Did The Obama Administration Violate An Executive Order By Releasing Qais Qazali?

From the Weekly Standard Blog:


Did the Obama administration, by releasing Qais and Laith Qazali and
 more than 100 members of the Iranian-backed Asaib al Haq,
violate an executive order put in place by President
Ronald Reagan to prevent negotiations with hostage
takers?  (more))

Rocket Launcher Found In Apartment

I'm sure it was just to bring in the New Year.....


...When officers went inside, they found something that made them
concerned enough to call the bomb squad.

They found an AT-4 shoulder-mounted rocket launcher. 

It can shoot a missile nearly 1,000 feet through buildings
 and tanks....


...the woman did tell police that the rocket launcher belonged to 
Nabilaye I. Yansane, someone whom she allowed to store items 
at her apartment.

Police records show that she didn't want Yansane at her apartment,
so she called them.

According to court documents, officers also found Jihadist writings
that allegedly belonged to Yansane. The woman didn't want to talk
to KPRC Local 2 about that, either.( More)

Under Construction

This site will be under construction for a few hours. I'll be posting more soon.

Payoffs for states get Harry Reid to 60 votes - - POLITICO.com

The sordid details are here: - - POLITICO.com

Taunton second-grader suspended over drawing of Jesus

Where the heck is Taunton and where do they get their teachers/administrators........

A Taunton father is outraged after his 8-year-old son was sent home from school and
 required to undergo a psychological evaluation after drawing a stick-figure picture of
 Jesus Christ on the cross.
- From the Taunton Gazette. Read more...

Inconvenient Truth for Gore as Arctic Ice Claims Don't Add Up

A web of deception. Seeing a pattern yet?
Sometimes the force behind the design is not so intelligent......
FOXNews.com - Inconvenient Truth for Gore as Arctic Ice Claims Don't Add Up

Posted using ShareThis

Iran's Nuclear Trigger

VIDEO: Iran's Nuclear Trigger

OK- I.m Not Moving

But I will be re-decorating. Since the feedback was generally positive about the new lay out, I decided to make the change. But I also decided to stay here. What this means, is that some time over the Holidays (or sooner) this site will be under construction. All links and a few new ones will be available at http://theguyinthewindow1.blogspot.com/ while I am rearranging things. If posting is a bit slow for a while you will understand why. I hope to be "more regular" soon... (insert old guy joke here)

A blessed Advent to you all.

Was Air Tran Flight #297 a terrorist dry run?

Can't comment right now, as I am at work, but.....

Was Air Tran Flight #297 a terrorist dry run?

Presidential Monthly Approval Index

Welcome

Welcome to the new home of Eutychus and the Guy in the Window. Maybe.
Probably. I'm still migrating things over and may decide I don't like
it after all but so far, so good.

I've tried to include the same information (and a little new) in an
easier to find format. I hope you agree and I would love to hear your
thoughts one way or the other either in comments or via e-mail.

The new posts migrated ok but they changed over to look like I posted
them all. That was not good.

I've included some changes to the HTML so that only short summaries will
appear and then a "read more" or "full post" link will take you to the full
post. This should prevent you from having to scroll down too much.



Nifty, eh?

I've included most of all of the links on the old page or will do so shortly.

The Swine Flu links and blogs are at the bottom of the page.

I hope you enjoy.

Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist

The world is upside down. This makes me sick to my stomach that we no longer support our troops. I cannot explain how sad this makes me, there are those that have served that understand.

Instead of supporting them we want to prosecute them for following orders. Captain’s Mast for a fat lip!? I praise and support these Navy brothers for taking this to Court Marshall. There was a time I recommended Military Service for friends and relatives. I can no longer do that in good conscience. They have lost the support of their Government. They should get out of the service.

Sign The Manhattan Declaration!

H/T Touchstone.
Attention! From the signers of Manhattan Declaration, :


We invite you to join with other Christians across the nation who support the sanctity of life, traditional marriage and religious liberty by endorsing the Manhattan Declaration.


Throughout the centuries, God has graciously provided His people with teachers and prophetic voices who apply His word to the critical issues of the day and who lead their hearers to embrace His life-giving authority and counsel in the midst of cultural madness. The Manhattan Declaration extends and honors that tradition, and we urge you to join us in affirming it. The Manhattan Declaration addresses with urgent eloquence the devaluation of human life, the corruption of marriage, and the erosion of religious liberty. With careful instruction, it brings light and clarity to all who read it. We trust that millions of believers will sign it, that countless others will be drawn or driven to give it fair consideration, and that our society will be changed by its strong yet sweetly reasonable message.

The Manhattan Declaration will be released this Friday, November 20, 2009, at a press conference in Washington D.C. It bears the signatures of many religious leaders, but this is just the beginning. The list of supports will grow dramatically in a short time and those who most need to hear this word will not be able to escape or downplay it. So please endorse this document by your signature and spread the word to others who might endorse it as well. Thank you.

Click here to view the Manhattan Declaration and lend your name to those who have already signed: http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/



Who Signed?

Breitbart to AG Holder: Investigate ACORN or We’ll Release More Tapes Just Before 2010 Election

Got to admire a man who will take on ACORN and the Administration. Refreshing to see someone in the press still, forgive please, has a pair.

...Not only are there more tapes, it’s not just ACORN. And this message is to Attorney General Holder: I want you to know that we have more tapes, it’s not just ACORN, ... (more)

ClimateGate- The conspiracy to hide information against global warming

***Updated*** added link to referenced NASA temp error
***UPDATE*** searchable database here
***UPDATE*** University spokesman confirms hack


If you have visited this site for any length of time you know I am no fan of the view that man is responsible for global climate change. My view has been and continues to be, that global warming is a currently a fiction and that the more recent declarations of climate "change" are cyclical rather than man-made. Views to the contrary are either driven by blameless ignorance or by political agendas which have hijacked science to make their point. I've been in the weather forecasting business for too long (25years) to believe otherwise.

Attached articles seem to indicate that someone hacked e-mails that prove the position to greater links than even I could have imagined. If this turns out to be as damning as it seems then it is clear that no conspiracy theory is too great to account for the climate change alarmists data.
Which is certainly nothing new since NASA was caught fudging temperature data some time ago. (whether it was deliberate fudging or simply an inherant problem with computer models, the result is about the same. Remember, computer models do not reflect El Nino/Nina or account for blocking highs ) Still...
For discussion of the NASA temp correction see Am Spectator GeoTimes for example. Go here for a pretty good summary of problems computer models have and are providing and some of the other errors that have had to be corrected.

