of the man and his deeds by mentioning such aspects as authoritarianism, censorship, exploitation of Chinese labor and bullying behavior towards employees. The piece asserts that “he's been hailed as ‘a genius’ and ‘the greatest CEO of his generation’ by pundits and tech journalists. But a great man's reputation can withstand a full accounting. And, truth be told, Jobs could be terrible to people, and his impact on the world was not uniformly positive.”
October 13, 2011
[COMMENTS]
A VERY IMPORTANT AND TIMELY BOOK
An overriding goal of the Civil Rights Movement was race neutral enforcement of the law. However, this is not an objective of Barack Obama’s Justice Department. This sad fact is explored in J. Christian Adams recent book Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department. With our President up for reelection this work is both extremely important and timely. The story told here should be known to all Americans before they vote. Roger l. Simon has just posted a highly favorable review of Adams’ volume. He declares that “the book details quite specifically how the U.S. DOJ has been corrupted, hijacked might be a more appropriate term, by so-called ‘progressive’ ideology to the extent that it no longer functions remotely as a genuine Department of Justice, but as something out of Orwell’s Animal Farm or Ugo Betti’s Corruption in the Palace of Justice. Just as in Orwell, justice is selectively and unequally applied and, as in Betti, the fish rots from the top.”
October 13, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MY ARTICLE ON PAJAMASMEDIA: PART TWO
PajamasMedia has posted the second part of my article Justice Department Betrays MLK’s Dream (Part Two). Here it is directly below:
By Arnold Trebach October 10, 2011
There was some confusion initially when PJMedia posted my essay last week — I was first identified as working for the Civil Rights Division rather than for the Civil Rights Commission. That confusion has now been straightened out. The mistake is often made and it is easy to make.
It is also easy for the memory of this old geezer to be triggered by any reference to my work during the original — and real — civil rights movement. Those fragments of memory keep popping up, which is fortunate since I am determined to get them all down in a rational form one of these days in my next book, which is now in a period of gestation worthy of an elephant.
The Civil Rights Division, part of the Justice Department, has the power and the duty to enforce the federal civil rights laws. On the other hand, the Commission has no enforcement power, but it is empowered to investigate and report on denials of equal protection of the laws and denials of the right to vote on the basis of race, religion, or gender. While we in the Commission did not have enforcement powers, there never was any doubt that we were on the side of innocent minority citizens, especially African Americans, and we pushed the envelope of our powers to help their cause and to rid the nation of the horrors of racial segregation and the white violence often used to perpetuate it.
Accordingly, during my many forays into racial trouble spots, I developed the habit of calling the mayor or the chief of police to mention that I was in town in my official capacity, and I would be honored if we could talk about the current racial situation. My hope was that my official presence would provide some small modicum of protection for black residents, especially those brave folks taking to the streets in protests against discrimination.
During the tumultuous protests in Birmingham of 1963, I had my doubts that the infamous police chief Bull Connor would agree to a meeting, but in light of the threatening situation I thought I had to try. As far as I can remember, he took my call and responded with words like: if you’re dealing with civil rights, I don’t want to talk to you. And he hung up.
But he did something else. He apparently immediately called the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice in Washington, and managed to get Burke Marshall, then the assistant attorney general in charge of the Division. Burke was an acquaintance of mine, a fine lawyer, and a decent guy. Not long after, Burke related to me, with a twinkle in his eye, that Ol’ Bull thundered to the effect that the next time you send someone down here to talk civil rights to me, teach him to talk dog talk, and I’ll let him talk to my dogs!
Of course, Connor was also confused as to whom I worked for; Burke had not sent me to Birmingham. However, we all got the message and Burke and I had a good laugh about the incident.
Beyond that laugh there are many lessons to be taken from that situation. The Deep South, including the town of Birmingham, was a center of courageous protests against a brutal repressive system. The protesters displayed raw courage, which I observed, and in the process of my observing I was in awe of their courage — of both the foot soldiers and the leaders like Reverends King and Shuttlesworth. Too many protesters lost their lives in that struggle.
I am proud that I along with many other federal officials used our power to support the blacks and to destroy the brutal system of segregation. Burke Marshall and the other lawyers and staff in the Civil Rights Division were sound professional lawyers dedicated to overcoming racial discrimination and segregation. Unlike today, the staff in the Commission and the Division worked well together. As I have already written, I did not find a trace of racial bias among the lawyers or the staff of the Division.
Most importantly: we won. We, all of us fighting together, dedicated officials and citizens alike, beat those evil racist bastards. In Birmingham and the South and indeed in the nation as a whole now, there is no evidence of government sanctioned racial repression.
Sadly, in too many respects the opposite is true. As Christian Adams has documented, a spoils system and a demented racial payback set of institutions has appeared, run by racial racketeers. That is a tragedy, and now we must beat the current crop of racist bastards — and keep striving to realize the dream.
Even after all these years I still believe in the essential goodness of America and Americans, of all races and creeds — and I still believe we can create a society based wholly on merit and not on race or racial preferences.
October 13, 2011
[COMMENTS]
<WHAT IS THE TRUE MEANING OF THE “ARAB SPRING”?
Most Americans view the toppling of old brutal repressive regimes in North Africa and the Middle East as a positive development and this could very well be so. However, if their replacement governments decide to make religious intolerance and continued conflict with the Jews the most important aspect of their new states then the millions who rose up will be very disappointed. An increased emphasis on religious orthodoxy is going to be a serious obstacle to achieving the personal freedom fought for by so many. A renewed commitment to the destruction of the Jews and perhaps even open warfare with Israel will destroy any hope for the economic prosperity needed by so many. Whether or not the new regimes put in place by the “Arab spring” will choose this self-destructive path is still an open question.
One man who is asking about this decision in a very meaningful way is David Gerbi, a 50-something psychoanalyst from Rome and a Jew who at the age of 12 was forced to flee his Libyan homeland because of the Six Day War in 1967. He has returned to Libya for the purpose of restoring the Dar Bishi Synagogue. He began is work there, however, “when he returned a second day, locals warned him to flee. But David has not left Tripoli, instead he's decided to place his safety in the balance in order to test the ‘new’ Libya's commitment to religious freedom and tolerance.” Gerbi eloquently talks about his goal and the problems he is facing in this video.
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The new Libyan government who received so much help West in taking power is now telling David Gerbi that "it's too early ... too sensitive a matter." How they treat him as he proceeds with his mission either assisting him or obstructing him and maybe even harming him will speak volumes about the true meaning of the “Arab spring” and the chances for increased peace and prosperity.
October 10, 2011
[COMMENTS]
A MUSICAL RESPITE
Conductor Andre Rieu form Holland correctly asserts that this complete variation of Taps, not often heard in America, will make your hair stand on end. The song written in 1801 by Daniel Butterfield was called Last Post. In 1882 it was shortened to only 24 notes and renamed Taps. This exceptionally beautiful version is played here by 13 year old trumpet soloist Melissa Venema.
October 6, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE UNREPORTED PRICE OF NOT HATING JEWS ENOUGH
Almost two months ago on August 14th Mr. Alaa Alsaegh, an immigrant to the U.S. from Iraq was attacked on the streets of St. Louis. He was held at gunpoint and a Star of David was carved in his back while the perpetrators recited a poem of his. This happened because Alsaegh had posted his work, “Tears at the Heart of the Holocaust”, on the website Arabs For Israel.
An article for Pajamas Media points out that the FBI has concluded that this was a hate crime and asks “apart from the Nonie Darwish article and a handful of other reports, where exactly is this horrific story of Sharia street justice in America being reported? It is nowhere in the media.” The piece’s author, Jamie Glazov, attributes this disturbing silence to the cultural dominance of the ideological Left. The writer argues that “the Left shapes and controls the boundaries of our society’s discourse. The Left’s mantle of multiculturalism and the belief that all religions and cultures are equal (except the ones it hates) have been internalized by our society, and there are severe punishments for crossing the boundaries of permitted speech. For example, if you condemn the Muslims for inflicting violence on Alsaegh, then you would have to accept that, in terms of the ingredients of their crime, that they are clearly acting out of the mandates of their Islamic faith (i.e., the obligation to hate infidels and Jews etc. is irrefutable). But to condemn their acts and the teachings on which they are based violates the sacred cow of leftist beliefs (i.e., Islam is a Religion of Peace) and, therefore, makes one an Islamophobe, something that, thanks to the Left’s victory in our culture, most people are now terrified of being accused of.”
October 6, 2011
[COMMENTS]
AN UNTOLD STORY OF 9/!!
Manhattan is an island so when the World Trade Center went down on 9/11 millions of people felt themselves trapped and in mortal danger, the scope of the attack was still unknown. The only way off was over the water because the tunnels and bridges had been immediately closed. Ferries, tugboats, party boats and private craft after one radio call quickly disregarded their own danger and entered the smoke and panic of lower Manhattan by the hundreds to spontaneously evacuate nearly half million people to safety. It was the largest sealift operation in history surpassing even Dunkirk during World War II. This neglected story is beautifully told in a very moving video.
October 6, 2011
[COMMENTS]
AN ISSUE OF GROWING IMPORTANCE
My article directly below has been noticed and commented upon. The Center for Individual Freedom was kind enough to call me a Civil Rights hero on their Freedom Line blog, even though I do not personally view myself that way. In addition they noted that I was now on record supporting the idea that “the Obama/Holder Justice Department has thoroughly corrupted the law by jettisoning race-neutral enforcement in favor of a racial spoils system.” The Election Law Center also posts a link to the piece. Both sites also display quotations from the article including: “What outrages me is that despite our country’s wonderful successes, too many seek to gain and hold power by cynically perpetuating and exploiting racial grievances. These racial racketeers seek to convince minority members that nothing will help them improve their lives unless they buy into the myth of racial helplessness and continuing victimhood.”
October 6, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MY ARTICLE POSTED IS BY PAJAMAS MEDIA
I recently wrote about my growing disenchantment with the state civil rights in this country ever since Barack Obama became our President. The website PAJAMASMEDIA posted it under the title Justice Department Betrays MLK’s Dream. The PJ Tatler has a comment by Christian Adams which calls the piece a must read. He concludes by saying “add Trebach to the list of those whose eyes have opened.”
Here it is below:
BETRAYAL OF THE DREAM
Arnold S. Trebach
For decades this nation has followed a bizarre racial path in which discrimination in favor of minorities has been viewed as the path to non-discrimination and equality. This view, influenced by white guilt over the past, has spawned a racial grievance industry dominated by racial entitlements, race-based preferences, and unequal enforcement of federal civil rights laws. It is a scandal obscured by the fact that most of us are embarrassed to complain about it for fear of being tarred as right-wing racists, or worse.
I find myself uncomfortable even discussing the subject because for most of my life I was a liberal Democrat and was in the front lines of the original civil rights movement of the Fifties and Sixties as a protester on the streets and as a federal civil rights official. I was present in the Deep South to expose and help dismantle the vast machinery of violent racial discrimination which was truly a stain on our national honor. Like many other officials I confronted white racists who were terrorizing innocent black citizens. We have not yet succeeded in completely stopping such awful practices but the election of an African-American to the White House by a majority white electorate, including me, is proof of just how far we have come in the proper direction.
What outrages me is that despite our country’s wonderful successes there are too many who seek to gain and hold power by cynically perpetuating and exploiting racial grievances. Those racial racketeers seek to convince minority members that nothing will help them improve their lives unless they buy into the myth of racial helplessness and continuing victim-hood. Those leading this destructive scam are both blacks and whites in positions of power, including to my astonishment, lawyers in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division who once were involved with me in securing the destruction of racial segregation. When I led an official federal investigation of the Civil Rights Commission in 1960 I found lawyers dedicated to the race-neutral enforcement of the civil rights laws.
In my view the current crop of racial racketeers, in and out of government, have betrayed the dream of my idol Martin Luther King, Jr and, yes, my own dream and the dreams of millions of others in the real civil rights movement. Some of the worst aspects of this dream-betraying behavior were brought home to me on July 6, 2010, at a Commission on Civil Rights hearing when I watched attorney J. Christian Adams blow the whistle on the Obama-Holder Justice Department for its racially motivated decision to drop most of the charges in the already-won New Black Panther voter intimidation case because the defendants were black.
Adams resigned his position as an attorney in the Civil Rights Division because his political bosses under Eric Holder let the Black Panther thugs off with a gentle slap on the wrist even though their behavior clearly violated the voting rights laws of the nation. In his testimony and now in a just-released powerful book ( Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department) Mr. Adams claims that the racial discrimination in favor of black defendants in the panther case was only one example of many such illegal actions on the part of officials in the Civil Rights Division. Incidentally, he views other Divisions of the Justice Department as acting in the best traditions of the legal profession.
The book is filled with examples of black assaults on the rights of whites wherein most of the nation, including the vaunted Civil Rights Division, turned a blind eye.
Most people have not even heard of Ike Brown and Noxubee County, Mississippi but they will now when Adams’ book and his nationwide tour reach the public consciousness. Biased lawyers in the Civil Rights Division initially refused to bring suit against Brown, the local head of the Democratic Party, to protect the rights of white citizens who were in the minority there. “Throughout the county,” Adams wrote, “Dr. King’s dream of Christian love, equality, and integration gave way to a malicious campaign to exert racial payback.” A few courageous Division lawyers, including Adams, eventually brought a suit in Federal court and won an historic judgment.
It is fair to wonder if one gutsy patriot and his book can help us all to gather our courage, take the risk of being called racist bigots, and go forth to seek to realize the dream of Dr. King. A small straw in the wind indicating that there might be some hope was the news that Loretta King, the Civil Rights Division official responsible for the biased Panther decision and others of that ilk, has just resigned in advance of the release of the book. Other such resignations at the Justice Department must surely follow for the good of the nation.
October 5, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ISRAELI MEDICINE DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE
Israel has long been a leader in the development and implementation of advanced medical techniques. The benefits stemming from this fact do not only extend to its Jewish citizens but also to its Arab ones as well. An article in The Jerusalem Post provides documentation for this fact. Opportunities exist not only for benefit of Arab patients but also for professional development. For example the first Arab woman in the world to become a plastic surgeon is an Israeli, Dr. Rania Elkhatib. Another Israeli physician Dr. Hossam Haick working at the Israel Technion on exciting new techniques for early detection of cancer says “I was born here. I am tied to Israel. I also want to prove to others from the Arab community that nothing is impossible. You hear quite a few prejudices from Arab-Israelis; that Arabs cannot get ahead in Israeli academia. I wanted to prove that this is not true; to prove that if you are talented enough, you get to wherever you want.”
October 4, 2011
[COMMENTS]
PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE NEW BLACK PANTHER PARTY
Long before his Justice Department dismissed charges of voter intimidation, thus bringing back the principle of racial inequality before the law, President Obama had a relationship with the New Black Panther Party. In 2007 while he was campaigning for our country’s highest office photographs show that he marched and shared a podium with them on a trip to Selma Alabama. Andrew Breitbart’s website Biggovernment has defeated Obama’s and the mainstream media’s attempt to erase this event from the public memory.
In his new book Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department former Department of Justice employee and whistleblower J. Christian Adams points out that “somehow, the fact that the future President of the United States shared a podium with leaders of the New Black Panthers, marched with them, and received a public, formal greeting from their party has vanished from the history of Obama’s campaign. Apart from [Juan] Williams’ single dispatch, no other media outlets ever reported it.” Breitbart himself concludes that “Obama’s appearance does much more than expose mainstream media hypocrisy. It also exposes an association between a vile racist organization and a future President of the United States. Only the degree of association is subject to debate.”
October 4, 2011
[COMMENTS]
PRESIDENT OBAMA ALIENATING HIS BASE
President Obama’s approval numbers are declining precipitously and that fact seems to making him rather testy. He gave an address before the Congressional Black Caucus that has many shaking their heads in wonder and others are reacting quite angrily. He told the legislators “I expect all of you to march with me and press on. Take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes. Shake it off. Stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying. We are going to press on. We've got work to do, CBC." Reaction to his scolding has not been done his overall popularity much good.
Pajamas Media reports that Rep, Maxine Waters sees some racial discrimination in these remarks. They tell us “the California Democrat, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, says she found the president’s language ‘a bit curious.’ She says Obama didn’t address Hispanics in such a blunt manner and would never use that language in a speech to a gathering of gays or Jews.” Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy also asked “funny, isn’t it, how Obama always gets the nerve to say shut up when he’s addressing a friendly audience?” In addition he points out that “the unemployment rate among blacks stands at 16.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 11.5 percent when Obama took office. By some accounts, black people have lost more wealth since the recession began than at any time since slavery. And Obama gets to lecture us?”
September 29, 2011
[COMMENTS]
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IS ABSURD
In California there is a new statewide law, SB 185, and the UC Berkeley College Republicans held a bake sale in protest. The event, using this traditional method, tried to point out the absurdity in this day and age of a policy that favors one race over another by charging Latinos, Blacks, and women less for their cupcakes than they did Whites as well as Asians. The action produced the usual outrage form those who support bringing back racial discrimination into the California University system’s admissions process. The legislature passed this unreasonable law despite the fact that the state’s voters had amended their constitution to read: “The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.” The people will have to see whether or not Governor Brown is going to support racial discrimination, over their objections, and sign this unjust backward looking bill.
September 29, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE BETRAYAL OF THE DREAM
The publication of Christian Adams’ book, Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department has provided even greater impetus for me to continue working on the book I have had in progress for some months. The initial spark was provided on July 6, 2010 when I happened to appear at the hearing of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights where Mr. Adams made his first sworn public statement on the appalling action of the Civil Rights Division in virtually dismissing the voting rights case against the New Black Panthers. It is possible to observe me on the internet as I sat there listening and getting more and more outraged with every passing moment. I am the old geezer just behind witness Adams. The reason that I leaned forward so often was that my ears are bad and the acoustics in the room were bad also.
The dream was that of Martin Luther King and also of mine and also of tens of thousands of others involved in the front lines of the real, original civil rights movement of the Fifties and Sixties. We were hoodwinked into believing that the dream of equality and fairness was real. We risked dour lives for that dream and some of us lost those lives. This new book documents in great detail how a racial grievance industry has grown up in recent decades that does not give a damn for fairness and equality so long as some racial minorities are given preference and special treatment. Those like Adams who complain of this unfairness are called racists. So be it. I still believe in equality and fairness for all and I will keep working on my book to show haw that remains a vital goal – and how the dream must still be brought into reality. It is still possible.
September 26, 2011
[COMMENTS]
US STATE DEPARTMENT FAVORS MUSLIM RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE
At the beginning of this month two Muslim Mosques on the West Bank were vandalized by Jewish settlers in response for the demolition of their own buildings. There was no loss of life yet Obama’s State Department has reacted as though this were a monumental heinous crime. It has called for those participating to “be arrested and subject to the full force of the law." This is the same State Department that more often than not lets attacks against Christian Churches many with loss of life go unremarked. In his discussion of this double standard Raymond Ibrahim points out that it “seems that the State Dept. mentions attacks on churches only, but not always, when people are killed, whereas the condemnation of the West Bank mosques have only to do with attacks on buildings. In other words, attacks on churches around the Muslim world that do not necessarily lead to the loss of life, are ignored, whereas attacks on West Bank mosques that do not target or kill Muslims are strongly condemned.”
The State Department’s favorable treatment of Muslim violence and religious persecution extends to the Annual Report on Religious Freedom. Ibrahim states “in other words, the vast majority of Muslim nations persecuting their religious minorities do not, according to the Obama administration, count as countries that are ‘engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom’ (the definition of a ‘country of particular concern’). Even Egypt—which this year alone has already seen over fifty Copts killed, not to mention the many churches burned or bombed—was not listed.” How can any Muslim country whose dominant religion directs that anyone leaving that religion must be killed be said to practice religious freedom?
September 26, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE EXPOSURE OF A NATIONAL SCANDAL
Below is a copy of the brief review I just posted on Amazon.com regarding the book by Christian Adams. The official publication date is October 3 but it is possible to order a copy or many copies now. As I indicated in the review, the book should be widely read and taken to heart by all those concerned about the survival of our wonderful nation.
I have a few small quibbles which I should have mentioned and will do so now. In large part because I spent most of my life as a liberal and leftist, It makes me uncomfortable to observe that Mr. Adams and many of his conservative colleagues ( I recently became one) to paint liberals and leftists as inherently bad or misguided. For example, I do not see The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law and the District of Columbia Legal Aid Society as leftist and thereby worthy of disdain. Both are fine organizations. In my view a person or a group can be right or left but can at the same time support the race neutral enforcement of the law. I have other quibbles as well but I urge every caring person to read the book and understand the main thrust of the indictment which should be a cause of outrage and a demand for change.
The Exposure of a National Scandal
In this powerful book, Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department, Christian Adams presents a scathing indictment of the racial grievance industry which is in the process of tearing asunder the great values of equality and fairness at the core of American society. It should be read and acted upon by all those who care about preserving our wonderful nation. University professors with some guts should make it required reading in all classes dealing with these issues, whether in social science departments or law schools.
There is a great danger that the book will be dismissed by the mainstream media as a right wing racist attempt to destroy the administration of the first black president along with the first black attorney general. It will also be dismissed on the basis of a suspension of belief: this cannot have happened.
However, speaking as a liberal Democrat during most of my life, who voted for candidate Obama in 2008, and a former civil rights protester and a former federal civil rights official, I can testify that the indictment appears to be based upon solid fact. Attorney General Eric Holder allowed his Civil Rights Division to ignore blatant violations of civil rights in some cases when the victims were white and the defendants were black, such as in the infamous New Black Panther case. It also appears that these illegal actions were taken primarily because the Justice Department officials, both black and white, wanted to show favoritism to the black miscreants.
I happened to show up at the hearing before the Civil Rights Commission on July 6, 2010 when Mr. Adams testified for the first time in public about his involvement in the New Black Panther case. He explained that he had been an experienced Voting Section litigator and assumed that the actions of the Black Panthers in threatening potential voters outside a Philadelphia polling station in 2008 constituted a clear case of violation of the voting rights laws. Mr. Adams was appalled over the fact that even though a default judgment had been secured, justice department leaders let the thugs off with a slap on the wrists. Mr. Adams swore that this was only one example of racial bias in the enforcement of the civil rights laws by officials in the inner sanctum pf the justice department who are sworn to enforce the law in a race neutral fashion.
Such appalling behavior led Mr. Adams to resign his governmental position and to write this book. That behavior was one of many causes that led me to move to the conservative side of the political spectrum. It should lead all decent people to support rational changes in the way we approach race in this society.
September 25, 2011
[COMMENTS]
NETANYAHU CALLS OUT THE UN
The United Nations was created in an effort to maintain peace throughout the world, however, its hostility against Israel has included a tolerance and even support for Islamic terrorism directed towards the Jews living in the Middle East. This attitude does nothing to maintain peace and instead encourages violence. Until yesterday little has been said about the UN’s clear alteration of its true purpose. The UN has been changed from being a force for world peace into a weapon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broke the silence over this transformation of mission in a speech before that body given in New York. A blogger, Katie Pavlich, who posted the communication for Townhall said that he “absolutely slammed the U.N. today for its repeated unfair condemnation of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, and for its continued promotion of dictators and dangerous men.”
September 24, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ISRAELI JEWS AND ARABS WORKING TOGETHER
The conflict that survies between Israel and Hamas as well as the PLO does not exist between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel. Unlike the new proposed Palestinian state which will bar and remove all Jews, the population of Israeli citizens with voting rights is composed of 20% Arabs. Besides having the right to vote they also are allowed to serve in the Israeli Defense Force and they often receive government assistance to help them with their education and improve their economic prospects. How well they do in Israeli society is largely up to them. The hatred that exists between Palestinians and Jews is not evident between Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews. The Jerusalem Post argues that “if you really want to know the truth about how Israel treats its Arab minority, you need to hear from someone who has reached the top of one of Israel’s most influential professions. Salim Joubran embarked on a 10-day tour of the US in May where he continually praised Israel’s diversity and democracy. And why should you believe him? Because Israeli-Arab Justice Salim Joubran sits on the bench of Israel’s Supreme Court.”
September 23, 2011
[COMMENTS]
KEEP YOUR PROMISE PRESIDENT OBAMA
When he was running for president in 2008 Barack Obama promised to be a true and reliable friend of Israel. There is still time for him to keep this very important assurance by following the five steps (hit enlarge button) outlined in The New York Times by the Committee for Israel. Let us hope that Obama will turn out to be an honorable man where the fate of millions of Jews living in the Middle East is concerned.
September 20, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ISRAEL NEEDS A BETTER PRESENTATION OF ITS CASE
In the battle for Western public opinion Israel appears to be losing. They seem to always be on the defensive and that is a weaker position to argue from. One of Israel’s staunchest and moist eloquent supporters is Melanie Philips and in a speech given in Jerusalem she declared “Israel has allowed itself to be painted as the villain of the region by persistently behaving as if it were the guilty party. This is because its position is essentially defensive. The most it ever says is, basically, that the libelous allegations being made against it are not true.” The speech went on to contain some very sage advice for Israel’s leaders. A good place to start would be by changing the essential basis for the present narrative. Philips argues that “at present, for Britain and other Western delegitimizers, the historical clock starts either in 1967, when Israel committed what they see as the crime of occupying Palestinian land, or in 1948, when, as they see it, European Jews with no connection to the land were parachuted into Palestine as a result of Holocaust guilt and drove out the indigenous Palestinian Muslims, whose land it had been since time immemorial. Every part of that story is untrue. The problem is that not only do people in the West not know it’s untrue, but even many Diaspora Jews and Israelis don’t know it’s untrue.”
September 17, 2011
[COMMENTS]
AMERICA AND THE EU AND MUCH OF THE WORLD SUPPORTS A NEW STATE THAT WILL BE
FREE OF JEWS AND GAYS: INTERNATIONAL MADNESS
The demand for a UN recognized Palestinian state comes despite a signed promise by the PLO that no such state would exist without a negotiated agreement with Israel. Also, the PLO does not hide the fact that such a state will be a racist one where no Jews or homosexuals will be allowed to live. The creation of such a state will not change the fact that the UN will be financially responsible for the so called Palestinian refugees who would now be living in a Palestinian state, they too are to be denied citizenship there. American and EU support for such a state cannot be described as rational but rather as an obsession.
It is an anti-Semitic fixation on the idea that the Palestinian cause, the total destruction of the Jews living in the Middle East is just, while the Israelis are evil for wanting to defend them. Caroline Glick points out that “the Obama administration and the EU have made the establishment of a racist, homophobic Palestinian state the greatest aim of their policies in the Middle East. Every single Palestinian leader from the supposedly moderate Fatah party has rejected Israel’s right to exist and said that they will never set aside their demand that Israel accept millions of foreign-born Arabs – the so-called Palestinian ‘refugees’ – as citizens. They say this with the full knowledge that this demand is nothing less than a demand for Israel’s destruction.”
September 17, 2011
[COMMENTS]
PRACTICAL RESULTS OF THE SO CALLED “ARAB SPRING”
As a result of the “Arab Spring” supported and lauded in the West, particularly by the Obama Administration, Israel is in much greater peril. Wars with both Egypt and Turkey have become real possibilities. In Egypt the Israeli embassy was sacked as the police and the Army stood by while Turkey has declared that if Hamas tries to ship arms into Gaza again its navy will try to help them accomplish that goal. The “Arab Spring” was supposed to be about people throwing off despotic dictatorships and enjoying the better life that freedom could bring. Instead, it has been about a sharp increase the power of religious anti-Semitism and a renewed commitment to the destruction of Israel. This trend will clearly end up harming the very Arab people who took part in these uprisings believing they were about human freedom not about what they actually became, hatred of the Jew. Former New York mayor Ed Koch believes the US should do something about this and he argues that “the U.S. is Israel’s only friend and ally. It is not foolish or premature to ask what will the U.S. do when and if the Muslim nations surrounding Israel, this time led by Egypt and Turkey, supported by others, assault the Jewish nation? Will the President and the Congress come to its aid? Shouldn’t Israel know now? Shouldn’t the Muslim nations know?”
September 15, 2011
[COMMENTS]
CONCERN ABOUT IRANIAN AL QUAEDA CONNECTION
The prospect of an al Quaeda aligned with and supported by Iran is a very frightening idea to many. One organization which takes this potential threat very seriously is the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. In a recent article on the subject for them, co-authored by former CIA analyst and Iran expert Reuel Marc Gerecht, he argues that the “Iranian-al-Qaeda ties were perhaps the most interesting and dangerous part of the 9/11 Commission Report. It is shocking to recall the counterterrorist experts of the Clinton and Obama administrations — let alone President Obama and Vice President Biden, who used to refer to al-Qaeda holy warriors in Iran as being “under arrest” — who have assiduously turned a blind eye to this deeply disturbing information about Iranian complicity in al-Qaida terrorism.”
September 15, 2011
[COMMENTS]
IN PRASIE OF THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT
No one knows the consequences of allowing Islamic terrorism to succeed quite the way the people of New York do. After 9/11 most police departments responded by just pretending to take counter terrorism seriously but not the New York City Police Department. While the others concentrated “on feel-good measures such as improving civil rights, passing anti-discrimination laws, and displaying goodwill to Islamists” the NYPD under the leadership of Chief Raymond Kelly made counterterrorism a real priority.The department became pro-active, developed an extensive intelligence network, and created the Terrorist Interdiction Unit. The results of this effort have been greater safety for the people of New York as thirteen further terrorist attempts have been thwarted by these methods.
Instead of acknowledging the effectiveness and necessity of these tactics the press has roundly criticized and condemned them. Also, unfortunately the Obama Administration has learned nothing from the NYPD and is following the lead of other departments around the country and is only pretending to fight terrorism.
September 13, 2011
[COMMENTS]
BARRCK OBAMA ‘S AMAZINGLY THIN SKIN
Comedians imitating the president is an honored American tradition. Steve Bridges began his career by making fun of a non-complaining George Bush. Now that Obama is president his routine features our new leader. However, unlike most everyone else who finds Bridges’ imitation very funny Barack Obama sees it as very offensive. Perhaps there is too much truth in the act and maybe this is just one more small sign that we need someone else to be president.
September 13, 2011
[COMMENTS]
FORMER OPPONENT KINKY FRIEDMAN SAYS HE WOULD VOTE FOR A PRESIDENT RICK PERRY
In 2006 singer. writer, and self-proclaimed Jewish cowboy, Kinky Friedman, ran for governor of Texas eventually losing to current presidential candidate Rick Perry. Despite being one time political adversaries Friedman declares Rick Perry to be a friend and a mensch. He supports Perry over Obama in a possible presidential race citing Perry’s strong economic performance in Texas as opposed to Obama’s dismal national economic record. Friedman also informs us that, “as a Jewish cowboy (or ‘Juusshh,’ as we say in Texas), I know Rick Perry to be a true friend of Israel, like Bill Clinton and George W. before him. There exists a visceral John Wayne kinship between Israelis and Texans, and Rick Perry gets it. That’s why he’s visited Israel on many more occasions than Obama, who’s been there exactly zero times as president.”
Friedman is not the only one who believes the election of Rick Perry would be good for Jews. They include The Weekly Standard editor Wiliam Kristol and the author of this article for Washington Jewish Week.
September 13, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE MAIN ENEMY OF AMERICA IS APPEASEMENT
Ten years ago on September 11th America was attacked and found itself in the midst of a war. President Bush labeled it the war on terror and declared that any state supporting terror would be our enemy and we would deal with them appropriately. For The Jerusalem Post Caroline Glick gives her assessment of America’s progress so far in this conflict. While she acknowledges some very important successes in this war she also points out three underlying problems that could possibly defeat our efforts.
First she notes the inconsistent effort to follow up on George Bush’s tactic to punish states that support terrorism. Glick argues that “while the US applied this principle in Afghanistan and Iraq, it applied it only partially in Pakistan, and failed to apply it all in Iran, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority. By essentially ending its application of the counterterror tactic of denying terrorists free rein of territory and punishing regimes that provide them shelter, the options left to the US in fighting its war on terror have been reduced to catch-as-catch-can killing and capturing of terrorists, and reactive actions such as arresting or detaining terrorists when they are caught on US soil.”
The United States also weakens its ability to prevail by refusing to acknowledge who the real enemy is that they are trying to defeat, jihadist Islam. This failure “has paralyzed their ability to confront and defeat threats as they arise.”
Lastly and perhaps the most serious problem is an urge by American leadership toward appeasement. Acts of appeasement undermine the domestic consensus for winning the war on terror and they also have caused us to separate Islamic jihad aimed at the United States from the same Islamic jihad directed at Israel weakening both of us in the process. Glick points out that “when a nation engages in appeasement at the same time it wages war, its appeasement efforts always undermine its war efforts. This is particularly the case, however, in long-term wars of containment such as the one the US is fighting against Islamic terrorism.”
September 11, 2011
[COMMENTS]
HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF RAW COURAGE THAT WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET: PRESIDENT
BUSH AT YANKEE STADIUM
None of us should ever forget this event. Even old Red Sox fans who did not
vote for the guy, like me.
September 8, 2011
[COMMENTS]
SPECIAL PRIVILEGES FOR MUSLIMS IN TORONTO
If you are a Muslim woman wearing a hijab and living in Toronto apparently you have the right to punch someone in the face if you feel like it. David Menzies gives us an account of his experience when he tried to take someone's photograph, a common occurrence in public throughout the Western world. The subject a woman wearing a hijab instead of asking him politely not to take pictures, a normal response, charged him, punched him in the face, and tried to knock his camera to the ground. He was then “surrounded by a mob of about 20 people, many of whom were speaking Arabic. One kept demanding I surrender my camera to him.” The incident was witnessed by a couple from Syria who came forward with Menzies to report it to the police. Despite the clear cut nature of the assault the police refused to press charges. One cannot help but wonder did the presence of a mob have anything to do with that decision?
September 5, 2011
[COMMENTS]
OBAMA AND THE DEMOCRATS DO NOT RECOGNIZE THE MURDERED FOGEL KIDS AS VICTIMS OF TERROR
The National Jewish Democratic Council claims that Barack Obama is committed to Israeli security, however, that falsehood is exposed whenever he lists countries that are victims of terrorism and omits Israel. That happened during the 2008 campaign in a speech given in Berlin and occurred again recently when the White House issued a press release concerning 9/11 observances. Over ninety nations were mentioned as victims but not Israel. According to Obama there is no security problem for Israel. The Zionist Organization of America declares that “from where we sit, these glaring omissions suggest that Mr. Obama is unwilling to recognize openly or officially that the Palestinians engage in terroristic violence such as the brutal murder of the Fogel family, the ongoing bombardment of Israel with rocket and mortar artillery (with each shot being an act of war under international law), and even attempts to blow up Israeli hospitals with suicide bombs.”
Bill Levinson suggests that “if the National Jewish Democratic Council wishes to stand behind its promotion of Mr. Obama as a supporter of Israel (or even as somebody who opposes terrorism in general with more than lip service), it needs to get him to clarify his position on whether Israel is a victim of terrorism.”
September 5, 2011
[COMMENTS]
PRESIDENT OBAMA SECRETLY EXPANDS US ROLE IN MEXICAN DRUG WAR
Shortly after his election Mexican President Felipe Calderón began a campaign against his country’s drug traffickers that has cost the lives of tens of thousands Mexican citizens so far. For some time now Barack Obama has been steadily increasing American involvement in that ill conceived war. The New York Times reports that “many aspects of the campaign remain secret, because of legal and political sensitivities. But in recent months, details have begun to emerge, revealing efforts that would have been unthinkable five years ago. Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderón, who was elected in 2006, has broken with his country’s historic suspicion of the United States and has enlisted Washington’s help in defeating the cartels, a central priority for his government.” Obama’s new policies involve the employment of the DEA, CIA, and the American military. They include the use of drones and operations originating on American soil.
One top officer said “the military is trying to take what it did in Afghanistan and do the same in Mexico.” Last month 66 Americans died in Afghanistan the worst month since the war began in 2001. If Barack Obama gets his way how many Americans will die in Mexico?
September 3, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ANTI-SEMITICISM IS THE REAL OBSTACLE TO PEACE
Modern jihadism is believed by many to be a return to some medieval mindset but rather it is a virulent combination of traditional anti-Semitic Islamic teachings and the extermination goals of Nazism. In his brilliant and comprehensive article exploring this theme for The Middle East Quarterly David Patterson asserts that “without understanding how the latter has influenced the former, it would be difficult to identify how modern jihadists find a basis for some of their pronouncements.” Recognizing the personal and ideological connections between modern jihad and Nazism allows us to understand that it is not the Jewish state they view as the problem but instead the Jewish people. Therefore extermination is the only goal and everything else is done in service of that goal.
In conclusion, Patterson points out that in “Hamas's worldview, evil is rooted not only in the Jews but in Judaism itself. Unlike the rest of humanity, the Jew can be neither redeemed nor rehabilitated, any more than one could make Satan into a saint. The only way to liberate humanity is to cast the satanic Jew into hell, and, as the embodiment of God on earth, Hamas takes the lead in that endeavor: Hamas is humanity's savior. To abandon its mission would be to renounce its followers' place in paradise.” This is essentially in practical terms the same viewpoint and undertaking developed by the Nazi regime.
August 29, 2011
[COMMENTS]
WHAT IS THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION HIDING?
When Barack Obama ran for President in 2008 he assured the American people the most transparent administration in history. Yet when Department of Justice agreed to end an investigation of an international financial network with ties to Islamic terrorism that promise was thoroughly broken. The target of the investigation will remit more $30 million but we are not to know why they are doing this because Obama’s DOJ refuses to refuses to make any comment on the case or release a copy of the settlement. In his article describing pertinent aspects of this investigation Steven Emerson reveals that “Rep. Frank Wolf, (R-VA), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee overseeing the Justice Department, told the Investigative Project on Terrorism that DOJ is making a mistake by refusing to make public the details of the settlement it reached with the Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf (IICG). The Virginia lawmaker said that on today he will send administration officials a letter urging that all of the information about the case be made public.” Wolf also indicated that he is prepared to use the appropriations process to force some of that elusive transparency promised by Obama.
