Courageous People

Although I do not have much time to post anymore, here is a follow up from the Daniel Wultz story last year. Daniel along with his father were terrorist victims in Israel in April 2006. Tuly, Daniel's father survived his wounds, Daniel, age 16, did not. Tuly is a veteran of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and he married an American, Sheryl, in the late 1970's who is from Miami. After Daneil died, they toured the USA and met with politicians to discuss the world wide treat of terrorism. Although they are not youngsters, and Daniel also has a surviving sister, Sheryl just gave birth to a son this past week. It is truly courageous to begin the cycle of life again after such tragedy.

Spread the Word

The following e-mail was delivered to me today asking that the word be spread about an organization devoted to victory in Iraq. Please read, and spread the word.



I am a Virginia Republican organizer seeking your help in spreading the word about Freedom’s Watch, www.freedomswatch.org, the new conservative MoveOn, which has just launched a $15 million advertising campaign in support of victory in Iraq.

Could you please help spread the word through your GOP network and email lists?

Second, could you provide your advice on how to communicate Freedom Watch’s message to other conservative organizations in your state? Any ideas are welcome. Thank you very much.

Here are the top three things for Americans can do in the next month:

1. Register at www.freedomswatch.org/register.aspx
2. Watch and forward the commercials: www.freedomswatch.org/video.aspx
3. Call your congressmen toll-free at 1-877-222-8001 to tell them that the only choice is victory over the terrorists.

Freedom’s Watch will be a large and lasting force in American politics. It will remind Americans that the best hope for peace lies in strength, and that the best protection of liberty lies in limited government. See Politico’s article about Freedom’s Watch here: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0807/5479.html

Freedom’s Watch executives are Bradley Blakeman, CEO; Ari Fleischer; Mel Sombler, former ambassador to Italy; William P. Weidner, president of Las Vegas Sands Corp., and Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition. They are backed by a number of major donors.

Thank you very much for your help!

Josh Levy
Independent Volunteer for Freedom’s Watch

A Letter From The White House

The following is a letter that was received as e-mail. A litttle humor to our Liberal friends.


THE LARK PROGRAM

A Lady wrote a lot of letters to the White House complaining about the treatment of a captive insurgent (terrorist) being held in Guantanamo Bay. She received back the following reply:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20016

Dear Concerned Citizen,

Thank you for your recent letter roundly criticizing our treatment of the Taliban and Al Quada detainees currently beingheld at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Our administration takes these matters seriously and your opinion was heard loud and clear here in Washington. You'll be pleased to learn that, thanks to the concerns of citizenslike yourself, we are creating a new division of the Terrorist Retraining Program, to be called the "Liberals Accept Responsibility for Killers"program, or LARK for short.

In accordance with the guidelines of this new program, we have decidedto place one terrorist under your personal care. Your personal detainee has been selected and scheduled fortransportation under heavily armed guard to your residence next Monday. Ali Mohammed Ahmed bin Mahmud (you can just call him Ahmed) is to be cared for pursuant to the standards you personally demanded in your letter of complaint. It will likely be necessary for you to hire some assistant caretakers. We will conduct weekly inspections to ensure that your standards of care for Ahmed are commensurate with those you so strongly recommended in your letter.

Although Ahmed is a sociopath and extremely violent, we hope that your sensitivity to what you described as his attitudinal problem" will help him overcome these character flaws. Perhaps you are correct in describing these problems as mere cultural differences. We understand that you plan to offer counseling and homeschooling. Your adopted terrorist is extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat and can extinguish human life with such simple items as a pencil or nail clippers. We advise that you do not ask him to demonstrate these skills at your next yoga group. He is also expert at making a wide varietyof explosive devices from common household products, so you may wish to keep those items locked up, unless (in your opinion) this might offend him.