Here's a sample:

Well I have my own article on where the heck is global warming ? We are asking that here in Boulder where we have broken records the past two days for the coldest days on record. We had 4 inches of snow. The high the last 2 days was below 30F and the normal is 69F, and it smashed the previous records for these days by 10F. The low was about 18F and also a record low, well below the previous record low.
This is January weather (see the Rockies baseball playoff game was canceled on saturday and then played last night in below freezing weather)....
....The fact is that we can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can’t. The CERES data published in the August BAMS 09 supplement on 2008 shows there should be even more warming: but the data are surely wrong. Our observing system is inadequate.***

comment from Hot Air: Do scientists use data to test theories, or do they use theories to test data? Scientists will claim the former, but here we have scientists who cling to the theory so tightly that they reject the data. That’s not science; it’s religious belief.

more:
Here are some speculations on correcting SSTs to partly explain the 1940s warming blip. If you look at the attached plot you will see that theland also shows the 1940s blip (as I’m sure you know).So, if we could reduce the ocean blip by, say, 0.15 degC, then this would be significant for the global mean – but we’d still have to explain the land blip.

H/T Hot Air and Watts Up With That

National Debt Road Trip

Great clip, even I understood.

HOW FAITH AFFECTS OUR LIVES

Ephesians 2:8, 9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast

After Jesus claimed to be sent by God, some were seeking to seize Him, having come to the conclusion that He was not a good man. But others did believe in Him, "and they were saying, 'When the Christ shall come, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?'" (John 7:31). All the evidence was there. Some chose to believe; others chose not to. People do the same today. Faith is a choice. We choose to believe or not believe.

Faith is the operating principle of life. It is the means by which we relate to God and live our lives in freedom. Notice the variety of ways stated in Scripture by which faith affects our lives.

First, we are saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8, 9).
Second, we "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Third, being found faithful is a prerequisite for ministry: "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service" (1 Timothy 1:12).

Paul then adds, "And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). This is more than being reliable, since a person could be counted on to follow through on an assignment and not be a believer. The added ingredient in faithful people is that they know the truth and can be counted on to be reliable.

Fourth, the quality of any relationship is determined by faith or trust: "Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy man?" (Proverbs 20:6). The words faith , trust and believe are all the same word ( pistis ) in the original language. The man who has faith believes in something. The one who believes also trusts, or he doesn't truly believe. There is no concept that looms larger in life than faith because what we believe determines how we live.

some things to be commented on....some other time....

Manifest gegen Scharia -MANIFEST AGAINST SHARIA
Common position of the Islamic organisations of Germany- something that needs to happen here.

New Lutheran body to form after gay pastor vote

Stupid Op piece from the NY Times

The Senate Health Care bill price tag absent the Stupak amendment

Calling a spade a spade and paying the price. The U.N.'s anti-Israel bias and the silencing of the opposition

all 2,074 pages of the Senate bill

AG Holder's Testimony - "What happened at Ft. Hood was a jihadist massacre — a terrorist act, not a tragedy."

Are God's Ways Fair?

Catholic bishops and other religious groups should not have a say in the health care debate.

Major Hasan -- A True Believer

AP: 64% Oppose Insurance Mandate

embryonic quandary

"The Box" is an offensive movie

Half Awake-Nearly half believe global warming caused primarily by long term planetary trends, not human activity.

Healthcare Status Quo Cheaper than Obamacare

Euthanasia Bill Unexpectedly Defeated

anti-Islam Scottish Defence League

US Guidelines on Feeding Tubes Revised

18 Million reasons AARP supported the healthcare bills

Minnesota Recruiting Jihadists

Obama Approval Dips Below 50%

From a Quinnipiac University National Poll

Obama's 3 Million Dollar Tax Hike

Christina Romer, chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers had this to say about deficit reduction:
But the chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers admitted that health reform and a growing economy isn’t enough to bring down the deficit. She did mention one other place that revenue could come from: letting the Bush tax cuts expire.

James Pethokoukis at the Reuters Blog says that Since Obama already wants to get rid of the income and capital gains tax cuts for wealthier Americans that expire at the end of 2010, clearly what Romer is referring to is the rest of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts. Letting all the 2001 cuts — rate reductions, child tax credit marriage penalty relief — expire would raise tax revenues by $2.5 trillion through 2019. (more)

And the whole "tax the rich" scheme is nothing but a bunch of fertilizer. If you think you won't be affected by a tax on the "wealthiest of Americans" you've got a rude awakening coming. Its really quite simple: 80% of Americans work for those considered "rich". Many of these are the "mom and pop" shops that employ 100's of people and larger companies that employ 1,000s.

A tax on the rich will impact small and big alike and and business will respond by raising prices and/or cutting jobs or not expanding/hiring. The greatest impact will be on "small" business.

70% of jobs in this country are created by small business.

It ain't rocket surgery or brain science folks...

Yes it is "Fair and Balanced"

Contrary to what the Administration would have you believe...Guess this would be "Obama Lies- Part 3

What if I told you that Fox gave Obama his worst press and John McCain his best press of any network during last year's presidential election? If you work for the White House, you'd probably take this as proof that Fox is just a mouthpiece for the opposition. Now what if I told you that Fox had the most balanced coverage of any network during the same campaign? If you work for Fox, you'd probably say we told you so.

But what if I told you that both scenarios are true? More here from Forbes

New Site for Adult Stem Cell Resources

www.stemcellresearchfacts.org is part of a campaign to educate and spread awareness about the potentials and successes of adult stem cell therapies. H/T Zenit

Silence Galileo Again

"Galileo Silenced Again" is the name of a post over at the Heartland Institute.
In the introduction paragraphs the authors have this to say about Galileo's run in with the Church:

Four centuries ago, “heretics” who disagreed with Church orthodoxy were burned at the stake. Many were the dissenting views that could send offenders to a fiery end.
In 1633, the astronomer Galileo Galilei came within a singed whisker of the same fate, for arguing that the sun (and not the Earth) was at the center of the solar system. He was saved only because he was already famous, had good friends in high government places, and agreed to recant his “heresy” (at least publicly) and submit to living under house arrest until the end of his days.

We’ve come a long way since then. The Church eventually adopted Galileo’s view of science as its own: Nature is the criterion of the truth about nature. ....

