Torah, Ten Commandments, And Blintzes!

Add to those King David and Ruth, you now have the makings of the Jewish Holiday of Shavu'ot!

From Judaism 101:

Shavu'ot, the Festival of Weeks, is the second of the three major festivals with both historical and agricultural significance (the other two are Passover and Sukkot). Agriculturally, it commemorates the time when the first fruits were harvested and brought to the Temple, and is known as Hag ha-Bikkurim (the Festival of the First Fruits). Historically, it celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, and is also known as Hag Matan Torateinu (the Festival of the Giving of Our Torah).

The period from Passover to Shavu'ot is a time of great anticipation. We count each of the days from the second day of Passover to the day before Shavu'ot, 49 days or 7 full weeks, hence the name of the festival. The counting reminds us of the important connection between Passover and Shavu'ot: Passover freed us physically from bondage, but the giving of the Torah on Shavu'ot redeemed us spiritually from our bondage to idolatry and immorality. Shavu'ot is also known as Pentecost, because it falls on the 50th day; however, Shavu'ot has no particular similarity to the Christian holiday of Pentecost, which occurs 50 days after their Spring holiday.

It is noteworthy that the holiday is called the time of the giving of the Torah, rather than the time of the receiving of the Torah. The sages point out that we are constantly in the process of receiving the Torah, that we receive it every day, but it was first given at this time. Thus it is the giving, not the receiving, that makes this holiday significant.

Shavu'ot is not tied to a particular calendar date, but to a counting from Passover. Because the length of the months used to be variable, determined by observation (see Jewish Calendar), and there are two new moons between Passover and Shavu'ot, Shavu'ot could occur on the 5th or 6th of Sivan. However, now that we have a mathematically determined calendar, and the months between Passover and Shavu'ot do not change length on the mathematical calendar, Shavu'ot is always on the 6th of Sivan (the 6th and 7th outside of Israel. See Extra Day of Holidays.)

Work is not permitted during Shavu'ot.

It is customary to eat a dairy meal at least once during Shavu'ot. There are varying opinions as to why this is done. Some say it is a reminder of the promise regarding the land of Israel, a land flowing with "milk and honey." According to another view, it is because our ancestors had just received the Torah (and the dietary laws therein), and did not have both meat and dairy dishes available. See Separation of Meat and Dairy.

The book of Ruth is read at this time.

It is told by the sages that the 10 Commandments were given to the People of Israel on this date. On the holiday of Shavuot, the entire Jewish nation heard from G‑d the Ten Commandments. The next day Moses went up to Mount Sinai where he was taught by G‑d the rest of the Torah -- both the Written and Oral Laws -- which he then transmitted to the entire nation.

Exodus 20:2-17


2 I am the Lord your G-d, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;

3 Do not have any other gods before me.

4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your G-d am a jealous G-d, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,

6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your G-d, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

8 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.

9 For six days you shall labor and do all your work.

10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your G-d; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.

12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your G-d is giving you.

13 You shall not murder.

14 You shall not commit adultery.

15 You shall not steal.

16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

These laws brought a strict moral code to the world.  A moral code the world has never forgiven the Jewish people for.

Thus the Law, and Torah are celebrated on Shavu'ot.

Some of the customs of Shavu'ot are:

• Women and girls light holiday candles to usher in the holiday, both on the first and second nights of the holidays.
• It is customary to stay up all night learning Torah on the first night of Shavuot.
• All men, women and children should go to the synagogue on the first day of Shavuot to hear the reading of the Ten Commandments.
• As on other holidays, special meals are eaten, and no "work" may be performed.
• It is customary to eat dairy foods on Shavuot. Among other reasons, this commemorates the fact that upon receiving the Torah, including the Kosher laws, the Jewish people could not cook meat in their pots which had yet to be rendered Kosher.
• On the second day of Shavuot, the Yizkor memorial service is recited.

One of the traditional foods of Shavu'ot is Blintzes

Here is a good recipe for them:

BATTER
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 package vanilla sugar
Pinch of salt
1 Tbsp. oil

CHEESE FILLING I
1/2 pound farmer cheese
4 ounces cream cheese
4 Tbsps. honey or
maple syrup
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 egg yolk

CHEESE FILLING II
1 pound cottage cheese,
strained
2 egg yolks
2 Tbsps. flour
2 Tbsps. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla sugar
1/4 cup raisins (optional)

USE: 7 inch skillet
YIELDS: 12 blintzes

BATTER: In a large mixer bowl combine eggs, milk, water and blend well. Gradually add flour, then both sugars, salt and oil. Beat well until there are no lumps in the batter.

FILLING I: Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat well. Or combine all the ingredients in a blender container and blend until smooth.

FILLING II: Combine all ingredients, except raisins, in a bowl and beat well. Or all the ingredients can be combined in a blender container and blended until smooth. Then add raisins.

TO ASSEMBLE CREPES:

1. Prepare batter and filling of your choice. Using a paper towel or basting brush, apply a thin coating of oil to a 7 inch skillet. Place skillet over medium heat until skillet is hot but not smoking.

2. Ladle approximately 1/3 cup of batter into the skillet. Tilt pan to swirl the batter so it covers the bottom of the skillet.

3. Fry on one side until small air bubbles form, and top is set. Bottom should be golden brown. When done, carefully loosen edges of crepe and slip out of skillet onto a plate..

4. Repeat the above procedure until all the batter is used. Grease the skillet as needed..

5. Turn each crepe so that golden brown side is up. Place 3 tablespoons of filling on one edge in a 2 1/2 inch long by 1-inch wide mound..

6. Roll once to cover filling. Fold the sides into the center and continue rolling until completely closed..

7. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the skillet and place each crepe seam side down in the skillet and fry 2 minutes on each side, turning once.

VARIATION: Whole wheat pastry flour can be used instead of white flour.

Or you can buy the prepackaged blintzes found in your grocer's freezer section. They cook up wonderfully and taste great!