Ahmed will not wish to interact with you or your daughters (except sexually), since he views all females as a subhuman form of property. This is a particularly sensitive subject for him and he has been known to show violent tendencies around women who fail to comply with the new dress code that he will recommend as more appropriate attire. I'm sure you will come to enjoy the anonymity offered by the burka --over time. Just remember that it is all part of "respecting his culture and his religious beliefs". Wasn't that how you put it? Thanks again for your letter. We truly appreciate it when folks like you keep us informed of the proper way to do our job. You take good care of Ahmed - and remember, we'll be watching.

Good luck!

Cordially, your friend,

GEORGE W. BUSH

The Blame Game

Everyone is commenting on the Virginia Tech tragedy, and as is typical, some of the usual nonsense is being spouted. Rosie O has lead the charge for gun control. CNN is conducting interviews hoping to blame the University, and some bloggers are talking immigration reform.

Let's just call it what it is. A massacre by a jerk. We are a free and open society, and if someone wants to go around killing innocents there is not alot we can do about it. There are warning signs that may have been there about this nut job being a scary guy, but could his killing spree really have been prevented? The University may not have handled this properly, yet who's to know if another campus could have done a better job. Too many folks in the media are always looking for someone to blame. It's not a perfect world. Can our society really be sued by the lawyers into perfection? No wonder so many people don't want to admit to mistakes.

As far as immigration reform, it may turn out to be a non-issue here. The family of the killer was here legally, and did not just show up here undocumented. A bad seed can come from any family.

Tragedies like this can bring out the best in people too. One of the professors killed, died saving his students. He was a Holocaust survivor, and the day he died was Yom Hashoah, the rememberance day for the Holocaust. My heart goes out to his family, and to those of the others murdered.

Gloom and Doom

It used to be that when I was a kid, the gloom and doomers were the heroes of the story. They predicted the end of the world and no one else was listening. There were several stories like that in the Twilight Zone and other Sci Fi movies. Today, the gloom and doomers appear to be in the driver seat when it comes to global warming, and if there is a challange, then the challanger is villified.

I had been pretty much staying away from this topic until my son laid into me this past week for not taking global warming seriously enough. This is my son the libertarian. So I quieted him down and said to do some research. He gave me the typical liberal junk about how the opponents or questioners of global warming were crack pots. So I asked him to stop the nonsense and get back to critical thinking.

I am no scientist, and both sides of the argument are persuasive to me, but I get nervous when one side is so villified, and yet the villified people have excellent credentials. So I am posting the name of some of these folks, and if someone reads this post, Google onto their names. They have some excellent articles. No one is saying the Earth has not warmed up, just that it may be natural and/or cyclical.

Timothy Ball, James Spann, William Gray, Sami Solanki

Here Is What We are Up Against

I had not planned on blogging for a while. It's been a busy year for business, and the bills have to get paid first. Then today I received an annonymous comment from a post from last summer. It was regarding an article by Rabbi Meir Kahane, the firebrand Rabbi who is deceased for many years. He was assasinated by Muslims later implicated in the first World Trade Center bombing. He got down, and fought the Muslims down and dirty. By many people in the West, and among many Jews, he was considered a radical. Some even considered him a terrorist. He was outspoken, and much of what he said many years ago about radical Islam has come true. There is not much to critique from this comment. It speaks for itself, especially since it was posted annonymously, which is reminiscent of how terrorists fight...with masks to hide their faces. Here is one thing worth note for those who don't know Middle East history before the last decade or so. When Israel was approved as an independent state by the UN in 1948, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem told his bretheren that he would would do anything within his power to wipe the nation off the map. This same Grand Mufti was an ally of Nazi Germany. I have seen the films of him with Hitler. In fact he helped Mulims in the Balkans during WWII become trained to fight the Allies. This info is discussed in the film OBSESSION.......Well, here is that comment.