August 29, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ANOTHER FRIEND VISITS ISRAEL
Despite an ever increasing hostility demonstrated by the Obama Administration Israel still has strong support coming from many members of the United States Congress. That fact was made manifest when a congressional delegation visited Israel and The Jerusalem Post published an interview with rising star Representative Allen West. The Florida congressman met with PLO leadership and indicated that he did not see them as a creditable peace partner. He also talked about the double standard applied to Israeli actions taken in self-defense. When asked about the two state solution West replied that “I think that you have to first of all support the modern-day state of Israel. I think you have to support Israel post the ’67 borders. Now, I am not going to sit here and dictate to Israel what their polices should be, but my perspective on it is that I have never seen a Palestinian state, and I think before that ever gets talked about, there are some concessions that have to be made on their side: the recognition of Israel and the renouncing of terrorism.”
August 29, 2011
[COMMENTS]
GLENN BECK A TRUE FRIEND OF ISRAEL
Many of those who command attention, such as Barack Obama, like to begin their remarks about the Middle East by proclaiming their great friendship for Israel shortly before condemning that country and suggesting it follow a path to self-destruction. One glaring exception to that rule has proven to be Glenn Beck as Caroline Glick points out in her excellent description of his recent visit to Israel. She quotes Beck saying that “in Israel, there is more courage in one square mile than in all of Europe. In Israel, there is more courage in one Israeli soldier than in the combined and cold hearts of every bureaucrat at the United Nations. In Israel, you can find people who will stand against incredible odds, against the entire tide of global opinion, for what is right and good and true. Israel is not a perfect country. No country is perfect. But it tries, and it is courageous.”
Unfortunately, the Israeli media took its cue from an American media consistently hostile to Glenn Beck because he does not parrot their constant distortions and they tried to marginalize his message by declaring him an insignificant person. Glick disagrees arguing that “what was most remarkable about Beck’s message was its rarity. Beck did not say anything factually inaccurate. The vast majority of Israelis certainly would find nothing controversial in any of his assertions. Yet despite his honesty, and his reasonable interpretation of Israel’s strategic and diplomatic circumstances, Beck’s is a voice in the wilderness. One almost never comes across a foreigner — or even an Israeli — who is willing to speak such basic truths in public.”
August 29, 2011
[COMMENTS]
BBC LIKES TO BLAME THE VICTIM ESPECIALLY WHEN IT IS ISRAEL
Over the weekend more than 100 rockets and mortars rained down on defenseless towns and cities in Southern Israel and a number of Israeli civilians were recently murdered by terrorists near Eilat. As per usual the BBC chose to focus on the Israeli response, portraying that as the aggression. The anti-Semitic bias of the British network has been too evident for too long for any information they present about the Middle East to be believed.
August 22, 2011
[COMMENTS]
WHITE HOUSE PATTERN OF DECEIT ABOUT THE MIDDLE EAST
The American parents of a child born in Jerusalem, Israel want that person’s birth certificate to reflect that fact but they Obama Administrations State Department says no despite a 2002 law requiring U.S. government documents acknowledge that persons born in Jerusalem are Israeli. The issue is to be settled by the Supreme Court and evidence in favor of the parents includes a number of references on the CIA, State Department, and White House websites to Jerusalem, Israel, In a childish and ineffective act of deception the White House has removed the word Israel from those locations on their website.
The Obama Administration’s second lie by omission this week about the Middle East involves the White House guest list for a breaking the Ramadan fast dinner. The published lineup did not include a number of prominent Islamists who attended the event. However, no one from the American Islamic Leadership Coalition was invited, perhaps because that group’s mission statement declares a goal "to defend the U.S. Constitution, uphold religious pluralism, protect American security and cherish genuine diversity in the practice of our faith of Islam."
In retrospect, Barack Obama’s penchant for deception was clearly the most significant aspect of his 2008 campaign and the practice continues to this day.
August 17, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE ANTI-SEMITIC AMERICAN CAMPUS
During the last decade anti-Semitism masquerading as anti-Zionism has become a prominent feature of the American campus. The late Gary A. Tobin suggested that “while anti-Israelism, in itself, encourages anti-Semitic sentiment; it also invites participation by traditional anti-Semites who tailor their bigotry to focus on Israel in order to be acceptable on campus.”
This is a present state of affairs which demands a complete explanation and in his book Jewish Identity and Civil Rights in America Kenneth L. Marcus provides one. A review of the work published in the Jewish Political Studies Review asserts that “Jewish Identity and Civil Rights in America presents clear evidence of the lack of balance in academia, where so-called scholarship consistently fails to examine, much less condemn, terrorism or jihadism. Such an atmosphere enables intolerable ideas to become accepted as the norm. This situation must be challenged by all those concerned about the health of academia, as well as the continued well-being of Israel. It is to be hoped that Marcus's efforts will prove effective and that this book will serve as a wakeup call for the Jewish community at large and encourage proactive steps on these critical issues.”
August 15, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ANOTHER OBAMA ASSAULT ON ISRAEL
Apparently keeping Israeli Jews from having homes is a goal of the Barack Obama Administration. Once again Obama is condemning the building of apartments in the ancient Jewish capital of Jerusalem. Our President announced that he sides with the intolerant Palestinians who want to evict Jews from their homes as a condition of peace. Their and his idea of a two state solution is a Jewish state where Arabs can live in peace and prosperity as well as an Arab state ethnically cleansed of Jews. In his analysis of the situation Jonathan S. Tobin observes that “today’s announcement may be seen as the administration throwing a bone to the Palestinians to bribe them to give up their effort to evade peace talks by asking the United Nations to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. But statements such as these only encourage more intransigence. So long as the Palestinians are allowed to nurture their ambition to take Jerusalem from Israel, peace will be unattainable. By condemning the building of Jewish homes in Har Homa, the Obama administration has poured more fuel on the fire of the conflict and once again staked out a position that undermines America’s alliance with Israel.”
August 13, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MORE NEWS FROM THE NIGHTMARE NEWS DEPARTMENT AT THE WHITE HOUSE
The Obama Administration has a definite strategy for dealing with Islamic terrorism and it is called appeasement. It has issued a document outlining its approach titled Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States that substitutes violent extremism for the word terrorism, completely eliminates the word Jihad and only mentions Muslims very sparingly.
The emphasis on empowering local partners “is a transparent defense of CAIR and other Muslim organizations accused of radical activities. But rather than countering the charges raised against them, it pretends those charges have never been made, and urges law enforcement to continue partnering with Muslim groups. A course that leads local and national law enforcement to unwittingly work with the political partners and fundraisers of terrorist organizations.”
August 11, 2011
[COMMENTS]
CAN THIS BE TRUE: OBAMA IS STUPID?
Ever since Barack Obama emerged onto the National political stage the conventional wisdom has declared him to be very intelligent. This begs the question, if he is so smart why have conditions become progressively worse since he was elected? One person who disagrees with the consensus about Obama’s acumen is Bret Stephens who declares “I don't buy it. I just think the president isn't very bright.” He goes on to provide a number of valid reasons backing up this opinion including Obama’s arrogant belief that he knows everything about everything, his cliché ridden rhetoric, his appalling performance as a political tactician, and his inability to change away from the wrong course. Stephens points out “that it takes actual smarts to understand that glibness and self-belief are not sufficient proof of genuine intelligence. Stupid is as stupid does, said the great philosopher Forrest Gump. The presidency of Barack Obama is a case study in stupid does.”
August 11, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ONE VIEW OF THE BRITISH RIOTERS
Many of the normally civilized British people have recently been behaving in a totally unacceptable manner. For most of those who participated in the recent London riots it was a fun and exciting time. Writing for the Daily Mail Max Hastings has some extremely strong words describing the youth who have caused so much damage. He argues “they are essentially wild beasts. I use that phrase advisedly, because it seems appropriate to young people bereft of the discipline that might make them employable; of the conscience that distinguishes between right and wrong. They respond only to instinctive animal impulses — to eat and drink, have sex, seize or destroy the accessible property of others.”
While most of the British government and press seek to explain their behavior by citing deprived circumstances and police persecution, Hastings finds the explanation in a liberal dogma that no longer punishes wrong doing. He cites a judicial system that often sides with the perpetrators of crime rather than the victims, a police establishment neglecting its duty, and teachers deprived of all authority. Hastings concludes that “unless or until those who run Britain introduce incentives for decency and impose penalties for bestiality which are today entirely lacking, there will never be a shortage of young rioters and looters such as those of the past four nights, for whom their monstrous excesses were ‘a great fire, man.’”
August 11, 2011
[COMMENTS]
NORWAY’S ANTI-SEMITIC ELITE
The Norwegian government just spent more than$20 million on a public commemoration honoring novelist Knut Hamsun on his 150th birthday. Hamsun was an enthusiastic Nazi who gave his Nobel Prize to Josef Goebbels and personally met with Hitler in Bavaria during the war. Unfortunately, anti-Semitism seems to be a prominent feature of Norwegian society.
In 2006 the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs issued a report on Jew hatred in contemporary Norwegian caricatures. Author Erez Uriely argued that “Norwegian anti- Semitism does not come from the grassroots but from the leadership - politicians, organization leaders, church leaders, and senior journalists. It does not come from Muslims but from the European-Christian society.” It is clear that the Norwegian people need a new political and cultural elite.
August 9, 2011
[COMMENTS]
NEW JERSY GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE ISLAMIST’S ALLY
A substantial number of Conservatives hope that New Jersey Governor will enter the presidential race for 2012 despite his repeated statements that he has no intention of doing so. However, if he changes his mind Conservative voters will face a dilemma. While his seeming devotion to fiscal integrity is very attractive, his willingness to support the Islamist agenda is a serious flaw.
This concern comes about because the Governor has nominated ”Sohail Mohammed, an Islamist who aspires to apply Islamic law, the Sharia” to the state superior court. This and a number of other actions show that Christie either turns a blind eye or is openly sympathetic to Islamist goals. In fact he has received an endorsement from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Criticism of this appointment caused Governor Christie to engage in a tirade against those who object. He said “this Sharia law business is crap. It's just crazy. And I'm tired of dealing with the crazies.”
The National Review published a response to Christie’s outburst. Author Andrew C. McCarthy argued that “the questions about Governor Christie's appointment of Sohail Mohammed and his exertions on behalf of Mohammed's client, Mohammed Qatanani, have nothing to do with either sharia or the all-purpose smear of Islamophobia. They are about the governor's judgment. They are about a U.S. attorney with political ambitions pandering to a politically active constituency at the expense of national security and enforcement of the immigration laws. They are about his decision to award a state judgeship to an attorney who was an active and vocal board member of a very troubling Islamist organization — and who has a penchant for presuming that perfectly valid anti-terror prosecutions are, instead, anti-Muslim persecutions. Those questions are not answered by bluster.”
August 8, 2011
[COMMENTS]
GROWING MUSLIM ASCENDENCY IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES
In Great Britain the head of the Church of England has argued for the recognition of Sharia Law. In various British cities there are numerous “Sharia law enforcement zones” and when there is physical confrontation between Muslims and groups that oppose the introduction of this change the Muslims who have instigated the violence go free while those trying to uphold English culture and law go to jail. A British Islamic leader has stated that he is dedicated to changing the “very infrastructure of society, its institutions, its culture, its political order and its creed…from ignorance to Islam.”
Islamists who believe and work for this goal are succeeding not only the United Kingdom but in Europe as a whole. In Madrid for example there are now 85 Sharia courts. Also, “the Islamic fact is solidly entrenched in the U.S. and continues to bore its way ever more deeply into the body politic, with the collusion of the Democratic administration, a significant portion of the judiciary, the press, the army, and the vociferous left-wing intelligentsia. The European experience is being imported wholesale into the country. Pointing this out is quickly denounced as Islamophobia. The truth is that significant elements in the country have succumbed to an epidemic of Islamophilia.”
In conjunction with a growing acceptance of Islamic cultural domination is a worldwide growth of anti-Semitism. Islamophilia and Judeophobia go hand in hand. Aaron Klein notes the “demonization of Israel in the mainstream media, the court of public opinion, the European Union, the United Nations, the majority of NGOs and the current American administration. This is a sign not only of collective bad faith, international hypocrisy, millennial prejudice and pure malevolence, but quite simply of massive intellectual derangement. It is facilitated by a refusal to sift the historical facts from the welter of lies and disinformation that deliberately cloud the historical and political context, the dismissal of the provisions of international law and, once again, the abandonment of reason.”
August 4, 2011
[COMMENTS]
TO AVOID VAST PERSONAL ANGST DO NOT READ THIS, ESPECIALLY THE LAST ITEM
An accumulation of disturbing facts is making it very difficult to believe that Barack Obama is up to the job of being president. The Wall Street Journal has provided us with an eye opening alphabetical list of many ways his administration has failed the American people.
August 2, 2011
[COMMENTS]
NORWEGIAN AMBASSADOR ARGUES TERRORISM AGAINST ISRAEL JUSTFIED
Norway’s ambassador to Israel stated in an interview that because of the so called occupation terrorism against Israel is more justified than the recent incident of terrorism against Norway. This is a de facto promotion of the taking of Jewish lives by an anti-Semitic bigot since it rewards such acts with justification and approval. In his brilliant essay demolishing this sick twisted logic Alan Dershowitz begins by reminding us that Arab terrorism directed at Jews long preceded the creation of the state Israel let alone any change of control over the West Bank.
Dershowitz also states that “I was not surprised to hear such a historical bigotry from a Norwegian ambassador. Norway is the most anti-Semitic and anti-Israel country in Europe today. I know, because I experienced both personally during a recent visit and tour of universities. No university would invite me to lecture, unless I promised not to discuss Israel.” The piece then presents a number of little known facts showing the surprising extent of this repugnant prejudice in Norway. Dershowitz also points out that “it is hard to imagine that he would make such a provocative statement without express approval from the Norwegian government.”
July 31, 2011
[COMMENTS]
CHRISTIANS AND JEWS
David Wilder writes a column titled The Jewish Community of Hebron and last week he attended a conference put on by Christians and Jews United for Israel (CUFI) in Washington D.C., declaring it an amazing experience. The event was impressive because of the quality of the speakers, the wide diversity of those in attendance, and the emotion of love that over shadowed everything else. Wider acknowledges that skepticism over the participant’s agenda is a valid thought but he observed that “their love for Israel, for the Jewish people, for the Land of Israel and the people of Israel, is overwhelming. I cannot say 100% that there aren’t any agendas amongst any of them; I cannot read people’s hearts and minds. But the outpouring of love is much too much to be a superficial show, with all sorts of shadowy background schemes. It’s real – it’s genuine – it’s authentic. And to be blind to it, in my humble opinion, is a huge error of judgment.”
July 30, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MEDICAL MARIJUANA TO BE GROWN IN ISRAEL
Ever since Barack Obama became president relations between the U.S. and Israel seem to be growing more strained with each passing week. However, this may not be an entirely bad thing because it does give Israel more freedom to pursue different policies to its own benefit. For example, this situation provides more of an opportunity for Israel to break away from an American style drug prohibition that cause far more harm than good.
While the Obama Administration, despite campaign promises not to, is stepping up its persecution of medical marijuana patients considerably, the Israelis are moving in the opposite direction. Their Health Ministry is creating a new unit to oversee production of medical marijuana. This will lower patient costs versus imports by a factor of ten.
July 30, 2011
[COMMENTS]
BARACK OBAMA HAS NO PLAN
Sadly, it has become increasingly apparent that President Obama has no serious plan for raising the debt ceiling or dealing with the nation’s 14.5 trillion dollar deficit. This interesting exchange between administration and press shows that Obama’s complete lack of leadership is becoming more and more difficult to hide. Recently on The Daily Show Jon Stewart jokingly asked; ”Did the president just quit?” Many would argue there is more truth than joke in that quip.
July 27, 2011
[COMMENTS]
UNITED STATES TAXPAYER FUNDED SALARIES FOR PALESTINIAN MURDERS AND TERRORISTS
Last year the American taxpayer provided the Palestinian Authority(PA) with more than six hundred million dollars in funding. The United States law granting assistance to the West Bank and Gaza ordered that the Secretary of State “shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that such assistance is not provided to or through any individual, private or government entity, or educational institution that the Secretary knows or has reason to believe advocates, plans, sponsors, engages in, or has engaged in, terrorist activity.”
However, this directive has been completely ignored because the Palestinian Authority is paying salaries to terrorists and murders convicted and imprisoned in Israel. The average payment to these terrorists is greater than average monthly wage for a PA civil servant. The PA also funds a number of projects that clearly glorify terrorism. In a time of severe U.S. budgetary woes I can think of no better cost saving measure than to stop funding terrorism through the Palestinian Authority.
July 27, 2011
[COMMENTS]
SAEB EREKAT’S HYSTERICAL REACTION
Last Tuesday this space posted The Truth About the West Bank. This outstanding video narrated by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon simply presented the historical and legal facts about the West Bank and so far it has had 120,000 hits on YouTube.
Of course these truths have caused a hysterical reaction from Palestinians including negotiator Saeb Erekat. He demands an explanation from the Israeli government and frantically exclaims that “with this video, the Israeli government has left no doubt on its pro-conflict agenda, Now, the international community knows the Israeli government is committed to denying the Palestinian people their inalienable right to self-determination and on continuing their illegal and colonial enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territory.” Ayalon responds by arguing that “for too long the Palestinian narrative of international law and rights has gone unchallenged, and this over the top reaction to a public diplomacy video proves that they are acting like spoiled children who have had their way for too long,”
The article in The Jerusalem Post dealing with this subject also includes a number of well thought out comments that both elaborate and bolster Danny Ayalon’s presentation.
July 25, 2011
[COMMENTS]
WELL DONE CZECH REPUBLIC
The Czech Republic has joined Israel, Canada, and the United States in refusing to attend the UN’s celebration of Israeli bashing called Durban III. The event to be held in New York City on September 22nd is unmistakably anti-Semitic and based on patently false premises. Anne Bayefsky Informs us that “the Czech Republic’s move comes three days after U.N. negotiators quietly circulated a draft of the final declaration that will be adopted at the conclusion of Durban III. Although the writing had been on the wall for a very long time, the alarm bells could no longer be ignored. The ‘political declaration’ focuses particularly on what it calls ‘victims of racism.’ And the Durban Declaration emanating from South Africa names only one state victimizer – Israel. The Palestinian people are listed as victims of racism.”
July 23, 2011
[COMMENTS]
WHEN WILL EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS PROTEST THIS EVENT?
Too many people in this world act as though only Muslims deserve religious tolerance. In Iran, where non-Muslims are routinely persecuted sometimes in absolutely horrible ways, a man has recently been sentenced to hang because “he has often participated in Christian worship and organized home church services, evangelizing and has been baptized and baptized others, converting Muslims to Christianity. He has been accused of breaking Islamic Law that from puberty (15 years according to Islamic law) until the age of 19 the year 1996, he was raised a Muslim in a Muslim home.” We in the West face constant demands that the Muslim religion be accommodated in a thousand different ways, however, in Iran the Supreme Court says Mr. Youcef Nadarkhani’s Christian religion will not be tolerated even to the point of allowing him to live.
July 21, 2011
[COMMENTS]
EDINBURGH UNIVERSITYSTUDENTS IGNORE FACTS
The wave of anti-Semitism now circulating the globe has washed over Edinburgh University in Scotland. They voted (270 to 20) for a boycott of Israeli goods. The motion resulting in this action declared Israel to be an apartheid state. In response one of the leading British experts on the Middle East, Denis MacEoin a senior editor of the Middle East Quarterly and a graduate of the Edinburgh school, addressed The Committee Edinburgh University Student Association. He destroyed the notion that Israel is an apartheid regime pointing out that “for apartheid to exist there would have to be a situation that closely resembled things in South Africa under the apartheid regime. Unfortunately for those who believe this, a weekend in any part of Israel would be enough to show how ridiculous the claim is. That a body of university students actually fell for this and voted on it is a sad comment on the state of modern education. The most obvious focus for apartheid would be the country’s 20% Arab population. Under Israeli law, Arab Israelis have exactly the same rights as Jews or anyone else; Muslims have the same rights as Jews or Christians; Baha’is, severely persecuted in Iran, flourish in Israel, where they have their world centre; Ahmadi Muslims, severely persecuted in Pakistan and elsewhere, are kept safe by Israel; the holy places of all religions are protected under a specific Israeli law. Arabs form 20% of the university population (an exact echo of their percentage in the general population). In Iran, the Baha’is (the largest religious minority) are forbidden to study in any university or to run their own universities: why aren’t your members boycotting Iran?”
July 21, 2011
[COMMENTS]
LEGAL AND HISTORICAL TRUTHS ABOUT THE WEST BANK
There are many misconceptions about the territory known as the West Bank promoted by the enemies of Israel. In a well done and very informative video featuring Israel's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Danny Ayalon he presents the historical and legal truth about the West Bank. One of his purposes is get people to stop using the terms occupied territory and 1967 borders because those terms are not supported by any historical or legal facts.
July 19, 2011
[COMMENTS]
OBAMA GENERATED FEAR OF GOVERNMENT ROOT CAUSE OF OUR ECONOMIC PROBLEMS
There are many possible and competing explanations for the enormous economic problems faced by the American today. In an uncensored company conference call Steve Wynn, the CEO of casino company Wynn Resorts and self-described Democratic businessman lays the blame squarely on President Obama’s shoulders. He argues that fear of government is the underlying cause asserting that “those of us who have business opportunities and the capital to do it are going to sit in fear of the President. And a lot of people don't want to say that. They'll say, God, don't be attacking Obama. Well, this is Obama's deal and it's Obama that's responsible for this fear in America.”
July 19, 2011
[COMMENTS]
PRESIDENT OBAMA THE ARAB LEAGUE IS NOT INTERESTED IN PEACE
The Obama administration is going to conduct a White House summit on Israel. So far Russia, China, the EU, the UN, and the Arab League have been invited but not Israel. It is not hard to predict a condemnation of Israel coming from this event since one of the attendees, the Arab League, has been at war with Israel since 1948. In his detailed analysis of this conflict between the League and the Jewish people living in Israel Eli E. Hertz asserts that “the Arab League, which has systematically opposed and blocked peace efforts for nearly 67 years, and is in a declared state-of-war with Israel, is now deemed by the U.S. State Department an organization that can contribute to peace in the Middle East.”
July 18, 2011
[COMMENTS]
IRVING BERLIN’S “GOD BLESS AMERICA”
Perhaps the most well known American song is God Bless America written by Jewish immigrant Irving Berlin in1917. Some have even suggested it should be our national anthem. Here is a fine film performance of it by the woman who really helped make it so famous. It was made in 1940 at a time when our patriotism was of utmost importance.
July 11, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ISRAEL’S GIFTS TO THE WORLD
Whenever the mainstream media covers Israel it is usually about conflict. However, this gives a very distorted view of Israel’s true place in the world that of innovator who benefits greatly all of mankind. In his latest weekly newsletter containing good news stories about Israel Michael Ordman details just some of the many contributions made in a wide variety of fields by Israel.
July 11, 2011
[COMMENTS]
KILL THE JEWS FLOTILLA
Harvard University Professor Ruth Wisse has labeled the attempt by international activists to sail for Gaza the “Kill the Jews Flotilla.” She argues that “the purpose of the flotilla is to discredit the Israeli attempt to protect itself and to give Hamas a free hand amassing weapons to use against Israeli civilians.” You can hear her discuss the flotilla and other important aspects of modern Arab anti-Semitism in an absolutely outstanding and very insightful interview here.
July 5, 2011
[COMMENTS]
JUDEA AND SAMARIA JEWISH BY RIGHT
The United Nations is expected to create a Palestinian state in September. Joel S. Auerbach of the Jewish Press asked the question will this be an illegal act. In a comprehensive and well-argued essay he answers with a resounding yes.
This opinion is supported by a group of legal of experts who recently said so in a letter to UN General Secretary Ban Ki- Moon. Their basis for this legal interpretation goes back to 1922 when the League of Nations declared “the establishment of a national home for the Jewish People in the historical area of the Land of Israel.” The letter argues that the illegality of the proposed UN action comes from article 80 of the UN charter which protected the rights of “any peoples or the terms of existing international instruments to which members of the United Nations may respectively be parties.” Article 80 ”preserved, under international law, the rights of the Jewish people to ‘close settlement’ in all the land west of the Jordan River, even after the British Mandate had expired and the League of Nations had ceased to exist.”
July 5, 2011
[COMMENTS]
TRYING UNSUCCESSFULLY TO SILENCE MELANIE PHILLIPS
One of the most consistent and eloquent voices defending Israel belongs to Melanie Phillips. Recently, much to the delight of Israel’s enemies, she announced that she would not be writing for the Spectator’s Blog any longer and this has occurred under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Fortunately, Phillips has also told us that she will now be a columnist for the Daily Mail as well as her own website.
In his commentary about this for the American Thinker James G. Wiles asserts that “at the bottom of it all appears to be the British ruling class’ eroding support for Israel — a phenomenon not unknown elsewhere in the West. Like Caroline Glick at the Jerusalem Post and Pam Geller of atlasshrugs.com, Ms. Phillips has proved herself to be a great Lioness of Judah in resisting the rot. As such, in today’s Western Europe, Melanie Phillips stands out.”
July 1, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ED KOCH SAYS IT IS TIME TO LEAVE AFGHANISTAN
Some of the leaders of Afghanistan have said that the American forces there are brutal occupiers serving only American interests. The outgoing U.S, Ambassador Carl W, Eikenberry tells those officials that when he talks to the families of wounded and fallen soldiers that in light of their statements he has no satisfactory explanation for the loved ones sacrifices.
In his message to Barack Obama former New York City Mayor Edward Koch quotes Eikenberry at length and says that now is the time for a complete withdrawal of our troops well before 2014. Koch argues that the call of the Afghan leaders for the Taliban to renounce violence and work with them to form a government will result in a situation very similar to the one in Gaza where Fatah and Hamas have united. Koch contends “Mr. President, I believe the deaths and injuries of our young soldiers that will take place between now and 2014 are simply too much to bear and our suffering and money expenditures will be all for naught.”
June 29, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THIS HELPS EXPLAIN WHY I AM A RECOVERING LIBERAL DEMOCRAT
And why I would vote for any opponent who might defeat Obama. This is because Obama seems to deal with Jewish people primarily by trying to deceive them about his anti-Israeli stance, especially wealthy ones he wants money from. Caroline Glick makes this point by describing an Obama fund raiser attended by well off Jewish donors who paid between $25, 000 and $38,800 to be there. She informs us that “Obama opened his remarks by talking about his commitment to Israel's security. And as has become his habit, Obama went on to say that it is his job to force Israelis to bow to his demands because he knows what is best for Israel.”
June 24, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD: WHAT THE F*#K WAS THAT? NEVER AGAIN, NEVER AGAIN!
During their meeting at the White House Benjamin Netanyahu calmly but firmly explained to Barack Obama that demanding that Israel return to its Pre-1967 borders was tantamount to demanding that Israel self-destruct and then left. Obama then responded with rage and obscenity. He has been quoted as saying; “What the f*#k was that!? Never again! Do you understand me? Never again!” We do not know if this was true but it seems to be.
June 20, 2011
[COMMENTS]
OBAMA PRESSING ISRAEL
Demanding that Israel return to its pre-1967 borders is the same thing as demanding that they commit suicide, yet that is precisely what Barack Obama is insisting upon. Despite the overwhelmingly negative response to the idea from the American Congress and people he is even increasing his pressure on Israel. P. David Hornik writing on Pajamas Media points out that “Obama is, moreover, doing this at a time when Israel’s ostensible peace partner, the Fatah-aligned Palestinian Authority, is supposed to finalize next week its unity government with Hamas, which the U.S. (along with Canada and the EU) officially defines as a terrorist organization.
June 20, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE FALSE PREMISES OF MIDDLE EAST PEACE
The enemies of Israel have been very successful with their efforts to define certain steps necessary for the peace process in the Middle East. These steps have taken on the characteristics of pieties. However, they are not designed to produce peace but rather the destruction of Israel, the true goal of the Arabs. They include a return to 1967 borders, that Jerusalem must be a shared capital, a right of return for Arab refugees, and that there must be two states for two peoples.
In a must read essay for the National Review Online Barbara Lerner does an outstanding job of showing how these false pieties are highly unjust, thoroughly unhistorical, and extremely dangerous to the Jewish people living in the Middle East. She argues that “the upshot is that the whole so-called Middle East peace process is a great Taqqiya — a deliberate deception by Arabs and Islamists, aimed at conning naïve Jews, Christians, and other Westerners into cooperating in their own defeat and destruction — first in Israel; then in Europe, where they have made significant progress already; and, finally, here in America.”
June 18, 2011
[COMMENTS]
WELL DESERVED PRAISE FOR THE IDF
No other military force in the history of man has ever faced the kind of intense scrutiny that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has, been subjected to. It has been forced to endure this often very biased examination despite the fact that it has also been forced into an over sixty year life and death struggle with an enemy who does not want peace only the death of all the Jews in Israel. They face an enemy who will sacrifice anything including the lives of their own civilians to achieve that goal.
When the UN’s infamous Goldstone Report accused the IDF of war crimes Colonel Richard Kemp, former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan came to the IDF’s aid. Before the grossly misnamed UN Human Rights Council he said that “during its operation in Gaza, the Israeli Defense Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.”
Now, in an eloquent speech before a group of young professionals and soldiers in Tel Aviv Colonel Kemp explained and expanded upon his earlier assertions. He noted that the Western world shared the same struggle that the IDF is engaged in and said he felt vindicated by a new UN report which “shows that the ratio of civilian to combatant deaths in Gaza was by far the lowest in any asymmetric conflict in the history of warfare.”
June 17, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE MIRACLES WROUGHT BY THOSE JEWISH SETTLERS BEFORE THE CREATION OF ISRAEL
The chaos in the Middle East is routinely attributed by the Western media to the presence Israeli settlers. Their economic and technological achievements which have benefited the Palestinian people enormously are completely ignored. In the Mid-19th century there were between 200,000 and 300,000 Arabs living in Palestine, today that number is 5.5 million there with the increase only made possible by the efforts of the Jews. Writing for The American Spectator George Gilder argues that “in draining swamps, leaching saline soils, redeeming dunes into orchards and poultry farms, in planting millions of trees on rocky hills, in constructing elaborate water works and terraces on the hills, in digging 548 wells and supporting canals in little more than a decade and irrigating thousands of acres of land, establishing industries, hospitals, clinics, and schools, the 500,000 Jewish settlers who arrived before the creation of Israel massively expanded the very absorptive dimensions and capacity of the country. It was these advances that made possible the fivefold 20th-century surge of the Arab population by 1940.” In short he is saying that most of the Palestinians would not even exist were it not for the Israelis who made their population increase possible. After digesting Gilder’s comprehensive must read article on the many benefits brought to the Arabs by the Jews through the years you can only find one adjective to describe the Palestinians, ungrateful.
June 13, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MORE PROOF THAT PEACE WITH THE ARABS IS IMPOSSIBLE: JUDEA JUDENREIN
Mahmoud Abbas has declared that in his Palestinian state not a single Jew will be allowed to live there. While the world is constantly reviling an Israeli state where Muslims live in peace and prosperity and are even elected to Parliament it has very little to say about the crude racism of the Palestinian leadership. In her article for The Jerusalem Post Sarah Honig argues that “such racist stipulations are fine and dandy with the dysfunctional family of nations constitutes the single most gigantic obstacle on the path of peace. There’s nothing for which Abbas may agitate – no matter how inequitable or unreasonable – that is likely to get shot down. Not unexpectedly, outright impunity and invulnerability whet his appetite and embolden him to press for ever more and more besides. The sky is the limit. Overseas onlookers are sure to indulge his every whim.”
June 11, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MORE ON YALE’S POLITICALLY CORRECT DECSION
When Yale made its decision to close the only institute systematically studying Arab anti-Semitism in North America it made a political choice not an academic one. In her excellent analysis of this event Caroline Glick makes this point crystal clear.
June 11, 2011
[COMMENTS]
HISTORICAL TRUTH
In 1948 five Arab countries seeking to destroy the nascent state of Israel attacked promising total destruction, not to help the Palestinians but rather to acquire pieces of territory for themselves. Subsequently, Arab leadership through orders and intimidation caused large numbers of Palestinians to flee their homes. The expected victory over Israel that would have allowed the refugees to return never occurred. It was indeed a catastrophe for the Palestinian people but one made almost entirely by Arab hands. If one acknowledges the historical truths presented by Efraim Karsh then one cannot view the Palestinians as victims of the Jews and therefore the violence and virulent hatred directed by the Palestinians at Jewish people have not the slightest legitimacy. The attitude of much of the Western leadership and punditry primarily from the left is grounded in historical ignorance.
June 11, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ANTI-SEMITISM THE TABOO SUBJECT
A wave of hateful anti-Semitism has washed over the American college campus in recent years. Yale had a program to study this dangerous trend called the Initiative to Combat Anti- Semitism and Anti-Israelism in America’s Educational Systems at the Institute for Jewish and Community Research, and they have now decided to shut it down. The national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Abraham Foxman argued that if there were problems the program they should have been fixed rather than the program eliminated “especially at a time when anti-Semitism continues to be virulent and anti-Israel parties treat any effort to address issues relating to anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism as illegitimate, Yale’s decision is particularly unfortunate and dismaying,”
This development should not be too surprising considering Yale’s long history of elitist discrimination against Jews including past quotas limiting the number of Jews allowed to attend despite their qualifications. Perhaps Yale did not want anyone looking too closely at that.
June 9, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE HISTORY AND MEANING OF UN RESOLUTION 242
While President Barack Obama may personally believe that Israel is obligated to return to its indefensible pre-1967 borders he will find no support for this position in the text or circumstances of UN Resolution 242. In his concise and very formative history of this resolution Eli E. Hertz makes that abundantly clear. A key point is that “although Arab officials claim Resolution 242 requires Israel to withdraw from all territory it captured in June 1967, nowhere in the resolution is that demand delineated. Nor did those involved in the negotiations and drafting of the resolution want such a requirement. Instead, they say Resolution 242 explicitly and intentionally omitted the terms ‘the territories’ or ‘all territories.’ The wording of UN Resolution 242 clearly reflects the contention that none of the territories were occupied territories taken by force in an unjust war. Because the Arabs were clearly the aggressors, nowhere in UN Security Council Resolution 242 is Israel branded as an invader or unlawful occupier of the territories.” Also, it must be remembered that Israel has already returned 90% of the territory it took in self-defense during 1967.
June 7, 2011
[COMMENTS]
PRODUCED BY A CULTURE OF HATE
Two youthful Palestinians, 17-yearold Hakim Awad and 18-yearold Amjad Awad have been charged with the murder of the Fogels a Jewish family living on the West Bank. Their victims included a three month old baby. Far from being remorseful for this heinous act Amjad Awad stated that “I don’t regret what I did, and would do it again, I’m proud of what I did and I’ll accept any punishment I get, even death, because I did it all for Palestine.” The culture which produced these two young men who believe that their people will be helped by murder of a three month old baby is a morally bankrupt one which does not want peace only the fulfillment of its hateful desire to kill Jews.
June 7, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ISRAEL NEEDS TO PREPARE FOR WAR WITH EGYPT
The Western media would like us to believe that the ouster Of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt the way for a liberal democracy dedicated to economic and social justice but nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, more and more a takeover by the radical Islamist Muslim Brotherhood seems the most likely outcome. Already the sacrifice of economic interests and rushed elections favoring the already organized radical Muslims point to the ascendency of the Brotherhood’s philosophy of hate. The Western media neglects the coming conflict while choosing to “provide in-depth coverage of one spent force repressing another spent force. Neither the military nor the protesters are calling the shots anymore in Egypt, if they ever were. That is the job of the Muslim Brotherhood.” The sooner Israel comes to terms with the fact that peace with Egypt will soon be a thing of the past the better off they will be.
June 4, 2011
[COMMENTS]
HIGH COST OF BOYCOTTING ISRAEL
An increasingly popular pastime of anti-Semitic bigots is calling for a boycott of all Israeli products and services. Michael Ordman, author of a weekly newsletter containing good news stories about Israel, advises these jerks to just go ahead and do it. He then provides a lengthy and eye opening list of all the things they will have to give up including among many other things Microsoft operating systems, video on demand, cell phones, Facebook, and cherry tomatoes.
June 4, 2011
[COMMENTS]
YET ANOTHER COMMISSION SAYS LEGALIZE MARIJUANA
The more comprehensive as well as the more impartial a Commission charged with studying marijuana use conclusions are, the more likely its report is to be ignored and have no effect on public policy. This occurred with studies by the British in India, the U.S. Army in the Panama Canal Zone, the Mayor of New York, a panel appointed by Richard Nixon, the Canadian Senate, the Dutch government and the Jamaican Parliament despite the fact that their member credentials were unimpeachable. In every one of these cases and many others besides they found that marijuana prohibition caused far more problems than it ameliorated and should be abolished. Yet it still exists and is now being enforced by the Obama Administration with relentless zeal.
Now, The Global Commission on Drug Policy associated with the UN has declared that war against people who use certain kinds of drugs is “a failure and urged nations to consider steps such as legalizing marijuana to help undermine the power of organized crime.” If history repeats itself as it has so many times before we will hear little more about these conclusions and politicians will continue to disregard the truth that drug prohibition is unconstitutional, unjust, racist, destructive, inhumane, expensive, immoral, lethal, and benefits no one except busy body moralists, prison guard unions, police swat teams and politicians seeking to fool people into believing they are tough on crime. If the past is any clue to the future, our leaders will continue to enforce these symbolic drug laws violated on a daily basis by millions of people with no harm through simple use to anyone, not even themselves. Therefore the blood on the hands of politicians, commentators, and ordinary citizens who support this horrendous deadly policy will continue to accumulate.
