How The Occupy Movement Chose To Remember The Holocaust And Its Victims

With an anti-Semitic cartoon of course.

From Haaretz

The Occupy Tampa movement posted an anti-Semitic cartoon on their Facebook page on Thursday, which coincided with Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The cartoon, shown below, depicted a Jewish man with a big nose and large beard driving a car with the symbol of the United Nations as the wheel and U.S. President Barack Obama's head as the stick shift.

Within five hours the cartoon received more than 400 comments, mostly from outraged users, including many Israelis.

"Putting this on Holocaust day just makes it even more sickening than it already is," one user said.

"This is an outrage. All OWS sympathizers must be disgusted by this vile act of hatred," said another user.

Despite the fact that most of the commentators were furious over the cartoon, 54 people "liked" the image.

Moreover, many users made a point to stress that the page belongs to Occupy Tampa, which is not affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement, and that the movement has no official leadership so anyone can post under the "occupy" name.

However, the Occupy Tampa Facebook page has more than 25,000 followers, and has been active since September 25, the beginning of the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Meanwhile on Thursday, the official Occupy Wall Street movement showed support for Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day on their Twitter page, posting a tweet that said, "We stand with our brothers & sisters who suffered in the holocaust today, & we remember those who fought back."

"This is an outrage. All OWS sympathizers must be disgusted by this vile act of hatred,"

Is this person for real?  This is the mantra of the OWS, the left and the MSM.  All Jews are to be considered evil, money grubbing, murderers.  The moral equivalent of Nazis, in fact the new Nazis.  Remember Patricia MacCallister and her rant about how all Jews are evil and must be destroyed?  Of course she was not the only
one.  There were others.  Many others.  This is a pattern by the OWS Movement.  And a great tactic for them.  Jew Hatred is one of the best tools the left has to unite their people.  It was done with great effect by Stalin, Lenin and of course Hitler.

Tariq Ramadan Speaks in Orange County

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com




                                                                                    Tariq Ramadan

Swiss-born Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan, grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al Banna, spoke Tuesday night at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Anaheim before a crowd of about 500 people, mostly Muslims. Ramadan, until recently, was banned from entering the US because of questionable associations with certain organizations. Last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lifted the ban. Ramadan is presently on a speaking tour in the US.

Ramadan's appearance was sponsored by the Shura Council of Southern California as part of a nation-wide campaign by them and the Islamic Circle of North America to educate Americans about shariah law. There was a crowd of about a dozen protesters outside the hotel with posters. (I didn't see them.) The defense of Sharia was part of the theme of Ramadan's speech, but the main part was about Muslims living in the West.

I should say at the outset, that Ramadan is an intellectual in every sense of the word. He is multi-lingual and articulate in English, His native languages are French and Arabic since he was born in Geneva. He spoke, of course, in English, almost entirely without notes.

There was an opening prayer in Arabic. One person who was present and knows Arabic has supplied me with a translation:


"The opening prayer was the Exordium (Surah 1) which includes the lines, “Guide us in the straight path [Sharia] the path of those whom  You have favored, Not of those who have incurred Your wrath [meaning the Jews], Nor of those who have gone astray [meaning the Christians].”

Prior to Ramadan, a young man, probably a college student, opened the event and made reference to the protesters, urging the audience not to engage with them in any way. Then Muzammil Siddiqi, imam of the Southern California Islamic Center, spoke for a few minutes. He stated that opponents were spreading anti-Sharia propaganda and spreading hate against Muslims. He also stated (as he has in the past) that Sharia is perfectly compatible with the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. He also said that Muslims do not impose Sharia on others, and that they respect the laws where they live.

Then Sheikh Abdur Rahman Khan, who is member of the Islamic Circle of North America Shariah Council and national shura, spoke about Sharia and defined it simply as the "straight way" for Muslims to conduct themselves and treat others. He referred to the "false propaganda" about Islam and the efforts in various states to pass legislation banning Sharia. He compared Sharia to the Christian Canon Law and Jewish Halakhah Law.

At one point, the event was interrupted for 20-30 minutes for prayers. As the non-Muslims sat around, the Muslims went to a back wall and did their prayers, men in front, women in back. Some women remained seated. I am told that menstruating women do not join in. It was the first time I had listened to a complete call to prayer, which was performed by a young man with a microphone. It is rather haunting, I must say.

But the main event was Ramadan. I should state at the outset that you must listen carefully when he speaks because his speech was a combination of sermon and philosophical lecture. He, of course, defended Sharia as directing Muslims to be honest and respect the rights of everyone else. He also spoke about the way Muslims in western countries should conduct themselves. He encouraged his listeners to understand American society and the Constitution. He also mentioned that in the West, it is indisputable that we have freedom of conscience and freedom of worship. He also made the comment that (Muslims) respect the laws in the country they live in because of Sharia (which, in fact, tells Muslims to respect and obey the laws if they live in a non-Muslim country).

Ramadan also said that Muslims must assert their rights and proceed to their goals (my emphasis)-and not react to their enemies. (I will come back to that point later.) He said that (Muslims) want the same rights within the legal framework to be Muslims as do Jews and Christians.

Among other notes I jotted down, Ramadan stated that "Jihad has nothing to do with holy war". He also stated that according to recent studies, 80% of young Americans and the same percentage of young Europeans are comfortable with Muslims. He pointed out the Tea Party as spreading propaganda against Muslims. He used the term "racists" to portray Sharia opponents. He also mentioned the name of (attorney) David Yerushalmi, who is active in the anti-Sharia legislation lawsuits, and who allegedly said, "We need the controversy."

Here is where it gets interesting. As he neared the end of his speech, Ramadan urged Muslim leaders not to be naive. They must have vision. Don't always respond to attack. Know when to ask for something and when not to. Muslim leaders should not always be so quick to react. The leaders need wisdom and patience. "We have time", he told the audience in a manner that made me feel as if he were specifically addressing the Muslims in the audience. "We have our institutions, our mosques, our schools".

Here is my quandary: If a group of Americans are saying they are not being treated fairly and equally and demand justice, then you don't state, "We have time." On the contrary, if you want justice and an end to discrimination or second-class treatment, then you want it now. There is nothing to wait for-not under the American system. So what is this goal that they have time for, according to Ramadan, for which they can wait? Wait how long-5 years, 25 years, 50 years, 100 years? What was Ramadan talking about? Was he talking about a day in the future when Muslims will become a majority in the West and then can install Islamic rule?

As for question and answer, the audience was asked to write their questions down and they would be collected. I had one, but never saw anyone collecting papers. Apparently, they did. After a handful of questions, none earthshaking, it was over.

* The next day at Loyola Marymount  University in Los Angeles, I briefly met Ramadan while attending a Sharia workshop (which will be the subject of an up-coming post.) I introduced myself to him while he was outside the conference hall. I recognized that I was not going to have the chance for a prolonged conversation, so I decided to ask the question I had tried to send up the previous evening. To break the ice, I started the conversation off in French, and we exchanged brief pleasantries about Switzerland, a country which I am very familiar with.  I then asked my question in English. The question was about his call a few years ago for a moratorium on stoning. ( Ramadan had then stated that stoning in the Islamic world was being applied unjustly-in other words -only against the poor and powerless. He asked that a collection of leading Islamic scholars gather and study the issue and make a decision on it.) I asked Ramadan why he did not call for a complete abolition, and if he were to do so, would that be considered blasphemy. He replied that it was not possible to do it that way. He stated, "The Muslims would not accept it", and made a reference to  "the text", which I didn't catch. He stated that he had to do it this way and referred me to his new book, in which he discusses the issue. I assume that would be "The Quest for Meaning", published in March. His body language told me he wanted to end the conversation and return to the hall, so I thanked him and let him go.

Perhaps, I chose the wrong question. Perhaps, I should have asked him what he meant the previous evening when he said,

"We have time."