This day is also the Yahrtzeit (Anniversary of Death) of King David (ca. 907-837 BCE), a humble shepherd who became the second king of Israel. David was famous as a warrior, scholar and psalmist. He courageously battled the Philistine giant Goliath, killing him with a slingshot. David reigned for 40 years, during which he made Jerusalem the Jewish capital, purchased the future site of the Holy Temple, and made preparations for the Temple's construction. David composed the biblical Book of Psalms, songs of praise to G-d and poetic expressions of love, fear, triumph and disaster. David was promised an eternal dynasty of Jewish kingship; he was succeeded by his son Solomon, and according to tradition, the Messiah will ultimately be descended from David. His life story is recorded in the Book of Samuel.

David was the direct decedent of Ruth the Moabite and Boaz.  Her story is found in the Book of Ruth.  According to tradition, the Messiah is to be a descendant of David.

This is a wonderful holiday to celebrate (Good food, so the diet will have to go out the window again!).

Happy Shavu'ot!!!

Too Horrible To Contemplate!

I received this via an e-mail and did some checking up on the facts I am about to present to you.  Most of this I have been able to confirm through my own sources.

Earlier today I posted about the warning Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely issued about the grave danger Israel is in. Following that, I received this from a colleague who has close friends in Israel. Here’s what she wrote:

I have just received this: from my friend in Israel who moves in high circles there.

No attribution possible. It’s from a very trustworthy source who was himself the recipient and knows these people. They send him information clandestinely and they remain incognito, so that they can safely inform Americans of what is actually happening. I’m sure that they would be pleased to have the information disseminated.

Incidentally, in my opinion, this is what appears to be happening. Obama has made secret deals with the Iranian mullahcracy to facilitate the weakening of both the USA and Israel, even the planned destruction of Israel, in exchange for promises from Iran and now the Turkish leadership that ‘all they want’ – à la Munich, 1938 – is their individual MidEast Sudentenland, each of them.

Turkey and Iran have decided to split the ME between them – East and West. Turkey will recreate a new Sunni-controlled Ottoman Empire, and Iran will be allowed its own ‘greater Iran’ hegemony…i.e. a new Shiite Caliphate stretching beyond its current borders.

Obama, who is a Muslim, agrees with this plan and has pledged to help throw Israel – along with all American national security interests – to the wolves.

This appears to me to be what is currently happening, and Americans had better awaken to this reality long before November, 2012, or we won’t have a country, or an Israel, to save any longer.

***

Tonight Clive and I heard very disturbing information – we heard it from a consultant to the United States who meets once a month with the President in the White house. He is in the know. This is what actually has happened with the relationship with Israel and the USA and it is not pretty:

1. Israel during the Bush and Clinton Administrations – had landing rights in Turkey, and in the USA bases in the middle east and more recently under George Bush, in Iraq. This was in case they were invaded by Iran , or Saudi or any other Arab country. Obama has withdrawn those landing rights. Israel now has nowhere to refuel in the Middle East.

2. Netanyahu was instructed to come to the White House for a meeting. He was brought in through a servants entrance – the only head of state ever in US history to be given that disgraceful treatment. He was not offered even a cup of tea – but was lectured to by Obama who told him that he is not permitted to attack Iran and that he has to withdraw all forces from the West Bank and may not build any more settlements ( neighborhoods) in East Jerusalem.

3. Israel found out that there were four terrorists meeting in Dubai . As they have done for the past 62 years, they informed the US of that and said that these terrorists had to be dealt with. Obama said under no circumstances. Israel decided to go ahead. They killed the one terrorist who showed up. However the CIA was sent there to film the entire event by Obama – and then a concerted PR campaign was waged by the White house to discredit Israel and what they did – this kind of action has taken place with US support for the past 62 years since we have common enemies.

4. Obama has refused to oppose Syria’s rearming of Hezbollah and Hamas – Israel now sits in imminent danger from the amounts of missiles that can be sent into her territory.

5. Israel will never tell the US again of its plans – since they cannot trust us.

6. Israel intends to attack Iran –there are over 30 installations of which 4 have underground bunkers that contain nuclear weapons. Israel cannot wait any longer. The US is no longer supporting Israel ’s self defense.

7. This is the same man that gave the White House a full file on the 9.11 attack – his warnings and proof were laughed at.

8. He believes that the next attacks in the USA will be mass transportation – subways and malls – especially the largest malls where the most people can be killed – and that Vegas and wherever there are conventions of employees will be a huge target. We are not prepared and are naive in our lack thereof.

9. Once Israel attacks Iran , every Jew and Jewish institution will be at risk – temples, religious schools etc. We must be prepared.

10. This kept a room of 200 people spellbound. It is not fiction. It is fact.

What can be done?

It is essential that everyone who doesn’t know yet, now understands that the protection and survival of Israel is not on Obama’s list – and he is now taking ACTUAL steps to move all protections away – no more landing rights, negotiating with Iran and Syria, making nice to the Muslim World in the face of allies of long standing and he is no friend of the Jewish people and Israel.

We must be sure that we elect politicians who protect Israel as well as the USA – our interests are intertwined. Please forward to everyone you know.

I was able to verify through my own sources every one of the 10 points cited here. Yet Barack Hussein Obama is sending his Kapos

With this happening, no wonder Netanyahu is on edge!

Something for all of us to remember:

On this date, 5 Sivan 5741 (June 7, 1981), Israel bombed and destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor in Baghdad. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had pronounced himself as the reincarnation of Babylonian tyrant Nebuchadnezzar, and named the nuclear reactor "Tammuz" -- the name of the calamitous Jewish month when Nebuchadnezzar's troops laid siege on Jerusalem 2,500 years earlier. Ilan Ramon (later to become Israel's first astronaut, who died in the explosion of the Space Shuttle Columbia) and seven other pilots executed the daring raid -- flying over enemy Arab territory for hours, and avoiding detection with their tight formation that emitted a radar signal resembling a commercial airliner. However, even as Israel celebrated the successful raid, condemnation was nearly universal. One prominent U.S. senator called it "one of the most provocative, ill-timed and internationally illegal actions taken in that nation's history." Two decades later, as the world feared Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, the Israeli action was vindicated.

Operation Opera

Israel will do what is necessary to survive regardless of what Barack Hussein Obama want them to do, even if it costs them funding and/or support.

London Muslim Newspaper Praises Obama For Not Tying Terrorism To Islam

Cross posted from Holger Awakens


Good grief. When an American President is praised by the likes of a publication like London's Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper, you know you are looking at jihad taking over America.

