There is NO Santa Claus

Hannukah Is Coming

2011-12-01T18:59:00.000-05:00

Hannukah is not exactly a Jewish Holiday. Rather, it's a festival; not as important as holidays.

I love Hannukah; not because of the exchanging of gifts. Rather, Hannukah marks the last time the Jews won a war and nobody griped about "the injustice of it all".

Remember where you heard that first. OK?

Regards,

There is NO Santa Claus (aka TINSC)

Just In Case You Thought Pat Condell Was Kidding!

2011-11-06T20:33:00.000-05:00

PAT CONDELL FINALLY GETS IT

2011-10-09T00:35:00.009-04:00

On the Jewish Holiday of Yom Kippur, we are reminded that we do not pray for the demise of our adversaries. Rather, we pray that they have a change of heart. Sometimes, time doesn't allow us to do that, but in the case of Pat Condell, time was on my side. He never was particularly hostile to Jews or Israel. He just didn't have much empathy and certainly didn't know some basic, obvious facts. But most of that is behind us now, thank Gd! Pat seems to have finally articulated some obvious things about the War Against Israel. This is worthy of a TINSC post and a note of thanks to the Creator that Pat doesn't (yet) believe in.

On June 29, 2007, Pat Condell uploaded a commentary titled "What about the Jews?" My friend Debbie Schlussel used this video to point out that Pat Condell was not a friend of Jews and Israel. Many in the so-called "counter-jihad" are pro-Israel and supported Condell's statement about Muslims. The 2007 commentary by Condell was a source of contention between some of my friends. I agreed with Debbie and the 2007 video gave good reasons to support her viewpoint.

In that 2007 commentary, Condell offered several theses that were not only anti-Semitic (perhaps unintentionally) but counter-argued many of the theses Condell had proposed regarding the hostility of Islamists toward the west. Some of these theses included:

"... the problem is it's (Israel) in the wrong place. because if there were any justice in this world, Israel would currently occupy half of Germany." (Author's note: this proposal was offered by King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia.)

"But Israel really is not really about justice. Is it! It's really about Jerusalem which is really about scripture and prophecy, which as we know is really about insanity." (Author's note: I find this rather insulting. Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people in our ancestral land. The fact that Israel is the ancestral land of the Jewish people is not merely established by scripture. It is established by archeology and modern history. I'm certain my Zionist friends can provide additional rebuttal to this statement.)

"... Israel has ignored so many United Nations resolutions telling them to get out of the occupied territories which they just can't bring themselves to do because of Jerusalem and the Temple and scripture and prophecy...." (Author's note: Virtually all UN resolutions require the Arabs to negotiate territories and boundaries with Israel. The notion that the UN has ordered Israel out of the "occupied territories" is not well supported in fact. To the extent that any UN resolution has required Israel to vacate territory, there is no provision by the UN to ENFORCE such resolutions. The UN enforced their resolution to remove Iraq from Kuwait. The UN has not enforced any resolution regarding Israel and the territory they live in.)

"You know, I think the Jews would do themselves a huge favor if they came to their senses and let go of Jerusalem. It doesn't belong to them and they're only holding on to it because of religion which is the worst possible reason to do anything on this planet." (Author's note: If the Jewish people thought that letting go of Jerusalem would lead to world peace, we would do it in a heartbeat. The beauty of this statement is that Pat Condell ultimately comes to the conclusion that this statement was wrong.)

"But right now, the Jews happen to control it (Jerusalem) and, well, the Christians are really happy about it because they know how this pisses off the Muslims...." (Author's note: Pat is saying that Jewish control of Jerusalem angers Muslims; as if this is the sole source of Muslim anger toward Jews and Israel.)

"But Jerusalem is NOT a Jewish town. It's an Arab town and it's time we all started to acknowledge that" (Author's note: Archaeological findings demonstrate that Jerusalem was founded by Jews. In addition, census records from the Ottoman Empire show that Jews were a majority population in Jerusalem throughout the empire's existence. There has been a consistent Jewish presence in Jerusalem for over 3,000 years. At the time, Condell was obviously quite unaware of that.)

"So please Jews, do us all a favor: give it (Jerusalem) back and help put a stop to all this madness. The whole world will thank you for it. And you know what? You will probably end up as the most popular people on the planet." (Author's note: The thesis that Jews and Israel are to blame for world strife is a common anti-Semitic theme.)

So OK.. if you listened to Pat Condell's latest commentary, he seems to have changed his perspective on all this. It did not come overnight. On May 26, 2011, Pat Condell uploaded a commentary titled "Let's blame the Jews". The title is satirical and Condell in his articulate way, makes a passionate defense of Jews against anti-Semitism. In this commentary, he retracted his call for Israel to relinquish Jerusalem noting in effect that no good deed goes unpunished by Muslims. In this commentary, Condell says:

"I no longer believe that the Israelis should give back Jerusalem. I still believe they're holding for a stupid reason: religion. And it doesn't get any more stupid than that" (Author's note: apparently the fact that hundreds of thousands of Jews live there hasn't occurred to him as a rationale for Israel's keeping Jerusalem.)

"But experience has taught us that the Islamic mentality would use any concession as weakness to be exploited further. And besides, too many so-called Palestinians seem less concerned with peace and freedom than with driving the Jews into the sea so the bombings wouldn't stop." (Author's note: Finally, Condell realizes that Jews, Israel and the capital city of Jerusalem are NOT the source of the War Against Israel or Muslim enmity toward the West. This was a significant change from his 2007 commentary.)

"I think Israel's in the wrong place. I've said it before. They couldn't be in a worse place given the hateful mentality of its neighbors but it's a bit late to do anything about that now." (Author's note: Thanks Pat! That's mighty gracious of you. Hey! I'm just glad you finally came to grips with the consequences of changing the simple fact that Jews live in Jerusalem. As you now seem to know, it will require a good old fashioned massacre to remove them..)

"The fact that a Jewish State needs to exist at all, and it DOES need to exist, is an indictment on all humanity and especially the Catholic Church whose centuries-long program of aggressive Jew-hatred has been ingrained right into the European psyche so that it takes almost nothing to bring it out...." (Author's note: This is a hard thing for a European to tell fellow Europeans, even if Condell is a professed atheist. It's a theory to be sure, but it's sound and reasonable. History lends substantial support to it. I'm not sure Condell had to single out the Catholic Church, but his basic thesis that the NEED for a Jewish State is an indictment on all humanity was one of the first signs that Condell was finally becoming confrontational toward anti-Semitism. Finally, he recognizes the manner in which anti-Semitism is being used to fuel strife and tyranny. From this point forward, I found myself warming up to Condell.)

And now we have his latest commentary "The great Palestinian lie". With this commentary, I can only say:

"By George! I think he's got it!"

This was a mighty fine commentary by Pat Condell. The guy who had barely a clue about Israel's existence and its presence in Jerusalem appears to have evolved into someone who finally understands why Israel exists and holds its capital in Jerusalem. I believe Pat is sincere in his articulate statement. Above all, regardless of what he said in the past, I don't think Pat Condell's holds anti-Semitic sentiment instinctively. Deep in his heart, he likes Jews even if he doesn't totally understand us. After all, it's pretty hard to expect an avowed atheist to understand Jews, Israel and Jerusalem the way he does in his latest commentary. Pat has come a long way in his understanding about Jews, Israel and Jerusalem. In my humble opinion, this understanding is a miracle from the Gd, even if Pat Condell doesn't (yet) believe.

Israel just wants to be loved. Unfortunately, it ain't gonna happen.

2011-09-15T07:52:00.000-04:00

The problem with Israel in a nutshell is that the generation that wanted to live (i.e. survive) has been replaced by a generation that wants to be loved. I made this comment some time ago on DebbieSchlussel.com in response to a column she wrote about yet another concession (of sorts) that the Israeli government was on the brink of making. It wasn't a particularly huge concession and it won't make headlines anywhere. Suffice it to say that this was a good enough example to compel me to offer the thesis.

The problem with this desire to be loved is that 2000 years of history says it isn't going to happen. Moreover, outside of the United States (where we admire freedom loving people struggling to survive in a totalitarian region) there are few cultures that have any affinity for the Jewish people (or anyone for that matter) struggling for freedom. This includes Christian cultures (i.e. Europe).

In 1948, when Israel was born, there was little doubt what awaited the Zionists if they were defeated on the battlefield. Israel was small. It's armaments were few and they had to scrap for everything needed to ward off the invading armies of 5 Arab nations. Survival came first! It came first throughout Israel's history right up to the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

This is not the case today. Today, Israel is militarily secure from most threats. Even those threats (such as an Iranian nuclear weapon) that could destroy Israel carry a retaliatory counter-threat that leaves Israel confidently secure against rational enemies. (Naturally, there's concern for whether or not Israel's enemies are rational. That's a different subject for a different column.)

Moreover, today's Israel is rather prosperous. The influx of Jews from the former Soviet Union brought about a talent bank the likes of which Israel's founders could only dream. Today, Israel is one of the strongest magnets of foreign investment capital in the Middle East; more so when looked at on a per capita basis. Now, with the discovery of significant sums of natural gas, Israel now has enough portable fossil fuel energy to meet it's needs for decades to come.

Therein lies the problem. Few people recognize the threat to Israel's existence and therefore there is no sense that Israel is "struggling to survive in a totalitarian region". Israel is definitely surviving in a totalitarian region against some very serious threats, but Israelis appear affluent and comfortable.

In recent years, we've seen Israel making concessions to the Arabs; most notably the PLO with no reciprocity. Whatever reciprocity is gained from the PLO has been temporary. Terrorism subsides for a while and begins anew complete with more calls for concessions. In an effort to be loved by Europe and America, Israel has yielded to these calls more often than not because the threat of conventional military attack is not clearly seen.

In this vacuum of conventional military threat, a growing chorus of hatred now permeates the free-press societies of the west. The anti-Semites of yesteryear (whether Christian, Communist or Muslim) now seethe with jealous hatred for Israel's success as never before. No stone is left unturned; no libel is withheld. Israel's national sins, real or imagined (mostly imagined) must be punished by permanent national destruction. Never mind that this is a unique punishment that even the Germans and Japanese were not subjected. We're talking about the Jews and "the Jewish State must be destroyed".

Israel just wants to be loved and it ain't gonna happen. I know there's a lot of Evangelical Christians who love Israel. Gd bless 'em! Yet, standing on the moon and looking back at planet earth, that's not a lot of people. Today, the act of a Jew merely building a house in Jerusalem becomes an international frakus. How does Israel build a Jewish homeland if it can't build homes.

I don't know what it's going to take for Israelis to get a whiff of what's slowly happening to them. Today's assault on Israel isn't military YET. Today's assault on Israel is a movement to make the world safe for anti-Semitic terrorism. It seeks to give HAMAS, Hezbollah et al the right to attack Israel with impunity. During the 2nd intifada when a Palestinian "Minister" quoted Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death!" he wasn't talking about the liberty to elect Arab leaders. He was not talking about the liberty of a Jew to build a home in Ramallah. He was talking about the liberty to attack Israel with impunity. We know this because most American-style liberties are virtually absent in the Arab League nations.

If Israelis don't get wise to this, the generation that wants to be loved will give way to another generation that merely wants to survive. If that happens, there might not be a whole lot of Jews left.

Three most common responses from Muslims to the 9/11/01 attacks

2011-09-11T11:30:00.000-04:00

1. High fives, Osama! Way to go, baby! That's showin' 'em!

2. This is terrible. No Muslim can tolerate such a horrible act of terrorism and if America will only cease (Fill in the blanks with a whole list of grievances, real or imagined.), I'm sure such attacks will never happen again. [Translation: The beatings will continue until moral improves.]

3. This is terrible. No Muslim would do such a thing. It must have been the Israeli Mossad who did this in order to justify (Fill in the blanks with a whole list of grievances, real or imagined.). [Translation: The U.S. and Israel aren't just bad. They're so bad they'll murder themselves to justify beating up on Muslims.]

There is of course, a forth response rarely heard. That response states that Islam must reform itself to adapt to modern pluralistic societies like the United States where people of all faiths enjoy equality under a common, public law separated from any particular religious institution. These are modernist Muslims; the ones we look to lead Islam out of its imperialist, totalitarian past and into a future of freedom, peace and prosperity.

Report: Hamas detained rocket cell

2011-08-07T03:35:00.003-04:00

Hamas security forces detained Saturday morning two members of the al-Tawhid wal-Jihad group in Gaza as they were about to fire rockets at Israel, members of the radical organization charged in a leaflet.

More HERE

There has long been a strange cooperation between Israel and the HAMAS-led "government" in Gaza. It's hard to explain and even harder to understand. Yet it exists; I am sure of it.
Don't ask me "Who? What? When? Where? How? or Why?

It's a rather dysfunctional relationship, but it exists nonetheless.

Let me take a stab at speculating what this is all about. The Israelis value life. Because of this, they've always allowed and assisted in giving Gaza "humanitarian assistance". HAMAS hates the Jews. However, since Israel can demolish Gaza, HAMAS has learned "the hard way" that they cannot meet the daily needs of people in Gaza by actively waging war on Israel.    The Arabs and Muslims will not give material aid to Gaza unless it assists HAMAS' war against the Jews. Therefore, nothing of material benefit to Gaza comes from Arabs, Muslims or others unless it passes through Israel which filters out materials capable of harming Israeli citizens. Egypt which also borders Gaza is incapable of giving material aid of value because the Egyptians don't have the capacity or the care to do so (unless it's weapons which can be used against Israel).
Thus, the "relationship" exists.

The news media won't report this because it does not fit their narrative on the War Against Israel. Israelis know about this, but don't talk about it. Israelis value life and seek peace with their neighbors. Elements of normality seem... well... normal.

And so it goes! Israel meets with and negotiates with HAMAS on a daily basis to meet the basic material needs of people in Gaza.

It's not a "peace process". It's certainly not "THE peace process". It's anything but! Yet it happens every day in some manner or form.

Most people know about it. Nobody talks about it.

There's something rather surreal about it all. .

Police in Ga. shut down girls' lemonade stand

2011-07-16T00:08:00.000-04:00

MIDWAY, Ga. (AP) -- Police in Georgia have shut down a lemonade stand run by three girls trying to save up for a trip to a water park, saying they didn't have a business license or the required permits.

Midway Police Chief Kelly Morningstar says police also didn't know how the lemonade was made, who made it or what was in it.

The girls had been operating for one day when Morningstar and another officer cruised by.

The girls needed a business license, peddler's permit and food permit to operate, even on residential property. The permits cost $50 a day or $180 per year.

One girl, 14-year-old Casity Dixon, says the three had to listen to police and shut down.

The girls are now doing chores and yard work to make money.

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Didn't the "Arab Spring" start with a similar incident like this in Tunisia? If I recall correctly, some poor slug was trying to make a living selling vegetables in the marketplace. He was constantly harassed by police for a "license" (read that "bribes") and in his despair doused himself with gasoline and set himself afire to protest.

Yet here we see the same government insanity here in America. If these girls were in tune to current events and recent history, they would hire a sharp lawyer and make this story worth more than a few short paragraphs.

But no! They're doing "chores and yard work to make money". Yah... right! Do they have workmen's comp insurance? Liability insurance? Do they use all industry mandated personal protective equipment?

Credit to KlassyLynn for the tip.

White House: US suspending $800M in Pakistan aid

2011-07-11T07:59:00.003-04:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has ordered the suspension of $800 million in aid to the Pakistani military, his chief of staff said Sunday, as part of what experts say is a tougher line with a critical U.S. partner in the fight against terrorism.

Top aide William Daley described the U.S. relationship with Pakistan as "difficult" and said it must be made "to work over time." But he added that until "we get through that difficulty, we'll hold back some of the money that the American taxpayers are committed to give" Pakistan.