A Great Show Of Strength And Courage

During World War II many men and women arose to save Jews.  There was Raoul Wallenberg of Sweden who saved over 100,000 people, Oskar Schindler who saved over 1200 people, and Miep Gies, Johannes Kleiman, Victor Kugler and Bep Voskuijl who tried to save the people hidden in the Secret Annex.  But on this Yom HaShoah (Day of Holocaust Remembrance) I choose Chiune Sugihara, Japan's ambassador to Lithuania.

In the course of human existence, many people are tested. Only a few soar as eagles and achieve greatness by simple acts of kindness, thoughtfulness and humanity. This is the story of a man and his wife who, when confronted with evil, obeyed the kindness of their hearts and conscience in defiance of the orders of an indifferent government. These people were Chiune and Yukiko Sugihara who, at the beginning of World War II, by an ultimate act of altruism and self-sacrifice, risked their careers, their livelihood and their future to save the lives of more than 6,000 Jews. This selfless act resulted in the second largest number of Jews rescued from the Nazis.

In March 1939, Japanese Consul-General Chiune Sugihara was sent to Kaunas to open a consulate service. Kaunas was the temporary capital of Lithuania at the time and was strategically situated between Germany and the Soviet Union. After Hitler's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Chiune Sugihara had barely settled down in his new post when Nazi armies invaded Poland and a wave of Jewish refugees streamed into Lithuania. They brought with them chilling tales of German atrocities against the Jewish population. They escaped from Poland without possessions or money, and the local Jewish population did their utmost to help with money, clothing and shelter.

Before the war, the population of Kaunas consisted of 120,000 inhabitants, one forth of which were Jews. Lithuania, at the time, had been an enclave of peace and prosperity for Jews. Most Lithuanian Jews did not fully realize or believe the extent of the Nazi Holocaust that was being perpetrated against the Jews in Poland. The Jewish refugees tried to explain that they were being murdered by the tens of thousands. No one could quite believe them. The Lithuanian Jews continued living normal lives. Things began to change for the very worst on June 15, 1940, when the Soviets invaded Lithuania. It was now too late for the Lithuanian Jews to leave for the East. Ironically, the Soviets would allow Polish Jews to continue to emigrate out of Lithuania through the Soviet Union if they could obtain certain travel documents.

By 1940, most of Western Europe had been conquered by the Nazis, with Britain standing alone. The rest of the free world, with very few exceptions, barred the immigration of Jewish refugees from Poland or anywhere in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Against this terrible backdrop, the Japanese Consul Chiune Sugihara suddenly became the linchpin in a desperate plan for survival. The fate of thousands of families depended on his humanity. The Germans were rapidly advancing east. In July 1940, the Soviet authorities instructed all foreign embassies to leave Kaunas. Almost all left immediately, but Chiune Sugihara requested and received a 20-day extension.

Except for Mr. Jan Zwartendijk, the acting Dutch consul, Chiune Sugihara was now the only foreign consul left in Lithuanania's capital city. They had much work to do.

Now into summer, time was running out for the refugees. Hitler rapidly tightened his net around Eastern Europe. It was then that some of the Polish refugees came up with a plan that offered one last chance for freedom. They discovered that two Dutch colonial islands, Curacao and Dutch Guiana, (now known as Suriname) situated in the Caribbean, did not require formal entrance visas. Furthermore, the honorary Dutch consul, Jan Zwartendijk, told them he had gotten permission to stamp their passports with entrance permits.

There remained one major obstacle. To get to these islands, the refugees needed to pass through the Soviet Union. The Soviet consul, who was sympathetic to the plight of the refugees, agreed to let them pass on one condition: In addition to the Dutch entrance permit, they would also have to obtain a transit visa from the Japanese, as they would have to pass through Japan on their way to the Dutch islands.

On a summer morning in late July 1940, Consul Sempo Sugihara and his family awakened to a crowd of Polish Jewish refugees gathered outside the consulate. Desperate to flee the approaching Nazis, the refugees knew that their only path lay to the east. If Consul Sugihara would grant them Japanese transit visas, they could obtain Soviet exit visas and race to possible freedom. Sempo Sugihara was moved by their plight, but he did not have the authority to issue hundreds of visas without permission from the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo.

Chiune Sugihara wired his government three times for permission to issue visas to the Jewish refugees. Three times he was denied. The Japanese Consul in Tokyo wired:

CONCERNING TRANSIT VISAS REQUESTED PREVIOUSLY STOP ADVISE ABSOLUTELY NOT TO BE ISSUED ANY TRAVELER NOT HOLDING FIRM END VISA WITH GUARANTEED DEPARTURE EX JAPAN STOP NO EXCEPTIONS STOP NO FURTHER INQUIRIES EXPECTED STOP (SIGNED) K TANAKA FOREIGN MINISTRY TOKYO

After repeatedly receiving negative responses from Tokyo, the Consul discussed the situation with his wife and children. Sugihara had a difficult decision to make. He was a man who was brought up in the strict and traditional discipline of the Japanese. He was a career diplomat, who suddenly had to make a very difficult choice. On one had, he was bound by the traditional obedience he had been taught all his life. On the other hand, he was a samurai who had been told to help those who were in need. He knew that if he defied the orders of his superiors, he might be fired and disgraced, and would probably never work for the Japanese government again. This would result in extreme financial hardship for his family in the future.

Chiune and his wife Yukiko even feared for their lives and the lives of their children, but in the end, could only follow their consciences. The visas would be signed.

For 29 days, from July 31 to August 28, 1940, Mr. and Mrs. Sugihara sat for endless hours writing and signing visas by hand. Hour after hour, day after day, for these three weeks, they wrote and signed visas. They wrote over 300 visas a day, which would normally be one month's worth of work for the consul. Yukiko also helped him register these visas. At the end of the day, she would massage his fatigued hands. He did not even stop to eat. His wife supplied him with sandwiches. Sugihara chose not to lose a minute because people were standing in line in front of his consulate day and night for these visas. When some began climbing the compound wall, he came out to calm them down and assure them that he would do is best to help them all. Hundreds of applicants became thousands as he worked to grant as many visas as possible before being forced to close the consulate and leave Lithuania. Consul Sugihara continued issuing documents from his train window until the moment the train departed Kovno for Berlin on September 1, 1940. And as the train pulled out of the station, Sugihara gave the consul visa stamp to a refugee who was able use it to save even more Jews.

After receiving their visas, the refugees lost no time in getting on trains that took them to Moscow, and then by trans-Siberian railroad to Vladivostok. From there, most of them continued to Kobe, Japan. They were allowed to stay in Kobe for several months, and were then sent to Shanghai, China. Thousands of Polish Jews with Sugihara visas survived in safety under the benign protection of the Japanese government in Shanghai. As many as six thousand refugees made their way to Japan, China and other countries in the following months. They had escaped the Holocaust. Through a strange twist of history, they owed their lives to a Japanese man and his family. They had become Sugihara Survivors.

Despite his disobedience, his government found Sugihara's vast skills useful for the remainder of the war. But in 1945, the Japanese government unceremoniously dismissed Chiune Sugihara from the diplomatic service. His career as a diplomat was shattered. He had to start his life over. Once a rising star in the Japanese foreign service, Chiune Sugihara could at first only find work as a part-time translator and interpreter. For the last two decades of his life, he worked as a manager for an export company with business in Moscow. This was his fate because he dared to save thousands of human beings from certain death.

The makings of a hero are many and complex, but Sugihara's fateful decision to risk his career may have been influenced by a simple act of kindness from an 11-year-old boy. He lived with his family in Lithuania, and his name was Zalke Jenkins (Solly Ganor).

