Daily Archives: November 28, 2012

11/28/12

Analysis Of Obama’s Benghazigate Cover-up

In Spite Of The Media’s Apathy, There Are Vital National Security Issues At Stake

By Col. Tom Snodgrass (Ret.), Right Side News

A List Of The National Security Issues Involved In Obama’s Benghazigate Cover-up:

1. The failure of President Obama’s Arab Spring-Foreign Policy.
2. The fallacious foundation of Obama’s national security policy toward Islam, concealing the true aggressive, imperialistic character of Islam.
3. The blatant, dishonest effort to mislead the American people about the cause of the Benghazi Islamic terrorist attack and the death of four Americans.
4. The Obama regime’s continuing effort to stifle honest discussion of the U.S. national security implications of the Islamic Quran’s and Sharia’s clearly hostile contents.
5. The State Department’s security planning failures preceding the Benghazi attack.
6. The failure of the Obama regime to react to the seven-hour attack to protect U.S. Government personnel.
7. The Obama regime’s continuing dishonesty in deceiving the American people about what actually occurred at Benghazi and why.

Analysis Of The Issues

1. The failure of President Obama’s Arab Spring-Foreign Policy.

The Benghazi Islamic terrorist attack exposes the failure of Obama’s Arab Spring-Foreign Policy that includes his unauthorized war of intervention to depose Gaddafi, a U.S. ally. Obama’s ill-conceived policy has enabled Islamic jihadist groups that are al-Qaeda-affiliated, like Ansar al-Sharia, to completely control the jihadist safe-haven in Eastern Libya. But this Arab Spring-Foreign Policy failure spreads far beyond Libya to include the Muslim Brotherhood’s dictatorial take-over of Egypt, the green light to the Muslim Brotherhood’s Hamas jihadists to conduct missile terror attacks on Israel, the unimpeded progress of the Iranian mullahs to acquire nuclear weapons, the Iranian domination of Iraq following Obama’s precipitous withdrawal of U.S. troops, the impending take-over of Syria by the Muslim Brotherhood, and the imminent defeat of U.S. forces in Afghanistan at the hands of Taliban/al-Qaeda forces.

2. The fallacious foundation of Obama’s national security policy toward Islam, concealing the true aggressive, imperialistic character of Islam.

The following Obama quotes attempt to vindicate Islam and distance the religion from its almost 1400-year history of hate, violence, aggression, and barbarity:

  • “Islam has always been part of America.”
  • “We will encourage more Americans to study in Muslim communities.”
  • “These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings.”
  • “America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”
  • “So I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed.”
  • “Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality”
  • “As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith.”
  • “I look forward to hosting an Iftar dinner celebrating Ramadan here at the White House later this week, and wish you a blessed month.”
  • “That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn’t. And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”
  • “I also know that Islam has always been a part of America’s story.”

Except for the above expressions of Obama’s personal feelings, it doesn’t get any more dishonest than this. To borrow Mary McCarthy’s pithy description of a rival’s work, “every word . . . is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the’.” When the above Obama quotes about Islam are combined with Obama’s words at the UN, which were, “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam,” it becomes an inescapable but to conclude that Obama is actually attempting to get the West to adopt the Islamic Sharia’s blasphemy law against any criticism of Islam. In view of Obama’s many pronouncements, it is impossible to dismiss Obama’s unnatural mania for Islam. To say that Obama is a pandering Islamophile does not begin to adequately describe Obama’s obsession.

3. The blatant, dishonest effort to mislead the American people about the cause of the Benghazi Islamic terrorist attack and the death of four Americans.

The failed Arab Spring-Foreign Policy of the Obama regime is constructed on a brazen deception that conceals Sharia-mandated Islamic jihad; therefore, every jihadist attack must be made to appear to have been provoked by non-Muslims, hence the Obama regime manufactured the false narrative that an unknown video was the cause of the Benghazi attack.

The American people have been subjected to a transparently conspiratorial attempt at blaming a fictional, spontaneous mob reaction to some obscure Internet video, which mocked Muhammad, for the Benghazi Islamic terrorist attack and death of four Americans. This deception is an integral part of the Obama regime’s national security fabrication to conceal the existence and adversarial nature of Islamic Sharia-mandated jihad. Consequently, the entire Team Obama has engaged in manic attempts to deceive the American people about the attack-causal role of the Internet video, including when the president shamefully lied to the world before the UN in alleging that the anti-Muhammad video motivated the U.S. ambassador’s murder by an outraged Muslim flash mob! Obama clearly put the blame on video-attack-causation with these words:

That is what we saw play out the last two weeks, as a crude and disgusting video sparked outrage throughout the Muslim world. I have made it clear that the United States government had nothing to do with this video, and I believe its message must be rejected by all who respect our common humanity.

This bold-faced lie was foisted on a global audience two weeks after it was “self-evident” that the Benghazi attack was conducted by terrorists, according to Obama’s own public relations flack, Jay Carney. But Obama’s video-attack-causation lie to the UN is apparently exposed as mendacity by Obama himself in the second presidential debate with Mitt Romney on October 16th when he asserted:

Obama: “The day after the attack, governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people in the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened — that this was an act of terror — and I also said that we’re going to hunt down those who committed this crime.”