---------------------------------------------------

Well wadda ya know! Just as I pointed out down the blog several weeks ago, the unraveling of US/Pakistani relations is something the President wanted desperately to distract us from. I mentioned it HERE on this blog.

In that blog entry, I noted:

You see, the real problem is that U.S./Pakistani relations are in free-fall. A quick look at a map should tell you (or anyone) what that means to U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan.

You might think this problem just cropped up out of nowhere, but it's been festering for many months. The President and Sec. of State did a good job of distracting us from this diplomatic crisis. I wasn't distracted and if you read this blog, you weren't distracted either.

Regards,

TINSC

Justin Amash Votes AGAINST H.R. 268 -

2011-07-09T16:04:00.000-04:00

BILL TITLE: Reaffirming the United States commitment to a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and for other purposes

The roll call can be found HERE.

Our new Congressman, Justin Amash (MI-3) decided to keep company with Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul on issues supporting Israel. I find that deeply disturbing as our district historically supports Israel far more than that.

On this Independence Day, a Prayer for Our Country

2011-07-04T23:09:00.000-04:00

Our Gd and Gd of our fathers: We ask Your blessings for our country, for its government, for its leader and advisers, and for all who exercise just and rightful authority. Teach them insights of Your Torah, that they may administer all affairs of state fairly, that peace and security, happiness and prosperity, justice and freedom may forever abide in our midst.

Creator of all flesh, bless all the inhabitants of our country with Your spirit. May citizens of all races and creeds forge a common bond in true harmony to banish all hatred and bigotry and to safeguard the ideals and free institutions which are the pride and glory of our country.

May this land under Your Providence be an influence for good throughout the world, uniting all people in peace and freedom and helping them to fulfill the vision of Your prophet: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they experience war any more." And let us say: Amen.

The Trouble With Wind

2011-06-13T23:21:00.000-04:00

May 1, 2011 12:00 PM
By George C. Loehr, Management Consultant

Many of you will remember the original Star Trek episode, “The Trouble With Tribbles.” The Enterprise is transporting grain to a planet with the unlikely name of Sherman's Planet, which is in dispute between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. But Kirk et al discover their ship has been invaded by thousands of cute, furry, purring little critters called tribbles. They do no harm, except they eat voraciously and reproduce prodigiously. They're so cute that no one has the heart to do them any harm, but pretty soon, they've eaten all the grain and threaten to take over the ship. (Without going into plot details, Kirk and crew escape this predicament when Scotty, ever the resourceful engineer, beams the tribbles from the Enterprise onto a Klingon ship.)

Wind turbines are a little like tribbles. They're appealing, they can displace kilowatt-hours from carbon generators, and they seem to do no harm; but they consume prodigious amounts of money, and they're reproducing all over the countryside. Everybody seems to think they're wonderful, but are they going to contribute anything to our energy requirements? And, if they do, what are the downsides, if any?

Read more here...

I fully agree with George C. Loehr's basic thesis. In fact, I think he's too kind to the wind turbine proponents. I encourage you read it and take Mr. Loehr's warning to heart.

I'm a big fan of alternative energy, but wind turbines are NOT the way to go.

Anthony Weiner - More Diversion By The Democrats And Their LIB Media Allies

2011-06-09T22:42:00.003-04:00

The President's daily failures continue to mount. Yemen is imploding. Syria is torturing its citizens in broad daylight proving our diplomatic impotence. Libya screams in agony of civil war. The price of gas is high. The price of food is going up. Unemployment won't go down no matter how many "stimulus" dollars we spend.

You'd think the news media would report these things and provide some novel solutions. You'd think the President would work longer hours. You'd think Congress would roll up their sleeves and work with a sense of urgency... and you'd be wrong.

Having played the "Israel card" to divert our attention away from the President's overwhelming failures, we now have Anthony Weiner. Ah! There's nuthin' like a good old fashioned SEX SCANDAL to commandeer our attention.

I'm still not sure what this scandal is all about, but anyone with the name of Weiner emailing pictures of his dick on the internet really should have thought of a career path other than the U.S. Congress. I mean... it's not like I have figured out "what it all means". The simple conclusion that has long existed is that Americans are stupid and continue to elect scoundrels to lead our country. I really hope that's not news to you. If it is, you're either very young or... well... you know.

In the mean time, I think you should all look past the Weiner news articles and observe what is going on in the rest of the world. It ain't a pretty picture. Count your blessings and don't let all these silly Weiner news stories distract you.

TTFN,

There is NO Santa Claus

I'll meet you halfway

2011-06-07T21:47:00.001-04:00

Since Jimmy Carter was elected President, the battle cry heard from Muslim nations has been "Death to America!". Every President from Jimmy Carter onward replied: "We're willing to negotiate. Certainly there is a compromise to be had. We'll meet you halfway."

Carter
Reagan (Yes! Reagan too!)
Bush Sr.
Clinton
Bush Jr.
O'Bama
<fill in the blank>

Would a "President McCain" have been any better?

2011-05-26T09:45:00.016-04:00

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOPE!

Just in case you don't believe me, Accuracy in Media notes the following in an article dated May 17, 2011:

The Arab-funded Al-Jazeera is hosting a two-day inaugural “Al Jazeera U.S. Forum” in Washington, D.C., featuring Bob Woodward of The Washington Post among the celebrity journalists. But of particular interest is Politico’s revelation that Republican Senator John McCain showed up at the opening night of the forum to praise the channel’s coverage of the Middle East.

I don't know how fair this article is. All I know is that John McCain's passionate words of support for Israel have always come with the asterisk that comes with cooperation with the Saudi Petrochemical Lobby. If he's showing up to praise Al-Jazeera, what does that say about his confrontation of Barack O'Bama's proposed U.S./Israel policy when he was running for President in 2008?

While I'm at it, let's note that Senator McCain was a loud proponent of U.S. military intervention in the Libyan Civil War. Who benefits from that war? Let me give you a hint.

Upon the start of U.S. Armed Forces intervention against Libya, Saudi Arabia "re-assured" the U.S. and our allies that they would "make up" any deficit in petroleum production caused by the Libyan "unrest". This might sound like a generous offer but think about it! With prices for petroleum skyrocketing past $100/barrel, Saudi Arabia is CASHING IN on the war against Libya. "Such a deal I have for you!"

As the Libyan war drags on and the Saudis get richer from it, Americans continue to struggle with rising gasoline prices. American politicians from both parties run to make kissy-face with the Saudis and their Persian Gulf OPEC conspirators. Just to make sure you don't notice, the President offers a "bold new policy" dealing with the War Against Israel.

See how it works?

*UPDATE*

My friend Debbie Schlussel has informed me that Accuracy in Media is anything but. I've known Debbie for a long time and I trust her judgment on this. Debbie's views aside, the nature of the headlines on their website are too loaded to be automatically accepted as objective. That is why I made sure to qualify my column with "I don't know how fair this article is."

If someone can confirm that Sen. McCain and Nancy Pelosi attended the Al-Jazeera U.S. Forum and offered praise for that news organization, please let me know. It certainly wouldn't surprise me, but for now, I have to question the accuracy of the claim and seek additional confirmation that Sen. McCain's participation actually occurred as it was described by Accuracy in Media.

*UPDATE*
In retrospect, I have to be fair so let me extend my comments a little to clarify one point that came up yesterday during a lunchtime conversation with some Friends of Israel. While it seems likely that Sen. McCain's diplomacy would have been very similar to President O'Bama's had the former been elected, I believe there would be one significant difference. That difference becomes clear when you go down to the column below to read my entry regarding the President O'Bama's scapegoating of Israel.

President Bush pressured Israel for political and territorial concessions. That much was made clear by his Sec. of State Condeleeza Rice. However, when President Bush spoke of Israel, he always presented the Jewish State in the most positive terms. President Bush routinely acknowledged Israel's past territorial concessions and the risks it had taken for peace. Moreover, President Bush was willing to acknowledge that these risks often failed to bring about the expected results. President Bush routinely rallied American public support for Israel.

In observing Sen. McCain, I can say that I've personally witnessed him doing the same thing. Had John McCain been elected President, the policies probably would have been much the same.   The difference would be that the President's "bully pulpit" would rally public support behind Israel and avoid scapegoating Jews for his diplomatic failures throughout the Muslim world.

I won't elaborate on how this differs from President O'Bama's public presentation of the War Against Israel. I've already done that in a column below. I just thought I'd take a moment to put my comments in perspective regarding Sen. McCain.

Scapegoating Israel

2011-05-23T22:27:00.017-04:00

There are some who say that President O'Bama is "pressuring Israel" for more concessions. I disagree. The President is not pressuring Israel. He is scapegoating the Jewish State.

Any sentence the President utters that includes "Israel" and "borders" is problematic to Israel's enemies. Israel's enemies will resent it. President O'Bama knows that. Thus, he has incited additional enmity toward the Jewish State by its enemies. He has not advanced the cause of peace between Israel and its enemies. That might be a problem for Jews, but there's a bigger problem for America.

You see, the real problem is that U.S./Pakistani relations are in free-fall. A quick look at a map should tell you (or anyone) what that means to U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan.

Last year, the Administration gave a $500 Million aid package to Pakistan only to find Osama bin Laden (i.e. "Public Enemy Number One") enjoying safe haven there. The "Arab Spring" has resulted in Arab regimes (either existing or in-waiting) losing trust in America. As the euphoria of the bin Laden assassination quickly wears off the U.S. public in an election season, it is only natural for the President's domestic political adversaries to criticize the Administration's handling of affairs in that region.

In order to deflect attention away from these problems, the O'Bama Administration has decided to direct attention away from their mis-management of the ongoing turmoil in Arab/Muslim nations and focused on Israel. This is being done with the knowledge that the news media will quickly respond in knee-jerk reaction and take the ongoing turmoil in Arab/Muslim nations off the front pages of their news reports.

Scapegoating Israel deflects attention away from mounting problems in Pakistan (quite unrelated to the War Against Israel) and throughout the region before they bite the American public. The established governments throughout the Muslim world are being de-stabilized with little hope that any of these countries will be more friendly toward the United States under new management. This is all happening on President O'Bama's watch. Many of these situations are bringing the O'Bama Administration under severe criticism from its political opponents (and even amongst its allies). Faced with this criticism, President O'Bama has returned to his "Plan A" thesis established on day two of his Administration: "Solve the Israel-Palestinian conflict and 'all these other problems' go away." Since President Nixon resigned from office, virtually every one-term President has applied this thesis.

President Bush's policy toward Israel was hardly any better. However, President Bush always had the basic courtesy to mention that Israel had taken MANY risks for peace (i.e. one-sided concessions). In doing so, President Bush avoided the stigma that he was scapegoating Israel.

President O'Bama rarely (if ever) acknowledges past Israeli concessions in the Jewish State's search for peace. Both Administrations demanded more concessions. While I did not appreciate Bush Administration policy on the War Against Israel, at least I appreciated his personal statements acknowledging that Israel was making an effort to pursue peace. President O'Bama's personal statements are void of these acknowledgments. That is why I believe President O'Bama's statements, including his comments last week, scapegoat Israel.

President O'Bama and his recent comments on the War Against Israel

2011-05-23T08:00:00.003-04:00

Over the next few days, I hope to share with you some of my thoughts and comments regarding President O'Bama's policy speech last Thursday (May 19 2011) and some of the media/political frakus that has followed. This is the first of a series of comments.

Well! Wadda ya know! The news media LIED.

Sunday morning, May 22 2011, President O’Bama addressed the AIPAC policy conference. It contained statements that were insincere and untrue, but one thing he made certain: He did not use the words “1967 borders” in his Thursday 5/19/11 policy speech. He used the words “1967 LINES” [emphasis mine] in his speech last Thursday.

I haven’t read an exact transcript of last Thursday’s speech, but I’ve listened to President O’Bama’s speech this morning to AIPAC and believe he stated his words exactly as he made them on Thursday.

OK. That’s the good news. The bad news is that President O’Bama continues to call for a Palestinian State with “contiguous borders”. I think we know what that means. This condition was unilaterally INSERTED by the Bush Administration and was never agreed to by the Israelis. Certainly, arrangements for travel between Gaza and the West Bank were discussed during the Clinton Administration, but a Palestinian State with “contiguous borders” was never an ingredient in public U.S. Policy until the Bush Administration. I believe this element has stalled peace talks more than any other American policy.

Lastly, the statement in President O’Bama’s AIPAC speech that he will prevent Israel from being “singled out at the U.N. or any other international forum” is a bold-faced LIE. Time and time again, this President has singled Israel out as the soul source of failure in peace talks. The constant harangue that “Israel must act boldly to advance a lasting peace” is the routine line. The numerous territorial and political concessions by Israel, have been met with no reciprocation, end-of-violence, end of incitement, or even continuing negotiations. The obvious conclusion that these calls on Israel to "act boldly to advance a lasting peace" are demands for one-sided concessions.

And frankly, I’ve grown tired of people who are not Israeli citizens routinely saying that “Israel should….”, or worse, “Israel must….”.

As an American, I believe my President needs to stop making policy statements that he knows (darn well) the news media will deliberately interpret as demands on Israel, one-sided or otherwise. The news media clearly mis-reported his speech.

Public opinion drives public policy. News reporting shapes public opinion. If the President stops making these kinds of policy statements, few will question his claim of support for Israel.

SUNDOWN!

2011-04-26T22:50:00.000-04:00

Passover is OVER. Time for BEER!

NEW TSA COMMERCIAL TO AIR NATIONWIDE

2011-04-01T19:32:00.004-04:00

Watch it HERE

What the LIB Media Won't Tell You About Elizabeth Taylor

2011-03-24T07:37:00.003-04:00

Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor died yesterday, March 23, 2011. In the 24 hours of eulogies that went non-stop through the day, there was one constant throughout Taylor's life that was never mentioned: Elizabeth Taylor was an ardent Zionist.

Elizabeth Taylor was a fickle woman for sure. She fell in and out of love with men; 8 husbands. She fell off and on the wagon. She gained, dropped and gained back weight. Yet the one constant throughout her life was her support of Israel and (I believe) a sincere commitment to Reform Judaism and love of Gd.

The LIB media won't tell you this. It's an embarrassment to the Saudi petro-dollar stockholders and advertisers.

I just thought you should know.

Sincerely,

There is NO Santa Claus (aka TINSC)

P.S. Don't hold your breath waiting for conservative news media (i.e. FOX News) to tell you this either. Same stockholders; same advertisers.

Japan Quake/Tsunami; Iran Nukes

2011-03-14T21:09:00.006-04:00

If you're like me, you've probably been following the rescue effort being mounted in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan recently. I encourage you to donate money to the rescue effort. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee has established a Japan/Pacific Disaster Relief fund. I encourage you to make a donation immediately.

I pray to Gd in heaven, the Japanese people are not further harmed by the damage done to their nuclear power plants. So far, so good! The containment buildings haven't been breached. Though several Japanese nuclear plant workers have made heroic sacrifices for the public good, the likelihood of a Chernobyl scenario still looks remote in the short term. Cleaning up the mess might take years and cost a lot of money, but so far the public appears safe. While it can't be comfortable living in evacuation, at least those living near the effected reactors enjoy the supreme gift of life and will ultimately recover.

Unfortunately, this is not the purpose of my column. Moreover, I have very mixed feelings about leveraging a current event tragedy like this to make a political statement on an unrelated matter. Japan needs our help, but something else needs to be said.

You see, in the wake of the Japan quake and tsunami, there has been a lot of discussion among all nations about the safety of their civilian nuclear power plants. Some nations that were considering building new plants are thinking twice. Americans are wondering if "it could happen here" and what we're doing to make certain our commercial nuclear power plants can withstand natural disasters. Suddenly, everybody seems concerned about nuclear safety EXCEPT IRAN and that's the point of this post.