Which of course is not true but it is one of the more famous of the Politically Correct truths of the day. The Politically Incorrect truth is that Galileo found himself in the predicament he was in, not because he said the earth was not the center of the universe but because he said it without sufficiently arguing the scientific case against geocentrism. Among the problems with the theory as presented by Galileo was he said the tides were responsible for the earth's motion and he never answered the geocentrist argument involving stellar parallax. Tycho Brahe, who could hardly be called an enemy of science was unconvinced by Galileo. So it really wasn't, as is the popular myth, that the Church was/is against science. But rather the "sin" Galileo was guilty of was bad science and his insistence that the Church take seriously a theory still in its infancy. A theory if you will, that had not yet learned to walk.

There is a delicious irony to the the title, "Galileo Silenced Again." The posting describes the attempts of the authors, to host a scientific session entitled, "Diverse Views from Galileo’s Window: Researching Factors and Processes of Climate Change in the Age of Anthropogenic CO2." The session was to be hosted at the upcoming Fall 2009 Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco.

As the American Spectator puts it, "It was a "go" until it wasn't. The AGU put a stop to the session due to highly suspect causes which seem to toddle about with all the directness of a very young child. Speculation rests on the idea that perhaps the AGU preferred silence to any questioning of the official party line choosing to ignore research that contradicts it.

The Church in Galileo's day was the seat or at least the springboard and ally of many great scientific discoveries. Galileo's case was an exceptional one. The Church acted as a gate-keeper for bad science among others. No gate-keeper and we are overrun by bad science. The theory of man-made climate change has no legs. Would that we could silence Galileo again.

Another Day Another Lie- Part 2

And its being reported by ABC (after other outlets began the story) which is perhaps even bigger news than Obama is lying....


A series of media reports have surfaced in the past week or so, uncovering examples of significant overcounting of stimulus-tied jobs in California, Massachusetts, Texas, Wisconsin, as well several states.

For example: The Boston Globe reviewed the 12,000-plus jobs claimed to have been created or saved by $4 billion in direct stimulus spending in Massachusetts. In one case, a state college reported having added 160 new work-study jobs tied to just $77,181 in stimulus funds. A spokesman for the school, Bridgewater State College, told the Globe that the actual number of jobs was "almost nothing."
The Globe described the Bay State's stimulus job figures as "wildly exaggerated."

A Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel review found a sanitation department in Douglas County, Wis., that admitted to a typo that resulted in an estimate of 100 jobs saved or created, when the actual number was five.

According to USA Today, the Texas recipient of a $26,174 roofing contract reported erroneously that 450 jobs were created or saved when, in fact, six were.... (more)

and as a follow up:

The Obama administration, under fire for inflating job growth from the $787 billion stimulus plan, slashed over 60,000 jobs from its most recent report on the program because the reporting outlets had submitted "unrealistic data," according to a document obtained by ABC News. (more)

Because of unrealistic data or because a Republican caught on and started asking questions...

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back... So goes the old saying and song. And so goes the news on the marriage and abortion front:

Efforts to redefine marriage have seemingly stalled in New Jersey:
(LifeSiteNews) - A bill to legalize same-sex "marriage" in the state of New Jersey will likely never arrive on the desk of Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, an ardent same-sex "marriage" supporter, as momentum for its passage has stalled in committee, reports the Associated Press.

While same sex marriage proponents' campaign to redefine marriage whatever the cost appears to be poised to wreak havoc on D.C.'s poor.
(More here) -- Members of the D.C. City Council have continued to refuse to address the Archdiocese of Washington's concerns that a bill to legalize same-sex "marriage" would injure the poor by forcing Catholic Charities either to support a violation of Catholic teaching or drop government social-service contracts.

and last but not least we have this lovely (and by lovely I mean horrific) story of a hospital in France found guilty of "Unreasonable Obstinacy" in saving a newborn's life. Problem is you see, that the child is now facing "severe mental and physical disabilities due to the trauma."

Obama Bows to Japanese Emperor Akihito

Obama Bows to Emperor, First to Break Protocol in U.S. History

Bowing to the Communist, bowing to the Arabs, apologizing to whom ever will listen around the world. Refuses to salute or put his hand over his heart at the Veterans ceremony during the National Anthem and the presentation of the flag. Heck, he can't decide whether to stay or go in Afghanistan, no worries our guys will be all dead soon and we won't have to worry about it. “Paper tiger" comment is coming to fruition.

Another Day, Another Obama Lie

As we prepare to bring the confessed terrorists to trial at the place of their greatest wounding, to a city still edgy and nervous, and prepare to put citizens at risk again by the mere presence of these killers, Breitbart reminds us what Obama said on the senate floor- that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is going to get a "full military trial with all the bells and whistles"..."justice will be carried out in his case"

Maybe he forgets who he's told what. Maybe his handlers are making him change his mind. Either way its getting hard to keep up with the lies without a program...

Sharia Law In America-Welcome To Dhimmitude

In a trend that is much more widespread in Canada and the UK, Muslims are beginning to insist upon their own (Sharia) law here in the U.S. This should come as no surprise since for a Muslim the only perfect guidance is based upon the Koran and Mohamed, the basis for Sharia law.

Once again, I must emphasize that not all Muslims agree with or follow Sharia law. Thus there is no conflict with the American culture (what's left of it.) But there are many instances where authorities have caved in to these requests.

Following are some examples:

Muslims seek banking changes to accommodate Sharia law

Muslims seek to change Family Law with Sharia law

Here are some more from Traditional Values:

In Minnesota, for example, five Muslim employees at the Missions Food tortilla factory were fired for refusing to wear a new company uniform – shirt and pants. They claimed this violated their Islamic beliefs. CAIR has filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit against Mission Foods.

In Minneapolis in 2006, a number of Somali cabdrivers refused to carry passengers with alcohol. The Muslim Brotherhood was behind this publicity stunt. The airport’s initial plan was to cave to Sharia law and create Sharia-compliant and Sharia non-compliant cabs. An Islamic “fatwa,” or order was issued by the Muslim American Society in June 2006 and sent to the Metropolitan Airports Commission. The fatwa stated that Islamic law prohibits Muslim cabdrivers from carrying passengers with alcohol “because it involves cooperating in sin according to Islam.”