"Rabbi Meir Kahane was a terrorist himself, and an extremist of the most virulent kind. His logic does not make any sense. If Hitler and the West oppressed the Jews, why did the Jews take it out on the Palestinians? Why did the Palestinians have to pay for the sins of Nazi Germany? Priro to the arrival of European Jews in Palestine, Sephardic Jews lived in total peace and harmony with the Palestinians. In face, jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition found sanctaury in the Arab world and lived in relative peace until the ZIONISTS came from Europe, dispossessed the Palestinians and renamed what they stole "Israel." Kahane selectively picks and chooses what he likes from history and omits the fact that the Zionists did to the Palestinians what Hitler did to them. An American Rabbi said that European Jews jumped off a burning building and landed on the backs of Palestinians. As to the massacre of 67 Jews in 1929, that is a big lie! It was a lie invented by the zionists to gather support for their evil design to bring European Jews to Palestinian and steal land from its rightful owners. History testifies that Jews found more tolerance and peace among Arabs than they did in Europe and the rest of the world. Yet, see how they are thanking the Arabs today. And who is their accomplice? The West. The same West that stood by and watched Hitler kill six million of them. Get your facts straight, Kahane! Even when you're dead, you're still a LIAR and a FRAUD! Note: Hatred and inequity will never prevail, your own son followed you shortly after you died..." --Posted by Anonymous to Being RIGHT at 2/11/2007 02:42:40 AM

More on Jimmy Carter

Below is an article written by Alan Dershowitz. I often disagree with him as he is a liberal on American politics. In this article, he is right-on with regards to Jimmy Carter's latest book on the middle east situation.



Why won't Carter debate his book?

By Alan Dershowitz | December 21, 2006

YOU CAN ALWAYS tell when a public figure has written an indefensible book: when he refuses to debate it in the court of public opinion. And you can always tell when he's a hypocrite to boot: when he says he wrote a book in order to stimulate a debate, and then he refuses to participate in any such debate. I'm talking about former president Jimmy Carter and his new book "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid."
Carter's book has been condemned as "moronic" (Slate), "anti-historical" (The Washington Post), "laughable" (San Francisco Chronicle), and riddled with errors and bias in reviews across the country. Many of the reviews have been written by non-Jewish as well as Jewish critics, and not by "representatives of Jewish organizations" as Carter has claimed. Carter has gone even beyond the errors of his book in interviews, in which he has said that the situation in Israel is worse than the crimes committed in Apartheid South Africa. When asked whether he believed that Israel's "persecution" of Palestinians was "[e]ven worse . . . than a place like Rwanda," Carter answered, "Yes. I think -- yes."

When Larry King referred to my review several times to challenge Carter, Carter first said I hadn't read the book and then blustered, "You know, I think it's a waste of my time and yours to quote professor Dershowitz. He's so obviously biased, Larry, and it's not worth my time to waste it on commenting on him." (He never did answer King's questions.)

The next week Carter wrote a series of op-eds bemoaning the reception his book had received. He wrote that his "most troubling experience" had been "the rejection of [his] offers to speak" at "university campuses with high Jewish enrollment." The fact is that Brandeis President Jehuda Reinharz had invited Carter to come to Brandeis to debate me, and Carter refused. The reason Carter gave was this: "There is no need to for me to debate somebody who, in my opinion, knows nothing about the situation in Palestine."

As Carter knows, I've been to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, many times -- certainly more times than Carter has been there -- and I've written three books dealing with the subject of Middle Eastern history, politics, and the peace process. The real reason Carter won't debate me is that I would correct his factual errors. It's not that I know too little; it's that I know too much.

Nor is Carter the unbiased observer of the Middle East that he claims to be. He has accepted money and an award from Sheik Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan , saying in 2001: "This award has special significance for me because it is named for my personal friend, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan." This is the same Zayed, the long-time ruler of the United Arab Emirates, whose $2.5 million gift to the Harvard Divinity School was returned in 2004 due to Zayed's rampant Jew-hatred. Zayed's personal foundation, the Zayed Center, claims that it was Zionists, rather than Nazis, who "were the people who killed the Jews in Europe" during the Holocaust. It has held lectures on the blood libel and conspiracy theories about Jews and America perpetrating Sept. 11. Carter's acceptance of money from this biased group casts real doubt on his objectivity and creates an obvious conflict of interest.