For years Iran has given mixed signals about their nuclear "program". Frankly, I think the Iranian nuclear program is a weapons program and they do little to disguise it. Nonetheless, there are many people in denial about this.

Now we have virtually all industrialized nations worried about the safety of their nuclear power plants. For some strange reason, no such public discussion seems to emanate from Iran. If Iran's nuclear research program were really for "peaceful purposes', I would think they'd be talking about increasing safety and foregoing the construction of new plants. Don't hold your breath, folks!

Iran's nuclear program is for making weapons to attack America. If you don't believe me, you'll know soon enough. When all the industrialized nations of the world re-examine their civilian nuclear power production facilities, I fully expect Iran to forge ahead in their nuclear research as if nothing at all has happened in Japan. When that happens, there will be no longer any doubt as to the purpose of Iran's nuclear research program. If my prediction is correct, all question as to the intent of Iran's nuclear research program should be evident for all to see.

So keep those Japan/Pacific donations coming in folks! Just remember! This won't slow down the Iranian nuclear weapons program. For Iran, the nuclear jihad must go on.

Sincerely,

There is NO Santa Claus (aka TINSC)

What the LIB media won't tell you about Egypt

2011-02-08T07:51:00.000-05:00

While the LIB news media blares out that "the voice of the people" in Egypt have sent some kind of message to Hosni Mubarak, there's something they haven't told you. Cairo has 2 million homeless people.

If a few hundred Egyptians want to protest against the Mubarak government because of poverty, there's over a million men "on call" to join. These are not influential people, but when joined in a mass protest against poverty, the news media can give the protest any message they want. That's what the LIB media won't tell you. They're too caught up in their sense of self-importance to give a protest of that magnitude any other message.

So what does this mean?

In time, the protest gathering will die down. Homeless people gotta eat too. Life will go back to normal and hopefully the 82 year old Mubarak will get serious about finding a successor who will enjoy support of the military (i.e. someone other than his son).

We're being told that the Muslim Brotherhood is destined to take over Egypt; they're the "largest opposition group" etc. I don't think that's true. Most Egyptians are nationalists and while they may support Sharia law, they are still nationalists. The Ikhwan (Muslim Brotherhood) is a pan-Islamist organization that is imperialist in nature. When Egypt tried its hand at hegemony under Nasser, they got burned so bad that Egyptians learned (eventually) to take care of Egypt first. As such, while the Ikhwan might have a 20% popularity in Egypt, there are likely significant numbers of Egyptians who do not share their pan-Islamic view. This certainly includes the numerous Coptic Christians but extends well into Egypt's Muslim society as well.

A Unique View of the Egypt "Crisis" from Israel

2011-02-05T11:26:00.000-05:00

Having been in Israel the past week, we've all been following the Egyptian protests in the news. While I can easily watch CNN, FOX, Sky News etc, it's far more interesting to watch the Israeli news and commentary.

Israel is one of those countries where people rarely agree on anything. Yet there are two things Israelis agree on this week:

1. They don't know where these protests are going to lead.

2. Whatever Israelis offer in the way of advice to Egyptians will be resented and ignored.

The mood about is one of curiosity. Nobody seems to be too worried. Israeli tourists, businessmen and families of diplomats bailed out of Egypt the same night we arrived here (Jan 30, 2011). There's nobody left to worry about.

So don't listen to those talking heads on the so-called "News Networks". They're all rather self absorbed and don't know what they're talking about. All they know is that it's easier to milk an old story than to find a new one.

Regards,

TINSC

Why are you protesting against Israel?

2011-01-08T14:52:00.001-05:00

I think this video is pretty cute. Moreover, it points out the grotesque hypocrisy employed against Israel.

If I were reincarnated, I'd want to come back in another life as Jewzilla

2011-01-07T22:18:00.000-05:00

o/o/ Jihad Bells! o/o/

2010-12-27T22:49:00.002-05:00

ADL: Helen Thomas is a vulgar anti-Semite.

2010-12-04T12:16:00.001-05:00

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

Helen Thomas has clearly, unequivocally revealed herself as a vulgar anti-Semite. Her suggestion that Zionists control government, finance and Hollywood is nothing less than classic, garden-variety anti-Semitism. This is a sad final chapter to an otherwise illustrious career. Unlike her previous, spontaneous remarks into a camera, these words were carefully thought out and conscious. It shows a prejudice that is deep-seated and obsessive.

The ADL's Press Release can be found here.

I love Hannukah

2010-11-30T20:30:00.001-05:00

Hanukkah marks the last time the Jews won a war and nobody griped about it being "an injustice".

Thank you Prime Minister Harper. A mighty fine speech!

2010-11-10T22:23:00.001-05:00

"Harnessing disparate anti-Semitic, anti-American and anti-Western ideologies, it targets the Jewish people by targeting the Jewish homeland, Israel, as the source of injustice and conflict in the world, and uses, perversely, the language of human rights to do so.

We must be relentless in exposing this new anti-Semitism for what it is...when Israel, the only country in the world whose very existence is under attack - Is consistently and conspicuously singled out for condemnation, I believe we are morally obligated to take a stand. Demonization, double standards, delegitimization, the 3 D's, it is a responsibility to stand up to them.

I know, by the way, because I have the bruises to show for it, that whether it is at the United Nations, or any other international forum, the easiest thing to do is simply to just get along and go along with this anti-Israeli rhetoric, to pretend it is just about being even-handed, and to excuse oneself with the label of "honest broker."

There are, after all, a lot more votes - a lot more - in being anti-Israeli than in taking a stand. But, as long as I am prime minister, whether it is at the UN or the Francophonie or anywhere else, Canada will take that stand...Not just because it is the right thing to do, but because history shows us, and the ideology of the anti-Israeli mob tells us all too well, that those who threaten the existence of the Jewish people are a threat to all of us."

-- Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Taxation without representation

2010-11-02T08:48:00.000-04:00

Today is election day; a day that reminds us that our republic was founded on the slogan of: "Taxation without representation is tyranny". Indeed, no matter how you view Republicans, Democrats and their respective philosophies on taxation and spending, we get to vote them in and out of office every so often.

This year, we have the phenomenon of the "Tea Party"; a party of conservative "pure constitutionalists" who can probably speak for themselves better than I can with regard to what they stand for. For the most part, with no exceptions that I am aware of, the "Tea Party" candidates are all Republicans theoretically from the more conservative wing of the party.

Therein lies the problem with the "Tea Party" for in the end, these are the same Republicans who voted in George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush to the White House without protest. It puzzles me. After all, the "Tea Party" appears to be named after the "Boston Tea Party" which was for all practical purposes, a militia attack against an English ship carrying Tea which bore a tax that the colonists objected to. "Taxation without representation is tyranny", that's what the Boston Tea Party was about, but today, things are much different.

Today, the prime example of taxation without representation is the illegal and tyrannical manipulation of world petroleum prices by the Saudi-led OPEC cartel. The amount of wealth being siphoned off the industrialized countries is staggering. The OPEC cartel serves as the greatest threat to America's freedom and independence since the World War II. The horrific impact that this oppressive tax has on developing countries is devastating literally in terms of malnutrition and disease that these countries cannot control due to their petroleum bill. Yet for all the cruel tyranny the OPEC cartel inflicts upon us all, nowhere during the political debate have I seen this "Tea Party" address OPEC's oppressive taxation without representation. Given the fact that all the "Tea Party" candidates are Republican, it leaves me to wonder whether they're any different than the same old politicians we already have.

It might feel good to vote Tea Party candidates in office today and I don't discourage you from doing so if that is your wish. I'll merely point out to you that two years from now, you're likely to be thinking "We've been here and done that before. Why did we think it would be different this time?"

I can't wait til tomorrow (Election Day 2010)

2010-11-01T13:59:00.002-04:00

All my deceased ancestors in Chicago miraculously come to life for the day.

Bill O'Reilly, FOX News and the Ground Zero Mosque Problem

2010-10-18T22:32:00.004-04:00

It's too bad Americans can't articulate their instincts. When Bill O'Reilly tried to defend his opposition to the Ground Zero Mosque on "The View" he said 70% of Americans oppose the Ground Zero Mosque. He got kicked and scratched by a bunch of girls until he apologized. (See debbieschlussel.com for more information.) Then some other FOX news clod, Brian Kilmeade says that "all Muslims are terrorists" and then apologizes (as he should). What people typically don't know is that 7% of FOX News is owned by Prince Al-Waleed, a Saudi gazillionaire who proves yet again that we get the best news money can buy. Is it any wonder that O'Reilly and Kilmeade back down under pressure and fail to explain themselves in a truly convincing manner.

So if you're reading this blog and this column, you know that I'm the "real deal". There's no 10-second sound bites to limit what I say. I don't post 3-5 columns a day blathering like an idiot (See http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com for a fine example.) demonizing Muslims. That's not me! I don't hold any illusions, but I count some Muslims as long-term personal and professional friends. I don't believe they're looking for new and creative ways to hurt my fellow American citizens. But I digress.

Here's the problem folks. Whether you're talking about FOX news' talking heads or just the average daily American, few people can articulate why Americans are so wary of this Ground Zero Mosque and all this talk about "Moderate Muslims". Let me assure you, FOX News ain't helping. So let me take a stab at this with the realization that this is a BLOG and I can always change my mind later if someone makes a really compelling argument to the contrary.

You see, in spite of a whole list of stuff Americans are upset about, the opposition to the Ground Zero Mosque boils down to something Americans know but can't articulate any better than Bill O'Reilly did on "The View". That "something" is the reaction of the Muslim world to the 9/11/01 attacks. That reaction can be summarized in three theses, all of which are insulting to Americans. Yet Muslims offer 2/3 of them freely without the faintest idea of how insulting they are. One of these theses is pretty obvious and results in people like Bill O'Reilly (and so many in the mainstream news media) retreating into the "They were radical Muslims" mode. If that were the only problem, few would oppose the Ground Zero Mosque.

So let me offer the three theses that make up the sum of opinion in the Muslim world (Naturally, there are a exceptions, but I'll touch on that later). They are:

1. High fives Osama bin Laden! The Jihad must continue.

2. The 9/11 attacks were terrible. There is no excuse for Muslims doing this. However, if the United States didn't have such a huge laundry list of transgressions against Muslims, the attacks never would have happened. I'm afraid the Jihad will continue.

3. The 9/11 attacks were terrible. No Muslim would do such a thing. Therefore, the attacks were actually carried out by the United States and/or their Zionist allies to justify waging war against us. Muslims must resist. Jihad is how we resist.

Thesis number one probably doesn't need much explanation. We know that lots of Muslims overseas feel that way about the United States. We saw news footage of Muslims celebrating the 9/11 attacks that were hastily removed by news bureaus in order to appease their Saudi/OPEC patrons. Still, the word got out and Americans weren't all that surprised.

Thesis number 2 is the darling of "moderate Muslims" as well as the extreme left. Basically, it's another version of "The beatings will continue until morale improves". Thesis number 2 tells us that America need only concede to Muslims on their list of grievances and we'll never have to worry about 9/11-type attacks again. Unfortunately, this doesn't explain the massive bombing attacks against Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Algeria etc; all Muslim nations.

But hey! The leftwingers embrace thesis 2. It must be true! After all, most terrorist attacks in Muslim countries are usually tucked away in the back pages of the newspapers and treated as unimportant.

The 3rd thesis boggles the mind of the average American. Some Americans are at least a little bit aware of thesis 3 and it's popularity in Muslim countries. We also know that there are all kinds of "9/11 truthers" running around pushing this thesis here in America. Some of these "truthers" are extreme leftwingers; others are from other parts of the political spectrum including (but certainly not limited to) the extreme right. That being said, most Americans are not fully aware at how popular thesis 3 is in Muslim countries. The "truthers" may seem whacky by American standards, but most Americans are unaware that thesis 3 is quite popular in Muslim countries.

So you might be saying to yourself: "Hey! I know Muslims that don't hold these three theses. They know who attacked us on 9/11 and don't believe for a millisecond that attacks like this would stop if America were to suddenly satisfy every grievance that exists in the Muslim world." I would hastily acknowledge a similar observation. There's only one problem: those whose views fall outside the three theses, are too few and far-between to form a critical mass of opposition to the rest. Americans can't articulate it, but we know this instinctively and THAT is why there is opposition to the Ground Zero Mosque.

FOX News, (and other mainstream news media outlets) cannot tell us WHY Americans oppose the Ground Zero Mosque. Nor can they articulate the fact that there's no critical mass of Muslims opposed to these three theses. Even if they could, they wouldn't dare. Their OPEC patrons would intervene and they know it.

That is FOX News' "Ground Zero Mosque Problem" and they are hardly alone in the mainstream news media. It need not be YOUR problem.

Two Rules for Two Peoples (Ground Zero Mosque - Part II)

2010-09-01T08:28:00.001-04:00

Last Monday (8/30/10) I watched NBC Nightly News as they interviewed our President. The subject of the Ground Zero Mosque came up and our President did a fine job of defending the right of ANY faith to build a house of worship there. The President said that no American would dream of prohibiting the building of a church or synagogue there, so let's extend the same rights to Muslims.

If only he had left out the word "synagogue"! In that one word, our President reminded me that it was just a few short months ago (March 2010), his administration had the gall to tell me that Jews can't build homes in Jerusalem because we're Jewish. Apparently, American values of freedom and tolerance do not extend to Jews living in the Jewish State on our ancestral land.

One has to wonder the mindset of a President and a country that elects him, when there's "Two Rules for Two Peoples". I hope I do not need to elaborate further on the hypocrisy at work here.

The Ground Zero Mosque

2010-08-22T10:00:00.001-04:00

For all that is being said, I don't support the Cordoba House. I think Muslims have a right to build it. They have a right to build it right there at Ground Zero where they can insult the United States. The problem is this: they could NOT build it there or anywhere if they didn't have MONEY gained from the illegal manipulation of petroleum prices by Saudi Arabia and OPEC.

The strategic path to victory in the war against Islamic terrorism is the elimination of petroleum as the prime mover of our transportation system. As long as that doesn't change, Muslims will continue to receive enormous amounts of cash to do with as they wish. They'll buy our politicians; newspaper editors, college professors, judges, supreme court justices, bureaucrats, city councils, zoning boards, corporate executives etc. They'll build skyscrapers wherever they want. At the going rate, they'll have enough money to buy majority shares in the Fortune 500 in a few years.

The Cordoba House plan is merely a symptom of the disease. At best it can be delayed. As long as the wealth of the Western World continues to flow into the hands of Saudi Wahabbists, Muslims will buy whatever money will buy.

There are solutions to this problem in our hands today. They are discussed elsewhere in this blog. Unfortunately, those who are in the pocket of Saudi Arabia have mounted a furious public relations effort to oppose these solutions.

Why Jews vote predominantly for Democrats

2010-07-29T22:38:00.003-04:00

A lot of people wonder why American Jews vote predominantly for Democrats particularly in Presidential elections. For example, Barack O’Bama recorded 77% of the Jewish vote in 2008 in spite of considerable concern regarding his pastor, Jeremiah Wright and his association with other people known for their hostility toward Jews. Even now, with President O’Bama’s popularity dropping, 47% of Jewish Americans recently polled said they would vote to re-elect him if a Presidential election was held today.

Some people shake their head in amazement. They wonder how this can be given some of the foreign relations problems, particularly with regard to U.S.-Israel relations, that have occurred during President O’Bama’s first 18 months in office. I won’t list those problems here, but I think most of my readers are familiar with at least a few of those issues.

There are a lot of theories about why American Jews vote for Democrats and lean toward liberal views. I’ve heard a lot of them and I understand these theories. I also dismiss them. I have my own theory that I’d like to share with you.

The vast majority of Jewish-Americans are descendants of a wave of immigration from Eastern Europe that occurred between 1890 and 1927. Most of these Jews lived in the “Pale of Settlement” of Eastern Europe. This region was ruled directly or indirectly by the Czar of Russia for most of this period.