Solly Ganor was the son of a menshevik refugee from the Russian revolution in the early 1920s. After the Russian revolution the family moved to Kaunas, Lithuania. The family prospered for years before World War II in textile import and export. Young Solly Ganor, concerned about Polish Jews entering Kaunas, gave most of his allowance and savings to the Jewish refugee boards. Having given away all of his money, he went to his aunt Annushka's gourmet food shop in Kaunas. He went there to borrow a Lithuania lit (Lithuanian dollar) to see the latest Laurel and Hardy movie. In his aunt's store he met Japanese Consul Chiune Sugihara. Consul Sugihara overheard the conversation and gave young Solly two shiny lit. Impulsively, the young boy invited the Consul with the kind eyes to his family celebration of the first night of Chanukah 1939.

The surprised and delighted Consul gratefully accepted the young boy's offer, and he and his wife Yukiko attended their first Jewish Chanukah celebration.

Mr. Sugihara commented on the closeness of the Jewish families and how it reminded him of his family, and of similar Japanese festivals. Fifty-four years later, Mrs. Sugihara remembers with delight the cakes and cookies and desserts offered to them during this Jewish festival of lights.

Solly Ganor and his father were soon friends with the Consul-General and they conversed in Russian. Later Solly Ganor and his father witnessed Consul Sugihara in his office calling the Russian officials to get permission to issue visas across the Russian borders. Solly Ganor and his father later received Sugihara visas but were unable to use them because they were Soviet citizens.

Most of the Ganor family were murdered in the Holocaust. Solly's sister Fanny and Aunt Anushka survived the war. Aunt Anushka returned to Lithuania and died in 1969. Fanny married Sam Skutelsky from Riga and eventually settled in the United States. Their son Robert, Solly's only living nephew, now lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Solly and his father spent over two years in the Kaunas ghetto before being deported to the Landsberg-Kaufering outer camps of Dachau in late 1944. They survived the war and moved to Israel. The older Ganor died peacefully in Tel Aviv in 1966.

Ironically, in May 1945, Solly Ganor was liberated by Japanese American soldiers of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, men who had been interned in their own country.

To Solly, the Japanese face has come to symbolize kindness and liberation.

For the last half century people have asked, "Who was Chiune Sugihara?"

They have also asked, "Why did he risk his career, his family fortune, and the lives of his family to issue visas to Jewish refugees in Lithuania?" These are not easy questions to answer, and there may be no single set of answers that will satisfy our curiosity or inquiry.

Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara always did things his own way. He was born on January 1, 1900. He graduated from high school with top marks and his father insisted that he become a medical doctor. But Chiune's dream was to study literature and live abroad. Sugihara attended Tokyo's prestigious Waseda University to study English. He paid for his own education with part-time work as a longshoreman and tutor.

One day he saw an item in the classified ads. The Foreign Ministry was seeking people who wished to study abroad and might be interested in a diplomatic career. He passed the difficult entrance exam and was sent to the Japanese language institute in Harbin, China. He studied Russian and graduated with honors. He also converted to Greek Orthodox Christianity. The cosmopolitan nature of Harbin, China opened his eyes to how diverse and interesting the world was.

He then served with the Japanese-controlled government in Manchuria, in northeastern China. He was later promoted to Vice Minister of the Foreign Affairs Department. He was soon in line to be the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Manchuria.

While in Manchuria he negotiated the purchase of the Russian-owned Manchurian railroad system by the Japanese. This saved the Japanese government millions of dollars, and infuriated the Russians.

Sugihara was disturbed by his government's policy and the cruel treatment of the Chinese by the Japanese government. He resigned his post in protest in 1934.

In 1938 Sugihara was posted to the Japanese diplomatic office in Helsinki, Finland. With World War II looming on the horizon, the Japanese government sent Sugihara to Lithuania to open a one-man consulate in 1939. There he would report on Soviet and German war plans. Six months later, war broke out and the Soviet Union annexed Lithuania. The Soviets ordered all consulates to be closed. It was in this context that Sugihara was confronted with the requests of thousands of Polish Jews fleeing German-occupied Poland.

Sugihara's personal history and temperament may contain the key to why he defied his government's orders and issued the visas. Sugihara favored his mother's personality. He thought of himself as kind and nurturing and artistic. He was interested in foreign ideas, religion, philosophy and language. He wanted to travel the world and see everything there was, and experience the world. He had a strong sense of the value of all human life. His language skills show that he was always interested in learning more about other peoples.

Sugihara was a humble and understated man. He was self-sacrificing, self-effacing and had a very good sense of humor. Yukiko, his wife, said he found it very difficult to discipline the children when they misbehaved. He never lost his temper.

Sugihara was also raised in the strict Japanese code of ethics of a turn-of-the-century samurai family. The cardinal virtues of this society were oya koko (love of the family), kodomo no tamene (for the sake of the children), having gidi and on (duty and responsibility, or obligation to repay a debt), gaman (withholding of emotions on the surface), gambate (internal strength and resourcefulness), and haji no kakete (don't bring shame on the family). These virtues were strongly inculcated by Chiune's middle-class rural samurai family.

It took enormous courage for Sugihara to defy the order of his father to become a doctor, and instead follow his own academic path. It took courage to leave Japan and study overseas. It took a very modern liberal Japanese man to marry a Caucasian woman (his first wife; Yukiko was his second wife) and convert to Christianity. It took even more courage to openly oppose the Japanese military policies of expansion in the 1930s.

Thus Sempo Sugihara was no ordinary Japanese man and may have been no ordinary man. At the time that he and his wife Yukiko thought of the plight of the Jewish refugees, he was haunted by the words of an old samurai maxim: "Even a hunter cannot kill a bird which flies to him for refuge."

Today, more than 50 years after those 29 fateful days in July and August of 1940, there may be more than 40,000 who owe their lives to Chiune and Yukiko Sugihara. Two generations have come after the original Sugihara survivors, all owing their existence to one modest man and his family. After the war, Mr. Sugihara never mentioned or spoke to anyone about his extraordinary deeds. It was not until 1969 that Sugihara was found by a man he had helped save, Mr. Yehoshua Nishri. Soon, hundreds of others whom he had saved came forward and testified to the Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial) in Israel about his life saving acts of courage. After gathering testimonies from all over the world, Yad Vashem realized the enormity of this man's self-sacrifice in saving Jews. And so it came to pass that in 1985 he received Israel's highest honor. He was recognized as "Righteous Among the Nations" by the Yad Vashem Martyrs Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem.

By then a old man near death, he was too ill to travel to Israel. His wife and son received the honor on his behalf. Further, a tree was planted in his name at Yad Vashem, and a park in Jerusalem was named in his honor.

Forty-five years after he signed the visas, Chiune was asked why he did it. He liked to give two reasons: "They were human beings and they needed help," he said. "I'm glad I found the strength to make the decision to give it to them." Sugihara was a religious man and believed in a universal God of all people. He was fond of saying, "I may have to disobey my government, but if I don't I would be disobeying God."

Consul Chiune Sugihara, age 86, died on July 31, 1986. Mrs.Yukiko Sugihara, age 94, passed away on October 8, 2008.

Chiune Sugihara and his wife Yukiko were people of great strength and courage.  In fact they should be the model for all diplomatic personal and their families.  A thing to remember on this Yom HaShoah.

Shema Yisroel

Legend tells that Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman Zatsl (1886-1969), The Ponovize rov, once was encountered by a church denial of the existence of Jewish children in their place.

He began calling out: Shema Yisroel and instinctively children raised their hands to cover their eyes and startet calling out:  Mama! Mama!

He sought to take care of many orphans and tried to rescue them from the clutches of secular Zionist organizations, especially the Yaldei Theran ("Children of Tehran") - children who escaped from Nazi Europe by walking across Europe to Tehran .

