Free Republic

Egypt's president basically acknowledged that to Peres. "A Jew cannot even build a bathroom in Jerusalem without International condemnation"-Dov Hikind, NY Assemblyman Israel's president Shimon Peres was in Cairo, Egypt for talks with Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptian president, who has been Egypt's head of state for at least a quarter of a century, warned that Israel would anger all Muslims if it did not resolve what was refered to as Jerusalem's "disputed status". But the real kicker came when Mubarak emphasized that the future of Jerusalem is "an issue for the entire Islamic world". Did you get that? "...an issue...

Catholicism was comfort, conflict for Kennedy His stance on abortion and divorce from wife Joan defied church teachings BOSTON - Sen. Edward Kennedy was raised from birth to cherish his Catholicism, and it became both a source of comfort and conflict throughout his life. The son of the country's most famous Catholic family defied church teachings when he divorced his first wife, then was granted an annulment only after he admitted he wasn't being honest when he promised her he'd be faithful. His most significant and public break with the church came with his support for abortion rights. Yet Kennedy...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. military officer on Sunday described the situation in Afghanistan as deteriorating but said the new commander on the ground had not yet requested additional troops. "I think it is serious and it is deteriorating, and I've said that over the past couple of years, that the Taliban insurgency has gotten better, more sophisticated, in their tactics," said Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff

A map produced by the BBC suggests only 38% of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and surrounding areas is under full government control. The map, compiled by the BBC's Urdu language service, was based on local research and correspondent reports as well as conversations with officials. It shows the Taleban strengthening their hold across the north-west. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari rejected the findings, telling the BBC it was an "incorrect survey". He was speaking after talks in London with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who pledged £12m ($18m) in humanitarian aid for north-west Pakistan. Mr Zardari said the...

Fighting terrorism: "how democracies can defeat..." [Book by Binyamin Netanyahu - 1997 - Political Science - 180 pages] Page 85 The first, the Pan-Arab nationalism of Egypt's Nasser and the Baath party in Syria and Iraq, was consciously modeled after the Pan-German nationalism which had succeeded in unifying the fragmented German people in the nineteenth century and had resurrected a defeated Germany between the two world wars.Pan-Arabism actively supported Hitler's "achievements" in Europe and collaborated with him against the British in the Middle East during the war. An ideology tailor-made for Arab military men, it dreamed of the creation of...

The owner of the website Orly Taitz was using explains why the good doctor is no longer there. I gather there were communication problems of some sort. The owner says you'll have to ask Orly herself about the Paypal contributions.

Given the choice between two models, I ask which is the more ethical. On the one hand, you have a policy that does not preclude the input of any person, regardless of their economic condition and previous employment history. In this model, a lobbyist is likely to get a job in the White House because of the expertise that he or she may have in a specific area. On the other hand, you have a stated policy that makes an announcement to the world that the conflict of interest inherent in some people's economic condition is too great to allow...

No Arab land is occupied by Israel Thursday, 8th January, 2009 By Ben Okiror THE current fighting in the Gaza Strip needs clarification for people to understand its genesis. I accept that the situation is complex, and that might explain why even the US President-elect, Barack Obama has so far opted to remain silent since the war broke out. However, I would like to bring out what seems to have been ignored and yet it is important for a balanced analysis of the conflict. Whereas on the surface it is the terrorist group, Hamas, fighting the only Jewish nation, Israel,...

Mideast Narratives Have Changed Over Time News Analysis By David Bedein & Shmuel Sokol, For The Bulletin Published: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 Jerusalem — During the course of the 20th century, and especially in the years since the 1967 Six Day War, there has been a dramatic change in the academic and popular historiography of the Middle East. The traditional narratives have been supplanted by new and fundamentally different and revisionist ways of looking at the region and its conflicts. A case in point: In 1977, PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein told the Dutch newspaper Trouw that “The Palestinian...

The latest chapter in the conflict between the governments of Israel and Palestine is generating loads of media ink – and huge, whopping lies. Here’s a roundup of the top myths related to this war: 1) Israel launched a preemptive war. Congressman and former GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul, suggested to Press TV – the official propaganda arm of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – that Israel’s actions were “preemptive”. His logic: Israel has nukes and Hamas doesn’t, so it’s unfair. Look, a war isn’t automatically “preemptive” just because one party was dumb enough to pick a fight it can’t win....

