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Today's program has been brought to you by the letters "I", "D" and "F"
Good news. Looks like we're finally getting serious about the illegal immigration situation. Check out this slick video put together by the State Department and the... what?
... the U.S. Israeli embassy?
The Department of Homeland Security sees no benefit in allowing you back into the United States.
Veteran Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel made an impassioned plea to religious leaders Friday, calling on them to lobby members of Congress and the Obama administration to remember the "lesser of my brothers and sisters" during this weekend's debt negotiations.Nice of you to work Allah into the mix, Chuck. Equal opportunity religious/social justice pandering.
"What would Jesus do this weekend? Or Moses. Or Allah. Or anyone else," the New York congressman said at a press conference on Capitol Hill. "I don't want this book (debt negotiations) closed without the clergy having an opportunity to forcefully express themselves as well as I know they can do."
America is getting good at muddling through.
That was the economy's disheartening growth story in the first half of 2011. Things may not look much different in the second half.
Israel was included erroneously on a U.S. Department of Homeland Security terrorist watch list, a U.S. official said.
John Morton, the director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the department, said Israel's recent appearance on a list compiled by the department's office of the inspector general was a mistake.
"The addition of Israel in the OIG’s list of ICE's 'Third-Agency Checks' (TAC) was based on inaccurate information provided to the OIG during the course of its audit," Morton said in a statement sent by e-mail to JTA. "The U.S. does not and never has considered Israel to have links to terrorism, but rather they are a partner in our efforts to combat global terrorism. The United States maintains close intelligence-sharing relationships with Israel in order to address security issues within its own borders and in our mutual pursuit of safety and security around the globe."
Organizers behind the US 'Audacity of Hope' Gaza flotilla ship announced Wednesday they were throwing in the towel and would not be going to Gaza.
"The Greek government’s willingness to serve as the enforcer of Israeli’s naval blockade of Gaza made it impossible for this journey to happen," organizers complained on their website.
"Now our folks are beginning the journey home – some will arrive today, some tomorrow and others in the days ahead," the organizers wrote of the ship's 37 passengers and 4 crew.
The 'Audacity of Hope' was stopped by the Hellenic Coast Guard when it tried to leave port without permission on Friday.
The engine of most of our job growth is still suffering two years after the recession supposedly ended. When will the White House and Congress start listening to the problems of small business?(italics, ours)
Small businesses were once rightly seen as the entrepreneurial backbone of our nation's economy and way of life. But today they're demonized by the White House as "millionaires and billionaires," and the medicine that's been forced down their throats — $830 billion of stimulus, $1.7 trillion of Fed mad-money, $700 billion of TARP bailouts and $1.75 trillion in yearly regulation costs — has only made them sicker.
Small businesses bear the brunt of this failed experiment in Keynesianism. U.S. Bancorp's 2011 small business survey, just released last month, shows the vast majority of small businesses — 78% to be exact — "think the U.S. economy is currently in recession," despite Obama's whopping stimulus.
Worse, 85% believe things won't get any better next year.
Hey, Leslie, you ought to go on vacation more often, huh?
Plant a garden in your front yard - go to jail.Shane Atwell has the details, here. Video included.
Via Secular Apostate: More Zionist propoganda*
Quick tutorial on what returning to the pre-1967 borders would mean to the defense of Israel.
* Holy smokes... it's, it's... just darn near irresistable. (Also, just want to see how many hits we get because of it)
Bibi-mania continues here at BwD. The highlights from his speech before a joint session of Congress yesterday morning are below.
We love this guy's style: Both arms resting on the podium to where he's almost slumped over at times, a conversational, matter-of-fact tone rather than a proclamatory or a speechifying one. We liked how Foxfier described it:
The Israeli PM's voice doesn't fit the "professional politician" photos I keep seeing of him-- he sounds more like a retired Navy chief, lots of yelling in his history, and for goodness' sake don't think he's less than smart because of it.
"We have to ask the question... why has peace not been achieved? Because so far, the Palestinians have been unwilling to accept a Palestinian state as long as it meant accepting a Jewish state alongside it".
The radical Muslim does not hate America because of us (Isreal), they hate us because of America.
How do you know when this whole flash mob thing has jumped the shark? When Code Pink employs a bizarre Israel-bashing one of their own to protest the kickoff of the AIPAC conference last week in Washington D.C., that's how.
Apartheid? Racist?
Given Code Pink's context those are interesting terms given 20% of Israeli citizens are Arab and who also enjoy the full benefits of citizenship as well as being eligible to sit in the Knesset, Israel's parliament.