Shema Yisroel by Yaakov Shwekey

He raised his hand to wave goodbye
Saw the pain in mother´s eyes
who left her little precious boy of four

In a citadel of ashen stone
that preached a faith unlike his own
Perhaps he just may yet survive this war

In the shadow stood a man in black
My child he said, you must not look back
Yet one image lingered, the tears on her face
And mother´s words from their last embrace

Shema, Shema Yisroel
Know that there is but one G-d above
When you feel pain, when you rejoice
know how he longs to hear your voice
Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad

Deep within the iron gate
Far from the stench of war and hate
he knew not of a world gone insane

You must believe us, he was told
Our faith alone can save your soul
Please let us heal your wounds and ease your pain

He tried not to forget his past, his home
But he was so very young and all alone
While visions of his shtetl, once vivid and clear
began to fade, and all but disappeared

Shema, Shema Yisroel
Know that there is but one G-d above
When you feel pain, when you rejoice
know how he longs to hear your voice
Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad

The winds of war had finally passed
one man took on a sacred task
to bring the scattered jewish children home

He travelled far, from place to place
A quest to reignite the faith
of those sent into hiding long ago

He entered the fortress grey and cold
Your kind is not among us, he was told

Hashem above, he whispered, please don´t let me fail
As he began to sing
Shema Yisroel

Shema, Shema Yisroel
Know that there is but one G-d above
When you feel pain, when you rejoice
know how he longs to hear your voice
Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad

Shema, Shema Yisroel
Know that there is but one G-d above
When you feel pain, when you rejoice
know how he longs to hear your voice
Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad


Shema, Shema Yisroel
Know that there is but one G-d above
When you feel pain, when you rejoice
know how he longs to hear your voice
Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad

Please say,
Shema, Shema Yisroel
Know that there is but, but one G-d above
When you feel pain, when you rejoice
know how he longs to hear our voice
Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad
Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad

Yom HaShoah (1988)

From Dry Bones

Today is Yom HaShoah (Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day).
Today's Golden Oldie was drawn for Yom HaShoah back in 1988.

See No Evil

Tonight is Erev Yom Hashoah, the eve of Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day.  On Thursday will you stop what you're doing at 10 am (your time zone) and say a prayer for the millions murdered by the Nazis.  Yes they were murdered.  They didn't just die.  It was a systematic murder of millions of men, women, and children.  Jews, Roma (Gypsies), Homosexuals, Political Opponents, the Disabled, the Mentally Ill, the Retarded, the list is long.  Remember them, remember their suffering, remember their lives lost.

Never Again Ever!

War Game: Israeli Air Strike Deals Severe Blow to Iran Nukes

Recently a war game was held amongst senior military personal in Israel.  The following is the scenario that takes into account both Israeli and American reaction.

In a simulation war game featuring Israelis in senior positions, Israel loses 10 fighter jets in a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities and manages to set back the Iranian nuclear program by seven years. An angry President Barack Obama takes no steps against Israel but also refuses to intervene on its side.

In the war game, conducted by Makor Rishon newspaper, the strike takes place on October 16, 2012, just three weeks before the U.S. election.

The simulation was carried out with the participation of former Government Secretary Yisrael Maimon as a member of the "Octet" of trusted ministers and Home Front Minister; Iran expert Dr. Eldad Pardo as the Iranian regime; Maj. Gen. (ret.) Eitan Ben Eliyahu as a senior member of the Octet; Begin-Sadat Center Chairman Prof. Efraim Inbar as the Prime Minister; Dr. Mordechai Kedar as "the Palestinians," Hizbullah and the Arab countries; journalist Amit Segal as Israeli and world press; journalist Ofer Shelach as Preient Barack Obama and Makor Rishon journalist Amnon Lord as game administrator.

According to the game's premise, on October 14 and 15, four independent and reliable Mossad intelligence sources indicate that Iran has begun transferring its strategic nuclear equipment to underground sites in Qom. Military Intelligence, meanwhile, determines that Iran was ready to enrich weapons-grade uranium.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu lulls the press into complacency by maintaining a seemingly regular schedule in Jerusalem. In the pre-dawn hours of October 16, the IDF launches Operation Yahalom ("Diamond"). The nuclear sites at Natanz and Arak are bombed, as are several other nuclear plants and research centers. Ten IAF jets are shot down.

President Obama receives word of the strike when he is speaking to 350 rabbis in Florida. He convenes a consultation and says that Israel's "excuse" for bombing is "irrelevant" because while Iran's nuclear facilities may become immune to an Israeli attack by moving underground, they will not become immune to a U.S. attack.

The timing of the strike "basically amounts to an intervention in the elections," Obama adds. "The attack will have immediate repercussions influencing the election considerations of voters here, such as the expected rise in the price of oil. Israel could have waited until after the elecions."

In the simulation, the formal White House announcement calls on Israel to cease hostilities but does not place sanctions on it or threaten it. On the other hand, it offers no assistance. "Israel is responsible for its own fate," it says. "It went against our wishes, and therefore we do not offer it a military umbrella of protection against military responses by Iran or its proxies."

Iran sends 1,500 tanks toward the border with Iraq and instructs Hizbullah to fire missiles at Israel. It also launches a series of large scale terror actions and fires missiles from Lebanon and from its own territory at hi-tech targets in Herzliya, suceeding in destroying Intel's headquarters. A suicide bomber kills a large number of cadets in the IDF's hi-tech Talpiyot program. Low-level radiation is released in Tel Aviv by a "dirty bomb."

In the war game, Israeli media shows surprising solidarity and unity on the day of the attack, initially sparing the government from criticism. Republican candidate Mitt Romney calls upon Obama to give Israel his backing "immediately." Obama, meanwhile, threatens an Israeli minister who speaks with him on the phone: "I may still be president on November 7. This will have a price, as far as you are concerned. I will not elaborate right now, but you should take this into consideration."

Iran decides to try and drive a wedge between Israel and the U.S.. It therefore tells the U.S. it will supply it with as much oil as it needs, in the hope of helping Obama get reelected. In late October, its agents blow up a car bomb in Tel Aviv and fire a missile at an El Al jet from a ship in the Mediterranean, killing 300 people.

Meanwhile, intelligence indicates that Iran's nuclear program has been set back 7 years by the Israeli strikes. With U.S. elections days away, Obama decides that "enough is enough" and begins to threaten Iran with a U.S. attack if it does not cease its hostilities against Israel.

Whether real life will be anything like the simulation by Makor Rishon remains to be seen.

If Hezbollah did attack Israel, Israel would consider it an attack on the country from Lebanon and attack Lebanon in return.  In doing so, President Barack Hussein Obama would be powerless to stop Israel or risk losing the 2012 Elections.  The UN would condemn Israel, impose sanctions, etc...  And there would be an new President on January 20th, 2013.  President Mitt Romney.

Sharia Law in the US and Quiet Muslims

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com



My friend and colleague Karen Lugo has written a great article in National Review on the PR move by the Islamic Circle of North America to promote Sharia law in America. She also refers to the so-called "quiet Muslims", who perhaps, don't want to see Sharia here in the US.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/296233/america-s-quiet-muslims-karen-lugo

I heartily concur with Lugo that it is time for Muslims who came here to enjoy freedom unencumbered by religious dictates to speak up and take their communities back from the stealth jihadists who are in charge. The plain fact is that organizations like CAIR, ICNA, ISNA, MPAC and MSA are stealth jihadists who support terrorist organizations abroad like Hamas and Hizbollah.

Now they are engaged in a major PR campaign to convince Americans that Sharia is perfectly compatible with our Constitution. They talk about justice, equal rights, and compassion in describing what is the legal system for Islamic law. Keep in mind that Islam is more than a religion. It is also a political ideology designed to control every aspect of a person's life. Sharia law is what has brought us beheadings, stonings of women for adultery, so-called "honor-killings", and second class status for non-Muslims in Muslim-dominated societies and nations. The above American organizations and countless imams in the mosques of America have a long-range vision of America, the West, and the entire world becoming one big Islamic caliphate under sharia law. Will it happen in our lifetimes? Surely not. However, if you think it can't happen in the West, watch the events in Europe. Massive immigration, no assimilation, high birth rates, and changing demographics are transforming Europe before our very eyes.