The following article is taken from MEMRI and showcases an editorial from the radical islamist paper in London that lauds President Barack Hussein Obama for the way he is keeping the whole discussion of Islam out of the upswing of terror going on in America. The editor is very adamant about the differences between Obama and George W. Bush - you get it, Bush was bad for islamists, Obama is good for islamists.

So, the hit parade continues - the praise for our President now includes a radical islamic newspaper from London joining the list that contains leaders from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the Taliban, the dictators of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaraugua and frankly, more than I can list right now. The evil in this world is very happy with our choice of Presidents.

'Al-Sharq Al-Awsat' Deputy Editor Praises: "The Obama Administration… [for Taking] the Initiative to Remove the Term 'Islamic Terrorism' From Its Documents and Official Transactions"


In a May 12, 2010 op-ed titled "Why Didn't Obama Mention Islam?" in the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, the paper's deputy editor-in-chief, Osman Mirghani, commented on how U.S. President Barack Obama's administration is dealing with recent terrorist operations in the U.S., contrasting it with his predecessor George W. Bush's handling of similar incidents. He notes the Obama administration's move to "remove the term 'Islamic terrorism' from its documents and official transactions," explained that the U.S. is "no longer responding to extremist voices" calling for targeting the terrorists' home countries, and enumerates other changes made by the administration.

He concludes by stating that Obama is definitely trying to "confront the negative stereotype of Islam' as he promised to do in his June 2009 speech at Cairo University.

Following is the article, in the original English.

Obama "Avoided Mentioning Islam in Discussing the Terrorist Operation"

"There is a huge difference between the way the Obama administration dealt with the recent terrorist operations and the way the administration of former president George W. Bush dealt with similar operations. Obama's administration, on all levels, was eager to deal with American-Pakistani Faisal Shahzad's attempt to blow up a car in Times Square in New York with a lot of deliberation and without hastily issuing statements, also avoiding any suggestions of a link between terrorism and Islam.

"After the failed terrorist attack, Obama said that his country would not be intimidated and that the investigations will seek to determine if the suspect in the case had links to 'foreign extremist organizations.' He did not once refer to the religion of Faisal Shahzad and avoided mentioning Islam in discussing the terrorist operation."

"Obama Spoke About [the Failed Christmas Day Bomber] As a Member of the Al-Qaeda Organization – But [Not] About Him Being a Muslim"

"A few months ago, following the botched attempt of Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalib to blow up a U.S. airliner over America on Christmas Day, Obama spoke about the detained terrorist as a member of the Al-Qaeda organization but he did not speak about him being a Muslim. Even when he spoke about Al-Qaeda, Obama noted that it was not the first time that the network had targeted America, ignoring the links that were made in the past between the organization and Islam or when it was put in the context of 'Islamic extremism.'

"When Major Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in Texas last November President Obama 'cautioned against jumping to conclusions.' In all of his statements after that crime was committed, President Obama focused on troop morale and the issue of psychological pressure as a result of the war, ignoring the fact that Nidal Malik Hasan is a Muslim and of Arab origin."

"The Obama Administration Took the Initiative to Remove the Term 'Islamic Terrorism' From Its Documents and Official Transactions"

"The Obama administration took the initiative to remove the term 'Islamic terrorism' from its documents and official transactions after the US President announced that he wanted to turn a new page with regards to the Islamic world. There is recognition today of the fact that terrorists are benefiting from the creation of an anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim atmosphere after any terrorist operation, and that issuing statements or taking steps that target Muslims employed by extremist groups further spreads hostility against the U.S., the West, and even moderate Islamic states.

"Moreover, the war on terror is a universal war; it cannot be won without international cooperation. Terrorism does not target the U.S. alone; the Islamic states were victims of terrorism long before it reached the American borders."

"The U.S. Is No Longer Responding To Extremist Voices That Call For Targeting the Countries To Which The Terrorists Belong"

"Because the policy of invading countries as a strategy to confront terrorism cannot be followed, as this policy has human, military, financial and moral costs, the U.S. is no longer responding to extremist voices that call for targeting the countries to which the terrorists belong. The identity of the terrorist does not necessarily implicate the country he belongs to, in the same way that other adherents of the religion the terrorist follows should not be condemned.

"The person who attempted the recent explosion in New York was Pakistani, and it is believed that he carried out his attempt with instruction and training from the Pakistani Taliban; this doesn't mean that Pakistan is involved in the case or that it must be subjected to U.S. strikes, which is what some extremist voices call for. Pakistan is engaged in a war against the Taliban and its cooperation in the war against terror is considered vital and necessary for fighting this disease."

"The Case Of Faisal Shahzad Destroys the Logic of Extremists... Because the Perpetrator Comes From America Itself"

"The paradox lies in the fact that the case of Faisal Shahzad destroys the logic of extremists from the core because the perpetrator comes from America itself, where he lived and worked and has U.S. citizenship. Moreover, the person who is said to have influenced his thinking is Sheikh Anwar Al-Awlaki, who also has U.S. citizenship. More importantly, it emerged that Major Nidal Malik Hasan and the Nigerian Omar Farouk Abdulmuttalib were also influenced by Al-Awlaki."

"Despite Numerous Attempts by Moderate Voices, The Bush Administration Remained Captive to the Big Stick Policy and Slogans Of 'You're Either With Us Or Against Us,' Which Caused The Popularity Of The U.S. To Wane"

"The Al-Qaeda organization used youngsters of different nationalities in terrorist operations, and at first it succeeded at having an impact on America's relations with the various countries that those operatives belonged to. The organization benefited from the atmosphere of suspicion that prevailed in America's relations with numerous Islamic countries, just as it exploited the anti-Islamic atmosphere in order to add fuel to the fire of anger and extremism.

"Despite numerous attempts by moderate voices, the Bush administration remained captive to the Big Stick policy and slogans of 'you're either with us or against us,' which caused the popularity of the U.S. to wane, not only in the Islamic world but in numerous countries around the world."

In His Cairo Speech, Obama "Pledged That He Would Confront the Negative Stereotype Of Islam... There Is No Doubt That He Is Trying To Do That"

"When Obama entered the White House, his election was not a message of hope and inspiration to America alone, but to the entire world, that welcomed the message of change. Since day one, the new president has extended his hand to the Islamic world; he delivered speeches from Ankara and Cairo and he appointed an envoy from the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

"More importantly, U.S. discourse has changed, and the tendency to link every terrorist operation to the religion of the perpetrator has disappeared. In the speech Obama made to the Islamic world from Cairo last year, he pledged that he would confront the negative stereotype of Islam... there is no doubt that he is trying to do that as demonstrated by the American discourse following the recent terrorist operations."