It would be an understatement to say that the Russian Czars were anti-Semitic. Moreover, the last Russian Czar, Nicholas II was fully willing to use anti-Semitism to divert public discontent away from his critics and toward a common scapegoat. Nicholas II was the last Czar to rule Russia and was overthrown in 1917 by a coalition of Socialists, Social Democrats, and of course Communists.

Thus, during the period of Jewish immigration, the primary opposition to the hated and anti-Semitic Czar were leftists and those who at the very least, sympathized with the leftists’ opposition to the Czar. When the new Americans came ashore and looked around, the party that best resembled the opposition to the Czar was the Democratic Party. Thus came a natural relationship between Jewish-Americans and the Democratic Party; one that has transcended several generations. In other words, Jews vote predominantly Democratic because the Democratic Party best resembles the traditional opponents of the Czarist regime from which our ancestors fled.

This theory might not be so evident to you, but it became evident to me in the 1990’s when I formulated it. During that period, there was a second, smaller wave of Jewish immigration to the United States from the former U.S.S.R. Anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union didn’t die with Czar Nicholas II. It remained a manifest policy of state. The Soviet Union's open assistance to those wishing to destroy the Jewish State are a matter of fact. While Soviet Jews assimilated under the force of the Communist regime, they still faced considerable discrimination regardless of their efforts to be good citizens.

The primary opposition to the Communist regime in the U.S.S.R. were those who supported free market economics in conjunction with personal political freedom. To these opponents of the Communism, personal political freedom could not come about in the U.S.S.R. without economic freedom.

When the U.S.S.R. dissolved, its Jewish population left in droves. Most went to Israel where there were relatives and government programs in place to absorb them. Others came to the United States where there were also relatives and a significant mixture of private and public programs in place to help them start their lives anew.

These new Jewish-Americans identify with those who opposed the anti-Semitic Communist regime in the U.S.S.R. As they looked around the American political landscape, they found that it was the Republican Party that best resembled the opposition to the old country’s repressive regime. To nobody’s surprise, these new Jewish-Americans are attracted to the political party that best resembles the opposition to the repressive Communist regime. That is why these new Jewish-Americans from the former Soviet Union predominantly vote Republican. I do not find that surprising.

In summary, my thesis is that Jewish-Americans tend to support the Democratic Party because it best represents the opposition to the government from which our ancestors fled. This thesis is re-enforced by the phenomenon that Jewish-Americans who have fled the former Soviet Union tend to support the Republican Party because it too, best represents the opposition to the government from which they fled.

What do you think?

With the right to do evil...

2010-07-19T21:36:00.000-04:00

With the right to do evil and no recourse from the law (or Gd), people do it gleefully.

- Ahoylibs

This is one of the most profound things a friend of mine has said to me in a long time.

CNN fires Middle Eastern editor

2010-07-09T12:24:00.006-04:00

The firing of Octavia Nasr, CNN’s Senior Editor for Middle East Affairs, came and went with little fanfare. That shouldn’t surprise any of us because the rest of the news media probably doesn’t want to cover this story on account of their own vulnerabilities.

You see, Octavia Nasr was fired shortly after she posted a comment on Twitter eulogizing a Hezbollah leader, who recently died. The eulogy is all over the internet, I need not repeat it here. You can find other fine stories on the subject from my friends at Tundra Tabloids and Debbieschlussel.com.

For those of you uninformed, Hezbollah is on the U.S. State department’s list of terrorist groups. If the U.S. State Department isn’t credible enough for you (I would understand that.) consider some of the awful attacks Hezbollah is known for:

1. April 1983, U.S. Embassy bombing (by the Islamic Jihad faction).

2. October 1983, U.S. Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon

3. June 1985, torture and murder of Col. William F. Buckley in Lebanon

4. June 1985 hijacking of TWA 847 and the torture/murder of U.S. Navy Seal Robert Stethem.

5. March 1992, bombing of the Israel embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina killing 29 people.

6. July 1994, bombing of the Jewish Cultural Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina killing 85 people.

The list goes on and on. It includes the unrestricted firing of thousands of rockets into Israeli civilian areas over a period of several decades culminating in the 2006 South Lebanon War. The list I have provided is rather short and hardly describes the depth of Hezbollah’s rampage of murder.

It goes without saying that Hezbollah holds a manifest anti-Semitic policy. As such, you might think that Octavia Nasr’s open support for Hezbollah embarrassed CNN due to its Jewish audience. Why I’ll bet you thought that Nasr was fired because she rattled Jewish sensitivities. Nothing could be further from the truth. If that were true, Nasr would have been gone long ago.

The pressure group she angered was the Saudi Petrochemical Lobby. That’s because Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy. Hezbollah is a Shiite Arab terrorist group and quite unique among Arab terrorist organizations. The enmity between Shiite and Sunni Arabs is well known and the House of Saud does not take kindly to those who support Iranian (Persian) terrorist proxies in the Arab world. Hezbollah is a serious threat to Sunni Arab regimes throughout the Persian Gulf. Nasr was allowed to use CNN to demonize the Jewish State for years without repercussions. Once she rattled the Saudis a little, she was given the boot so fast; she didn’t know what hit her.

That is another reason Octavia Nasr’s firing isn’t making many headlines. "The Jews" aren’t responsible for it and therefore, it isn’t news.

We are PEACE ACTIVISTS

2010-06-29T20:53:00.000-04:00

Yah... right! How many times have I heard some version of THIS:

We are European peace activists. We are peace activists because we say we are. If you disagree, we will brand you a "racist" and have you arrested for hate speech, so beware!

Why Evangelical Christians Support Israel

2010-06-11T09:08:00.000-04:00

I have had the great pleasure of working with Christian Zionists and have found the REAL reason Christians support Israel on a religious basis. I shall now plaigerize the book STANDING WITH ISRAEL - WHY CHRISTIANS SUPPORT THE JEWISH STATE by David Brog.

In Genesis 12:3, God promises Abraham that, "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you." The "you" employed here is a plural, referring to Abraham and his descendants, that is Israel. To a dispensationalist, therefore, Genesis 12:3 practically commands philo-Semitism and Zionism. Genesis 12:3 is Christian Zionism in a nutshell.

This then, is the REAL reason why many American Christian evangelicals support Israel. They believe it is a Gd-given commandment. I just thought you should know.

Israel Strikes "Mother Lode" of Natural Gas

2010-06-09T09:27:00.001-04:00

If there's one thing anti-Semites hate, it's empowered Jews. That is why they hate Israel so much. If there's one thing they hate more than Israel, it's an Israel empowered with overwhelming financial wealth.

Well folks! It looks like worldwide anti-Semitism is about to experience their worst nightmare because Israel has discovered it's second pool of natural gas in two years. This one is the "mother lode" and will likely turn Israel into a natural gas exporting country.

Leviathan gas find spurts optimism (Jerusalem Post)

“The Leviathan exploration has the potential of being twice the size of Tamar, which was the largest gas discovery globally in 2009,” Richard Gussow, a research analyst at Deutsche Bank, said Thursday.

In addition, Noble Energy confirmed Thursday that the Tamar project remains on schedule for sanction in 2010 and first gas production sales in 2012. Noble Energy on Wednesday increased its expectations for gross recoverable gas resources at Tamar by 33% to 8.4 trillion cubic feet as a result of updated reservoir studies.

“This year we have undertaken significant capital projects to help maintain a high Mari-B deliverability through 2012, and we are working hard to enable Tamar first gas sales late in that same year,” Davidson said.

Noble Energy’s discoveries could provide about 35 years of Israel’s natural-gas needs at projected 2012 demand rates. The capital investment for Tamar is estimated at $2.8 billion.

“With the Tamar project expected to supply Israel with its natural-gas needs for the next three decades, a discovery at Leviathan, should there be one, would be earmarked for export,” Gussow said.

Therefore, Israel is now energy independent and soon will be poised to be a net energy exporter. I have long pointed out that over the years that Israel, with 1/4 the population of Saudi Arabia has a GDP of approximately half of Saudi Arabia. Moreover, Israel achieved this economic strength with no petrochemical wealth. Now, combined with petrochemical wealth (Reports say there may be petroleum underneath the Leviathan gas field.) Israel's economy could become the the single largest in the region.

The Basic Concern About Barack O'Bama

2010-06-06T12:00:00.000-04:00

On public forums and blogs, I keep hearing the same hysterical rant from Conservatives; many of them my friends. It's all rather meaningless name-calling and resembles much of the nonsense I heard from Liberals about President Bush.

When we see the current O'Bama Administration embracing Hugo Chavez, Conservative commentators froth at the mouth. The Administration says it was just being polite to another foreign leader. When we see Administration policy that supports "affordable health care", Conservatives holler "SOCIALISM". The Administration replies that they are pursuing policy widely supported during the 2008 election. When the President appoints people like Van Jones, well... Conservatives go ballistic, but they can't articulate why others should be concerned.

Yet there's one basic concern about President O'Bama that my Conservative friends fail to articulate time and time again; hard as they try. That basic concern is this: During his formative years as a young adult, Barack O'Bama kept close company with people who hold America in VERY low esteem.

Therein lies the basic concern many in "middle America" have with our President. Too bad Conservatives can't articulate it and explain it effectively to the American public.

I support Israel

2010-06-03T23:11:00.000-04:00

I don't support EVERY Israeli policy, but by and large, they do a fine job of maintaining and running a productive and modern democracy. They are also quite friendly toward the US; something that can't be said of most of the nations in the region. Their technological contributions to the world economy far exceed what can normally be expected of their small population.

I know people hate Israel because it's a Jewish State. Yet Israel's national sins pale in comparison with much of the evil in the world. Moreover, Israel is the only nation who's national sins (real, imagined and mostly invented) carry a routine recommendation of remediation by permanent national destruction. That is a very unique remedy and it is largely due to anti-Semitism. After all, in a world that is void of anti-Semitism, the War Against Israel could not exist.

Israel: a unique nation

2010-06-01T20:11:00.000-04:00

Let's face it folks! Israel is the only nation where the recommended remedy to its national sins (real, imagined and mostly invented) is permanent national destruction.

I've been saying that for many years, but thought I'd mention it now for the record.

C ya,

TINSC

About the Breakup of Al and Tipper Gore

2010-06-01T19:28:00.002-04:00

I voted for Al Gore. I voted for Clinton twice. Unfortunately, I was never liberal ENOUGH because I don't hate Israel.

In his day, Al Gore was a heck of a good public servant. When he lost the 2000 election, he lost his marbles. He went insane. I knew it because I loved him.

Perhaps it was best that he lost that election. In September 2001, when he showed up to President Bush's address to the joint session of Congress, he was bearded and had obviously gained a lot of weight.

George Bush delivered his address, basking in the glory of support from a nation rallying around our President. Al Gore was irrelevant and he knew it. It ate at him. It tore at his self-identity.

In the following years, Al Gore sought relevancy in the American policy-making field by pushing his "global warming" fear. It led to an Academy Award and a Nobel Peace Prize. It was not enough! It was not enough to sooth his loss of sanity. Indeed, his loss of sanity had led to the herculean effort to bring the irrational fear of "global warming" to the forefront of national and international policy making.

Having won all the accolades and adoring attention of throngs of followers, it is only natural that all this made his insanity worse. I saw the signs; others did not. But now, ten years later, we are finally seeing the signs that the bulletproof "Gorebot" is a man of flesh and blood; susceptible to all the things that fame, fortune and international attention provide. Who knows! Perhaps we'll find that he's another "Tiger Woods". Or maybe it's just that his insanity became too much for Tipper to bear. Eventually, we'll find out the details.

In the mean time, I'm not gloating over this. I just think it's important to say that I saw Al Gore crumble badly after the election of 2000. I'm not entirely surprised this happened, but I wish it hadn't.

Mark Twain Wisdom For Today's World

2010-05-20T22:13:00.002-04:00

"If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed."

--Mark Twain

Building a house in Jerusalem

2010-03-15T00:14:00.003-04:00

Why is it that I can't build a house in Jerusalem? I'm Jewish! Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish People.

Nobody questioned whether a black man could move into the White House, the capital of the United States. Certainly not Jewish-Americans, 77% of whom voted for Barack O'Bama to be our President.

So why does this administration have such a problem with Jews building homes in Jerusalem and moving to the eternal capital of the Jewish People? Archaeological evidence shows that Jews founded Jerusalem 3000 years ago. Our liturgy mentions Jerusalem early and often as the capital of our people. It's only natural for Jews to live in Jerusalem.

I don't get it! Certainly in the history of mankind, far more cruel acts against humanity have been perpetrated than the mere building of houses. And let's face it! If someone said that blacks couldn't build homes in a neighborhood where they wanted, we'd hear a never-ending complaint of "racism" consistent with the American movement against segregation. That would be the morally correct position; one I would strongly support.

But for some reason, when Jews build homes in Jerusalem, it's a big federal case. Anti-Semitic Arabs get upset and our State Department thinks that this means that the Jews are causing a problem. This is an embrace of anti-Semitism by our State Department. I have a problem with that.

Even if someone were to say that Arabs have a sovereign right to forbid Jews to build houses in their country, it would be no less anti-Semitic. Why does the United States government embrace this attitude?

It is wrong; morally wrong. I would like the government of the United States to change it's policy to reflect our own American values that says people can build houses where they want to.

If the United States State Department felt insulted by Israel building homes in Jerusalem, let me make it clear that I feel no less insulted by the United State State Department when they tell me that I can't build a house in Jerusalem because I'm Jewish.

The Silver Bullet to our Petroleum Crisis

2010-03-11T21:02:00.000-05:00

I was reading a column by David Harris of the AJC the other day. While I praise the AJC for making energy a high priority, I find them too embracing of liberal orthodoxy. Like so many people, they've been distracted by all the talk of "greenhouse gases". So when David Harris made the comment: "There is no silver bullet", I had to disagree. There IS a "silver bullet". It is the Open Fuels Standard Act of 2009.

Dr. Robert Zubrin has laid this policy out in a book called "Energy Victory". I highly recommend you read it. However, if you can't read it, please take the time to watch these 4 videos of his Energy Victory presentation.

These videos can be found at the following address:

http://vimeo.com/tag:zubrin

Here's part 1 of 4

Dr. Robert Zubrin Energy Victory 1 of 4 from EcoBabble on Vimeo.

About the Armenian Massacres

2010-03-06T18:53:00.000-05:00

A lot has been written and said about the Congressional motion to recognize the Armenian Massacres of 1915 as a genocide. With Turkey growing ever more Islamo-Fascist by the day, there is a temptation by otherwise pro-Israel activists to jump on the left's bandwagon and bring insult to Turkey. Apparently, some pro-Israel activists have long forgotten how many times Yasir Arafat hurled the genocide label at Israel for their treatment of Palestinian Arabs.

While the scale of murder suggests a genocide, the Armenian Massacres do not fully qualify as such. It should be noted that those who force the "G-word" on Turkey historically have been partisan leftists seeking to demonize a U.S. Ally. As such, the barbaric behavior of other Islamic nations throughout history and today are routinely ignored by these partisan leftists. It should also be noted that the Arab citizens of the Ottoman Empire participated fully in the massacre of Armenians yet escape the criticism reserved for a Cold-War ally of the United States.

Sound familiar? It should.

The same people hollering "genocide" against Turkey are those who routinely holler "apartheid" and "genocide" describing Israel's treatment of Palestinian Arabs. When you have to stand in the same boat with these people in order to hurl the "genocide" label on Turkey, ya gotta wonder just how accurate the accusation really is.