In May 2007, the Phoenix airport installed foot washing facilities to accommodate Muslim cab drivers; and one month earlier, the Kansas City airport decided to add foot washing basins in restrooms for Muslim cab drivers.

In June 2008, the San Francisco Chronicle published a feature titled: “Islam in America’s Public Schools: Education Or Indoctrination?” The article describes how “soft jihad” has entered our nation’s public schools and kids are being indoctrinated to affirm and accept the teachings of Islam. In May 2008, for example, students at Friendswood Junior High in Houston were required to attend a CAIR-sponsored lecture on Islamic Awareness. The students were taught that there is one God, his name is Allah; they were taught how to pray five times a day and wear Islamic clothing. An Islamic charter school in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota is under investigation for its overtly religious curriculum. It is housed in the Muslim American Society’s building. The Muslim American Society is an offshoot of the radical Muslim Brotherhood. When TV news reporters were sent to the school to interview officials, they were assaulted by these Islamists.

Muslims are waging in America what’s been described as “Islamist Lawfare,” against our system of government. Brooke M. Goldstein with the Legal Project at the Middle East Forum was interviewed in May by reporter Jamie Glazov. According to Goldstein: “One tenet of Sharia law is to punish those who criticize Islam, and to silence speech considered blasphemous against Islam or its Prophet Mohammed. The Islamist movement has two wings – that which operates violently, propagating suicide-homicide bombing and other terrorist activities, and that which operates lawfully, conducting a ‘soft jihad,’ within our court systems, through Sharia banking, within our school systems and through organizations such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Canadian Islamic Congress. Both the violent and the lawful arms of the Islamist movement can and do work apart, but often, their work re-enforces each other's.”

And apparently this last one is alive and well in Seattle, Washington
Seattle Times adopts Sharia: "Do not slander Islam after Fort Hood"

And last but certainly not least, lets not forget the Obama Administration's appointment of Sharia law cheerleader Obama adviser Dalia Mogahed. She'll even take the act on the road. But Britain may be already lost.

Oh yeah, did I mention the DHS appointment? That's the Department of Homeland Security folks:
New DHS official linked to Muslim Public Affairs Council, which calls Hizballah a "liberation movement"

And before I leave you, remember the big fuss about the 10 Commandments and our government's misguided decision to ban them from schools? Well apparently its OK to teach the Five Pillars of Islam....

Welcome to Dhimmitude

I will not submit

Jihad In America

This should have been included in the GWOT updates but I decided to list it separately....
From Atlas Shrugs, a list of Jihadist activities in the LAST MONTH:

Muslim Garbed Jihadi Nidal Hasan Screamed "Allah Akbar" as he Mowed Down US Soldiers at Fort Hood, Death Toll Rises

Going Muslim on a Photographer outside Michigan Mosque

Son of an Imam Killed in Gun Battle with the FBI in Detroit is Arrested

Michigan Mosque leader killed during Islamic gun battle with fed

Hush Hush: Huge Fed/FBI Raid on Chicago Halal Goat Meat Slaughterhouse

Boston Muslim Terrorist Son of MAS (Muslim American Society) LeaderAnother Conviction of Muslims Engaged in Plotting Islamic Attacks Against American Overseas

NY Imam Indicted in NYC Terror Attack Plot

Massive Muslim Attack Averted: "plot to kill two prominent US politicians and carry out a holy war by attacking shoppers in US malls and American troops in Iraq"

Obama First Female Veiled Islamist Appointee, Dalia Mogahed, Promotes Sharia, Says it's "Misunderstood

New York Muslim indicted for plotting to kill U.S. troops

FBI arrests Jordanian for downtown Dallas bomb plot...NYC: Muslims Protest "RACIAL
PROFILING" in wake of arrests in major jihad terror plot

Illinois man charged in plot to bomb federal offices...Terror suspects accused of targeting Marine base in Quantico...

Men vanish after taking photos of Philly subway system...



I will not submit

Global War On Terror (GWOT) Updates

Oh wait. We aren't supposed to use that term- "Global War On Terror." What is it the present Administration wants us to use? Oh yes, "A Man Made Disaster."

Not a fan of the renaming of the GWOT but, well, that's what it was wasn't it? 14 dead. A man made disaster- yup that pretty much sums it up. Caused by a man that was perhaps a bit unstable, who believed ardently that others should be converted, who was frustrated terribly when others failed to see his way and agree with him. But the man of whom I speak was not at Ft Hood last week. At least not in the flesh. The man of whom I speak is Mohamed himself. With apologies to those Muslims who reject Islam's violent beginnings/teachings, Mohamed would have been proud of what happened at Ft Hood as surely as he lopped off the heads of the tribal leaders who opposed him in Medina. ( I wonder how many nasty comments/death threats I'll get from offended Jihadists? Maybe I'll make the list of websites deemed dangerous by the Jihadists. Probably not but its an interesting list. I've added many of the sites under the GWOT heading.)


He would have been proud for two reasons. First, Hasan was earning his way into heaven. You see, unlike Christianity, which says one cannot get to heaven through good works alone but only by the grace of God, Islam lets you earn your way in. As long as you have more marks in the good column than the bad, you are good to go. If you fall behind you can double up on prayers and the like and get extra points to close the gap. If you are really bad and go to strip clubs and fail to marry and have kids like a good Muslim should, like Mr Hasan. (Or if you are homosexual which could explain the fact he was 39 and unmarried as well as the HIV meds found in his apartment) Then you need something BIG to catch up on the good marks. Now doubling up on prayers isn't going to help you much here so what do you do? You call in the big point makers like Jihad and killing infidels. And lo and behold only a short time after al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader Nasir al-Wahayshi wrote an article in the Jihadi magazine that called for jihadists to conduct simple attacks against a variety of targets, Mr Hasan decides to get a morning coffee and start squeezing off rounds.


Which brings us to the second reason Mohamed would have been proud. Since Muslims see Mohamed as the perfect man and pious Muslims are called to emulate him, then it stands to reason that even his violent ways are to be copied. When Mohamed consolidated power in Medina (read- killed off the competition) he marched back to Mecca, from whence he had been in effect, exiled, and made his request again. Will you convert? This time, however he had an army to back him up, so his request had two choices: convert or be killed. Which is why Jihad and killing infidels scores such big points. It is true that not all Muslims accept the violent ways of Mohamed as behavior to be followed but to ignore the fact that so many do is to invite the type of carnage that we have seen all these years, most recently at Ft Hood.

