Tuesday, September 30, 2014

First Ebola Case Found In USA ..And Some Facts On Symptoms and Prevention

 ebola

Well, given our refusal to enforce our borders and the amount of people coming in illegally every day without health checks, this had to occur sooner or later. This patient, in Dallas, Texas had recently traveled to Liberia.Th eCDC is racing to identify everyone he may have had contact with.

Expect other diseases we thought we'd never see again to surface as well, especially in the public schools.And via the 3,000 U.S. troops our president unwisely sent there.

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Airports apparently have no way to screen for Ebola, and of course simply forbidding Americans to travel to the stricken countries or quaranteening those whom return from them upon entry to America, the way a sane country would handle an epidemic disease for which there is currently no vaccination or cure is, you know, politically incorrect.

Instead, the CDC is issuing guidelines to funeral homes, with all that implies.

A decent basic primer on Ebola symptoms and some good tips on prevention can be found here.


A Good Example Of How Islamist Apologists Lie About What's In The Bible

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I frequently find that Islamist apologists ( and many atheists) have a cute if deplorable habit - they attempt to rationalize or make trivial the brutality committed in the name of Islam by citing out of context Biblical verses to show that 'all religion is the same' or that the Qu'ran and the Bible are similar.

Here's a good example I'd thought I'd share with you that appeared in the comments section of a Breitbart Article about the scandal of Muslim pedophile rape gangs in Rotherham, UK and the local police and government's deliberate and knowing failure to deal with it in the name of political correctness while over 1,400 young British girls were victimized.

In response to a statement that there's nothing in the Bible that allows this kind of behavior, one 'Dr. Polidori' responded:

"... kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, save alive for yourselves." - Numbers 31:17-18

Sounds pretty damning, doesn't it? At least until you know the whole story.

This verse specifically refers to the Midianites and it is not a guide to behavior towards any other  people or wars in the future. Numbers 25 tells how the Midianites, specifically the women, led the Israelites astray into worshiping the idol Baal, and kindled G-ds anger so that He struck the Israelites with a plague, which only ended when Pinchas, the grandson of Aaron, killed an Israelite man and the Midianite woman he brought into his family (Numbers 25:6-9).

That's why the women 'who had lain with man' were to be killed but the ones whom hadn't were spared. Moses was concerned that the Midianite women 'who had lain with men', including Israelites would corrupt the Hebrew nation and lead them into sin and idolatry again.

This verse also implies ('save alive for yourselves') that the Isrealites took the Midianite virgins as spoils and sex slaves. Nothing could be further from the truth.

For one thing, it would have been sinful for the Israelite men to rape the Midianite girls because rape was (and still is) abhorrent and sinful to G-d (Deuteronomy 22:23-28, esp. 25).

And secondly, the Torah, unlike the Qu'ran with its' 'What thy right hand possesses' doctrine (Qu'ran 4:24) specifically forbids such behavior.

In Deuteronomy 20-14, it states explicitly that female captives are NOT to be raped or sold into slavery but to shave their heads and cut their nails ( to make them less desirable to their captors) and are to be allowed 30 days to mourn without being enslaved,molested or coerced in any way - after which they are free to leave or to be married to their captors.

Only a truly perverse mentality would attempt to rationalize what's being done in the name of Islam by promulgating a vile lie about something that was actually an attempt to mitigate the fate of women captured in war and their status as booty.

The usual disclaimer..many Muslims likewise would never indulge in the sort of behavior  characterized by Qu'ran 4:24  and numerous other places in the Qu'ran and Hadiths. But the fact remains that there is definitely a religious justification for this treatment of women, especially non-Muslims, and that a substantial number of Muslims adhere to that interpretation of Islam, including many prominent imams,  Qaddis, clerics and scholars of both Sunni and Shi'te Islam.

We see this in action every day, and until we admit it instead of rationalizing it, it's going to not only continue but to become even more blatant.

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Post-Oklahoma Attack: Personal And Family Security Tips

By Michael Haltman

 

The unimaginable attack at an Oklahoma plant last week was a stark and unfortunate reminder that the need for vigilance and situational awareness has grown more acute!
And while this topic is an uncomfortable one that some may prefer to ignore, it's critical to at the very least follow some basic and fundamental rules for personal and family safety.
The tips that are provided below are by no means all-encompassing but they lay some excellent groundwork.
Fundamentals of Individual Protection include:
General Awareness Tips.

  • Maintain situational awareness of your surroundings at all times. Pay particular attention to activity happening around you in order to identify anything unusual. If necessary, leave the area and report suspicious activity or behavior to local authorities.
  • Protect your personal information at all times. Do not reveal details of your personal life (such as where you live, work, family members, your association with the U.S. military, email address or phone numbers) to anyone you don’t know and trust.
  • Do not discuss personal information in public, on the telephone or on the internet. Take extra precaution with social media networks (such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs) -- avoid posting or providing personal information. Criminals and terrorists are known to use these forums for open source information gathering and for recruitment and these media do not provide “secure” communications.
Individual Awareness at Home:
  • Basic security begins with the home. Make sure your door and window locks and exterior lighting function properly. Children should keep doors and windows locked when home alone.
  • Participate in a neighborhood watch program to establish a shared responsibility for the safety and security of your local community.
  • Be prepared for an emergency that may require your family to “shelter-in-place” or relocate on short notice. Make a family emergency plan and ensure all family members understand what to do in each of these scenarios.
Individual Awareness at Work:
  • Know the emergency evacuation procedures for the place where you work.
  • Know the bomb threat procedures and how to report threats to local law enforcement or security authorities.
  • Understand what to do in an “active shooter” threat scenario.
Individual Awareness while Traveling:

  • Maintain a “low profile.” Try to blend in with the local populace through how you dress and your appearance -- especially when traveling abroad. Know the locations of safe havens and carry with you the emergency telephone numbers.
  • Understand the culture where you are traveling and learn basic survival phrases (such as “I need a police officer” and “I need a doctor”).
  • Avoid civil disturbances or demonstrations of any kind – these events can turn violent with little to no advanced warning.
  • Public venues with large crowds present lucrative terrorist targets. Understand the risks of attending public venues based on the history of terrorist attacks in your area and security provided at the event.
  • Never travel alone; always travel in groups of two or more. Think ahead and choose safe travel modes and routes.
Cross posted at The Political Commentator

The Watcher's Council Weasel of The Week Nominations!!!