Romney: “I think interesting the president just said something, which is that on the day after the attack he went into the Rose Garden and said that this was an act of terror.”

Obama: “That’s what I said.”

Romney: “You said in the Rose Garden the day after the attack, it was an act of terror. It was not a spontaneous demonstration, is that what you’re saying?”

Obama: “Please proceed, governor.”

Romney: “I want to make sure we get that for the record because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror.”

Obama: “Get the transcript.”

There is no reconciling Obama’s claim that he said it was a “terror attack” in a speech to the nation on September 12th with his asserting the pernicious video-attack-causation lie to the UN on September 25th! So, was Obama lying on the 12th or on the 25th! Actually he was lying on both dates as well as on October 16th at the second presidential debate! When one takes Obama’s instruction and gets the September 12th Rose Garden transcript, one finds these words from Obama, “I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans… While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others…” In Obama’s statement that, “While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others,” it is obvious that he is propounding the video-attack-causation lie which lays the blame on an anti-Islamic, provocative action committed by an American, and he is not referring Islamic terror.

But the UN debacle was not the only international calumny committed by Obama. Again, after it was indisputably clear to U.S. Intelligence that the Internet video played no part in inspiring the Benghazi attack, Obama and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, disgracefully paid U.S. taxpayer dollars to appear on Pakistani television to perpetuate the video-attack-causation lie, unnecessarily provoking even more hostility in the Islamic world against the U.S. in the commission of this mendacity!

And then, five days after the Benghazi attack when the preplanned terrorist involvement was beyond question, there were the ludicrous TV performances of the U.S. UN Ambassador, Susan Rice. Obama called on Rice to robotically repeat the mindless video-attack-causation lie on five different Sunday morning TV talk shows, disgracing herself, her office, the Obama regime, and the United States in the process!

4. The Obama regime’s continuing effort to stifle honest discussion of the U.S. national security implications of the Islamic Quran’s and Sharia’s clearly hostile contents.

The following is an account of how far Obama and his regime have gone to flush the fact of Islamic jihadist imperialism down the “Orwellian Memory Hole”:

“… in order to continue on the irresponsible course of being ‘Islam-ignorant,’ the Obama National Security Council removed terms like ‘militant Islamic radicalism’ from the 2010 National Security Strategy and substituted ‘violent extremism’ and (undefined) ‘terrorism’ in an effort to deny and conceal the cause of the on-going war against America, and that cause is, the ‘theo-political-military imperialist doctrine’ laid out in the Quran and Islamic Sharia. From there the Obama administration’s obstructive effort becomes even more serious when Islamist and militant Arabic groups, representing the jihadist Hamas and Hezbollah terror organizations, demanded that the FBI purge its training materials of all information which the Islamists found offensive to their ‘religious sensibilities.’ To his ever-lasting disgrace, FBI Director Mueller complied with these Islamic demands, undoubtedly carrying out with his superiors’ policy.

“But it is at this point that the U.S. national security establishment descends to its all-time nadir when President Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, acquiesced to the stipulations in a October 19, 2011 letter to the White House, signed by 57 Muslim organizations, demanding that all training materials not meeting their approval be “purged” from the curricula of U.S. military schools and that instructors ‘guilty’ of teaching the Islamic Sharia to U.S. military officers be ‘effectively disciplined.’ Lt. Col. Matthew Dooley, Joint Forces Staff College instructor, was selected as the ‘guilty’ scapegoat to meet the Islamists’ punishment demand. Here is where it gets beyond outrageous. General Martin Dempsey proved himself to be the U.S. lackey-equivalent of Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of Staff of the German Armed Forces High Command under Fuhrer Adolph Hitler, when he ‘personally attacked’ Lt. Col. Dooley on C-Span television, May 10, 2012, during a Pentagon News Conference. Obviously Dempsey was subserviently executing ‘his leader’s’ orders to suppress the truth about Islam. Lt. Col. Dooley’s ‘crime’ in Obama’s and Dempsey’s eyes was to present Islam in an accurate way that displeased Islamists in his Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism course. When America’s top ranking military officer publically rebukes a much junior officer on live television, which is absolutely unprecedented, it sends the unmistakable message to all officers in every military service that to be a truth-teller about Islam is a career-ending offense in the Obama military.”

5. The State Department’s security planning failures preceding the Benghazi attack.

In the months prior to the September 11th attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, the U.S. facility was physically attacked twice with explosives, the British diplomatic mission and Red Cross were both attacked and consequently closed their operations in Benghazi, several firefights raged through the streets of Benghazi, there were approximately ten Islamist militias and al-Qaeda training camps within Benghazi surrounding the U.S. facility, on August 8th the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, signed a two-page cable that he titled “The Guns of August: Security in Eastern Libya.” In it, Stevens noted a dangerous “security vacuum” had developed in and around Benghazi.