Music For A Shabbat Morning

Just a little ditty from Ray Stevens.

Come to the USA

I do hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.

Jewish Donors Outraged by 'Sociopath' Obama

It only took a year and a half from when Barack Hussein Obama took office, but American Jews are deserting not only President Obama, but the Democratic Party as well.

If senior journalist David Goldman is right, the correct word for describing the way a growing number of US Jews feel about President Barack Obama is not 'anger' but 'rage' – white-hot rage, at that, and a conviction that they have been swindled.

Goldman, Senior Editor of First Things magazine and 'Spengler' columnist for Asia Times Online, spoke last week at a convention on intellectuals and terror at Ariel University in Samaria. In his lecture, he quoted a top Jewish campaign donor who used the word 'sociopath' to describe Obama. In an interview with Israel National News, he predicted a possibly dramatic 'train wreck' for the Democrats in the November mid-term elections, with Jewish fundraising for Democrats drying up and a possibly high turnout of anti-Obama evangelical Christians.

When the American Jewish Committee conducted its annual poll of American Jewish opinion in February, just before Obama provoked the diplomatic crisis [over construction at Ramat Shlomo], 55% of respondents approved of Obama's handling of relations with Israel, slightly less than the 57% that approved of the Netanyahu government. American Jews were under the mistaken impression that Washington and Jerusalem were on the same track. But 61% opposed any compromise on Jerusalem, while 75% agreed with the statement, “The goal of the Arabs is not the return of occupied territories but rather the destruction of Israel.” Support for Obama, in short, was a mile wide and an inch deep before he provoked the diplomatic crisis with Israel.

The outrage among Obama's erstwhile Jewish supporters, reflected daily in Marty Peretz's 'The Spine' blog at the New Republic, is heightened by the sense of wounded self-esteem felt by clever people who have just been swindled. I have spoken privately to several large Jewish contributors to Democratic campaigns who express a sense of outrage that I never have heard before. Jewish contributors to Democratic campaigns are selectively funding Republicans, for example Mark Kirk in Illinois, who is running for Obama's Senate seat, as a warning. Democratic Congressmen trying to defend Obama have been booed off the dais of meetings at traditionally liberal Reform synagogues in several parts of the country. If the train wreck proceeds as programed, the change in attitude within the American Jewish community could be dramatic.

This also is reflected in the harsh tone with which centrist liberal Jews have criticized Obama--for example Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, Alan Dershowitz, and former New York Mayor Ed Koch.

Many observers are predicting a crushing defeat for the Democrats in November. Dick Morris, the former Clinton advisor and Fox News commentator, claims that the Republicans will take both Houses of Congress. The fact that Democratic fundraising among Jews will be a tough sell contributes to the problem, but is not a decisive factor; there are enough other reasons for the Democrats to lose, starting with high unemployment and the fact that Obama has failed to create any middle ground with the Republicans and is perceived as too far too the left to suit the national mood. Obama almost certainly has resigned himself to a bad interim election; his best play is to spend the next two years running against a 'do-nothing' Republican Congress in the hope of winning a second term in 2012.

If Obama attempts to impose a settlement on Israel prior to the November elections, it will give the Republicans a stick with which to hit him. American support for Israel is running at all-time highs, with 64% supporting Israel according to Gallup vs. 18% sympathy for the Palestinian Arabs. And if he forces a crisis in diplomatic relations with Israel, it will become a significant factor in 2012. Not only will Jewish fundraising dry up (with some going to Republicans), but evangelical Christian support for Israel may become a factor. The evangelicals are an amorphous movement without centralized leadership, and the big question regarding their weight in elections is turnout. If they are highly motivated by an issue close to their concerns – and Israel is such an issue – they can be an important factor. Evangelicals comprise roughly 28% of the electorate, and a big change in turnout could shift 2% to 3% of the national vote to the Republicans – probably a winning margin.

That is why many Democrats are warning Obama against pursuing a confrontational strategy with Israel. The degree of Obama's ideological fervor in support of conciliating the Muslim world surprised the political world, as did the ferocity of his diplomatic approach to Israel. It is hard to avoid the conclusion – which I have long believed – that Obama has a profound personal commitment to reconciling America with the Muslim world which will override the usual political calculus. Given that he had a Muslim father and stepfather, was raised for four years in Indonesia, and has written with passion about his sympathy for the traditional identity of Indonesian Muslims, this is not surprising.

Obama's personal impulses are in conflict with his evident political interests, and it is impossible to predict how things will work out. There are other considerations as well. American troops are supposed to start leaving Iraq in the summer, and the country well might explode. Iran will make progress towards acquiring nuclear weapons, and reinforce its presence in Iraq, Gaza, Lebanon and elsewhere. Obama's policy in the region may blow up in his face in the advent of the November elections. He has some incentive to make Israel the scapegoat for this failure, by arguing that if only Israel were reasonable in dealing with the Palestinians, the US could win Muslim support in other parts of the region. This is entirely specious, in my view, but the probability is that Obama will stick to his guns.

During the 2008 Presidential Campaign, this and countless other blogs tried to warn American Jews about Obama.  We were ridiculed, scorned and called racists.  Only now is the Jewish community starting to wake up to the truth.

A man who sits in an anti-Semitic church which praises terrorist and condemns the only democracy in the region, a church that praises Louis Farakhan (Who openly calls for the extermination of the 14 million Jews left in this world.), and a church that blames all the troubles in the Black Community on the Jews, has had a miraculous conversion to Zionism after 20 years of being a close disciple of Jeremiah Wright!

For too long the Democratic Party has taken the Jewish vote for granted.  They just might have to fight for those votes once again.  And with the way Obama's going, it just might be a fight they will not be able to win!!!

Wednesday's Hero: Sgt. Kristopher J. Battles

Sgt. Kristopher J. Battles

Photo Courtesy United States Marine Corps.