We are unaware of any Arab state where Jews are represented in this number and are afforded the same benefits of citizenship.
Addendum #1 (via Left Coast Rebel): Speaking of Code Pink, they decided to drop into Bibi's address to Congress earlier today and exercise their 1st amendment rights. And here's Bibi dropping the hammer, making a great point about democracies and getting the assembled eating out of his hand all in the span of 15 seconds.
Just reminds us of how far we've lowered the bar for great public speaking over the past few years.
So, who said the following?:
"It will be the policy of the United States to promote reform across the region, and to support transitions to democracy."
"We share your hope and your vision for the spread of democracy in the Middle East."
(Pre-1967 boundaries) "...were not the boundaries of peace, they were the boundaries of repeated wars because the attacks on Israel were so attractive from them."
"The Israeli government cannot negotiate with a Palestinian government that is backed by Hamas."
On the precariousness of the "peace process": "History will not give the Jewish people another chance".
A Sharm El Sheikh marine biologist slammed the conspiracy theory circulating around the country that last week's shark attacks off the South Sinai resort of Sharm El-Sheikh were part of an Israeli conspiracy, but the South Sinai governor supports it.
Mahmoud Hanafy, a professor of marine biology at the Suez Canal University, told Ahram Online that it is "sad," that Egyptian national TV helped propogate the theory that the shark attacks, which resulted in one death and four serious injuries this week, may have been controlled by Israel.
Speaking on the public TV program "Egypt Today" yesterday, a specialist introduced as "Captain Mustafa Ismail, a famous diver in Sharm El Sheikh," said that the sharks involved in the attack are ocean sharks and do not live in Egypt's waters.
When asked by the anchor how the shark entered Sharm El Sheikh waters, he burst out, "no, it's who let them in?"
OK, we've got Elton. Who's up for another conservo-libertarian British musician mascot?
Johnny Rotten, anyone?
I really resent the presumption that I'm going there to play to right-wing Nazi jews [sic]. If Elvis-f-ing-Costello wants to pull out of a gig in Israel because he's suddenly got this compassion for Palestinians, then good on him. But I have absolutely one rule, right? Until I see an Arab country, a Muslim country, with a democracy, I won't understand how anyone can have a problem with how they're treated.
"You live in Chevy Chase. Don't play with our future."
Now we're beginning to understand from where all those totally bitchin' ideas hatched by Center for American Progress and MoveOn.org were originating.
F.B.I. agents who had tracked a Russian spy ring for more than a decade moved quickly to roll up the network after learning that one of the suspected spies was planning to fly out of the United States on Sunday night, according to two American officials familiar with the case.
Mr. Metsos is accused of being a money man in the case, collecting cash from a Russian official assigned to the United Nations and delivering it to others in the ring, who were accused of spending years living undercover in American cities and suburbs, posing as ordinary couples working ordinary jobs, chatting to the neighbors about schools and apologizing for noisy teenagers. Their purpose, according to prosecutors, was to patiently penetrate what one coded message called American “policy making circles.”
The Gaza "Peace flotilla" dust-up hits the West Coast:
An Israeli cargo ship arriving in Oakland today was forced to sit idle and not offload its containers when longshoremen joined forces with a coalition of communist and Islamist groups who picketed the port in protest against the recent violent incident off the coast of Gaza.
The ship, owned by Zim Lines, was not carrying any controversial cargo, nor is Zim involved in politics in any way; it was targeted simply because the shipping company is based in Israel.
The planned protest and blockade were organized by The Free Palestine Movement (one of the same groups which organized the Gaza “flotilla” in the first place) as well as a rogues’ gallery of nearly every communist, anti-Israel and radical Islamist group in the Bay Area:
In one fell swoop, Helen Thomas reminds us that it isn't about the settlements, it isn't about blockades, it isn't about the Israelis' treatment of Palestinians and it sure isn't about this quaint notion of a two-state solution which will allegedly bring peace to the Middle East. This is all about Israel in its most existential sense. It has never been nor will it ever be anything else for the domestic and international anti-Israeli left but what they perceive as the illegitimacy of the Israeli state.
We ought to thank Ms. Thomas for clearing up the misconceptions that have clouded the Middle East peace process for years now.
And we can't help but think that some of the outrageous outrage is due to the fact that Thomas "outed" many of those sympathetic to the Palestinian cause with her remarks.