And this guy Zulfiqar Ali Shah, who talks about John Locke? Here is some background on this friendly fellow from Frontpage Magazine and Militant Islam Monitor:

http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=4417
http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1912

John Locke, indeed!

But what about American Muslims who came here to escape the stifling oppression in their homelands? What do they think? Unfortunately, most do not speak out. There are reasons for their silence,. They don't want to be castigated from their community. They don't want to put their lives in jeopardy.

The result of this silence is that they are increasingly under the control of leadership that is strangling their own personal freedoms-right here in America. By their silence, they are making themselves irrelevant.

What’s Wrong With This Picture? America Through The Looking Glass

Stolen from Faultline USA

Commentary by James H. Shott
 
Summoning forth recollections of “Monty Python's Flying Circus” and other farces, the following true-life examples of what’s going on in America ought to wake you up.

1. A Massachusetts school principal wanted to rename "St. Patrick's Day" in an effort to be "inclusive and diverse," and to ease discomfort that some students might have in celebrating St. Patrick's Day or Valentine's Day. Lisa Curtin, principal of the Soule Road School in Wilbraham, Mass., decided to change the names, and in February renamed “Valentine’s Day” to "Caring and Kindness Day,” according to parents with children in the school. Some parents criticized the decision to change the name St.Paddy’s Day to "O'Green Day" as stupid and illogical.

That’s an apt description.

-----

2. A North Carolina grandmother became upset when her 5-year-old granddaughter's home-made lunch was taken away at school because school officials said it wasn't nutritious enough. The lunch, which consisted of a turkey and cheese sandwich on white-wheat bread, potato chips, a banana and apple juice, was taken away and she was forced to eat cafeteria chicken nuggets.

The assistant superintendent of the school system agreed that the lunch was healthy, but it was missing milk, a key part of what is considered to be a healthy meal under state guidelines. The grandmother says the state should not be inspecting lunches and should instead focus solely on academics.

Don’t you admire her restraint?

-----

3. As reported by a Washington newspaper, First Solar, a heavily government-subsidized solar company, received a U.S. taxpayer loan guarantee to sell solar panels in other countries. Last September, $455.7 million in guarantees to subsidize the sale of solar panels to two solar farms in Canada were approved. The owner of the solar farms is First Solar.

Your government at work.

-----

4. A Burnsville, Minn. man was arrested and thrown in jail because city officials said he had not properly put up siding on his house. Mitch Faber was cited with “having an unfinished exterior” when, nearly four years after he started it, his home’s stucco project was not complete.

Faber told a Minneapolis TV station he always intended to finish the project, but that he ran into financial trouble when the economy took a turn.

His first encounter with the city happened in 2007 when he got a letter saying the siding needed to be finished. “We were in the process of finishing,” Faber told the station. “This wasn’t something that we were trying to avoid doing.”

There were two more letters in 2009 and another in 2010, which required Faber to appear in court. That’s when he was told to finish the siding, or go to jail.

In order to comply, Faber and his wife spent $12,000 to put a stucco facade over their house’s plywood exterior. It wasn’t enough: Last November, Faber was arrested after city inspectors concluded the work wasn’t up to code.

What happens in Burnsville if you actually commit a crime?

-----

5. In what is being portrayed as a preview of fully implemented Obamacare, government officials in Michigan are demanding that a 9-year-old child follow standard procedure and take a dangerous course of cancer medications that can cause additional cancer – even though the boy has had three scans indicating an absence of the disease.

The Home School Legal Defense Association is an organization that concerns itself with home school rights, responsibilities and restrictions but also intercedes in cases that could have a significant impact on child and parental rights.

The HSLDA’s chairman, Michael P. Farris, confirmed that the Michigan Department of Human Services has filed suit to force the parents to administer the chemicals to their son even though he’s been clean of cancer on scans over the past year.

Well, at least it’s not a death panel.

-----

6. The District of Columbia Board of Elections opened an investigation after an undercover video posted online showed an activist against voter fraud going into a Washington polling station and beginning the process to vote under the name of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. When he said he didn’t have his ID, the poll worker said it really didn’t matter, and was prepared to give the activist a ballot.

Rather than find out why poll workers did not ascertain the real identity of the “voter,” who did not accept the ballot, the Elections Board has decided to investigate the activist.

Vote early and often in DC.

-----

7. The New York City Department of Education created a plan to ban the use of 50 words on standardized school tests, thinking the terms might be offensive to some people.

Among the words on the forbidden list were: birthdays, celebrities, cigarettes, crime, divorce, evolution, politics, sex, religion, rap music, Halloween, terrorism, rock-and-roll music, and violence.

Fortunately, and contrary to the previous examples, common sense prevailed and the school system decided against going forward with its plan.

These examples reflect government at all levels run amok, and they paint a dismal picture of America’s future, unless we wise up.
 

Janet Napolitano at UCLA

Gary Fouse

fousesquawk

http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

"I love the way you roll your eyes."


Tonight Janet Napolitano spoke at UCLA, and yours truly was in attendance. Let me sum up her speech in one word:

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Yes, it was a classic, read from the rostrum, bureaucratic info blurb on what a great job the Department of Homeland Security is doing. She read through a list of new initiatives, full of acronyms I had never heard of. The young student sitting next to me fell asleep. I don't blame him. Janet basically lost the audience in the first 10 minutes. She talked about international cooperation. She talked about seeking great jobs in government. At least she didn't mention, "If you see something, say something."

Outside a group of no borders folks were chanting in protest. About ten of them came into the hall, and during the Q and A, stood up and did a neat imitation of the Irvine 11.

"Education. Not deportation". Then they left. Unfortunately, no arrests were made. What would they do, for crying out loud? They would have had to turn them over to Janet for deportation.

Did I mention LA Sheriff to the Stars Lee "Footballhead" Baca was there? He makes all these events looking for people to shake hands with.

"I don't think that's funny."



But let's get to the crux of the matter. During the Q and A, someone handed me the mic and here was my question: I identified myself a as retired DEA agent, and that my question was in connection with Operation Fast and Furious. I told Napolitano that during my career I had had occasion to work with ATF, and in my mind, there was no way any street agent could have concocted Fast and Furious. In my mind, this scheme  originated in the highest levels of the Justice Department. I then mentioned that one or possibly two of her own agents had been killed by guns linked to Fast and Furious (Brian Terry and Jaime Zapata). I went on that she had told Congress that she had no discussions with Eric Holder about Fast and Furious since the scandal broke. I finally said that, with all due respect, if it had been my agents who were killed, I would be pounding on Eric Holder's desk demanding answers, and I wanted to know why she had not.

In her answer, Napolitano briefly summarized Fast and Furious and described it as an operation in which there was insufficient control. She referred to controlled deliveries and (correctly) assumed that in DEA I had participated in controlled drug deliveries (under surveillance to arrest the ultimate recipients). She stated that she would not get into her conversations with Holder, but that the investigation was in the hands of the Inspector General of the DOJ. At that, I rolled my eyes, and she made a caustic comment, "You can roll your eyes"...

She was not amused.

But I was.

It was a weak response. Control? What control? There was no control. This was nowhere near a controlled delivery. The guns were allowed to cross the border and disappear into Mexico. She wasn't going to go into her conversations with Eric Holder? According to her testimony before Congress, there have been no discussions. And that reference to the inspector general was a joke. That is the same inspector general who is holding on to 80,000 documents requested by Congress.

That was it, crime fighters. There was absolutely nothing else of interest said. It was nothing more than an off-the-shelf stump speech that bored the audience. For me, it was a chance to tell Napolitano what I have been writing in print for months.

Prayers Are Needed!