Still there are those who will say that this is simply the machinations of a mad man, that he acted on his own. That he was mad, I will agree. That he worked alone is a lie.

Daniel Pipes has a really good article contrasting those who would say that Hasan was but an "over-stressed victim" crowd with those who see it as a symptom of the Jihadist disease which infects society. Here is a list and some of the colorful descriptions from the killer as victim crowd.

1990: "A prescription drug for … depression" (to explain the assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane)
1991: "A robbery gone wrong" (the murder of Makin Morcos in Sydney)
1994: "Road rage" (the killing of a random Jew on the Brooklyn Bridge)
1997: "Many, many enemies in his mind" (the shooting murder atop the Empire State Building) 2000: A traffic incident (the attack on a bus of Jewish schoolchildren near Paris)
2002: "A work dispute" (the double murder at LAX)
2002: A "stormy [family] relationship" (the Beltway snipers)
2003: An "attitude problem" (Hasan Karim Akbar's attack on fellow soldiers, killing two)
2003: Mental illness (the mutilation murder of Sebastian Sellam)
2004: "Loneliness and depression" (an explosion in Brescia, Italy outside a McDonald's restaurant)
2005: "A disagreement between the suspect and another staff member" (a rampage at a retirement center in Virginia)
2006: "An animus toward women" (a murderous rampage at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle)
2006: "His recent, arranged marriage may have made him stressed" (killing with an SUV in northern California)

Perhaps this shooting has woke us up. Mosques and buildings are being seized because of ties to Iran. Although it is clear these investigation have been ongoing. The time has come to take off the gloves.

Still, the call has gone out. More of these types of attacks will occur. The Jihadists are chomping at the bit. Sleeping too much? Follow the link and read the comments that have been reproduced on this blog. Keep you up better than a case of energy drinks.

In addition, Baitullah Mehsud, the most feared and dangerous militant commander in Pakistan’s tribal region has promised an attack on Washington

And Iran may be behind the insurgency in Afghanistan (Shocker!) while it continues unabated toward its goal of making a nuclear weapon and the poor state of military readiness of Russian forces has lowered the nuclear threshold.

Thankfully we have a decisive, strong leader in place to keep us safe at night.
Sleep tight and sweet dreams.

House Vote 887 - H.R.3962: On Passage Affordable Health Care for America Act

A Warrior's Honor

In Book II of Vergil's epic poem, the Aeneid, King Priam of Troy says to Pyrrhus, who has just slaughtered Priam's son before his very eyes in front of an altar, "You lie when you say that Achilles was your father, for Achilles was never an enemy like this."

He is, of course, referring to Achilles, the great hero of Homer's epic poem, the Iliad. Achilles was many things, but there was no question of his honor as a warrior. It is important for us to see the tragedy at Ft. Hood in its starkest light. The madman coward who murdered his brothers-in-arms was no Achilles. He lacked all honor. To read more in this vein, see my post "A Warrior's Rage" at Bedlam or Parnassus.

The Government Takeover of Health Care

On October 29, 2009, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and congressional Democrats released their latest version of a government takeover of America’s health care system.

∙ The Democrats’ Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) is the antithesis of patient-centered reform that empowers Americans to truly own and control their health coverage and provides more choices, more competition, more innovation, higher quality and lower costs.

∙ In deciphering the ins and outs of the new health care system, Americans will have to get familiar with a host of new czars and bureaucrats, including the Health Benefits Advisory Committee (Sec. 223), the Health Choices Administration and the Health Choices Commissioner (Sec. 241).

∙ Americans can say goodbye to personal, private insurance as individual health insurance coverage is grandfathered out of existence (Sec. 202) and more limitations are added to health savings accounts (Sec. 531 & Sec. 533).

∙ Fears of government-run health care are alive and well with experts saying the government health insurance plan (Sec. 321) will force tens of millions out of their existing coverage.

∙ The U.S. Constitution and the principle of limited government are tested as never before by forcing Americans to purchase “acceptable” health care coverage or face a tax of 2.5% of modified adjusted gross income (Sec. 501).

∙ Trial lawyers get off scot-free as Democrats pay lip service to real medical malpractice reform, opting to hand over money for lawyer-friendly “alternatives” (Sec. 2531) instead of limiting attorneys’ fees or capping damages.

∙ Washington goes after employers, by mandating they provide health care coverage or pay a tax equal to 8 percent of wages (Sec. 512), and S Corp filers, by instituting a 5.4 percent surtax on taxpayers (Sec. 551).

∙ More low-income individuals (now up to 150% of the federal poverty level) will be pushed onto the rolls of Medicaid (Sec. 1701) leaving already over-stretched State Governments to pick up the tab.

∙ Future costs will be borne by your children and grandchildren. A preliminary analysis by the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the true cost of the bill is $1.055 trillion.

∙ It permits federal funds to be spent on abortion services (Sec. 222).

∙ Community organizations like ACORN may assist the Health Choices Commissioner in enrolling individuals in the Health Insurance Exchange (Sec. 305).

∙ Members of Congress are not subject to the same health care system Americans will have to live by under the public health insurance option (Sec. 330).

Swine Flu Myths That Could Kill You

From New Scientist by way of Avian Flu Diary some popular myths about the H1N1 Flu. I like the format over at Afludairy as they are one of my prime sources for H1N1 info and link back to the main article. But if you prefer, you can go straight to the source.

Myth 1

The symptoms are like regular flu. You've got it if you've got a fever
Up to half the people who get swine flu never develop a fever, and some suffer from gastrointestinal symptoms as well as more standard flu symptoms. Read more

Go and read the updated symptoms list. You may save the life of someone you love.


MYTH 2

This is just mild flu. The death rates are even lower than for normal flu

Swine flu is killing young people rather than the very elderly, and although winter is just starting, more young people have already died of flu than normally die over the entire winter. Read more

I mentioned this earlier this week. The elderly are the usual victims of a flu season which at least in part is an expected outcome. The fact that this flu is killing the young will have a very different psychological impact should the trends continue.


MYTH 3

You're safe as long as you're healthy. Only sick, weak people get really ill

Most of the children who have died of swine flu were perfectly healthy beforehand, and many of the adult victims also had no underlying conditions. Read more

See Myth 2. Personally I know of two individuals, otherwise healthy adults, who have been hospitalized with pneumonia stemming from H1N1. One was hospitalized for 4 days and the other for the better part of September and almost died.