In fact, it is because the Armenian Massacres were NOT a genocide that the exact death toll is disputed. That is because unlike the Nazis who CAREFULLY PLANNED the inhalation of Jews, the Ottomans had no statistical tracking in order to measure progress. Thus, it doesn't matter what number you pick: a) the conservative Turkish number of 600,000; b) The Armenian/leftist number of 2 million; or c) the generally accepted number of "about a million", the mere fact that nobody can get an accurate accounting of the massacre is because the Ottomans did not set up an accounting system that would have been expected from a central and strategic plan of annihilation, i.e. a genocide.

There are some other excellent resources on this subject from anti-Terrorism specialists and historians. I recommend:

http://www.meforum.org/748/revisiting-the-armenian-genocide

http://www.meforum.org/991/armenian-massacres-new-records-undercut-old-blame

http://www.meforum.org/2114/ottoman-archives-reshape-armenian-debate

The general reason by which these horrific massacres fail to qualify as a genocide is because historians have failed to find evidence that there was a master plan developed by the Ottoman Empire leaders to totally annihilate ethnic Armenians. The charge of genocide against the Ottoman Empire is based on the scale of the massacres, NOT the true definition of the term.

But most important, remember this! If you're going to heave the genocide label at Turkey, don't be surprise if the person standing next to you is heaving the apartheid label at Israel. The use of these words have a common tactic and if you want to be careless with them, don't be surprised if that comes back to you like a boomerang.

Will someone explain this to me?

2010-02-18T09:18:00.000-05:00

Let's assume that the Israelis actually were responsible for the assassination of the HAMAS terrorist gun-runner Mahmound Mahbouh in Dubai.

Why is it such a moral negative for Israel to assassinate an armed enemy of the state in a country that is at war with Israel?

Senator Barack Obama - AIPAC Policy Conference June 4, 2008

2009-11-25T16:07:00.001-05:00

"Before I begin I also want to mention that I know some have been receiving provocative emails that have been circulated throughout the Jewish communities across the country and a few of you may have gotten them. They’re filled with tall-tales and dire warnings about a certain candidate for President and all I want to say is let me know if you see this guy named Barack Obama because he sounds pretty scary."

Is it "religious fundamentalism" in general?

2009-11-07T21:50:00.005-05:00

The following comment is based on Robert Spencer's "13 Myths About Jihad".

Islam came around 600 years after the birth of Jesus. It was the Muslims who conquered the holy land in an imperial conquest.

The common myth of course is that the world's problem is "religious fundamentalism" in general, not Islamic jihad in particular.

The fact is that Islamists commit violent acts in the name of Islam THE WORLD OVER. Fundamentalists from no other religious tradition have organized into violent groups worldwide. That is because violence and violent imperialism is "fundamental" to the teachings of Islam in a way and to an extent that is not true of ANY other religion.

"Moderate Muslims"

2009-11-03T22:14:00.006-05:00

I think this thesis was originally offered on Tundra Tabloids.

I know this isn't the original verbiage, but the thesis is basically the same.

The Islamic religion in its purest (political) form is totalitarian in nature and therefore anti-democratic. We speak about the meaning of the word "moderate" in relation to Islam and find it as something no longer holding any meaning. The reason for this is simple: many so-called "moderates" have been praised in the west, only later being found to have been supporting jihad (whether by peaceful or violent means) against non-Muslims from the very beginning.

The Muslims we look to with hope are the "modernists", who truly believe in liberal democracy such that Islam should be a matter of personal faith, not politics. And above all, our modernist Muslim allies fully realize that Sharia has no place as a system of government in a modern industrial, democratic nation.

Those who refuse to condemn (restrict) sharia (Islamic law) as being incompatible with modern day society, are the Muslims we take issue with. It is these Muslims who present a clear and present danger to our American republic.

Rio gets the 2016 Summer Olympics

2009-10-04T02:05:00.001-04:00

Did anybody bother to tell the IOC that it's WINTER in Rio that time of year?

DUH!!!!

President O'Bama Negotiates Secretly With the Pharmaceutical Lobby

2009-08-22T12:21:00.016-04:00

My friend KGS59 of the Tundra Tabloids has posted an interesting article. It concerns recent news that President O'Bama has negotiated pharmaceutical prices in private with a leading representative of the industry (otherwise known as a lobbyist).

This is an excellent presentation. It clarifies something important.

I never had a problem with the President negotiating drug prices. I didn't mind the fact that the negotiation was held privately.

Most GOP/partisan blogs are just complaining that the President negotiated drug prices. This was something most people thought needed to be done. Moreover, it was seen as a major shortcoming in the GOP Medicare prescription plan.

There is also major GOP/partisan griping about who President O'Bama negotiated with, a leading lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry. I wonder who they expected the President to negotiate with. Who did the GOP negotiate with when they formulated their plan? Are GOP partisans trying to tell us the Bush Administration and their congressional allies never negotiated public policy with lobbyists? Who's President O'Bama supposed to negotiate with?

So here's where I draw the line. I have ALWAYS said that the negotiation results need to be scrutinized. The real question that has to be asked is this: Did the American people get the best deal possible?

This presentation actually does something to answer that key question and it seems like we certainly did NOT get the best deal possible. The 2% savings bandied about in the presentation was against total sales. That's actually a more significant amount than the presentation says. The 2% savings against total sales might not seem like much, but it's a much larger percentage of gross profit margin.

Here's the rub! Most financial analysts specializing in the pharmaceutical business believe the industry could have comfortably doubled the price concessions made to President O'Bama. In other words, President O'Bama left a LOT of money on the table; money that the American public will have to pay. Moreover, the legitimate partisan question can be raised: was there a tangible political reward to President O'Bama and the Democrats for failing to push for more drug price concessions?

That's the issue I would like to see argued! I was glad that the Tundra Tabloid presentation cast some light on the issue of whether or not we got a good deal, but if we're really serious about this issue, there's more to shed light on. Merely quoting a dubious source like Air America only makes a partisan GOP point. (I fully realize why Air America was chosen as a source given their overt support for the O'Bama candidacy in campaign '08.)

Oh! One more thing. There's another thesis offered in the Tundra Tabloids column. It states that the O'Bama Administration is conducting business as usual. Not only was that obvious long before he got elected, but it is also obvious along the entire front of issues facing the country. If you voted for President O'Bama and you believed he'd conduct the business of government differently than before, then you are someone who is easily fooled.

The American system of government has its flaws, but it's still a pretty good system. The people who manage it make the difference. President O'Bama couldn't really do business any different than before because it's very difficult to do so. The only question lies in his sincerity to represent the American public consensus fairly in matters of public policy.

The evidence of his first 7 months in office suggests that he's torn between two entities and neither of these are the general American public consensus. Either he's pressing the agenda of:

1. The extreme left of the Democratic party.

2. Corporate interests

Hey! I saw the guy in action while he was in Illinois. Barack O'Bama was a fine advocate of nuclear power when he was a Senator. Most of Chicago, Illinois' electricity comes from nuclear power. That support didn't come without a lot of help from industry lobbyists with friends in the Cook County Democratic Party (CCDP) That's just a short example.

In the grand attempt to make medical care part of the American public infrastructure (a mistake, in my view), negotiations between the government and corporations are absolutely necessary. However, like all other forms of infrastructure, these negotiations and their results must hold up to public scrutiny.

We are seeing our first signs of failure in the O'Bama Administration's dealings in THIS story. It's really one of the first stories we can sink our teeth into since he became President. I think this story deserves more public scrutiny.

Cronkite Remembers

2009-07-31T19:13:00.004-04:00

I bought the 1996 VHS edition of "Cronkite Remembers" several years ago. Unfortunately, when I tried to play it a couple weeks ago when Walter Cronkite died, the tape broke. I was really angry about that and issued a few choice swear words in frustration.

I went on the internet and used Amazon.com to locate the tape. It was not to be found. Rather, there is a 3 DVD set by the same name. I figured it was probably a very similar production and bought it.

Mrs. TINSC and I have just spent the past 3 days watching this 7-1/2 hour series. It's worth every cent of the $20 or so we paid.

What can I say about Walter Cronkite? I dunno. The first thing that comes to my mind is: WHAT A LIFE!

Walter Cronkite was an eye witness to so much American history that this 7-1/2 hour series couldn't possibly cover it all.

He flew 8 combat missions over Europe during World War II as a war correspondent. He saw that war up close and personal. He covered the Nuremberg trials and later; even covered the Eichmann trial in Israel. He lived in Moscow immediately after the war and witnessed Stalinism in a most personal way. He flew a combat air mission over Vietnam. He attended BOTH the Democratic and Republican national conventions of 1928 (not as a reporter).

To hear the 20th century history of America from Walter Cronkite is a treat no matter what your politics are.

There are people who berate Walter Cronkite because he was a liberal. He was a liberal. There are those who berate Walter Cronkite for causing America to lose the Vietnam War. America didn't lose the Vietnam War; the RVN lost it. If the South Vietnamese couldn't stand up and fight against the Communists, then there was never a war to be won.

I'd also add that I heard some absolute falsehoods stated in that documentary. For example, Walter Cronkite states that America spent the 1930's preparing for World War II. Few concur with that view. Most historians rightly believe that America was quite unprepared for war on September 1, 1939 and hardly more prepared on December 7, 1941 when the Japs attacked Pearl Harbor.

But these are things he said in passing; so briefly you'd hardly even notice it. By and large, this DVD set is like listening to Grandpa tell old stories; except these stories shaped our world. There is no question that Walter Cronkite was in the thick of so much of it.

Walter Cronkite took from the Nuremberg Trials an opinion that we need a "World Court" and a "World Government" to diffuse conflict. That he was holding onto such beliefs well into the late 1990's is a mystery to me. Let me just say that I certainly don't agree with him on THAT one.

I need to check to see what the copyright date is on the DVD set. I think there were some things left out of the DVD set that were in that original 1996 VHS edition. For example, I could SWEAR Walter Cronkite talks about his daughter Kathy going to Woodstock on the original 1996 edition. I'm going to find a VHS tape repair service someday and have that restored so I can tell you whether my memory serves me correct.

I also remember that the 1996 edition covered the assassination attempt on President Reagan. This was certainly absent from the DVD set although as I'm sure you can imagine, there was plenty of time devoted to the assassination of President Kennedy.

Yet while Walter Cronkite can be fairly criticized for being liberal, even having liberal bias in his news reporting, nobody can say he was naive about the totalitarian aspects of Communism. This is where his worst critics and I part ways. Walter Cronkite was opposed to Communism and fully recognized it as a means to impose totalitarian rule. Moreover, he fully recognized the imperialist nature of the Soviet Union and the anti-American sentiment that American Communists held. Walter Cronkite was no fool and he was no tool.

He called the news the way he saw the news; sometimes regretting afterward. He did his best to get it right and if he reported the news through his liberal preferences, well... that's the way it was. Compared to the clods anchoring network news today, Walter did his job reasonably well.

Republicans and Democrats

2009-07-22T21:22:00.002-04:00

The only difference between Democrats and Republicans is that one group tries to push the country over the cliff. The other group tries to pull the country over the cliff.

The two sides argue about which is better but the end result is the same.

Have you ever noticed?

2009-05-23T00:49:00.002-04:00

Have you ever noticed that individuals and factions generally partial to greater state control of economic life, have found the evidence for global warming to be quite compelling?

Just thought I'd ask again since a cap-and-trade bill is winding its way through Congress right now.

U.S. Government moves to dismiss AIPAC case

2009-05-01T20:57:00.008-04:00

Of course the U.S. Government was eventually going to drop these scurilous charges.

You'll note that the charges were covered in depth by the news media when they were made. That is because the news media goes into high gear when there's Jews to hate.

But now, with the charges dropped (because they were baseless to begin with) the end of the story is not being covered.

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody sees or hears it, did it happen?

The charges against Rosen and Weissman were covered extensively complete with accusations of nefarious intent. The final conclusion of the prosecutors that they do not have a case, has not garnished much news media attention. Not like I'm surprised.

***** UPDATE *****

I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Alex Safian of CAMERA tonight on this subject. Alex noted the storm of coverage when the story first broke and agreed that statistically, the coverage of the exoneration received far less media coverage. Alex made note that this is common in news media coverage and not inimical to coverage of Israel and/or Jews.

That being said, Alex professionally documents anti-Israel bias in the news media. My claim that initial coverage of the "AIPAC spy story" exhibited anti-Israel bias has merit. Some examples of the anti-Israel bias surrounding the original story (2004) are documented on CAMERA's web site.

When pigs fly...

2009-04-27T23:32:00.002-04:00

... they'll say "swine flew".

Full disclosure: That's my brother's joke.

Some Good News

2009-04-23T09:28:00.004-04:00

While Mahmoud Ahmadinijad got slobbering coverage by the LIB media, it looks like the Durban II conference has not turned out to be a frothing-at-the-mouth frenzy of anti-Semitism that characterized Durban I. It looks like the diplomatic efforts of the countries that did not participate sent a valuable message.

From the Jerusalem Post:

But although Durban II was preceded by a two day anti-Israel conference by non-governmental groups and a number of small anti-Israel rallies were held - including one that compared Israel's actions in Gaza with those of the Warsaw ghetto - the atmosphere around the conference did not replicate Durban I.

Link to the whole article

Thank you

2009-04-20T19:04:00.003-04:00

The There is NO Santa Claus blog would like to thank the leaders of the following countries for boycotting the Durban II conference:

1. Germany
2. Italy
3. Poland
4. Holland
5. United States of America
6. Canada
7. Australia
8. New Zealand
9. Sweden
10.Israel.

SUNDOWN!

2009-04-16T22:44:00.001-04:00

Passover is OVER. Time for BEER!

About Global Warming

2009-04-16T08:33:00.004-04:00

Let's get something straight!

The problem isn't global warming. The problem is people who say government can fix problems of global magnitude by taking more of your money and controlling the way you live.

President O'Bama's dog

2009-04-14T19:42:00.003-04:00

I think it's very nice President O'Bama got his children a dog. One has to wonder what took him so long. That he conditioned getting a dog on his victory in a Presidential election makes me wonder how much of a present it was to his children. OTOH, he's not going to be home too much so the dog is a fine idea.
And besides, Muslims don't like dogs. Muslim households rarely keep dogs. So all you hysterical O'Bama-bashers need to find something else to kvetch about. Our President isn't a Muslim, yet.
But what of the LIB media? Why the hype? President Bush had a dog. Did anyone know its name? President Clinton had a dog. Did anyone know its name? Where was all the media hype then? There hasn't been this much hype for the President's dog since Lyndon Johnson lifted his beagle up by the ears 45 years ago.
And apparently, there doesn't seem to be any of the usual hypersensitivity to "racism" given that the President has named his dog "Bo". If George Bush had brought a black dog into the White House and named it "Bo", I think we would never have heard the end of it. But alas! This is a new era of "hope and change".
The dog is cute and the most important thing is that the children are happy and do not experience an allergic reaction to Bo. After all, Bo shares a breeding blood line with Sen. Ted Kennedy's dogs.
Does this make the O'Bamas and Kennedys "family"? :+)

Gov. Granholm, your silence today is deafening

2009-03-30T20:24:00.003-04:00

The Big Three "bailout" is turning out to be anything BUT a rescue plan. Moreover, there's one rule for New York bankers and another rule for Michigan auto workers.

I'd like to think Gov. Granholm would speak out on this disparity. Don't you?

AIG - A media feeding frenzy

2009-03-17T19:10:00.004-04:00

OK folks! The AIG bonus scandal is quickly turning into another one of those media feeding frenzies. Let's back up, take a deep breath and look at it.

We (da taxpayers) recently loaned AIG $30 Billion. Or did we just give it to them in exchange for an equity position in the company? It would be nice if the media actually informed us of the details of the "bailout". Wouldn't it?

Don't hold your breath. For now, I'll call this a loan.

Had we not loaned AIG $30 Billion, they would have gone bankrupt and pulled down other banks in a domino effect. I understand that. The plan is necessary to stabilize the banking system.