Sgt. Kristopher J. Battles, the combat artist with the National Museum of the Marine Corps, stands in front of his paintings, May 5, 2010, at the John F. Kennedy School of Government for Harvard University. Battles showed several paintings, sketches and portraits for residents and tourists to see the artwork of a combat artist, in Cambridge, Mass., to help tell the Marine Corps story during Marine Week.

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.

Overnight Video

In honor of Yom Yerushalim:

Yerushalaim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold)

Sung by the late Ofra Haza



Lyrics in English:

Following is a literal translation from the Hebrew prepared by Yael Levine

JERUSALEM OF GOLD

by Naomi Shemer

The mountain air is clear as wine

And the scent of pines

Is carried on the breeze of twilight

With the sound of bells.

And in the slumber of tree and stone

Captured in her dream

The city that sits solitary

And in its midst is a wall.

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light

Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

How the cisterns have dried

The market-place is empty

And no one frequents the Temple Mount

In the Old City.

And in the caves in the mountain

Winds are howling

And no one descends to the Dead Sea

By way of Jericho.

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light

Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

But as I come to sing to you today,

And to adorn crowns to you (i.e. to tell your praise)

I am the smallest of the youngest of your children (i.e. the least worthy of doing so)

And of the last poet (i.e. of all the poets born).

For your name scorches the lips

Like the kiss of a seraph

If I forget thee, Jerusalem,

Which is all gold...

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light

Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

We have returned to the cisterns
To the market and to the market-place
A ram's horn (shofar) calls out (i.e. is being heard) on the Temple Mount
In the Old City.

And in the caves in the mountain
Thousands of suns shine -
We will once again descend to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho!

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

AM YISRAEL CHAI!

One City, Never Again To Be Divided!

In the 20th Century Judaism added 4 new holidays:  Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), Yom HaZikaron (Israel's Memorial Day), Yom Ha-Atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) and Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day).  The last one, Yom Yerushalayim celebrates the re-unification of Jerusalem. Yom Yerushalayim is celebrated on the 28th of the month of Iyar. The liberation of Jerusalem in 1967 marks the first time in thousands of years that the entire city of Jerusalem, the holiest city in Judaism, was under Jewish sovereignty. The destruction of Jerusalem was a watershed event in Jewish history that began thousands of years of mourning for Jerusalem, so, it follows, that the reunification of Jerusalem should be a joyous celebration that begins the process of reversing thousands of years of destruction and exile. Jerusalem is central to the Jewish tradition. Jews face in the direction of Jerusalem and all of the prayer services are filled with references to Jerusalem.

Now with that in mind, it is a wonder why Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States, and supposed friend of Israel would try to force Israel to partition the city once more.

Recent days have seen conflicting reports on construction in Jerusalem. While Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu states that construction in Jerusalem will continue, reports indicate that in practice, Jews are barred from building in some parts of the capital city. Arutz Sheva's Hebrew news service spoke to Jerusalem Construction and Building Planning Committee member Yair Gabbai to clarify the situation.

According to Gabbai, there is definitely a distinction being made between “west” Jerusalem, meaning the territory that has been under Israeli sovereignty since 1948, and “east” Jerusalem, the lands that were under Jordanian control from 1948 until 1967. Recently, officials have begun making a distinction between Jews and Arabs, allowing Arabs to build in neighborhoods where Jews are turned down for construction permits, he said.

"The most recent meetings have taken on a certain apartheid-like quality,” he said. “Construction permits in eastern Jerusalem are given exclusively to Arabs, while in the western half of the city there's no discrimination.”

United States President Barack Obama is behind the de facto construction freeze, Gabbai believes. “[Obama] is the source of the pressure on the prime minister and the government to freeze construction in eastern Jerusalem, even though it's not good for Jerusalem,” he said.

Finish reading here.

When Jerusalem was cut in two, not one Jewish place of worship was allowed to stand erect under Jordanian rule.  Even the Kotel was turned into a latrine for the amusement of the degenerate Arabs.  And this was done even though the world assured Jews that their sacred places would be safe and Jews would have access to these places.

From Wikipedia:

The Hurva Synagogue, also known as Hurvat Rabbi Yehudah he-Hasid ("Ruin of Rabbi Judah the Pious"), is a historic synagogue located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.

The synagogue was founded in the early 1700s by followers of Judah he-Hasid, but it was destroyed a few years later in 1721. The plot lay in ruins for over 140 years and became known as the Ruin, or Hurva. In 1864, the Perushim rebuilt the synagogue, and although officially named the Beis Yaakov Synagogue, it retained its name as the Hurva. It became Jerusalem's main Ashkenazic synagogue, until it too was reduced to rubble by the Arab Legion during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

After the site came under Israeli control in 1967, a number of plans were submitted for the design of a new building. After years of deliberation and indecision, a commemorative arch was erected instead at the site in 1977, itself becoming a prominent landmark of the Jewish Quarter. The plan to rebuild the synagogue in its 19th century style received approval by the Israeli Government in 2000 and the newly rebuilt synagogue was dedicated on March 15, 2010. The company involved with its reconstruction believes that restoring the synagogue to its former glory will once again allow it to serve as a center for World Jewry.

Hurva Synagogue restored - 2010

I wonder if this will be the last year Yom Yerushalayim will be celebrated in a unified city.  Under Obama's proposal orders the city will once again be divided (I wonder what Germans would do if Berlin was divided again?).  Will we then see signs like these:

43 years have passed since Jerusalem, City of David, City of Gold, was divided.  Will it remain whole in the next 43 years, or will it be divided forever?

Let us pray that the answer is NO!

One city forever united!

"Israel had never asked American mothers to send their sons into harm’s way for its sake."

 Those are the words of President Shimon Peres during his visit to Moscow.

President Shimon Peres, visiting Moscow, struck back at Israel’s detractors in the West, saying that unlike Europeans who called on the US to save them from the Nazi threat, Israel had never asked American mothers to send their sons into harm’s way for its sake.

“There is no other country with a history like Israel’s,” Peres told the Eurasian Jewish Congress. “No other people have had to fight seven wars in 62 years,” he said, adding Israel had stood alone, fought, won and remains a strong, resolute, peace-seeking democracy.

Peres, in Russia for the 65th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany, spoke before a conference of 1,000 Jews from Russia and former Soviet republics, many of them WWII veterans, held as part of Victory Day celebrations.