June 2, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MUSLIM CLERIC APPROVES OF MURDERING ISRAELI CHILDREN
The spiritual mentor of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has issued a statement saying that suicide attacks against Israeli civilians, including those that kill children, are not only allowed but should be considered a Muslim duty. The cleric, Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah, while responding to a follower’s questions labeled the notion that murdering children was wrong as "propaganda of the enemies of Islam." To many Mesbah words are considered binding religious edicts and are likely to be obeyed by Ahmadinejad.
June 2, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MORE THAN JUST A SPEECH
In his speech calling for Israel to return to its indefensible pre-1967 borders Barack Obama showed himself to be the president most hostile to Israel in American history. As Caroline Glick asserts he has taken the Palestinian goals and made them the U.S. goals. Obama is allowing the "Palestinians to essentially maintain their policy of demanding that Israel make unreciprocated concessions that then serve as the starting point for further unreciprocated concessions".In her op-ed piece published by The Jerusalem Post she points out how Obama has followed up his speech by pursuing those goals with actions and some telling silences.
June 1, 2011
[COMMENTS]
WELL DESERVED PRAISE FOR NETANJAHU
From Scottish towns boycotting Israeli goods to San Francisco banning circumcision and Barak Obama’s call for national suicide by returning to pre-1967 borders it is clear that the threat to the Jewish people living in the Middle East is escalating. Therefore with regards to the Israeli Prime Minister’s recent trip Caroline Glick reminds us “Netanyahu was no longer going to Washington to explain where Israel will stand aside. He was going to Washington to explain what Israel stands for. Obama threw down the gauntlet. Netanyahu needed to pick it up by rallying both the Israeli people to his side and rallying the American people to Israel’s side. Both goals, he realized, could only be accomplished by presenting his vision of what Israel is and what it stands for. And Netanyahu did his job. He did his job brilliantly.”
May 29, 2011
[COMMENTS]
I PROMISED TO BE MORE MILD IN MY REMARKS BUT I COULD NOT RESIST PUTTING UP THIS ITEM ON GENE SIMMONS
Among the millions of people who feel betrayed by Barack Obama’s call for Israel to commit national suicide by returning to its pre-1967 borders we can include KISS rocker Gene Simmons.
May 23, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MY APOLOGIES AGAIN
I offer my apologies again for the harsh sound of some of my recent items on this site regarding my outrage at Mr. Obama’s approach to the Israel issue. I want to emphasize that I understand that he may feel that his approach is the best for all concerned, that he is pushing Israel to save itself from its destructive instincts. Thus, I am prepared to grant him his good intentions. At the same time I stick to my basic sense of outrage at our president’s approach to this issue. He deserves to be criticized and I will continue to do so, but I will try to lower the temperature of my some of remarks.
May 22, 2011
[COMMENTS]
A VERY THOUGHTFUL ESSAY ON THE MAJOR FAILURE IN OBAMA'S THINKING
Barack Obama will never play a positive role in the quest for peace in the Middle East because he refuses to acknowledge the fundamental refusal of the Palestinians to accept Israeli sovereignty. There can be no peace until they do by both word and deed or Israel is destroyed. As David Horovitz eloquently puts it the overwhelming obstacle to concord is the “Palestinians’ insistent refusal, for close to two-thirds of a century, to internalize the fact that the Jews have a historic claim to this sliver of land, and that their demands for statehood cannot be realized at the cost of ours.” The President would do better by concentrating on changing that basic fact rather than consistently making demands of Israel that it cannot possibly accept if it is to survive.
May 21, 2011
[COMMENTS]
OBAMA HAS COMPLETE DISRESPECT FOR ISRAEL
In 2012 voters who want to avoid the massacre of millions of Jews in the Middle East will have a very clear choice, Barak Obama who seems to be doing everything he can to promote that outcome or just about anyone else. Leading Republican candidates are already demonstrating that the Israeli people’s survival will have a much better chance with them in the White House. One leader, Mitt Romney has stated that "President Obama has thrown Israel under the bus. He has disrespected Israel and undermined its ability to negotiate peace. He has also violated a first principle of American foreign policy, which is to stand firm by our friends," With his latest statement on the situation, Obama has removed all doubt that his defeat in the next election would be not only a good thing for the United States but also for Israel.
May 20, 2011
[COMMENTS]
INCOMEPETENCE BUILT ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE END OF ISRAEL
I am annoyed at myself for writing so much about Israel and my disappointment
with Obama. But now we have a speech asking Israel to become another Czechoslovakia and commit suicide for the peace of the world -- or words to that effect. The only saving grace about Obama's call for a return to the 1967 borders is that other presidents have said some of the same idiocy. My fear is that the Israelis are being worn down and may accept this suicide pact. I may write about something else in the near future like the Red Sox
or the nice weather but for now I am transfixed with the specter of the coming destruction of Israel and the imminent danger to America.
Only a fool would vote for Obama in 2012.
May 19, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE MYTH OF ARAB EAST JERUSALEM
For thousands of years Jerusalem was a united city with a Jewish population. Not until 1948 was it divided by the Jordanian army and in 1967 it was returned to it normal state. HonestReporting has put out an outstanding video explaining that the idea of an Arab East Jerusalem is a lie.
May 18, 2011
[COMMENTS]
DISTORTED HISTORY FROM ABBAS
The New York Times has given Mahmoud Abbas space for propaganda and he has filled it with distorted history and factual error. He begins with the sad tale of a thirteen year old boy, himself, forced to leave his homeland. However, Abbas conveniently forgets to mention that the reason he had to flee was because the five countries surrounding Palestine failed to accept partition because they wanted pieces of it for themselves. If the Arabs had accepted partition and allowed the Jews to live in peace on land they had mostly purchased then Abbas and his family would not have had to leave. Arabs call these events the nakba or catastrophe but fail to acknowledge that the catastrophe was of their own making.
In his article Abbas wrongly claims that “Zionist forces expelled Palestinian Arabs to ensure a decisive Jewish majority in the future state of Israel.” In fact, the Israelis were fighting for their survival and their overriding goal was safety. Perhaps the most ahistorical statement by Abbas is that “negotiations remain our first option.” This contradicts a modern history filled with Palestinian violence and terrorism. In fact Hamas, one of the coalition partners, has a charter that explicitly states that violence is the only acceptable method of change.
The lies of Mahmoud Abbas stand in stark contrast to the latest essay by Melanie Phillips. She says that the nakba should be renamed genocide day because that was the goal of the Arabs, including the Palestinian ones, who attacked the Jews back in 1947.
May 18, 2011
[COMMENTS]
OBAMA SET TO BETRAY ISRAEL YET AGAIN
From copious praise for the unholy alliance between the deceitful Palestinian Authority and the terrorist Hamas to the demand that Jews go without housing in their own land, Barak Obama proves on a daily basis that he is an enemy of the Israeli people. Now, on the eve of a visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu our president will give a speech currying favor with Arab world by putting even more pressure on Israel to make dangerous concessions to people whose main goal is the slaughter of the Jews living in the Middle East.
Caroline Glick explains to us why the President is largely responsible for the growing danger to our ally. She argues that “unlike his predecessors, Obama’s interest in the Palestinians is not opportunistic. He is a true believer. And because of his deep-seated commitment to the Palestinians, his policies are even more radically anti-Israel than the PLO-Fatah’s. It was Obama, not Abbas who demanded that Jews be barred from building anything in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. It is the Obama administration, not the PLO-Fatah that is leading the charge to embrace the Muslim Brotherhood. Like his belated move to demand a permanent abrogation of Jewish property rights in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, Abbas arguably embraced Hamas because Obama left him no choice. He has no interest in making peace with Israel, so the only thing he can do under the circumstances Obama has created is embrace Hamas. He can’t be less pro-Islamic than the US President.”
May 14, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ISLAMIST EXTREMISTS BUYING NORTH AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES
The rush for schools of higher education in America and Canada to establish Islamic Studies departments can best be described as a gold rush. Endowments for such programs are generous but often come from highly questionable sources. One case illuminating this problem is now taking place at Huron University College which is associated with the University of Western Ontario (UWO). They recently received $2 million to establish a Chair in Islamic Studies from Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) and the Virginia-based International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT). However, a group of twenty-six UWO alumni and faculty member signed a letter protesting acceptance of the endowment. They included evidence linking the IIIT and MAC to terrorism and stated that "it is extremely ill-advised of the College to accept funding from any organization implicated in violent jihad."
The money so tempting to university administrations is part of a larger plan. The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) declared in a strategic plan for the US and Canada, captured in 1991, that “the process of settlement is a 'Civilization-Jihadist Process,' with all the word means. The Ikhwan (MB) must understand that their work in America is kind of a grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house.”
May 11, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE JEWISH CARDINALOF FRANCE
It is worthwhile today to remember the late Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger. He was born a Jew and his mother died at Auschwitz, yet he rose to a prominent position in the Catholic Church hierarchy even becoming a candidate for the papacy. His life is testimony to the bond between these two religions.
May 10, 2011
[COMMENTS]
SUSAN RICE AND BARACK OBAMA ARE WRONG ON THE UN
There is no reason for the US to give one penny to this gang of thugs and there is no reason why the gang should be headquartered on American soil any longer.
May 10, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THIS BLAST AT PM CAMERON OUGHT TO ALSO BE AIMED AT PRESIDENT OBAMA WITH SOME SLIGHT EDITING
British Prime Minister David Cameron while saying he is a friend of Israel is demanding that Israel negotiate with the new Palestinian Authority/Hamas entity or he will recognize a state controlled by them. Cameron is making this ultimatum despite the fact that the stated goal of both parties in the coalition is the genocide of the Jewish people living in the Middle East.
In a scathing open letter to Cameron, Melanie Phillips says that “this is not the behaviour of a friend so much as the kind of intimidation that is more reminiscent of a Mafia protection racket. First of all, you have incomprehensibly decided to pressurise the victim in this conflict to make peace with her aggressor, even though the victim is the one party that constantly tries to make peace while the aggressor does not. It is the PA which has refused to negotiate with Israel, not the other way round, on the spurious grounds that Israeli expansion of Jewish homes beyond the ‘Green Line’ is a bar to negotiations.” She then goes on to catalog the century long atrocious behavior by the British government directed towards the Jews including the constant rewarding of aggressive actions by the Arabs which is a major root cause of the conflict. With very little alteration this correspondence could have been written to Barack Obama.
May 8, 2011
[COMMENTS]
HAUNTINGLY FAMILIAR NEWS: JEWS BEING EXPELLED AGAIN
It is one of my worst habits – to pick up history books hanging around the house and read them just for the heck of it. This is ok unless the book deals with the history of the Jews, as does The Illustrated Atlas of Jewish Civilization: 4000 Years of History, by Josephine Bacon and Martin Gilbert. This is not a particularly noteworthy book but it does tell a hauntingly familiar story. The history of the Jews is a history of being treated as hated subhuman beings, always despised, and either forced to convert to another religion or being slaughtered if they did not or often simply forced to leave any place they happened to be living. These awful events have been repeated thousands of times over four thousand years.
However, through a series of accidents, some of them quite happy ones, groups of Jew in recent decades ended up living in their ancestral homeland, Israel , where they seem to be thriving in many respects. Again the forces for expulsion and even extinction and mass slaughter are now arrayed for action. Leading Muslim figures, supported by mass popular opinion, want to eliminate the Jewish state and many of its denizens. The most disturbing aspects of this familiar brooding scenario is that is has the support of leading figures in the Western world, including those in the Obama Administration and in the editorship of such enlightened liberal newspapers such as The Washington Post. Today two prominent opinion essays – one by Jimmy Carter and the other by Robert Malley -- laud the new unity agreement between the Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas as a wonderful event that will bring peace to the Middle East and much of the world. The agreement allegedly would bring about a two-state solution with both states living side by side in peace. Of course, the new Arab state would require that the Jews again leave a large slice of the land that they now call home, which they have a legal right to do so. In my mind it is the same old story. Jews are going to be expelled again and if they do not leave war will be launched against them. Carter and Malley and Obama can dress the results up in different clothes but it is the same old story: the damned Jews must move again or else. If they do move to a much smaller slice of land, the presence of Hamas in the vacated lands is the same as having the ghost of Bin Laden there. Hamas is Al Qaeda and is the Muslim Brotherhood. History is about to be repeated.
Fortunately for sanity but not for comfort there is a lead essay in the Washington Times today by former ambassador John Bolton which summarizes the impact of a host of developments in the region and that make clear that Israel and its Jews are increasingly in danger. Bolton states explicitly that Bin Laden’s death brings no relief from widespread danger to Israel and to democracy and also to the United States.
In my view at the bottom line I applaud our president’s courage in authorizing the attack on Bin Laden and I applaud guts and true grit of the Navy Seals who actually did the work. Now is the time for the president to show some of that same guts and courage and declare that the two-state solution cannot work when at least one of the Palestinian parties is dedicated to the destruction or expulsion of those Jews yet again. Only the president is in a position to take such a position at this awesome time in history. It is that or prepare another memorial service.
May 4, 2011
[COMMENTS]
IMAM SAYS DOGS SHOULD NOT KILL LIONS
The death of Osama Bin Laden will by no means end America’s conflict with radical Islam. In Jerusalem at the Al-Aqsa Mosque an Imam has already threatened to hang Barak Obama as well as George Bush. Meanwhile in Gaza two dozen of the people shown so much support by the Western media gathered to pay tribute to the dead al-Qaeda leader.
May 4, 2011
[COMMENTS]
US TO ISRAEL TARGETED KILLING IS LEGITIMATE
Even though the Obama Administration continues to show hostility to the idea of an Israeli right to self-defense it has no problem borrowing their tactic of assassinating known terrorists. The US mission in Pakistan against Osama Bin Laden had no intention of his capture only his death and it legitimizes the practice of targeted killing. Former Israeli Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman MK Shaul Mofaz argues that Israel should increase this kind of activity against Palestinian terrorist leaders.
May 4, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MORE SUPPORT FOR MY ARGUMENT ON HAMAS
That argument was that targeted killing of Hamas leaders is morally and legally justified.
May 3, 2011
[COMMENTS]
WHAT SHOULD THE ISRAELIS NOW DO WITH THE LEADERS OF HAMAS?
Hamas has shown its essential violent jihadist nature by condemning the
killing of "Holy Warrior" Bin Laden by the US. Hamas regularly kills
innocent civilians, usually Israelis but also Americans and other westerners
as well as Muslims it does not like. Yet the US, led by Mr. Obama -- who
richly deserves great praise for leading the killing of Bin Laden -- insists
that Israel negotiate with the Palestinians for the creation of a
Palestinian state that will very probably be ruled by Hamas. This is
utterly illogical and the first step to the destruction of Israel, our only
ally in the Middle east and our most trusted ally in the world. The US
should declare the idea of new Palestinian state dead as a doornail -- or
as dead as Bin Laden -- and it should also declare that the leaders of Hamas
are as legitimate targets for justifiable killing as was Bin Laden.
May 2, 2011
[COMMENTS]
OSAMA BIN LADEN FINALLY RECEIVES JUSTICE
It would be remiss to not congratulate the Obama Administration and the brave men who made this happen.
May 2, 2011
[COMMENTS]
WHERE IS THE INTERNATIONAL OUTRAGE?
One would expect that an alliance between the terrorist organization Hamas whose stated goal is the killing of Jews and the supposedly moderate Palestinian Authority to provoke worldwide condemnation, however, that is not the case. Instead a typical response comes from White House Chief of Staff William Daley who presented this piece of doublespeak, “the United States supports Palestinian reconciliation provided it is on the terms that advance the cause of the peace.” Can the Obama Administration really expect the Israeli government to negotiate with people who have partnered with an organization that has an explicit goal of destroying Israel and slaughtering its citizens? Outrageous!
May 2, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE JOKE IS REALLY ON THE BARACK
It seems that all of the smart people in Washington are laughing at The Donald, especially after that wonderful White House Correspondent’s Dinner or whatever it is called last night. I just finished watching the video clips of that event where the president was merciless in making fun of Mr. Trump. Indeed, Mr. Trump was the butt of most of the jokes by most of the speakers, led by the president, who seemed totally unpresidential in his performance. It was a disturbing scene.
Then I started to read the comments made by hundreds of viewers and concluded that the president and all those smart people are in for a shock. The Barack lost. One of the mildest comments was this one: “I'm no fan of Mr. Trump, but does the President really think he's in a position to mock ANYONE right now?”
That is roughly how I have been feeling lately. I am not sure how Donald Trump will function if he reaches the Oval Office but I am sure about Barack Obama. In a word he has been a calamity, a disaster. I say this with great regret because I voted for him and hoped he would be a great president. We may not do better with Mr. Trump but we will assuredly do worse with Mr. Obama for another four years.
Check out the video of that fancy dinner and then be sure to read the many comments of the viewers. What a contrast and what a shock.
May 2, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MUSLIM RESTRICTIONS ON AMERICAN FREE SPEECH
One of the aspects of Islam that is an often demonstrated is intolerance of other religious viewpoints. In a Muslim country one would expect the civil authorities to support such narrowness, however, in American such acts of suppression by local government are both surprising and disturbing. We now have two incidents, one in Dearborn Michigan and the other in Philadelphia, where police arrested people for preaching Christianity within Muslim earshot. In both cases when the preachers went to trial their 1st Amendment rights were respected but it appears that when Islamists want to silence those they disagree with they have added official American censorship to their arsenal of force and intimidation.
May 2, 2011
[COMMENTS]
HOW SAD: THE UTTER INCOMPETENCE OF MR OBAMA AND HIS ADMINISTRATION
More proof of the need to vote against the election of the man leading this
disaster.
April 30, 2011
[COMMENTS]
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY CHOSE HAMAS LONG AGO
Upon learning that the Palestinian Authority had made peace with Hamas Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that; “The PA must choose either peace with Israel or peace with Hamas. There is no possibility for peace with both.” However, many believe that decision was made long ago. In her cogent analysis of this statement Caroline Glick argues that “it is a pathetic joke. But worse than a pathetic joke, it is a national tragedy. It is a tragedy that after more than a decade of the PA choosing war with Israel and peace with Hamas, Israel’s leaders are still incapable of accepting reality and walking away. It is a tragedy that Israel’s leaders cannot find the courage to say the joke of the peace process is really a deadly serious war process whose end is Israel’s destruction, and that Israel is done with playing along.”
While it is true that Israel’s diplomatic relationship with much of the rest of the world including the United States is at a low point and fears that this new development may make things worse are not totally unfounded, Glick reminds us that Israel’s economic relationship with the rest of the world is very strong and continues to grow stronger. Because of this fact it really is not necessary to continue appeasing other counties by pretending that the Palestinians want peace.
April 30, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ANOTHER REASON TO VOTE AGAINST OBAMA
The disaster created by the Obama presidency is getting worse and worse. This is especially galling to those of us, like me, who voted for him with great hope for the future. It is sad and worrisome in the extreme to contemplate what our president has done in many areas but especially in foreign policy. He acts on a liberal/leftist philosophy which I no longer recognize since for decades I was in that camp. But I never saw that camp as dedicated to the destruction of America, Israel and the West. Mr. Obama’s knee-jerk support of the mob in the streets for example now leads him to support the ouster of virtually any ruler I suppose because they are not democratic folks. In most cases of courses the mobs are worse. Obama’s demand that Mubarak step down was accomplished by the lovely Egyptian military at the behest of the mob and Caroline Glick envisions a hanging in the freedom square in Cairo in the future as a result. She argues that the deposition of Mubarak is worse than the Iranian revolution decades ago. The Iranians and the Moslem Brotherhood are in the saddle now and our only true ally in the region, Israel , is in dire condition.
For this we can thank our president and his liberal allies who are living in a dream world which is in reality a world of nightmares. Is there any possible successor to Obama from either party that might confront the nightmares – and soon? Let us hope and pray that there is.
April 21, 2011
[COMMENTS]
WAKE UP CALL FOR AMERICA
This whole section is vital listening. It is also another example of the disastrous impact of our president’s policies on our security and that of the Western world. Send this to your friends and family.
April 21, 2011
[COMMENTS]
SYRIA TO BE ON UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Since 1996, using American tax money, the United Nation (UN) ad-hoc Committee on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism has been trying to define terrorism and produce a UN convention to deal with it. The chief obstacle to this effort has been the UN Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) of which Syria is a prominent member. They recently blocked action again because the OIC does not wish any killing of Israelis or Americans to be included in the definition of terrorism.
Despite this attitude Syria is likely to be put on the UN’s Human Rights Council because the number of openings exactly matches the number of countries nominated for such a position, The Obama Administration summed up its view of this development by stating that it is “pleased to note the landmark achievements of the most recent session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.” The idea that Syria could be on a body devoted to human rights is ludicrous. The Syrian government has always been a brutal dictatorship with a continuing history of massacring its own citizens that currently rules a country which is in a great deal of turmoil because the people living there have no rights. American membership in the UN has increasingly become an expensive farce.
April 19, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE UNITED NATIONS WORSE THAN USELESS
The United Nations is an organization pre-occupied with bashing Israel, excusing terrorism and putting the foulest dictatorships in charge of human rights worldwide. The UN did nothing to stop the genocide in Rwanda and now is allowing the systematic rape taking place in the Congo. It is long past time for the United States to reassess its relationship with a noble idea gone terribly wrong. Yet the Obama administration has been supporting an ongoing process of giving up our sovereignty to the corrupt UN. Obama’s central foreign-policy plank is called “engagement” and involves subordinating American interests to the whims and prejudices of the UN bureaucrats. In these times of massive debt it is outrageous for our government to keep financially afloat a body that continually works against the values and welfare of the American people.
April 15, 2011
[COMMENTS]
GAME CHANGING ISRAELI DEFENSE SYSTEM
For decades the Israelis have not only out fought their Arab enemies but also out thought them. This trend seems to have continued with the recent highly successful deployment of a new missile defense, Iron Dome. With tensions along the Gaza border escalating and the resumption of Hamas rocket attacks the IDF moved up the schedule for making the system operational and the test shot down eight rockets. This technological development proved so adroit that it may very well alter Middle East history in a very positive direction. Hamas is already seeking a ceasefire.
April 11, 2011
[COMMENTS]
DEMOCRATS SHOULD DISAVOW OBAMA SHARPTON CONNECTION
The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) once condemned Republican Mitt Romney for appearing at the Henry Ford Museum because Ford published the anti-Semitic tract The International Jew. Now Barak Obama is appearing with the Rev. Al Sharpton and the website Israpundit believes that the NJDC should also censure Obama for that association. Just a brief look at Sharpton’s past actions tells us that this belief is justified. It argues that “the bottom line is that Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, while acting under Sharpton’s leadership and supervision, used language like “bloodsucking Jew” and “Jew bastard” along with racial epithets for white people in general. NJDC has already set a clear standard with regard to politicians who associate themselves with anti-Semites and hate groups, and we are confident that this standard is every bit as applicable to Barack Obama as it is to Mitt Romney.”
April 11, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THOSE DAMNED FIENDISH JEWS KEEP TRYING TO SAVE LIVES, THEIRS AND OURS!
They may force us to stop trying to kill our people and theirs and go to
work at productive enterprises and earn a living like everyone else
--instead of living on handouts that support our killing work.
April 10, 2011
[COMMENTS]
OBAMA REACHES OUT TO SHARPTON
Many people consider the Rev. Al Sharpton to be a race baiting demagogue and shameless opportunist. Nevertheless, Barak Obama, worried about the 2012 election, has reached out to Sharpton for help. One would think that the President would be embarrassed by such an association, but apparently not.
April 8, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ISRAEL AN ECONOMIC MIRACLE
Israel began as country with very little natural resources surrounded by enemies bent on its destruction and it now boasts a prosperous economy that leads the world in high tech innovation. The Jerusalem Post has published a review of a book that seeks to explain this miracle, Start Up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle by former editorial writer Saul Singer and New york based author Dan Senor. The authors contend that the ability to innovate “has gradually transformed the Israeli economy over the past three decades, but it has the potential to achieve a great deal more. It is already enabling us to genuinely serve as a ‘light unto the nations.’”
April 8, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MORE ON ANN BARNHARDT WHO I NEVER HEARD OF UNTIL TODAY
The burning of the Qur’an at a church in Florida has sparked riots in Afghanistan causing loss of life. Some craven politicians such as Senator Lindsey Graham have tried to place the blame for these tragic events not on those who did the killing but rather on the pastor for exercising his constitutionally protected right to free speech. In a very powerful video Ann Barnhardt called Graham on his utter disregard for American values and people are now coming to her defense. One author asserts that “I have no doubt that some will accuse Barnhardt of insensitivity and being unnecessarily provocative. But let's be clear, the jihadist strategy is designed to elicit this exact response. Thus, if appeased, Islam becomes a specially protected ideology and free speech is thrown out the window. Next comes polygamy, female genital mutilation, honor killings, the repression of Jews, Christians, homosexuals and finally, an inevitable slide into sharia, Islamic law, the antithesis of this Constitutional Republic.”
April 7, 2011
[COMMENTS]
DONALD TRUMP THE CANDIDATE
Whether or not Donald Trump is a serious candidate for President is still a matter of speculation and debate. In this interview with Meredith Vieira for the Today Show he seems to be real and recent polling data shows him viable. The one thing that comes across here is that Trump is not someone Obama will enjoy running against.
April 7, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ANN BARNHARDT: MAKES A VIVID IMPRESSION AND IS LIKELY TO BE REMEMBERED
I never heard of her but find this rant certain to make an impression around the world. It will provoke controversy from all points of the political and religious compass, which is already evident.
April 7, 2011
[COMMENTS]
SUBSIDIZING THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION
In America the federal government, Utah state government, and even The Church of Latter Day Saints are all busy trying to stamp out Mormon polygamy. Meanwhile, in Canada, Europe and Australia Muslim polygamy is not only tolerated but subsidized as well. This financial support for the practice of having multiple wives is part of the highly out of balance welfare benefits that go to Muslim immigrants in these countries. For example, in Denmark the newly arrived comprise 5% of the population but receive 40% of the benefits and Muslins living in Germany are four times more likely to to be paid by the state as non-Muslims.
Worse still, many of those collecting benefits are radical Islamists who support terrorism directed at their host country, some already convicted of this. Author Kathy Shaidle points out that “many well-known Islamic radicals are on the dole. The irony of the situation is inescapable: their parasitical behavior obliges governments, through taxpayers, to subsidize their adopted country's own destruction.” She further observes that “not even revelations that some actual terrorists collect welfare payments before and after they commit their crimes have prompted sweeping reforms of the benefits system.”
April 7, 2011
[COMMENTS]
CHALLENGE TO ANTI-ISRAELI AMERICAN CAMPUS
Anti-Israeli groups at American Institutes of higher learning have for some time now been increasing their reach and their influence. This process has benefited from the silence of most of the faculty at many schools. However, at one college, University of California, San Diego, one educator is speaking out and being heard by others. In An Open Letter To Our University Community About Troubling Hypocrisy On Our Campus Dr. David Feifel, a professor at UCSD and Vice President of the UCSD SPME (Scholars for Peace in the Middle East) chapter, contends that “the past few months have witnessed historic political unrest engulfing Arab and Muslim countries in the Mideast, including Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Iran, Yemen, Bahrain and others. On our campus the muted reaction to this volcanic eruption of civil unrest and the ensuing horrific slaughter of thousands of civilians by their own leaders has been quite revealing. Sadly, it has confirmed strong suspicions of many students and faculty that the highly vituperative activism spearheaded by the Muslim Students Association (MSA), the Arab Student Union (ASU) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and directed relentlessly against a single Mideast country, Israel, is driven less by positive impulses of fraternity toward fellow Arabs and Muslims than by hateful impulses to destroy the world’s only sovereign Jewish nation.”
April 5, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ISRAEL CAN THE WIN POLITICAL WAR
In September the United Nations (UN) General Assembly may well recognize a Palestinian State which includes all of Judea, Samaria, Gaza and northern, southern and eastern Jerusalem. They could do this illegally despite not having the approval of the Security Council. Such a development would put Israel in a very dangerous position. However, in the pages of The Jerusalem Post Caroline Glick argues that if the Israelis stay strong disaster could be averted. She points to Richard Goldstone’s recent repudiation of his infamous report as an example of how correct behavior by Israel can lead to good results. Glick asserts that “Israel is being challenged by a political war that escalates every day. But we are not powerless in this fight. As we prepare for the Palestinians’ UN gambit, we must keep in mind the lessons from Goldstone. If the government remains faithful to the truth and to our rights, it will empower our supporters throughout the world to rally to our side. If we are good to our friends and bad to our enemies, we will know how to reward our friends and punish our enemies. And if we boldly assert our rights even in the face of international condemnation, we will see that in the fullness of time, the rightness of our position will carry the day.”
April 5, 2011
[COMMENTS]
OBAMA MAY REJECT PLEA TO END INCITEMENT
Members of congress from both parties want President Barak Obama to send a letter to the Palestinian Authority telling them to stop inciting people to terrorism and violence against Israel. However, the supposedly pro-Israel group J-Street opposes the effort. In his discussion of this controversy Joel Mowbray asserts that “even in a town where tin-eared stupidity is commonplace, essentially protecting the PA’s ability to encourage violence against its Jewish neighbors is jaw-dropping.”
April 4, 2011
[COMMENTS]
PRISONER BEGIN TO THAT BIG UN MOUTHPIECE
We build on that land because it is our land, and has been for eons. Thank
you very much for your advice.
March 30, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MORE PROOF THAT OBAMA IS A FAILURE ON THE UN AND THAT THE US SHOULD LEAVE THAT BODY
For twenty-five years the United Nations has been an organization extraordinarily devoted to harming the state of Israel. Barak Obama is the first American President to largely and enthusiastically take up this particular agenda of the UN. In an interesting look at the past Anne Bayefsky contrasts Obama’s recent atrocious behavior with the commendable actions of the late Geraldine Ferraro when she was the American ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva. Bayefsky asserts that “today among Democrats the moral courage necessary to withstand the U.N. hordes is in short supply. Ferraro will be missed.”
March 28, 2011
[COMMENTS]
JIHAD MEANS KILLING MUSLIMS TOO
Many people would argue that the most significant problem that Muslims have is Islamophobia, however, they would be wrong. No, the greatest difficulty Islam faces is the concept of Jihad, a state of perpetual warfare with all non-Muslims. Not only does it poison their relationships with everyone else, it also leads to many of their deaths. In his piece on the drawbacks of Islamophobia versus the dangers of Jihad David J. Rusin points out that “actual Islamist terrorism is murdering actual Muslims, both globally and domestically: Muslims comprised 85% of al-Qaeda's victims from 2004 to 2008,” as well as many of those killed on 9-11. He concludes that "those who portray themselves as Muslims' guardians but resist dealing with Islamist terrorism have very different priorities: playing the victim card to muzzle critics and score political points — even if it means sacrificing human lives, including the lives of Muslims."
March 28, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE U.S. AND THE WEST SUPPORT A JUDENREIN PALESTINE
It is difficult to comprehend that the U.S. and the West and much of the rest of the world supports a new Palestinian state whose probable leaders are very open in declaring that there will not be a single Jew in that new state, as now not a single Jew is allowed in Gaza and only with difficulty in the so-called West Bank. Yet, in all of these areas, the Hebrews represent the ancient indigenous people who have been displaced by the force of the Arabs. These Arabs, now called Palestinians, are the actual occupying powers. Their campaign which could have the impact of throwing all of the Jews out of these ancient Hebrew lands, including all of Israel proper, has the support of President Obama and the entire liberal Western chorus. Unless there is some type of a miracle, this destructive campaign may well succeed.
March 28, 2011
[COMMENTS]
A TERRORIST FLAG FLYS IN WASHINGTON
The Obama administration has given the Palestinians permission to fly the flag of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Washington DC. They have done this despite the fact that the United States Congress once declared that “the PLO and its affiliates are a terrorist organization and a threat to the interests of the United States, its allies, and to international law and should not benefit from operating in the United States."
The PLO charter includes Article 9 which states that “armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine. This it is the overall strategy, not merely a tactical phase. The Palestinian Arab people assert their absolute determination and firm resolution to continue their armed struggle and to work for an armed popular revolution for the liberation of their country and their return to it. Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine. This it is the overall strategy, not merely a tactical phase. The Palestinian Arab people assert their absolute determination and firm resolution to continue their armed struggle and to work for an armed popular revolution for the liberation of their country and their return to it.” Let us be clear, when the document speaks of armed struggle they mean terrorism.
One need not go further than one of today’s headlines Jerusalem blast kills woman and wounds dozens to understand that the PLO principle of “armed struggle” is still in effect.
March 23, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MUSLIM PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS
The Islamic culture of hatred directed towards Jews and the tendency of many Muslim governments to support terrorism also directed towards Jews is well known and well documented. However, less well known is the Muslim persecution of Christians, although recent events in Egypt are shining more light on this continuing problem. Raymond Ibrahim argues that attacks against Coptic Christians “unequivocally betray the Egyptian military's Islamist inclinations. This should not be surprising: as a grassroots movement, the Muslim Brotherhood has long been infiltrating Egypt's culture so that some of the youth—who make up the bulk of the army—have naturally been indoctrinated in an Islamist worldview.”
March 23, 2011
[COMMENTS]
TOO EXTREME?
That is the question I am asking of myself and of friends regarding my recent statements and those of others quoted on this site. As I read over the recent posts on the site, I worry that I sound too extreme, too harsh, and too pessimistic. I do not want to sound as if I hate President Obama. To be perfectly clear on that score, I do not hate the guy. However, I do feel that he often takes actions that are harmful to the US, to the West, and to Israel.
He takes those actions largely because my guess is that he and his advisors are in over their collective heads. Indeed, I suspect that most world leaders are. This world is now full of bizarre situations. I also suspect that Mr. Obama takes these actions or fails to take certain actions because he truly believes in the propriety of them.
If there is anything that has recently sent me right over the emotional edge, it was the reaction of most of the world to the slaughter of that Israel family in Itamar. The savages cut the throat of a little baby and stabbed the others as they tried to sleep. The Arab world and much of the Western world acted as if the murderers were impelled to do so by Israeli policies on settlements in Arab lands.
If the world was led by civilized human beings, the universal response would be that no governmental policy justifies the revenge of butchering innocent little kids in their beds. So yes I was outraged and said so when my president did not stand up and say clearly that this butchery was an outrage and that he could understand if in response the Israelis declared that they would build yet more homes.
He should have also said that as a constitutional lawyer he knows that Judea and Samaria , the so-called West Bank, is actually land belonging to Israel as a result of conquest in a defensive war – and as a result of the history of Jews living on that land for eons. These little kids and their parents – all of them innocents – were slaughtered on Jewish land. That is, I wish the president had said that because he must know it is true.
Therefore, please forgive me if I sound extreme and distraught as I write on this site. This is a time for righteous outrage and, yes, pessimism. The savages are winning on all fronts, including on the American home front.
March 21, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MORE SAD NEWS FROM THE UK AS THE POLICE INVESTIGATE MELANIE
Who dared to call savages, well... savages. Melanie Phillips did and the following truthful remark is what got her into trouble with the police; “So to the New York Times, it’s not the Arab massacre of a Jewish family which has jeopardised ‘peace prospects’ — because the Israelis will quite rightly never trust any agreement with such savages — but instead Israeli policy on building more homes, on land to which it is legally and morally entitled, which is responsible instead for making peace elusive. Twisted, and sick.” Is Great Britain no longer a sovereign nation but rather a Islamic theocracy which has abolished the right of free speech and that condones child murder as long as the perpetrators are Muslims?
March 21, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE TRUTH IS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN: THE REAL APARTHEID IS IN ARABY
A substantial number of Arabs live in Israel today and they prosper as well as vote. even electing some of their own to parliament. That is not apartheid. Yet, any Jew attempting to live is Gaza would be immediately killed and those Jews living on the West Bank avoid murder only through the intervention of the IDF. The tragedy of all this is that Israel is being attacked by lies and by leading members of universities and the American left on the grounds that it is worse than the Arabs in these respects.
March 20, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE SURRENDER-NOW GANG
It is discouraging to realize that most of the world wants Israel to surrender on the belief that this will bring peace to the region and to that world. As Caroline Glick explains, even the slaughter of the Jewish babies in Itamar only encouraged that gang to step up its campaign. My reaction was quite the opposite: Build, Baby, Build! In the face of irrational monstrous murders, never surrender. What the surrender-now gang does not seem to realize is that the same logic applies to the United States. Of course the attacks on Libya would seem to be an argument in the opposite direction from surrender but that action has its own problems and contradictions. Gadhafi is a thug who has killed many innocent Americans and deserves to be dethroned or worse. Yet the same could be said for the thugs running Iran , Gaza , Lebanon and even the West Bank . The difference here is it appears that many Muslim leaders want this Libyan thug gone – and the United Nations Security Council voted in support of the attacks on this particular thug. Moreover, it seemed that perhaps the attack could take place without many Western – read American – casualties. But wait only the American Congress can authorize a war and this certainly seems like yet another one that has been declared by yet another American president. On this latter score Mr. Obama has a lot of company, from both major political parties.
March 20, 2011
[COMMENTS]
COULD THIS BE TRUE ABOUT OUR PRESIDENT?
More and more people are beginning to believe Barak Obama is a horrible president and perhaps our weakest one in history. One person who holds this belief is Anna Pukas and she articulates this on the pages of Britain’s Daily Express. She contends that “Obama and the Democratic Party have but one aim in mind for the rest of this presidential term: to get elected for a second. That means not doing anything that might upset any number of special interest or niche groups, which in effect means not doing very much at all. So, not too many harsh but necessary measures to tackle the financial deficit; no clear direction on where America goes with Afghanistan, even though the war there is going nowhere except from bad to worse.”
March 18, 2011
[COMMENTS]
HOLDER HELP YOUR PEOPLE
When Attorney General Eric Holder was called to testify before Congress about the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case he demonstrated two things, a complete misunderstanding of what the Civil Rights movement was all about and hypocritical concern for those he calls his people. The struggle for black equality was always a fight for individual rights and never meant to bring advantages to certain groups. When Holder used the phrase “my people” he turned the goals of the movement on their head.