Go here and read more and the other 5 myths...

ACORN- The Nuts Are Everywhere

The Congressional ban on federal funding of ACORN expires this week-end. Happy Halloween. Roll back your clocks and your ethics. It doesn't get much scarier than this. And right on cue we hear that ACORN is firing up the propaganda machine with a a new website, DeFOXamerica.com, which is an effort to shoot the messenger. More can be found about this over at the Spectator. Piss off Soros and the Dark Lord will fight back.

In fact, Congresswoman Maxine "Wormtail" Waters has already been busy adding an amendment to the impending takeover/overhaul legislation of the country's financial institutions that:

"...adds an oversight board of five representatives from the fields of “consumer protection, fair lending and civil rights, representatives of depository institutions that primarily serve underserved communities, or representatives of communities that have been significantly impacted by higher-priced mortgages" to join federal banking regulators in advising the CFPA’s director...." (Judicial Watch) (more)

Read ACORN.

Fortunately Ms Waters has her own issues to deal with an ethics investigation all her own. Anyone surprised?

White House Says No ‘Veracity’ to Argument That Forcing Individuals to Buy Health Insurance Is Unconstitutional

Not going to confuse you with an English major either but that is another issue.
You're not really surprised they would say that are you? Interesting that Mr Gibbs also says that,

"I won't be confused as a constitutional scholar, but I don't believe there's a lot of--I don't believe there's a lot of case law that would demonstrate the veracity of what they're commentating on," said Gibbs.

Well, of course there isn't any case law on it because the government HAS NEVER TRIED IT BEFORE!

As CNSNews points out:

In 1994, when the Clinton administration attempted to push a health care reform plan through a Democratic Congress that also mandated every American buy health insurance, the Congressional Budget Office determined that the government had never ordered Americans to buy anything. “The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States,” the CBO analysis said. “An individual mandate would have two features that, in combination, would make it unique. First, it would impose a duty on individuals as members of society. Second, it would require people to purchase a specific service that would be heavily regulated by the federal government.”

But of course the Constitution does not appear to be a very large consideration for this Administration in this or (m)any other matters.

13 New Tax Hikes In the Dems Healthcare Bill

Let's see 1,990 pages divided by 13 is one tax hike every 153 pages.....From Americans For Tax Reform:

H.R. 3962, the "Affordable Health Care for America Act" has been introduced--all 1990 pages of it. This gargantuan beast contains thirteen new tax hikes. Here they all are, with description and page number (PDF version):
***
Employer Mandate Excise Tax (Page 275): If an employer does not pay 72.5 percent of a single employee’s health premium (65 percent of a family employee), the employer must pay an excise tax equal to 8 percent of average wages. Small employers (measured by payroll size) have smaller payroll tax rates of 0 percent (<$500,000), 2 percent ($500,000-$585,000), 4 percent ($585,000-$670,000), and 6 percent ($670,000-$750,000).

Individual Mandate Surtax (Page 296): If an individual fails to obtain qualifying coverage, he must pay an income surtax equal to the lesser of 2.5 percent of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) or the average premium. MAGI adds back in the foreign earned income exclusion and municipal bond interest.

Medicine Cabinet Tax (Page 324): Non-prescription medications would no longer be able to be purchased from health savings accounts (HSAs), flexible spending accounts (FSAs), or health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). Insulin excepted.

read the rest here...

Obama Administration -Privacy Act Does Not Apply to White House

In a not so surprising statement the White House has stated its position that the Privacy Act does not apply to it. So how's that new era of openness working for ya?

From Judicial Watch:

..."What the Obama administration is effectively saying here is that if the White House decides to illegally compile FBI files and violate your privacy rights, tough luck," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "It is disturbing that the Obama administration has taken the legal position that the Privacy Act does not apply to the White House and the Clinton FBI files scandal was not a scandal. It is worrying to those of us concerned about the Obama White House's collecting "fishy" emails and compiling an enemies list of new organizations, radio hosts, businesses, and industry associations to attack and smear. Is the Obama defense of the FBI files scandal less about that Clinton scandal and more about what his White House is up to now?"

Do our Troops have the support of the Whitehouse?

No worries Mr President. There are plenty of more troops in Afghanistan that we can let die while you decide on when you will decide to support our troops or pull them out.

8 US troops die; new deadliest month in Afghan war

We don't want to interrupt your golf game or evening parties at the Whitehouse. At the rate of 55 military deaths a month, hell we can last another couple of years before they are all dead. At least the fringe media is doing you a favor by keeping this out of the news. We don't want to upset the political apple cart and mentioned body counts, oh no, heavens to Betsy no....meanwhile, we'll keep attending the funerals.

President Obama ties George W Bush on Golf

Country is circling the drain, Moody is ready to downgrade the countries credit rating, we're owned by the Chinese, self proclaimed communist on your staff, but hey, as long as you can salsa, it's all cool.

Geeze Barry, it might be time to put down the crack pipe.

Abortion Kills More Black Americans Than the Seven Leading Causes of Death Combined, Says CDC Data

The Democrats are not your friends.


(CNSNews.com) – Abortion kills more black Americans than the seven leading causes of death combined, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2005, the latest year for which the abortion numbers are available.

Abortion killed at least 203,991 blacks in the 36 states and two cities (New York City and the District of Columbia) that reported abortions by race in 2005, according to the CDC. During that same year, according to the CDC, a total of 198,385 blacks nationwide died from heart disease, cancer, strokes, accidents, diabetes, homicide, and chronic lower respiratory diseases combined. These were the seven leading causes of death for black Americans that year. (more)

Administration Loses Bid to Exclude Fox News From Pay Czar Interview

Well, I guess this means they aren't totally beholden to Obama after all, much to the Administration's chagrin I suspect.... But should this not scare the hell out of all of us? True, Presidents have a history of getting in pissing matches with certain members of the news media and have been vocal and more about those the were displeased with, but to attempt to completely exclude a news outlet? That is extreme no matter which side you're on- at least it should be.

The Obama administration on Thursday tried to make "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg available for interviews to every member of the White House pool except Fox News. But the Washington bureau chiefs of the five TV networks decided that none of their reporters would interview Feinberg unless Fox News was included. (more from Fox)

Quote Of The Day

From the comments section of Mere Comments on a posting on the Pope's invitation to Anglicans to join the Church.

