively.

I saw all this from Israel's side of the border, so I cannot speak with objective moral authority on who is right or wrong, victim or oppressor. I know everyone I talked to in Israel wants peace more than anything, and would give up land if they thought it would achieve it. I also know that people suffer in Gaza and struggle for a homeland in the West Bank.

As a commentator, I am supposed to speak in shoulds and should nots.

No one should have to live like the people of Sderot. That's all I've got.

It's complicated.

Dave Balson is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or DENopinions@gmail.com

I always allow the people of Sderot to speak for themselves.  This is their story, their struggle, their battle. What is happening in Sderot, Beer-Sheva, Ashkelon, the Negev, is the price for living in Israel.  For Sderot's residents it is the price of living on the frontier.  If they surrender their city, it will only encourage Hamas to conquer the next city, then the one after it.  Until they have conquered the whole nation.

You are not on the frontier, the front line in this battle, but you can help. The small donation that you give to the Sderot Media Center goes to help the people, especially the children of Sderot. Just a bit of your spare change will help.  To donate click here.

Children of Sderot Just Want A Little Peace

I'm Taking The Ball And Going Home!

Today the Palestine Authority under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen is having a Temper Tantrum over last Friday's veto by the United States.  It seems that Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen believes he is the leader of a superpower instead of a want-a-be nation dependent on foreign aid from the United States and the European Union.

Organizations associated with the Palestinian Authority in east Jerusalem announced on Wednesday that they are boycotting the local U.S. consulate.

The reason for the boycott is to protest last Friday’s U.S. veto at the United Nations Security Council meeting that torpedoed an anti-Israeli resolution.

PA and Arab leaders had submitted a request to the Security Council to vote to condemn Israel for allowing Jews to build homes within Jewish cities in Judea and Samaria. President Barack Obama had attempted to prevent the PA from submitting the resolution to the Security Council in a phone call to PA head Mahmoud Abbas in which he reportedly offered a benefits package, but all the suggestions for a compromise were rejected. This lead to the U.S. placing a veto on the resolution, which would have otherwise passed as all the other 14 members voted in favor of it.

The resolution condemns construction for Judea and Samaria Jews as “illegal” and “a major obstacle to peace.” In addition, it would state that the UN is prepared to send envoys to the region “to examine the realities on the ground.”

Senior Fatah official Hatem Abdel Kader, who holds the Jerusalem portfolio for the PA, told AFP on Wednesday that the newly announced boycott against the U.S. would see the 28 Arab local councils in Jerusalem cutting ties with the consulate.

“The Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem have decided to boycott the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem in protest against the U.S. veto,” Kader told AFP. “We will cut our relationship with all American institutions, including with USAID and we will not take any help or money from them.”

According to AFP, approximately 28 local councils have agreed to join in the boycott, which would include political meetings and contact with U.S. officials.

Kader said that “The boycott will continue until the U.S. administration changes its stance on the Palestinian issue, especially towards the settlements [the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria – ed.].”

Kader added that the PA also expects an apology by the Obama administration for using the veto.

Full Story

“We will cut our relationship with all American institutions, including with USAID and we will not take any help or money from them.”

Is this a promise?  Will they return the $1.2 BILLION that has already been sent?  Will they stop our arming their Police Force?  What do you think they would say or do if the US were to cut them off completely?

President Obama is many things but in the game of politics he is no fool. There are only 2.5 million Muslims in the US and 6 million Jews with large voting populations in key Electoral College states of New York, Florida, and California.  Not to mention the millions of Christians who are deep supporters of Israel.  Yes the veto in the Security Council last Friday had more to do with November 6th, 2012 than with any resolution of the problem with the Palestinians.  In fact it had a lot to do with trying to convince Jews to support him in his re-election bid than any thing else.

Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen really doesn't have anything to worry about.  Give Barack Hussein Obama a few weeks and will bow down before him the way he has done before:

Next to be done to Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen!

The Mayflower Compact

The Mayflower Compact is a written agreement composed by a consensus of the new Settlers arriving at New Plymouth in November of 1620. They had traveled across the ocean on the ship Mayflower which was anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The Mayflower Compact was drawn up with fair and equal laws, for the general good of the settlement and with the will of the majority. The Mayflower’s passengers knew that the New World’s earlier settlers failed due to a lack of government. They hashed out the content and eventually composed the Compact for the sake of their own survival.

All 41 of the adult male members on the Mayflower signed the Compact. Being the first written laws for the new land, the Compact determined authority within the settlement and was the observed as such until 1691. This established that the colony (mostly persecuted Separatists), was to be free of English law. It was devised to set up a government from within themselves and was written by those to be governed.

THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine our selves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November [New Style, November 21], in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620.