Secondly, if Holder really had the best interests of his people, presumably Blacks, as a priority then he would not give such enthusiastic support to drug prohibition, a policy that can only be described as an unmitigated disaster for black people. If the Attorney General really wants to do something for not just black people but all Americas he will abandon this expensive, counterproductive, unjust, violence producing, racist course of action.
March 18, 2011
[COMMENTS]
NOTE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
If you had a moral backbone, you would not only condemn this slaughter of the innocents but also publicly urge the Israelis to build a thousand homes for each of the victims and then name five new neighborhoods for them. That would mean that each neighborhood would bear the first name of one of the victims.
If, as I said, you had a moral backbone that allowed you to truly care about
the deaths of Jewish innocents.
March 18, 2011
[COMMENTS]
WHERE IS THE STATEMENT FROM OBAMA BLASTING THIS VILE EVENT?
Israeli Apartheid Week is supposed to be an event promoting Palestinian human rights, however, it has become an excuse to engage in highly anti-Semitic bullying for a week on campuses across the United States and Canada. While the American government, including Barak Obama, seems perfectly fine with this yearly celebration of hate not so the Canadian leadership. A number of prominent Canadian politicians from all parties, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, are now condemning this event. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has argued that each year a ”hateful environment” putting Jewish students at risk is created and that “these activities can cultivate an atmosphere exactly the opposite of one that is open to the free exchange of ideas and the development of the mind with the aid of facts and logic.”
March 18, 2011
[COMMENTS]
PETER KING’S LESS THAN USEFUL HEARINGS
Congressional hearings held by Representative Peter King (R NY) into the subject of Muslim radicalization could have been very useful in raising awareness of this serious problem. Instead, as Pamela Geller argues, in her analysis of the event, King blew the opportunity. Chief among her criticisms was the decision to call the likes of Muslim congressman and ally of C.A.I.R, Keith Ellison (D-MN) rather than acknowledged terrorism experts such as Steve Emerson. Geller ends her piece by asking “what does Peter King hope to achieve by sugarcoating the problem we face? Isn't there anyone on either side of the aisle who will do what is necessary to defend the American people from the jihad?”
March 18, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ABU MAZEN MINISTER OF HATE
The joy surrounding the brutal murder of a three month old baby has its origins in both Islamic scripture and a Palestinian educational system put in place by Yasser Arafat deputy Abu Mazen. In a profile of this hate filled man Yoram Ettinger points out that “while speaking softly, Abu Mazen carries a horrendous stick of hate-education, which is largely funded by US foreign aid (over $2BN since 2007). Since 1994, he has brainwashed Palestinian youth, producing manufacturing lines of hundreds of thousands of potential terrorists/suicide bombers.”
March 17, 2011
[COMMENTS]
CELEBRATING MURDER DEMANDED BY SCRIPTURE
Bad enough to cut the throat of a three month baby but to take to the streets celebrating the act is beyond disgusting. It is hard to understand such joy over the murder of someone who could not but help being innocent. On the National Review Online website Andrew C. McCarthy offers an important explanation for such vile behavior. He provides numerous examples of Islamic scripture that not only condones the murder of non-believers, especially Jews, but demands it. McCarthy points out that “Muslims, in fact, are more often exhorted by their scriptures to brutalize non-Muslims than Christians are urged by the gospels to love their enemies and turn the other cheek. Yet, though we assume the latter are meant to take the message to heart, we are somehow sure Islam doesn’t really mean what it says — that when Muslims strike terror into the hearts of the unbelievers, it must be Israel’s fault, or America’s, or something, anything, other than Islam, the only common denominator in these attacks.”
March 17, 2011
[COMMENTS]
WORLD IS SILENT ABOUT ARAB APARTHEID
Once again it is that time of year for the false charge that Israel practices apartheid to rear its ugly head on college campuses all over the United States and Canada. It is certain that during the festivities nothing will be said about the real practice of Arab apartheid or the death of 11 year old Mohammed Nabil Taha an occupant of a fetid Palestinian refugee camp located in Lebanon whose residents are denied access to work, education, and medical care. Taha died outside the entrance to a Lebanese hospital because his father could not come up with $1500 on the spot to pay for treatment.
Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post reports that “last year alone, some 180,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip entered Israel to receive medical treatment. Many were treated despite the fact that they did not have enough money to cover the bill.” The students now celebrating Israeli anti-apartheid week are protesting against the wrong people.
March 17, 2011
[COMMENTS]
A CULTURE OF HATRED INCITES CHILD MURDER
When Palestinian terrorists cruelly murdered little Jewish children in the village of Itamar it was not an aberrant action rather it was a product of years of indoctrination. On her website Michelle Cohen discusses the purposefully created culture of violence that led to such a horrendous event. She points out that Palestinian children are taught to hate the Jews living in Israel from a very youg age and argues that Palestinian Authority (PA) “Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas continue to incite, inflame and encourage Palestinian Arabs to pin every problem they face as individuals and as a society on Israel. This strategy of channeling frustrations into hatred and the desire for revenge against Israel is adopted both by Israel’s immediate Palestinian neighbors and Arab leaders throughout the Muslim-Arab world.”
March 14, 2011
[COMMENTS]
BOYCOTT THE UK
For me this is the last straw. How sad because I have always viewed the UK
and its people with great affection and admiration. However, any nation
that allows the BBC to function with official support does not deserve the support of any civilized person. Bye Bye UK, I plan on never setting foot there again nor will I buy any UK products.
March 13, 2011
[COMMENTS]
RUMSFELD’S FAILURE TO CAPTURE BIN LADEN
Former Secretary Defense Donald Rumsfeld has written a memoir, Known and Unknown, and he has been hawking it on even such hostile programs as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Freedom Watch hosted by Judge Napolitano. However, one would be hard pressed to find a more negative assessment of the book than the intensely critical review penned by Peggy Noonan, a woman personally sympathetic to Rumsfeld. After labeling the work second rate she asserts that “the terrible thing about the Rumsfeld book, and there is no polite way to say this, is the half-baked nature of the thinking within it. The quality of analysis and understanding of history is so mediocre, so insufficient to the moment.”
Noonan’s deepest discontent is with Rumsfeld’s handling of the failure to capture Osama Bin Laden which she argues was a catastrophe and that after “that moment everything about the Afghanistan war became unclear, unfocused, murky and confused.” Noonan concludes her piece stating that “it is the great scandal of the wars of the Bush era that the U.S. government failed to get him and bring him to justice. It is the shame of this book that Don Rumsfeld lacks the brains to see it, or the guts to admit it.”
March 13, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ADVICE FOR PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU
These must indeed be stressful times for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His country's closest and most important ally has seemingly turned against him with the United States continually demanding Israeli concessions but asking none from the Palestinians. Caroline Glick offers him some sage advice imploring Netanyahu to quit trying to appease Barak Obama because that will never happen and instead concentrate on Israel’s relationship with the U.S. Congress. She argues that “Netanyahu is reportedly considering unveiling his new diplomatic initiative in a speech before Congress in May. If he were to use that venue to unveil this plan and also announce a plan to wean Israel off US military aid within three years, not only would he blunt Obama’s power to threaten Israel. He would secure popular US support for Israel for years to come.”
March 13, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ANTI-SEMITISM WITH A PURPOSE
By far most people who are anti-Semitic have nothing tangible to gain from their viewpoint except maybe fitting in and the base psychological comfort of feeling unearned superiority to fellow human beings. However, there is a small but powerful group that provides an exception to this rule, politicians. Certainly, anti-Semitism gave Hitler a very useful tool with which to build his totalitarian society. In a perceptive column Paul Greenberg reminds us that this vile instrument is still available and being widely employed today. He begins by writing that “it was the always observant Mary McCarthy who observed that anti-Semitism is the one form of intellectuality that appealed to stupid people. But she may have overlooked its appeal to ambitious politicians, too. They're always on the lookout for some mania they can use for their own purposes. Whether to seize power at the beginning of their rise or to hold onto it at the end. Or anytime in between.”
One modern use of anti-Semitism is to raise funds for National Public Radio (NPR). Much in the news today is a meeting between conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe and two NPR executives Ron Schiller and Betsy Liley. The NPR people mistakenly thought they were sitting down with two representatives of the Muslim Education Action Center (MEAC) a group fronting for the Muslim Brotherhood about to donate five million dollars. A video of this encounter is drawing attention for remarks by Schiller and Liley disparaging Tea Party members and Republicans as well as a statement of belief that in the long run NPR would be better off without federal funding. Less talked about is the fact that these NPR leaders were willing to make a deal that could not help but influence their content in an anti-Semitic direction. They sought funding from what they believed was a front group for the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization with strong historic ties to Nazism. Seldom has the media bias against the Jewish people in Israel been so clearly explained and blatantly put on display.
March 10, 2011
[COMMENTS]
DESTROYING GOOD KIDS IN THE NAME OF SAVING THEM
The facts surrounding Nick Stuban’s suicide demonstrate that our society is harshly stupid when it comes to dealing with adolescent transgressions, especially those involving drug use. It is a question as to whether the cruel actions of the school officials in Fairfax County, Virginia were a major cause of this tragedy. There is no doubt that those actions were at least a part of the cause.
Nick was a truly nice kid on every count: a spirited member of his high school football team, a good student, a devoted church member, a Boy Scout, and a frequent helper to his mom who suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease. That football team and his friends at W.T. Woodson High School were like his second family.
As is well known in the Washington area by now, last fall be bought one capsule of a synthetic compound that mimics the effects of pot. The substance is both legal and relatively harmless. Yet, his action violated the student disciplinary code of the state and of the school because the compound mimicked an illegal drug. For this single minor offense Fairfax school officials treated him like he was a heroin-addicted axe-murderer run amok. He was suspended for ten days and then transferred away from the school he loved; as a result he could not play football, see his old friends, or even appear on the Woodson campus. In a period of weeks he fell into a deep depression and eventually killed himself.
This is a nightmare that should never have happened, not just for Nick and his decent parents but for multitudes of other nice kids and those who love them. In a much less damaging way, it is a nightmare for me also. Almost three decades ago, I read about Fred Collins , another nice kid from Fairfax County who had been subjected to other types of adult cruelty imposed in the name of saving him from his typically adolescent behavior. This form of irrational cruelty was committed by an organization known as Straight, Inc. As a result of reading about Fred’s brutal treatment by Straight, I spent many years researching, writing and campaigning against that evil organization. I am proud to say that I helped in some small way to destroy it. The wicked witch was dead, I exulted.
Yet, the nightmare of Straight continues in many other similar organizations in this country and in others. To compound the nightmare, as I read about the tragedy of young Stuban, I realized with horror that phases of the Straight ideology have been adopted by the educational leaders of Virginia as the official disciplinary policy of that state. The evil witch also affects the drug control policies of this entire nation to this day.
I should not have been surprised because many years ago I discovered that the Straight ideology has been happily supported by leading officials, medical doctors, and alleged addiction experts. That unhappy fact shows that at its core the whole field of drug abuse treatment is shot full of cruel myths and unscientific blather. Everyone can agree that it is bad idea for people of any age to abuse drugs. Beyond that, there is little agreement as to how to deal with those who do use or abuse drugs, especially the illegal varieties.
The harshest reactions come from the extremists who view any use of any drug, including alcohol, by young people as the first step to insanity and perhaps even death. That hysterical diagnosis leads to harsh treatment that prescribes destroying the youth’s mental and physical health in the name of salvation. I am not making this up; I have dealt personally with scores of young adults who had been confined for months in shockingly abusive conditions. These unbelievable stories are described in my books and on my web site, and also in the works of Maia Szalavitz, Wes Fager, and Richard Bradbury, to name just a few sources.
Dozens of successful civil law suits have won significant money damages against Straight and its ilk, helping to close many of these facilities down, but they continue under other names and in other places, still abusing literally thousands of young people usually placed in them by concerned but ignorant parents. And as we have seen, the destructive ideology of Straight continues to be applied in the official disciplinary codes of supposedly enlightened areas like affluent Fairfax County , Virginia , even when expulsion but not confinement is employed.
Many other kids have committed suicide while being abused by this bizarre approach which I call treatment abuse. The only good news in this sorry situation is that most young people somehow survive the abuse, even though they bear emotional scars for years, and then go on to live productive lives. Such is the case with Fred Collins , who sued Straight and won a large money judgment. What a pity that it was not the case with Nick Stuban.
While we are involved in defending freedom abroad, it is time for the Obama Administration to launch a campaign to preserve the rights and even the very lives of our own kids in our own schools.
March 8, 2011
[COMMENTS]
A NOTE ABOUT MR. HOLDER ON MY PEOPLE AND ALL THAT
It seems that he just doesn’t get it or he does and simply does not give a damn. The “he” is of course The Honorable Eric Holder, the Attorney General of all the people of the United States .
In a congressional hearing a few days ago he was asked why his Department of Justice did not more vigorously pursue the now-infamous voting rights case against the New Black Panther Party. The Attorney General got annoyed and went off on an apparent rant about the fact that there was no comparison between what the Panthers did in Philadelphia in 2008 and what abuses were heaped on “my people” during the civil rights era of decades ago. He also mentioned that it took courage for those fine people, such as one of his relatives, to face that awful discrimination and overcome it.
It is difficult for me to know where to start to answer this set of bizarre statements in this context by the highest ranking law enforcement official in the land, nay, the world.
I have followed almost every twist in the Panther case and at no time did the major burden of the criticism of Mr. Holder’s department, and that aimed at his boss in the White House, even hint that the Panther behavior in 2008 was similar to that carried on some decades ago by the bigots of that era. Not a hint.
For what it is worth I should also point out that I thought we were all the attorney general’s people, especially those of us who happened to have been in the front lines of the civil rights struggle to which he refers. He was not there and I was and I remember a lot about it. At no time did I seek to compare then to now in terms of the severity of the abuses.
The Panther thugs were blatant and obvious and certainly in violation of the law. The Voting Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice under George Bush commenced a prosecution. The Panther defendants did not respond and a default judgment was entered against them. The DOJ attorneys prepared a memorandum suggesting to the judge that a series of relatively mild and sensible sanctions be imposed on the miscreants, such as stay away from voting facilities in the future. By then, months had passed, the Obama-Holder era began, and the word came down somewhere from the top to drop the prosecution. But why, it was widely asked, would you drop a prosecution when you have already won so handily?
In the uproar that followed, several seasoned DOJ voting rights lawyers, most notably Messrs. Adams and Coates, charged that the dropping of the charges was part of a pattern of virulent anti-white racial bias in the department under Obama-Holder. I repeat that was the main charge: the Department of Justice did not want to bring voting rights cases when the defendants were black and the victims were white. The Panther case was only one of several that fit into this pattern.
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights investigated these charges and issued a report that substantiated them. One additional charge was that the DOJ refused to answer repeated requests for information on these accusations.
When given the chance in open testimony to refute these awful charges, the attorney general again refused to do so or to provide any information on the panther case, which could have been easily disposed of long ago. But Mr. Holder made matters only worse when he referred to his people in a fashion that could only lend support to the charges of reverse racism.
As it happens, I attended the Commission hearing last July where the whistle blower, Christian Adams, testified. Sitting a few feet behind him in the audience, I found myself sharing his sense of outrage at the behavior of Mr. Holder’s department. I realized that I was taking it all personally in part because I was a civil rights protester in the South back in the day and also I was a Commission staff member from 1960 to 1963. In both my private and official capacity I took many risks in the name of righting injustices against African-Americans of creating a society where we would all be equal. I felt betrayed when I saw that the Department of Justice was violating all of the principles for which we fought.
After witnessing that hearing, I submitted a statement which was placed in the full record of the report on the hearing. One thing led to another and I was recently appointed by the commission as a member of the Maryland State Advisory Committee to the commission.
March 7, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MIDEAST TURMOIL SHOWS HOW DOUBLE STANDARD WORKS AGAINST ISRAEL
Any accusation made against Israel no matter how unfounded is very important to the mainstream media, the UN, and groups such as Human Rights Watch. However, when real transgressions are committed by Arab dictatorships they usually turn a blind eye. The website HonestReporting describes on how the recent unrest in the Mideast shines a spotlight this hypocritical double standard.
For example, they quote NGO Monitor’s take on the visit of Human Rights Watch’s Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division, Sarah Leah Whitson, to Libya in 2009. They inform us that she claimed “to have discovered a ‘Tripoli spring.’ In particular, Whitson praised Muammar Qaddafi’s son Seif Islam as a leading reformer. In two articles promoting this façade of reform, she repeatedly praised him for creating an ‘expanded space for discussion and debate.’ In reality, Whitson was advancing a fiction; Libya remained a closed totalitarian regime that kept its population under tight control. Seif Islam continued to be an integral part of the repression, even appearing on state television to warn the protesters that the regime would ‘fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet.’”
March 2, 2011
[COMMENTS]
WASTEFUL SPENDING, BIAS, AND DISARRAY THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Our country faces unprecedented budget problems, it has over 60 trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities, is around 16 trillion dollars in debt, and President Obama proposes to add another 1.7 trillion dollars to that amount. He also intends to increase the money spent by Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division by 18 % and the manpower there by 14% over the last year that George Bush was in office. In an open letter to chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce-Justice-Science, Frank Wolf, the Heritage foundation’s Hans von Spakovsky, a former counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, argues that a very good place to begin addressing our financial woes would be the Civil Rights Division.
He describes a unit in disarray where lawyers are often late for meetings, want to work from their homes, and complain about not having anything to do. Von Spakovsky observes that “in the 26 months since Holder took over, it has filed only one lawsuit under Section 2 of the VRA, and that was a case developed during the Bush administration.” In contrast “the Bush administration - which Holder and his Civil Rights Division chief, Tom Perez, miss no opportunity to criticize - averaged two Section 2 cases every year, brought more cases under the language minority provisions than in all other years combined since 1965, and filed 10 cases under the National Voter Registration Act.”
Even worse than the low level of productivity is the fact that under Obama the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department has demonstrated bias against white people as evidenced by the dropping of the voter intimidations case against the New Black Panther Party, perverting the very reason for the Division’s existence.
Von Spakovsky concludes his letter by stating that “perhaps we should be thankful that the ideologues inhabiting both the political leadership and career supervisor positions in the division aren't wreaking more havoc. But this is no way to run a government. American taxpayers should not have to fund such nonsense.”
March 1, 2011
[COMMENTS]
POLITICALLY CORRECT ENABLERS OF SEXUAL SLAVERY
British MP Jack Straw opened himself to charges of bigotry when he sought attention for the increasingly common instances of gangs of Pakistani men sexually preying on vulnerable young white girls, leading them in to a life of prostitution. A story about this on guardian.co.uk features a number of people criticizing Straw for even bringing up this problem. However, on IslamistWatch data is presented that clearly shows these abhorrent interactions are virtually all between Muslim men and non-Muslim women. They also point out that Straw is not the first person fighting political correctness by seeking to expose these practices. This latter article tries to provide an explanation for Muslim sex trafficking by quoting Sikh leader Indarjit Singh who argues that "Islamic extremists view all 'nonbelievers' as legitimate targets" and this includes Hindu, Sikh. and white girls.
February 28, 2011
[COMMENTS]
STANDING UP TO C.A.I.R.
Much of our problem with Islamic terrorism originates with political correctness, the unwillingness to discuss the true violent nature of that religion. One person who is having none of that is newly elected Florida congressman Allen West, a veteran of the Iraq war. At a town hall meeting Nezar Hamze, executive director for a branch of the Council for American Islamic Relation (CAIR) challenged West to find one verse in the Quran telling Muslims to attack America. The Congressman responded by pointing out the obvious fact that the United States did not exist when the book was written and then cited numerous examples of commands to kill infidels along with instances of this order being obeyed, If all politicians behaved as West did in this situation then we would all be safer. The above link contains a video of this incident, note the crowd reaction, a hopeful sign.
February 24, 2011
[COMMENTS]
INACTION AT THE UNITED NATIONS
The unrest and the increasing brutality with which it is being put down in the Middle East certainly calls for some kind of response from the organization charged with keeping world peace. However, the United Nations, which has no trouble condemning alleged Israeli actions on an almost weekly basis, has nothing to say about the fact that Arab dictators are gunning down their own people in the streets. Anne Bayefsky provides us with a stark portrait of UN inaction in the face of this crisis.
February 22, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ISRAEL IS VITAL TO UNITED STATES INTERESTS
As unrest and uncertainty spread across the Middle East our relationship with traditionally one of our closest allies, Israel, is more important than ever. Yoram Ettinger delineates why this natural alliance is so vital. He points out that “the significance of Israel’s strategic added-value is underlined by uncertain and shifty Arab ideologies, policies, alliances and allegiances, by the increasing vulnerability of pro-US Arab regimes, the intensifying unruly nature of Arab societies, the exacerbation of Islamic terrorism, the Iranian nuclear threat, the deepening penetration of the Arab Middle East by Russia and China, the recent erosion of the US posture of deterrence and the expected US evacuation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Israel’s reliability, capability, credibility, stability, democracy and non-conditional alliance with the US are anomalous in the Middle East.”
February 21, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MIKE HUCKABEE CLEARLY A FRIEND OF ISRAEL
While Barak Obama continues to distance the U.S. from Israel a new president in 2012 from the Republican Party would surely reverse this foolish inhumane betrayal. While some of the leading contenders for this office are now treating Israel as though it were Iowa or New Hampshire, Mike Huckabee has been visiting the Jewish homeland off and on for 38 years. In a piece for Israpundit Ben Smith describes the special relationship between the former Governor of Arkansas and the Israeli people.
February 21, 2011
[COMMENTS]
DRUG POLICY FROM MANUFACTURED FEAR
There is no question that drug policy in America is based on fear and characterized by excess. The fear is partially manufactured by and the excess excused by tying drug prohibition to security issues. In an article explaining the connection the Transform Drug Policy Foundation asserts that “the International Relations theory of securitisation describes, better than any framework I’ve seen, how the threat-based process works. Moving to a non-securitised approach is essential to ending the war on drugs.”
February 21, 2011
[COMMENTS]
NO SURPRISE ABUSIVE BBC ATTACK ON GEERT WILDERS BROADCAST
The BBC has broadcast a program calling Dutch politician Geert Wilders the world’s most dangerous broadcaster. In her article reviewing this absurd documentary Melanie Philips calls it “a vicious hatchet job that was a disgrace to journalism.” As a moderate counterpoint to Wilders the show used Sheikh Khalid Yasin who has asserted that “we Muslims have been ordered to do ‘brainwashing’ because the kuffaar [non-Muslims] ... they are doing ‘brain defiling’ ... You are watching the kaffir TVs, and your wife is watching right now, and your children are watching it right now, and they are being polluted, and they are being penetrated, and they are being infected, so that your children and you go out as Muslims and come back to the house as kaffirs...The whole delusion of the equality of women is a bunch of foolishness. There’s no such thing.” How ironic that network considers Yasin a moderate since what he is saying here is largely about them. If the above statement does not seem extreme to the BBC one has to wonder if anything Muslims did or said, including slaughtering all of Jews in Israel, would be considered objectionable by them.
February 20, 2011
[COMMENTS]
TWO MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH ISLAM
The recent sexual assault of CBS’S Laura Logan in Cairo, while tragic, has brought much needed attention to two very serious problems with the way too many people practice Islam. The always insightful Egyptian woman Nonie Darwish discusses them in a recent piece. She points to the status and treatment of women in Islamic countries while she informs us that “Egypt and many Muslim countries have a terrible record of sexual harassment. According to a survey conducted in 2008 by an Egyptian Women’s rights group, 83% of Egyptian women have been sexually harassed. The numbers for foreign women is a staggering 98%. Most of the men in the survey admitted they have harassed women and most of them blamed it on women for dressing provocatively. What is worse is that the majority of women in the survey believe that women who dress immodestly deserve the harassment.”
The sexond problem is an irrational and virulent hatred of Jews. Darwish analyses the fact that those who assaulted Logan screamed “Jew” “Jew” while doing so. She argues that “does not surprise me, since a call that someone is a Jew has a meaning in Muslim countries. It means they are fair game for assault or worse; it means they are subhuman and deserve whatever happens to them. Muslim scriptures are full of commandments to kill Jews wherever they are and according to Islamic law, female captives in battle are automatically divorced from their husbands and can be sexually enslaved by their captors. Mohammed himself, who is viewed as the ideal example for men, in all his battles against non-Muslims allowed sexual enslavement of women captives. Such Islamic history lessons send the wrong message to Muslim men and influence how they view and relate to women and take away any feeling of guilt or shame.”
February 19, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN CONDONING SEXUAL ASSAULT AND THE UN
Certainly the UN could be labeled an anti-Semitic organization. Their continual double standard attacks against Israel and their ignoring of Muslim transgressions, especially those against women is really astounding. In a piece for PanjamasMedia Anne Bayefsky makes a connection between events at the UN and the sexual assault of a female CBS reporter by Egyptian men screaming “Jew” “Jew”. Bayefsky argues that “the hatred and anti-Semitism which runs so deep among the masses screaming for tolerance, for everybody but Jews, is precisely what is driving the diplomatic mobs at the UN. Ganging up on Israel at the UN Security Council is an ugly and contemptible scene.”
February 18, 2011
[COMMENTS]
A DARK SIDE TO THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION
On Friday in the midst of the celebration of Hosni Mubarak’s decision to step down, CBS correspondent Lara Logan was sexually assaulted by dozens of Egyptian men. They yelled “Jew”, “Jew” while committing this vile act. In his article on this under reported incident Gary Bauer makes it clear that sexual harassment and even rape of Western women by Muslim men is becoming increasingly commonplace. He argues that there is “no doubt that millions of Egyptians do want economic opportunity, free elections and other basic human rights. We should do what we can to help them. But there is also ample evidence that large majorities in Egypt are sympathetic to the worst elements of radical Islam including support for treating women as if they were cattle, anti-Semitism, hatred of the U.S. and Israel and intolerance of people of different faiths.”
February 18, 2011
[COMMENTS]
U.S. TURNS BACK ON ISRAEL AGAIN
It is becoming increasingly clear that if the worst fears about Egypt materialize and a Muslim Brotherhood government dedicated to the destruction of Israel comes to power Israel can count on little support from the Obama administration. Its latest betrayal will take place at the UN where the Palestinians have offered a Security Council resolution stating that Israeli settlements are illegal. Instead of just vetoing the move America suggested that “in exchange for scuttling the Palestinian resolution, the United States would support the council statement, consider supporting a U.N. Security Council visit to the Middle East, the first since 1979, and commit to supporting strong language criticizing Israel's settlement policies in a future statement by the Middle East Quartet.”
February 18, 2011
[COMMENTS]
A DIFFERENT VIEW OF THE SINAI WITHDRAWAL
Now that Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak has decided to step down who replaces him in power is of utmost importance to the Israelis. The present day relationship between Egypt and Israel dates back to the Sinai accords which led to the withdrawal of the IDF from the peninsula. Most people view those events in a positive light, however, biblical scholar Robert Eisenman has a different take, He shares his views with the readers of The Jerusalem Post. Eisenman sees it as an enormous victory but asks the question did the Israelis give up too much by losing an important buffer. He points out that “treaties with non-Muslims are not binding and can be canceled at any moment by ‘the Commander of the Faithful’ or what is called ‘the ‘Ummah’ (the Islamic Community). In the best-case scenario, they represent only temporary ‘truces.’ This is what has happened in Gaza under Hamas and, doubtlessly, it will happen everywhere else where this kind of regime comes into being.”
February 14, 2011
[COMMENTS]
ANNOUNCEMENT OF AN INTERESTING ADDICTION CONFERENCE
I just received this interesting e-mail announcement from Dr. Colin Brewer which may be of interest to some of my readers :
THE WORLD'S FIRST FREE, ON-LINE, REAL-TIME INTERNATIONAL ADDICTION WEB-CONFERENCE? Important new research on depot/implant naltrexone, rapid benzo detox, disulfiram and more.
First, please note my new and only direct email address - brewerismo@gmail.com - effective immediately.
Secondly, you are receiving this email because at some time, we have probably spoken or corresponded about addiction and its treatment, or you have attended previous Stapleford conferences. If you are not planning to attend the next one ( Athens Feb 26-28th) in person, I think you might be interested in watching the proceedings from the comfort of your home (or your office, if you work weekends). This will be possible thanks to the generosity of our main sponsors and to technical developments that make large-scale web-conferencing much easier. Indeed, this may be the first international addiction conference to be made available on-line in real time. Just think - no airport hassle, no jet-lag, no expense (and no tearful children asking why mummy and/or daddy are away from home yet again). You can register by clicking on the following link https://services.choruscall.eu/links/stapleford1102.html
After registration, you will receive a unique pin number that will give you access to the conference proceedings and will also enable you to submit questions or comments by email and/or telephone to individual speakers or to panel discussions. If you prefer to take part in the traditional way, you can still do so using this link https://services.choruscall.eu/links/stapleford1102_invitation.html
As usual, the programme focuses on medical interventions in addiction that use pharmacological, immunological or behavioural antagonists to drugs of dependence and on the new psychological approaches that these interventions make necessary. New research presented at previous Stapleford conferences has often been accepted for publication in leading journals, especially studies of implanted and depot naltrexone and the exciting but relatively simple technique of rapid benzodiazepine withdrawal using flumazenil, now in regular use in a small number of centres. There is also an update on vaccination against nicotine, for which the first licensed preparation should be available very shortly. Finally - a rare event - there's a whole session on disulfiram treatment in alcoholism. Despite (or because of) its 60-year history, disulfiram remains a neglected, under-used and misunderstood drug. In supervised comparative studies, it generally out-performs its newer competitors yet there is still debate about its mode of action.
The first Stapleford conference ( London 1989) was unusual for including papers on methadone maintenance - a treatment then very unpopular with the British addiction establishment. That opposition was largely overcome by the end of the 1990s and now we hear some concerns that agonist maintenance has become too prominent in the treatment menu. Should more effective help be available for the quite large number of treatment-seeking opiate addicts who would like an agonist-free approach (not necessarily the same thing as total abstinence)? Especially if true Intention-to-Treat completion rates for withdrawal were better than the miserable 30% or so that are typical of conventional programmes. Prof Neil McKeganey will be a keynote speaker about these changing attitudes to agonist maintenance.
All good wishes.
Colin Brewer.
The Stapleford Centre. London .
February 12, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE LARGELY NAMELESS HEROS OF EGYPT
The recent events in Egypt have done if nothing else created a great deal of uncertainty about what happened there and what will occur in the future. Fouad Ajami, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, provides us with an optimistic view of this important change in the Arab world. He writes that it “will be said that the great, enduring dilemmas of Egypt—a huge country that has lost out in the game of nations—will still be there. There will be accounts to settle, a struggle between those who were sullied by the dictatorship and those who weren't. The Egyptians will be tested again as to their fidelity to democratic ways. But if this standoff that ended in the demise of the dictator is any guide, the Egyptians may give us a consoling tale of an Islamic people who rose to proclaim their fidelity to liberty, and who provided us with a reminder that tyranny is not fated for the Arabs.”
February 12, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE BARNEY FIFE ADMINSITRATION
Several years ago I labeled this gang as the Barney Fife Administration.
Their behavior toward the Egyptian crisis lends more support for that
moniker, even though it was derided by one and all at the time. I wish this
was not true because the stakes are so high.
February 11, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE CASE FOR PRESIDENT PALIN
In the midst of worry about the Egyptian crisis, this may seem a strange time to be thinking about how President Palin might handle that crisis. My thoughts went to her in this context because I just received a mass mailing from the Democratic National Committee which described ten potential Republican presidential candidates for 2012. On top of the list the DNC placed Sarah Palin, perhaps because the Democrats view her with such disdain.
Indeed, the very thought of Sarah Palin in the Oval Office is very disturbing for many people, not just for Democrats. As far as I can tell, among the alleged defects of this candidate is the fact that she did not go to an Ivy League university but to some jerkwater school away from either coast. She never even attended any graduate school. So she is not a lawyer. She has a gee-whiz and by-golly approach to many of her public pronouncements; therefore to many of my east coast compatriots she sounds like a hick.
She does appear at times to be a rather attractive lady. It runs against traditional American expectations to even think that a sexy, good-looking, not-a-man person could ever inhabit the most powerful position on the planet. By those traditional standards she is not qualified for that position and deserves all of the political dung that has been dumped on her in recent years.
Yet, I find many of the personal assaults on her from leading Establishment pundits to be vicious, bigoted, and beneath contempt. These assaults heighten my sympathy for her. Her gutsy undiplomatic response to those unfair attacks, including her righteous use of the term “blood libel,” even heighten my image of her as a potential presidential candidate. She seems to have an old fashioned backbone right next to her guts. She appears to be sympathetic to the plight of Israel and, for what it is worth, displays a small Israeli flag in her office.
Yet, I must reluctantly admit that in my heart of hearts I share some of the discomfort which is probably at the root of much of the public campaign against her. My discomfort comes from the traditional expectations drilled into my very being by living in the east all my life and attending an Ivy League university.
I will further admit that this is my season of comparative discomfort. During the 2008 campaign, I was absolutely appalled to learn that candidate Obama had attended a church for twenty years led by Rev Jeremiah Wright who was a close buddy of Louis Farrakhan, two of the most anti-Semitic and even anti-American figures on the American scene. Yet, I overcame my sense of profound discomfort to vote for Mr. Obama. My bottom-line reason was that I came to believe that it was time for the vast body of millions of decent African-Americans to glory in the triumph of one of their own. Thus, I voted for Mr. Obama because he was black and because I simply liked the guy.
Obviously, he is not a hick, is an articulate talker, has an Ivy League education, is a lawyer, and is not an attractive female. Yet, with all those traditional qualifications, in a few short years he has taken actions and reflected biases that simply wallow in profound ignorance. Mr. Obama’s apology tours and his denial of the proud history of American exceptionalism truly outrage me.
Also outrageous is his behavior in the face of the Egyptian unrest. There is no doubt that Mubarak is a brutal dictator who has taken harsh measures to stay in power, as have other pharaohs for thousands of years. Yet, this pharaoh has been a loyal friend of America and his country was the first Arab nation to sign a peace treaty with Israel. By siding with the mobs our president has told the world that no American ally can expect enduring support from our nation.
Obama’s behavior toward Egypt has created profound anxiety in Israel, which has even better reason now to doubt the level of American support it will receive in future crises. Indeed, the word has now gone out over the world that Obama’s reversal of his support for Mubarak is just one more solid indication that no American ally can count on American support in a crisis.
There are many reasons why it is unlikely that the 2012 election will see an election battle between Obama and Palin; unlikely but not impossible. If then by 2012 I am forced to make a choice between two presidential candidates, both of whom make me uncomfortable for different reasons, my current guess is that, by golly, I will go with the gutsy, unpolished, undiplomatic hick who might well do better in the next Middle East crisis. She reminds me of Ronald Reagan who was deemed by many to be a simple minded pretty-boy actor, an amiable dunce, in the words of one prominent liberal. Yet, even though I did not vote for him, I have since had to confess that Reagan managed to take the lead in confronting and dismantling the Soviet Union, which he described in simplistic terms as the “evil empire.” It may well be time for another simple-minded amiable dunce in the Oval Office.
February 8, 2011
[COMMENTS]
RACIAL BIAS UNDER OBAMA-HOLDER
It is a scandal that one the civil rights revolution played a major role in making it possible for there to be a black president and a black attorney general working together for the first time in history, and two they take actions in complete and total violation of the very principles that laid the seeds for their elevation. The extent of that racial bias against whites has been revealed in explicit detail by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and by the testimony of J. Christian Adams, who was one of the lead Department of Justice attorneys involved in the New Black Panther case. His column in The Washington Times yesterday shows again how serious injustices are being perpetrated by these unconstitutional actions of our leaders.
February 8, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MODERATES AGAINST EXTREMEISTS IN EGYPT A WORRISOME LESSON FROM PAKISTAN
The future of Egypt is very much in doubt with a great deal of anxiety about the disturbing possibly of that country coming under the control of Islamic extremists. Events in Pakistan last month may provide a troubling clue about the future in Egypt. In early January when liberal provincial governor Salman Taseer was killed for suggesting that the blasphemy laws be relaxed his assassin became a national hero. Washington Post reporter Pamela Constable tells us that “in the days since Taseer's death, Pakistan has become a different country. The veneer of Western democracy has been ripped away, the liberal elite has been cowed into silence, and the civilian government has beaten a hasty retreat from morality, authority and law. Islamic extremist groups, once dismissed as unable to win more than a few seats in Parliament, are filling the streets, with bearded acolytes waving flags and chanting like giddy crowds at a post-game victory rally.”
Over at Israpundit Barry Rubin sees great significance in the above events, especially when trying to forecast the future in Egypt. He points out that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood dominates both the doctors and lawyers associations. Rubin argues that “both much of the masses and much of the elite in many places want an Islamist revolution. They don’t want democracy. The rules by which Westerners think about their own politics and societies do not apply to these societies.”
February 4, 2011
[COMMENTS]
FIGHTING TERRORISM WITH THE LAW
There is no question that the organizations financing terrorist activity, committing acts of violence and those who contribute to the virulent false anti-Israel propaganda do a great deal of harm. Quite frankly, they all help get people killed. One person, Israeli attorney Nitana Darshan-Leitner, is vigorously pursuing a strategy to combat this evil through lawsuits. She has taken numerous banks and political entities to court winning over $702 million to date.
Her latest project is a suit against Jimmy Carter for the blatant lies in his book about Palestine on behalf of those who bought the book A press release states that: “An historic class action suit has been filed against former President Jimmy Carter and the Simon & Schuster publishing company alleging that Carter’s book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, contained numerous false and knowingly misleading statements intended to promote the author’s agenda of anti-Israel propaganda and to deceive the reading public instead of presenting accurate information as advertised. The suit, captioned Unterberg et al. v. Jimmy Carter et.al (11 cv 0720), filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks compensatory and punitive damages.” This is an important legal action and Darshan-Leitner asserts that it “will expose all the falsehoods and misrepresentations in Carter’s book and prove that his hatred of Israel has led him to commit this fraud on the public. He is entitled to his opinions but deceptions and lies have no place in works of history.”