PARIS – Government officials and Jewish leaders are concerned the conflict in Gaza may spill over into violence in Europe, with attacks reported against Jews and synagogues in France, Sweden and Britain. Assailants rammed a burning car into the gates of a synagogue in Toulouse, in southwest France, Monday night. A Jewish congregation in Helsingborg, in southern Sweden, was attacked Monday night by someone who "broke a window and threw in something that was burning," said police spokesman Leif Nilsson. And on Sunday slogans, including "murderers ... You broke the cease-fire," were daubed on Israel's Embassy in Stockholm.

As the Israeli offensive against Hamas heats up, new fronts in the war are opening up. Tonight, reported attacks against pro-Israeli websites are being stepped up. A number of pro-Israeli websites have reported online attacks.

The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office and California attorney general are investigating whether members of the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board broke conflict-of-interest laws in 2005 when they voted to offer their own chairwoman a job in San Diego. During a closed session on Halloween three years ago, the appeals board offered Cynthia K. Thornton a six-figure job as an unemployment insurance appeals administrative law judge, board minutes show. Three members of that board, including former Democratic Assemblywoman Virginia Strom-Martin, voted to give Thornton the judgeship in San Diego, where she now earns $109,000 hearing claims from workers who say they...

The Gospel According to St. Levan by: Jesse Masai, October 09, 2008 A new gospel is in town. The gospel, according to Saint Levan Gachechiladze, is that Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili is responsible for the country’s recent woes. At an on-the-record meeting at the Hudson Institute on September 30, the opposition leader accused Saakashvili of provoking Russia into invading Georgia by using “undiplomatic rhetoric.” “Saakashvili is responsible for the war we have had with Russia. He miscalculated the situation, and then proceeded to manipulate the West,” he said, adding that an unstable Georgia could be vulnerable to Russian domination and...

Dear Fellow American: The mainstream (liberal) media’s smear campaign against Governor Sarah Palin has been one of the ugliest chapters in the history of modern witch hunts. Well, it has just become uglier—just when you probably thought that was impossible. It turns out that the “moderator” of the Thursday, October 2 vice presidential debate—PBS anchor Gwen Ifill—has a clear conflict of interest. Ms. Ifill is the author of a forthcoming book celebrating the politics and career of Senator Barack Obama. Her book is titled The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, and is scheduled to be published...

Two weeks ago, the nation’s most powerful regulators and bankers huddled in the Lower Manhattan fortress that is the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, desperately trying to stave off disaster. As the group, led by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., pondered the collapse of one of America’s oldest investment banks, Lehman Brothers, a more dangerous threat emerged: American International Group, the world’s largest insurer, was teetering. A.I.G. needed billions of dollars to right itself and had suddenly begged for help. The only Wall Street chief executive participating in the meeting was Lloyd C. Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, Mr....

So Far, It Just Isn't Looking Like Asia's Century By Joshua Kurlantzick Sunday, September 7, 2008; Page B03 So much for the Asian century. The Thais are bickering with themselves, and when they're done doing that, they'll bicker with the Cambodians -- again. China may be Japan's biggest trading partner, but they hate each other anyway. Malaysia and Indonesia? Two countries divided by the same language. I've spent a lot of time in Asia over the past decade, as an expat and a traveler. From where I stand, the place is a geopolitical mess. Hogtied by nationalism and narrow self-interest,...

· Solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, says mainstream public opinion, and the rest will follow. But the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is only one of many afflicting the Middle East, and it is by no means the dominant one. · The Palestinian leadership continues to evade accountability. Today the watchword is "weakness." The image of political impotence has become a precious asset in the Palestinian strategy. The problem is not Abbas' actual capabilities. The problem is his unwillingness and lack of determination to create and govern a viable and accountable state. · Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and others have called for...

Georgia crisis helps McCain for now Christian Science Monitor, MA Since last Friday, when Russia invaded its Caucasian neighbor, Senator McCain has spoken to his old friend "Misha" Saakashvili several times, ...

"It looks very strongly like the war is escalating both in the region of South Ossetia and now also in Abkhazia," Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, who chairs the group, told reporters in Helsinki on Saturday.

An armed conflict in the Arctic area is not far away unless USA leads the way toward a multilateral diplomatic solution. Washington has forfeited its ability to assert sovereignty in the Arctic by allowing its icebreaker fleet to atrophy, says former U. S. Coast Guard officer Thanks to global warming, the Arctic icecap is rapidly melting, opening up access to massive natural resources and creating shipping shortcuts that could save billions of dollars a year. But there are currently no clear rules governing this economically and strategically vital region. Unless Washington leads the way toward a multilateral diplomatic solution, the...