For the people who have been hurt, killed and left homeless from this weekend's rash of tornadoes.  Take a moment or two for a short prayer for them.

Saudi Grand Mufti Calls for All Churches in Region to be Demolished

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


In Saudi Arabia, there are no Christian churches nor Jewish synagogues. That is because it is illegal to practice any religion other than Islam-at least openly. So it is hardly surprising that the Saudi grand mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, recently called for the demolition of all Christian churches in the Middle East. There hasn't been much publicity about that, but the Zionist Organization of America has spoken out with a press release.

http://www.zoa.org/sitedocuments/pressrelease_view.asp?pressreleaseID=2174

Keep in mind that Saudi Arabia, with its huge oil wealth, finances many of the mosques in America and many new Middle East studies departments in American universities staffed with lots of radical professors who have as their major goal the demonization of Israel (and America as well). The Saudis also send Wahhabist imams to preach in US mosques. Wahhabism is considered the most intolerant of Muslim schools of thought.

Of course, it never occurred to the Saudis that the tens of thousands of college students they send to the US annually are able to practice their own religion here freely-as they should be. Yet, Saudi Arabia does not permit the (open) practice of any other religion.

This, of course, is not an isolated bigot speaking here. Christians are having a rough go of it in Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, and several other countries. Yet, we have the 56-member Organization of  Islamic Cooperation making a strong lobbying effort within the UN to have all member nations observe an international law against "defamation of religions". Hillary Clinton has actually participated in two conferences with OIC on this subject. Don't ask me why "religions" is in plural because there is only one that would be protected against any critical discussion.

The intolerance, the hate and the violence is overwhelming, and yet the world is afraid to call attention to the 800 pound gorilla standing in plain sight, not in the back of the room, but front and center, on the stage, and in front of the microphone.

It is not hateful to call out hate. It is not an attack on all Muslims to stand up to the preachers of hate and violence. The longer it takes the West to elect strong leaders who will protect us from this threat, the more radical the future leaders will have to be.

100 Years Ago Today!

This ship:

Hit this iceberg:

Some Titanic Facts:882' 9" - her length in feet and inches (269.1 metres).

92' - her breadth (28 metres).
175' - the height of the Titanic, from the top of the funnels to the keel (53.3 metres).
900 - the weight of freight and passengers baggage carried aboard, in tonnes.
840 - the total number of staterooms (416 First Class, 162 Standard Class, 262 Third Class).
3,547 - the maximum capacity of the RMS Titanic when fully loaded with passengers and crew.
2,223 - the total number of people on board (passengers and crew).
1,324 - the number of passengers on board.
13 - the number of honeymooning couples on board.
0 - the number of cats taken aboard (cats were commonly taken aboard ships to bring good luck and to control pests.
64 - the number of lifeboats the Titanic was capable of carrying (a total well over the ships maximum capacity of 3547 people).
48 - the number of lifeboats originally planned for Titanic by the chief designer Alexander Carlisle, 3 on each davit; the number was reduced to make the decks look less cluttered.
20 - the number of lifeboats actually carried aboard - 2 x wooden cutters (capacity 40 people each); 14 x 30 ft wooden lifeboats (capacity 65 people each); 4 x folding or 'collapsible' lifeboats (capacity 47 people each). Remarkably, this was technically legal; the law at that time based the number of lifeboats required on the gross register tonnage of a ship, not her passenger capacity.
1,178 - the total capacity, in numbers of people, of the lifeboats carried by the Titanic.
33 - the percentage of the ships total passengers and crew that the lifeboats could accommodate.
6 - the number of ice warnings the Titanic received before the collision.
22.5 - the ship's speed in knots whilst traveling amid iceberg laden waters, just .5 knots below the top speed of 23 knots.
30 seconds - the length of time between the first sighting of the iceberg to the impact.
4 - the number of forward compartments that could flood without risk of the Titanic sinking.
6 - the number of forward compartments that were ruptured in the collision.
5mm - the minimum amount of movement of the hull's steel plates before the wrought iron rivets used in her curved sections would fail. Due to access difficulties in using a pneumatic riveting machine to construct the curved sections of the hull, these steel plates were sealed using wrought iron rivets rather than the stronger steel rivets used elsewhere; iron rivets were easier to hammer into place. As shipbuilding moved to using steel instead of iron plates in the construction of hulls, this practice was widespread. However, forensic tests undertaken in 1996 by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore revealed that, in the case of the Titanic, these iron rivets would fail with just a 5mm movement of the steel plates they were meant to secure.

It took the Titanic 2 hours 7 minutes to sink.  Only 15 minutes to hit the floor of the ocean.  The water temperature was 28.4 degrees F (-2 degrees C).  This meant that a swimmer would survive 15 to 45 minutes.

Gonna Be A Bear

 

Thank you Bob!

The Pot Calling The Kettle Black!

For over a year President Barack Hussein Obama has been screaming out the Mantra:

Warren Buffett's Secretary pays more in taxes than he does.

But the fact is that President Barack Hussein Obama's secretary pays more in taxes than he does.

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama had a combined income of $789,674 in 2011 but paid a lower tax rate the president's secretary, who made less than $100,000, the White House confirmed Friday.

The Obamas paid an effective rate of 20.5 percent. White House aides would not reveal presidential secretary Anita Breckenridge’s tax rate but confirmed it was higher than the first family's rate. Breckenridge earned $95,000 last year.

The Obamas' rate is less than the 30 percent the president wants millionaires to pay under his proposed Buffett Rule.

“The president’s secretary pays a slightly higher rate ... than the president on her substantially lower income, which is exactly why we need to reform our tax code and ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share,” White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage told Fox News.

The release Friday of the tax returns for the president and the family of Vice President Joe Biden came on the same day in which the Obama campaign in Chicago attacked likely GOP-presidential nominee Mitt Romney for, so far, releasing only his most recent tax returns.

“Did he pay a lower income tax rate than the 13.9 percent he paid in 2010 and is that why he opposes the Buffett Rule to ensure millionaires don’t pay less taxes than middle-class families?” Obama campaign manager Jim Messina asked in a press release from the campaign.

The Obamas paid more than $160,000 in federal taxes last year.

The president's 2011 federal income tax return shows reported adjusted gross income of about $790,000 last year. About half of the first family's income is the president's salary. The White House says the rest comes from sales of Obama's books.

The White House released a copy of the president's tax return, which also shows charitable donations of more than $172,000.

Obama is donating after-tax proceeds from his children's book to the Fisher House Foundation. The charity helps veterans and military families receiving medical treatment.

For Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, this year's tax return looks almost identical to last year's.

Returns for 2011 released by the White House show the Bidens paid $87,900 in federal taxes on adjusted gross income of $379,035.

Their income was $143 below their 2010 return, but their tax bill was $1,274 higher. In both cases, the effective tax rate was just over 23 percent.

On the latest return, the Bidens listed $5,540 in donations to charity.

Most of the couple's income came from the vice president's salary of $225,521 and Jill Biden's wages of just over $82,000 for teaching at Northern Virginia Community College.

Source

Perhaps we should rename the Buffett Rule.  Not to the Reagan Rule as President Barack Hussein Obama demands we do, but to the Obama Rule.  For the Hypocrisy of the man.

Epic Fail Again!

North Korea cries that it has no food for its people.  The United States says yes we will give, but you have to give up your rocket program and stop testing nukes.  North Korea says OK, we will.  Then North Korea launches a new rocket any way.  But it fails.

North Korea's attempt Friday to launch a long-range rocket has failed, according to U.S. officials.

A senior U.S. official who is receiving updates from U.S. military launch observers tells Fox News the rocket broke apart between 90 seconds and 2 minutes after launching.

Data suggests the rocket broke up in mid-flight inside the Earth's atmosphere. Officials tell Fox News the rocket did not fall into any populated areas, suggesting it fell into the ocean.