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Hello and welcome to the Watcher's Council's  'Weasel Of The Week' nominations,  where we award the golden plastic Weasel to a public figure who particularly deserves to be publicly slimed and mocked for his or her dastardly deeds during the week. Every Tuesday morning, tune in for the Weasel of the Week nominations and check back Thursday to see which Weasel gets the votes and walks off with the statuette of shame!

 
Here are this weeks' nominees:

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 President Barack Hussein Obama!!

The Noisy Room:  Barack Obama for his 'Latte Salute' of his Marine guard this past week. It was one of the most disgraceful, disrespectful things I have ever seen. The salute reveals Obama's true feelings towards the military and his contempt and utter disrespect for our warriors. How very un-presidential... how very un-Commander-in-Chief.

While it is protocol for U.S. service members in uniform to salute the Commander-in-Chief, it’s not required for a civilian president to salute back, military experts say. Ronald Reagan is thought to have set precedent for the practice back in 1981, so this is also a slap at Reagan. The salute is not required, but expected by Americans and the military. Since Obama is also left handed, some looked at this gesture as calculated. He did it with his right hand. By the way, Obama is a tea drinker normally, not a coffee drinker.


The Independent Sentinel: I have to name Barack Obama again. He blamed the intelligence community for his refusal to act on the ISIS threat during a 60 Minutes interview Sunday.

“Well, I think our head of the intelligence community, Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that I think they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria,” Obama told Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes.
Everyone in the world who is paying attention knows he's lying.



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Radovan Karadzic, Former President Of The Bosnian Serb Republic!!

The Glittering Eye:Although I was tempted to nominate George Clooney, I finally settled on the supervillain who was back in the news this week: Radovan Karadzic. As president of the Bosnian Serb Republic he was a driving force behind the murders of thousands of Bosnian men and boys and deserves the lengthy imprisonment that very few really doubt he will receive.



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  Suhaib Webb former imam of of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, and currently imam of the Islamic Society of Boston!!

 Virginia Right!: For best taquiyyah performance as a 'peaceful Muslim.' Imam Webb's most recent newsmaker was to publicly apologize to ISIS and al-Qaeda for criticizing them.




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MSNBC's Melissa Harris Perry!!

 Nice Deb:For refusing to see the OBVIOUS link to radical Islam in the Oklahoma beheading.

She repeated the administration spin that it was "workplace violence" and condemned any references to his Islamic faith when discussing the crime with her equally clueless guests.

A week after an ISIS beheading plot was disrupted in Australia - the very week an ISIS commander called for lone wolf attacks in America - specifically for beheadings, a Muslim jailhouse convert who has jihadist pictures on his Facebook page, beheads a co-worker while reportedly shouting Muslim phrases - and this dim bulb can't see the connection? She can't connect the dots? Or she feels compelled to push a politically correct counter-narrative because she feels the American people can't be trusted with the truth?

Whatever the case - it's pathetic - and weaselly.


  Well, there it is! Are these worthy weasels or what? Check back Thursday to see which Weasel walks off with the statuette of shame!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum.

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?


Monday, September 29, 2014

Forum: Why Did Eric Holder Resign And What's Next?



Every week on Monday morning , the Council and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week's question:Why Did Eric Holder Resign And What's Next?

The Noisy Room :I believe there are a number of possibilities as to why and when Holder stepped down:

1. The first thing I heard was that Holder was stepping down because of Fast and Furious. Though he is leaving the scene of the crime, he is still under Congressional investigation. A judge has denied a delay requested by the DOJ concerning the document list connected to the case. The documents had previously been withheld under Obama’s claim to executive privilege:

The list, better known as a Vaughn index, was requested through a June 2012 FOIA filing by government watchdog Judicial Watch. When DOJ didn’t respond to the FOIA request in the time required by law, Judicial Watch sued in September 2012, seeking all documents DOJ and the White House are withholding from Congress under executive privilege claims. President Obama made the assertion on June 20, 2012 just moments before Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt. In July 2014, after two years of battling for information, Judge Bates ordered the Department of Justice to release the Vaughn Index by October 1. DOJ responded by asking for a month long delay in releasing the list with a deadline of November 3, just one day before the 2014-midterm elections. That request has been denied. A short delay was granted and DOJ must produce the Vaughn index by October 22.

“The government’s arguments for even more time are unconvincing,” Bates said in his ruling. “[S]eventy-five days—plus another twenty-one, based in part on Judicial Watch’s consent—is enough time for the government to prepare the index that this Court has ordered, given that this matter has been pending for over two years. The Court will therefore extend the Department’s Vaughn index submission deadline to October 22, 2014—and no further.”;

“The government argues that it must devote significant numbers of attorneys to this matter if it hopes to comply with the current Vaughn index deadline … But the Department has known about its Vaughn index obligations since July 18, 2014 … At best, it means the Department has been slow to react to this Court’s previous Order. At worst, it means the Department has ignored that Order until now,” he added.