Additionally, an August 16th cable to the office of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from the embassy in Libya reported that the State Department’s senior security officer “expressed concerns with the ability to defend post in the event of a coordinated attack due to limited manpower, security measures, weapons capabilities, host nation support and the overall size of the compound.” It is almost incomprehensible that Obama and Clinton could have left the U.S. mission in Benghazi so ill-prepared after Stevens had communicated to Washington on June 25th, “Until the GOL (Government of Libya) is able to effectively deal with these key issues, the violence is likely to continue and worsen” and on September 4th Stevens’ aides also notified Washington that there was a “strong Revolutionary and Islamist sentiment” in Benghazi!

All of these precursors to the September 11th attack make understanding why the State Department denied repeated requests from Libya for more diplomatic security resources in Benghazi all but impossible! Vice President Joe Biden’s statement, “We weren’t told they wanted more security. We did not know they wanted more security,” just strains credulity to breaking. It is either a monumental lie, or an admission of breathtaking incompetence.

6. The failure of the Obama regime to react to the seven-hour attack to protect U.S. Government personnel.

The failure to send a rescue force and then apparently lying about it to the American people are both counts of malfeasance that are impeachable offenses, in the opinion of former top federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy. In a local Denver television interview Obama was asked:

Question: “Were they [the Americans in Benghazi] denied requests for help during the attack?”

Answer: “Well, we are finding out exactly what happened. I can tell you, as I’ve said over the last couple of months since this happened, the minute I found out what was happening, I gave three very clear directives.

“Number one, make sure that we are securing our personnel and doing whatever we need to. Number two, we’re going to investigate exactly what happened so that it doesn’t happen again. Number three, find out who did this so we can bring them to justice. And I guarantee you that everyone in the State Department, our military, the CIA, you name it, had number one priority making sure that [our] people were safe.”

Obama has never identified when exactly the “minute” was that he found out what was happening in Benghazi, nor has he specified whom he ordered at that minute to make sure that we were securing our personnel in Benghazi? Two more very pertinent questions that Obama has thus far successfully avoided is who carried out President Obama’s order to secure our personnel, and what exactly did they do to accomplish his order?

Obama’s actions in this tragedy will have to be accounted for in detail to the American people before this matter can be laid to rest.

7. The Obama regime’s continuing dishonesty in deceiving the American people about what actually occurred at Benghazi and why.

Unfortunately, it is this last issue that has pushed onto stage center and captured the majority of the media’s scrutiny and coverage. The unfortunate aspect in this otherwise beneficial media coverage is that the Obama’s regime’s dishonesty is so wide-ranging that subjects of secondary importance have the potential to distract attention from the core of Obama’s foreign policy duplicity.

The subjects of lesser importance being publicized by the media include the extramarital affair between CIA Director David Petraeus and his biographer Paula Broadwell, the strange liaison between U.S. commander of forces in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, and the Tampa socialite, Jill Kelley, the changing Intelligence Community-produced “Talking Points” given to Susan Rice to deceive the U.S. public on Sunday talk shows, the apparent lie by Petraeus about his changing judgments about the cause of the Benghazi attack to buttress the Obama regime’s video-attack-causation lie, and Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, changing his story to provide cover for the White House’s denial of complicity in the video-attack-causation lie contained in the bogus Intelligence Talking Points. (In the interest full disclosure, James Clapper and I were schoolmates as lieutenants in Air Force Signals Intelligence training.)

For me as a retired military officer, I am extremely disappointed by Petraeus’ changing his story from the video-attack-causation motivation in a congressional appearance one month to knowing all along that it was jihadist terrorism in a second congressional appearance the next month. I am equally troubled by Clapper’s denial of knowledge of the perpetrator of the Talking Points changes one week to volunteering to take the fall for the Obama White House as the culprit the next week. Both of these officers occupy positions of the greatest importance to U.S. national security, and it is vital that they have total credibility, not only for the president, but also for the American people’s congressional representatives. After their widely conflicting testimonies to congress, that credibility is entirely destroyed.

Conclusions

First, the most plausible explanation as to why the U.S. mission in Benghazi was denied the level of protection that the threat situation mandated is that increasing physical security in Libya would run counter to Obama’s false Arab Spring-Foreign Policy mantra. Obama has sold the foreign policy fiction to the U.S. public that all is well in “Islamdom” with democracy and freedom taking root as a result of Obama’s wise “leading from behind” strategy. Admitting that there was a deteriorating security situation, especially in Libya, would give the lie to Obama’s deceitful narrative. Furthermore, downplaying the Islamic jihadist threat overseas, as well as in the U.S., supports Obama’s fundamental foreign policy premise that Islam constitutes no threat to national security. Moreover, it is a travesty that the nation’s two top intelligence officials, Clapper and Petraeus, signed on to such a dangerous subterfuge.

Second, the important point to remember when the media floods the information market place with all of the secondary subjects is not to lose sight of the two most important issues in Benghazigate: 1) Obama has constructed U.S. national security policy vis-à-vis Islam on extremely bowdlerized, false versions of the Islamic Quran and Sharia that have no basis in fact, and 2) Obama’s behavior during the Benghazi crisis has raised potential regime-changing questions that demand answers.

Col. Thomas Snodgrass, USAF (retired), was stationed in Peshawar, Pakistan, working daily with Pakistani military personnel for more than a year; additionally, he was an Intelligence Officer and an International Politico-Military Affairs Officer serving in six more foreign countries during a thirty-year military career.