One last thing, whether some of the interlocutors here like it or not. I'm a committed Christian. Jesus is my savior. No answer besides Jesus can be given to any of the great questions in this universe. I can do absolutely nothing of merit on my own, without Jesus; and I don't mean that I do half of a good thing while He supplies the other half, either. Now you all who believe in Scripture are my compatriots in the battle. I may grumble that you take insufficient stock of the Church fathers and of the natural law. You may bemoan the fact, as you see it (for of course I don't see it that way, or I would not be Catholic) that I accept unwarranted additions to Scripture. But whether we like it or not, the battle is here, the trenches are dug, and our rifles had damned well better be pointed in the same direction. And here we bicker -- to quote Milton, "As if we had not foes enow besides, That day and night for our destruction wait."

Great post on this over at Bedlam and Parnassus

U.S. troops in Iraq have time on hands

So, we have a General, which the President appointed and we have a Secretary of Defense, which the President appointed, both of which are recommending more troops in Afghanistan. Yet, BO can't make a decision. Big surprise, he voted present instead of voting over 80% of the time while in the Senate. Sorry, not allowed to do that as President. Either s$%* or get off the pot! Either support our troops, or pull them out of Afghanistan!

Meanwhile, we have troops bored in Iraq, while we have other troops getting killed in Afghanistan because BO can't make a decision. Guess he's too busy flying around supporting liberals that are down in the polls. Which is more important, supporting the troops, or supporting liberals here at home? Personally, I'm getting sick of going to military funerals. Want your guts ripped out, try it sometime.

Where is the fringe media in all of this? When Bush was President we got a body count and call for withdraw every night on the news. Now, nothing! Our military is getting killed daily and not a word from the press. What is the country coming too (unfortunately we know the answer to that)? Truly the troops are just political pawns only to be used when there is political hay to be made.

What are you doing about it?

Wednesday Funny

Ever feel like that?

"Very Sobering" Flu Season

Most everyone it seems is dismissing the H1N1 threat as overblown. Some go so far as to see government conspiracy. I am not among those in either camp. I have said in previous posts that while there is no need to panic, it would be foolish not to keep a close eye on this matter. The prevalence of the virus in the southern hemisphere these last few months and the fact it never "went away" as is the usual case in this country during sumer months were all potential red flags. Combined with a tendency to strike the healthy and a high virulence capacity were more casuses of concern.

This has recently come to the forefront in the mainstream media headlines but nothing has truly driven home the fact like the graphics from the CDC and the commentary from Effect Measure. Effect Measure has an excellent if chilling explanation of the charts (especially needed since the graphics are so poor) and excellent commentary as well. In a nutshell, this flu season is shaping up to be like few others and while a typical flu season may kill more in number, these are typically the old an infirm. H1N1 victims are more often, much more often, infants, children, teens and healthy adults. As Effect Measure points out, these could triple or even quadruple and not reach what a "typical" season involves. But the psychological effects of so many young and healthy would be immense.

Monday morning, start of week three of the official flu season (which began October 4). CDC's scientific spokeswoman on the flu, Dr. Anne Schuchat has said we are seeing "unprecedented" flu activity for this time of year, including an unusual toll in the pediatric age group. What does "unprecedented" mean? It's not very specific on what precedents are included, but if we confine ourselves to the three years before this one, we can get a good idea of just how unusual this flu season is.

CDC Source, full size here; legible on the .pdf version (page 8) (hat tip OmegaMom)
Weeks are on the horizontal axis. There are five age group panels (0 - 4 years at the top, seniors at the bottom) and at the right side of each panel you will see lines gradually ascending from week 40 (October) to week 20 (April), CDC's traditional flu season. Everything to left of week 40 in each panel is prior to or just after the official flu season and is essentially zero for the three prior seasons, .....

...The "unprecedented" year we are having shows up in the left of each panel. The rates are a solid line running across the bars. the bars are case counts (note to CDC: lose the bars. They are obscuring the picture). To see how unusual this is, look at the top panel (0 - 4 years), where the solid line has risen to 1.4 cases per 10,000 infants and toddlers in week 40 (first week in October). In the three previous years that seasonal risk level isn't reached until the 3rd week in January. We are 3 months in advance of the last three years by this measure, and the case count for that age group is still rising.

For the 5 - 17 year old panel the difference is more dramatic. We've already reached the risk level we would normally see for the whole flu season, and we are just getting started. That's the group being hit the hardest, and half the fatalities since September 1 have been in the 12 - 17 year old age group, confirming that.

For adults between 18 and 50, the picture is like that for the under 4 year olds: about 3 months in advance compared to the bad flu year of 2007 - 2008 and already exceeding that for the entire flu seasons of the other two years. This is the age group populating the ICU beds. Even though population rates may be smaller, there are many more of them. ...

...It is true that seasonal influenza kills a lot of people every year. They are mainly seniors, people like me. People care about seniors, of course, but our deaths are considered part of the natural order of things. Old people die. If it's not one thing, it's another. And of course our mortality rate is very high, compared to all other age groups. Even if the number of infants, children, teens and healthy adults double or triple or quadruple, the number of deaths may not ever reach what happens normally to seniors during seasonal flu, but the psychological and social impact is considerably greater. That's one of the fallacies in comparing the numbers of deaths from this flu with the usual seasonal flu. More

I THOUGHT I was back

But I guess I wasn't....
After returning from training I expected to get back to posting fairly regularly but obviously that was not the case. Some small minority of you may have even noticed.

But you see we've had a baby in the house and I've forgotten how much time they can take up. This one we found in the yard behind ours, a bold explorer who managed to wander from its mom and litter mates. We found it when it was about three weeks old, stumbling shaky legged through the underbrush after a neighbor brought it to our attention. Since it was in danger of being carried off by mosquitoes (any one of which was as big as she was) or worse yet to be a fine feast for the owl that lives in the tall trees behind us, we thought it best to bring her in. After a crash course in what 3 week old kittens eat (there is kitten formula BTW) and a visit from our mobile vet who pronounced her a) healthy b) about 3 weeks old and c) a she we settled in to finding her a home and taking care of her. This included feeding from a tiny bottle about 6 times a day for a while and teaching her sanitary habits with a litter box before which we were required to do mama cats job of "stimulating" her to do the job via wet paper towel. It was a grand day when she started using the pie pan that is her sand box.