The House Oversight Committee is also suing for the release of the Vaughn index and earlier this month U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered DOJ to produce requested information to lawmakers by November 1.

This scandal and Holder’s flat out refusal to cooperate, landed him a Contempt of Congress charge, which he is still subject to. Most legal experts, though, believe he will walk. Sigh. However, that being said, Judicial Watch believes they are very close to nailing Holder’s hide to a wall.

2. Holder may be stepping down so that Obama can appoint a new Attorney General before the 2014 elections take place, which could go badly for the Democrats. However, this is subject to confirmation and there probably is not time for that.

There are those that would fight against this a la Harry Reid and the Nuclear Option move; Ted Cruz is chief among them. He called for Holder’s impeachment and now he intends to make sure Conservatives have a say in the next Attorney General of the United States. And Cruz has a plan:

Cruz, who has previously made the case for impeaching Holder in an attempt to have a special prosecutor investigate the IRS, doesn’t want a confirmation battle to take place during the lame-duck session.
“To ensure that justice is served and that the attorney general is not simply replaced with another extreme partisan who will likewise disregard the law, the Senate should wait until the new Congress is sworn in before confirming the next attorney general,” Cruz said in a Thursday afternoon statement. “Allowing Democratic senators, many of whom will likely have just been defeated at the polls, to confirm Holder’s successor would be an abuse of power that should not be countenanced.”;

Republican senators have the ability to slow down the process.

“With Republican opposition, any nominee could take as long as three weeks before even clearing the Senate Judiciary Committee, because of rules that guarantee them, as the minority party, a chance to delay the vote,” the Los Angeles Times explains. “Following that, the Senate floor debate could take a week to clear all the procedural hurdles at the Republican minority’s disposal to stall the vote.”;

Get em, Ted! He seems to be one of the very few in our halls of power with the stones to take on the bad guys. Why, his actions are almost Presidential!

3. Holder could be angling for a seat on the Supreme Court. Obama was tearful when making the announcement. Horsepuckey… Holder isn’t going anywhere… he’s shifting. And one possible shift is just too horrific to contemplate. Rush Limbaugh floated the possibility that Holder is stepping down so he can be nominated for the Supreme Court. Words fail me and the cringe thingie is getting worse. By all that is Holy, please let Rush be wrong this one time. Please.

I predict that whatever is next, it will not be good.

The Independent Sentinel:I think Eric Holder stepped down because he has something better in the offing. Let's hope it's not Supreme Court Justice. It will also allow the White House to shut down the scandal investigations even further.

The possible picks for his replacement aren't any better.

 JoshuaPundit: Well, a couple of things.

First off, it's obvious to me that this was planned far in advance. Holder and this president have already shown their contempt for congress and the law numerous times, anything incriminating has likely already been cleaned up ala' IRS-gate with its  the mysterious missing hard drives, serial obstruction of justice  and computer failures and the time factor is on Holder and the attorney general's side.  - even if the GOP take the Senate and in the unlikely event  John Boehner finds out where his testicles are hidden, it's probably far too late in the game for a special prosecutor to be appointed, hearings to conclude  or a trial on articles of impeachment in the senate  before the 2016 election and President Barack Hussein Obama's exit in January of 2017. And because of Obama's race, there's no will to do so, which is racism en extremis, but that's the reality.We are indeed cowards when it comes to race.

The lame duck congress reconvenes November 12th, and there are very few legislative business left after that before the holiday break. By resigning now, Holder gives the president a chance to shove the new nominee through with as little time for vetting as possible because Reid will pull the nuclear option again.

If I had to lay odds on who the new AG nominee will be, I'd say Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, the former Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the United States DOJ.He's a creature of George Soros, has a history of advocating for amnesty for illegal aliens,and knows the DOJ intimately including where all the bodies are buried. He's also a Leftist Radical skilled at racial politics, and he's Latino, a demographic where the president has been lagging in the polls lately. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, famed for his anti-Wall Street activities would also be a logical choice politically, fitting in with Obama's fake 'warrior for the middle class' rhetoric.

The Supreme Court? The closest member to 'retirement' is Ruth Bader Ginsberg, whom regardless of what you think of her politics is waging a courageous battle against pancreatic cancer. Her life is the Supreme Court, her fellow justices are all close friends (particularly Justice Scalia)and she has voiced criticism of this president's extra-constitutional attitudes before. She has said numerous times that she's not resigning and likely intends to stay until she's carried out. While Majority Leader Harry Reid would not hesitate for a second to break the rules on the nuclear option which allow the filibuster on SCOTUS nominees, I'd be very surprised if the votes for the sort of radical Barack Obama would nominate will be there after January 2015.

GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD : AG Holder will no doubt enjoy and enrich via a brilliant career in the race industry and who can say? Perhaps he'll finally have an overtly robust discussion with several cowards.

The next AG may actually be a very familiar face - former Homeland Security's Big Sis - Janet Napolitano.

Hilarity shall NOT ensue

Bookworm Room : I don't actually have any opinions of my own on this one, so I'll recycle two opinions that I've read. I've read that Holder stepped down because the Fast & Furious investigation was getting too close and he needed to spare the Obama administration embarrassment. Other investigations grinding there way through the House are also too hot if he's still in the Justice Department. What's next is an expensive lobbyist job and an eventual furiously hyped, tell-nothing book tour.