11/28/12

To all the Mr. Tanners, Thank You

By: T F Stern
T F Stern’s Rantings

We have a radio station that plays nothing but Christmas music from Thanksgiving all the way through Christmas Day non-stop. One of my favorites is O Holy Night (Oh Holy Night for folks who have to spell the “h”); but then again, that’s a favorite for many.

I recently learned the tune was originally not accepted, at least not in French churches, because it was written, in part, by a fellow who happened to be Jewish; go figure. Eventually it was translated from French into English where it was well received.

Many artists have taken the challenge to perform O Holy Night; Celine Dion, Josh Groban and Nat King Cole just to name a few; but what about the folks who are not as well known, what about the “Mr. Tanners?”

You don’t know a Mr. Tanner? I’d venture to say there’s a Mr. Tanner in just about every congregation across the globe; a person who, given an opportunity to sing, will rise to the occasion and let his/her heart fill in where his/her vocal chords fail.

We had a Mr. Tanner in our Ward not too many years ago. He went under the alias of Brother Oldham; but I knew right away he was a Mr. Tanner the moment I heard him sing O Holy Night.

It’s time to say Thank You to all the Mr. Tanners for sharing of yourselves the gift you were given. Thanks also to Harry Chapin for his thoughtful tune, Mr. Tanner, which reminds everyone; singing comes from the heart and from the soul.

Mister Tanner was a cleaner from a town in the Midwest.
And of all the cleaning shops around he’d made his the best.
But he also was a baritone who sang while hanging clothes.
He practiced scales while pressing tails and sang at local shows.
His friends and neighbors praised the voice that poured out from his throat.
They said that he should use his gift instead of cleaning coats.

But music was his life, it was not his livelihood,
And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good.
And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul.
He did not know how well he sang; It just made him whole.

His friends kept working on him to try music out full time.
A big debut and rave reviews, a great career to climb.
Finally they got to him, he would take the fling.
A concert agent in New York agreed to have him sing.
And there were plane tickets, phone calls, money spent to rent the hall.
It took most of his savings but he gladly used them all.
But music was his life, it was not his livelihood,
And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good.
And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul.
He did not know how well he sang; It just made him whole.

The evening came, he took the stage, his face set in a smile.
And in the half filled hall the critics sat watching on the aisle.
But the concert was a blur to him, spatters of applause.
He did not know how well he sang, he only heard the flaws.
But the critics were concise, it only took four lines.
But no one could accuse them of being over kind.

(spoken) Mr. Martin Tanner, Baritone, of Dayton, Ohio made his
Town Hall debut last night. He came well prepared, but unfortunately
His presentation was not up to contemporary professional standards.
His voice lacks the range of tonal color necessary to make it
Consistently interesting.
(sung) Full time consideration of another endeavor might be in order.

He came home to Dayton and was questioned by his friends.
Then he smiled and just said nothing and he never sang again,
Excepting very late at night when the shop was dark and closed.
He sang softly to himself as he sorted through the clothes.
Music was his life, it was not his livelihood,
And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good.
And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul.
He did not know how well he sang; It just made him whole.

(Lyrics courtesy of Lyrics Mode)

Since I tend to include a political jab in many of my articles, the “O” in O Holy Night is not, I repeat, is NOT a reference to Obama. Please pass this along to Jaime Fox; don’t think he quite gets it.

In case you missed it, mixed in with the printed “refrain” is a secondary tune, O Holy Night, sung by a back-up singer in the band.

For those who open their hearts and receive Him, the Christ Child will pour out his gift of salvation; a simple thought to send you on your way this day.

This article has been cross-posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government & The American Constitution.”

11/28/12

Deranged Prog Talker Mike Malloy: “Wipe Out All TeaBaggers, Lob Their Heads Off”

Read more at Ironic Surrealism…

(radioequalizer) – Mike Malloy 26 Nov 2012: …these Tea Bag bastards who by the way, I just wish they would all just go away – or, like in Passover, I just wish there was an angel of the Lord that would pass over – instead of killing the first born in all the households of Egypt just wipe out all the Tea Baggers. Just, you know, the terrible swift sword, just [Mike makes exaggerated “swishing” sounds] – lop their heads off!

I would wager that the ones that should fear the wrath of God are the progressive liberals who are just plain evil.

11/28/12

Virulent Jew Hatred At Soccer Match In Rome

By: Fern Sidman

Following the recent war between Israel and Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Italian soccer fans unfurled a banner reading “Free Palestine” at a match last Thursday in Rome when the Italian team “Lazio” played their British rivals the Tottenham Hotspur. Local media initially blamed Thursday’s attack on hard-core fans or ‘ultras’ supporting Lazio, who Tottenham had traveled to the capital to play in the Europa League.

The Tottenham club has a large contingent of Jewish fans and in addition to taunting the British fans with the provocative banner, witnesses told Italian media that masked men armed with knives and baseball bats shouted “Jews, Jews” as they laid siege to a pub where the Tottenham supporters were drinking in a district popular with tourists in an old quarter of Rome.