We were also told by the vet that orphaned kitties need lots of "socializing" with many different people, otherwise they have an unfortunate habit of turning into "demon cats" (the vet's words) meaning they are really mean and hateful to all but those they bond with initially making adoption all but impossible. So we took her to work a few times and passed her about and for the most part she took to folks rather quickly her few pathetic, though heartfelt, hisses and spits notwithstanding. Now she is everywhere and in everything and must be crated whenever there is no one to watch her carefully. She has a home as soon as she is weaned and that day is almost here but for now still prefers a bottle to her gruel of kitten formula and some minced meat of the feline variety not easily recognizable by looks or smell to any human and that is "buried" by the kitten and our cat whenever possible.

So for now its us and the cat and the kitten and the three feral outdoor cats that we are feeding so that we can eventually trap and "fix" so that we have no more kittens. A task that we were apparently a bit tardy in accomplishing.

So its us and the cat and the kitten which are indoors and which I'm allergic to, and the three outdoor cats and the two outdoor kittens belonging to the queen which we didn't fix in time. We've seen them a couple a times though not lately, so they are either owl meat or being taken care of by mama cat till the time that they can be brought to the morning feeding that the other three get. They too will be eventually be trapped and fixed.

So its us and the cat and the kitten and my asthma, and the three outdoor cats and the two outdoor kittens and a sheep. Yup, a sheep. Our oldest son is raising a sheep for show through the FFA (Future Farmers of America). He goes to the barn (which is at the school) two times a day and feeds and cleans and walks and runs his sheep. Or rather I take him to the barn twice a day to feed and water and clean and walk and run his sheep.

But he has finished the play he was in so now gets home in the evening before 9:00 which is better for everyone since he's up at the barn by 0645.

And then there is the pumpkin patch. A little outreach project at the church that I am in charge of. We unloaded 800 pumpkins earlier in the month and expect another load about that size this week. I have to find folks to help unload and man the patch for selling purposes and this year it has been a challenge. I've spent quite a bit of time in the patch.

This last week-end I took my last Physical Training test of my Air Force career. 47 push ups in a minute, 37 sit ups in a minute (no I'm not proud of that) and a mile and a half run without requiring EMT intervention. At least I passed.

So now I'm back- sorta.

Is Obama Poised to Cede US Sovereignty?

On October 14, Lord Christopher Monckton gave a presentation in St. Paul, MN on the subject of global warming. In this 4-minute excerpt from his speech, he issues a dire warning to all Americans regarding the United Nations Climate Change Treaty that is scheduled to be signed in Copenhagen in December 2009.

A draft of the treaty can be read here: http://www.globalclimatescam.com/documents/un-fccc-copenhagen-2009.pdf

Page 18: Section 38 of the "Share vision for long-term cooperation action plan" contains the text for forming the new government.

Page 40: Section 46 Subsection H of the "Objectives, scope, and guiding principles" contains the text for enforcement and establishment of the rule of law.

There has been considerable debate raised about Monckton's conclusion that the Copenhagen Treaty would cede US sovereignty. His comments appear to be based upon his interpretation of the The Supremacy Clause in the US Constitution (Article VI, paragraph 2). This clause establishes the Constitution, Federal Statutes, and U.S. TREATIES as the supreme law of the land. Concerns have been raised in the past that a particularly ambitious treaty may supersede the US Constitution. In the 1950s, a constitutional amendment, known as the Bricker Amendment, was proposed in response to such fears, but it failed to pass. You can read more about the Bricker Amendment in a 1953 Time Magazine article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/art...,9171,806676-1,00.html

Lord Monckton served as a policy adviser to Margaret Thatcher. He has repeatedly challenged Al Gore to a debate to which Gore has refused. Monckton sued to stop Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth" from being shown in British schools due to its inaccuracies. The judge found in-favor of Monckton, ordering 9 serious errors in the film to be corrected. Lord Monckton travels internationally in an attempt to educating the public about the myth of global warming.

Self Pity, How to be Downwardly Mobile

Great essay I read that I thought I would share. It's so easy to be caught up in self-pity, and he really has taken it to a different level.

I'm Back

Back from the New Mexico desert and three weeks with the Army. Boy am I glad I'm in the Air Force. I'm tired still, but with any luck at all this will have been the last time that I will be away from family for such matters. Today I enter into my final year with the military. I'll be looking for a job soon.

All this to say that I will be posting again soon and apologize to all for my delay in responding and posting. We lost connectivity last Sunday and so I had no access to such things.

Welcome to new readers and visitors.! Thanks for stopping by!

Recommendations

OK- I know I've added a great deal of content to the site, so much so that it may be difficult to wade through it all even with the handy dandy headings and groupings. For many of you this will not be a problems and you will slog through as you are led. But some may not and thus may miss some of the really good stuff that is there. The blogs and links I offer all have some redeeming quality and are trustworthy as far as I know. If I feel the subject matter is somewhat lacking, it will go away. Still, you may find it a bit much, so to assist you I have included below some of the highlights this week. As I've said, I think they are all worth a look but if you can only get to a few, these would be them for this week:

A new way to achieve victory in the Mid-East. A thought provoking article by analyst and writer Daniel Pipes:

When Barack Obama announced in June 2009 about Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy, "I'm confident that if we stick with it, having started early, that we can make some serious progress this year," he displayed a touching, if naïve optimism.

Indeed, his determination fits a well-established pattern of determination by politicians to "solve" the Arab-Israeli conflict; there were fourteen U.S. government initiatives just during the two George W. Bush administrations. Might this time be different? Will trying harder or being more clever end the conflict?

No, there is no chance whatever of this effort working.

Without looking at the specifics of the Obama approach — which are in themselves problematic — I shall argue three points: that past Israeli-Palestinian negotiations have failed; that their failure resulted from an Israeli illusion about avoiding war; and that Washington should urge Jerusalem to forego negotiations and return instead to its earlier and more successful policy of fighting for victory. (more)

Over at Bedlam or Parnassus an excellent post on shameful things and the shame and bedlam present in our schools and in our government.

Many of the pro-family blogs are helping in Maine's fight to preserve tradtional marriage. At the Pomegranate Apple they tell you some concrete ways you can help.

And last but certainly not least, when it all seems a bit much to handle, you can go to A Trail of Flowers and rest. If you are Catholic (or a closet Catholic-like me) and/or appreciate or write (or attempt to write- like me) poetry, then you will be doubly blessed. I've never known a blog to be a poem till now. It is a breath of fresh air.

I hope you enjoy them all.