I've also read that Obama is trying to get Ruth Bader Ginsberg off the Supreme Court and Eric Holder on. Since Obama has some reason to believe that Republicans will gain enough seats to take control of the Senate, he can only replace Ginsberg with Holder by acting before January 2015. Ginsberg's apparently fighting her removal, but I suspect, if this theory has any weight, that she'll be made to obey. The fact that Eric Holder has enough baggage to fill a 747 will be irrelevant. Reid's Senate will do away with the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations and vote him in.

Holder will then become the most corrupt, partisan, administration foot soldier ever to sit on the Supreme Court. Ordinary Americans, even some Democrats, will be disgusted by the process and the Supreme Court will be yet another branch of the government that becomes corrupt and declines, both in fact and in perception, on the Obama watch.

 The Right Planet : I can only speculate as to why Eric Holder decided to step down now. But I do find it interesting a federal judge recently ordered the DoJ to provide Congress with documents related to the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal. On the other hand, six years is a fairly long stint as head of the Justice Department. So, who knows.

Holder said at the White House, "I think I go out having accomplished a great deal in the areas that are of importance to me. I'm satisfied with the work we have done."

Huh. It's "nice" to know Holder has been working on things that are important to him during his time at the Department of Justice.

Attorney General Eric Holder has provided a firewall for Barack Obama, deflecting any serious congressional inquiries into alleged wrongdoing by the administration. Holder has also been eager to implement Obama's version of "social justice" at the Justice Department as well. The question now becomes, who will replace Holder? Will it be worse? There's a lot of names going around as possible replacements--Janet Napolitano, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, the prosecutor who prosecuted Dinesh D'Souza, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, among others.

Well there  you have it!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum and every Tuesday morning when we reveal this week's nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere and you won’t want to miss it... or any of the other fantabulous Watcher’s Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter... ’cause we’re cool like that!

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Obama Soils Himself At The UN With Weakness, Appeasement And Israel Bashing

 

President Barack Hussein Obama addressed the UN General Assembly today. Even by Obama standards, an admittedly low bar, it was a turgid speech that lacked even elementary common sense, and threw out gratuitous insults that undercut its supposed goals. But it's worth analyzing as a clear indicator of how this president thinks and what he's planning as commander-in-chief.

The president, of course, sees the Ebola outbreak, Russian aggression and Islamist terrorism as all problems that have been caused by America not giving enough money and resources to the UN, or in ObamaSpeak, "the failure of our international system to keep pace with an interconnected world."

Of course, the president also includes Israel in those problems, but more on that shortly.

As always, President Obama substituted verbiage for real action. He took a few minutes to bash Russia over the situation with Ukraine, explicitly comparing them with Nazi Germany.

Now, here's something to consider. This president is already having problems building an 'international coalition' that means anything more than a little logistical support and a handful of Arab nations making token contributions to the air strikes against Islamic State.

Remember too, that Putin understood a long time before President Obama that the Syrian opposition were mostly Islamist jihadis, and that it was Russia's Putin that approached Obama about crafting a diplomatic solution for Syria - only to be double crossed by the president when Putin found out Obama was covertly arming and training what became ISIS and had secretly moved 1,800 troops to the Syria/Jordan border.You'd think that perhaps one of his advisers might have mentioned that Russia is an important actor in the region, that any UN action of the kind the president was talking about would require Russia's assent, and that the Ukraine was perhaps best dealt with in an actual private interaction between the U.S. and Russia. But of course, no one can tell this president anything, except maybe Valerie Jarret. So out came the nasty and counterproductive rhetoric.

It reminds me of nothing so much as a weak, obnoxious ten-year-old on the playground shouting out schoolboy insults at other kids, knowing he's safe because Teacher Is Watching.

And by the way...is anyone considering that the president is making air strikes on Syria and arming Islamist 'rebels' who want to overthrow Basher Assad, something not too much different than he's accusing Russia of doing in Ukraine? Certainly the Russians will see it that way.And react accordingly.

The president went on to mention his pursuit of 'a diplomatic resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue', urging Iran to "take this historic opportunity." Considering how America has appeased the Iranian regime and allowed the Iranians to play for time as Iran ramps up its enrichment and weapons development, I'm sure the Iranians would agree that they are definitely taking this historic opportunity they're being offered. Just not the one the president's talking about.

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After some blather about climate change, the president went on to use almost one third of his speech to talk about what a peaceful religion Islam is, and how The Islamic State (AKA ISIS) have nothing to do with Islam whatsoever. Oddly enough, at one point, after saying they have nothing to do with Islam, he referred to them as “religiously motivated fanatics” , even if they are universally Muslims, and even if their leader, al-Baghdadi has a doctorate in Islamic studies from Baghdad University!

In another part of the speech, he again retreated into Obama Fantasyland, talking about how he defeated al-Qaeda (he arguably strengthened it), is supporting a sovereign government in Iraq and chest thumped about how he "supported a transition to a sovereign Afghan government" as 'triumphs'.

He then went on to assure those “religiously motivated fanatics” that the U.S. isn't ever going to put boots on the ground or invade their countries. Taking ground troops off the table and tipping off our enemies in the region in advance about our weakness and lack of a working strategy is pretty bad, although it certainly appeases his Leftist base. But here's something else that seems to not square at all with what he calls his 'successes' in Iraq and Afghanistan. What passes for 'sovereign governments' in those countries was only achieved after an American military occupation. Yet he's already telling the world (and our enemies) he's not going to use the tool that achieved whatthe president calls his 'successes' in this latest conflict!