Signed:

John Carver

William Bradford

Edward Winslow

William Brewster

Isaac Allerton

Miles Standish

John Alden

Samuel Fuller

Christopher Martin

William Mullins

William White

James Chilton

John Craxton

John Billington

Richard Warren

John Howland

Steven Hopkins

Edward Tilly

John Tilly

Francis Cook

Thomas Rogers

Thomas Tinker

John Rigdale

Edward Fuller

John Turner

Francis Eaton

Moses Fletcher

Digery Priest

Thomas Williams

Gilbert Winslow

Edmond Margeson

Peter Brown

Richard Bitteridge

Richard Clark

Richard Gardiner

John Allerton

Thomas English

Edward Doten

Edward Liester

John Goodman

George Soule

When creating the Mayflower Compact, the signers believed that covenants were not only to be honored between God and man, but also between each other. They had always honored covenants as part of their righteous integrity and agreed to be bound by this same principle with the Compact. John Adams and many historians have referred to the Mayflower Compact as the foundation of the U.S. Constitution written more than 150 later.

This is part of the Founding Documents series.

Wednesday's Hero: Cmd. David John Sperling

 Cmd. David John Sperling
78 years old from Pensacola, Florida
Attach Squadron 153
April 3, 1929 - March 17, 2008


From the citation upon being awarded the Silver Star:

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Commander David John Sperling (NSN: 0-555189), United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action as the Pilot of a jet aircraft while attached to Attack Squadron ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE (VA-153), embarked in U.S.S. CORAL SEA (CVA-43). On 25 October 1967, Commander Sperling flew as a major group leader in a coordinated Air Wing assault on the Phuc Yen Air Base near Hanoi, North Vietnam. Being the prime operating base for MiG fighter aircraft, Phuc Yen was defended by the most concentrated and formidable array of surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft artillery and automatic weapons to be found in all of North Vietnam. Courageously leading his group of attack aircraft over 120 miles of hostile territory into this bastion of defensive armor, Commander Sperling exhibited outstanding airmanship and unwavering determination while maneuvering for the highly vulnerable attack position. In spite of the unprecedented barrage of surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft fire, he calmly established the essential bombing pattern and delivered his ordnance with exceptional accuracy on the revetted enemy airplanes to destroy or damage several parked MiG aircraft. His resolute actions and professional skill set the tone for the remainder of his force and succeeded in turning a potentially disastrous situation into a highly successful assault on the enemy. Commander Sperling's gallant and inspirational leadership upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Cmd. Sperling's obituary.

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.

Let Your Prayers Ring Out!

For the People of Christchurch, New Zealand. As of writing this at least 65 people are dead, hundreds maybe thousands wounded.  Destruction on a massive scale.

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – A powerful earthquake slammed New Zealand's already-bruised city of Christchurch on Tuesday, killing at least 65 people, and sending rescuers scrambling to help people trapped under collapsed buildings.

The 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the country's second-largest city around lunchtime, collapsing buildings and sending bricks and other heavy debris toppling into busy city streets. It was the second major quake to strike Christchurch in the past five months.

Prime Minister John Key told reporters that the death toll was at least 65, and was expected to rise further.

Video footage showed some multi-storey buildings collapsed in on themselves, and others with walls that had collapsed into the streets, strewn with bricks and shattered concrete. Sidewalks and roads were cracked and split, and thousands of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared. Groups of people helped victims clutching bleedings wounds, and others were carried to private vehicles in makeshift stretchers fashioned from rugs or bits of debris.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city center. Troops were deployed to help people get out and to throw up a security cordon around the stricken area, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English said.

Full story

 

The first quake of 6.3 hit 6 hours ago, followed by 5.6 20 minutes later, a 5.5 aftershock hit 4 hours later.

Major Earthquake has hit Christchurch, New Zealand



The damage is massive, as is the loss of life.  But unlike Haiti, the people of New Zealand are luckier. New Zealand is a rich nation, with good hospitals and a support service ranked at one of the best in the world. To be injured or homeless there is less of a hardship than those in Haiti went through and still have to endure.

Remember to say a prayer or two for these people.  And hope that the death count stays low.

X-Class Flares, Solar Maximum, And Cycle 24

On Tuesday I wrote the post: First X-flare of the New Solar Cycle. Thomas, a reader wrote the following comment:

What I would like to see is a history of X-class flares. How they they are related to solar activity maximum progression. Well Cycle 24 had somewhat of a slow start. Now the question of course is, how quickly will it increase in terms of activity to still somehow reach maximum in 2012. That is hwy it would be interesting to correlated the sun activity of the coming month with historical progression of previous cycles. I would assume that cycle 24 will present us with unprecedented anomalies. What's your best guess.. ?

Instead of posting a lengthy comment at the post, I will attempt to answer his questions here.

First of all, I am NOT an Astronomer.  Neither professional nor amateur.  I can point out stars and Constellations in the sky, look through a telescope to see the Rings of Saturn or Jupiter, and I try to follow the subject through documentaries and on-line sights such as Space Weather.  For me to answer Thomas' questions meant researching the subject.  A project that I have enjoyed doing.