The rocket likely broke apart between the first and second stages of a three phase process.

A 2009 attempt by North Korea to launch a rocket also failed during its third stage.

Japan's Defense Minister Naiki Tanaka said, "We have confirmed that a certain flying object has been launched and fell after flying for just over a minute." He did not say what exactly was launched.

He said there was no impact on Japanese territory from the launch.

In Pyongyang, there was no word about a launch, and state television was broadcasting video for popular folk tunes. North Korean officials said they would make an announcement about the launch "soon."

North Korea had earlier announced it would send a three-stage rocket mounted with a satellite as part of celebrations honoring national founder Kim Il Sung, whose 100th birthday is being celebrated Sunday.

Space officials say the rocket is meant to send a satellite into orbit to study crops and weather patterns -- its third bid to launch a satellite since 1998.

The U.N. Security Council will hold a meeting Friday to discuss a possible response the launch, council diplomats said.

The United States, Japan, Britain, Russia and others say the launch would be a provocation and would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from developing its nuclear and missile programs. Experts say the Unha-3 carrier is similar to the type of rocket that could be used to fire a missile mounted with a nuclear warhead to strike the U.S. or other targets.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking for the Group of Eight nations after their foreign ministers met in Washington, said all the members of the bloc agreed to be prepared to take further action against North Korea in the Security Council if the launch goes ahead.

"Pyongyang has a clear choice: It can pursue peace and reap the benefits of closer ties with the international community, including the United States; or it can continue to face pressure and isolation," Clinton said.

At the United Nations in New York, G-8 member Russia echoed that the launch would violate Security Council resolutions. But North Korea's other main ally, China -- which is not part of the G-8 -- was more circumspect.

"We are very concerned about that issue," China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong said, adding that Beijing wanted to "diffuse tension, not inflame" it.

Japan's parliament adopted a resolution Thursday condemning the scheduled rocket launch.

"A launch is a serious act of provocation that would affect peace and stability in the region that includes our country," Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said, reading the resolution adopted unanimously at the lower house. "We strongly urge North Korea to use self-restraint and not to carry out a launch."

Source

So much for President Obama's foreign policy.  Just like this launch, Obama's foreign policy has been one of Epic Failure.

If President Barack Hussein Obama cannot stop North Korea, how can he stop Iran from developing a nuke?  He cannot.

No Go To Mel

Mel Gibson, star of such films as Mad Max, Gallipoli, Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, and I Hate the Jews is now off his newest project:  The Maccabees.

Warner Bros. has put on hold a controversial Mel Gibson movie project about the Jewish Maccabee revolt in the 2nd Century BC after reading the script by writer Joe Eszterhas, TheWrap has learned.

"We are analyzing what to do with the project," a spokesman for the studio told TheWrap.

Jewish groups were outraged after news broke in September that Gibson had reached a production deal with Warner's to direct the story of Judah Maccabee, whose victory over Greek and Syrian armies is celebrated at Hanukka. One Jewish group called it a moral lapse in judgement.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said he was pleased that the project had been shelved.

"Jewish history will be better off without Mel Gibson playing Judah Maccabee," Hier told TheWrap.

Eszterhas delivered the script in late February, and Warner's has since passed on it, according to an individual close to the project. Warner production president Greg Silverman described it as lacking in feeling and a sense of triumph," according to the individual.

As another individual put it: "The script didn't pass muster."

But in an explosive letter to Gibson obtained by TheWrap, Eszterhas said that the director never planned to make the movie, and was using him to deflect Gibson's anti-Semitic reputation.

He wrote: "I've come to the conclusion that the reason you won't make The Maccabees is the ugliest possible one. You hate Jews."

Gibson responded in a letter to Eszterhas explaining that he was unhappy with the quality of the script. "Both Warner Brothers and I were extraordinarily disappointed with the draft. In 25 years of script development I have never seen a more substandard first draft or a more significant waste of time. The decision not to proceed with you was based on the quality of your script, not on any other factor."

Gibson also apologized for using "colorful" language, but said that much of Eszterhas's observations were "utter fabrications."

Eszterhas declined to comment.

Warner's has a long history of collaborating with Gibson, but the star was upset after the studio rescinded his cameo in The Hangover Part II when the crew protested his involvement

The project involved one of Gibson's favored themes -- an underdog army fighting for freedom. In 165 B.C., Jewish leader Maccabee led his brothers in revolt against the Seleucid Empire, ruled by Antiochus Epiphanes who had forbidden Jewish practices.

Noting his checkered history of making anti-Semitic remarks and his controversial depiction of Jews in his 2003 film The Passion of the Christ, Jewish leaders said the choice of Gibson to direct a film about a prominent figure in their religion was insensitive.

"Casting him as a director or perhaps as the star of 'Judah Maccabee' is like casting Madoff to be the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission," Hier said in a statement after the project was announced.

The Anti-Defamation League asked Warner's to reconsider the choice of Gibson. In a statement, the group said: "Not only has Mel Gibson shown outward antagonism toward Jews and Judaism in his public statements and actions, but his previous attempt to bring biblical history to life on the screen was marred by anti-Semitism.

The American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants labeled the choice of Gibson a moral lapse of judgement.

"Given our brutal experience, we are pained that Warner's has abandoned principle and taken this unworthy path," the group said at the time.

Gibson was detained by police in Malibu for drunken driving in 2006 and found himself embroiled in a public relations fiasco when reports surfaced that he had launched into expletive-laden anti-Semitic remarks while in custody.

It was left to Eszterhas to offer a modest defense of Gibson in a New York Times interview in February. The screenwriter noted that he had an anger problem but said he understood how to make a movie of the story of Maccabee on a Braveheart-like scale.

"We both saw it as Mel, maybe from his heart, wanting to do a terrific 'Braveheart'-like movie about Jewish history," said Eszterhas, who said he was comfortable working with Gibson despite his problem.

Source

Having Mel Gibson playing Judah Maccabee (One of the greatest heroes in Judaism.) would be like having Louis Farrakhan play Moshe Dayan.

Education Under Fire: The Plight of the Baha'i in Iran

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com



On April 9, I attended a presentation at UC Irvine entitled, "Education Under Fire", which is the title of a documentary film describing the persecution of the Baha'i religious minority in Iran, a subject of which I have previously written. Briefly stated, the Baha'i faith was founded in Iran in the 19th century and is not recognized in Iran. It is considered as apostasy from Islam. Under the Islamic regime, Baha'i are actively persecuted by the government. They are subject to arrest and imprisonment for "treason". Their homes have been burned. Some have been hanged by the government. In addition, they are denied higher education.

Other smaller Baha'i communities in countries like Egypt and Iraq also suffer varying forms of discrimination.

The film we watched also focused on the efforts of Baha'i to educate their youth in the face of the ban on higher education. This resulted in 1987 in the establishment of the Baha'i Institute of Higher Education (BIHE), a clandestine system of classes throughout the country, largely held in secret in members' homes with homework assignments literally being mailed in to special addresses in different cities and towns. Originally, the subjects were science and math, which branched out into sub-subjects and have now grown to other courses. More recently, with advanced technology, instruction is conducted largely online. Since the entire enterprise is clandestine, those who have completed the study have found that universities in other countries have no knowledge of BIHE. Thus, they do not recognize the credits for admission and further study. (Two departments in Harvard and Stanford have recently agreed to accept credits from BIHE. More on this later.)

I had not anticipated much of a crowd, but upon arriving at the hall, was surprised to find it packed with students and some faculty. The reason was that one of the panelists was a well-known comedic actor named Rainn Wilson (a Baha'i), who appears in a sit-com called, "The Office". (I must confess I had never heard of him or his show.) Also speaking on the panel was Ms. Nezanin Boniadi, an Iranian-born British actress, who is also active with Amnesty International. There was Ms. Safineh Tahmassebi, an Iranian Baha'i immigrant, now a US citizen, who teaches in the UCI Extension with yours truly. In addition, there was a young Baha'i student who himself had completed the BIHE course and spoke of his difficulty getting a US university medical school to accept his class credits.