After which he of course says, standing before the most corrupt and wasteful institution in the world, that the real solution to dealing with those “religiously motivated fanatics” who have nothing to do with Islam is for the West to gift the UN a lot more money for development in an area that just happens to be exclusively Muslims, serially corrupt and governed by the Religion of Peace!

The most surreal part of the speech is where he talks about attacking all those “religiously motivated fanatics” who have nothing to do with Islam ideologically. Or, to quote this president directly, "That means cutting off the funding that fuels this hate. It’s time to end the hypocrisy of those who accumulate wealth through the global economy, and then siphon funds to those who teach children to tear it down."

Well! I'm certainly relieved to hear that America is going to pull all of its forces out of Qatar, cancel that $11 billion arms deal that the president just approved with them and introduce sanctions on sales of Qatari oil and gas as well as banking sanctions that won't allow any financial institution dealing with Qatar to be involved in any financial transaction with American banks, just as President Bush did with al-Qaeda.

And also, that America is going to cut off the funds from overseas that finance all of the Muslim Brotherhood linked jihadi mosques and madrassahs here in America.

Oh, wait..that's just the president running his mouth again! We aren't actually going to do anything concrete that really involves "cutting off the funding that fuels this hate."

But wait, there's more:

"All religions have been attacked by extremists from within at some point, and all people of faith have a responsibility to lift up the value at the heart of all religion: do unto thy neighbor as you would have done unto you."

"The ideology of ISIL or al Qaeda or Boko Haram will wilt and die if it is consistently exposed, confronted, and refuted in the light of day. Look at the new Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies – Sheikh bin Bayyah described its purpose: “We must declare war on war, so the outcome will be peace upon peace.”


Hmmmm...

Now as it happens, I'm not unfamiliar with the Qu'ran,and while I don't recall much at all about 'do unto thy neighbor as you would have done unto you' unless we're talking about how Muslims are supposed to treat fellow Muslims, there's all sorts of things in there about fighting the unbelievers, being harsh with them, making them pay outrageous taxes in exchange for the right to life and generally taking their rights away altogether..particularly if they're women. In fact, the Qu'ran says specifically not to take unbelievers as friends, (Qu'ran 5:51), calling them Muslim's 'inveterate foe' (4:101), that 'those who reject Islam serve the cause of evil'(4:76). In fact, according to all the hadiths, Mohammed himself shortly before his death enjoined all Muslims to fight the unbelievers until they died, became Muslims, or paid the jirzya (the heavy monetary tribute literally, protection money) willingly and 'felt themselves subdued.'

Now while a lot of Muslims reject this, there are also quite a few who see it as authentic Islam and it's more than just a few “religiously motivated fanatics.”

So our president is either willfully and knowingly lying, hideously ignorant, has a very different idea than most people about what constitutes terrorism and fanaticism that most of the rest of us, or perhaps all three.

That he sought to rationalize what's going on in Islam by saying "All religions have been attacked by extremists from within at some point" (news to Buddhists, Jews and many Christian denominations!) and cites Sheik Abdullah bin Bayyah as his example of a 'peaceful, moderate Muslim leader' who can aid the West in combating jihad.

Really?

Sheik bin Bayyah is the principal deputy to Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader who favors a second Holocaust against Jews performed by Muslims, genocide and ethnic cleansing in Israel, female circumcision and wife beating, and the establishment of the Caliphate under strict sharia law.

Sheik bin Bayyah works with Qaradawi as second in command of Qaradawi's International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) which among other things strongly supports Hamas, an officially designated terrorist organization designated as such under American law. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Turkey’s Islamist anti-semitic president Tayyip Erdogan are both members of IUMS.

The group is violently anti-Israel, and bin Bayyh himself issued a fatwa in 2004 calling the killing of U.S. troops in Iraq 'a duty for all Muslims.'

The president has perhaps forgotten(or more likely,shrugged off) that when most Islamists use the term 'peace' they mean something very different than we do. They means Dar Islam, the 'peace' that will come when Muslims rule the world and all of Dar Harb (literally 'the house of war' the part of the world ruled by non-Muslims) has been conquered and subdued.

The Sheik has never formally broken with Qaradawi or Hamas, but merely claims he left the IUMS 'about a year ago.'. And this hardcore Islamist is the example of 'moderate Islam' being pushed by the president. For that matter, even Qaradawi himself isn't exactly considered off limits when it comes to the Obama regime.

And oh yes, of course the president had something to say about Israel. According to the president, too many Israelis are "ready to abandon the hard work of peace" after having to live for years of being attacked, of genocidal terrorism and with having their very legitimacy as a nation with a right to defend themselves essentially ignored by most of the UN.

And that's Israel fault, or as President Obama said, departing from his printed remarks made available to reporters beforehand, "And that’s something worthy of reflection within Israel."

It's not something Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Authority ought to think about, you see...just those pesky Israelis. It's their fault. After that, the president went back to the script:

"But let’s be clear: the status quo in the West Bank and Gaza is not sustainable. We cannot afford to turn away from this effort – not when rockets are fired at innocent Israelis, or the lives of so many Palestinian children are taken from us in Gaza. So long as I am President, we will stand up for the principle that Israelis, Palestinians, the region, and the world will be more just with two states living side by side, in peace and security."

Rockets have been being fired at Israelis all throughout the Obama presidency. Has he ever done anything about it? Nope. In fact, he's been funding Hamas through USAid and through the Palestinian Authority for quite some time.

Notice too how our Dear Leader equates Hamas's terrorist aggression with Israel defending itself. And of course, it's Israel that are the child killers..forget about Hamas using children for human shields or using schools, mosques, hospitals and UN facilities as rocket and mortar launching sites for their military.