Carter's refusal to debate wouldn't be so strange if it weren't for the fact that he claims that he wrote the book precisely so as to start debate over the issue of the Israel-Palestine peace process. If that were really true, Carter would be thrilled to have the opportunity to debate. Authors should be accountable for their ideas and their facts. Books shouldn't be like chapel, delivered from on high and believed on faith.

What most rankles is Carter's insistence that he is somehow brave for attacking Israel and highlighting the plight of the Palestinian people. No other conflict in the world -- not even the genocides in Rwanda and Sudan -- evokes more hand-wringing in the media, universities, and human rights organizations than the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Jimmy Carter isn't brave for beating up on Israel. He's a bully. And like all school-yard bullies, underneath the tough talk and bravado, there's a nagging insecurity and a fear that one day he'll have to answer for himself in a fair fight.

When Jimmy Carter's ready to speak at Brandeis, or anywhere else, I'll be there. If he refuses to debate, I will still be there -- ready and willing to answer falsity with truth in the court of public opinion.

Alan Dershowitz is a professor of law at HarvardUniversity. His most recent book is "Preemption: A Knife that Cuts Both Ways."

Nancy Pelosi....She'll Be a Scream as US House Speaker!!

Read the e-mail below that I received today. If this is true, Nancy Pelosi will be a reminder of what the Democrats are really all about.



Subject: Fw: The New Speaker....... UNBELEIVABLE !!!!!





If this is true, all I can say is God help the USA!

Published: October 22, 2006

Nancy Pelosi condemned the new record highs of the stock market as
"just another example of Bush policies helping the rich get richer".
"First Bush cut taxes for the rich and the economy has rebounded with
new record low unemployment rates, which only means wealthy employers
are getting even wealthier at the expense of the underpaid working
class".

She went on to say "Despite the billions of dollars being spent in
Iraq our economy is still strong and government tax revenues are at all time
highs. "What this really means is" that business is exploiting the war
effort and working Americans, just to put money in their own pockets".

When questioned about recent stock market highs she responded "Only
the rich benefit from these record highs. Working Americans, welfare recipients,
the unemployed and minorities are not sharing in these obscene record
highs".

"There is no question these windfall profits and income created by the
Bush administration need to be taxed at 100% rate and those dollars
redistributed to the poor and working class".

"Profits from the stock market do not reward the hard work of our
working class who, by their hard work, are responsible for generating
these corporate profits that create stock market profits for the rich.

We in congress will need to address this issue to either tax these
profits or to control the stock market to prevent this unearned income
to flow to the rich".

When asked about the fact that over 80% of all Americans have
investments in mutual funds, retirement funds, 401K's, and the stock market she
replied "That may be true, but probably only 5% account for 90% of all
these investment dollars.



That's just more "trickle down" economics
claiming that if a corporation is successful that everyone from the CEO to the floor
sweeper benefit from higher wages and job security which is ridiculous".



How much of this "trickle down" ever get to the unemployed and minorities
in our county?



None, and that's the tragedy of these stock market highs."

"We democrats are going to address this issue after the election when
we take control of the congress. We will return to the 60% to 80% tax
rates on the rich and we will be able to take at least 30% of all current lower
Federal Income Tax taxpayers off the roles and increase government
income substantially. We need to work toward the goal of equalizing
income in our country and at the same time limiting the amount the
rich can invest."



Limit the amount the rich can invest????

When asked how these new tax dollars would be spent, she replied "We
need to raise the standard of living of our poor, unemployed and minorities.
For example, we have an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in our
country who need our help along with millions of unemployed
minorities.



Stock market windfall profits taxes could go a long ways to guarantee these people
the standard of living they would like to have as " Americans "

A Bush spokesman responded to this interview by saying "Mrs. Pelosi
has set a new standard for the spin business".