Myriam Peretz, the mother of Uriel and Eliraz who both fell in battle in the Golani brigade, accompanied the president to this Congress.

“Israel does not fear Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,” Peres went on to say “for he represents neither his people’s tradition, nor their future, bringing shame on his country. His legacy is one of murder and terror, he hangs men while protests against him rage in the streets.”

Israel has always fought its own battles! Unlike the nations of Europe, no American soldier has ever died fighting for Israel. Yet 320,518Americans died in WW1 and 183,588 Americans died in WW2 to free Europe.  Not counting the trillions of dollars spent on both wars, and an American presence to safe-guard European democracy.

Every nation in Europe owes the United States a big debt.  A little gratitude would be nice.  Next time we just might refuse to save your bacon.

It would serve you right!

A Different Take On New York City

Courtesy of LatmaTV

Palestinian Minister of Uncontrollable Rage in New York

Palestinians love New York!  They love the city so much, their reaction on 9/11 was memorable:



or this one:



Oh yes, their tears told the truth that day!

While LatmaTV relies on humor and satire to get their message heard, we must never forget what the message is and who the enemy is!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I Miss You, Mom
by Renee Duvall


I used to think that people didn't need their moms so much after they grew up.
But I've realized that's not true.
So often, when I'm making a decision,
I wish you were here so I could ask your advice.
And so many times, that I know you would enjoy,
I wish you were here to share it with me.
Now that I'm older I've realized how special our relationship is.
And while I'm thankful for this bond, somehow it makes me miss you more..
Mom, I love you so very much.

I lost my own mother in 1986 due to cancer.  And there isn't a day that doesn't go by that her lost isn't felt by me.

If you are fortunate to have your mother still with you, hug and cherish her. Spend the day with her, call her, tell her that you love her.  For there might come a day that she won't be around for you to do so.
If you are a mom, enjoy your day.

Happy Mother's Day Mommy!

Scroll down for newer posts.

Female Genital Mutilation To Be Permitted In The US

If the American Academy of Pediatrics has their way.

Yes, instead of condemning this barbaric practice, they suggest that a doctor perform the procedure instead.

In a controversial change to a longstanding policy concerning the practice of female circumcision in some African and Asian cultures, the American Academy of Pediatrics is suggesting that American doctors be given permission to perform a ceremonial pinprick or “nick” on girls from these cultures if it would keep their families from sending them overseas for the full circumcision.

The academy’s committee on bioethics, in a policy statement last week, said some pediatricians had suggested that current federal law, which “makes criminal any nonmedical procedure performed on the genitals” of a girl in the United States, has had the unintended consequence of driving some families to take their daughters to other countries to undergo mutilation.

“It might be more effective if federal and state laws enabled pediatricians to reach out to families by offering a ritual nick as a possible compromise to avoid greater harm,” the group said.

But some opponents of female genital mutilation, or F.G.M., denounced the statement.

“I am sure the academy had only good intentions, but what their recommendation has done is only create confusion about whether F.G.M. is acceptable in any form, and it is the wrong step forward on how best to protect young women and girls,” said Representative Joseph Crowley, Democrat of New York, who recently introduced a bill to toughen federal law by making it a crime to take a girl overseas to be circumcised. “F.G.M. serves no medical purpose, and it is rightfully banned in the U.S.”

Georganne Chapin, executive director of an advocacy group called Intact America, said she was “astonished that a group of intelligent people did not see the utter slippery slope that we put physicians on” with the new policy statement. “How much blood will parents be satisfied with?”

She added: “There are countries in the world that allow wife beating, slavery and child abuse, but we don’t allow people to practice those customs in this country. We don’t let people have slavery a little bit because they’re going to do it anyway, or beat their wives a little bit because they’re going to do it anyway.”

A member of the academy’s bioethics committee, Dr. Lainie Friedman Ross, associate director of the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago, said the panel’s intent was to issue a “statement on safety in a culturally sensitive context.”

Dr. Friedman Ross said that the committee members “oppose all types of female genital cutting that impose risks or physical or psychological harm,” and consider the ritual nick “a last resort,” but that the nick is “supposed to be as benign as getting a girl’s ears pierced. It’s taking a pin and creating a drop of blood.”

She said the panel had heard anecdotes from worried doctors.

“If we just told parents, ‘No, this is wrong,’ our concern is they may take their daughters back to their home countries, where the procedure may be more extensive cutting and may even be done without anesthesia, with unsterilized knives or even glass,” she said. “A just-say-no policy may end up alienating these families, who are going to then find an alternative that will do more harm than good.”

Currently, more than 130 million women and girls worldwide have undergone female genital cutting, according to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. It is mostly performed on girls younger than 15 in countries including Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia. Consequences can include severe complications with pregnancy, childbirth and sexual dysfunction.

The academy’s statement acknowledged that opponents of the procedure, “including women from African countries, strongly oppose any compromise that would legitimize even the most minimal procedure.”

Dr. Friedman Ross said, “If you medicalize it and say it’s permissible, is there a possibility that some people will misunderstand it and go beyond a nick? Yes.”

But she said the risk that people denied the ceremonial procedure, usually on the clitoris, would opt for the more harmful one was much more dangerous.

And the statement said that, “in some countries where FGC is common, some progress toward eradication or amelioration has been made by substituting ritual ‘nicks’ for more severe forms.”

Just like the rest of the Moonbat left, the AAP is more concerned with being Politically Correct (As by this remark:  “statement on safety in a culturally sensitive context.”) than with the health and welfare of little girls.

Let us just satisfy the bloodlust of these barbarians monsters who mutilate their daughters.  Forget the fact that this procedure leaves a young girl scarred both physically and mentally, who grow up to have problems in childbirth later in life.  But they must not condemn, not insult.

FGM is illegal in every state.  But if this is adopted by every Pediatrician it will become a lucrative sideline for these doctors.

I am so lucky that my children are grown, but if your children are still young, ask your Pediatrician if he or she agrees with this proposal. If he or she does, then run, do not walk far away from him or her.  If this doctor agrees with such a practice, what else will he/she agree with doing to a child if Political Correctness deems it necessary?