Ten people were injured in the attack, which left Ashley Mills, a 25-year-old English fan in serious condition. According to the Rome hospital where he is being treated, Mills underwent surgery for a severed artery in his leg on Friday and was being monitored by doctors.

Israeli flags are a common sight among Tottenham supporters at matches, and fans refer to themselves in chants as the ‘yid army.’ Lazio have long had fans with extreme right-wing sympathies, notorious for making Nazi salutes, unfurling anti-Semitic banners and chanting racist insults against black players.

Lazio issued a statement on Thursday saying any suggestion that the assailants were Lazio supporters was “totally groundless.” Israeli ambassador to Italy Naor Gilon told reporters the attack on the Tottenham supporters, stemmed from “a new trend of anti-Semitism in Europe.” On Friday, the World Jewish Congress called for Lazio’s suspension from European soccer if they failed to take action against hard core anti-Semitic supporters. Media reports said Lazio fans chanted “Juden Tottenham, Juden Tottenham” at the match on Thursday.

Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress said, “It seems that all those expensive campaigns against racism that were run in recent years by UEFA, FIFA and others have not made a lasting impression, at least not on serial offenders such as certain supporters of Lazio.” He added that, “The only way to overcome this ugly phenomenon is to threaten tough consequences for clubs who don’t take their obligation seriously to keep hatemongers and racist thugs out of stadiums. This problem of racist Lazio supporters is not new, and it ought to be taken more seriously by all people concerned. Imposing fines on the clubs whose fans misbehave in such a way is obviously completely ineffective.”

The AFP news service reported that Italian football federation chief Giancarlo Abete wrote a letter saying: “Once again, unfortunately, football has been used as a vehicle by mindless thugs to express their racist and anti-Semitic views.” The letter also stated that, “This was unquestionably the motive behind this attack, which has damaged the image of our football and does not reflect the real tradition of warmth and hospitality of the city of Rome.”

Among the 15 people detained by authorities for alleged involvement in the mass attack on the downtown bar were two supporters of AS Roma, Lazio’s bitter city rivals, suggesting a possibly different motivation.

Fears have been stoked fears throughout Italy in light of rising right-wing and anti-Semitic violence and Rome has been rattled by increasing militancy by the extreme right since October, with weekly demonstrations by the neo-fascist youth group Blocco Studentesco, often ending in clashes with police.

The head of the city’s Jewish community, Ricardo Pacifici, said the attack showed Jews were not sufficiently protected. Police commissioner Giuseppe Pecoraro rejected the accusation, which he called a provocation. “The police do more for the Jewish community in Rome than anywhere else in the world,” he said. Gianni Alemanno, the mayor of Rome announced 21 million euros ($27 million) in funding for a Holocaust Museum “to give an immediate response to the many signs of anti-Semitism that have occurred recently in our city.”

Alemanno is himself a former neo-fascist youth leader who was greeted with fascist salutes and cries of “Duce! Duce!” – the term adopted by Italy’s dictator Benito Mussolini when he was elected mayor in 2008.

The European far right has gained increased support as the continent’s economic crisis has deepened, especially in the debt-laden south. Its most startling rise has been in the worst hit country, Greece, where the anti-immigrant Golden Dawn group has flourished. Just last week, Italian police arrested four people for allegedly inciting racial hatred through the website of the white supremacist movement Stormfront, confiscating a variety of weapons and neo-Nazi propaganda, after the group published a list of prominent Jewish citizens.

Teenagers carrying neo-fascist flags stormed a high school last month, tossing smoke bombs into classrooms as lessons were being taught, in a raid interpreted in Italy as an attempt by Blocco Studentesco to assert control over its turf. Shortly afterwards a school due to host a meeting with local authorities about the “neo-fascist resurgence in schools” was daubed with swastikas, Celtic crosses and the word ‘Hitler.’

11/28/12

A Man For All Seasons

A REVIEW OF “FROM SYRIA TO PALESTINE: MY FIGHT FOR A JEWISH STATE”
BY: JOSEPH ABOUDI

REVIEWED BY: FERN SIDMAN

Any voracious reader can attest to the fact that the literary world is brimming with riveting memoirs; some poignant, some tragic, some humorous, some inspirational and some intellectually stimulating. Little did I know when I began reading Joseph Aboudi’s, “From Syria to Palestine: My Fight For A Jewish State,” that this compelling narrative would be a palpable combination of all of the above.

For those not in the know, Mr. Aboudi is a doyen of Brooklyn’s Syrian Jewish community; a distinguished gentleman who is renowned for his business acumen; his dedication to abundant charitable pursuits and his love of family, friends and above all his Syrian heritage. In this stellar effort to put pen to paper in order to convey his most fascinating and trenchant ride through life, Mr. Aboudi manages to assume the role of veteran raconteur, as he leaves his readers thirsting for more in this veritable page turner.

Cogently written in laconic verses, Mr. Aboudi begins his stroll down memory lane by creating a vibrant scenario of Jewish life in his birthplace of Aleppo, Syria. Born there in 1928, the author proffers nuanced examples of the unique culture, cuisine, religious devotion and family life that defined Jewish life in Syria. The reader is at once transported back in time, as we imbibe the aromatic flavors and the aesthetic feel of this heralded city that possessed deep historical and religious roots.