Thugs vs. Peacekeepers or Fighters vs. oppressors; Mob vs. Protectors or Martyrs vs. killers? Before I could judge, please allow me to present some recounts of the Tibet unrest from the commons there. (As most western media had sided with Tibetans, I basically pick quotes from common Hans for balance.) http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/03/21/china-commons-in-violence-and-conflict/

· Merrill says gap between rich and poor will worsen · Governments must curb rising prices, insists bank Riots, protests and political unrest could multiply in the developing world as soaring inflation widens the gap between the "haves" and the "have nots", an investment bank predicted yesterday. Economists at Merrill Lynch view inflation as an "accident waiting to happen". As prices for food and commodities surge, the bank expects global inflation to rise from 3.5% to 4.9% this year. In emerging markets, the average rate is to be 7.3%. The cost of food and fuel has already been cited as...

John McCain's campaign asked a prominent Republican consultant, Craig Shirley, to leave his official campaign role Thursday after a Politico inquiry about Shirley's dual role consulting for the campaign and for an independent "527" group opposing the Democratic presidential candidates. The campaign also released a new conflict of interest policy barring such arrangements. Shirley, a conservative public relations veteran, doubled as a consultant to McCain and to the group Stop Her Now, a 527 group barred from coordinating its activities with presidential campaigns. He is not currently on the McCain campaign’s payroll, but would also step down from his role...

ISG moves from consensus to conflictBy DANIEL LIBIT 4/22/08 4:32 AM EST In December 2006, in an effort to build a national consensus on a “new way forward in Iraq,” the Iraq Study Group painted itself as a portrait of bipartisan chumminess, with all political hackery checked at the door. Sixteen months later, seven of the 10 ISG members are backing presidential candidates with radically different views about how to proceed in Iraq. Republicans James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger and Ed Meese are supporting Sen. John McCain, who argues that the United States should be sending more troops to Iraq. Democrats...

ISLAMIC leaders from around the globe are at a two day summit in Dakar, struggling to counter wars in their midst and feeling unloved and unfairly treated by the West. US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, never ending conflict between Israelis and Palestinians and strife in Sudan's Darfur region weigh heavily on the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference as its leaders gather in the Senegalese capital. OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told foreign ministers at a pre-summit meeting that the leaders of the 1.3 billion Muslims must work on the "pressing issues confronting" them such as the death and...

Mother-daughter Conflict, Low Serotonin Level May Be Deadly Combination ScienceDaily (Mar. 7, 2008) — A combination of negative mother-daughter relationships and low blood levels of serotonin, an important brain chemical for mood stability, may be lethal for adolescent girls, leaving them vulnerable to engage in self-harming behaviors such as cutting themselves. New University of Washington research indicates that these two factors in combination account for 64 percent of the difference among adolescents, primarily girls, who engage in self-harming behaviors and those who do not. "Girls who engage in self harm are at high risk for attempting suicide, and some of...

Arab Racism and Middle East Politics Racism and Middle East Politics The skirmishes in the occupied land are part of a war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of years of war will be defined in Palestinian land. ... As the Imam said, 'Israel must be wiped off the map.' — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as quoted by Aljazeera Anger towards Israel by its Arab neighbors is out of proportion to Israel's sins. What we are witnessing in the Middle East is anti-Semitism, not politics. It is Jew-hatred, not a dispute over borders or rights or Palestinian statehood. This...

Lost Years by: Louisa Tavlas, January 30, 2008 Charles Enderlin’s The Lost Years: Radical Islam, Intifada, and Wars in the Middle East 2001-2006 comes as a fresh of breath air in these oft-polluted journalistic times. Enderlin is a journalist of French and Israeli origins, having lived in Jerusalem since 1968. He has been the Middle East Bureau Chief for the French television chain France 2 since 1990. As of 2005, he has served as vice-president of the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in Jerusalem. He has written several books covering the Middle East peace process. Among them are Shattered Dreams:...

Nobel Peace Prize? No Connection Between Environmental Crises And Armed Conflict, According To New StudyHelga Malmin Binningsbø (left) and Indra de Soysa from NTNU's Department of Sociology and Political Science have a solid empirical support for stating that environmental scarcity is not the reason behind violent conflict. (Credit: Image courtesy of Norwegian University of Science and Technology) ScienceDaily (Dec. 16, 2007) — Climate advocate Al Gore accepted the Nobel Peace Prize this December 10th. New Norwegian research suggests, however, that there is no connection between environmental crises and armed conflict. Consensus of scientists regarding global warming Scientific opinion on climate...