Also, given the fact that anti-Israel and anti-semitism have gone more mainstream over the years, we're actually somewhat shocked over the backlash against Thomas.
Work held us up so we’re a little late to the party but the transcript of the President’s Address at Cairo University can be found here. It’s long but we encourage everyone to read it in its entirety.
Current mood: Pleasantly surprised. Encouraged, perhaps?
Yes, there is the obligatory make-nice but this speech was, after all, an attempt at beginning a dialog between this country (and the West) and Islam and the degree of pandering was not much more than we heard from President Bush with respect to Islam. But there was also some uncompromising language and mild scoldings.
On the War on Terror:
The situation in Afghanistan demonstrates America’s goals, and our need to work together. Over seven years ago, the United States pursued al Qaeda and the Taliban with broad international support. We did not go by choice, we went because of necessity. I am aware that some question or justify the events of 9/11. But let us be clear: al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people on that day. The victims were innocent men, women and children from America and many other nations who had done nothing to harm anybody. And yet Al Qaeda chose to ruthlessly murder these people, claimed credit for the attack, and even now states their determination to kill on a massive scale. They have affiliates in many countries and are trying to expand their reach. These are not opinions to be debated; these are facts to be dealt with.
Make no mistake: we do not want to keep our troops in Afghanistan. We seek no military bases there. It is agonizing for America to lose our young men and women. It is costly and politically difficult to continue this conflict. We would gladly bring every single one of our troops home if we could be confident that there were not violent extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan determined to kill as many Americans as they possibly can. But that is not yet the case.
Let me also address the issue of Iraq. Unlike Afghanistan, Iraq was a war of choice that provoked strong differences in my country and around the world. Although I believe that the Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, I also believe that events in Iraq have reminded America of the need to use diplomacy and build international consensus to resolve our problems whenever possible. Indeed, we can recall the words of Thomas Jefferson, who said: “I hope that our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be.”
Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust. Tomorrow, I will visit Buchenwald, which was part of a network of camps where Jews were enslaved, tortured, shot and gassed to death by the Third Reich. Six million Jews were killed – more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today. Denying that fact is baseless, ignorant, and hateful. Threatening Israel with destruction – or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews – is deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve.
Freedom of religion is central to the ability of peoples to live together. We must always examine the ways in which we protect it. For instance, in the United States, rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation. That is why I am committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill zakat.
Israel's leading female tennis player, Shahar Peer, was refused a visa for entry into the United Arab Emirates yesterday, as politics threatened the future of one of the world's richest tennis tournaments.
The UAE does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and tournament organisers believe the decision to refuse entry to Peer was a reaction to the recent conflict in Gaza.
Pending further deliberations, the tournament could yet be cancelled, or scrapped in future, as the WTA last night insisted that a prerequisite for tournaments played under its rules was that players had free and equal access to all events. The WTA chief executive, Larry Scott, said he was "deeply disappointed" by the UAE decision to deny Peer a visa.
Nothing better illustrates the un-level playing field faced by Israel and the asymmetrical warfare being waged against her by her enemies than this: Israel, earlier today, exchanged 5 Hezbollah prisoners including one, Samir Kuntar, who had been convicted of murdering 2 men and a 4-year old girl back in 1979 in exchange for two Israeli soldiers… two dead Israeli soldiers.
Two soldiers whose ultimate fate the Israelis did not even know until the television crews captured the arrival of the two coffins carrying the remains of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev who had been captured by Hezbollah militants on Israeli soil in 2006 in order to leverage the release of Kuntar. What this capture and holding of the two Israelis precipitated was the 34-day conflict between Lebanon and Israel which was brought to an end by a U.N.-brokered truce and which was largely seen as a huge political victory for Hezbollah and defeat for Israel.
"Regev's father, Zvi, said he broke down the moment he saw a television broadcast of Hezbollah militants unloading the coffins from a van."
Imagine clinging to the hope that it’s your son springing out of the back of that van only to see a coffin, instead.
"It's not a happy choice," Israeli President Shimon Peres said Tuesday before signing a pardon for the convict, Samir Kuntar. "On one hand, we have the most terrible murderer. On the other hand, we have our commitment to our boys who were sent to fight for their country. It is our moral duty and our heartfelt wish to see them come back."
Color us confused. We thought it was official Israeli policy to not negotiate with terrorists. Perhaps Hezbollah is not officially recognized as a terrorist group then how about a corollary about not negotiating with savages? And if its not “negotiating” one is stretching the bounds of credulity to then call it a “prisoner swap”.