At the conclusion of the film, Pastor David Woods from San Juan Capistrano spoke for a few minutes then introduced Wilson. Wilson spoke for a few minutes and described how he became active in the Baha'i cause. (As soon as Wilson finished, about 30 or so students got up and left.) Then a panel discussion ensued in which the moderator asked specific questions of each panelist. The topics basically reflected what was shown in the film as to the plight of the Baha'i-particularly in educating themselves. Wilson told a second-hand story told to him by an Iranian Baha'i recounting how as a student, a "cleric"  came to speak to the students one day and told them that "it would be OK if the students made sure there were no Baha'i in the school". That day, the Baha'i students were all chased home from school by other students who beat them and spit on them.

"It comes from the top on down", stated Wilson.

Here are some other items I noted down from the speakers and/or the film.

Under the Shah's regime prior to the revolution, Baha'i were persecuted, but to a lesser degree.

Some Muslim professors took the risk of teaching BIHE classes.

The Iranian government has actually carried out raids against the classes and arrested participants. The second such raid took place in May 2011.

Then there was time for question and answer. Myself and about 5-6 others stepped up to the microphone to ask questions. I asked the panelists whether they had received any support from American Muslim organizations like CAIR, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Islamic Society of North America or the Islamic Circle of North America, or if they had reached out to these organizations for support, moral or otherwise. I added that these organizations in no way were connected to the events in Iran, but that perhaps they could at least add a moral voice. (I am paraphrasing from memory.)

None of the panelists were aware of any such support or contact. One of them did state that certain Muslims headed human rights organizations which supported the Baha'i cause and mentioned one from an Iranian human rights organization. Wilson emphasized that this was about the actions of the Iranian government and not the one billion peace-loving Muslims in the world.

So what can be done? The panelists had some suggestions. For one, we can support the right of Baha'i to an education, a basic human right. I am enclosing below a link to the Education Under Fire website, where we can all sign a petition to the Iranian government. One may think that the Iranian government cares nothing for world opinion, but the panelists maintain that is not the case.

http://educationunderfire.com

Second, we can support efforts to get US universities to accept BIHE course work for admissions. Most universities are not even aware of BIHE.

Of course, educating others about what is happening is crucial. You don't hear about this in the news media. If you write your elected represntatives, they need to be aware as well. Sadly, many are not.

Finally, I am adding Education Under Fire as a link to this site under, "Worthy of Our Support".

What is happening to the Baha'i in Iran is part of what is happening to religious minorities in varying degrees in many Islamic countries. It is happening to Baha'i and Coptic Christians in Egypt, Christians in Iraq, Christians in Pakistan, Christians and animists in Sudan, Jews in Yemen, and on and on. Mr Wilson pointed out that it doesn't mean that the one billion Muslims in the world are engaged in persecution of other religions. That is true. Yet, religious persecution is taking place on a large scale. It is also happening in Europe, where Jews are being assaulted, insulted and harassed by young male Muslim immigrants (as well as skin-heads and neo-Nazi types).  The Europeans have been unable or unwilling to deal with it, largely because they are loathe to name the main culprits. That is the crux of the problem, shall we say, the 800 pound gorilla in the back of the room. If you want to combat persecution, you have to be willing to name the perpetrators.

Bound, Gagged. Covered In Condiments

What were they thinking?  I have heard of hazing but this is ridiculous.

An unsanctioned Boston University fraternity is under investigation after five young men were found in the basement of the fraternity's house bound and covered in condiments, myFOXboston reports.

Police found the students in the basement of Alpha Epsilon Pi Monday night after they were called to the fraternity's house for a noise complaint.

The five men were taped together and covered with flour, coffee grinds, fish sauce, chili sauce, honey, hot sauce, mustard, and empty sardine cans. They were wearing only underwear and were also bound at the wrist with duct tape.

The men also had welts on their backs and their heads had been possibly shaved.

"All five were shivering and had horrified and fearful looks on their faces," police told myFOXboston.

Police say they have detained several suspects, and are taking this matter very seriously.

This isn't the first time this year Boston University's Greek life has come under fire.

Last month sorority Sigma Delta Tau was suspended for hazing after three of their pledges had to be taken to the hospital because they were so intoxicated.

A Boston University spokesman says they believe some of the fraternity members of Alpha Epsilon Pi may have also been involved in that incident.

Source

What type of idiot allows himself to be stripped naked, covered with flour, coffee grinds, fish sauce, chili sauce, honey, hot sauce, mustard and empty sardine cans?  What no catsup?  No mayo?  And where are the sardines from the cans? 

These victims are not very happy are they.  Going through all that to join a Fraternity?  Is it worth it?  I don't think so.

Today 5 idiots are now safe and sound.  I smell a lawsuit in the making.  Don't you?

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to 2012 - The Liberals' Odyssey

by James Sharp

To  borrow a term from the hippies' 1960's vernacular, "flashback" 40-50 years and take a look at liberals' ideologies and how those ideologies have changed since the 1960's:

The United States in the 1960's was marked by tremendous social upheaval. Beginning in the early-1950's, black Americans staged widespread protests demanding equal rights. Monumental legislation allowing African-Americans to sit at the same lunch counter as Caucasians was passed in 1964. The 1960's also brought us the war in Viet Nam, the Sexual Revolution and the free love that it brought, marijuana and LSD, and groundbreaking rock music which reflected the aforementioned social changes.

One of the catch-phrases of the 1960's was, "Don't trust anyone over thirty (years of age)." Distrust of "the establishment" was widespread during this period of time and massive demonstrations, many protesting the war, were commonplace. America closed out the decade of the 1960's with the rock music festival known as Woodstock. Woodstock represented the pinnacle of the counter-culture. Free-love and drug use were widespread as hippies indulged in an orgy - both figuratively and literally - of drugs, sex, and rock 'n' roll.

The distrust of the older generation paralleled widespread hatred of the government. One popular 60's rock anthem warned youth that if they, "...step out of line, the man (will) come and take you away," (Buffalo Springfield's song, For What It's Worth).

Fast forward to the second decade of the 21st century. Now, it seems, that the aging liberal hippies have done an about-face. The left no longer distrusts the government; they now love it and, in a manner of speaking, seem to almost worship it. Something has changed. The same hippies - who once espoused their right to ingest whatever substance they wanted without "the man" telling them that they couldn't - now seem to welcome the government telling them how to live their lives. No longer do the hippies want the government to leave them alone; they relish the government regulating everything from the food that they eat, to the kind of car they can drive, to the kind of light bulbs they can and cannot use, and, most surprisingly, what kind of health insurance they MUST carry.

Ironically, the government throughout the 1960's, was controlled mostly by liberals. Conservatives in government were the minority as proven by the crushing defeat of Republican Barry Goldwater by Democrat Lyndon Johnson in the presidential elections of 1964.

Now, in 2012, the same liberals that once detested being told how to live their lives (in The Animals' song, It's My Life, Eric Burdon proclaims, "It's my life and I'll do what I want"), now espouse a government telling, not just them, how to live their lives, but telling EVERYONE how they should live their lives. When the US was involved militarily in Viet Nam, protests were everywhere - many violent. The US has now been fighting in Afghanistan for over ten years, but barely a peep is heard from liberals.

Amazingly, the hippies of the 1960's, who were so adamant in their "leave me alone" message of the time, now welcome "the man's" intrusion into their lives. Bob Dylan's song, Subterranean Homesick Blues, contains the following line: "Johnny's in the basement mixing up the medicine; I'm on the pavement thinkin' about the government."

Now, instead of fearing the government,  most liberals are beating the pavement actually CHEERING the government.