Mr. Aboudi’s father Hillel and mother Sophie played a formidable role in his life as did his siblings and extended family. Because Syria was under the aegis of the government of France in the aftermath of the Ottoman Empire, young Joe attended a French-Jewish school, and was an active member of the Jewish boy scouts and the Maccabi sports team. It was there that the seeds were planted for his life’s trajectory as a dedicated Zionist and fighter for Jewish statehood.

Under the tutelage of his devoutly religious father, young Joe gained a life-long appreciation for the Torah life that was an endemic part of being a Jew in Aleppo. Growing up in a fairly affluent family, Joe describes life as being quite pleasant for Jews in Syria. His father had created ties with prominent local Syrian officials including the chief of police and even held sway over judicial decisions. Some of Joe’s uncles and aunts migrated to France, and he recalls with great love that no matter where his extended family was, there were ever present parcels of food, clothing and letters sent to them.

At the tender age of 14, in the early 1940s, young Joe decided it was time to realize this dream of going to the land of Israel and playing a part in its formation, despite the inherent dangers that were to follow. Preferring that Joe stay in Syria and complete his formal education, his father stood in staunch opposition to Joe’s plans. It didn’t take too long for his father to conclude, however, that nothing would serve as a deterrent for his son, so he capitulated and even helped Joe leave Syria with a group going across the border to Lebanon. From there they were led by a guide over the mountains and into northern Israel.

After making his way to Netanya to stay with sister Fortune and brother-in-law Shlomo, it wasn’t long before Joe joined the Palyam, the naval branch of the Palmach, which was the striking arm of the Haganah. Joe had developed a love of the sea and his adroitness in maritime operations made him a prime candidate for the arduous work that lay ahead. It was during World War II, and Haganah ships were transporting Europe’s Jews, many of whom were Holocaust survivors to Palestine. Because of the egregious strictures of the British White Paper, legal immigration of Jews was at a virtual standstill. Joe and his comrades, risking life and limb, defied the British authorities and helped smuggle in these Jews during the dark of night and under unusually harsh conditions.

Subsequent to the formal declaration of Jewish statehood in 1948, the nascent country of Israel was under siege by seven Arab armies. Never one to succumb to fear or behave in a timorous manner, Joe’s natural heroism once again trumped the perilous consequences he was to confront. As an expert sharpshooter, Joe defended various kibbutzim in the Negev desert during the War of Independence. Recalling a relentless Egyptian assault on Moshav Bet Eshel, Joe tells his readers that he discovered through an Arab sheikh, who was a spy, that the shots fired by him and his compatriots from their simple rifles managed to quiet the massive cannons of the Egyptian army, thus preventing an impending attack on Jerusalem and Hebron. “Even as a leftist Palmachnik and socialist kibbutznik, I recognized that G-d was on our side. Baruch Hashem!”, he says.

Joe’s visceral love for Israel literally leaps off each page of this memoir and into the hearts of the reader. One can actually feel Joe’s heart pounding as he describes the battles that ensued during the 1948-49 war; wishing that he was in no place else other than where he was. Perhaps it was his youth, or perhaps it was his fervent love for his people and his land, or perhaps it was a mixture of both, but the reader cannot help but be exceptionally impressed with Joe’s inexhaustable tenacity and never-say-die attitude. It is apt to describe the author as one person who never, ever, even for a single solitary moment had a lazy bone in his body.

Immensely adding to the tenor of this unique memoir are the black and white photos of Joe, his family in Syria, his youth in the boy scouts, his colleagues in the Palmach and those he shared experiences with at the kibbutzim, among others. There is also a photo of a young Yitzchak Rabin, as none of us have ever seen him before.

The adventurous author was also driven by an insatiable wanderlust, and after the war, Joe hankered to see the world and eventually joined the Israeli merchant marine where he sailed to Italy and France. From there, he landed a job on a cargo vessel sailing to the United States. What was to follow could only be described as a mercurial sojourn for Joe, as he experienced his own share of life’s vicissitudes, but with pure luck and divine assistance he managed to build a life for himself in the United States. Keen on returning to Israel, where he dreamed of spending the rest of his life, Joe was persuaded by his father, who was now in Israel, to try it out in the States for a while to see how it goes.

Meeting the “love of his life,” also known as his wife Lilly, at the Syrian Jewish Center in Brooklyn, Joe’s rendition of life for Syrian Jews in Brooklyn in the 1950s also brings the reader to yet another time and place; a simpler and infinitely happier era, where immigrants from the “homeland” were welcomed with graciousness, honor and immense dignity.

At this juncture in Joe’s story, one would have thought that the multi-talented author might have just taken on a mundane, routine job and spent some time relaxing with family, but that plan of action would not be true to Joe’s nature. Honing his business skills, Joe moved to New Haven, Connecticut where he opened a retail shop with several Syrian Jewish partners and labored assiduously to ensure its success.

He and his wife celebrated the birth of their first daughter there, attended a Conservative synagogue, and held tight to Syrian Jewish tradition, heritage and rich culture. Despite being physically distant from his parents and siblings in Israel, the author retained his fealty to his upbringing in Syria and the timeless and eternal teachings of his antecedents. The author speaks in a voice that resonates with passion, and the reader knows that deep in his heart, in his soul and in his dreams was Joe’s unwavering love for his country, Israel, and its name was ever present on his tongue.