Abbas and the PLO are allied with the genocidal Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is making no attempt whatsoever to disassociate themselves from Hamas - the reverse in fact. Yet President Obama has the unmitigated gall to tell Israel that they had better make even more concessions and work a lot harder at making peace with people who have sworn to kill them.

I doubt it's a coincidence that the president made this speech in front of the UN when he knew very well that Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu is en route to address the UN in a day or so. It's the same thing he did the last time Netanyahu came to America, a blatant attempt to poison the water and undercut him.

Then again, think about this. If you were actually trying to work on a peaceful solution to the conflict between Israel and the Arabs whom identify themselves as Palestinians, would you signal your bias in this fashion? Would you signal a country that is supposedly your ally that you can't be trusted and reveal the same thing to its enemies?

In this speech to the UN, President Barack Hussein Obama gives us a classic rundown on why he is such an abysmal failure; his refusal to recognize reality, his ability to continue to lie to himself as well as to others, his weakness, his duplicity, his inability to admit mistakes or ever take responsibility for anything, his blatant hypocrisy and most of all his low moral character.

Such men can destroy if they attain power, but in the end they can build nothing at all.

This speech tells us why President Obama's place in history is assured. That at least is certain.

This Weeks' Watcher's Council Results!!


The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast and the results are in for this week’s Watcher’s Council match-up.

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill

Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory. -- George S. Patton

He who wishes to fight must first count the cost. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men’s weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be dampened. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength. Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain. Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor dampened, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue… In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns. -- Sun Tzu, the Art of War


There was a tie this week between The Noisy Room, with The Bear And The Dragon Encircle The Eagle, and Bookworm Room's Socialized medicine and passive-aggressive genocide. As the official tie breaker (and because her piece is simply fantastic), I award this week's winning entry to Bookworm’sSocialized medicine and passive-aggressive genocide, which lays bare the evil agenda of the State concerning end of life decisions. It is a tremendous expose on how Progressivism does not care about the individual, it cares about the Collective and the bottom line. Here’s a slice:

China Earthquake
Long ago in China, a boy coming home from school met up with his father, who was carrying on his back a basket holding the boy’s grandfather.

“Oh, father,” asked the boy, “where are you taking Honorable Grandfather?”

The father signaled that the boy should come closer, and then whispered in his ear, “I’m taking grandfather up to the waterfall. If I throw him over the edge suddenly, death will greet him so quickly, it will be painless.”

Aghast, the boy asked, “Why would you do that to Honorable Grandfather?”

“Because I must,” his father whispered back. “Honorable grandfather is too old to help in the field or around the house. Instead, he just sits in the corner, eating our food, drinking our tea, and requiring us to care for his needs. A quick, painless death will be better for everyone.”

The son nodded sagely upon hearing his father’s words. Then, as he turned to continue the walk home, the boy reminded his father of one thing. “Dear father, please make sure to bring the basket back, because I’ll need it for you one day.”

Although I was only around 12 when I first read that story, it resonated with me. Aside from admiring the boy’s cleverness, I was so grateful that I didn’t live in a country in which poor people had to make those kinds of choices. I didn’t realize back then that it would take a mere forty years for my country to creep ever closer to justifying the genocide of the old and the sick. Even more ironically, I didn’t realize that this ugly choice would come about, not because individual poor people could no longer afford to care for their elders, but because our own government has decided that the nation as a whole should no longer care for its old people.

Old people certainly requiring a lot of care. With every passing year, our bodies become more fragile. While we love seeing videos showing very old people doing amazing physical feats, the reality for most people is that the journey to old age is marked by one bodily system after another breaking down. Our skin’s breakdown is the most immediately demoralizing (“I look so old”), but the real damage from aging happens under our skin, as our joints, muscles, and internal organs just stop working very well. Eventually, every cold has the potential for pneumonia; every fall has the potential to end in a broken hip; every chest pain could be a heart attack; and the joint pains that slowed us down in our 50s can render us immobile by our 70s.

Modern medicine, thankfully, can do a lot to ward off some of aging’s worst effects. Putting aside plastic surgery, which heals the spirit not the body, modern medicine offers everything from quick diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia; to hip repairs so effective that the old person can be home in a day or two, rather than confined to a wheelchair or hospital bed for weeks; to an amazing array of heart treatments, whether pills, pacemakers, bypasses, or transplants; and joint fixes that range from pills, to shots, to surgery, to replacement. All of these are the wonders and miracles of the modern age . . . and all of them are very expensive.

Much more at the link.

In our non-Council category, the winner was Angelo Codevilla at The Federalist with Washington’s Ruling Class Is Fooling Itself About The Islamic State, submitted by Joshuapundit. Codevilla bluntly, succinctly and masterfully spells out how our elite ruling class fails at eradicating the enemy -- the Islamic State, while stirring up more hatred for America abroad. This cancerous flaw in foreign policy strategy is endemic on both sides of the political aisle. Do read it.

Here are this week’s full results. Only Simply Jews was unable to vote this week, but he was not affected by the 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners


Non-Council Winners


See you next week!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum and every Tuesday morning when we reveal this week's nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere and you won’t want to miss it... or any of the other fantabulous Watcher’s Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter... ’cause we’re cool like that!

Saturday, September 27, 2014

This Week's Weasel Of The Week!


Drum roll, please!! It’s time to present this week's statuette of shame, The Golden Weasel!!

Every Tuesday, the Council nominates some of the slimiest, most despicable characters in public life for some deed of evil, cowardice or corruption they’ve performed. Then we vote to single out one particular Weasel for special mention, to whom we award the statuette of shame, our special, 100% plastic Golden Weasel. This week's nominees were all slime-worthy, but one stood head and shoulders above the rest as the overwhelming winner.