"Even so, polls suggest a wide majority of Israelis support the swap. That sentiment was mobilized by relatives of the missing soldiers, notably Ehud Goldwasser's mother, Mickey, who called the deal "a victory for the Israeli nation and what it holds dear."
We suppose we have to walk a mile in Israel’s shoes but we hope to God we never get to the point they are at now. We understand that certain concessions must be made from time to time when you are surrounded by nations wholy bent on your destruction, especially when you are ham-strung by political forces and international pressure to NOT do what is in your country’s best strategic interets, but this… this is just sad.
Full story and accompanying video here.
Sometimes you know you’re doing the right thing merely by gauging the reaction of others.
Bush made his Happy 60th, Israel! speech in the Knesset. Here are some excerpts.
“We believe that free people should strive and sacrifice for peace. So we applaud the courageous choices Israeli's leaders have made. We also believe that nations have a right to defend themselves and that no nation should ever be forced to negotiate with killers pledged to its destruction.”
“Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”
The last excerpt has touched off the sadly predictable howls of protest and hurt from a few people over here expressing shock and dismay that the President would utter such words. Obama, the mad bomber, Hillary, Pelosi and Biden all felt what Bush said was simply beyond the pale. Actually, no really cares what Pelosi or Biden have to say so we didn’t bother linking. Camp Obama’s response was reportedly so quick on the heels of Bush’s speech, one had to wonder if Obama wasn’t acting just a wee too defensive.
And in case anyone cared what he had to say, Rahm Emanuel, the House Democratic Caucus Chairman opined: "The tradition has always been that when a U.S. president is overseas, partisan politics stops at the water's edge. President Bush has now taken that principle and turned it on its head: for this White House, partisan politics now begins at the water’s edge, no matter the seriousness and gravity of the occasion. Does the president have no shame?”
Oh really?
At least in proving their carbon creds, people like Murtha, Durbin and Kerry don’t even bother going overseas to inject their partisan politics into national security discussions.
Big ups to Gateway Pundit who has been all over this.
P.S. And Yes...! Happy Birthday, Israel! Long may we be worthy of your alliance and friendship.
Ruben Navarette, who fills in occasionally on Michael Medved’s radio show, is a fairly sensible, moderate type and its precisely this sensible moderation that causes him to take the most preposterous lines of reasoning in the illegal immigration debate.
You see, Mr. Navarette thinks there’s a double standard with this whole flag business. He would have you believe that the marchers and rally attenders waving Mexican flags at pro-illegal alien demonstrations are just like the people waving Irish flags at St. Patty’s Day parades or Jews and supporters of Israel waving Israeli flags at the rally held just recently in the nation’s capitol celebrating Israel’s 60th birthday. They’re all just proud of their heritage, you know. Yes, he said that. Read here.
It’s this sort of soft-headed logic in attempting to find that hallowed middle-ground in this contentious debate that causes us to actually have more respect for the Mexican flag-wavers than we do for people like Navarette. At least the flag-wavers are right up front and out in the open with what it is that they want and how they feel about this country and its laws and … you. Navarette, on the other hand, in attempting to be "fair and balanced" winds up making a fool of himself.
Then again, we could be totally off-base. We could be completely misreading these peoples' love for this country and its respect for this country’s laws, culture and sovereignty.
In fact, we're pretty sure now that Navarette is correct and this is just their unique way of exhibiting their American patriotism.
Yep... We're sorry. It's been just one big misunderstanding. We hope you all will forgive us this waste of a post.
One has got to think that Hamas “agreed” to a peace proposal just to get the old nag out of their hair.
For as much fun as it might’ve been for Hamas to stick the “kick me” sign on Carter’s backside for a few days its almost certain that the old adage regarding fish, houseguests and a 72 hr. shelf life certainly applied here.
After much fanfare and a waste of 24 column-inches in today’s fishwrap (story here), Carter ultimately has or most certainly will have nothing to show for his efforts. 
Bottom line: despite the proposed formation of a Palestinian state and recognition of Israel based upon a referendum of the Palestinian people AND despite assurances by Hamas that they will abide by this referendum, the terms agreed-upon still give Hamas substantial room to back out later. Further, Hamas leader-in-exile, Khaled Meshaal, (pictured) who met with Carter in Syria has gone on record as saying Hamas will not recognize Israel despite any referendum passed by the Palestinians.
So there you have it. America’s premier affordable housing developer continues to be a tool….. of terrorist interests in the Middle East.
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