As did many others of his Syrian genre, Joe moved to Deal, New Jersey and then to the Ocean Parkway and Avenue S section of Brooklyn so that his daughters could fraternize with other Syrian youngsters and enjoy the camaraderie that Joe so greatly enjoyed with his peers as a boy in Aleppo. Another successful entrepreneurship awaited Joe in the clothing business in New York; but by this time Joe was a known quantity and a respected one amongst his contemporaries.

Joe’s own words in the epilogue of the book pretty much sum up the intense emotional connections he felt towards Israel: “My destiny was to finally settle in the USA, raise a nice family and live a religious life in a vibrant community. I love my family, my community and my life in America very much. However, as the poet Judah Halevi once wrote, “My heart is in the East, but I am, alas, at the end of the West.”

11/28/12

Basic prepping 101 in these crumbling times

By: Gerald Loeffers

Lets talk about ways to prep fast now that the election is over, for those of us that know our history and what this president is all about. If you’re not prepared now, it’s time for you to get prepared. I will give you some basic, cheap for the most part and easy to do prepping for you and your family. I will cover the four basic prep groups: food, first-aid, firearms and water.

FOOD

This is the most basic need, but it is not often talked about. Dictators in the past controlled the food to the point that starvation and cannibalism occurred. I say, let’s avoid that, shall we.

CANNED FOOD

This is a sure bet if you have space and a canned food outlet store in your town. You’re good to go with prices between 69¢ to 99¢. I myself purchased 50 cans of food for under $50! I will be doing this once a month until my pantry is full.

GARDENING

If you have the space and the know how, this is a good and cheap way to get and then can your food for survival and barter. Seeds are cheap and learning to garden is easy. Please check your seeds to see if they are GMO or not.

SMALL FARM ANIMALS

I know this is crazy, but animals like goats, chickens and rabbits are a great way to get meat, eggs and milk. They don’t need a lot of space and you can use rabbits and eggs for barter.

LONG TERM FOOD PRODUCTS

Companies like FOOD FOR HEALTH, MOUNTAIN HOUSE, FOOD INSURANCE and many others offer great long term food storage products. These are pricy and bulky to store, since most are packaged in 5 to 10 gal. sealed buckets and they claim a 25 year shelf life. But I say if you can afford it, buy it. Also each one cooks differently, so read the preparation labels.

FIRST AID

Do you know basic first aid? If you don’t, you should. Buy more then a basic cuts and scrapes first aid kit as well. You will need to learn trauma treatment if you can and buy a trauma first aid kit. You’ll also need a crude camp kit with things like aspirin, Aleve, Benadryl, antacids, cough drops, etc. Also get some super glue, yeah that’s right, super glue. It’s a great wound closer and ace bandages are good all around items as well.

FIREARMS

How else are you going to defend yourself and your family and gather meat for to eat? That’s right… guns. If you are a new guy to prepping, I suggest you get over the fear mongering of the media of guns and buy a few to learn to shoot with. Practice gun safety and hunting skills. You’re going to need them. Here is a basic gun list that a first timer can use.

BASIC GUN LIST

.22 LR RIFLE (RUGER 10/22, MARLIN MODEL 60, XT-22, 957 SAVAGE RIFLES, HENRY AR-7,
MARLIN PAPOOSE)

12 GA PUMP SHOTGUN – GOOD FOR BOTH GATHERING GAME AND SELF DEFENSE, AS WELL AS CLOSE RANGE (WINCHESTER XDS, MOSSBERG 500, 590, REMINGTON 870,)

DEFENSE CARBINE – GOOD FOR MEDIUM RANGE SELF DEFENSE (AR-15, AR-10, AK-47, RUGER MINI-14, MINI-30, KELTEC SU-16, SKS)

SEMI-AUTO PISTOL, 9MM – GOOD FOR CLOSE RANGE SELF DEFENSE. THIS CALIBER IS EASY TO FIND. IT’S WELL PRICED, EASY TO LEARN AND TO SHOOT (GLOCK 17, 19 RUGER SR9, XD 9, RUGER P-95, S&W M&P 9, CZ-75B, EAA WITNESS)

30 CALIBER BOLT ACTION RIFLE – GOOD FOR HUNTING LARGE GAME AND FOR LONG RANGE. THIS CALIBER COVERS THE 30-06, 308, 300 WIN MAG, 338 WIN MAG… THESE ARE THE MOST COMMON CALIBERS USED AND ARE EASY TO FIND, BUT ARE EXPENSIVE (REMINGTON 700, 770, RUGER HAWK EYE, M77 MII, SAVAGE 1200, MOSSBERG AXIS)

WATER

Well, who’s thirsty? Without water, you’re dead in under 72 hours! Where you live, is there a creek or a river? Do you run on a city well system or do you live near a lake? These are things to think about and the possibility of not being able to drink or use this water. What do you do?