February 3, 2011
[COMMENTS]
USDA ASSERTS DRINKING IN MODERATION CONTRIBUTES TO GOOD HEALTH
Everyone knows that drinking alcohol is bad for one’s health that is everyone except the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Stanton Peele informs us that the department’s new 2010 Dietary Guidelines state "Alcohol consumption may have beneficial effects when consumed in moderation (up to two drinks daily). Strong evidence from observational studies has shown that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Moderate alcohol consumption also is associated with reduced risk of all-cause mortality among middle-aged and older adults and may help to keep cognitive function intact with age."
February 2, 2011
[COMMENTS]
HOW THE AMERICAN CAMPUS REMAINS ANTI-ISRAELI
Anti-Israeli sentiment sometimes survives at American universities by the employment of a double standard. A case in point is the teaching of political science courses at Brooklyn by under qualified Kristofer Petersen Overton despite the fact the he has not passed required exams. Overton did, however, have the backing of the anti-Israeli CUNY faculty union who bullied the college administration into giving Overton the classes. Commentator KC Johnson asserts that it seems that “sometimes even minimal qualifications can't be allowed to get in the way of bringing aboard someone with the appropriate message.”
February 2, 2011
[COMMENTS]
UNEASY PROSPECT OF PRESIDENT ELBARADEI
The turmoil in Egypt and the imminent fall of President Honsi Mubarak is creating a great deal of anxiety in Israel. Not the least cause of this apprehension is the increasingly likely prospect that Mubarak will be replaced by Mohamed ElBaradei. Writing for FoxNews.com Anne Bayefsky explains just exactly why Israel and the United States should be concerned.
February 1, 2011
[COMMENTS]
STANDING UP TO IRANIAN CENSORSHIP IN CANADA
The regime in Iran does not respond well to criticism. Their latest concern is a film titled Iranium, a documentary very critical of Iran. When Canada’s Free Thinking Film Society scheduled a showing of the movie at the National Archives in Ottawa the Iranian government tried to intervene. Their embassy complained and the Archives received threats so the event was canceled. Fortunately, Minster of Heritage, James Monroe refused to be intimidated and overruled the decision to allow Iranian censorship. Monroe courageously stated that; "This movie will be shown, the agreement will be kept. We will not be moving it to a different facility, we're not bending to any pressure. People need to be kept safe, but we don't back down to people who try to censor people by threats of violence. Canada does not accept attempts from the Iranian Embassy to dictate what films will and will not be shown in Canada.”
January 29, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE EFFECT OF BOOZE ON BRITISH HOSPITALS
Whether or not a drug is legal is a poor predictor of how much harm it will cause society. Consultant Dr. Nick Edwards, a senior, experienced doctor, provides an example of this principle with his eye opening article on the problems being caused in British hospital emergency rooms by the use legal alcohol.
January 28, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE NIGHT THE CHINESE WENT OUT TO HELP THE JEWS
In 1903 the first pogrom of the 20th century occurred in Kishinev Russia it left 49 Jews dead, 500 injured and 2000 families homeless. The Jewish community in New York organized a relief effort and they received significant help from the city’s Chinese people in the form of a benefit performance and banquet. Beside the moral reason of helping those in need the Chinese had a pragmatic rationale for their aid. In 1882 Jews had been among the most vocal opponents of the Chinese Exclusion Act and this happened again in 1902 when the law was up for renewal. In his interesting and moving account of this extraordinary event historian Scott D. Seligman explains how both Jews and Chinese could benefit from an alliance between the two persecuted groups.
January 27, 2011
[COMMENTS]
BBC, CNN, AND THE INDEPENDENT CAN NOT ACCEPT VINDICATION OF ISRAEL
Last May the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) boarded a ship trying to run its blockade of Hamas controlled Gaza. The scene became violent when the pro-Palestinian activists on board attacked the members of the IDF. The incident sparked a firestorm of criticism and the Israeli government set up an independent commission, the Turkel Committee, to investigate the incident which has just issued its report. They found that Israel’s policies towards Gaza, the blockade of Gaza, and the stopping of the ship all complied with international law. In addition the commission said that the IDF acted in self-defense.
The reaction by the BBC, CNN, and The Independent to these findings demonstrates clearly their disgusting anti-Israeli bias. An examination of their coverage by HonestReporting shows that they not to be trusted as sources of accurate or fair information about Israel.
January 24, 2011
[COMMENTS]
NOT GOOD FOR THE REST OF US
The members of the miss named Northern Virginia Violent Crime Task Force are probably feeling pretty swell these days because last week a two year investigation culminated in the arrest of 25 people for distributing cocaine and heroin. They are receiving headlines, praise, justification for the task force’s existence, and perhaps even promotions for their efforts. This event is definitely a good thing for them but what about the rest of us?
First the taxpayers will now have to pay for expensive prosecution of 25 people and since most of those on trial will be low level dealers the public will also have to pay for much of their defense. If the government is successful at trial we will have to house, feed, clothe, and provide medical care for those convicted. In some cases this responsibility will last for decades. When you also consider the direct costs of the two year investigation and the fact that for this time period law enforcement resources were not being used to protect the public from rape, armed robbery, murder and other forms of mayhem you can see that these drug busts are very expensive with little return for the rest of us.
The article in The Washington Times does not mention any violence just street level sales of illegal substances. Since the task force has done nothing to reduce demand for the product, disruption of supply will be minimal or perhaps even non-existent. However, there will be a period where market share is contested with the most vicious and ruthless people winning. In the black market of illegal drugs disputes are settled with guns and murder. Therefore in this instance the main accomplishment of Northern Virginia Violent Crime Task Force will most likely be to engender violence that would not have occurred if they did not exist, putting at risk the rest of us.
January 23, 2011
[COMMENTS]
TWO VERY DIFFERENT REASONS FOR TUNISIAN EVENTS
Whether or not WikiLeaks is a force for good or evil is still a matter of much contention but the fact that it is a significant force can no longer be disputed. The recent fall of President Ben Ali in Tunis demonstrates the power of website quite well. Once diplomatic cables were published by WikiLeaks and the people learned just how venal and corrupt their brutal government had become they took the nation’s future into their own hands.
However, the actions of a single person also played an important role in the government’s downfall. When unemployed graduate “Mohammed Bouazizi turned to selling fruit and veg illegally to earn some money for his family, but when the police confiscated his produce last month because he had no permit, it was all too much. He poured petrol on himself and set it alight in an unusually public protest.” His despair and death in conjunction with knowledge provided by WikiLeaks proved to be the catalyst for a change which will hopefully be very beneficial for the people of Tunisia.
January 19, 2011
[COMMENTS]
DERSHOWITZ DEFENDS PALIN
The term “blood libel” has a very specific historical meaning. It refers to the false charge made in the middle ages that European Jews used the blood of Christian babies in their rituals. In the course of defending herself from accusations that she was somehow responsible for the recent shootings in Arizona, Sarah Palin called these assertions a blood libel. Her statement provoked a firestorm of criticism and the notion that she does not know the meaning of the term has been put forth. However, an unexpected source has come to Palin’s defense, Alan Dershowitz. Even though he is most decidedly not a supporter of Sarah Palin he argues that these days the “term blood libel has taken on a broad metaphorical meaning in public discourse.”
January 14, 2011
[COMMENTS]
GOVERNMENT JOB CREATION
The unintended consequences of drug prohibition efforts far outweigh the intended ones. Electronic tracking systems for cold medicine designed to curb the production and use of illegal methamphetamine provide a clear example of this phenomenon. A recent article in USA Today informs us that the policy has “failed to curb the drug trade and instead created a vast, highly lucrative market for profiteers to buy over-the-counter pills and sell them to meth producers at a huge markup.” We also learn that “in the three states that have electronically tracked sales of medication containing pseudoephedrine since at least 2008. Meth incidents rose a combined 67% in those states — 34% in Arkansas, 65% in Kentucky and 164% in Oklahoma.” So we are left with situation where the intended consequence of these systems, reduced use of the drug, did not happen while an unintended result, more otherwise law abiding people engaged in the black market trade, did occur.
January 13, 2011
[COMMENTS]
EUROPEAN DIPLOMATS URGE DEFACTO SANCTIONS AGAINST ISRAEL
The leaders of European diplomatic missions stationed in Jerusalem and Ramallah have decided that East Jerusalem should be the capital of any Palestinian state located on the West Bank. Never mind that this is a matter for negotiation between the Palestinians and Israelis themselves and that the report promoting this idea issued by these EU functionaries constitutes yet another obstacle to real peace. This statement also contains suggestions for achieving the stated goal such as boycotting goods from East Jerusalem and it also recommends that “EU officials and politicians refuse to visit Israeli government offices that are located beyond the Green Line and that they decline any Israeli security in the Old City and elsewhere in East Jerusalem.”
These proposals can be seen as a new state of hostility directed at Israel on the part of the European Union. Akiva Eldar argues in Haaretz that “the far-ranging, sharply worded recommendations in the report drafted by European Union consul generals do not therefore point to a dramatic, negative change in Israel's policy toward Jerusalem. Instead, they reflect a dramatic, negative change in the international community's attitude toward Israel in general, and East Jerusalem in particular.”
January 10, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THOSE IN ISRAEL WHO DO NOT WANT THEIR COUNTRY TO EXIST
It is common knowledge that there is a somewhat inexplicable and almost pathological hatred of Israel on the part of the academic left in the United States. What is not so well known is that a similar situation exists in Israel. In her recent column titled Israel’s Enemies Within Mona Charen discusses this phenomenon. She points out that in “Israel, adopting leftist intellectual fashions means swallowing ideas that spell the destruction of the state. A study of political science syllabi in Israel's five universities, for example, found that about 80 percent of the course material took a ‘post-Zionist’ or anti-nationalist position.”
This state of affairs becomes even more puzzling when we consider information presented by Charen in a previous column. Here she informs us that terrorism in Israel which killed 1100 people between 2000 and 2006 has been reduced to such a level that a record 3.45 million people felt comfortable visiting that country last year. Also, we learn that in the West Bank the Palestinian Authority “reported a 9 percent growth rate for 2010. There is a functioning stock exchange in Nablus. Unemployment, which was 30 percent four years ago, has been reduced to 16 percent. Israel has removed more than 200 checkpoints to facilitate economic activity, and installed expensive but fast scanners at other points to permit trucks carrying goods for export to pass quickly (about eight minutes per truck). Since July 2008, the 1 million Arab citizens of Israel can come and go freely from the West Bank.”
How ironic that the Israeli academic left continually condemns policies such the attack on the rocket launching platform called Gaza and the security fence which have made them personally safer and the Palestinians most closely associated with Israel, those living on the West Bank, more prosperous.
January 8, 2011
[COMMENTS]
JEWS ARE BEING PUSHED OUT OF EUROPE. WILL WE BE ABLE TO STAY IN THE US?
It is an unbelievable and ugly story. The Europeans, those whose older relatives gave us the Holocaust, have somehow managed to continue to make Jews live in fear and to make them plan on leaving for Israel or the US. Perhaps the major reason for this latest Exodus is that the Europeans have allowed a massive influx of Muslim immigrants. These new Europeans tend to hate their infidel neighbors especially the Jews, who are often subject to verbal and physical attacks from their Muslim neighbors. Thus Europe is becoming increasingly a place for Muslims while it is becoming no longer a place for Jews. This article from the Islamist Watch website makes me wonder if American Jews will soon find this country moving toward becoming Judenrein.
In my view it is high time for American Jews to start being outraged by any sign that they are being attacked in any form by the forces of hate and intolerance. Let us stop being so damned nice and intellectual. Let us become intolerant of intolerance in any form.
January 8, 2011
[COMMENTS]
MUSLIM STUDENT ACTIVIST SHOWS TRUE FEELINGS
Last May the Young Americans for Freedom student group at the University of California San Diego invited David Horowitz to speak on campus. The latest edition of the Vision to America e-mail newsletter included a link to a little noted at the time and most revealing exchange between Horowitz and a Muslim student activist which included support for terrorism. When the female student refused to condemn Hamas the speaker paraphrased a statement by a Hezbollah leader saying in effect that his organization hoped that the Jews would all gather in Palestine so they would be easier to kill. Horowitz then said to her "for it or against it" and she exclaimed "for it."
January 7, 2011
[COMMENTS]
THE OLIVE TREE INITIATIVE IS A FRAUD
The University of California Irvine administration maintains a hate filled campus rife with anti-Semitism. The problem is so bad that the leaders of the university’s Jewish student groups issued the following statement: “We are Jewish students at the University of California and we are outraged and deeply offended by the behavior of some student groups on campus who sponsor speakers, films and exhibits that use hateful anti-Jewish rhetoric and imagery and openly support terrorism against Israel and the Jewish people. As Jewish students, we are also deeply disturbed by student initiated boycott and divestment campaigns which falsely accuse the Jewish state of crimes against humanity. Please understand that these speakers, exhibits, events and campaigns are as offensive and hurtful to Jewish students as a ‘Compton cookout’ or noose are to African-American students. We demand that the UC administrators recognize and address the concerns of Jewish students in the same way as they respond to those of all other minority groups.”
The Olive Tree Initiative was supposed to change the anti-Semitic climate at UC Irvine but as Leila Beckwith explains in her very informative article for the American Thinker the program has had the opposite effect and actually contributed to an increased the amount of intolerance directed towards Jews. She concludes that the “University of California must finally directly address its responsibility to ensure a non-hostile environment for Jewish students. California taxpayers and the University of California should not fund or support the Olive Tree Initiative. Terminating public funding for the OTI would be an important first step in the right direction.”
January 6, 2011
[COMMENTS]
HAPPY NEW YEAR? ONLY IN SOME RESPECTS
As this poor old year draws to a close, I have been awash with the good feelings that usually come during the holiday period, surrounded by family and friends and cheerful spirits. I am happy as a clam in those respects.
Then I made the mistake of reading a story on the internet written by Reuters and headlined “France braces for annual New Year’s car torching.” Datelined today, 5:30 am, the story explained that “youths in depressed suburbs of French cities have been torching hundreds of vehicles on New Year’s Eve and Bastille Day since the early 1990s.” The text went on to say that arson in France’s “sensitive urban areas” rose by 17.2 percent between 2008 and 2009 and that a total of 12,874 cars were burned in 2009.
At no point did the intrepid Reuters’ reporters or editors feel compelled to mention that almost all of the youths were Muslim and that the influx of so many followers of Islam in recent years has caused enormous problems for France. Like so many Western opinion leaders in government and in the private sector, the Reuters journalists practice self-censorship so as not to offend Muslims. This is part of the much broader campaign to seek to win the good favor of Muslims by downplaying Islamic violence while at the same time emphasizing any apparent misstep, whether violent or not, by Israel and her supporters.
The Islamists and their Western appeasers know that terror works. So does adherence to the oldest hate of all, that is, hatred of Jews and of course of their one nation on the face of this small planet. The current Western ideology sees that the Jews and their shitty little country – to quote a French diplomat not too long ago – can be offered up as sacrifices to obtain peace in our time with the violent forces of the jihadists. During my lifetime the Europeans offered up another country as such a sacrifice to other violent forces and after the expected fall of Czechoslovakia, it turned out that the sacrifice was in vain and millions of people died in the subsequent war.
It is not just hatred of Jews and Israel that is motivating the current forces of aggression; it is also hatred of America. Thus for decades the Islamist forces have preached the destruction of Israel and her major supporter, America. I have personally seen how anti-Americanism is part of the current European intellectual ideology, taught in universities along with the need to delegitimize Israel.
As I look back at this year, it is appalling to realize that Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton have bought into this destructive ideology and seem intent on pushing Israel to commit suicide as happened to that other little nation so long ago. They do not seem to realize that the destruction of Israel may well lead to the continued decline of our own country, even to its eventual complete Islamization. Future presidents may find it necessary to always bow to Islamic despots.
Nevertheless, I intend to celebrate the good tidings of the season tonight and tomorrow and act like none of this is going to turnout as badly as I just said. Sometimes denial of apparent reality seems the only rational way to live through these awful situations.
December 31, 2010
[COMMENTS]
PERPLEXING WAR ON TERROR
The war on terror is a very ill defined term which can denote a variety of different things suggesting numerous courses of action. In her latest column Diana West uses the story of Pvt. William Long, killed in Arkansas outside a military recruitment center by a self-proclaimed jihadist but denied battlefield honors to argue that our own government does not fully understand its meaning.
December 31, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ARMY NAVY GAME GESTURE
Our government puts an enormous burden on its military personnel, so it is fitting when private citizens and organizations demonstrate our appreciation for their sacrifices. Here is an inspiring holiday story that came in an e-mail and is verified by Snopes.com, which tells about people, Bennett and Vivian Levin with the help of others, who did something extraordinarily nice for some of our wounded service members. It involved the Army vs. Navy football game.
December 29, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WONDROUS EVENTS AT LOWELL HIGH SCHOOL
When I received the news that I had been selected to be honored as one of the Distinguished Alumni of Lowell High School, I was quite happy and looked forward to a pleasant time returning to my old school in northern Massachusetts. However, I was not prepared for the emotional impact the event had on me and on members of my own family still living in that area. It was a wondrous, almost miraculous visit.
Everything about the visit was more powerful and more profound than I had imagined. The main event took place last month on the evening of November 3 at the main auditorium of the school. While much has changed about the city of Lowell and about the school, the basic structure of that auditorium has barely changed at all. It was almost spooky and yet wonderful to enter that hall again, 64 years after I graduated with the class of 1946. My baby brother, Malcolm, who graduated years after I did, had some of the same feelings; he said it was almost as if time had stood still.
The fact that Mal, his wife, Charlene, and my sister, Leona, were in the audience sweetened the event for me. Also in the audience of many hundreds of people were Libby Glazer and her two adult children, Hugh and Ruth, who I knew as nice little kids. Libby was the wife of my best friend, Mel Glazer, who sadly passed away several years ago. I have maintained contact with Libby and her children. She still lives in Lowell.
Libby gets the lion’s share of the credit for my receiving the award. During many conversations with her, she mentioned the fact that Lowell High School had started the process of honoring selected alumni and that I should apply to be included. Of course, Libby has always been one of my boosters and it was natural of her to think I deserved to be honored. For years, I listened to her but did nothing to seek the honor. Libby persisted in her prodding of me and also of the selection committee attached to the school. Eventually I did as she asked and sent in a brief written summary statement of my life and career to the selection committee. Many months latter I received the notice from Brian Martin, representing the selection committee, to the effect I had been chosen to receive the honor this year, 2010.
As I said, the events had a powerful impact on my emotions and my thoughts about Lowell and the high school. It was full of happy surprises. I was not prepared for yet another surprise when yesterday, December 27th, I discovered that videos of the entire event were on the Lowell High School web site. During the event itself, I said that I was greatly impressed with the quality of the four other awardees. When I watched the videos, I was impressed all over again. What an extraordinary group of people and what an honor it has been for me to be associated with them and with the school!
The videos can be seen here. My talk occurs in Part 5. If my readers and viewers have the time, it is worth viewing the entire event.
December 28, 2010
[COMMENTS]
MODERN DAY JURY NULLIFICATION
Echoes of the past have been regularly appearing in recent debate over drug policy. The same kind of economic arguments that went so far towards repealing alcohol proscription in the early 1930s were widely employed during the effort in California to legalize marijuana in this last election. Now another major contributing factor to the end of Prohibition, jury nullification, is being seen with regards to marijuana prohibition. In Montana the Missoula District Court was unable sit a jury in a trial involving a miniscule amount of pot because too many people in the pool said they would refuse to convict. This happened despite the fact that the defendant had a very unsavory reputation and past criminal record. In effect, the potential jurors put the law on trial instead of the accused.
Also, significant is the headline for this story, Jury Pool Rebels Against State's Wasteful Marijuana Prosecution, used by the Vision to America e-mail newsletter whose readers tend to be religious conservatives. Just as with Pat Robertson’s remarks (see item directly below) here we see another crack in the up until now solid support for marijuana prohibition among the Christian right.
December 26, 2010
[COMMENTS]
A SMALL SIGN OF PROGRESS
In the field of reforming drug policy it often seems that little progress is being made. With the election of Barak Obama came an expectation of change but with the performance of Obama as President those hopes were pretty much dashed as it has become increasingly clear with regards to drug prohibition it is business as usual. Also, the drug related killing in Mexico continues unabated and the voters in California just turned down the commonsense step forward of legalizing marijuana.
Now, however, a sign appears that things could improve. Broadcaster and religious right icon Pat Robertson told his 700 Club viewers that “harsh penalties for marijuana possession are costly for the nation and damaging to young people.” Reaching people like him is half the battle.
December 24, 2010
[COMMENTS]
UN SPENDING MONEY CELEBRATING ANTI-SEMITISM
Many people are beginning to seriously question U.S. taxpayer support for an organization, the United Nations, that celebrates the ten year anniversary of an anti-Semitic hate fest by holding another one. In 2001 the UN sponsored the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance held in Durban, South Africa. It turned out to be an occasion for some intense bashing of Israel, including the absurd claim that Zionism equal racism. Now the UN wants to celebrate the Durban event by holding another such spectacle in New York City financed in part with American taxes, despite our current economic distress. In her article concerning this sad state of affairs Anne Bayefsky informs us that the UN is violating its own rules designed to insure fiscal responsibility in order to fund this event, which will in all likelihood promote more anti-Semitic propaganda.
December 18, 2010
[COMMENTS]
A MORE OPEN ANTI-SEMITISM
There is no question that we are living in period of history where anti-Semitism is on the rise. This is demonstrated by more open expression of such feelings. In order to illustrate this point the Simon Wiesenthal Center has posted a list containing the top ten public anti-Semitic remarks of 2010.
December 17, 2010
[COMMENTS]
CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION MAKES REPORT PUBLIC
When the Justice Department inexplicably dropped an uncontested voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party it caught the attention of the U.S Commission on Civil Rights. Despite a distinct lack of cooperation and even obstruction from the Justice Department the Commission held hearings and completed its investigative report in November. The Washington Times is reporting that the information has been made public today. The Commission asserts that when incidents involved white people being victimized by minorities it found that the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department showed “numerous specific examples of open hostility and opposition” to pursuing such cases.
December 7, 2010
[COMMENTS]
LIBERAL PROTESTANT ATTACK ON ISRAEL
The issues revolving around Israeli survival often take their toll on Jewish Christian relations. In 2007 The World Council of Churches an organization representing580 million mainly liberal Protestants produced Amman Call which denies the right of Israel to be a Jewish state by insisting on the right of return to millions of Palestinians who left in 1948 and their descendants. Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper have written an op/ed piece and they inform us that the “Simon Wiesenthal Center will soon meet with the president of the World Council of Churches to urge an end to its campaign against Israel and the Jewish people. Like anti-Israel diplomatic and academic campaigns, such religious calls and writings won't improve the life of a single Palestinian. But they will certainly embolden terrorists and anti-Semites, and cast carefully nurtured interfaith relations into darkness and disarray.”
December 3, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WIKILEAKS PROVIDES SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION
When Israel claimed that the Red Crescent was smuggling arms to radical Islamists waging war against the Jews very few in the Western media believed them. Now thanks to Wikileaks we now know they were telling the truth. More importantly, we also learn that the Arab leadership is much less concerned about issues such the Israeli settlements than the Obama Administration. A wide ranging and excellent discussion of the implications of these revealed diplomatic documents has been provided by Melanie Philips. In it she quotes Spangler arguing that what “comes through most strongly from the Wikileaks documents, however, is that U.S. Middle East policy is premised on a web of self-justifying fictions that are flatly contradicted by the assessments of American diplomats and allies in the region.”
December 2, 2010
[COMMENTS]
UN SAYS TERRORISM IS A HUMAN RIGHT
The United Nations is the most anti-Israeli organization on the face of the earth. Here is video evidence that at the UN terrorism directed at Israel is considered a human right. Not surprisingly the U.S. delegation did not object to this.
November 21, 2010
[COMMENTS]
A UNIQUE COMMENT ON ISRAEL BY A LAW STUDENT IN THE UK
A debate took place at Cambridge University last month on the proposition, Israel a rogue state. The motion failed by a substantial margin and this speech in favor of it probably had a lot to do with that outcome.
November 18, 2010
[COMMENTS]
CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER ISRAEL’S TRUE FRIEND
On the campaign trail Barak Obama will claim friendship with and support for Israel, especially when Jewish voters are listening. However, it is becoming increasingly obvious that our President’s actions do not match his words, when he follows policies designed to make the Israelis more vulnerable. . In contrast, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has proven himself to be a true friend of Israel. Addressing a conference on the problem of worldwide anti-Semitism, he asserted that Israel “the only country in the world under attack, is consistently and conspicuously singled out for condemnation, I believe we are morally obligated to take a stand.”
November 18, 2010
[COMMENTS]
AN ARAB WHO WOULD RATHER BE A SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS IN ISRAEL THAN A FIRST-CLASS CITIZEN IN ANY ARAB COUNTRY
When it comes to the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians one point of view not heard often enough is that of the Israeli Arab. In an exception to that rule Israeli Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh gave a wide ranging speech in Jerusalem addressing such issues as the charge Israel is an apartheid state, the right of return, Islamic extremism, and the way forward to a lasting peace. In a must read article on the talk Israpundit quotes Toameh on the Apartheid assertion as saying that, “Israel is not an apartheid state. But there are problems and some discrimination with the Arab minority inside Israel. If Israel were an apartheid state, I, for example, would not be allowed to work for a Jewish newspaper or live in a Jewish neighborhood or own a home. The real apartheid is in Lebanon, where there is a law that bans Palestinians from working in over 50 professions. Can you imagine if the Knesset passed a law banning Arabs from working even in one profession? The real apartheid is also in many Arab and Muslim nations, like Kuwait, where my Palestinian uncle, who has been living there for 35 years is banned from buying a house. The law of Israel does not distinguish between a Jew and an Arab.” He also stated that “I’m not pro-Israel, I’m not pro-Palestinian and I’m not pro-American. But as a journalist, I’m pro the facts and pro the truth.”
November 15, 2010
[COMMENTS]
A JEWISH COMMUNITY UNDER SIEGE
The seventy thousand Jews living South Africa reside in a country which is very hostile towards Israel. The media there displays intense bias against Israel and there is a growing movement to boycott Israeli products. This attitude starts with the ANC government and in her description of the situation Caroline Glick explains that “ignoring the Jewish community's deep involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle, the ANC berates it for Israel's economic and military ties to the apartheid regime. The fact that the Arabs - and particularly Saudi Arabia - had much stronger and longer economic and military ties to the apartheid regime than Israel is never mentioned.” She concludes that it is “clear that Jewish life in South Africa will only get worse. The ANC is unlikely to improve its general governance or its policies toward Israel.”
November 11, 2010
[COMMENTS]
FEDERAL JUDGE PROTECTS SHARIAH LAW
In order for a legal system to be effective and just it must treat each individual, no matter what gender, race, ethnicity, or religion they belong to, the same. However, some Muslims believe that they should be subject to a different legal system from the one put in place by our legislators, Shariah religious law. In last week’s election the voters in Oklahoma took up this issue and seventy percent of them felt that there should be one set of laws for everyone. They passed a measure prohibiting their state courts from considering Shariah law when making decisions.
Now, in response to a law suit by Islamic activist Muneer Awad federal Judge Vicki Miles-LeGrange ignored the Constitutional intent to separate church from state and blocked the law from going into effect. Awad executive director of Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Oklahoma ironically praised the very legal system he is trying to destroy saying that "today's ruling is a reminder of the strength of our nation's legal system and the protections it grants to religious minorities." The CAIR official claimed the new law violated his constitutional rights but I do not recall any section in the Constitution giving people the right to follow their own set of laws.
November 11, 2010
[COMMENTS]
OBAMA AND HIS ADMINISTRATION SIMPLY DO NOT GET IT – AT HOME AND NOW ABROAD
Bizarre behavior at the UN by the Obama folks. They sent three top State Department officials to Geneva’s U.N. Human Rights Council so that the likes of North Korea, Cuba, and Iran could pass judgment on our Human Rights record. Anne Bayefsky informs us that “Cuba said the U.S. blockade of Cuba was a ‘crime of genocide,’ Iran ‘condemned and expressed its deep concern over the situation of human rights’ in the United States, and North Korea said it was ‘concerned by systematic widespread violations committed by the United States at home and abroad.’”
November 5, 2010
[COMMENTS]
OUR VERY EXTRAVAGANT PRESIDENT
Our country is trillions of dollars in debt with ten percent of its people unemployed yet now is the time President Obama chooses to take the largest trip ever by an American chief executive. The MailOnline is reporting that Obama will take 40 airplanes and six armored cars with him. Adding to the expense will be his wife and two children, which brings up the question; if this trip is so hazardous as to require all of that security hardware why is he putting his family in danger?
Update: The Economic Times tells us that only thirteen planes went to India with Obama.
November 3, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY?
It appears the Obama administration is going to face some very tough times in the near future. A fascinating but cryptic interview in two parts (part one here and part two here) with the anonymous well placed Democrat White House Insider strongly suggests that Obama may be in serious trouble. First there is the Insider’s statement that, “if Barack Obama is the Democratic Party nominee, I will not participate in any way in his election. It will be the first time in some 20 years that I will have removed myself totally from the process of helping elect the Democratic Party candidate for President. (Leans toward me) I do not know if the country can survive another four years of Barack Obama, and frankly, I want nothing to do with helping us find out. The man is an incompetent. The man is a tool of the extreme far left that has utterly corrupted the Democratic Party. The man and those now closest to him in the administration appear to abhor America’s history. They detest anyone who does not fully subscribe to their positions. They are corrupt, they are increasingly paranoid, and they are taking this country down a path by which we may never recover.”
In addition, this source believes a challenge to Obama for the Oval Office by Hilary Clinton in 2012 is becoming more likely. Lastly, the White House Insider hints that a damaging scandal coming out of Chicago will plague the present administration.
November 3, 2010
[COMMENTS]
A REMARKABLE WEDDING GOWN
Even in the most trying and distressing circumstances, such as the aftermath of the Holocaust, the human spirit displays a surprising capacity to create occasions and even objects of joy. Here is an inspiring story of one such instance, which resulted in a wedding gown of historic significance,
October 31, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF A PEACE AGREEMENT WITH THE PALESTINIANS
I hate to be pessimistic but does anyone with at least half a brain see any hope when you read the story of the Oslo Accords. The Arabs still have the provision to eliminate Israel in their basic charters, despite promises to delete them, how sad and how hopeless. I cannot imagine how the Israelis keep up any hope in the face of this intransigence – and in face of the support the Palestinians get around the world, especially in liberal precincts, for their continued fight for the destruction of Israel.
October 22, 2010
[COMMENTS]
A CASE THAT INVOLVES OUR FUNDAMENTAL VALUES
The case against The New Black Panther Party for voter intimidations dismissed by the Obama administration will likely go down as the most controversial one in history. The dispute is over whether or not our government is going to enforce its laws without regard to the race of a particular individual, the fundamental goal of the Civil Rights movement in the past. Many, including career lawyers in the Justice department, believe that with this case the Obama Administration has betrayed that basic value. Today The Washington Post has published a through review of the events surrounding this incident. The article asserts that “the case tapped into deep divisions within the Justice Department that persist today over whether the agency should focus on protecting historically oppressed minorities or enforce laws without regard to race.
October 22, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE WAR AGAINST THE JEWS, OBAMA SEEMS TO BE CHOOSING THE WRONG SIDE
For the last two years evidence has been accumulating that a basic antagonism between the state of Israel and the Obama Administration exists. This is very disturbing development in the context of growing worldwide anti-Semitism and the unprecedented influence that radical Islam is exerting in Europe. In article for The Jerusalem Post, originally delivered as a speech to the ADL, titled "The war against the Jews" Rupert Murdoch asserts that this war which began with the tactic of terrorism has now entered a new phase seeking the isolation of Israel as its main objective. He writes that “there are two things that worry me most. First is the disturbing new home that anti-Semitism has found in polite society – especially in Europe. Second is how violence and extremism are encouraged when the world sees Israel’s greatest ally distancing itself from the Jewish state.”
Clearly Obama’s decision to support the tactic of isolation hurts the interests of Israel as well as those of the United States. However, he is also doing damage to his own political party, the Democrats. The Jerusalem paper is also running a story discussing some recent poll results in the United States. They show that among Jewish voters, a lynchpin of the Democratic coalition, support for Israel remains exceedingly strong while support for the Obama Presidency and by extension the Democratic Party is swiftly eroding.
October 22, 2010
[COMMENTS]
OBAMA TRYING TO DECEIVE JEWISH VOTERS
With the midterm elections coming up shortly and his control of Congress at stake President Obama is desperate to hang on to as many Jewish voters possible. His administrations actions at the UN will make this task more difficult so Obama has decided to conceal what is going on there. In a very informative piece posted on The Weekly Standard website Anne Bayefsky reveals that the “State Department is distributing for American consumption speeches that it claims were delivered in Israel’s defense at the recent session of the U.N. Human Rights Council. But the remarks American diplomats actually delivered to the U.N. audience, which President Obama so desperately seeks to impress, were strikingly different.”
October 22, 2010
[COMMENTS]
IF YOU CARE ABOUT ISRAEL, VOTE REPUBLICAN!
It is disturbing to me personally to write that headline but it is based upon solid fact. The traditional party of liberals and American Jews, has turned its back on Israel. Often the Democrats seem to prefer Hamas to Israel. Remember that Hamas stands in opposition to every value I thought that the left wing and Democrats held dear. Yet the awful facts tell us that time and time again the Democrats including their leaders in Congress and in the White House now treat Hamas and the Israeli government as if they were equals. How terribly sad but for the first time my plan is to go into the voting both and vote for no Democrat – which will hurt—and vote only for Republicans or for candidates of a third party. Now I consider myself an Independent and a recovering Democrat. Again, how sad. When will the liberals read their own history and come to their senses. Read Daniel Pipes’ essay to get more perspective on this dramatic reversal in traditional alliances.
October 19, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WILDERS LIKELY TO BE EXONERATED
The trial of Dutch politician Geert Wilders for criticizing Islam will probably be a disappointment for radical Muslims. Daniel Pipes makes it clear to us that this is because the person assigned to prosecute the case thinks it should be dismissed. Prosecutor Birgit van Roessel asserts that “criticism [of religion] is allowed. Wilders makes his utterances as a politician. We believe the fact that he made his statements within the context of public debate removes any punishable element.” She added that “the wounding of … religious feelings” has no recognition in law.
October 18, 2010
[COMMENTS]
A VERY IMPORTANT TRIAL
The effort to impose Islamic law on the West could take a significant step forward with a conviction of Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders for the offense of insulting Islam. In her recent column Diana West explains why. She asserts that it is “one thing if Islamic street thugs mount assassination attempts in Western nations against violators of Islamic law (i.e., elderly Danish cartoonists), or Muslim ambassadors to Western nations lobby them to punish such violations (the free press), or OIC representatives introduce similar Sharia resolutions at the United Nations. It would be something else again if a Western government were itself to convict a democratically elected leader for violating the Sharia ban on criticizing Islam. That's not war anymore; that's conquest.”
October 16, 2010
[COMMENTS]
AFGHANISTAN NOW AN UNJUST WAR?
A substantial amount of people have come to believe that the United States should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan and their numbers seem to be growing. Now, Amitai Etzioni, professor of International Relations at George Washington University and former Israeli commando has added his convincing voice to those who think leaving is the best course. He argues that “I abhor war and believe we should fight only when there is a clear and present danger, when all other means for resolving a conflict have been truly exhausted and to protect the innocent. Those are the three criteria of a just war. The war in Afghanistan used to meet these criteria. It no longer does.”
October 13, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ALAN DERSHOWITZ AND MELANIE PHILIPS DEBATE
The question before a conference put on by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) held at Boston University was how to best defend Israel in the United States. The Jerusalem Post is reporting that Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz suggested the best way to deal with campus opponents of Israel is to “grab on to the very rhetoric of human rights and try to turn it not only against them but also in the direction of truth.”
The event included a very interesting and heated exchange between Dershowitz and powerful critic of radical Islam Melanie Philips. She asserted that the strident anti-Israeli expressions coming from the Universities were part of “a much wider repudiation of reason, particularly among people on the Left who consider themselves to be progressive.” Dershowitz took issue with this contending that “you’re turning Israel into an extreme, rightwing- driven agenda issue, and that’s not Israel.” Philips countered by arguing that “the suggestion that I can’t possibly influence young Jewish people to have a more sympathetic, helpful attitude towards Israel because they will be so upset by all these terrible right-wing things that I’m saying presupposes that no young person could possibly agree with me. I have to tell Professor Dershowitz, I’m sure he’ll be horrified to learn this, that a very large number of people do.”
October 13, 2010
[COMMENTS]
OBAMA JUSTICE DEPARTMENT KEEPS CONTROVERSY GOING
The scandal concerning the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case is being pro-longed by the Obama Administration’s Justice Department. A strongly worded editorial in The Washington Times asserts that the controversy could be ended by simply allowing certain Justice Department employees to testify under oath. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has sent two letters to Attorney General Holder asking for more cooperation. They are trying to obtain information pertaining to allegations charging a "broad culture of hostility to race-neutral enforcement of the civil rights laws; a pattern of harassment and intimidation against those who work on suits in which the defendants are racial minorities; and instructions from a political appointee that basic voting rights laws will not be enforced against racial minorities during this administration."
October 12, 2010
[COMMENTS]
AMERICAN PUBLIC IS PRO-ISRAEL
Much is made of the Israeli lobby, with sinister motives assigned to it, as an explanation for our government’s support of that state. However, it seems that it is not a shadowy foreign group that is driving policy but rather the American people themselves. In an article forThe Weekly Standard William Kristol uses some new poll results to argue that it is so. He informs us that “the American public is pro-Israel by more than two to one. It’s also that being anti-Israel is an actual disqualifier for a majority of American voters.”