Had AIG gone bankrupt, I doubt they could have paid these bonuses. Therein lies the problem. The beneficiaries of this lavish compensation are being directly paid by taxpayers for running a company whose financial performance does not warrant lavish compensation. That's putting it mildly.

The big friggin' outrage is that something like $150 million has been paid out to AIG execs as retention bonuses. OK kiddies! Let's do the math! $150(EE6) divided by $30(EE9) times 100% equals 0.5%. In other words, less than 1% of this money has been paid out in bonuses.

Back in the wild and wooley days of the Casino business in Los Vegas, this was called "skimming". The government stopped it. Strange that the government didn't stop this! I understand your anger.

That does not mean we had to let the entire world banking system melt down. This problem doesn't mean it was wrong to rescue the banking system. It just means that the government once again, let a hundred executives of a large corporation get rich at taxpayer expense for no good reason.

Unheard of! Eh?

Today, I've heard news reports of Congressmen shouting from the highest mountaintops that this is an outrage. What is an outrage is that Congress didn't do any due dilligence to prevent this.

And what of the O'Bama Administration. This is an Administration that told us just a few weeks ago that banking bailout money would have "strings attached"; executive compensation would be limited to real-world levels for those banks accepting federal assistance. Either the O'Bama Administration was NOT sincere, or they failed to follow through with their own promise. No wonder the President is madder than a hornet.

I just wish our elected leaders had the HUMILITY to express a sense of embarassment over this issue. I think the money paid out to these executives can probably be recovered. If not, the government can certainly make these executives sorry they ever kept it.

Yet the media feeding frenzy on this story is focusing on public anger and the anger of our elected leaders. I can certainly understand the public anger. As far as our elected leaders are concerned, they should be EMBARASSED.

Oh! And one more thing before I sign off. I sure hope that our elected leaders in Washington D.C. take better care of how that "stimulus" money is spent better than they took care of the AIG rescue money. The stimulus package is law, but the money hasn't been spent yet. There's still time to prevent further embarassment to our elected leaders.

Do you think they'll use this time wisely?

Celebrating the O'Bama Inauguration

2009-01-20T20:18:00.003-05:00

I celebrated the O'Bama inauguration tonight. Having voted for Clinton twice, Gore and Kerry and never being liberal ENOUGH, the cover of Ann Coulter's latest book, GUILTY caught my eye in the local West Michigan grocery store. In honor of the O'Bama inaguration, I bought the book.

"Liberals always have to be the victims, particularly when they are oppressing others. Modern victims aren't victims because of what they have suffered; they are victims of convenience for the Left.... Playing the game of He Who Is Offended First Wins, the keyt o any political argument is to pretend to be insulted and register operatic anger. Liberals are the masters of finger-wagging indignation. They will wail about some perceived slight to a sacred feeling of theirs, frightening people who have never before witnessed the liberal's capacity to invoke synthetic outrage. Distracted by the crocodile tears of the liberal, Americans don't notice that these fake victims are attacking, advancing and creating genuine victims."

Gotta love it.

It's (not) Israel's Fault

2009-01-08T19:42:00.004-05:00

It's Israel's Fault

An excellent essay by By Rabbi David Fass.

I encourage you to read it. My thanks to PRIMER and primerprez for posting this excellent essay.

What a shame!

2009-01-07T21:24:00.008-05:00

What a shame! I wish the IDF had killed this creep!

>There are other pictures that haunt me. The Israeli army issued a video of the bombing of the Hamas-run government compound, which it posted on YouTube. In it, I also can see my home being destroyed, and I watch it obsessively.<

In other words, ole Ibrahim Barzak lived in the heart of Hamas' neighborhood in easy walking distance from their government compound. He is a member of the club. He knows the secret handshake. And since Hamas PURGED Fatah some time ago, the only explanation for Barzak being alive is that he's part and parcel of the HAMAS propaganda machine.

>Al Dera, a beautiful hotel on the Mediterranean shore, was a place where young men and women smoked water pipes and flirted, and where families went for dinner on Thursdays.

Those days are gone now.<

Ah! The good old days!

But wait! According to Barzak, there were NO "good old days", only occupation, blockade and misery. I'll bet you can find reams of his articles claiming such.

>Samir, who is 9, told me his family has no water at home and he wanted to bring enough for a bath because he and his brother smell.

That's a problem for most people in Gaza right now.<

How many of you really think this is a problem that has just recently manifested itself?

>There were few cars on the roads, and most of those were media cars, ambulances and vehicles packed with civilians. Some looked like they were fleeing, with mattresses tied to the roofs, but who knows where they can go.

Israeli helicopters flew overhead. I heard blasts in the distance. The roads were ripped apart by explosives. <

There are 22 Arab League states stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. If these states aren't welcoming Arabs from Gaza, it certainly isn't Israel's fault. But hey! Why mention that when the primary agenda of a HAMAS apparatchik is to demonize the Jews?

As an AP employee, I'll bet the IDF has Ibrahim Barzak's cell phone number. I'll bet they called him and told him to get the heck out of the way before they bombed the HAMAS government complex that is in easy walking distance of his home. If he had the courage to report that, the HAMAS might not like the fact that he was talking to "the Jews".

Khaled Abu Tomeh of the JERUSALEM POST has reported on what happens to Gazans who are suspected of collaborating with Israel. According to Tomeh's report:

>Meanwhile, sources close to Hamas revealed over the weekend that the movement had "executed" more than 35 Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel and were being held in various Hamas security installations.<

While Ibrahim Barzak plays the LIB media pity game, he knows darn well that HAMAS continues to insist that they will NOT stop attacking Israel; they will NOT end the war. Barzak knows that HAMAS is bragging about sacrificing their lives and the lives of Gaza's citizens in the holy war against the Jews. HAMAS doesn't care who they murder. Too bad Ibrahim Barzak is unwilling to report it.

HAMAS propagandists like Ibrahim Barzak deserve to be treated like a combatant.

Gaza

2009-01-06T08:58:00.005-05:00

It is long forgotten that Israel evacuated Gaza in 2005 under diplomatic pressure from the United States.

If the United States doesn't back Israel's defense from artillery attacks emanating from Gaza, we can forget about Israel ever again making territorial concessions to the Arabs on America' s behalf. Keep that in mind when you're scratching your head wondering why the United States and others are backing Israel in the current war.

I AM A PALESTINIAN!

2009-01-04T22:37:00.002-05:00

Once upon a time, Israel and the US had a policy of not talking to terrorists. Now they're talking to Al-Jazeera.

Who are the Palestinians? There has never, in the history of humankind, been an Arab nation of "Palestine".

Palestine is a region. The modern State of Israel is part of that region. JEWS ARE PALESTINIANS TOO!

Yet for some reason, everybody has bought into the "no Jews allowed" definition of "Palestinian"; even the Likud.

It's time we spoke up and ended this sham that "Palestine" is an exclusive Arab land where Jews have no national rights.

The left (including the Israeli left) has long held fast to the belief that the War Against Israel is a competition between two national liberation movements. This is a LIE.

The War Against Israel is between one national liberation movement (Zionist) against a totalitarian, imperialist Islamo-Fascist movement which seeks to conquer all lands once ruled by Muslims and then onward to rule the world.

Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish People. The Jews established a nation in Palestine called Israel. The Arabs established a nation in Palestine called Jordan.

Therefore:

I AM A PALESTINIAN! I AM A JEW! I AM A ZIONIST!

It is time to end the "no Jews allowed" aspect of defining a "Palestinian".

I am sick and tired of people talking of the "Palestinians" expecting everyone to understand that they're talking EXCLUSIVELY about Arabs.

IJCTDE

2009-01-04T21:05:00.002-05:00

I think it is time to let you all know, I am the undisputed leader of IJCTDE. IJCTDE stands for the "International Jewish Conspiracy That Doesn't Exist".

You may kiss my ring now. :+)

About that Gaza evacuation in 2005

2009-01-02T13:37:00.003-05:00

Is there anyone left who thinks the Bush Administration's pressuring Israel to leave Gaza in 2005 has been a diplomatic success?

About Rod Marinelli and the 0-16 Lionis

2008-12-31T22:27:00.005-05:00

I liked what Rod Marinelli said in his Monday News conference. Coach Marinelli had just led the Lions to an 0-16 record, the worst in NFL history. Yet he fought of the label of the "worst" team. Football coaches aren't the best politicians in the world. They aren't always articulate or eloquent. Sometimes we need someone like Cyrano to speak the words that need to be spoken.

I came across these words once offered by Theodore Roosevelt that made me think of Rod Marinelli. I thought it was very fitting.

> It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.<

What a great commentary! I think that's what Rod Marinelli was trying to tell us last Monday... and I admire him. I don't think we've heard the end of Coach Marinelli.

Palestinian rocket kills 2 Gaza girls. Nobody cares

2008-12-27T01:00:00.005-05:00

GAZA (Reuters) – A rocket apparently fired by Palestinians on Friday struck a house in the Gaza Strip, killing two Palestinian sisters aged five and 13, Palestinian medics said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081226/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_rocket

As you can see from the link, Reuters ran a very brief story about this. Naturally, the story got little play in the mainstream media. How typical!

Please keep this incident in mind over the next weeks. If Israel sends its armed forces into Gaza to end the indiscriminate shelling of its civilian centers, you're likely to hear every imaginable "human interest story" of "Palestinian suffering" described in elaborate detail.

This story stands out as typical of what we see when Arabs kill Arabs.

Grain isn't a limited resource

2008-12-19T23:22:00.001-05:00

Grain isn't a limited resource. We can grow tons more. Right now, the government pays farmers NOT to plant crops. But wait! There's more!
Most corn grown in America is feed grain for cattle. In the ethanol distilling process, only the starch is used. All the protein fiber and oil is left over for use as cattle feed.
But wait! There's more! There's no need to limit ethanol production to corn. There are other sources of ethanol including sugar cane (Brazil is running their cars on sugar-cane based ethanol) and other sugar-bearing crops. Plus, there's cellulosic ethanol, the next coming technology.
But wait! There's more! There's no need to limit our automotive fuels to ethanol. We can run our cars on METHANOL which can be made from darn near anything including coal, waste wood, waste paper, and even garbage.
Diesel powered vehicles can be run from dimethyl ether, another alcohol derivative.
In the third world where economies are agrarian in nature, growing plants for automotive fuel holds the potential for economic growth that these countries so desperately need. Why let the poor countries get raped by OPEC when we can have THEM make our automotive fuels.
Yet if you read my post, you'll note that we don't have to do anything to MAKE ethanol. We merely have to make our vehicles CAPABLE of running on alcohol fuels. By doing that, we can place a cap on the price of petroleum that will limit OPEC's ability to control prices.
We can't lose if we have motor vehicles capable of running on biofuels. The possibilities are endless. We can even derive bio-fuels from algae fed from CO2 emissions from power plants that we are currently throwing away. Even the tree-huggers will like that one!

Flex Fuel Vehicle Mandate is a MUST

2008-12-19T20:06:00.003-05:00

With petroleum and gasoline prices falling, there is still plenty of room for ethanol in America's future for transportation fuels. Naturally, ethanol is losing its competitive edge as the price of petroleum falls with the world economy slipping into a major recession.

But all is not lost. You see, NOW is the time to bring about a federal mandate for flex fuel vehicles.

We don't need to make any more ethanol (especially corn-based ethanol) than we are not to finally put a cap on the price of petroleum. A mandate that all cars sold in America be flex fueled (Any mix of gasoline, ethanol and/or methanol) would forever place a ceiling on how much OPEC can charge for petroleum.

Right now, the equivalent price of a gallon of gasoline in the form of ethanol is about $2.25/gallon. That was VERY competitive with last Summer's gasoline prices that exceeded $4.00/gallon. However today, this is not competitive with gasoline selling for well under $2.00/gallon.

However, if every car sold in America could run on any combination of gasoline, ethanol and/or methanol, the prices of these alternative fuels made-in-America will forever be a cap on the price of gasoline and petroleum.

That is why it is imperative that the United States pass a flex fuel vehicle mandate as soon as possible.

Where have I heard this before?

2008-12-15T22:52:00.003-05:00

Hillary Clinton has now left a vacancy in the U.S. Senate as she fills her appointment to be Secretary of State. The Governor of New York must now select a replacement and Caroline Kennedy has offered to fill the vacancy.

Remember when George Bush ran for President? Remember the commentary?

Rich kid short-listed for effortless political success.
Political family stretching back several generations.
Daddy was President. etc etc.

Why were these slights missing from national news media and commentary coverage of Caroline Kennedy's effort to be appointed U.S. Senator from New York?

Algea Power

2008-12-12T22:10:00.004-05:00

Algae holds a lot of potential as a biofuel. As petroleum prices tumble making ethanol less competitive for the present, algae holds a double potential because it can be used to reduce carbon emissions from conventional power plants. While I'm not a fan of the proponents of global warming, there is no good reason to throw away perfectly good CO2 when it can be used to make transportation fuels.

Isaac Berzin has a prototype system in place at MIT's power plant. He's not alone.

http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enZone=Profiles&enDisplay=view&enPage=BlankPage&enDispWhat=object&enDispWho=Articles^l2141

Here's anothe researcher:

Algae hold the potential to far out-produce corn as a source of biofuel.

Why Now?

2008-12-10T10:12:00.005-05:00

Why did the Feds arrest Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich NOW?

Gov. B was going to fall. It was just a matter of time. Everybody knew it!

The question is the TIMING. Why now?

Well... it seems that the very NEXT scheduled interview for the vacated U.S. Senate seat was none other than Jessie Jackson Jr. Jr. has kept his nose clean in Chicago politics for 12 years as a Congressman; an admirable record, I might add.

With the Feds wiretapping Gov. B's solicitations for money in exchange for the appointment, Jessie Jr. would have become dirtied up in the affair.

Who knows! Maybe Jessie might even break and offer to pay up with the tape recorder on.

With a new boss coming to Washington D.C. any Chicago-based FBI agent knows he must prevent this; especially if he/she thinks Jessie Jr. is the new President's favorite to fill his old job. That is why the FBI acted yesterday.

This is my personal speculation based on what I currently know about the story. Other facts may come to light demonstrating that this speculation is unwarranted.

***** UPDATE *****

According to My Way News, AP reports that Rep. Jessie Jackson Jr. interviewed for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack O'Bama on Monday, December 8, 2008. The FBI filed their affidavit on Sunday December 7, 2008, a day before the interview.

An examination of the FBI's affidavit does not indicate a warrant to bug Gov. Blagojevich's Governor's office. Therefore , because the FBI struck early Tuesday morning (December 9, 2008) to arrest Blagojevich, it is unlikely that they picked up any recorded conversations indicating a payoff was discussed between the two. Whatever was talked about was not likely recorded by law enforcement. Testimony in Blagojevich's trial may reveal heresay evidence embarassing to Rep. Jackson, but it is unlikely it would convict him.

The FBI affidavit seems to protect Jr. Moreover, even though the FBI arrested Blagojevich after he interviewed Jr. for the job, the speed in which they moved and the timing is still highly suspect. They may have moved to prevent Jr. from further discussing the U.S. Senate appointment over those Blagojevich phone lines which the FBI had tapped or offices which they had bugged.

A copy of the affidavit showing the date it was filed can be found here:

http://urbanstar.com/blagojevich.pdf

The AP story on Rep. Jackson's denial of wrongdoing is located here:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081211/D9506OK80.html

The question remains as to whether Jessie Jackson Jr. had any conversations with Gov. B about the appointment that was recorded by FBI wiretaps and/or bugs. If so, the FBI hasn't indicated that yet. Jessie Jackson Jr. claims he's not the target of any investigation or charged with any misconduct. The Federal prosecutors office refused to confirm or deny that statement. Perhaps they are leaving the door open for evidence that may come to light later either through wiretap transcripts or testimony in Rod Blagojevich's trial.

DIE SANTA! DIE! DIE! DIE!