No surprise here... it’s John Boehner, RINO extraordinaire, crybaby, Tea Party basher and all-around Progressive Speaker of the House!


Virginia Right!: Sometimes the enemy of my enemy is my friend. But often, the enemy of my enemy is simply another enemy.

John Boehner led the House to pass the appropriations for Obama’s plan to arm and train “moderate” Syrian fighters, who are Muslims to fight other Muslims on behalf of America.

There is no way this turns out well for anyone but the “moderate” rebels who will soon turn the weapons on us, or hand them over to ISIS.

The Right Planet: Speaker John Boehner for attempting a rule change to squelch dissent among more conservative members of the GOP, who he refers to as “knuckleheads.” It sure would be nice to see folks like Boehner direct such vitriol at the Democrats, but apparently he’s too spent after going after his own.

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

John Boehner is the very definition of a crony capitalist. He is a man who loves smoking, tanning, drinking and golfing with other Progressives from both sides of the aisle. He is known for his bullying tactics and his almost mob-like rule of the House.

He is currently looking to 'squelch' the influence of the Tea Party in the House. How very Soviet of him. Under the plan, any Republican who votes on the House floor against the nominee for House speaker that is chosen by most of the GOP members during their private leadership elections would be stripped of their committee assignments for that Congress. This is the House that Boehner built and rules with an iron fist. But there are intrepid, true Conservatives afoot who are seeking to dethrone the orange one. Enter the likes of the esteemed Louie Gohmert and Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar:

"In tough times, it doesn't mean you play timid, it means to play bold, and I don't see that. And you know what? Time's up," Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar told The Hill, insisting he would vote against Boehner, 64.

"I'm tired of the status quo of what's going on in Washington, D.C. America's tired, America's angry, and they're scared because they don't have leaders in Washington, D.C."

Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, who was one of a dozen Republicans who voted against Boehner in 2013, told The Hill, "I'll give him every bit as much support as I did last time."

Here's to the Tea Party unseating a man who has actively kept Barack Obama in power and is angling to bring the greatest nation on earth to her knees. May he get his Collectivist butt kicked out the door.

Boehner is supporting Obama's moves in Syria as well, arming the rebels to the teeth. Someone really should explain to him who the rebels are - al-Qaeda and ISIS. John says that the intelligence is good. What intelligence? The lot of them has been wrong at every turn and by all accounts nothing Obama is proposing, has done, or will do, will actively deter ISIS or the rise of the Caliphate. But John Boehner wants to arm evil Jihadists and supports the President, yes... indeedy. You can count on Obama making the whole mess worse, while benefiting the Islamists and Boehner will continue to pour gasoline on the spreading, global fire, rather than eradicating the threat.

When he's not weeping on the Floor or golfing with Obama, bromancing it up on the links... he's supporting everything Conservatives hate. He is pro-Amnesty, pro-regulation, pro-big government and pro-spending like a drunken Congressman. Working with one of his best buds, Nancy Pelosi, he just passed a Continuing Resolution that includes the funding of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider and Obamacare. Tell me again, what the difference is anymore between the establishment parties - please.

For cronyism, spinelessness, corruption, caring more about power and his bottom line than America and his monumental hypocrisy, John Boehner has earned the Golden Weasel many times over. Boehner is the face of the demise of the Republican Party and he has knowingly aided and abetted the Marxist Democrats in their rush to destroy the Constitution and the Republic. Enjoy your infamy and your well-deserved award, Mr. Speaker.

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum and every Tuesday morning, when we reveal the week's nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere and you won’t want to miss it... or any of the other fantabulous Watcher’s Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter... ’cause we’re cool like that, y’know?

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

L'Shana Tova! It's Rosh Hashona



Celebrating 5,775 Years With The Same Management...


Tonight at sundown, Rosh Hashona, the Jewish New Year kicks in, traditionally a time for reflection and spiritual self-examination, as it starts the Days of Awe that proceed through Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.

Since this year it also runs in to the Sabbath, I will be offline until Saturday evening.

It's traditional during this holiday to eat apples and honey and sweet things in general, as you see these Jews in Uganda doing:



Pomegranates are also eaten, because the seeds symbolize fertility.

One of the most important traditions of the holiday is the blowing of a ram's horn, the shofar. It is designed to be a trumpet call that galvanizes Jews into a spiritual awakening, in the ten days before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

One of the holiest places to blow the shofar on Rosh Hashona and Yom Kippur is at the kotel, the Western Wall. And there are still Jews alive who remember when that was a crime.

When the British ruled Israel,they did everything they could to deny the Jews a nation in spite of their pledged word, simple human decency, international law and the terms of the League of Nations mandate they held to create a Jewish state.

As part of that, they forbade Jews to sound the shofar or bring Torah scrolls to the Kotel under pain of arrest and imprisonment. And of course, after the Arabs took over the Old City, the Jews who lived there were forcibly expelled,their Holy shrines were desecrated and destroyed and the Kotel was used as a garbage dump.

Here's a wonderful video showing how the Jews dealt with the British and what happened at the Kotel when the Jews retook the Old City from the Arabs after 19 years of exile. It will make you smile:



Anyone who thinks the Jews are willingly going to give up Jerusalem again ought to seek psychiatric care.

My very best wishes for the coming year....may you and yours be inscribed for a sweet and wonderful year.

Shanah tovah u'metukah.