Cutting Off Their Noses To Spite Their Faces!

That is what the unions in Wisconsin are doing. Instead of paying into their pension plans and having a co-pay for their Cadillac Healthcare Plans, they insist on forcing requiring the taxpayers of Wisconsin to foot the bill.

The trouble is that Wisconsin is broke. There is no money in the till for these luxuries. Something is going to have to be cut.  If not the luxuries, then it must be workers.  12,000 of them in fact.

If changes aren't made to the benefit contributions paid by Wisconsin's nearly 300,000 public sector employees, about 10,000-12,000 workers will lose their jobs, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker warned Sunday.

The Republican governor has been targeted by protesters for nearly a week for negotiating a bill now in the state Senate that would require workers to increase their contributions to pensions and health care coverage, would limit collective bargaining rules and tie raises to inflation.

But Walker said while the state enjoys a lower-than-average unemployment rate -- about 7.5 percent compared to 9 percent nationally -- about 5,000-6,000 state workers and 5,000-6,000 local government workers could lose their jobs if they don't accept changes to their benefits plan.

"I don't want a single person laid off in the public nor in the private sector and that's why this is a much better alternative than losing jobs," Walker told "Fox News Sunday."

The budget vote was supposed to take place last week, but was delayed when state Senate Democrats fled to Illinois to avoid having to vote on the plan, which would cost public sector employees about $300 million over two years, or less than 10 percent of the deficit total.

President Obama, whose group Organizing for America, has bused in some of the nearly 70,000 protesters outside the state capitol on Saturday, last week called the bill "an assault on unions."

Walker said the president should stay focused on fixing the federal budget, which is $1.5 trillion in deficit this year. The president's plan, rolled out last week, proposes $1.65 trillion in deficits next year.

While union workers say they've been blindsided by the governor's plan, which he campaigned on through the midterm election, they also say Walker has unfairly targeted public employees while giving tax breaks to businesses worth about $117 million.

"We expected concessions, but we just didn't think there was a mandate for this. We didn't see him getting rid of collective bargaining," said Gary Steffen, president of the Wisconsin Science Professionals, the union that represents state scientists, including crime lab analysts, biologists, chemists and foresters.

Under the governor's proposal, unions still could represent workers, but they could not force employees to pay dues and would have to hold annual votes to stay organized. Only wages below the Consumer Price Index would be subject to collective bargaining, anything higher would have to be approved by referendum.

Walker said he hoped "cooler minds will prevail" and lawmakers will come back to vote.

"Democracy's not about showing up in another state," he said.

Full story

The state could choose the 12,000 to be fired from the assembled idiots at the capital.   Heck, Governor Walker should pull a Reagan maneuver on the union and give them 24 hours to get back to work or they get fired.  It worked against the Air Traffic Controllers, and will work here.

Music For A Sunday Brunch

This video and song is dedicated to Robert (Big Sarge) Brandt.  Big Sarge has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing treatment just two months after being laid off from his private sector job of many years.

IT'S NOT YET TIME



Check out http://supportbigsarge.com for more information and to donate to the cause. Any amount is appreciated. All donations go directly to Robert Brandt and his young family except for 5% which Robert has asked go to The Wounded Warrior Project.

Thank you.

Saturday Morning Funnies #15

It's Saturday Morning and time once again for our funnies.  A humorous look at the world through the eyes of cartoonists and satirists.

First up is our President and his Administration's pimping of Al Jazeera:

Since the TSA started their pat downs and porno pictures no one really feels safe. Neither does Ray Stevens it seems:

The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore




We do have the most narcissistic President in US history!

Actually Mr. President you are not even fit to wipe President Reagan's backside.

Today's bit of humor comes to us from James Shott

Phone call charges

George Bush, Queen Elizabeth, and Vladimir Putin all die and go to hell.

While there, they spy a red phone and ask what the phone is for. The devil tells them it is for calling back to Earth.

Putin asks to call Russia and talks for 5 minutes. When he was finished the devil informs him that the cost is a million dollars, so Putin writes him a check.

Next Queen Elizabeth call England and talks for 30 minutes. When she was finished the devil informs her that cost is 6 million dollars, so Queen Elizabeth writes him a check.

Finally George Bush gets his turn and talks for 4 hours. When he was finished the devil informed him that there would be no charge for the call and feel free to call the USA anytime.

When Putin hears this he goes ballistic and asks the devil why Bush got to call the USA free. The devil replied, ¨Since Obama became president of the USA, the country has gone to hell, so naturally it's a local call.¨

Here is this week's Latma. The news from the Tribe.

The Tribal Update brings you an ode to Muhammed and Gabi Ashkenazi's thrilling farewell



Cats imitating Humans

Ministry of Silly Walks




Even the Doctor Utilizes Cats

Orbital - Dr Who Theme

Have A Great Week!!!