October 12, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE DRUG WARRIOR FROM NPR
On the October 5th episode of the Colbert Report the comedian did a story on the drug war in Mexico. The piece highlighted the fact that Mexican journalists are being intimidated by the drug cartels and featured a discussion with National Public Radio correspondent John Burnett. Judging from what Burnett had to say maybe it would be a positive development if journalists stayed out of decisions about drug policy.
First Burnett made the argument that consumers of Mexican drugs were responsible for the violence instead of putting the blame where it certainly belongs on those who support drug prohibition. Unlike Mexican cocaine there is no economic violence associated with Mexican tequila, the difference being that one is illegal and the other is not. The users are not the ones who created the black market with its attendant mayhem.
It is the people who support the current policy, like Burnett, who have the blood on their hands because the bottom line is that if drugs were legal tens of thousand of people recently killed in Mexico would be alive today. Drug prohibition does not actually keep people from using drugs; in fact there is considerable evidence to suggest that it encourages greater consumption, therefore in reality the laws are merely a symbolic statement. Anyone who says drugs should remain illegal is in effect saying that my symbolic declaration of disapproval is more important than the lives of those people killed by the policy.
The NPR hack also says repealing alcohol prohibition in 1933 did not end organized crime. However he neglects to mention the ending the ban on spirits dramatically lowered the amount of violence associated with their use and criminals were able to shift their activities to narcotics only because those substances remained illegal. Burnett’s contention seems to be that the measure legalizing marijuana in California will make things much better but it will not make things perfect therefore it should not be passed.
Lastly, even though there is absolutely no evidence that using marijuana impairs cognitive ability Burnett still repeats that slander. Unfortunately in the coming weeks before Californians vote on whether or not to legalize Marijuana we can look forward to many more examples of shoddy journalism, ignorant prejudice and spurious claims. As Jacob Sullum points out some very intellectually bankrupt arguments to oppose the measure are already beginning to appear. These include among others the ludicrous idea that it will not produce any revenue, the false contention that it will change the present laws against impaired driving, and the absurd notion that employees will have the right to use marijuana on the job. Sullum concludes by reminding us that, “if the nightmare scenarios described by Proposition 19's opponents come to pass, the rest of the country will learn from California's example. And if they don't, that also will be instructive, which is why federal drug warriors are so determined to defeat the initiative.”
By Arnold Trebach and Keith Halderman
October 7, 2010
[COMMENTS]
CONFERENCE CALL WITH AYAAN HIRSI ALI
One of the most provocative and thoughtful critics of radical Islam is Ayann Hirsi Ali. In fact her arguments have so enraged them that she lives under a threat of Death. On Tuesday October 5th 11:00AM Eastern timeThe Israel Projectwill be hosting a conference call with her. You can RSVP here. In her latest article Ali argues that it is time to protect free speech from the violent threats of Muslim extremists.
October 4, 2010
[COMMENTS]
OUR LAST CITIZEN PRESIDENT
Part of the historical judgment concerning our presidents involves how they behave after their term of office ends. Using this perspective Harry Truman does very well. A new book by Matthew Algeo deals with Truman’s extraordinary 2500 mile road trip across America after he left the White House.
October 4, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE SCIENTIFIC ISRAELIS AND MEDICAL CANNABIS
The number of places pursuing more enlightened policies concerning medical marijuana is steadily increasing and now includes Israel. It has always been a leader when it comes to cannabis research and The Jerusalem Post reminds us that, ”medical cannabis guru Prof. Raphael Mechoulam of Hebrew University in Jerusalem famously pioneered research in 1964 to isolate tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active ingredient in cannabis, which he was able to synthesize. In 1993, he and his research team discovered another compound called anandamide, which occurs naturally in the brain and acts in a similar way to THC. Recent research has found this to link to neonatal appetite stimulation in the womb. Now Mechoulam uses cannabis provided by the police to create different chemical compounds that may be useful in treatment.” Can they make this approach work? I would bet on them.
October 3, 2010
[COMMENTS]
MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZED IN CALIFORNIA
More than a few politicians, including the present governor of California, are beginning to realize that the persecution of cannabis users is a luxury we can no longer afford. Therefore, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed a law today which decriminalizes marijuana possession in his state. Although he is against decriminalization for personal use, Schwarzenegger still approved the bill saying that, "I am signing this measure because possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is an infraction in everything but name. The only difference is that because it is a misdemeanor, a criminal defendant is entitled to a jury trial and a defense attorney. In this time of drastic budget cuts, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement, and the courts cannot afford to expend limited resources prosecuting a crime that carries the same punishment as a traffic ticket."
October 1, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE IDF BAND IN RED SQUARE?
I have been in Red Square and saw a lot of things there but never thought I
would see a video of the IDF band there. But here they are.
September 14, 2010
[COMMENTS]
IS OBAMA’S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT RACIALLY BIASED?
Ever since the Justice Department decided to drop its voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party many people have argued that the answer to the above question is yes. Now the inspector general of the department, Glenn A. Fine, will investigate the charge of a pattern of systematic racial preference there. A Washington Times editorial concludes that “Mr. Fine’s investigation and an upcoming report from the Civil Rights Commission amount to a one-two punch against racial preferences at Justice. Between the two efforts, the American public can muster hope for a forced return to equal justice under the law.”
September 14, 2010
[COMMENTS]
SHAMELESS MEDIA BIAS
Ten years ago Tuvia Grossman a Jewish student from America was beaten to within an inch of his life by a Palestinian mob until he was rescued by an Israeli soldier. A picture of his bloody face appeared all over the world as an example of Israeli police brutality towards Palestinians. In one of its first acts HonestReporting exposed this shameless example of the media’s anti-Israeli bias.
September 14, 2010
[COMMENTS]
HERE IS HOW TO DRIVE YOUR LIBERAL FRIENDS CRAZY
Glick says good words about Glenn Beck and about Israel and about Jews -- all in one emotional essay.
September 8, 2010
[COMMENTS]
FRANCE ADAPTING TO ISLAM
Muslims are now blocking off sections of Paris in order to hold large outdoor worship services. They do not have permission from the government and residents may not go into the area or leave their homes while the police do nothing. Dale Hurd discusse the situation at CBN News quoting Jean-Francois Cope, president of the Union for a Popular Movement political party, saying that “this question is not only a French question. You will all have to face this challenge."
September 6, 2010
[COMMENTS]
DEFENDING ISRAEL IS THE SAME AS DEFENDING THE WEST
Jose Maria Aznar, former Prime Minister of Spain, has become one of the strongest and most eloquent defenders of Israel. In his address to the World Jewish Congress, held in Jerusalem, Aznar makes the important point that when we defend Israel we are also defending ourselves. He argues that “major parts of the West are suffering a kind of crisis of identity. Europe is a good example. With a declining population, increasing numbers of Muslim immigrants, many of them exposed to radical ideas, multiculturalism has imposed itself as the politically correct way to deal with the challenges of different cultures living together even if some of them do not want to be integrated or do not respect the other. The problem becomes all the more acute when Judeo-Christian values are aggressively challenged every day and the 68-generation that dominates our current leadership does nothing to defend them. Peacenik Europe has been fighting the West for too long, and because of that has been so hypercritical of Israel”
September 3, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WESTERN MEDIA BIAS CONTINUES
The well known Western media bias against Israel continues unabated. The latest evidence of this comes with its coverage of the recent heinous slaughter of innocent Jewish civilians by Islamic terrorists. Special attention should be paid to The New York Times story which essentially blames the West Bank settlers for their own murder.
September 3, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ISLAMIC ANTI-SEMITISM ON DISPLAY
After five Jewish settlers were killed on the West Bank thousands of Palestinians celebrated the fact in Gaza. Meanwhile the nation of Israel mourned. A powerful pictorial essay posted on the Blog Atlas Shrugs shows the results of Islamic anti-Semitism.
September 3, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE RIGHT OF REDRESS FOR JEWISH REFUGEES
Many a tear has been shed for the Palestinian refugees but little attention is paid to the 900,000 Jewish people forcibly expelled from Arab countries because of the creation of Israel in 1948. Israeli Foreign Minster Danny Avalon’s family had to leave Algeria where a Jewish community had existed even before the advent of Islam. In an informative essay he points out some important differences in the history of both groups. Among them is the vital fact the all of the Jews left involuntarily while many of the Palestinians participated in the futile war against the fledgling state of Israel. Also the Jews tended to be more urban and professional as opposed to the more rural and less wealthy Palestinians therefore “financial economists have estimated that, in today’s figures, the total amount of assets lost by the Jewish refugees from Arab lands, including communal property such as schools, synagogues and hospitals, is almost twice that of the assets lost by the Palestinian refugees. Furthermore, one must remember that Israel returned over 90 percent of blocked bank accounts, safe deposit boxes and other items belonging to Palestinian refugees during the 1950s.” Any settlement of the refugee question must take into account the Jews that were forced to leave their homes.
September 3, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ANOTHER ATTACK ON FREE SPEECH BY BARAK OBAMA
One of the practices that made past presidential administrations infamous was the use of the IRS to attack political enemies. Apparently this loathsome tactic continues unabated with Barack Obama. The pro-Israel non-profit corporation Z-STREET filed for tax exempt status and “was told by an IRS official that its application for tax-exempt status has been delayed because an IRS policy requires consideration of whether a group’s views on Israel differ from those of the current Administration.”
August 27, 2010
[COMMENTS]
EXPLANATION FOR POLL RESULTS
A recent poll revealed the utterly irrational result that 24 percent of Americans believe that President Barack Obama is a Muslim. In a piece for The Washington Times Jeffrey T. Kuhner provides a possible explanation for this outcome by arguing that Obama “is the most Muslim-friendly president in the nation's history. He wants the detention center at Guantanamo Bay closed. He demands that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, be tried in civilian court - with the full legal and constitutional protections given to U.S. citizens - several blocks from the World Trade Center site. He has ordered that the words ‘Muslim extremist,’ ‘Islamic terrorist’ and ‘jihad’ be cleansed from national security documents. He is openly anti-Israel. And he is prematurely withdrawing combat troops from Iraq, threatening to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.”
August 22, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WORDS OF WISDOM FROM GEORGE WILL
It is impossible to understand the conflict in the Middle East without knowing the history which attends it. In one of his latest essays George Will takes this fact into consideration. He concludes by saying that “in the 62 years since this homeland was founded on one-sixth of 1 percent of the land of what is carelessly and inaccurately called ‘the Arab world,’ Israelis have never known an hour of real peace. Patronizing American lectures on the reality of risks and the desirableness of peace, which once were merely fatuous, are now obscene.”
August 19, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WHEN TYRRELL SEEMS CORRECT...
Then you know that Mr. Obama and the Democrats and the professional elites are in serious trouble. Does this actually redeem Jimmy Carter?
August 19, 2010
[COMMENTS]
POLITICAL CHANGE THROUGH MUSIC
Throughout history music has often served as a catalyst for social and political change. A modern day example of this in the Muslim world is the opposition to the Algerian government of dissident and Kabyle musician Ferhat Mehenni. In a profile of Mehenni for The Middle East Quarterly Denis MacEoin points out that the protester believes in the legitimacy of Israel and quotes Mehenni as saying that “the idea is to democratize all Middle Eastern states in order to eradicate the sources of terrorism and preempt a future ‘clash of civilizations.’ Given time, this should lead to much greater respect between people, on the basis of democracy and liberty. It may be naïve of me to say so, but the Americans can, at least, be thanked for laying out their goal forthrightly, so surely it's worth our giving it a shot.”
August 19, 2010
[COMMENTS]
BENEFITS OF LEGALIZING DRUGS
There is no question that legalizing drugs would change societal conditions for the better in a number of ways. It would reduce crime, improve health, and free up increasingly scarce resources for more productive use. This approach would have minimal negative consequences. Now, yet another authoritative voice has been added to those making the above argument. The Daily Mail is reporting that “Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, the outgoing president of the Royal College of Physicians, suggested that relaxing the law on possessing substances such as heroin, cocaine and cannabis would not increase the number of addicts.”
August 17, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE NECESSITY OF ISRAEL
The story of the Jewish people is one of astounding achievement in many fields, yet they still play the roll of the world’s scapegoats. In his address to the British House of Commons historian Andrew Roberts points out that the state of Israel is necessary for the protection of these people. He also discusses who the true enemies of the Palestinians are. Roberts argues that “it suits Arab states very well to have the Palestinians endure permanent refugee status; whenever Israel puts forward workable solutions they are stymied by those whose interests put the destruction of Israel before the genuine well-being of the Palestinians. Both King Abdullah I of Jordan and Anwar Sadat of Egypt were assassinated when they attempted to come to some kind of accommodation with a country that most sane people now accept is not going away.”
August 5, 2010
[COMMENTS]
SERIOUS FLAW IN CANADIAN AIRPORT SECURITY
Any ordinary American who has traveled by air in the last decade knows that the idea of being able to board a plane without revealing your identity is ridiculous. However, as Daniel Pipes tells us if you are a Muslim women, or maybe not, traveling in Canada showing who you actually are is not necessary.
August 4, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE BIZARRE NATURE OF THE US-ISRAEL RELATIONSHIP
And the seeming futility of any hopes for real peace. How discouraging!
August 3, 2010
[COMMENTS]
APOLOGISTS FOR GROUND ZERO MOSQUE
The proposal to build a giant mosque near ground zero in New York City is becoming more and more controversial with each passing day. Apologists for this offensive project claim, with no evidence to back them up, that opposition to the mosque is engendering a wave of anti-Muslim feelings and actions. Stephen Schwartz, executive director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism takes issue with this notion and states three reasons to be against this building. They include insensitivity towards non-Muslims, lack of regard for the safety of American Muslims, and the questionable background as well as associates of the scheme’s originators.
August 3, 2010
[COMMENTS]
PRESIDENT OBAMA HARMS ISRAEL YET AGAIN
And in the process harms not only Israeli interests but also those of the United States and of the entire democratic world.
August 2, 2010
[COMMENTS]
HARSH REALITIES ABOUT THE PALESTINIAN CONDITION
The Al Arabiya television network conducted a poll and found that 71% of the Arab respondents had no Interest in the Arab-Israeli peace talks. In an excellent article for The New York Times Efraim Karsh, editor of the Middle East Quarterly, explains this result pointing out that “the Arab states have never hesitated to sacrifice Palestinians on a grand scale whenever it suited their needs” and that “the sooner the Palestinians recognize that their cause is theirs alone, the sooner they are likely to make peace with the existence of the State of Israel and to understand the need for a negotiated settlement.”
August 2, 2010
[COMMENTS]
LEGAL MARIJUANA MEANS NEW OPPORTNITIES
There is no question that legalizing marijuana will free up increasingly scarce governmental resources for more productive, less destructive pursuits. However, an often overlooked aspect of such a policy change is the creation of opportunities that do not now exist under the present legal regime. Here is a video demonstrating that officially authorized cannabis does create jobs. It also counters the pernicious myth that marijuana is a drug which makes one incapable of being a valuable employee.
July 31, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WILL AN ANTI-ISRAELI VIEWPOINT BE PUT IN THE FRONT ROW?
Helen Thomas was a bigot and in my view so is NPR. Only left wing stuff. It makes sense then – the bigot’s nut case seat goes to a natural successor.
July 30, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE TRAGEDY OF BRITISH SURRENDER TO ISLAMISTS CONTINUES
And also the tragedy of western anti-Semitism and the vicious attacks on Israel are continued by the new British prime minister.
July 29, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE DESTRUCTIVE INFLUENCE OF SHARIA CREEP
There is far more danger to our way of life in the growing acceptance of the idea that Sharia law trumps American law than in a thousand Islamic car bombs. Andy McCarthy provides two examples of where this problem is leading us. Apparently, in New Jersey it is alright to rape a woman if the rapist believes he has the right to under Sharia law, while in Michigan Christian missionaries can be arrested even though they are not breaking any local ordinances, while pursuing their constitutionally protected free speech rights, simply because they are violating a Muslim edict.
July 27, 2010
[COMMENTS]
SOME SELDOM HEARD THOUGHTS ON RACE
Senator James Webb (D) Virginia is turning out to be one of the most thoughtful and courageous politicians presently on the America scene. Earlier, he made headlines by calling for a critical review of the criminal justice system and the policy of drug prohibition. Now, he is in the news again for writing a Wall Street Journal article titled ”Diversity and the Myth of White Privilege”. In today’s climate of hyper racial sensitivity few office holders would have the stones to write that “forty years ago, as the United States experienced the civil rights movement, the supposed monolith of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant dominance served as the whipping post for almost every debate about power and status in America. After a full generation of such debate, WASP elites have fallen by the wayside and a plethora of government-enforced diversity policies have marginalized many white workers. The time has come to cease the false arguments and allow every American the benefit of a fair chance at the future.”
July 27, 2010
[COMMENTS]
MY WRITTEN STATEMENT TO THE COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS
As I previously stated, the entire situation regarding the New Black Panther Party makes me very sad. I have submitted a written statement to the Commission for inclusion in the record of the hearing which was held on July 6. It was accepted and as far as I know the statement will appear in that record when it is published. To read my statement, click here.
There is a section of my statement which may be confusing to some people. It deals with my work in Mississippi to help a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee to the Commission of that state. This is how I remember the matter. Reverend Thomas Johnson was a white member of that local citizens committee. He was a missionary to rural black people. During the tense times of 1962, a group of his bigoted neighbors started to harass him. This harassment included throwing garbage on his lawn. He went to a local magistrate asking for an injunction or peace bond to force his neighbors to stop their harassment. He swore under oath that they were committing the acts he alleged, which acts were rather silly but at the same time disturbing. He was then arrested for perjury in that he allegedly lied about the actions of his neighbors and was confined in the Hines County Jail.
That is where I came into the picture. At the time, I was the Chief of the Administration of Justice Section of the Commission. I happened to be in the state on other Commission business. The general counsel of the Commission, Clarence Clyde Ferguson , asked me to go to Jackson to help Reverend Johnson and I did, as explained in my statement. I confronted the local officials who were involved in getting Reverend Johnson arrested and told them it appeared to me that he was discriminated against because he was associated with the Commission and with the cause of racial equality. However, a good part of my work there involved getting witnesses to prove that he had not lied about his allegations of garbage throwing on his yard. It does seem kind of silly in retrospect but that was the core of the case. Did our Committee member commit perjury when he swore under oath that his neighbors were throwing garbage on his property?
My main point was that in the course of handling this case, I encountered many local white citizens who were very helpful to me and to Reverend Johnson’s cause. They did not deserve to be treated as the enemy and thus not deserving of fair consideration in all matters.
July 24, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE HYPOCRISY OF ISLAMIST TURKEY
Turkey, who once had a close relationship with Israel, now under Islamist control has been very bellicose in its condemnation of Israeli policy in Gaza. As usual Daniel Pipes provides some important and generally overlooked insight into those hypocritical pronouncements by comparing Israeli actions in Gaza with Turkish actions in Cyprus.
July 20, 2010
[COMMENTS]
HOW DIRE CAN THE ECONOMIC SITUATION IN GAZA BE?
The whole world knows that the economic situation and the suffering of the people in Gaza is severe. However, here is an article by Maayana Miskin showing that the whole world is wrong. The author reports that “a luxury mall in Gaza City held its grand opening over the weekend. Among the goods on sale are Israeli men's clothing, and items from Turkey, France, and the United States.”
July 20, 2010
[COMMENTS]
FINALLY, THE WASHINGTON POST WAKES UP TO A MAJOR RACIAL SCANDAL
The Obama Administration’s decision to drop the voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party is the most blatant example of racial discrimination by government in years. Yet, until last Thursday The Washington Post chose to cover up this travesty of justice. If it had been up to the editors of that seriously flawed newspaper the silence would have continued, however, the readers demanded exposure of Obama’s scandalous behavior. The paper reports that “for months, readers have contacted the ombudsman wondering why The Post hasn't been covering the case.”
July 19, 2010
[COMMENTS]
AN IDEA WHOSE TIME MAY HAVE FINALLY COME
Not since the mid-1970s has optimism about the possibility of legalizing marijuana been so strong. It is hard not to be encouraged after reading an article published by the conservative Washington Times in which the author discusses the possible dangers of a new synthetic marijuana like drug K2 saying that “I have a better idea, one that more and more people—especially the voters of California—seem to be agreeing with: legalize the real thing.” Another reason to hope for a more rational policy lies in the comments of the paper’s largely traditionalist readers.
July 14, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE SCANDAL OF THE NEW BLACK PANTHER CASE
The more I hear of this matter the sadder I get. I have followed it for
some time and went to this hearing, as you can see. I am the old guy in sunglasses sitting right behind the main and only witness, Christian Adams. I needed the sunglasses because the TV lights were shining directly at me. I believe that Mr. Adams was near tears at times. This is a national scandal -- clear racial discrimination on the part of blacks aided and
abetted by the multi-racial Department of Justice. A big question is how
much the Obama White House was directly involved. It is sad that this
occurred under the first African-American attorney general and the first
African-American president.
I have submitted a draft statement to the Commission and am considering
working on this entire matter in greater depth in part perhaps through a
book or articles.
It still shocks me that the NAACP and other so-called civil rights
organizations lobbied the Department of Justice to drop the case. What a
perversion of justice! I did not work so hard and even risk my life at times
in the real civil rights movement to find these organizations coming out for
racial discrimination on the part of blacks. I agree with Mr. Coates who
was quoted by Mr. Adams to shout -- This is bullshit! This is bullshit!
July 12, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WORDS OF WISDOM FROM 1968
In 1968 ex-longshoreman and non-Jewish social philosopher Eric Hoffer wrote an essay titled Israel’s Peculiar Position for the LA Times. The piece is as timely now as it has ever been and it is well worth revisiting.
July 7, 2010
[COMMENTS]
TYPICAL PALESTINIAN WEAPON
Only a leadership dedicated to the most underhanded type of warfare is going to come up with an idea like this one.
July 7, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THIS IS SCARY. I WAS SITTING RIGHT BEHIND ADAMS AT THE HEARING
It is truly hard to believe. We all should be deeply concerned. Read some
of the comments.
July 7, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE AWFUL TRUTH: LITTLE HOPE FOR PEACE BECAUSE THE PALESTINIANS LEADERS LIE CONSTANTLY
I report this with no glee, once again a leader of the Palestinian Authority, this time Mahmoud Abbas, is telling the West and Israelis one thing while his organization is telling Arabs a quite different story. In his article for The Jerusalem Post Daniel Pipes explains the way this con works, informing us that “Abbas and Fayyad spoke in English to Americans and Israelis, Erekat spoke in Arabic to Palestinians. Both statements cannot be true; one must be a lie. Which one, I wonder? Palestinians play this transparent and simple-minded double game because it works. Israelis, Americans and others too often accept the dulcet tones they hear directly and dismiss reports of harsh words they only learn about second-hand. The PA will blithely continue to spew its lies until the world heeds and rejects, for rewarding bad behavior invariably brings on more bad behavior.”
July 7, 2010
[COMMENTS]
MOURNING AN OLD FRIEND
Below is a letter to the editor of mine published in The Washington Post concerning my old friend from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, who recently passed away, William L. Taylor.
Kudos to Colbert I. King ["From a worthy alliance, a civil rights champion," op-ed, July 3] for recognizing the leadership of William L. Taylor in the civil rights movement and the vital role of the black-Jewish alliance in the success of that movement. Along with Mr. King, I mourn the passing of my old friend, Bill, with whom I worked at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in the '60s. I also mourn the passing of that wonderful alliance of which, like Bill, I was a proud member.
Black-Jewish relations have been poisoned by the ravings of such bigots as Louis Farrakhan. Those relations and that old alliance might be revitalized if President Obama used his unique position to openly denounce the Rev. Farrakhan and his allies, such as Mr. Obama's former preacher, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Arnold S. Trebach, Chevy Chase
July 6, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THIS MUST BE A JOKE: NASA'S MAIN FUNCTION IS TO MAKE THE MUSLIM WORLD FEEL GOOD ABOUT ITSELF
Yet, it appears that it is not a joke. You cannot make these things up
about Mr. Obama and his strange programs and beliefs. I voted for this guy!
Read the comments. By now, we must accept the sad fact that our leader is
strange and harming the safety of the country and all of us.
July 6, 2010
[COMMENTS]
TO THE UK METHODISTS: WHY NOT BOYCOTT SAUDI ARABIA?
The Methodist Church of England has joined the worldwide campaign against Israel by enacting a boycott of all goods and services coming from Gaza or the occupied West Bank. Writing for The Jerusalem Post Robin Shepherd, director of international affairs at the Henry Jackson Society in London, asserts that the “fact that an institution professing allegiance to values of love, truth and justice should have succumbed to an agenda of hatred, hypocrisy and barbarism is sadly emblematic of the degraded spirit of our times, and of the moral inversions which blow through them.”
July 5, 2010
[COMMENTS]
A BETRAYAL OF ALL WE IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT FOUGHT FOR
During the last days of the Bush Administration three members of the New Black Panther Party were charged with voter intimidation including the threat of violence. Now, Eric Holder’s Justice Department is dismissing the case and former Justice Department lawyer J. Christian Adams is asserting that the action is a case of reverse racial discrimination. Adams contends that “this is one of the examples of Congress not being told the truth, the American people not being told the truth about this case. It's one of the other examples in this case where the truth simply is becoming another victim of the process."
July 1, 2010
[COMMENTS]
BILL TAYLOR: AN OLD FRIEND, A TRULY DECENT HUMAN BEING, AND A CHAMPION OF CIVIL RIGHTS
I worked with Bill at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and at other
interesting places during the Sixties. We have kept in touch only
infrequently, which is my loss. The story of his career and passions tells us a good deal about the wonderful people who have dedicated their lives to racial justice and equality for everyone. He passed away a few days ago due to complications from a fall.
July 1, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WILL WONDERS NEVER CEASE: SOME GOOD NEWS ON ARAB-ISRAELI RELATIONS
Any Arab actor, journalist or other intellectual who works with a Jew or even acknowledges the fact that such an association can produce works of value faces the very strong possibility of punishment. Nevertheless, as documented by The Israel Project such cooperation is taking place and this represents a real hope that things could change for the better.
June 30, 2010
[COMMENTS]
HOW ISLAMISTS PROMOTE THEIR AGENDA IN THE WEST
Radical Islamists are using a three pronged plan to advance their agenda in the West; provoking confrontation with authorities, intimidating the non-Muslim general public, and harrying their co-religionists not deemed radical enough. In a piece for IslamistWatch David J. Rusin explains how this strategy played out in Europe during the month of June.
June 30, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ISLAMIC FANATICISM IS THE ENEMY
Ever since his election Barak Obama’s administration has gone to great lengths to avoid acknowledging Islamic fanaticism as the enemy. Now, these efforts have been seriously undermined by the failed Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad. When asked by the judge in open court why he wanted to plead guilty, Shahzad, a self labeled Muslim soldier, replied that “I want to plead guilty and I’m going to plead guilty 100 times forward because – until the hour the US pulls it forces from Iraq and Afghanistan and stops the drone strikes in Somalia and Yemen and in Pakistan and stops the occupation of Muslim lands and stops killing Muslims and stops reporting the Muslims to its government – we will be attacking [the] US, and I plead guilty to that.”
June 30, 2010
[COMMENTS]
SOME FAR-OUT THOUGHTS ON A WAY FOR OBAMA TO RESCUE HIS FAILING PRESIDENCY
The Obama presidency is in great danger. The same is true of the State of Israel.
There is a tragic symmetry to these dangers. All over this country and much of the world, Mr. Obama is seen as an incompetent loser, or as Peggy Noon said he is a “snakebit president. To translate, that means he is both unlucky and unloved. In the same vein Israel is snake bit and is being subjected to an international lynch mob that includes the UN and the leaders of many Western countries, who are former allies. Prominent among those former allies is of course Turkey, whose prime minister has joined the jihadist chorus as one of its new leaders. Even worse, at times Mr. Obama appears to be sympathetic to that lynch mob.
As a result, all of modern civilization is in serious danger; that includes not just Israel but also much of Europe and of course the United States. One of the few prominent leaders to recognize the catastrophic and imminent nature of this danger is former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar who declared in the London Times recently that “if Israel goes down, we all go down.” He explained that to confront this danger he planned to promote a new international initiative that would defend Israel’s right to exist; Friends for Israel, however, would not necessarily support all of its policies.
Here we have an opening for Mr. Obama to show that he can take his own rhetoric seriously and dramatically change his approach to a major matter -- dealing with Israel and with the Arab world. That real change could have a powerfully calming effect on the winds of war now sweeping over the Middle East along with the new flotillas being launched at Gaza. To demonstrate that he is serious about that change, our president must not simply issue another bit of stirring rhetoric but he must take a series of courageous steps that will outrage much of the left in America and Europe and will bring the standard howling jihadist mobs into the streets of many nations.
For these reasons, and because he may not believe such a change is wise, I have my doubts that he will take these steps. If he does take the wimp’s way out, he will be lucky to continue at the miserly 41 percent approval rate he now enjoys.
On the other hand he has deployed a fleet of naval vessels into the Red Sea and has authorized Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chief, to openly engage in meetings with Israel’s top military leaders. He can go further and say that he agrees with the initiative of Mr. Aznar and that to demonstrate his support he would immediately take a trip to Israel. While there he would appear before the Knesset and declare in line with the words of the former Spanish prime minister: if you go down, we all go down. At the same time he would make clear that the naval fleet was meant to provide some protection to Israel. It would seek to discourage the provocative actions of so called peaceful flotillas aimed at Gaza. He would ask Israel to be more cautious in approaching the flotillas and also make good on its promises to open up the supply lines into Gaza. In addition, he would demand – demand, not politely ask – that Hamas allow the International Red Cross to visit Sgt. Gilad Schalit, who now has been a prisoner without such visits for four years.
Back home he would replace John O. Brennan as top White House anti-terrorism advisor, with John Bolton, a tough-talking conservative Republican who was our UN ambassador under George Bush. Mr. Obama would also prominently replace other members of his foreign policy team with advisors who were opposed to making nice to despots and who openly accepted that we are at war with radical Islam. This new team would stop pressuring Israel over building plans in Jerusalem and would start demanding that the Palestinians cease inciting violent attacks on Israel while talking peace. President Obama would continue to seek further sanctions against Iran and he would go beyond those imposed by the UN and other countries, including seeking measures that would cut off Iran’s access to refined gasoline.
In the current situation these suggested actions seem like impossible dreams. In the unlikely event that they ever became real, it is quite possible that they would provide some hope that the security of Israel and of the United States would be greatly improved. It is also likely that Mr. Obama’s approval ratings would drop somewhat among the left but rise dramatically among conservatives and independents. Those ratings would shoot through the roof among all groups if, as these new international measures were being implemented, some wise and lucky group of engineers stopped the oil flow in the gulf.
June 29, 2010
[COMMENTS]
MUSLIM STUDENT UNION FINALLY SUSPENDED
When Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren spoke at the University of California, Irvine in February his talk was repeatedly interrupted by members of the school’s Muslim Student Union calling him a murderer and war criminal. So far a typical story occurring at America colleges numerous times, however, this incident is different because FOXNews is reporting that the university administration is suspending the Muslim Student Union because of its member’s thuggish actions. This is a surprising development as the University of California, Irvine has been steadily building a reputation as one of the most anti-Semitic campuses in the United States. Hopefully, this is a sign that our leaders in higher education are finally realizing the insidious nature of these radical Islamic student groups.
June 24, 2010
[COMMENTS]
JON VOIGHT SPEAKS TO OBAMA
Most actors approach politics with a leftist viewpoint. An exception to that rule is Jon Voight who has written an open letter to the President. Voight begins by telling Barak Obama that he “will be the first American president that lied to the Jewish people, and the American people as well, when you said that you would defend Israel, the only Democratic state in the Middle East, against all their enemies. You have done just the opposite. You have propagandized Israel, until they look like they are everyone's enemy — and it has resonated throughout the world. You are putting Israel in harm's way, and you have promoted anti-Semitism throughout the world.”
June 24, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THAT FAMOUS ROLLINGSTONE ARTICLE
If anything, I think it demonstrates how dumb the general and his aides are.
I wonder if it is wise to fire a general on a charge of stupidity.
This article also shows how unlucky our president is. As for the exact
details of the policy, I am just not sure. Yet, there seems no doubt that
it is not working, and the runaway general led the way in formulating it.
June 22, 2010
[COMMENTS]
HERE IS YET ANOTHER REASON FOR LEAVING THE UN
And for asking why Obama should receive any support from the American people. This is the foreign policy of Reverend Wright. At the very least we should ban the UN from American soil.
June 19, 2010
[COMMENTS]
MORE GOOD SENSE FROM SPAIN
Former Prime Minister of Spain, José María Aznar, will be supporting a new initiative to help the Israeli people in their hour of need. It is called The Friends for Israel and it seeks to call attention to Israel’s right to exist. A Haaretz article makes it clear that Aznar understands that the current struggle endangers far more people than the Israelis. He is quoted saying that "Israel is our first line of defense in a turbulent region that is constantly at risk of descending into chaos, to abandon Israel to its fate, at this moment of all moments, would merely serve to illustrate how far we have sunk and how inexorable our decline now appears."
June 18, 2010
[COMMENTS]
NEW EVIDENCE OF THE VIOLENT INTENT OF THE FLOTILLA PEACEFUL PROTESTERS
These barbarians are a threat to all of the West including America, not just
Israel. Obama and most of Europe supports their actions. At the very least
all of them deny Israel the right to self defense. How sad and dangerous.
June 18, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ISRAEL IS THREATENED AS IT NEVER HAS BEEN BEFORE
That is the opening line of Glick's column and I believe it. This is not a
false alarm or an exaggerated claim. This is very serious. There could be
suicide attacks on Israeli and Jewish institutions all over the world. The
most distressing part of this danger is that the Obama Administration seems
to have joined forces with the lynch mobs around the world. It is likely
that if it changed its course the danger will be greatly lessened. The big
question is, what will it take to get Obama to offer some support and help to
Israel at this time of enormous danger?
And remember that if Israel falls, all of civilization, including the US, is
in greater danger.
June 18, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ELOQUENT DEFENSE OF ISRAEL
One of the European countries most hostile to Israel is Spain, however. Not al Spaniards share their government’s point of view. In his weekly column Ed Koch highlights the remarks of Pilar Rahola, a Spanish politician, journalist and activist who is defending Israel. She explains that "I am not Jewish. Ideologically, I am left and by profession a journalist. Why am I not as anti-Israel as my colleagues? Because as a non-Jew, I have the historical responsibility to fight against Jewish hatred and currently against the hatred for their historic homeland, Israel. To fight against anti-Semitism is not the duty of the Jews, it is the duty of the non-Jews. As a journalist, it is my duty to search for the truth beyond prejudice, lies and manipulations. The truth about Israel is not told. As a person from the left who loves progress, I am obligated to defend liberty, culture, civic education for children, coexistence and the laws that the Tablets of the Covenant made into universal principles. Principles that Islamic fundamentalism systematically destroys. That is to say that as a non-Jew, journalist and lefty, I have a triple moral duty with Israel, because if Israel is destroyed, liberty, modernity and culture will be destroyed too. The struggle of Israel, even if the world doesn't want to accept it, is the struggle of the world."
June 15, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE GENOCIDAL INTENTIONS OF HAMAS
The primary goal of Hamas is the destruction of the Israeli state and the murder of the people living there. In his article making the case that Hamas wants a ‘final solution” Clifford May quotes Abdallah Jarbu, Hamas's deputy minister of religion, saying that Jews "want to present themselves to the world as if they have rights, but, in fact, they are foreign bacteria — a microbe unparalleled in the world." Jarbu also states that "I condemn whoever believes in normalizing relations with [Israelis], whoever supports sitting down with them, and whoever believes that they are human beings. They are not human beings. They are not people."
June 15, 2010
[COMMENTS]
HAMAS GAINING GROUND IN THE WEST
Hand in hand with an increasing hostility towards Israel comes a growing acceptance of Hamas in the West. In her analysis of the situation Caroline Glick points to some disturbing implications of Western support for Hamas. She contends that the “fact is that by backing Hamas against Israel, they are backing Hamas against Fatah and they are backing Iran, Syria, Turkey, Hamas and Hezbollah against Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. They are backing the most radical actors in the region – and arguably in the world – against states and regimes they have a shared strategic interest in strengthening. There is absolutely no way this behavior advances the cause of peace.”
June 15, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WHAT IS THE TRUTH ON OBAMA'S SUPPORT OF A UN INVESTIGATION OF ISRAEL?
Earlier The Weekly Standard reported that the Obama Administration favored a biased UN investigation of the flotilla incident. Now The Jerusalem Post informs us that the first information may not be true. They quote a senior administration official asserting that Washington supports "an Israeli-led investigation into the flotilla incident that is prompt, credible, impartial, and transparent." The spokesperson continues “we are open to different ways of ensuring the credibility of this Israeli-led investigation, including international participation, and have been in intensive talks with our Israeli partners in the past few days on how to move forward."
June 12, 2010
[COMMENTS]
AMAZING, WONDERFUL, SAD, FRIGHTENING
The possibility of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons is the cause of considerable worry. This concern extends beyond the Western countries to many of Iran’s neighbors, including Saudi Arabia. Therefore they have, despite a mutual hostility, decided to cooperate with Israel in the event it acts against Iran. The TimesOnline website is reporting that “in the week that the UN Security Council imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran, defence sources in the Gulf say that Riyadh has agreed to allow Israel to use a narrow corridor of its airspace in the north of the country to shorten the distance for a bombing run on Iran.”
June 12, 2010
[COMMENTS]
MARC EMERY IN SOLITARY: MORE DRUG WAR MADNESS
Once again Marc Emery is being punished for voicing his opinion on the marijuana laws. He has been sent to solitary confinement because his wife posted recordings of their phone calls on Cannabis Culture Magazine. The prohibitionists can not win an open debate over our inhumane, expensive, unjust, ineffective drug policy therefore the drug warrior’s only option is to silence rational discourse such as that provided by Marc Emery.