El Al Flies Parents in Worldwide To Spend Holidays With IDF Lone Soldiers



Israeli airline El Al is doing something very special for the Jewish High Holidays. In an airlift of 21 planes from 10 international zones, they are flying in parents and immediate families of lone soldiers serving in the IDF to Israel to spend the holidays together...free of charge.

Lone soldiers are men and women who have citizenship in other countries but came to Israel to join the IDF and protect the Jewish people in the war with Hamas.

El-Al Airlines, the Israel Hotel Association (IHA) the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel’s Soldiers (AWIS), and the IDF’s Manpower Directorate are all part of this unique project to reunite parents with their sons and daughters.

 http://www.jpost.com/HttpHandlers/ShowImage.ashx?ID=256815

“We initiated this project in order to show our appreciation to the lone soldiers, who bravely decided to leave their home country and protect Israel,” said David Maimon, chief executive officer of El-Al Airlines, which provided the parents of lone soldiers with the free flights. The parents are also receiving free accommodation for a five-night stay.

 http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/joey-cassel-idf-lone-soldier.jpg

The Chairman of the Association of the Well-being of Israel’s Soldiers (AWIS), Avigdor Kahalani, added that lone soldiers will always be supported.

“The lone soldiers are not alone – AWIS, El-Al Airlines, the Israel Hotel Association and the IDF’s Manpower Directorate are there to embrace them after Operation Protective Edge and just before the New Year, we managed to bring them their loved ones from home.”

Can you think of any other country that would do this? I can't.

Watcher's Council Nominations - Executive Disorder Edition

http://beforeitsnews.com/mediadrop/uploads/2013/38/7d853c01f85f6a5a9c36e1edbbac5b6ec82d991c.jpg

Whether its war in Syria or Libya or Lebanon or Iraq,  illegal migration, those whom shall be targeted by the IRS or the wonders of climate change,Our Dear Leader has the answer, with no need to consult anyone or anything,  especially not congress. He has, in his wisdom, the phone, the pen and the executive order to cut through the senseless blather of a Constitution written by old dead white men.

The people have spoken ( more or less). Down with the Republic and on to the new age of pottage, food stamps, idleness and the absolute rule of our elite progressive betters!

Welcome to the Watcher's Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the 'sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday morning.

Council News:



This week, Seraphic Secret and The Pirate's Cove earned honorable mention status with some great articles.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

To bring something to my attention, simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title and a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address (mandatory, but of course it won't be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it comes out on Wednesday morning

Simple, no?

It's a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let's see what we have for you this week....


Council Submissions

Honorable Mentions

Non-Council Submissions


Enjoy! And don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!And don't forget to tune in Friday for the results!

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Is Iran's Rouhani A Change For The Better?

 https://static-secure.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2013/9/25/1380115801121/Hassan-Rouhani-speaks-at--011.jpg

 By David Gerstman

It is nearly a year since Iran's President Hassan Rouhani spoke before the United Nations General Assembly.

Later this week he is scheduled to speak again before the General Assembly, but the enthusiasm expressed last year is nowhere to be seen.

In the run up to his speech there was much excitement among the chattering classes. Take, for example, a couple of paragraphs from an editorial in The New York Times from September 22, 2013, a year ago today:
The next few weeks will be critical for capitalizing on a new sense of promise created by a recent flurry of remarkable gestures: Iran’s leadership has sent Rosh Hashana greetings to Jews worldwide via Twitter, released political prisoners, exchanged letters through the Swiss with President Obama, praised “flexibility” in negotiations and transferred responsibility for nuclear negotiations from conservatives in the military to the Foreign Ministry. Mr. Obama eased restraints on humanitarian and good-will activities, including athletic exchanges between the two countries. ...

Mr. Rouhani has a sophisticated, Western-savvy team. His foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, received degrees from American universities and spent most of his adult life in the United States. Together they have raised expectations in a world eager to see Iran play a more constructive role, and the charm offensive is in full swing. Policy experts, journalists and business people are jockeying to attend a number of invitation-only breakfasts, dinners and meetings scheduled by Mr. Rouhani and Mr. Zarif while they are in New York. There’s a lot riding on their visit this week.
But the "remarkable gestures" that The New York Times cited were remarkable hollow.

Sure,  Rouhani wished Jews of the world a happy new year last year, but he also expressed his support of Hamas to defeat "the Zionist regime," and apparently re-established ties with Hamas.
Yes  Rouhani praised "flexibility" in nuclear negotiations but only demanded flexibility from the West. Now the International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Iran hasn't come clean about the scope of its nuclear program. (Not that Iran's record gave any hope that it would play by the rules.)
The released political prisoners were a sham; often harassed or re-arrested when they were no longer in the public eye. Irwin Cotler recently outlined how human rights have actually gotten worse under Rouhani.

 http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/images/stories/2009/uprising/tehran-dec272009-19-beating.jpg

It would be nice if, having bet on change, the editors of The New York Times would acknowledge that they judged Iran incorrectly.

The most generous interpretation is that Rouhani was simply window dressing; a kinder, gentler face on the real leader of the regime Ayatollah Khamenei. The more likely explanation is that Rouhani is every bit as extreme as the regime (he boasted of expanding Iran's enrichment capability when everyone claimed that he compromised in 2003) but is slightly more pragmatic in his willingness to deal with the West.

 http://www.jihadwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/KhameneiRouhani.jpg

Instead of acknowledging that no real change has taken place in Iran, most of those who made the mistake are relatively silent. They know that the evidence proves them wrong, but they would prefer to ignore the evidence than to own up to their cheer-leading of one of the most disastrous foreign policy debacles of our time.