-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, gave a speech at Harvard Law School entitled “Strengthening our Security by Adhering to our Values and Laws.” According to Marty Lederman, “it is the most comprehensive single statement of the Obama Administration’s policies and practices with respect to al Qaeda and other terrorist threats.”
Here is our picture of the week from our erstwhile colleague in the City of Light, Eric Tenin.
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
Most people who regularly visit this blog know that I am Jewish. While I am not what one would call a pious Jew, being a Deist in outlook, I have always been very proud of my ethnicity and of the religion, which plays a central part in it. From their infancy, my children were immersed in Judaism both through education and by our family regularly taking part in Jewish Rituals, including regular Synagogue attendance. Where I part personally from normative Judaism is that I view the Torah, The Five Books of Moses, as primarily allegory with some real history thrown in. To me it is a work of some wise and some not so wise men, not the writings of God. I believe and have seen demonstrated in many families though, that the Torah and its 613 Commandments can serve as blueprint for living a fulfilling life.
The issue becomes complicated when it comes to my feelings about Israel. To me the existence ofI srael is a necessity for Jews to have a future in this world and if it comes to it, a final haven to make our last stand. I am an American first, so I would not willingly emigrate away from the country of my birth, unless those who hate Jews come to power. Contrary to the opinion of many, Jews are far from being a homogeneous ethnicity/religion. One cannot for instance refer to being an Orthodox Jew with any precision of description since that movement is in itself splintered on many details of interpretation. This is true of the other main branches of Judaism: Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionism. Perhaps it is because there is no central Jewish religious authority speaking for all Jews, as much as organizations like ADL, AIPAC, et. al. would claim to, that the range of Jewish opinion is so wide on so many subjects.
This brings me to an article I read at the PublicEye.org titled: “The New Christian Zionism and the Jews”. Its’ thesis is that many Jewish supporters of Israel and the current Israeli government have allied themselves with Christian Fundamentalists whose “love” for Israel and Jews come from the wish to fulfill the prophecies of The Book of Revelations, where in fact Jews not willing to accept Jesus, will die in a horrid holocaust. This trend has been one disturbing me for a long time. I have watched Jews and Israeli’s embrace Fundamentalist Christian support, in what to me is a shortsighted and irrational policy. This could be justified by saying that a country takes its allies where one can get them. Sometimes what seems an example of realpolitik is merely an instance of dangerously narrow opportunism, as I will elaborate. Continue reading “The Christian Zionist Movement and Jewish Confusion”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
St. Xavier is an all-boys Jesuit high school in Cincinnati, Ohio. During a football game with long-standing intra-city rival Colerain, the St. Xavier student section chanted “We’ve got Jesus!”, moments after Colerain missed a game-tying field goal. Do they really think that Jesus cares about who wins a football game?
The Colerain student body responded with their own chant: “We’ve got girls!”
While St. Xavier won the football game, by a score of 17-14, they lost the chant war.
H/T: Yahoo! Sports.
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Debbie Schlussel says she can’t be sure, but it seems that Michelle turns to Barack and says “All of this for a damn flag.” This happened during the flag folding ceremony at the 9/11 memorial. Here’s the video:
Well some expert lip readers have put Schlussel to shame:
“It’s amazing how they fold that flag.”
H/T: LGF.
Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Gun-owning Floridians will now be able to discuss those lethal weapons with their physicians after a federal judge has blocked the enforcement of a Florida law. Florida governor and Tea Party darling, Rick Scott, signed into law a gag order preventing doctors from talking to their patients about the hazards of gun possession in their homes when small children and teenagers are present.
Continue reading “Federal Judge: Florida Docs Can Talk To Patients About Guns”
You will have to forgive the graphic picture but this extraordinary x-ray is a 20-year-old Irish national caught in Brazil after swallowing 72 bags of cocaine.
Continue reading “Excessive Carry On: Irish National Arrested in Brazil After Ingesting 72 Bags”
For about a week, I have been hesitant to post on the Solyndra scandal. There seemed to be a bit of too much of a pile on due to this being a green tech company. However, it is now serious and new evidence suggests that the White House was not just cavalier with such stimulus funds but willfully blind that this company (run by a major Democratic donor who visited the White House repeatedly before the public support by the President) was likely to fail. At best it was a remarkably moronic move by the President and his staff.
Continue reading “White House Warned in 2009 That Solyndra Was Poor Investment”
There is a disturbing story out this week that four-star Air Force Gen. William Shelton testified under oath that the White House tried to pressure him into changing his testimony on a new wireless project in a way that would benefit a large Democratic donor. There is also an allegation that someone in the Administration leaked the intended testimony to the company.
Continue reading “General Accuses White House of Pressuring Him To Change Testimony To Favor Company Run By Democratic Donor”
A new report on the quality of police in England found that some officers are “barely literate because entry standards are so low.” The author suggests that these standards were lowered to allow for greater numbers of minority officers. However, now the lack of literacy is delaying proceedings and causing problems for judges and lawyers alike.
Continue reading “Report: English Police Officers “Barely Literate” Due To Lowering Entry Standards”
Monroe Beachy, 77, is being call the Amish Bernie Madoff after being accused of running a Ponzi scheme that lost millions from his Amish community.
Continue reading “The Plain Ponzi Scheme: Feds Charge “The Amish Bernie Madoff””
In a victory for transgender citizens, the Australian government has decided that passports will now have three rather than two options for designating gender: male, female, and indeterminate. The latter will be designated with an “X”.
Continue reading “Australia Creates Third Gender Option For Citizens on Passports”
Illinois Associate Justice Lloyd Karmeier is under fire this week after a petition was filed with the court detailing what is alleged to be previously undisclosed support from State Farm Insurance Company before Karmeier voted in favor of its side in a dispute. Previously, State Farm told the court that it had given $350,000 to Karmeier. Now plaintiffs lawyers, including former Sen. Fred Thompson, allege that he actually received between $2.4 million and $4 million from State Farm sources.
Continue reading “And Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There: Illinois Justice Accused Of Receiving Massive Financial Support From State Farm Before Vote In Favor of Company”
The concept of a millionaire Communist might not sit well with Mao’s Little Red Book, but it appears to be just fine with the modern Chinese Communist Party. The Forbes China 400 Rich list revealed this week that ‘over 90% of the 1,000 richest people tracked by the Hurun Report are either officials or members of the Chinese Communist Party.” The list reinforces the view that the CCP has become more of a cartel or, in some cases, a criminal enterprise than a true political party. Communist officials are routinely accused of breathtaking corruption and use of state power to force peasants from their land in development schemes.
Continue reading “Mao’s Little Mandarins: Chinese Communists Lead List of The Super Wealthy”
The marriage vows may say “for better or for worse” and “in sickness and in health,” but Rev. Pat Robertson told his “700 Club” viewers that divorcing a spouse with Alzheimer’s is just fine. Robertson says that the vows say “until death do us part” and Alzheimer’s should be viewed as a type of death.
Continue reading “Until Death [or Dementia] Do Us Part? Robertson Says It Is OK To Divorce Spouses With Alzheimer’s”