2008-12-02T22:45:00.001-05:00

2008 Mumbai Attack Was Directed Against Everyone

2008-11-30T09:34:00.006-05:00

As the dust settles on the devastating terrorist attack on Mumbai, India I couldn't help but notice some things in the news coverage I found a bit disturbing. By now, the death toll is well over 160 people and the attacks were quite wide-spread across the city including two major luxury hotels.

Yet there seemed to me to be disproportional attention by the mainstream media on the attack on the Chabad House in Mumbai. Personally, I was deeply saddened by the attack and murder of the Chabad House staff and residents. I participate in our local Chabad House activities from time to time and have the utmost respect for the Chabad organization; what they stand for and the work they do.

But to hear it from the mainstream news media, you might think the only people who got killed in this devastating attack were the 6 people in the Chabad House. So much attention was paid to the attack on the Chabad House, you better not have been quickly surfing your TV channels before you heard about the rest of the story. As the death toll climbed past 150 people, 50% of the news covered the attack on the Chabad house. Adding insult to injury, AP, ABC and CNN used the pejorative term "ultra-Orthodox" to describe Chassidic Jews. So not only did the mainstream media focus on the Chassidic Jewish victims, several major outlets found it necessary to insult them. That REALLY made me mad!

First of all, there is no such thing as "ultra-Orthodox Judaism". Here in America, there's Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism. There is also "reconstructionist Judaism", but it's pretty much another form of Reform Judaism. The term "ultra-Orthodox" was invented by a liberal media (and secular atheist Jews) to imply that religiously observant Jews are political extremists. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is absolutely NO relation between Orthodox Judaism and political extremism. If anything, the most politically extreme Jews in history were those who were atheist and openly fought for Communism. I shall not digress on this issue further except to repeat that the adjective "ultra-Orthodox" is an insulting way to describe Jews. Indeed, the LIB media outlets who used this pejorative term probably wanted to bait people like me into a digressive discussion on the matter.

That would be a smart thing! I say this because I'm convinced that the mainstream media's coverage of the Mumbai attack left one thinking that it was an attack against Jews. While over 155 people were lying dead, 50% of the news coverage centered around the "Jewish Center" or the "Orthodox Jewish Center" or worse. I realize my "50%" is an unscientific number, but I'm hoping some of my friends at CAMERA can come up with some quantitative data on the issue. I won't be ashamed to find out I've exaggerated a little. With 155 people known dead and 6 of them known to be in the Mumbai Chabad House, the math works out to be 3.87% of the casualties during the three-day period of 24/7 news coverage. During these three days, it is impossible that news reporting of the dead people in the Chabad house comprised 3.87% of the total reporting of the Mumbai massacre.

So you might be wondering: What's TINSC's beef about this?

My problem with this is simple:

The mainstream media wants people to think that Islamo-Fascism, Islamic extremism,

Islamism, or whatever you want to call it, is directed at the Jews. If not for the existence of

the Jewish State, there would be no grievance feeding these heinous terrorist attacks.

Folks, if you believe that mainstream media myth, we are all in for big trouble. Islamo-Fascism is an imperialistic totalitarian movement similar to many born in the 20th century. Anti-Semitism is a prime component because it easily disarms the general population. The message is: "You need not fear us. We only hate the Jews."

As the general public falls for the lie, resistance to the totalitarian movement weakens because the average person feels un-threatened. Once the totalitarian reign is established, the rest of the public suddenly realizes a very unpleasant fact: "Uh oh! I guess they don't like US either". By then it's too late.

Media reporting is feeding the lie!

While the vicious attacks on Mumbai were going on, Iraq was subject to a rocket attack and Pakistan was hit by a suicide bombing; neither received much news attention. The imperialistic movement to make Sharia the supreme law of the land is directed toward EVERYONE, Muslims included. This is the essence of the problem. Regardless of which form of Sharia Islamo-Fascists wage terrorism for, the attack is directed at EVERYONE.

Fortunately, most Americans understand this. Unfortunately, this understanding has not translated into reporting from the mainstream news media that continues to report disproportionately on Islamo-Fascist attacks against Jews. It's a dereliction of duty for the mainstream news media to report Islamo-Fascist terrorist attacks this way whether the message is made implicitly or explicitly.

President-Elect O'Bama

2008-11-10T13:02:00.000-05:00

OK! The victory celebration is over. With crisis in our financial markets and the Big Three American auto-makers, there was hardly time to celebrate.

Unlike some of my conservative friends, I'm not in a panic over the Democratic Party victory. I'm not predicting doom and gloom; another 9/11 etc. Not that those things can't possibly happen, but I doubt our new President-elect will be on vacation if and when they do.

O'Bama and McCain

2008-10-29T20:17:00.005-04:00

I like these guys! Both of them! They're both delightfully flawed, yet so much better than George Bush.

I plan to vote for Sen. McCain and here's why.

Imagine two Christmas presents in boxes. One box is wrapped in newspaper. It's got a few dents in it, but you know what's inside. The other box is flawless. It has no dents. It's wrapped to perfection and even has a big candy cane strapped to it... but you don't really know what's inside.

That's the choice I see. Sen. O'Bama has some excellent policy proposals; often times better than Sen. McCain. But I don't know what's inside the package. I don't know whether Sen. O'Bama really intends to deliver on his proposals. Campaign promises are not legally binding.

That's why I'm voting for Sen. McCain.

The REAL Battleground State

2008-10-21T23:57:00.002-04:00

In my opinion, IOWA will be the fault line battleground state. Republican leaning, but right next door to Illinois where O'Bama can easily ship his most dedicated campaign workers. McCain opposes ethanol subsidies and tarrifs on Brazilian ethanol; a bread-and-butter issue for the state.

Last time I checked, Iowa was too close to call.

It's not exactly a Pennsylvania, Ohio or Florida, but IOWA is where the two candidates will battle it out the closest. If it's a tight race, Iowa will decide it.

About Colin Powell

2008-10-19T23:51:00.001-04:00

A week after he left office, former Sec. of State Colin Powell was personally presented with a brand new Jaguar by Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar. As Bandar once explained: "If the reputation then builds that the Saudis take care of friends when they leave office, you'd be surprised how much better friends you have who are just coming into office."

OK! Moschiach isn't coming... yet!

2008-10-10T23:41:00.003-04:00

What! You really thought the Cubs were going to win the World Series?

Cheer up football fans!

2008-10-05T00:48:00.005-04:00

Cheer up football fans!

There's always NASCAR!

Seriously! I know what it's like when my beloved college team is "rebuilding" and there's no relief to be found from my favorite NFL team (in my case, the Bears but in your case UM fans, I'm afraid it's the Lions).

NASCAR has all the elements you could want from football. Big crowds, tailgaiting and lots of hard-hitting on "the field".

Even though that's a deal, we'll throw in 43 teams playing all at once. You can root for one team or several teams; whatever you like.

But wait! There's MORE!

Chicks really dig NASCAR because the essential objective of the game is to finish your team's car first. There's no explaining all the intricacies; no Dummies books by Howie Long.

Now how much would YOU be willing to pay for all that? But wait! There's MORE! You get to bring your own BEER into the stadium.

So don't get down this season if the Wolverines are "rebuilding" and the Lions still SUCK beyond your wildest imagination. Tune into NASCAR and see what "contact sports" was meant to be.

A Paul Newman Memory

2008-09-27T23:51:00.004-04:00

Today, Paul Newman died at age 83 and I have a story to share.

Mrs. TINSC and I were at a Michigan 500 CART race at Michigan International Speedway. This was in the old days of the 1990's when they packed in big crowds.

We were living in Illinois at the time and would spend the evening before the race in Battle Creek. In the morning, we'd eat at Bob Evans and then head out to the track where we'd get there early to find a spot on the infield in the 3rd turn. In the 3rd turn, you could see the back straightaway where the cars would whip off of turn 2, duke it out on the straitaway and then hang on for dear life in the 3rd turn.

We always got there early to get our spot and therefore had time to kill. In those years, we always took a walk around the WHOLE track. Michigan Speedway is a 2 mile oval so it's quite a hike to walk the whole thing, but there were always interesting things to see on the infield.

So we're walking around the backside of the pits and this helicopter lands. We didn't think much of it. Then, the door opens and Paul Newman walked out and walked right past us! It happened so fast, he was gone by the time I realized he had just walked past us except for the fact that i was hanging on to Mrs. TINSC. She was just a tad bit weak kneed.

And I'll never forget what Mrs. TINSC said to me: "Wow, Paul Newman! That made the whole day worthwhile!"

At the time, Paul Newman owned a great CART race team with Mario Andretti as his driver. Eventually, both Michael and Mario Andretti would race for Paul Newman.

I know that a lot of people are going to talk about Paul Newman's contribution to hollywood, but I will always be thankful to Paul Newman for his contribution to auto racing.

He was a remarkable man who did some really cool things. Some of those things he did for himself. Other things he did for the less fortunate.

I am thankful for all the years he participated in auto racing and I'm glad I bumped into him once at the speedway.

Sen. Clinton - Actions Speak Louder Than Words

2008-09-24T10:49:00.005-04:00

I'm afraid, it seems like Ms Rodham must have a different definition of "we" and "everything" Last week, she cancelled out of a ralley at the UN (in her home state) against President Ahmadinijad's visit to the UN. Sen. Clinton's spokesman said she was concerned that the rally had become a "partisan political event" - although her own participation would have ensured the opposite. So what does this tell us of Sen. Clinton's recent remarks at the AIPAC Policy Conference last June? I believe it tells us that she is an insincere politician who doesn't really care if Iran incinerates Israel.

Let us review what Sen. Clinton said at the AIPAC Policy Conference. Shall we?

>The second principle is simple one; no nuclear weapons for Iran. Iran is a country whose leaders, whose President denies the Holocaust. He defies the international community. His government trains, funds, and arms Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists in attacking Israeli civilians. He threatens to destroy Israel; just this week he said that Israel is about to die and will soon be erased. We can never let Iran obtain nuclear weapons. The next President will have to deal with the Iranian challenge from day one. This is not just in Israel’s interest; it is in America’s interest and the world’s interest and this is a threat that I take very seriously. I’m a co-sponsor of the Iran Nonproliferation Act. I support calling the Iranian Revolutionary Guard what it is--a terrorist organization.

I have also said that should Iran ever--ever contemplate using nuclear weapons against Israel they must understand what the consequences will be to them. BUT WE MUST DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO PREVENT SUCH AN UNTHINKABLE DAY FROM EVER HAPPENING (emphasis mine) and the best way to do that is to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons in the first place.<

Apparently, doing "everythingin our power" didn't include attending a rally against Iran's nuclear weapons program in her home state.

Moshiach is coming!

2008-09-23T22:32:00.005-04:00

So I was passing some time after work today with my local Lubavitcher Rebbe. And I says to him: " I see signs Moshiach is coming." He says: "Good! So do I!"

So I says: "Let me tell ya! I see signs and wonders. The Cubs have won their division title. And if they win the National League Championship, Moshiach will be even closer. If the Cubs win the World Series, Moshiach will come. I know this! Do you KNOW how many people have been born, lived and died since the last time the Cubs have won the World Series?"

The Lubavitcher Rebbe listened attentively. He tapped his fingertips together, kinda like Don Corleone in THE GODFATHER and said: "I have somewhat different criteria... but whatever works for you!"

Have you ever noticed?

2008-08-27T22:22:00.003-04:00

Have you ever noticed that individuals and factions generally partial to greater state control of economic life, have found the evidence for global warming to be quite compelling?

Another busy week for America and Ethanol

2008-08-16T14:44:00.005-04:00

For starters, it was really nice to see Texas Gov. Rick Perry suffer defeat by the EPA recently. Gov. Perry, claiming to represent poultry farmers in Texas (as if the as if petroleum companies aren't encouraging him) led a charge to roll back ethanol production mandates. I have written before about the myth that ethanol is blamed for tight food supplies.

Now, FAITH BREMNER of http://www.tennessean.com/ writes a fine article in the link below:

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080816/NEWS08/808160338/1025/NEWS01

WASHINGTON — Ethanol producers will use about a quarter of the U.S. corn crop this year, an amount that alarms ranchers and poultry producers who depend on corn to feed their animals. As the demand for corn and energy costs climb, so do prices at the grocery store.

But the ethanol industry's impact on the nation's supply of corn for feed isn't as dramatic as it may seem.

One-third of all the corn used to make ethanol ends up as an ingredient in feed that farmers in the upper Midwest — where most of the ethanol plants are located — give their cattle, poultry and pigs.

This year, farmers will feed 18 million metric tons of this ethanol byproduct, called distillers grains, to their animals, up from 2.3 million tons nine years ago. Last year they used 14.6 million tons. About 1 million tons will be exported to places such as Canada, Mexico, Taiwan and Japan.

The article goes on to say that distillers grains aren't easy to come by where there are no distilleries, so Texas chicken farmers are probably experiencing difficulty. Given that Texas is enjoying the fruits of soaring petroleum prices, I think the state can manage for a while. Funny how Gov. Rich Perry doesn't complain to the EPA about soaring petroleum prices. And let's face it! The EPA's mission on earth is not to regulate the price of chicken feed (or the price of tea in China for that matter).

Maybe Texas needs some distilleries producing distillers grain. Maybe Texas petroleum companies need to share some of their record profits subsidizing the state's embattled poultry farmers. I think Texas can solve this problem quite handily without any help from the EPA, the Federal Government, and the rest of the country. All they have to do is get with the program.

In other wonderful news...

Going to Google News and entering "Ethanol" for a search yields fresh news every day about new plants coming on line. Ethanol plants go up FAST. It takes 2 years from start to finish to put an ethanol plant on line.

There are a lot of new cellulosic ethanol plants coming on line too. Each one has rather unique technology; some which may turn out to be more efficient than others. The soaring price of petroleum is fueling a surging technological race to replace it with alcohol fuels.

FYI, the EPA mandate for corn ethanol has already been met (or will be so by the time you read this). The race is on for more cellulosic ethanol production which is the other half of the EPA ethanol mandate. Ooops! Gov. Perry didn't mention that when he whined about the price of chicken feed.

I'll tell you a little secret: Texas has some of the best darn energy engineers found on the planet. They can probably put up distilleries faster than the rest of us. All Texas has to do to fix their little chicken farmers' problem is get with the program.

In yet additional good news...

Yahoo AP reports:

Oil touches 3-month low on stronger US dollar

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil fell to its lowest price in three months Friday, briefly touching the $111 level after the dollar muscled higher and OPEC predicted the world's thirst for fuel next year will fall to its lowest point since 2002.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080815/oil_prices.html?.v=21

Gee! Maybe some of these spot market speculators are figuring out that we have a very nice future with automotive fuels that will compete quite nicely with petroleum sold at ridiculous speculative prices. Maybe OPEC is starting to realize that the party is over. I wouldn't go dancing in the streets just yet. Alcohol fuels start losing their competitive edge at around $50/barrel; still a VERY healthy price for petroleum.

Nobody is going to starve because we put alcohol fuels in our cars. In fact, we'll all have more jobs making fuels here in the United States that bring a good buck to American workers.

Eventually, our idiot politicians are going to get bowled over by economics performing a work of nature that cannot be stopped. It would be nice if they act smart and pass the Open Fuels Standard Act of 2008 and make every car sold in America capable of running on any blend of gasoline or alcohol. Then we'll have even more domestic alcohol plants, more jobs, the price of petroleum will be forced down, the dollar will regain its glory and we'll all live happily ever after.

Have a nice day,

There is NO Santa Claus

Lithium-ion Batteries for Automotive Propulsion

2008-08-02T11:28:00.004-04:00

I promised someone on the MLIVE.com Newstalk forum that I'd blog this. It's kind of a long story and there was no sense in doing all the typing and letting it slip into the archives never to be seen again.