Feeling smarter yet?

Send it on to your brilliant friends. I just did!!

Hannukah's Relevance

Friday night Dec 15th, was the first night of Hannukah. Each night a new candle is lit in addition to the ones already lit to commemorate the victory of the Hebrews over the Syrian-Greeks that ruled present day Israel around 170 BC. Hannukah is celebrated for 8 days. It is not the Jewish Christmas, nor is it a major holiday for Jewish people. It is an important holiday in that it celebrates the victory of an oppressed people over that of overwhelming odds. The shortened version is that Judah, and his followers, were able to defeat a superior force of Alexander the Great's decendents. He and his followers came to be called the Maccabees. Maccabee means 'the hammer.' This nickname came from Judah and his followers guerilla tactics. Had the Jews been unable to overcome an oppressive ruler's decision to stamp out the religion and culture of Judaism, Christianity and Islam would not have come to pass either. Both Christianity and Islam were founded more than two hunded years after the Maccabean revolt. So there is the relevance and importance of the holiday to Christians and Moslems.

While Hannukah does not have nearly the number of songs in celebration of its holiday like Christmas, here is one that is translated into English that we sang in summer camp. Jews have long been believers in G-d, charity to the poor, and freedom.

Rock of ages, let our song
Praise Thy saving power,
Thou amidst the raging foes,
Wast our sheltering tower.
Furious they assailed us,
But Thine arm availed us,
And Thy word, broke their sword
When our own strength failed us
(Repeat last two lines)

Children of the martyr race,
Whether free or fettered.
Wake the echoes of the songs,
Where ye may be scattered.
Yours the message cheering,
That the time is nearing.
Which will see, all men free,
Tyrants disappearing.
(Repeat last two lines)

Happy holidays everyone. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah.

Writing Your Dad's Memoirs

I began to put together memoirs of my Dad's life tongight. He's a great individual, and I'd like to share excerpts from time to time as this project progresses. Much of his side of the family are upstate New York Republicans, and this is where my strain of conservatism comes from.


My Dad, Stormin’ Norman



He’s from what we call today, “The Greatest Generation.” This is the generation of American men and women who served their country in the largest worldwide conflict in history, World War II. These same people also lived through the longest worldwide economic bust in the modern era, The Great Depression. It would not be fair to say that they are better people than those in preceding or later generations, but it would be fair to say that they had to learn to sacrifice more than we in this day can truly understand.

Norman Stark is now 86 years old, and in better physical condition than numerous people 10 years younger. This is probably due to good genes, but for a man his age he has tremendous energy, leadership skills, and love of life. He has emotional ups and downs like everyone else and remains upbeat most of the time. He doesn’t sweat the small stuff, and the big stuff, well, he’s just not a worrier. At the time of this writing, we still go to the Miami Dolphin Football games together, and that is whether they are having a good or bad season. He still plays golf, cards, and helps run his Golf and Country Club as a member of the Board of Directors. No doubt he still drives my mother just as crazy today as he did 40 years ago, speaking of which, he is married to my mom now over 58 years.

So how do you pay tribute to your ‘old man?’ In this case, by putting together his memoirs. The project began two years ago, in the summer of 2004. I made 3 or 4 visits to his home and interviewed him, and took terrible notes of many of the same stories I had heard growing up. The big difference of course, is that now as a man in my 50’s, the perspective is different than that of a child or young man. When you are my age, you can really appreciate the zest that Dad has had for life. I have a much different personality. I am a worrier, like my mom, and often have let the tough stuff of life get me down. As a child, I was not even tempered. To this day I still remember how he cheered me up and still took my side when my mother had had enough of me. Yes, I just wasn’t Mr.Perfect all of the time. Yet he was there for me as a teen in the late sixties, and as a long haired college kid in the early seventies. He had his own busy life, yet he pulled me up when I was down, and was often the unsung hero in our family by helping other relatives who really and truly got themselves on the wrong side of the law.