June 11, 2010
[COMMENTS]
MEMO TO DEMOCRATIC FUND RAISERS
I just received a call from someone who claimed to represent the Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee. In a polite voice I explained that I was a
lifelong Democrat, as was my father and almost all of my family, and that I
had happily voted for Mr. Obama for president. However, I have been so
disappointed in Mr. Obama and some of the nutcases he has appointed to
various offices and his policies that I am not planning for voting for any
Democrat ever again. This hurts me but I see no option. Every day that
this president stays in office along with his administration we are all in
danger at various levels and in various ways.
He has convinced the bad people in the world that bad behavior will never be
opposed by the United States, in the name of being nice. Then I got on the
internet and saw this story that the US did not trust an internal Israeli
investigation of the flotilla raid -- it was "too kosher" -- and that the
US was going to support a UN investigation. This action is yet another step
in a long chain of steps that may destroy Israel and harm the security of
the West and of this country. Israel is the front line in the war against
the jihadists who openly seek to destroy that tiny country and all decent
nations. The UN can never be trusted when it comes to Israel and this is
yet another reason why we should withdraw our support from that shameful
body immediately. It also should leave the United States. We gain nothing
by having it within our borders.
June 11, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WILDERS: ISRAEL IS THE CANARY IN THE MINE!
In the recent Dutch election Geert Wilders’ party did very well coming in third and capturing 24 seats in the 150 member parliament. In an interview for The Jerusalem Post the leader attributes such electorial success to the fact that “people are waking up. They see that we are losing our identity, that neighborhoods are unsafe, that women are shouted at and hassled in the streets, that schools are unsafe. If my party were extremist, we’d be at the margins and we’d be getting 1.5 or 2 percent of the vote.” Wilders also acknowledges the importance of what happens to Israel asserting that “the jihad against Israel isn’t against Israel only. It’s against the whole West. It’s not a territorial conflict but an ideological one. If Israel gave, say, the West Bank to the Palestinians, this will not bring peace. The next step would be for the Palestinians to claim that Ashkelon, Ashdod, Haifa and Jerusalem are the next ‘settlements’ to be conquered.”
June 11, 2010
[COMMENTS]
TWO THOUGHTFUL APPROACHES TO THE TURKISH SITUATION
Both Lanny Davis and Daniel Pipes lend some hopeful analysis to this awful problem.
June 10, 2010
[COMMENTS]
A HARSH CRITIQUE FROM THE WSJ
This is harsh but truthful and it hurts me to read it. I do not want this
to be true but sadly it seems to be. A president who acts as an alien to America and I am not talking about where he was born but what he believes
in.
June 10, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE WORLD PROMOTES TRUE HATRED OF ISRAEL AND THE US REMAINS SILENT
No lie about Israel no matter how outrageous or implausible is too much for the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). An article by Anne Bayefsky for the Weekly Standard tells us that the Syrian representative spun a hate filled yarn to that body about Israeli children singing “with my teeth I will rip your flesh. With my mouth I will suck your blood” on their way to school. Not only did the United States delegate raise no objection to this dehumanizing of Israeli offspring but the American taxpayer will pick up “22 percent of the cost for this speech to be permanently posted on the UN website, translated, and broadcast around the world.
June 8, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WORLDWIDE IRRATIONAL HATRED OF ISRAEL
A malignant hatred that seeks the destruction of Israel and the death of all Jews is strongest in the Muslim world but sadly more and more of the world’s people are accepting this extreme view and even supporting it. In a disturbing essay for The Jerusalem Post William Shawcross discusses this growing phenomenon. He observes that “Israel is held to a far higher standard than any other nation. Few people seem to care much about North Korean atrocities, at home and abroad, let alone its terrifying nuclear defiance of the world. No one marches or calls emergency meetings of the UN and the EU to protest the vicious Muslim brutality against other Muslims that takes place every day throughout the Islamic world – and beyond. No one demonstrates on behalf of Christians murdered in the Middle East, their churches burned. Such horrors are waved away. Only Israel merits such constant abuse.”
June 8, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WE CON THE WORLD
Parody of the flotilla of hate
June 7, 2010
[COMMENTS]
REUTERS USES DOCTORED PHOTOS TO DISTORT TRUTH
The Reuters news agency is using a doctored photo to disguise the violent nature of the “peace activists” who ran the Israeli blockade of Gaza. This lie has been exposed by the HonestReporting website.
June 7, 2010
[COMMENTS]
A MOVING RESPONSE TO HELEN THOMAS
Recent remarks by Helen Thomas suggesting that the Jews should leave Palestine and go home to Germany and Poland have rightly inspired a firestorm of criticism. One of the most moving responses appeared in The Jerusalem Post in the form of an open letter to her by advisor to President Shimon Peres, Yoram Dori. The piece contains a brief history of his family which makes clear why the reporter’s statement was so contemptible. Dori writes to Thomas that he “will continue to turn over every stone and scour every corner to attain peace. Peace, which will enable us to the smallest extent to live and our neighbors, the Palestinians, to establish a country and to flourish and prosper. To achieve this, we are prepared to make great concessions, to give back all the territories gained as a result of wars which our neighbors forced on us. There is only one thing we want in return – life. A quiet life, a life without terror, a life without missiles, a life like the one you have in Washington and which I, in Israel, also deserve.”
June 7, 2010
[COMMENTS]
IS OBAMA CHANGING AMERICA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH HAMAS?
There is no question that the present administration is in the process of downgrading our relationship with Israel but is Obama at the same time upgrading our relationship with Hamas? Over at Israpundit Ted Belman sees signs that the answer to the above question is yes.
June 7, 2010
[COMMENTS]
OBAMA’S TREATMENT OF ISRAEL NEEDS TO CHANGE
Many of the president’s critics maintain that Barak Obama’s defining characteristic is arrogance. When it comes to his dealings with Israel Anne Bayefsky calls this quality chutzpah and argues that this behavior must stop. She points out that “Israel is a fully-free democratic society with an unparalleled, independent and accessible judicial system fully governed by the rule of law. The idea that it needs to be told by the president how to conduct an investigation into military operations taken in self-defense is an extraordinary insult. How dare the president suggest that its standards are not good enough?”
June 7, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ERDOGAN'S CONTEMPT FOR ISRAEL IS ALSO CONTEMPT FOR AMERICA
The great problem is that our president does not see Israel as our most important outpost in this worldwide battle for survival of the West.
June 7, 2010
[COMMENTS]
HUMAN RIGHTS FOR EVERYONE EXCEPT ISRAELIS
The Free Gaza website says that "we respect the human rights of everyone, regardless of race, tribe, religion, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship or language." David Harris, Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), disagrees with that statement by asking a series of pointed questions. He concludes that the Free Gaza Movement is “nothing more than a Hamas booster club seeking Israel's disappearance, while posing as a ‘human rights movement.’”
June 7, 2010
[COMMENTS]
TIME TO TREAT TURKEY AS A TWO-FACED ENEMY OF ISRAEL AND ALSO OF THE UNITED STATES
There are many reasons for this suggestion but one is that Turkey complains
of how Israel is starving Gaza but it has never shown any real inclination to help the people of Gaza. Turkey is a very rich country.
But what is worse is that the thugs who attacked the Israeli naval
commandos were Turkish and they had the blessings of the PM of Turkey. Let
us start with boycotting everything Turkish. Cancel any planned trips
there and buy nothing that has a Turkish label on it.
Next request UN investigations of the assaults on the Israeli commandos who
landed on that flotilla ship prepared for a gentle confrontation with
peaceniks but met murderers trying to kill them. Arrest warrants should be
issued for those Islamist barbarians.
June 6, 2010
[COMMENTS]
IT IS TRUE: A WORLD GONE MAD
We are led by a weak appeaser in Washington and a group of dangerous nut
cases like the Prime Minister of Turkey who just proclaimed that “Israel's action was Turkey's 9/11.” The Turkish leader also asserted that Hamas is not a terrorist organization. We are all in for a world of trouble. Here in the US we can all start to vote for any candidate who is not a Democrat. It hurts me to say that but Mr. Obama becomes more dangerous to our safety here at home every day that goes by with him in power. We must decimate his party and mine, as much as it hurts. If two candidates are running for dogcatcher, vote for the one who is not a Democrat!
June 5, 2010
[COMMENTS]
FROM THE QUEEN OF THE WHITEHOUSE PRESS CORPS
A large portion of American media has an insensitive bias against Israel and this has recently been put on display in a most stark and very crude manner. When asked about the situation in Israel Helen Thomas, long time senior Whitehouse correspondent, said in effect the Jews there should leave Palestine and go back to Poland and Germany where they came from. These are places where millions of them were slaughtered during the 1940s.
June 5, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE PEACEFUL PROTESTERS HAVE THE SAME GOALS AS THE NAZIS AT AUSHWICH AND THE 9/11 ATTACKERS
Kill Jews and Americans.
June 5, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE WORLD WANTS ISRAEL TO HAVE NO RIGHT TO SELF DEFENSE
Those damned Jews in Israel want to survive. How dare they! Those
miserable barbarians must get ready to go into the gas chambers and ovens
again. That is their destiny. Krauthammer explains this horrible tale.
June 5, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE NIGHTMARE OF DISGRACING AMERICA CONTINUES
Here is a sad summary of how low our country is sinking under this
president, who seemed so full of hope and promise when we voted him into
office. All of us are in greater danger now. Mona Charen has written a powerful essay which has to be read.
June 4, 2010
[COMMENTS]
UNITED STATES JOINS THE PACK HOUNDING ISRAEL
Apparently the Obama Administration’s relationship with Israel has evolved from ally to neutral party to active antagonist. In her article for Forbes Ann Bayefsky informs us that the “Obama administration is pushing for an internationalized investigation of Israel's recent effort to preserve its naval blockade of Hamas-run Gaza.” She points out that this is “extraordinary interference with the sovereignty of a democratic society and its right of self-defense.”
June 4, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE PROBLEM WITH OBAMA’S FOREIGN POLICY
With escalating situations in the Middle East and the Korean peninsula threatening greater world turmoil one could argue that Obama’s approach to foreign policy has been a decided failure. In his analysis of the President’s performance in this area Larry Elder sees the problem as pursuing a policy of “strength through peace” rather than one of “peace through strength.”
June 3, 2010
[COMMENTS]
DOUBLE STANDRAD GREATLY FAVORS HAMAS
Supposedly the situation in the Gaza strip was so dire that the activists in charge of the flotilla had no choice but to run the Israeli blockade. Now we find out that Hamas will not permit the people living in Gaza to receive the intended relief. Why, because the Israel wants them to have the humanitarian aid and in fact it wanted them to have it all along. However there will be no worldwide outcry or UN condemnation of Hamas and Steven Emerson points out in great detail that the double standard with regard to the actions of Hamas is once again at work. He observes that “while critics decry the Israeli blockade of Gaza as a violation of humanitarian law that deprives the Palestinian people of necessary resources, nobody blinks when Hamas runs the Gaza economy into the ground. Where Israel and Hamas destroy homes that were illegally built, Israel is taken to task by the international community while the criticism of Hamas is mild at best. When Israel is chastised for ‘targeting’ Palestinian civilians, Hamas' brutal execution of ‘collaborators’ barely receives a head shake.”
June 3, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE PROSPECTS FOR FUNDAMENTAL DRUG POLICY AND LAW REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES
A brief note by Arnold S. Trebach
May 24, 2010
This is a brief note on my appraisal on the prospects for fundamental drug policy and law reform in the United States at this point in history. I am writing this at the request of Marco Perduca, an important Italian parliamentary official and a leader of the Radical Party, Transnational and Nonviolent.
In my opinion there have been some encouraging signs that change is possible. As I wrote last year in a note to my European friends, the Obama Administration has shown some positive attitudes toward the movement for allowing medical marijuana. For example, the Administration has adopted prosecutorial guidelines that discourage most criminal federal law suits against medical marijuana dispensers and users in states that have laws allowing such behavior.
Making a great impact is a story from the Associated Press which explained how the war on drugs has been a costly failure. To those of us who have worked in the drug field for many years, there was nothing new in the arguments that were cited. However, for some reason the AP report had a major impact. It was sent all over the country and the world and it was quoted extensively in all types of media. The report came at a time when there were many signs that popular support for prohibition and the war on drugs was weakening quite dramatically.
As some persuasive evidence of that weakening are a set of actions in California aimed at making marijuana legally available not just for medical purposes but also for recreation in the same manner as alcohol and tobacco. First, there will be an historic ballot vote in November on a law labeled the “Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Tax of 2010,”which would make marijuana roughly as legal as alcohol and tobacco. This will be decided by a popular vote of all the citizens who go to the polls. Second, a law is pending in the state legislature that would make the drug legal through a legislative enactment, if of course it passes.
Because California often takes the lead in setting trends in this country, these actions are important and historic. If they come into being, it is very likely that other legalization actions will follow.
There are other favorable signs as well but in my view the opposition to real change in drug policy remains very strong in America. Even in liberal California – sometimes referred to as being on the left coast – the two leading candidates for governor, both Democratic and Republican, have come out against the measures that would result in the legalization of pot. The head of the federal Department of Homeland Security took the same position in a public comment.
It is distressing to me that there has been very little serious talk about loosening control on narcotics and cocaine. There is no significant move in any governmental agency that deals with these drugs in a rational fashion.
In the background to this discussion is the declining power of President Obama and the Democratic Party along with the many threats facing the country. Mr. Obama has shown some inclination to consider modest attempts to be more rational in his approach to drugs – nothing far-reaching or radical but somewhat more rational. In light of the distractions facing the president and his declining power, it is doubtful id he will be in a position to improve on any of the modest reforms he has already supported.
Thus, by way of a summary, there is some hope in America that drug policy will get more rational but there is nothing that predicts radical change in the near future.
Best wishes to all of my friends in Europe.
June 2, 2010
[COMMENTS]
OBAMA'S SURRENDER POLICIES PAVED THE WAY FOR THE FLOTILLA DISASTER
The timing of the recent attempt to run the Israeli blockade of Gaza should be of interest to all of us. Why did a group with such obvious ties to terrorism believe it could end a policy designed to protect Israeli citizens from deadly rocket attacks at this time? In the New York Post Michael Goodwin argues that the Obama Administration’s recent hostility towards Israel and appeasement of radical Islam is to blame. He reminds us that “Obama's repeated signals that he is weakening America's commitment to Israel are emboldening the Jewish state's enemies. From Syria to Iran to Lebanon, from Hezbollah to Hamas and the PLO, the wolves smell blood and are trying to gauge whether they can get close enough for the kill.”
June 2, 2010
[COMMENTS]
MELANIE GETS IT CORRECT AGAIN!
What was the real purpose of the convoy that attempted to run the Israeli blockade of Gaza? Melanie Phillips provides us with a very credible answer to this important question. She points out that “Gaza’s markets are full of produce, thousands of tons of supplies are travelling into Gaza every week through the Israeli-controlled border crossings, and there is no starvation or humanitarian crisis. It was always obvious that the flotilla was not the humanitarian exercise it was said to be.” Phillips then argues that “this flotilla was but the latest jihadi attack, deploying the Islamists’ signature strategy of violence and media manipulation.”
June 2, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ISRAEL ALONE AT THE UN
The anti-Israeli bias at the UN is especially strong within the Human Rights Council, so naturally since the confrontation between the IDF and activists trying to run the Gaza blockade there has been a great deal of activity there. The difference this time is that the United States has done nothing to curb the UN’s excesses. FOX news is reporting that “with virtually unprecedented speed and only hours to go before the Lebanese presidency of the UN Security Council expired at midnight on May 31st the Council unanimously agreed on a Presidential Statement – with American approval. And in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) unanimously decided to invent new procedural rules and hold its first-ever ‘urgent debate’, with no objection from the United States.”
June 2, 2010
[COMMENTS]
SUPPOSEDLY PEACEFUL ACTIVISTS USE LIVE AMMUNITION AGAINST IDF
Much of the world is now condemning Israel for an incident that occurred when the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) boarded a ship that was part of a flotilla supposedly delivering aid to Gaza. As usual, very little is being said about the fact that the “peaceful” flotilla passengers used live ammunition against the IDF soldiers, who did not employee lethal force until their very lives were at stake.
Israel had implored the flotilla leaders not to run the blockade and had said that the humanitarian aid would be delivered after it was inspected for weapons. This reasonable request was ignored and one has to suspect that the real purpose of the mission was not relief for the people of Gaza but rather the creation of an incident such as the one we have now.
June 1, 2010
[COMMENTS]
MONUMENT TO INTOLERANCE TWO BLOCKS FROM GROUND ZERO
A project to locate giant mosque and Islamic cultural center called Cordoba House two blocks from Ground Zero in New York City is gaining momentum. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is the main backer of this proposal and David J. Rusin of Islamist Watch informs us that Rauf is strongly devoted to Shari’a law. The Imam “has spoken of his desire to see Shari'a incorporated more explicitly into Western law.” It must be remembered that this is a legal system that makes second class citizens of all women and non-Muslims. Hopefully the citizens of New York will wake up to this travesty of an idea before it becomes a reality.
May 28, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE REAL SITUATION IN GAZA
A group of ships carrying pro=Palestinian demonstrators and 10,000 tons of humanitarian supplies has been assembled from several European ports and is bound for Gaza. The organization sponsoring this flotilla is the IHH a Turkish foundation with ties to terrorist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. An article posted on the Israel Project website tells us that Israel has asked the convoy to “dock in Israel’s southern port of Ashdod so its humanitarian supplies can be delivered by Israel through the Gaza border crossing after they are checked for dangerous materials. However, the flotilla’s organizers have refused to abide by Israel’s request, constituting a violation of international maritime law.”
Even if these supplies reach the people of Gaza they are dwarfed by the massive amount of aid, documented in the piece, that has already been provided to Gaza by the state of Israel.
May 28, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE IMPORTANCE OFCORRECTING THE HISTORICAL RECORD
Today the popular story surrounding the creation of Israel portrays the evil Zionists callously expelling hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians from their homes against their will. However, this narrative has little to do with the actual history of the period. A new meticulously researched book, Palestine Betrayed, by Efraim Karsh sets this record straight. In his outstanding review of the work Daniel Pipes quotes the author arguing that "far from being the hapless victims of a predatory Zionist assault, it was Palestinian Arab leaders who, from the early 1920s onward, and very much against the wishes of their own constituents, launched a relentless campaign to obliterate the Jewish national revival which culminated in the violent attempt to abort the U.N. partition resolution." Moreover, Karsh contends that "there was nothing inevitable about the Palestinian-Jewish confrontation, let alone the Arab-Israeli conflict." Pipes declares that “Palestine Betrayed reframes today's Arab-Israeli debate by putting it into its proper historical context.”
May 28, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THIS SHOULD BE FRONT PAGE NEWS EVERYWHERE
On Sunday armed men wearing black masks burned a United Nation’s summer camp located in the Gaza strip as tensions between Islamic extremists and the UN continue to escalate. The perpetrators also left behind death threats aimed at UN officials. The UN summer camps serve 250, 000 Gaza children with sports crafts and other activities. Hamas has set up their own camps which emphasize Islamic teachings and has repeatedly “railed against the U.N. as being a bridgehead for the West and for corrupting Gaza's youth by teaching ‘un-Islamic’ subjects in schools and summer camps.”
May 24, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE ECONOMICS OF DRUG PROHIBITION IN THE NETHERLANDS
American prohibitionists like to portray the Netherlands as a society in chaos because of that government’s lenient attitude towards drug use. The reality is quite different, drug prohibition and its attendant costs are still well entrenched in Holland. In an article discussing the economics of Dutch drug policy, Frits Bolkestein points out that “recent data from the Dutch justice department show that 27 to 33 percent of all years spent in incarceration are the result of violations of the law banning recreational drugs. In 2006, three quarters of the more than 300 investigations of organized crime focused on the production of, or trade in, drugs.”
However, the same fiscal conditions producing polling data in California showing 56% of the electorate in favor of legalizing marijuana are at work in the Netherlands. The idea of regulating instead of prohibiting drugs is beginning to take hold there because Dutch research has found that “the total cost of crime added up to 31.5 billion euros in 2006 alone. Crimes that are a result of drug prohibition cost society at least half that amount, or 15.75 billion euros. That comes down to 924 euros per Dutch citizen annually.” All over the world people are starting to discover that ineffective and destructive drug prohibition is a luxury they can no longer afford.
May 20, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FINALLY SEEMS TO UNDERSTAND
Throughout its history drug prohibition has been an immoral, violent, and costly failure. It simply does not accomplish its stated purpose of preventing people from using illicit drugs while at same time it vastly increases the harm caused by the use of those drugs. Now the Associated Press is finally acknowledging these already well known facts in a scathing indictment of the war on people who use certain kinds of drugs.
Naturally this AP report has caused a great deal of reaction most of which is positive. However, former drug czar John P. Walters laments the article arguing that “to say that all the things that have been done in the war on drugs haven't made any difference is ridiculous.. It destroys everything we've done. It's saying all the people involved in law enforcement, treatment and prevention have been wasting their time. It's saying all these people's work is misguided."
Moreover, this is precisely the point made in the preface to Fatal Distraction: The War on Drugs in the Age of Islamic Terror four years ago. One of the main story lines of the book “deals the many reasons why drug prohibition and the war on drugs fail because of their own internal contradictions and the immense harm they cause.” The book goes on to contend that “the war on drugs is based on many cherished myths. Such cherished myths die hard. Destructive cherished myths die even harder. Yet, in this book I argue that thinking people everywhere should work, as an urgent matter, to seek to accomplish that very objective – the killing of a cherished destructive myth. That myth is so destructive because it is so seductive – and also because it has been allowed to grow to gigantic proportions by the enthusiastic worldwide support of millions of well meaning and sincere people.” (page 14)
We must hope for all of our sakes that this AP analysis is a significant step forward in the dismantling of the ignoble canard that drug prohibition is both necessary and good.
May 18, 2010
[COMMENTS]
OUTRAGEOUS BBC STATEMENT
Many people detect a strong anti-Israeli bias in the way the BBC covers world events. Now a contemptible statement by BBC Mideast editor Jeremy Bowen makes it clear that the above observation is correct. He said “it has been an unusual and enjoyable new experience for Palestinians to be able to look on as Israel argued with its most important ally. The fact that the dispute is over Jewish settlements has been even better for them.”
May 15, 2010
[COMMENTS]
UNPRECEDENTED OILSPILL POINTS TO NEED FOR CHANGE
There is no question that a drastic change in off shore drilling policy because of the mammoth spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a terrorist attack on the Saudi oilfields, or Iranian interference with shipping in the Persian Gulf are unsettling possibilities. Any one of these events would wreck havoc with the American economy. That is why Frank Gaffney sees a silver lining in the massive amount of sludge that is approaching our coastline. He believes this looming disaster will finally wake up the population to the dangers of continuing to use oil as our primary energy source.
If a major disruption in the petroleum supply were to occur, Gaffney asks if under “those circumstances, would we hesitate to make the fullest possible use of available technologies, particularly highly cost-effective ones, to tap our nation's vast potential for alcohol-based fuels and, thereby, to enable 'fuel choice' to the consumer? Not bloody likely.” Certainly a switch to bio-fuel seems like an idea whose time has come but there are important choices involved with such a change and they must be made intelligently because we will have to live with them for a long time.
Currently the primary alternative fuel choice being pursued is ethanol made from corn. The government subsidizes its production and the auto makers have committed to making cars that use it. However, this is happening despite the fact making fuel from corn is a very poor choice from both an economic and an energy standpoint. It takes more energy to produce a liter of ethanol from corn than you get out of that liter. Also, using corn to make fuel has unnecessary negative consequences for the food supply.
The suitability of other plants to produce energy needs to be explored and that includes the use of cannabis hemp. Activists trying to legalize the use of industrial hemp have long contended that the plant has characteristics that make it ideal as an energy source. They point out that “it is the cellulose in low moisture herbaceous and woody plants that provides the hydrocarbons necessary for fuel production. ... Hemp is both a low moisture herbaceous and a woody plant.” Combine that fact with the ability to grow on marginal land and relatively high yields per acre and it seems more than sensible to study this possibility.
Congressman Ron Paul, sponsor of the Industrial Hemp Farming Act (HR 1866), made a statement for the Congressional Record in which he asserted that “reintroducing industrial hemp farming in the United States would bring jobs to communities struggling in today's economy, provide American farmers with another crop alternative, and encourage the development of hemp processing factories near American hemp farming.” If the use of this plant were to also allow us to quit using so much oil then the benefits would be enormous. Should we not find out if its advocates are correct?
May 12, 2010
[COMMENTS]
MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION GENDER GAP
The most important election in the history of drug policy will take place this fall in California where voters shall decide whether or not to legalize marijuana. A recent SurveyUSA News Poll reveals that 56% of the electorate supports the measure while only 42% opposes it. An interesting aspect of the data shows a gender gap with 65% of males in favor but only 46% of females approving. Clearly those who wish a change in policy must develop arguments designed to appeal to women. Perhaps this line of reasoning would have results: if you want to protect your children from marijuana use then legalize it for adults. Under a legal regime you know where cannabis is being sold, you know who is selling it, and there are very strong incentives not to sell it to young people. The way it is now you do not know where marijuana is being sold, you do not know who is selling it, and the dealers, sometimes children themselves, do not care how old the buyers are.
May 3, 2010
[COMMENTS]
AN ENDURING LEGACY OF HATRED
During the World War II era persecution and the attempted extermination of the Jewish people there were those who acted heroically as well as those who were villains. Recently, this space pointed to the righteous nature of actions taken by then Congressman Lyndon Baines Johnson at the time. Another example of honorable behavior towards the Jews can be found in the Japanese-American soldiers who helped liberate some of the holocaust victims still alive in the Nazi concentration camps, even while their own relatives were being held in American installations.
In contrast though there were individuals in the allied countries who pursued courses which contributed to the suffering. In 1939 the British government issued a white paper calling for an end to Jewish immigration to Palestine despite the promise of the 1917 Balfour Declaration. In the United States during 1944 Senators Robert Taft (R-Ohio) and Robert Wagner (D-New York) responded with a congressional resolution maintaining the need for “free and unlimited entry of Jews into Palestine for the creation of a Jewish commonwealth.” Both Winston Churchill and Harry S Truman also had condemned the British change in policy.
However, President Franklin Roosevelt did not. In his informative article on these events David Stokes tells us that “the White House, State Department and other powerful entities in the government pulled out all the stops to make sure that the idea of proposing a homeland in Palestine for Jews went away. They did this even though they knew very well about the ongoing mass extermination of European Jews at the hands of the Nazis.”
Stokes goes on to argue that the real explanation for this inhumane policy can be found in the power and content of Nazi propaganda. Moreover, he contends that “the distortion factory that shaped attitudes in Germany throughout the duration of the infamous Third Reich had its most lasting impact far away from the boroughs and beer halls of Deutschland” and that this legacy of hatred can now be found in the minds of Hamas, the PLO, and modern day Islamic extremism.
April 26, 2010
[COMMENTS]
BREAK THE SILENCE RALLY
A strong argument can be made that President Obama is going about the business of fundamentally changing our relationship with Israel. Furthermore, this alteration serves to delegitimize the Israeli state, one of our oldest, most consistent and most valuable allies. What concerns the ex-mayor of New York City, Edward Koch, is the deafening silence which seems to surround this very serious situation. Therefore he is helping to promote a Break the Silence Rally, designed to stand against the anti-Israeli policies of the Obama Administration, to be held in New York City on Sunday April 25th at 1:00PM. It will take place on 2nd Ave. between 42nd and 43rd streets, rain or shine.
April 23, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE CURRENT AMERICAN CONFLICT WITH ISRAEL HURTS BOTH PARTIES
There is widespread agreement about two things; American/Israeli relations are currently at a historic low point and that this situation constitutes a real danger to Israel. However, there seems to be relatively little concern about how this conflict will negatively affect the United States position in the world. In an interesting essay Dennis Prager cites a variety of reasons why this worsening relationship is bad for both countries. He even uses the Book of Genesis in the Bible to bolter his contentions quoting God referring to the Jewish people and saying to Abraham that "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” Prager then goes on to argue that one “need not be a Jew or Christian or even believe in God to appreciate that this verse is as accurate a prediction of the future as humanity has ever been given by the ancient world. The Jewish people have suffered longer and more horribly than any other living people. But they are still around. Their historic enemies are all gone. Those who cursed the Jews were indeed cursed.”
April 21, 2010
[COMMENTS]
LBJ WAS A “RIGHTEOUS GENTILE”
Many people are aware that during the presidency of Lyndon Baines Johnson the United States became Israel’s primary diplomatic ally and most important arms supplier. However, far fewer people know about LBJ’s long standing historical commitment to the welfare of the Jewish people. In his fascinating article on this little known subject Lenny Ben David reveals, among a number of other things, that ”Johnson, while serving as a young congressman in 1938 and 1939, arranged for visas to be supplied to Jews in Warsaw, and oversaw the apparently illegal immigration of hundreds of Jews through the port of Galveston, Texas.”
April 17, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WHO IS IN CHARGE OF PREVENTING NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION?
According to political cartoonist Gary Varvel the answer to this question is not comforting.
April 14, 2010
[COMMENTS]
LANDMARK EXTRADITION CASE
On May 10th Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson is supposed to decide whether or not to extradite marijuana legalization advocate Marc Emery to the United States. Emery, whose importance is discussed in Fatal Distraction: The War on Drugs in the Age of Islamic Terror, faces charges and a likely harsh sentence for selling Cannabis seeds over the internet. However, DEA administrator Karen Tandy inadvertently made it clear that the “Prince of Pot’s” troubles have their origin in his political activities rather than his commercial ones when upon Emery’s arrest she stated that the event was "a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the US and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement."
Although the issue of extradition will be decided by political means it is Canadian politics not American ones that count. In this respect Emery can rely on a tremendous amount of support. In March, members of the Liberal, Conservative, and New Democratic parties presented petitions to Parliament containing 12,000 signatures asking that Emery remain in Canada. Later the French speaking Bloc Quebecois also called for the extradition to be blocked. Emery believes that the “government does want to extradite me, but the public pressure not to do it is substantial. There is nothing to be gained by extraditing me, and it will piss off a couple of million voters in the next election."
If Emery were to be sent to the United States for incarceration it would be not only unjust but also highly ironic as the evidence of a rapidly changing attitude towards marijuana use in America is abundant. In just the most recent issue of the Drug War Chronicle we learn that people caught in the city of Philadelphia with less that 30 grams of cannabis will now face a summary offense instead of a criminal misdemeanor. Meanwhile the legislature in Maine approved a law allowing for medical marijuana dispensaries. Also, a new medical marijuana bill has passed through the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in Maryland. The town of Nederland in Colorado passed a measure with 54% of the vote that legalizes adult possession of cannabis. Lastly, in Alabama a house legislative committee vote favored medical marijuana legislation. What a terrible twist of fate it would be if Marc Emery was imprisoned for conducting a political battle that he now beginning to win.
April 14, 2010
[COMMENTS]
FATAH VIEWS NORMAL RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL AS A CRIME
One would presume that peace would be the normal and desirable state of affairs between two peoples; however, Fatah and Hamas appear to believe pursuing such a goal is a crime that must be punished. Last week when five Palestinian Journalists visited Tel Aviv to meet with Israeli colleagues on a trip sponsored by The Israel Project they became the target of intense criticism. The Jerusalem Post reports that they “now face expulsion from the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Journalists Syndicate on charges of promoting normalization with Israel.” Apparently the Palestinian hierarchy of journalists feels it is bad practice to consider the possibility that there may two sides to a story.
April 9, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ISRAEL STILL HAS FRIENDS IN AMERICA
Many Americans do not care for the way Barak Obama seems to playing around with the survival of perhaps our closest ally. The President’s recent activities only give aid and comfort to people who believe that the only acceptable course of action is the destruction of Israel through violent means. This behavior has caused some Americans to respond, including Florida-based radio host Janet Porter who urged people to send yellow roses, symbolizing friendship, to the Israeli government. The Jerusalem Post reports that an advisor to Prime Minster Netanyahu has indicated that “the Prime Minister’s Office could not get involved, because Netanyahu must be very careful to avoid anything that smacks of disrespect for the president at such a sensitive time.” Maybe it is President Obama who should be worried about his disrespect towards people who view Israel’s right to exist as paramount.
April 3, 2010
[COMMENTS]
HEALTH CARE REFORM RAISING OLD ISSUES
One of the consequences of Obama’s health care reform has been to bring attention, not seen since the days of school segregation, to the question of federal versus state power. A growing number of states are filing lawsuits to prevent the legislation from coming into effect in their jurisdictions. Brion McClanahan of the Tenth Amendment Center provides his thorough analysis of the issues involved arguing that the state attorney generals should succeed.
March 31, 2010
[COMMENTS]
FUNDAMENTAL VALUE AT STAKE
Perhaps more important than the actual violence coming from radical Islam is its increasingly successful undermining of the fundamental value of free speech. The intimidation that accompanies any attempt to say something that radical Muslims disagree with combined with a political correctness all too accepting of the charge of Islamophobia threatens our very way of life. In his recent essay on the subject Herb London concludes that “the biggest obstacle in pursuit of the truth, is the systematic interference of free speech, an interference that becomes particularly lamentable when it is done voluntarily, when the invocation of fear is sufficient to drown out expression.”
March 30, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WHAT THOSE WHO OPPOSE ENDING MARIJUANA PROHIBITION ARE VOTING FOR
During the next election the voters in California will have a chance to improve the quality of life in their state by casting ballots to end marijuana prohibition. The office of the Secretary of State has certified that proponents of the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 have gathered enough signatures to make it part of the poll in November. According to an article posted on the Drug War Chronicle the measure would “legalize the possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by adults and allow for personal grows of up to 25 square feet. It also provides for the taxed and regulated sale of marijuana by local option.”
That this much needed reform has come into the hands of California voters is merely a first step, as there will be strenuous opposition from parties with a strong self interest in its defeat. By now we are all too familiar with the litany of exaggerations, half truths and outright lies which will comprise the rationale for voting no on this legislation. However, if past elections like this are any guide precious little will ever be said about what those who oppose this act are voting for.
First and foremost people voting against the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 will be voting for increased alcohol use with its attendant domestic violence, highway fatalities, liver disease, and broken families. From the very beginning of marijuana proscription in the 1930s those most affected by the change, jazz musicians, told us about this consequence. The 1936 song All the Jive is Gone contained the lyric “All the jive is gone, so come on in and drink some gin” while in The “G” Man Got the “T” Man Cee Pee Johnson lamented “They have to drink their lush and stagger, even though they know its wrong.”
Secondly those voting no will be voting for extending financial benefits to lawyers and state prison guards at the expense of teachers, students, librarians, health care professionals, firefighters, park rangers and a whole host of other people also performing more useful work. In addition, they will be voting in favor of cutting off economic opportunity for entrepreneurs, agricultural and otherwise, as well as their potential employees wanting to get involved in a growing cannabis culture.
A vote against legalizing marijuana is also a ballot for continuing the high levels of violence in Mexico. The profits from illegal marijuana sold in California are a most important source of income for the brutal Mexican drug cartels. Stop these funds from flowing in and you greatly reduce their ability to create mayhem. Also, it is a vote for reducing the resources available to apprehend and jail murders, rapists, and thieves here in the United States.
Lastly, a no vote sends the message to our children that sustaining the lies of the past, promoting ignorance and hatred of those different, as well as the welfare of a very small special interest are more important than reality and good public policy.
This was prepared with the assistance of Keith Halderman
March 28, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE UNBELIEVABLE HUMILIATION OF THE ONLY FREE COUNTRY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
And our only true ally in the world. This has to be read to be appreciated. Be sure to read all the comments. How sad. How dangerous. Not just for Israel but also for America and the entire West.
March 26, 2010
[COMMENTS]
CONSEQUENCES OF HEALTH CARE BILL
Whether or not the passage of the health care legislation actually results in a better medical system for the United States still remains a very open question. However, one thing is clear decisions once made by individuals and medical care providers will now be made by the government.
March 23, 2010
[COMMENTS]
A CALL FOR CIVILITY ON CAMPUS
Speakers trying to defend Israeli actions and even its right to exist are often denied the right to express themselves at American and European institutions of higher learning, not by the schools themselves but by people who oppose their viewpoint. Sadly, disruption of pro-Israeli academic discourse has a long history but lately has become so ubiquitous, strident, hateful, and sometimes even violent that Samuel M. Edelman executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East argues that this kind of behavior amounts to a new tactic. He contends that what “makes these recent attacks on civil discourse significant is that each and every one of them has been held in a public forum on a university campus.”
His organization is responding to these attacks on the principle of free speech by promoting The Civility Project. Its goal is to have university officials, faculty, and students worldwide adopt a civility pledge which includes three simple statements :
I will be civil in my public discourse and behavior.
I will be respectful of others whether or not I agree with them.
I will stand against incivility when I see it.
Let us fervently hope that Scholars for Peace in the Middle East succeeds in this endeavor.
March 23, 2010
[COMMENTS]
UNPRECEDENTED DECLINE IN STATE PRISON POPULATION
There is little question that the financial situation in the United States is at its worst since the 1930s. Yet, there is a silver lining to this economic cloud in that the number of people imprisoned by the various states has declined for the first time in decades. Since 1972 those incarcerated in state facilities has increased by a factor of seven, with inmates there on charges related to drug prohibition accounting for 20 to 25 percent of the total. However, a new survey, Prison Count 2010, shows the state prison population actually decreased last year by over 5000 persons.
However, the federal system presents a different story where the number of those imprisoned increased enough last year to produce an overall total more than 1000 people higher. Perhaps the difference lies in the fact that many states must balance their budgets while the federal government seems to have a credit card with no limits allowing harsh and counterproductive drug policies.