Let your voice be heard.  You can contact the AAP:

National Headquarters:
The American Academy of Pediatrics
141 Northwest Point Boulevard
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007-1098
USA
847/434-4000
847/434-8000 (Fax)

Washington, DC Office:
The American Academy of Pediatrics
Department of Federal Affairs
601 13th Street, NW
Suite 400 North
Washington, DC 20005 USA
202/347-8600
202/393-6137 (Fax)
Or use this form

As a nation, as a civilized people, we cannot permit this abomination to be inflicted upon the young girls of America.  We must rise up as one voice and exclaim:  NOT IN MY COUNTRY!

If we don't speak up now, this barbarity will eventually be forced on all young girls in the name of Political Correctness!

How GM Paid Off Their Loan

Recently General Motors claimed to have paid off their $4.7 billion loan the government lend them a few years ago.  But a company who had almost $2 billion in losses, is not going to be financially able to do so on their own.

Now we know the truth:

Any Questions?

Wednesday's Hero: Sergeant Keith Dewayne Andrews

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant Keith Dewayne Andrews, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action during the ground assault of Operation DESERT STORM. Sergeant Andrews showed extraordinary courage once he observed that air support had by-passed two Iraqi machine gun positions, leaving a Humvee with five soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division pinned down by enemy cross fire. Sergeant Andrews negotiated a minefield while fighting his way to the top of the enemy bunker, destroying it with a fragmentation hand grenade. Being out of ammo, Sergeant Andrews resourcefully obtained the enemy machine gun using it to fight his way up the second Iraqi fighting position. Over all, Sergeant Andrews single-handedly killed some twenty-five enemy combatants to secure two enemy bunkers. This allowed for the quick evacuation of the five wounded soldiers thus saving their lives. These brave and selfless actions of Sergeant Andrews bring great credit to himself, his unit and the United States Army.

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

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

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

6.4 Earthquake in Chile.

A Magnitude 6.4 Earthquake struck Chile earlier today.

The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude-6.4 earthquake has struck off Chile's central coast. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The USGS says the quake's epicenter was 151 kilometers (94 miles) south-southwest of Concepcion, Chile, at a depth of 20 kilometers (12 miles).

Radio stations in the Bio-Bio region reported no major damages or injuries from Monday's tremor.

The area has been shaken by hundreds of smaller quakes since a huge magnitude-8.8 quake hit on Feb. 27, triggering a tsunami and killing 486 people. On Sunday, a 5.9-magnitude quake struck the area, one of more than a dozen perceptible temblors since Saturday.

Tens of thousands of Chileans are still living in tents or temporary huts.

Last week there was a 5.0 Earthquake off of Alaska.

It seems to me that since the start of this feud Obama has been having with Israel, we have incurred a 5.0 Magnitude or higher Earthquake once a week, tornadoes wrecking the Midwest, Nashville flooded with 18 people dead, Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and a Geomagnetic Storm this last weekend.

GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A high-speed solar wind stream hit Earth's magnetic field last night (May 2-3), sparking a geomagnetic storm that lasted more than 15 hours. In Scandinavia, the Northern Lights were so bright they could be seen through the glow of the midnight sun. Red auroras spilled across the Canadian border and were spotted in several US states. Details and images are features in today's edition of http://spaceweather.com.

Now is this all a coincidence or is a higher power trying to tell us something?  I hope it is the first and pray it is not the latter.

How Stupid Are Anti-Semites?

(From Wikipedia)

On December 10, 1868, the first traffic lights were installed outside the British Houses of Parliament in London, by the railway engineer J. P. Knight. They resembled railway signals of the time, with semaphore arms and red and green gas lamps for night use. The gas lantern was turned with a lever at its base so that the appropriate light faced traffic. Unfortunately, it exploded on 2 January 1869, injuring or killing the policeman who was operating it.

The modern electric traffic light is an American invention. As early as 1912 in Salt Lake City, Utah, policeman Lester Wire invented the first red-green electric traffic lights. On 5 August 1914, the American Traffic Signal Company installed a traffic signal system on the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio.  It had two colours, red and green, and a buzzer, based on the design of James Hoge, to provide a warning for colour changes. The design by James Hoge allowed police and fire stations to control the signals in case of emergency. The first four-way, three-color traffic light was created by police officer William Potts in Detroit, Michigan in 1920. In 1922, T.E. Hayes patented his "Combination traffic guide and traffic regulating signal" (Patent # 1447659). Ashville, Ohio claims to be the location of the oldest working traffic light in the United States, used at an intersection of public roads until 1982 when it was moved to a local museum.

The first interconnected traffic signal system was installed in Salt Lake City in 1917, with six connected intersections controlled simultaneously from a manual switch. Automatic control of interconnected traffic lights was introduced March 1922 in Houston, Texas. The first automatic experimental traffic lights in England were deployed in Wolverhampton in 1927.

The color of the traffic lights representing stop and go might be derived from those used to identify port (red) and starboard (green) in maritime rules governing right of way, where the vessel on the left must stop for the one crossing on the right.

Timers on traffic lights originated in Taipei, Taiwan, and brought to the US after an engineer discovered its use. Though uncommon in most American urban areas, timers are still used in some other Western Hemisphere countries. Timers are useful for drivers/pedestrians to plan if there is enough time to attempt to cross the intersection before the light turns red and conversely, the amount of time before the light turns green.

This is all fascinating you are thinking, but what does it mean?  If this report found in the Economist is true, every city, town or village will want it!

The widely-respected British Economist has come up with a new anti-Israel libel: Jerusalem traffic lights are timed to discriminate against Arabs. The pro-Hamas Al Jazeera Arab satellite network picked up the story and showed its readers one of the intersections in question.

The CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) media watchdog group researched the claim and found it a total fabrication.

At CAMERA’s request, The Economist provided it with a list of the intersections where Arabs allegedly have to wait a longer time than Jews. CAMERA said that its investigation “reveals that The Economist and Al Jazeera claims are absurdly false “and that the discrepancy between the timing is related to street size and traffic flow, as in every other city in the world.

The Economist claimed that cars approaching an intersection from two Arab neighborhoods in northern Jerusalem have only 18 seconds to proceed on a green light while motorists from the nearby Jewish areas of Pisgat Ze’ev and Neve Yaakov have a 90-second light.

However, CAMERA points out that the road from the Jewish neighborhoods is part of the major artery known as Highway 1, where traffic is much heavier than the road from the Arab neighborhoods of Shuafat and Beit Hanina.