WATER FILTERS AND BACK UP

There are so many products that offer this. Some are great, some are hokey… but find the system that will work for your needs. I have in my bug out bag, two filtered water bottles, an osmosis water filter, a bladder system, a water filter straw and water purification tablets. This gives me redundancy. One of the systems I like for home use is a simple system of two buckets on top of each other and a ceramic filter as the water drains from the top bucket. Also, for fast water back up, it wouldn’t hurt to buy and store water in 1 gal. jugs from your local store. I have done this. It’s surprisingly cheap. You should have at least 90 days of ready to drink back up water on hand.

There you go. This is a good start for you and you’ll be on your way to survive what’s coming. If it doesn’t happen, well you will be able to help others if the need arises. But please, don’t be a hunker down prepper and hide from the rest of the world. It’s going to take everyone to help each other to get through the tough times ahead folks.

11/28/12

Consultants Advise: Bring Sporks to New Gunfight with The Left

By: Lloyd Marcus

Word on the political street from GOP consultants and the Left is that Rush Limbaugh and the Tea Party cost Romney the election. We Conservatives are advised to “moderate our tone” and back away from our “extremist ideas.”

So, let me make sure I understand. Obama and company were allowed to go for the jugular, using false narratives (lies), to win votes. They said Romney hates dogs, blacks, women and the poor. Heck, they even threw in the absurd accusation that Romney was responsible for the death of a working man’s wife. Check and mate. Game over. Obama won. Did anyone suggest Team Obama “moderate their tone?”

But, when Rush Limbaugh exposed and the Tea Party rejected Obama’s socialistic agenda, Team Obama, which includes the mainstream media, called us “racists.” When we express our Biblical belief that marriage should remain defined as between one man and one woman, we were called “extremist.” And when did it become extreme to believe it immoral to deny medical assistance to babies that survive abortions?

And for the record, once and for all, Conservatives do not care what consenting adults do in their bedrooms. All we ask is that we not be forced to fund it or be mandated to say that it is, “OK and normal.”

Unfortunately, since Romney lost, GOP consultants have joined the chorus of folks on the Left calling for Conservatives to back away from our core beliefs and go-along to get-along with Obama. They claim that this is what younger non-whites and women voters want.

I say, “Hogwash!” Younger, non-white and women voters are clueless about Obama’s destruction of America, the virtues of Conservatism and why Liberalism sucks!

We did not lose because America has become a nation of idiots expecting a free Obama-phone. We lost because Republicans did a horrible job getting the truth to the masses. Soylent Green is people! Conservatism is best for everyone – period!!!

Folks, the bottom line is that the Tea Party chose to oppose Obama’s socialistic transformation of America from a character driven place of decency, truth, respect for the law, and patriotism. Behaving as the Chicago thug politician that he is, Obama came to D.C. committed to implementing his agenda by any characterless despicable means necessary. In essence, Obama came to the gunfight armed-to-the-teeth with guns. The Tea Party brought political knives.

In partnership with their bullies in the MSM, Team Obama successfully spread one lie after another.

Here’s a prime example: A white caller on a national radio program said his black friend was petrified to attend a Tea Party rally. Team Obama had him convinced that the Tea Party is the modern version of the KKK. Remember when the Congressional Black Caucus said the Tea Party wants blacks hung from trees? A shameful outrageous hate-inspiring lie – but no rebuke from the MSM suggesting that the Dems “moderate their tone.”

Apparently, to the MSM, I am an invisible black man. Since Obama took office, I have been a high profile figure at several hundred Tea Party rallies and events. For crying out loud, I even wrote the “American Tea Party Anthem.” Still, for the most part, the MSM have done everything in their power to keep minorities in the movement non-existent.

That scared black guy did eventually attend a Tea Party with his white friend. He was surprised to be treated with respect as an equal rather than a victim in need of assistance, which was the “tone” of the Democrat rallies he attended.

And another thing: since the election, everyone is saying that more Americans than ever love Obama and agree with his agenda. Well then, how do you explain 9 million folks who voted for him in 2008 staying home this time? http://spectator.org/archives/2012/11/09/mccain-beats-romney One could conclude that the bloom is somewhat off the rare black rose.

Did you know that 3 million Republicans who voted for McCain decided to pass on this election? Could it be because Romney was not conservative enough?

Still, all the big-brain consultants say the Tea Party was too aggressive and that Limbaugh needs to shut up if we are to win over youths, non-whites and women.

Well, I am just crazy enough to believe that common sense will cause a majority, regardless of race or gender, to embrace Conservatism… when they’re given the truth.

Still, Conservatives are called the aggressors. We are not. The left, Obama and company, are the true aggressors forcing their culture, agenda and lifestyles down our throats.

Despite our consultants advising conservatives adopt a new liberal Democrat-lite mind-set, I believe it is time to educate America to the virtues of true Conservatism.

In the simplest terms, Liberalism, offered by Obama equals government dependency, mediocrity, bitterness and low self esteem. Conservatism equals true compassion, striving for excellence, dignity and pride which is the true “American Way!”

For the past four years, we Conservatives brought political knives to the gunfight with Obama. While we know Team Obama will upgrade to machine guns, our consultants further advise that we drop our political knives and brings sporks.

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American
LloydMarcus.com