So there I was at the AIPAC policy conference last June (2008) and we're at the break-out session on energy independence and what Israel is doing in that field. As I mentioned in my last entry, I hit it off immediately with Dr. Robert Zubrin who was sitting to my left on the panel of four presenters. Unfortunately, I can't remember for the life of me who the others were.

So anyway, for those of you who don't know, the State of Israel is embarking on a bold new adventure with electric cars. Because Israel is so tiny, commute distances aren't that great and electric cars are viable there.

Here's a brief article on the project:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=124445

The Israeli car will be developed by a joint-venture between Renault and Nissan. The cool thing about this car is that it will have a drop-out battery. Rather than requiring recharge, there will be special stations that are much like those 20-minute oil change places. You pull over the hole. The old battery is dropped out and a new one is plugged in. The whole process takes just a few minutes; probably no longer than it takes to pump gasoline in the car you own now.

So here's the rub. The guy presenting the Renault-Nissan prototype was sitting on the far left. He mentioned that this car would have a 110 mile radius on one battery charge. This immediately perked my ears for one basic reason: right now the "talk of the town" in electric cars surrounds the Tesla Roadster being developed in England. I'd also digress to point out that there is at least one person in Tesla's management from my Alma mater (University of Illinois College of Engineering) and also one from Israel.

Here's the link for the Tesla roadster:

http://www.teslamotors.com/

If you go over to the Performance tab on the web site, you'll notice that the Tesla Roadster has a radius of 220 miles on a single battery charge. This is TWICE that being quoted for the Renault-Nissan prototype.

So back to the AIPAC conference. It was now the question-and-answer period and I got up to the microphone. I introduced myself and asked the guy on the left a simple question: "The Renault-Nissan prototype gets 110 miles to a battery charge. Tesla motors is getting 220 miles to a battery charge. What is Tesla doing different?"

So the presenter on the far left stumbles and says: "Well... if you want a car that goes from 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds, that's a whole 'nother thing. We're not trying to accomplish that here."

I felt like he was ducking my question so I pressed him and answered: "But WHAT IS TESLA DOING DIFFERENT THAT THEY GET 220 MILES ON A SINGLE BATTERY CHARGE?"

He responds: "We feel that the Tesla Roadster uses unproven technology. They use Lithium-ion batteries and we use conventional Nickle-Metal-Hydride batteries."

I thanked him for answering my question and let it go because I knew he was looking for an "out" and this was the best he could do. And besides, I kinda understood what he was saying, even if I didn't agree with him.

Just to tell you how lame this response was, a mere two weeks later, the wire services (AP, Reuters etc.) all ran stories about how Toyota can't keep up with demand for their hybrid cars. The bottleneck is that they can't make enough batteries quick enough. That was the bad news. The good news is that help is on the way. Toyota and Matsushita Electric (aka Panasonic) were building a joint-venture factory to make even MORE batteries for their hybrid cars and better yet! The new batteries were going to be Lithium-ion packs which were smaller, lighter and held more charge.

SO... apparently the world leader in hybrid cars thinks that there's nothing "unproven" about Lithium-ion battery packs for automotive propulsion. I think perhaps the Renault-Nissan folks need to strongly consider this improvement for their upcoming Israeli vehicle.

In all fairness to the presenter at AIPAC, the Tesla Roadster is hardly a family car. It's a two-seater built for performance. Moreover, it's battery pack is not designed to be conveniently swapped out like the Renault-Nissan prototype. This is a key feature of the Israeli car and essential to it's commercial viability. Designing a Lithium-ion battery pack that is also easy to swap out is a significant technical issue; one not to be taken lightly. Nonetheless, the notion that Lithium-ion batteries are "unproven technology" for automotive propulsion is definitely not shared by Toyota Motors. Frankly, I think the subject of Lithium-ion battery packs needs to be re-visited by those working on the Israeli project. Even if the first cars have the older Nickel-Metal-Hydride batteries, I'd like to think there would be little trouble upgrading once a newer Lithium-ion battery pack is developed.

The Strategic Path To Victory In The War On Terror

2008-07-12T00:04:00.018-04:00

Remember folks! You heard it here first.

THE STRATEGIC PATH TO VICTORY IN THE WAR ON TERROR IS THE ELIMINATION OF PETROLEUM AS THE PRIME MOVER OF OUR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

There! Read that. Remember where you read it and quote your source often.

I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Robert Zubrin recently at the 2008 AIPAC policy conference. We hit it off right on the spot. I merely told him what I wrote above in bold letters. Dr. Zubrin commented that he ALMOST agreed. He repeated what I said and added one word. In Dr. Zubrin's opinion: "The strategic path to victory in the war on terror is the elimination of petroleum as the ONLY prime mover of our transportation system."

I'll let you decide whether that's "splitting hairs". I like his attitude. Besides! He's done a TON more research into this than I have. I've been merely following ethanol vehicle fuels because I grew up in Illinois farm country. I've long been convinced that America could produce enough ethanol to power our motor vehicle fleet; the largest in the world. Dr. Zubrin has written a book that all but proves it out.

The book is ENERGY VICTORY and it is presented at:

http://www.energyvictory.net/

Of particular importance, PLEASE review the on-line slide show highlighting his thesis.

http://www.energyvictory.net/energy_victory_Presentation.htm

In short, Dr. Zubrin's thesis is that we could create competition in the motor vehicle fuel business by mandating that all cars sold in the US be flex fuel.

I concur with Dr. Zubrin. Giving American automobile fuel consumers CHOICE will cause competition that will break OPEC's absolute control over motor vehicle fuel supply. Make OPEC nations work for a living, competing against the rest of the world which can grow something that can be made into ethanol. This competition will cause a significant shrinkage in the capacity of the money pipeline to international terrorism.

We're not limited to corn. We're not even limited to ethanol as methanol is even cheaper to make. Methanol is still used in American open wheel auto racing.

I don't care how you add it up! Petroleum selling over $100/barrel makes ethanol competitive. Whether you use corn, sugar cane, coal, wood, or something we're currently throwing away, you can make alcahol fuels out of it.

There is even great potential for biodiesel. CO2 from power plants can be pumped into ponds growing oil-rich species of algea. The oil can be extracted and used for diesel fuel. There is a paper from the University of New Hampshire on the web that is somewhat dated, but interesting reading.

http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html

Now I know a lot of you are hearing all this talk about how ethanol is robbing the food supply. This is ridiculous, but apparently not obvious to all.

Let me assure you, there is compelling evidence to lead any rational person to know that ethanol is not robbing the food supply. Rather, it is increasing the food supply. Grocery prices have risen because trucking prices have risen due to high petroleum prices and more specifically, diesel fuel prices.

Nonetheless, this is explained by Dr. Zubrin and any number of other people as well as the USDA.

Dr. Zubrin writes:

Here are the facts. In the last five years, despite the nearly threefold growth of the corn ethanol industry—actually, because of it—the amount of corn grown in the United States has vastly increased. The U.S. corn crop grew by 45 percent, the production of distillers grain (a high-value animal feed made from the protein saved from the corn used for ethanol) quadrupled, and the net U.S. corn production of food for humans and feed for animals increased 34 percent.

Contrary to claims that farmers have cut other crops to grow more corn, U.S. soybean plantings this year are expected to be up 18 percent and wheat plantings up 6 percent. U.S. farm exports are up 23 percent over last year. America is clearly doing its share in feeding the world.

http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/in-defense-of-biofuels

So much for the food dis-information campaign. There is also another insidious myth floating around about ethanol. This myth says that it takes more energy to produce ethanol than the energy contained in the fuel. Even if this were the case, ethanol would still be a viable motor vehicle fuel for several reasons. It's not just a matter of whether we gain or lose energy. It's a matter of whether we can put it in our gas tanks and run our cars. The real fact is that modern farming and distilling methods have clearly made ethanol a net energy gain

This is best articulated by the American Coalition for Ethanol:

What does "net energy balance" mean?

What is ethanol's energy balance? Net energy balance is a term used to describe how much energy is needed to produce a product versus how much energy that product provides. Two professors that are long-time critics of ethanol claim that ethanol has a negative energy balance, but this is simply not true and has been debunked again and again by science. Scientific study after study has proven ethanol's energy balance to be positive. The latest USDA figures show that ethanol made from the drymill process provides at least 77% more energy as a fuel than the process it takes to make it. The bottom line is that it takes about 35,000 BTUs (British Thermal Units) of energy to create a gallon of ethanol, and that gallon of ethanol contains at least 77,000 BTUs of energy. The net energy balance of ethanol is simply a non-issue.

http://ethanol.org/index.php?id=81&parentid=25#MISCONCEPTIONS

The raw price of ethanol is currently less than petroleum. It's just a matter of automakers adding an average of $100 to the cost of a vehicle to make it flex fuel. The economics will take care of themselves. In a few years, we would have millions of flex fuel vehicles on the road and fueling stations would have to carry ethanol/methanol/E85 because their raw cost is way lower than the present market price for petroleum products.

This is such a no-brainer! Brazil has already done it! We need not feel like we're driving in the dark without our lights on. Besides, if Brazil can do it, certainly the United States of America, land of the free - home of the brave, can do it.

The American motor vehicle consumer deserves CHOICE in motor vehicle fuels. The small scale of ethanol production in the U.S. over the past 3 years has proven itself. Depending on market conditions, ethanol may or may not be competitive. With flex-fuel vehicles that will not be a problem. We will always be able to choose the cheapest fuel.

Thus, whether or not ethanol completely replaces gasoline or not, the fuel supply for America's motor vehicle fleet can be secured with ethanol and other alcahol fuels. Once OPEC no longer controls the cost of our transportation, the money pipeline to terrorism shrinks significantly.

INDEPENDENCE DAY

2008-07-04T23:45:00.002-04:00

In keeping with the tradition of our founding fathers, let us remember their reason for seeking independece: TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION IS TYRANNY.

So today, let us all rebel against the evil King from a far off land who has mercilously taxed the American people through an illegal OPEC cartel: King Abdullah. And if you or anyone thinks that the situation is different or the stakes aren't the same, think again! America is being taxed by an evil King from far off shores and it is our duty to rebel and set America free again.

What the media won't tell you about O'Bama

2008-03-16T13:39:00.005-04:00

I really like Sen. O'Bama. I met him in late 2003 when he was running in the Illinois primaries for Senator. A lot of the hysteria you are reading is just that. Even this latest bru-ha-ha about his clergyman is a deep reach for "the dirt" that the media is so desparate to get on any candidate for President.

But there's one thing, ONE THING, the media routinely fails to tell us about O'Bama. It's no deep dark secret. It's not particularly dirty or nefarious. It's just that it doesn't fit into the media's LIB paradigm.

You see, the LIB media wants us to think that Barak O'Bama (By now, you'll note I've changed the spelling of his name.) is a strong, brilliant, young man who has pulled himself up by the bootstraps to earn contention for the Democratic Party nomination for President. They want you to think he's an "underdog" fighting his way against Hillary Rodham's mighty political organization.

Just a week ago, I heard a Sunday morning pundit describe Hillary Rodham's campaign committee as "the most powerful political machine in the United States". That my friends, is simply untrue. It is this untruth that is repeatedly told by the LIB media that leads me to believe that they are intentionally omitting one facet of the O'Bama campaign that explains how he got so far.

So what is this deep dark secret the LIB media refuses to tell us? I suppose I could just tell you, but I'd rather tease you a little more. And besides, I think the explanation will make my case more obvious to the casual reader.

You see, I grew up in the Chicago Metropolitan area. My family still lives there. My wife's family still lives there. Therefore, it's not unusual for us to visit the family in Chicago. We found ourselves in Chicago during Christmas 2007.

We met my brother in Millers Pub on Wabash for beers and lunch that Monday afternoon (Christmas Eve). I was amazed at how empty Chicago had become. The roads were normally more congested, even on holiday weekends (if not more so), but today, the city seemed strangely quiet and deserted, even in the shopping districts where you would normally see a lot of crazed last-minute shoppers.

We're eating and drinking as we normally do and I couldn't help but notice what the table next door was talking about; going to Iowa and campaigning for O'Bama. Somebody's brother and sister were already in Iowa and he was going to join them after Christmas. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. Davenport, IA is only about 3 hours drive from Chicago.

We went to a Greek restaraunt in Greektown that night. Same deal! At a nearby table, they're talking about going to Iowa to campaign for O'Bama.

Christmas day, we went to eat in Chinatown. Sure enough! At the table next door, they're speaking Chinese and every other sentence they're saying "O'Bama" and "Iowa".

By the time Christmas was over, it was apparent to me that a good portion of the City of Chicago had emptied out and gone to Iowa to campaign for Barak O'Bama. What does that tell you?

It tells me that a pundit who claims Hillary Rodham has "the most powerful political machine in the United States" is either an ignoramus or they are deliberately censoring a fact that should otherwise be obvious to everyone. You see! The most powerful political machine in the United States is the Cook County Democratic Party (aka CCDP) and has been for several decades.

THAT my friends is what the media won't tell you about O'Bama! He is backed by the Daley Machine and has been so from the very beginning. Because of Iowa's close proximity to Chicago, the CCDP was able to put far more boots on the ground than Hillary Rodham could ever have hoped. With those campaign workers, O'Bama scored an early and crucial victory which propelled him instantly into the national limelight.

Geraldine Ferraro knows this. The whole media knows this. Ya gotta wonder why they won't make more out of it. Why won't Hillary's campaign address this remarkable advantage?

Well... I can only speculate, but I think a lot of this has to do with WINNING IN NOVEMBER. If Hillary Rodham gets the Democratic nomination, the last thing she'll want is a CCDP that is unenthusiastic about campaigning for her. Illinois is a crucial state in any election and just carrying the City of Chicago is never enough to win the 26 electoral votes. A Democratic candidate has to win the City overwhelmingly as well as the subarbs and downstate. That doesn't happen unless the CCDP is fired up and enthusiastic.

Nobody is going to mess with the CCDP! Not Hillary, not the LIB media, and not anyone who wants a Democrat in the White House come January 2009.

Yet it's no dirty little secret. Mayor Daley endorsed Sen. O'Bama early in the campaign. The local Chicago newstations noted that this was somewhat of a break from the past, but everybody in Chicago assumed the obvious: O'Bama is part and parcel of the Daley political apparatus. Nothing unusual there.

Yet in the national media establishment, they are PRETENDING to scratch their heads, wondering how a freshman Senator has managed to contend for the nomination against Hillary Rodham. They say: He's such a great orator. He's got tremendous appeal. His message and policies resonate with the voters. ect. ect.

Well maybe so but at the end of the day Barak O'Bama is just another power politician with political machine backing. All this talk about "change" and "hope" is great, but before you set your expectations too high, I suggest you look at the City of Chicago and its political history. Should I wake up one day in January 2009 and find President O'Bama leading our nation, I fully expect politics-as-usual to remain the status quo.

The Arab-Israeli war explained in brief

2008-03-07T08:38:00.004-05:00

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times!

2007-12-01T12:05:00.002-05:00

In a world void of anti-Semitism, the War Against Israel could not possibly exist.

Jeff Jacoby's 2/15/07 Column

2007-02-22T23:26:00.002-05:00

Folks! This is a very worthwhile article.

For some reason, the leaders at the Dept. of State continue to play a denial game. It's ridiculous and we undermine our credibility when we say that we are in a "war on terra".

Read Jeff Jacoby's 2/15/07 Column. It's a refreshing view of the War Against Israel.

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/jeff/jacoby021507.php3

Welcome

2007-02-22T08:12:00.001-05:00

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Welcome

Welcome to There is NO Santa Claus' blog. You can call me TINSC for short. There are several reasons I have adopted this nickname, but I'm just getting the blog started. There will be plenty of time to fill you in on the details.

posted by There is NO Santa Claus at 7:52 PM 0 comments