In fact, at another nearby intersection of Highway 1, Jewish residents from Ramot Eshkol and Givat HaMivtar have only 16 seconds to proceed on a green light while having to wait one minute and 41 seconds, the time allotted for cars to pass the intersection on the main highway.

If the “discrimination” label is applied equally, the traffic lights also are “biased” against Jews at the Highway 1 intersection with the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, where the Obama administration has demanded that Israel stop building for Jews. Motorists from the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood have a much shorter green light than those at the Arab populated Shuafat intersection.

“Clearly, then, the discrepancy between red and green light times at the intersection is a function of road size and not ethnicity,” CAMERA concluded.

“Motorists from the Arab neighborhoods are certainly able to use any of the larger roads crossing Route 1. For example, it is a mere half-kilometer detour for Beit Hanina residents to opt to skip the allegedly racist traffic light by using the overpass highway crossing Route 1,” the watchdog group added.

Another allegedly “discriminatory “ intersection involved the Wadi Joz junction with the major highway that serves Maaleh Adumim, with three times the population of Wadi Joz and a much longer green light.

However, the “discrimination” there also works in reverse. Traffic from Wadi Joz to the intersection of the Hebrew University’s Mount Scopus has a green light for two minutes and 12 seconds, while mostly Jewish drivers from the other road have only eight seconds.

The same article also charges that Jerusalem is building a light railway (pictured above) for “settlers” and "robbing” Arabs of two lanes of traffic. The same light railway has taken away lanes from all motorists, Jewish and otherwise, throughout the city. Shopowners in Jerusalem's center have been affected the most, with many shutdowns as a result. Furthermore, the light railway will be available to Arabs as well as Jews.

The Economist has not replied to CAMERA’s documentation.

And you thought your traffic lights were screwed up!

I really shouldn't be angered by this, after all Al Jazeera is an Arab news source, and The Economist is a British news source.  Both by those very definitions explains it all. BLOOD LIBEL by the 2 of the leading groups of anti-Semites in the world.

Car Bomb Found In Times Square

On June 29, 2007 a car was discovered outside a popular nightclub in London with a homemade explosive device burning in it.  Then a day later Bilal Abdullah, a British-born, Muslim doctor of Iraqi descent and Kafeel Ahmed, also known as Khalid Ahmed, drove a dark green Jeep Cherokee loaded with propane canisters was driven into the glass doors of the Glasgow International Airport terminal and set it ablaze.

None of the bombs in those cars did any damage (Thank G-d), but it scared the British for they had no word on these Jihadists or their plot.

NEW YORK -- New York mayor Michael Bloomberg says a suspicious vehicle in Times Square "did indeed contain an explosive device."

Police found the device in the smoking sport utility vehicle Saturday evening. They then cleared the streets of thousands of tourists milling through the landmark district so they could dismantle the device.

A white robotic police arm broke windows of the black Nissan Pathfinder to remove any explosive materials while heavily armed police and emergency vehicles shut down the city's busiest streets, teeming with taxis and theatergoers on one of the first summer-like days of the year.

Investigators removed bomb-making materials, including propane tanks, explosive powders and a crude timing device, top police spokesman Paul Browne said.

"There were explosive elements, including powder, gasoline, propane and some kind of electrical wires attached to a clock," Browne said early Sunday. "No motive has been identified."

An officer noticed smoke coming from the sport utility vehicle around 6:30 p.m. and cleared the streets. The area remained closed more than seven hours later.

Police are investigating a report that someone was seen running from the vehicle at some point and are reviewing security videotapes, Browne said. The Nissan Pathfinder's license plates do not match the car's registration, he said.

Police evacuated several residential and commercial buildings and cleared the streets of people. Police were deployed around the area with heavy weapons on empty streets in the heart of busy midtown Manhattan.

Finish reading here.

Mayor Bloomberg has no idea who would do this type of act or what their motive would be.  Mmmm, here is a guess.  Check the Muslim community and the motive is simple:  Jihad.

Any bets on whether I am right about this?

The Tribe Interviews Obama

Latma TV known for its humorous attacks on the Lame Stream Media and Moonbats in general, has finally been granted an interview with Barack   Obama who will be singing a song showing his true feelings towards Jews and Israel.  Watch till the end for he is featured twice

The truth has a way of making itself heard!

Lag Ba'Omer

Lag Ba'Omer, the 33rd day of the Omer Count – this year, May 2, 2010 – is a festive day on the Jewish calendar, celebrated with outings (on which the children traditionally play with bow and arrows), bonfires, and other joyous events. Many visit the resting place (in Meron in Northern Israel) of the great sage and mystic Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, whose yahrtzeit (anniversary of his passing) the day marks.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who lived in the 2nd century of the Common Era, was the first to publicly teach the mystical dimension of the Torah known as the "Kabbalah," and is the author of the basic work of Kabbalah, the Zohar. On the day of his passing, Rabbi Shimon instructed his disciples to mark the date as "the day of my joy."

Lag Ba'Omer also commemorates another joyous event. The Talmud relates that in the weeks between Passover and Shavuot a plague raged amongst the disciples of the great sage Rabbi Akiva "because they did not act respectfully towards each other"; these weeks are therefore observed as a period of mourning, with various joyous activities proscribed by law and custom. On Lag Ba'Omer the dying ceased. Thus Lag Ba'Omer also carries the theme of Ahavat Yisrael, the imperative to love and respect one's fellow.

The age-old traditions of this day include lighting large bonfires at night – symbolizing the passion and light that Rabbi Shimon brought into the world with his mystical teachings – and taking children on outings to the fields and forests. More recently, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, encouraged all Jews to hit the streets too, with large-scale Lag Ba'Omer parades, exuberant displays of Jewish unity and pride.

Children especially love to march in the streets, sometimes in uniform, holding banners, or singing. They are learning the value of publicly affirming our faith—and unbeknownst to them, warming the hearts of passersby with their guileless display of living and committed Judaism.

It has been customary in the last100 years to burn in effigy those people who are considered enemies to the Jewish people and Jewish nation. Such effigies in the past include Yassar Arafat, Adolph Hitler, Joeseph Stalin, and Saddam Hussein.  This year both effigies and pictures of Barack Hussein Obama are being burnt.