March 21, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE BIZARRE ATTACKS ON ISRAEL
It is as if Israel was one of our enemies and Iran was one of our friends. And all this is taking place in the midst of the full court press to get healthcare passed. It is good to see that Charles Krauthammer in The Washington Post and Caroline Glick in The Jerusalem Post have written powerful essays explaining just how bad our president’s policies are. One wonders, however, just how long Israel can withstand these attacks. The open hostility by Obama has encouraged the Arabs to mount their own attacks in Jerusalem and Haifa and other cities, not to mention the rockets coming from Gaza. It is difficult to see how any sensible American can vote for the Democrats in the fall elections or in the presidential election in 2012. It is also difficult for a lifelong Democrat to say such a thing.
March 19, 2010
[COMMENTS]
HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE CONDUCT BY DEFENSE ATTORNEY
An Amnesty International pamphlet best described as anti-American propaganda came into the possession of Guantanamo detainee Majeed Abdullah Al Joudi. The brochure was smuggled to him by his attorney in the legal mail. In their very informative article on this incident and the issues involved Thomas Joscelyn and Debra Burlingame of The Wall Street Journal quote Major General Jay W. Hood, commander of Joint Task Force-Guantanamo, arguing that the “very nature of this document gives tremendous moral support to those who would strike out against our country," he stated. "It is not a factual report. Instead it is filled with second and third hand accounts, photos of protests that were staged, inflammatory photos from Iraq and provocative story captions."
March 16, 2010
[COMMENTS]
DO ENEMY COMBATANTS HAVE THE RIGHT TO A LAWYER?
In the controversy over how and where the al-Qaeda detainees should be tried one side claims that their right to counsel is part of the American legal tradition. However, Andrew C. McCarthy, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, argues quite the opposite. He cites the 1950 Eisenberg case which involved Nazi enemy combatants where the justices said it “would be difficult to devise more effective fettering of a field commander than to allow the very enemies he is ordered to reduce to submission to call him to account in his own civil courts and divert his efforts and attention from the military offensive abroad to the legal defensive at home."
March 16, 2010
[COMMENTS]
SMALL STEP FORWARD IN STRUGGLE TO END AN INJUSTICE
The federal sentencing disparity between those caught with crack cocaine and those arrested in possession of powdered cocaine is currently one hundred to one. Since most of those involved with crack are black while powdered cocaine tends to be the province of Caucasians the policy must be considered an example of modern day racial injustice. This inequity, born during the 1980s in the hysteria following the death of Len Bias, has been a prime target for drug law reformers for decades.
Lately those trying to end the sentencing disparity have been having some success. Last July the House Judiciary Committee approved legislation completely ending the difference between crack and powder prison time. Now the Senate Judiciary Committee has passed on a bill that reduces the disparity ratio to a lesser number, twenty to one. While this change in law is not what reformers had wanted it is still a small step forward. One of the activists most concerned with accomplishing reform Julie Stewart head of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), stated that "we hoped the committee would go further in making crack penalties the same as powder. There was no scientific basis for the 100:1 disparity between crack and powder cocaine created 24 years ago, and there is no scientific basis for today’s vote of 20:1. However, if this imperfect bill becomes law, it will provide some long-overdue relief to thousands of defendants sentenced each year."
March 14, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ANNUAL ANTI-SEMITIC EVENT
As the amount of anti-Semitism in the world increases it tends to become institutionalized and even celebrated. One example of this is the sixth international Israeli Apartheid Week which began on Monday in over 40 cities across the world. However, columnist Richard Cohen argues in the pages of The Washington Post that the link which has been generated between Israel and the policy of apartheid is both false and insulting. He points out that “Israeli Arabs, about one-fifth of the country, have the same civil and political rights as do Israeli Jews. Arabs sit in the Knesset and serve in the military, although most are exempt from the draft. Whatever this is -- and it looks suspiciously like a liberal democracy -- it cannot be apartheid.”
March 2, 2010
[COMMENTS]
MY NEW BLOG
I now have a new Blog and you can check it out and comment here.
February 28, 2010
[COMMENTS]
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SHARES THE STAGE WITH A TERRORIST
Last month at a protest in front of Number 10 Downing Street speakers from Amnesty International shared the stage with Moazzam Begg who runs a group called Cageprisoners. This caused problems within Amnesty International’s ranks and even led to the suspension of Gita Sahgal who heads the organization’s gender division. Christopher Hitchens went so far as to argue that the group’s two million subscribers cut off funding until ties with Begg were severed and Sahgal reinstated. In her article on this controversy Mona Charen informs us that former Guantanamo detainee Begg “by his own admission, was trained in at least three al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan, was ‘armed and prepared to fight alongside the Taliban and al-Qaida against the United States and others,’ and served as a ‘communications link’ between radical Muslims living in Great Britain and those abroad.”
February 23, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS
When president Obama nominated hard-line and possibly corrupt drug warrior Michele Leonhart to be the permanent DEA chief reformers feared a return to more tyrannical policies and those worries are now coming true. Despite a Justice Department memorandum promising that the federal government would take hands off approach to medical marijuana in states where it was legal, the DEA has begun to raid cannabis dispensaries, as well as labs that test for THC level and purity, in Colorado. An unapologetic Denver DEA Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Jeffrey Sweetin told the Denver Post that "technically, every dispensary in the state is in blatant violation of federal law. The time is coming when we go into a dispensary, we find out what their profit is, we seize the building and we arrest everybody. They're violating federal law; they're at risk of arrest and imprisonment." We are left with only two conclusions either President Obama is not in control of the people who work for him or he is blatantly lying to the public about his real policy towards medical marijuana.
February 22, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE CORRUPTION OF FATAH AND THE INCOMPETEMNCE OF THE ISRAELIS
This is a must-read article. Truly shocking revelations on all counts. Abbas leads a kleptocracy and the world does not seem to give a damn. The Israelis do not look that great in dealing with it, either.
February 20, 2010
[COMMENTS]
RELIGION TRUMPING SCIENCE
For four hundred years the Muslim world enjoyed a golden age of scientific and intellectual achievement then Islam and science parted company. This state of affairs has continued for over seven centuries and it shows little sign of changing. In an extraordinary interview for The Middle East Quarterly Physicist Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy, considered by many to be Pakistan’s leading intellectual, explains why this situation exists. He points to a prohibition of debate and an authoritarian educational system arguing that ”the biggest problem is Islamism, a radical and often militant interpretation of Islam that spills over from the theological domain into national and international politics. Whenever and wherever religious fundamentalism dominates, blind faith clouds objective and rational thinking. If such forces take hold in a society, they create a mindset unfavorable for critical inquiry, including scientific inquiry, with its need to question received wisdom.”
February 18, 2010
[COMMENTS]
A CONFUSED AND CONTRADICTORY POLICY
The question of whether to try terrorists such as Khalid Sheik Mohammad in civilian courts or before military tribunals is causing a great deal of controversy. One side sees an opportunity to demonstrate the strength of the American legal system, while the other voices concerns about safety and cost as well as fear of diluting the war against jihad. Which ever side you favor it is worth paying attention to Mona Charen’s thought provoking essay addressing the underlying principles involved in the dispute, which paints a picture of an Obama Administration pursuing a confused and contradictory set of policies. She concludes that “there are no principles at work here, just the vain and misguided pursuit of international respectability. Obama may well receive applause from Norwegian committees and Sorbonne students -- but not from wiser observers -- and not from those he is responsible for protecting.”
February 17, 2010
[COMMENTS]
MUSLIM OPPOSITION TO INTIMIDATION AND VIOLENCE
For Islamists any opposition to their beliefs and policies is considered a justification for violence, even that coming from those who share their religion. Now, however, a growing number of Muslims are refusing to be intimidated by Islamist threats. Writing for IslamistWatch David J. Rusin provides a number of examples of this growing and hopeful trend. He asserts that ”as the above examples suggest, at the core of the resurgent jihad is a conflict between an authoritarian interpretation of Islam and a more spiritual, secular interpretation. The fate of two worlds — the Western and the Islamic — will be shaped profoundly by the outcome.”
February 15, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WHO IS REALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SUFFERING IN GAZA?
The recent effort by Israel to help the people of Haiti has quickly been contrasted by it critics with the narrative of an Israeli government determined to harm the people of Gaza as much as possible. However what these detractors fail to take into account is that while the authorities on the stricken island welcomed aid, those in charge in Gaza, Hamas, have been doing everything they can to prevent Israeli help from improving the conditions of the people they rule. In an article for Harretz Yom Tov Samia documents the many obstructions put in place by Hamas.
February 13, 2010
[COMMENTS]
NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR AN OLD LIBEL
Any country in the world that quickly responded to a devastating earthquake with teams to do the dangerous work of searching the rubble for survivors and a first class medical facility would be universally lauded for its efforts, except Israel. Instead, there are those who assign cynical public relations motives to these actions discounting simple humanitarianism as the reason. Haaretz points out that “the work of the Israeli medical team has become a kind of Rorschach for how people view Israel and Israelis. Most of the comment, it must be said, is supportive. Even on the part of those who cast the humanitarian misery in Gaza in contrast. But for a shocking number of others, the bottom line is simple: Israel, and Israelis, can do no right.” Most disturbing of all is that some depraved individuals have used the Haitian tragedy as an opportunity to repeat the disgusting blood libel that Israel is only interested in the chance to harvest human organs.
February 11, 2010
[COMMENTS]
LONG TERM MARIJUANA USE FOUND TO REDUCE SPECIFIC CANCER RISK
For some time it has been acknowledged that the cannabiniods in marijuana smoke have potential antitumor properties. Now an epidemiological study conducted at Brown University has found that the practice of long term marijuana smoking reduces the risk of developing head and neck cancer (HNSCC). The researches discovered that “20 years of marijuana use was associated with a significantly reduced risk of HNSCC (OR10-<20 yrs vs never users=0.38, 95% CI=0.22–0.67). Among marijuana users moderate weekly use was associated with reduced risk (OR0.5-<1.5 times vs. <0.5 time =0.52, 95% CI=0.32–0.85). The magnitude of reduced risk was more pronounced for those who started use at an older age (OR15-<20 yrs old versus never users =0.53, 95% CI=0.30–0.95; OR>=20 yrs old versus never users =0.39, 95% CI=0.17–0.90, ptrend <0.001). These inverse associations did not depend on HPV 16 antibody status.” They concluded that “our study suggests that moderate marijuana use is associated with reduced risk of HNSCC.” However, it should be noted that when cannabis was combined with tobacco use and alcohol consumption the risk increased.
February 6, 2010
[COMMENTS]
AN UNREALISTIC VIEW OF ISLAMIC EXTREMISM
It can be argued that a great deal of the present administration’s viewpoint regarding the threat of Islamic terrorism is grounded in myth. In a recent interview President Obama stated that “we have to work with the overwhelming majority of Muslims who reject senseless violence of this sort.” However, as The Jerusalem Post is reporting the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project found that 68% of Palestinian Muslims, 43% of Nigerian Muslims, 38% of Lebanese Muslims, 15% of Egyptian Muslims, and 13% of Indonesian Muslims believe violence against civilians such as suicide bombings is often or sometimes justified. This adds up to millions of people and the idea that the ideology behind jihadist actions is the province of a small number of extremists clearly can not be sustained. Also, work done at the University of Maryland discovered that although the majority of Muslims deplore the methods of al-Qaida they also support its goals.
The above article concludes by asserting that ”the longer Obama and others continue to underestimate the scope of the problem, the more difficult it will be to vanquish it. It is therefore time to sweep aside self-delusion and recognize reality.”
February 4, 2010
[COMMENTS]
VERY DISAPPOINTING CHOICE BY OBAMA
When it comes to reforming drug policy the Obama administration seems to have adopted a pattern of one step forward and two steps back. This continues with his nomination for DEA head of a hardliner who has consistently opposed a more just, effective, and humane regime. The President has selected acting DEA administrator Michele Leonhart to be permanently in charge and the Drug War Chronicle provides us with a disturbing profile of her. It includes wasting $123,000 of taxpayer money traveling on a private airplane, blocking the University of Massachusetts from conducting research on possible beneficial aspects of cannabis, enthusiastic persecution of medical marijuana patients, and a personal relationship with a DEA informant who earned $2.2 million from 1984 to 2000 largely by committing perjury. Among many other reformers with negative comments is leader of California NORML Dale Gieringer who asserts that "we've been waiting for change ever since Obama got elected, we're still sitting here with the same Bush-appointed US Attorneys, we were hoping at least he would appoint a new DEA administrator, but no. That really shows political cowardice at the top level, I think."
February 2, 2010
[COMMENTS]
APPEASING ISLAMISTS BYCURTAILING FREE SPEECH
There are many ways to suppress free speech, you can criminalize it, you can shout it down, you can deny it a venue, or you can impose a financial burden on those who sponsor it. Recently, the highest profile target of those who want to deny people their right to speak is Dutch legislator Geert Wilders. His government has decided to silence him by criminalizing his speech and he is now on trial there for interposing scenes of Islamic violence with the passages from the Qur’an which justify them in his film Fitna. That this is politically motivated prosecution designed to appease a certain group is clear from the Dutch Ministry of Justice’s statement to the effect that “it is irrelevant whether Wilder’s witnesses might prove Wilders’ observations to be correct; what’s relevant is that his observations are illegal.”
Meanwhile, the Temple University administration has chosen the method of imposing a financial burden to stifle discourse it does not like. The non-conservative student group Temple University Purpose invited Geert Wilders to speak there last October 20th and the University has now sent this group a bill for the event’s extra security. Mike Adams reports that “as a consequence, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has written to the president of Temple. In that letter, FIRE cited the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement (1992), which says, ‘Speech cannot be financially burdened, any more than it can be punished or banned, simply because it might offend a hostile mob.’"
The first step in solving the problem of Islamic terrorism and violence is to acknowledge it exists; however, it appears that there are still too many people and organizations unwilling to do that.
February 1, 2010
[COMMENTS]
FORT HOOD MASSACRE WHITEWASH
In the days following the massacre of army personnel at Fort Hood Texas the press reported numerous signs which should have alerted the pentagon that perpetrator Major Nidal Malik Hasan represented a significant threat. Now the Army has issued a report on the incident titled Protecting the Force: Lessons learned from Fort Hood. The document discusses among other things alcoholism, drug abuse, mistreatment of the elderly, sexual violence, child molestation and suicide, yet despite all the evidence of previous jihadist activity and the fact that Hasan yelled “Allah Akhbar” just before he opened fire there is virtually no mention of Islamic extremist violence in the Army’s findings.
In his article on the military’s conclusions for The Weekly StandardThomas Joscelyn tells us that the report contained the following sentence: ”Religious fundamentalism alone is not a risk factor; most fundamentalist groups are not violent, and religious-based violence is not confined to members of fundamentalist groups.’ He then comments that this ”is a true statement; it is also completely meaningless in respect to the Fort Hood massacre. The brand of religious fundamentalism practiced by Hasan is specifically devoted to violence.” In his commentary Mark Steyn declares that we ”are making Islam the de facto established church of the Western world. And, lest you think this near parodic prostration before Islamic supremacism is a purely European phenomenon, read the official whitewash of Fort Hood, which is one of the most disgusting and contemptible documents ever produced by the U.S. military. The families of the dead should be furious at its craven evasions.”
January 31, 2010
[COMMENTS]
DID THE SWINE FLU ACTUALLY SAVE LIVES?
Except for those who get sick the advent of an epidemic of a new serious scary disease can be a good thing. The makers and distributors of vaccines who make lots of money, officials of such organizations as the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control who get to take center stage, politicians who get to show how necessary government is to mankind’s survival, and the members of the mainstream media who get to increase ratings and newspaper sales by covering something interesting and frightening all clearly benefit, even if the epidemic is mostly hype.
However, with regards to swine flu, these group’s good times are over as Michael Fumento’s article convincingly argues the epidemic has passed. He points out that “in New Zealand and Australia the flu season will continue to be quite mild. In both of those Southern Hemisphere countries, where winter has ended, there have been far fewer flu deaths than was normal during their past seasonal flu epidemics. Yet swine flu accounted for virtually all their cases, and no vaccine was available. In addition, these countries saw the season peak only once, without the ‘next wave’ we’ve been warned of.”
Because swine flu is less lethal and more contagious than the regular seasonal flu and because those who contact the swine variety develop immunity to the seasonal kind the net effect may well have been fewer deaths than would have ordinarily occurred.
January 28, 2010
[COMMENTS]
CONTRASTING IDEAS OF GENEROSITY
If ever a situation called for compassion and generosity it is the plight of the poverty stricken people of Haiti in the aftermath of their horrific earthquake. The oil rich Muslim countries of the Middle East certainly have the means and supposedly have a religious obligation to help, however, when you break down the amount of assistance given the category of other, which includes these Islamic countries, accounts for only 0.01 percent of the total aid. In her analysis of the worldwide response to the disaster in Haiti Claudia Rosett asks “where are the oil-rich Islamic countries of the Middle East, for whom charity is supposed to be such a vital part of life?”
Contrast this with the actions of Israel which had a first class field hospital up and running and teams searching the rubble for survivors before other countries had even finished organizing their relief efforts or the United States whose government has pledged 44 percent of the total funding, not to mention the millions given by private citizens, and you can see which system of belief is the more humane and generous.
January 27, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WORLDWIDE ISLAMIST AGGRESSION CONTINUES UNMENTIONED
From Nigeria where two dozen Christians died when Muslim youths set fire to their church, to Egypt where a drive by shooting killed seven Coptic Christians, to Pakistan experiencing a rash of churches being destroyed by bombs, to Malaysia are where Christian churches are being attacked, to Turkey where officials are closing Christian houses of worship the Islamist practice of persecuting and committing violence against non-believers continues unabated. However, if you depend on the mainstream media for information your knowledge of these events will be severely curtailed. Clifford May discusses this situation for Scripps Howard News Service pointing out that in “response to all this, Western journalists, academics, diplomats, and politicians mainly avert their eyes and hold their tongues. They pretend there are no stories to be written, no social pathologies to be documented, no actions to be taken. They focus instead on Switzerland's vote against minarets and anything Israel might be doing to prevent terrorists from claiming additional victims.”
January 27, 2010
[COMMENTS]
SOME UNPLEASANT TRUTHS ABOUT SAUDI ARABIA
It is widely acknowledged that when it comes to human rights Saudi Arabia has an atrocious record. However, it also has a reputation as an economic powerhouse with a regime that enjoys a high level of security. At a recent ceremony held by the Ministry of the Interior honoring civilian and military retirees Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior stated that “Saudi Arabia is one of the best countries in the world in terms of security and economy.”
Dr. Ali Alyami Director of The Center for Democracy & Human Rights in Saudi Arabia strongly disagrees with the above statement. His commentary is as follows :
”In a recent speech to thank some of his Ministry retirees for their sacrifices to defend Saudi Arabia , Interior Minister Prince Naif is reported to have ‘…stressed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (his family’s domain-Ali) is one of the best countries in the world in terms of security and economy.’ Prince Naif made three points worthy of rebuttal: First, Saudi Arabia is not the best country in the region financially or in terms of security. Many of the living standards, income and social services in its neighboring Gulf countries are superior to those of Saudi Arabia . In addition, many of the highly publicized projects such as King Abdullah’s economic cities exist on paper only. Not only that, but most of the Saudi infrastructure is dilapidated. Major cities have no sewage or drainage systems, like Jeddah, the center of Saudi trade and culture. Even streets and homes are not numbered.
Second, Saudi Arabia is threatened from within and without. Domestically, Prince Naif’s Ministry keeps announcing foiling plots by ‘deviant’ people who conspire with the state’s enemies to ‘destabilize the country’ (overthrow his family). More dangerous, millions of restlessness young Saudi men and women (70% are under 30 years of age) are demanding better social and political life as well as rewarding jobs. Externally, Saudi Arabia is quagmired in a vicious boarder conflict with fierce Yemeni tribesmen who have been fighting their oppressive central government in Sanaa for more than four years. According to Saudi media, a group of Yemeni warriors crossed Saudi Arabia ’s southern border late last year, killed some Saudi border patrolmen and occupied Saudi villages. In response, Saudi Arabia , with the help of the Pakistani Army, began intense air bombardment of Yemen ’s Northern region, Saadah, where the rebels reside. In addition, Iraqi democracy, which the Saudi and other Gulf rulers consider a threat to their autocratic systems, is steadily evolving and gaining strength. Iran and its formidable proxies (Hezbollah and Hamas) are gaining power among Arabs and Muslims, further undermining Saudi influence in the region and globally.
Third, is what Prince Naif did not spell out but implied, according to the attached blurb. He was only reported to have said, Saudi Arabia ‘…is one of the best countries in the world in terms of security and economy.’ Known for his opposition to democratic reforms, Prince Naif is finally agreeing with what the world already knows and what many native Saudis have been fighting to change, the nature of the Saudi system which is considered one of the most oppressive regimes in the world.”
January 26, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ISRAEL HELPING THE HATIAN PEOPLE
One of the greatest tragedies of this new century has been the recent earthquake which devastated the island nation of Haiti. The estimates of the dead are topping 150,000 and the already poverty stricken country has had its entire infrastructure destroyed. In the wake of this horrific event the Israeli government and people have demonstrated a spirit of generosity and compassion second to none.
The Jerusalem Post reports on two missions designed to save lives that have been carried out by one of the most unfairly vilified organizations in the entire world, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). First young soldiers took on dangerous task of searching for survivors in the mounds of rubble that were once buildings and secondly a first class field hospital was set up. These labors have earned the IDF rare commendation even from consistent critics like CNN whose ”senior medical correspondent heaped praise on the IDF's work” and CBS has declared the field hospital the "Rolls-Royce of medicine in Haiti.”
You can see photos here and video here documenting Israel’s laudable humanitarian efforts.
January 26, 2010
[COMMENTS]
DEATHS IN EUROPE
One of the consequences of drug prohibition is that the illegal drugs people use are more dangerous than they would otherwise be. Because these substances are traded on the black market there is no quality control and they are often adulterated with harmful some times deadly ingredients. Such is the case in Europe where at least eight people have died from using heroin tainted with anthrax. Most of the deaths occurred in Scotland where the government’s answer to the situation has been, in many people’s opinion, cruel and wholly inadequate. The Drug War Chronicle reports that it has “responded by urging heroin users to stop using and to seek drug treatment. That advice has not gone over well with drug users and public health and harm reduction advocates, who are demanding an emergency public health response.”
January 25, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WHAT DOES SCOTT BROWN’S VICTORY MEAN?
The highly improbable victory of Republican Scott Brown over Democrat Martha Coakley in the special election to fill Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat is and will continue to be a subject of intense analysis. Left leaning commentators want to believe that it was the result of an extremely poor campaign by Coakley and a generalized anger that according to Barak Obama is "not just because of what's happened in the last year or two years, but what's happened over the last eight years." However, Charles Krauthammer is not buying that explanation. Instead, he argues that Brown won because he ”ran on a very specific, very clear agenda. Stop health care. Don't Mirandize terrorists. Don't raise taxes; cut them. And no more secret backroom deals with special interests.” Krauthammer also contends that the Democrats should have been able to see the signs that this would be a winning platform but they are asleep and he hopes they remain that way. Although, that would probably not be the best thing for the country.
January 22, 2010
[COMMENTS]
TARIQ RAMADAN TO BE ALLOWED INTO THE US
While Professor Tariq Ramadan likes to present himself as a moderate, many believe his scholarship and actions lend support to terrorist activity. That includes the Department of Homeland Security which denied him a visa to enter the United States in 2004 when Notre Dame offered him a teaching position. Now, lending credence to those who argue the Obama Administration is not serious about ending Islamic terrorism, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton will allow Ramadan and another professor with extremist leanings, Adam Habib, to come here. The saga of Ramadan’s efforts to spread his doctrine in America and the reasons that should have been prevented are well documented by Daniel Pipes here and here.
January 21, 2010
[COMMENTS]
OUR PRESIDENT STILL DOING FAVORS FOR THE SAUDI KING
Clearly the Bush family had a special connection with the Saudi royal family when they held the executive office. Now one of the most important voices discussing the relationship between Islam and the West, Nonie Darwish, is arguing that since the election of Barak Obama the situation has not changed, our president is still doing favors for the Saudi king. She points out that just when there is a new spirit of criticism and defiance is gaining strength within the Muslim world Obama’s bow to King Abdulla “was no small matter, but of great significance in Muslim culture. It is a Muslim symbol of subjugation and inferiority.” Darwish also asserts that the decision to hold terrorism trials in New York City “intentionally or unintentionally, will be contributing to reforming Islam’s image, supporting its old ways of doing business and suppressing the brave reformation movements across the Muslim world, a true New Year’s gift to King Abdullah.”
January 20, 2010
[COMMENTS]
MARTHA COAKLEY REWRITES BASEBALL HISTORY
The comprehensive overhaul of our medical care system may very well hinge on the vote of a single Senator. This makes the coming election in Massachusetts to replace Senator Edward Kennedy especially significant. If Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley wins healthcare reform will pass, however, if Republican Scott Brown wins the Democrats will no longer have a super majority making the legislation much less likely to succeed. An editorial by the Townhall.com staff maintains that Massachusetts law stipulates once the election is held the now sitting interim Senator will not be eligible to vote for the bill so any delaying tactics won’t work.
Those who believe the reform bill to be bad legislation can take solace in the exceptionally inept campaign being run by Coakley. Her latest gaffes include a self serving tone deaf speech at a Martin Luther King Day dinner clumsily attempting to tie his legacy to her political fortune and her assertion that Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling’s support for her opponent means nothing because Schilling of the bloody sock is a Yankees fan.
January 19, 2010
[COMMENTS]
PROBLEMS WITH HEALTH CARE REFORM
At best the proposed reform of our healthcare system seems very convoluted, at worst it appears to be blatantly unfair to certain groups such as people with good insurance plans who are not members of a union and those who live in states other than Nebraska. Two other aspects are also very troubling, the fact that despite numerous campaign promises by Barak Obama to televise proceedings surrounding the bill on CSPAN negotiations are in fact happening in secret and also because of a rushed atmosphere the legislators who have to vote on it will not have time to read the extremely lengthy law much lees discuss in a meaningful way its implications. This prompts GOPAC chair Frank Donatelli to ask a very simple question: “if the bill is so good, why does everyone need an exemption to vote for it?” Perhaps members of Congress should take a cue from the physicians they seem so keen to control and seek to first do no harm.
January 16, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE ELITIST VIEW OF ISLAMIC THREAT IS DANGEROUS
Protecting Americans from the threat of terrorist violence is more than a matter of physical security measures; it also involves perceptions and attitudes. In his response to critics who argue that Islamic terrorism is a product of western bigotry Tony Blankley asserts that “there is a widening gap between public common sense and governing class idiocy when it comes to spotting Islamist danger in our midst -- and doing something about it.” He also warns that the “slaughtered American troops at Fort Hood are just among the early few in what will surely become whole legions of the dead victims of political correctness -- if the public does not soon succeed at overruling the Western governing elite's unconscionable moral blindness to the malign danger in our midst.”
One person who has been working tirelessly and effectively for years to help solve the problem described by Blankley above is Steven Emerson. In 1995 he founded The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) to monitor and expose Jihadist activity. An outstanding profile of Emerson published in The Middle East Quarterly informs us that ”IPT has established itself as the most effective nongovernmental organization (NGO) monitoring Islamic radicalism. It is the only private entity in the United States that conducts undercover research into the activities of Islamist groups. To preserve its independence, IPT accepts no funds from the U.S. government or donors outside the United States.” It also reveals that his organization “maintains the world's largest collection of nongovernmental data on radical Islamic groups, including more than four million documents, thousands of hours of clandestine video and audio recordings made at radical Islamic conferences, training sessions, fundraising activities, and assorted gatherings; and tens of thousands of original terrorist manuals and periodicals.” Hopefully Emerson is destined to play a successful role in changing the attitudes of our leaders before it is too late.
January 13, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ONE VERSION OF THE CONSTITUTION BEING UPHELD IN NEW JERSEY
Medical marijuana has achieved another success, this time in New Jersey. The legislature has passed the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act and Governor John Corzine has already pledged to sign it. Marijuana law reformers can count another state, fourteen in all, in their victory column but another group of political activists, those concerned with the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution also have reason to celebrate.
When the law makers in New Jersey decided to change their policy concerning Cannabis use they did so with the full knowledge that the Supreme Court has ruled that federal law supersedes state policy when it comes medical marijuana. In effect these legislators were asserting their rights spelled out in the Tenth Amendment. In an article for the Tenth Amendment Center: the tenther grapevine author Michael Boldin points out that an “honest reading of the Constitution with an original understanding of the Founders and Ratifiers makes it quite clear that the federal government has no constitutional authority to override state laws on marijuana.” In his dissent of Gonzales v. Raich, the decision asserting federal supremacy on this issue, Justice Clarence Thomas countered the majority’s argument that the commerce clause applied by saying that the respondents “use marijuana that has never been bought or sold, that has never crossed state lines, and that has had no demonstrable effect on the national market for marijuana. If Congress can regulate this under the Commerce Clause, then it can regulate virtually anything–and the Federal Government is no longer one of limited and enumerated powers.” Boldin calls this effort to justify an unconstitutional federal intrusion into the affairs of the various states at best dubious and “at worst an intentional attack on the Constitution and your liberty.”
The Democratic Party has long history favoring the constitutional right of the states to resist federal interference, unfortunately most of this support has been associated with unconstitutional slavery and racial discrimination. Would it not be a good thing for both us and them if they reaffirmed that tradition in a much better cause, a more humane and effective drug policy?
Plainly, the issue of whether the politicians in New Jersey have the right to legitimize the use of medical marijuana has implications far beyond the limited subject of cannabis. For example, even before it has passed numerous state attorney generals are talking about challenging the federal health care reform bill with it thousands of unread, by those voting for it, pages and unfunded mandates. No matter what medical reform law President Obama signs there will surely be attempts to nullify it on Tenth Amendment grounds.
January 12, 2010
[COMMENTS]
SYSTEMIC FAILURE TO PROVIDE SECURITY
Since the attempt to destroy an airliner bound for Detroit by a Muslim from Nigeria on Christmas day there has been a renewed interest and commentary on the subject of terrorism. President Obama’s admission of “systemic failure” and the fact that it was the passengers themselves that prevented loss of life has given rise to a school of thought which argues that the system that failed is notion that government can and will make us secure.
Writing for The Independent Institute Ivan Eland argues that the terrorist mission failed not because of any government action but rather because of a change in attitude. He asserts that “even if the government had done nothing in the realm of anti-terrorism after 9/11, the skies would have been much safer. The reason is that aircrews and passengers changed their response to attempted aircraft hijackings. Prior to 9/11, pilots, flight attendants, and the flying public were of the mindset to cooperate with any hijackers. The image in their minds was of being flown to Cuba and eventually being released once the hijackers had publicized their cause. After 9/11, a vision of being slaughtered en masse and used to massacre even more non-passengers has been seared into the minds of the traveling public.”
Two articles appearing on Townhall.com also take up this same theme. Star Parker asks us to compare the record of government bureaucracy with of the private sector pointing out again that the actions of private citizens saved those lives on December 25th. Meanwhile, Allen Hunt offers six suggestions for restoring “security sanity” including the firing of Janet Napolitano and other Obama Administration officials. He also maintains that abolishing the TSA and returning responsibility for the safety of air travel to the airlines themselves would help.
January 11, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THE UNITED KINGDOM’S UNIVERSITIES AND RADICAL ISLAM
Ever since the attempted destruction of an airliner bound for Detroit by terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallah, who was affiliated with University College London, there has been an increased focus on the situation in Yemen as an important front in the war on terror. However, a Wall Street Journal editorial suggests that some of this attention should be directed at the universities in Great Britain. The piece argues that the incident is “reviving concerns in Britain that its universities and colleges—even the elite—can breed Islamic radicalism. In several of the terrorist plots linked to London since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S., the suspects have been university students or graduates. In many cases, the schools involved are among Britain's most prestigious, including UCL, King's College London and the London School of Economics, all of which receive taxpayer funding.”
January 9, 2010
[COMMENTS]
THIS ONE LEAVES ME SPEECHLESS
On December 30th suicide bomber Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi killed eight CIA agents in Afghanistan. Now Andrew Breitbart’s website is reporting that his wife, Defne Bayrack, has said “I am proud of my husband. He carried out a great operation in this war. I hope Allah will accept his martyrdom, if he has become a martyr.”
January 7, 2010
[COMMENTS]
OBAMA SUPPORTER CRITICAL OF RESPONSE TO ISLAMIC TERRORISM
In 2008 Barak Obama asked Edward I. Koch to help him get elected by reaching out to the Jewish community and he obliged. Now, Koch is in complete agreement with Charles Krauthammer’s column, War? What War?, which is highly critical of the president’s approach to the threat of Islamic terrorism. Koch tells Obama that he hopes “you read the Krauthammer column. It is not too late for you to recover from the setbacks you suffered in the year just ended. Your commitment to battling Islamic terrorism led by al-Qaida, which has a presence in an estimated 62 countries, must be believably reaffirmed with both words and deeds.”
January 6, 2010
[COMMENTS]
UNEXPECTED SOURCE OF SUPPORT FOR MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION
As the debate over decriminalizing marijuana advances new reasons to support the change in policy will surely continue to surface. In his story about the effort in California for the San Francisco Chronicle Joe Garofoli gives an example of this as he informs us that the “suburban ‘soccer moms’ who are likely voters have told pollsters that the measure, which would give local governments the authority to tax and regulate the sale of cannabis to adults 21 or older, would provide a safer way for their adult children to buy pot.”
January 5, 2010
[COMMENTS]
CANNABIS INITIATIVE ON EXPECTED BALLOT IN 2010
A second effort to decriminalize the use of marijuana in California is proceeding along the path of ballot initiative. In an excellent and comprehensive article Daniela Perdomo discusses the history, dynamics, and chances of the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. The organization behind this effort is called Tax Cannabis and judging from Perdomo’s essay and their website it seems they have a good strategy for success.
January 4, 2010
[COMMENTS]
WHAT WILL GREATER US INVOLVEMENT IN YEMEN MEAN?
Ever since the unsuccessful attempt to blow up an airliner bound for Detroit on Christmas day, supposedly conceived of in Yemen, many commentators have been calling for increased participation in that nation’s affairs by the United States and Great Britain. In his analysis of this prospect, drawn from personal experience with that country, Eric Margolis uses the analogy of kicking over a hornet’s nest. He points to some facts that should give us pause. He writes that a “military dictator, Ali Saleh, has held power since 1978. Saleh's U.S.-backed regime is accused of extensive human rights violations and deep corruption.” Margolis also tells us that poverty stricken “Yemen has three civil wars going on and bitter fighting between Sunni and various Shia sects. Yemen's warlike tribes hate any outside authority, starting with their own government.”
January 4, 2010
[COMMENTS]
ATTEMPTED MURDER IN THE NAME OF ISLAM
We are once again reminded that some Muslims believe it ethical to promote their religion through violence. Recently a Somali man attempted to murder Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard who has been under threat of death ever since a drawing of his depicting the Prophet Muhammad was published. However, we should also be aware that a group of moderate Muslims stated that the“Danish Muslim Union strongly distances itself from the attack and any kind of extremism that leads to such acts," If we are to win the war on terror their interpretation of Islam must be supported in every way possible.
January 2, 2010
[COMMENTS]
February 20, 2007
HIRSI ALI: ONE OF THE COURAGEOUS ISLAMIC REFUSENICKS
Her courage tells all who will listen about the horror of Islamic rules and the need for reform -- for Muslims and for the rest of us. See here.
February 15,
2007
TREBACH TO TALK AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
THURS FEB 22 - 1:30
PM
The
subtitle could be-- the criminal always returns to the scene of the
crime.
WHERE: School of International Service Lounge, Nebraska Avenue,
N.W.
Plenty
of parking across the street in the Nebraska lot.
All credit goes to SSDP - the American University chapter of
Students for Sensible Drug Policy -- and to AU Professor Jeff Schaler who will
moderate or MC the event. The students and Jeff took the lead in making
this appearance happen.
I will talk
primarily about my latest book FATAL DISTRACTION: The War on Drugs
in the Age of Islamic Terror. In addition, I will talk
about my 35 years or so at the forefront of drug policy research and reform and
my views on the failures and the future of the entire drug policy reform
movement.
All three books in
the Trebach Trilogy will also figure in the discussion and they will be
there for autographing and purchase -- in the event there are hardy,
wonderful souls who want to buy these amazing tomes.
My interest in drug
policy started in the Ward Circle Building at AU while I was teaching basic
administration of justice courses in the early Seventies. In part, because
I was encouraged by my colleagues to research and write books and in part
because writing was in my soul, I kept writing at AU. The
Heroin Solution and The Great Drug War were completed while I
was at AU. In each of the years when they were released the university
gave me the award as the outstanding scholar of the year. Parts of the latest
book were completed when I was still at AU but it was finished within the
last year, long after I retired from the university and became a professor
emeritus.
Thus, the existence
of the Trebach Trilogy -- put out by Unlimited Publishing LLC of Bloomington,
Indiana -- provides evidence that scholarship at AU does happen and is carried
on by many professors and students alike. It rarely gets the recognition it
deserves -- even though it resides at the core of the university
mission.
THE TREBACH TRILOGY IS AVAILABLE NOW!
FATAL DISTRACTION: The War on Drugs in the Age of Islamic Terror
Fatal Distraction is now available from major booksellers
Amazon.com
Barns and Noble
The Heroin Solution 2nd Edition
Available Now!
Amazon.com
Barns and Noble
Debunks myths about heroin: A classic by a leading expert on drugs, their medical uses and abuse by addicts. Comparative history of narcotics control and treatment in Britain and America. Includes extensive citations, bibliography, index. "A blockbuster," says Publishers Weekly.
"Eloquent and persuasive."
- The New York Times
The Great Drug War 2nd Edition
The Great Drug War
by Arnold S. Trebach
Formerly published by Macmillan; 2005 edition from UP includes new introduction and links to extensive source materials.
"At last! A professor, attorney, and writer who offers a reasonable and realistic approach to the drug problem in America."
-- Psychology Today
"This controversial study is likely to be widely discussed."
-- Publishers Weekly
"...Trebach's proposals are worthy of serious consideration... Highly recommended."
-- Library Journal
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