Jacob Amir: Palestinians brought problems on themselves A letter to the editor — 12/07/2007 10:07 am Dear Editor: The authors of the column "Jews need to speak out on abuse of Palestinians" blame Israel for the difficulties facing the residents of Gaza. One wonders if the authors can imagine what would have happened if, immediately after Israel left the Gaza Strip, all terror activity from there ceased. Which means no rocket launching, no weapons smuggling, no efforts to bomb the border crossing points, no efforts to send suicide murderers into Israel. Then all the crossing points would have remained open,...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2007 – As negotiations on Kosovo’s “final status” are expected to reach a political stalemate Dec. 10, a top commander in NATO’s Kosovo Force said today his troops are prepared for any potential conflict in the breakaway province. The commander of Kosovo Force’s Multinational Task Force East said the mood in Kosovo is “anxious” days before talks led by the United States, the European Union and Russia are likely to end in disagreement. Provincial leaders of the 90-percent ethnic Albanian enclave in southern Serbia are expected to unilaterally declare Kosovo’s independence in January or February. “When the...

A prominent member of the governing board for California's stem cell agency may have violated state conflict-of-interest rules last summer when he tried to reverse a decision rejecting a grant proposal by a scientist who works for him at the Burnham Institute of Medical Research in La Jolla (San Diego County). The miscue has prompted calls for Burnham Institute chief executive Dr. John Reed to resign from the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, the board that governs the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. "If indeed Dr. Reed has violated the law, then I think he ought to consider resigning," said Jeff...

Ms Rabbit came back from the UN protests feeling tired, hungry, and a bit dispirited.( A few drops of wine helped with the last item.)

President Bush has endorsed General David Petraeus's recommendation to begin withdrawing 30,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by next summer. Yet the drawdown would only restore troop levels to where they were before the surge began in January 2007. In the final months of 2006, debate in Washington centered on how fast a reduction from pre-surge levels could occur. The Iraq Study Group recommended that approximately half of the 130,000 troops then in Iraq be withdrawn by early 2008. In marked contrast to that and similar proposals, President Bush is now endorsing a step that would mean a return to the...

To be a "good" Muslim References -  'Palestinian' child abuse -  Evil 'Joy' -  'Blessing' Hitler -  Mourning the wicked -  Australia - Muslim land -  Jihad on all Buddhists -  Spain - Muslim land -  Europe - Muslim land -  Arabs DON'T care about 'Palestinians' -  72 virgins - Loyalty -  'Pallywood' -  (use of) Ambulances for terror -  (use of) Women for terror -  Human Shields -  Middle east background -  September 11 terror plot on London -  Myth on: 'Terrorists are desperate' -  Beheadings -  Ilan Halimi [an example of monsterous wild prolonged torture motivated by hate only] -  Muslims attacking Jews in France -  Ahmadinejad ' Islamic Hitler' -  Cutting -  'Honor killing' -  Jews & Christians as "Apes & Pigs"? - ...

Like most Toogood Reports readers, I observed this year's battles within the conservative ranks with profound discomfort. In my mind, there are far too many real enemies out there to waste time and print fighting one another. It seems that the world of conservatism has been split up between the "conservatives" and the "paleo-conservatives" or between the "conservatives" and the "neo-conservatives." Both sides present themselves as the bona fide article and the other side as the one in need of a prefix. Personally, I just want to spit up this strife the same way the bleachers of Wrigley Field do...

KEENE, N.H. - Presidential hopeful John Edwards said Monday that Americans should speak out against the war in Iraq this Memorial Day weekend, renewing an anti-war call that has been criticized by the leader of the American Legion. Edwards also said all young people should serve their country, "not just poor kids who get sent to war." The former U.S. senator from North Carolina and 2004 vice presidential nominee said the most patriotic position now is to end the war, and the best way to honor veterans this Memorial Day weekend is to bring the troops home from Iraq. "There's...

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2007 – The U.S. military is involved in a “persistent conflict,” and the Army must be prepared to handle the commitment, the Army chief of staff said today. Gen. George W. Casey Jr. spoke to reporters in the Pentagon today in his first interview since he took the position a month ago, after commanding coalition forces in Iraq for almost three years. “The enemy that has attacked us and we are fighting in places around the world isn’t going to fold up and go home,” he said. “They are going to continue to press us.” Casey...

Conclusion of editorial: ...And so we enter a more intractable phase in the conflict, which will not be a war over land or oil or even democratic institutions, but a war over narratives. The Arabs will nurture this Zionist-centric mythology, which is as self-flattering as it is self-destructive. They will demand that the U.S. and Israel adopt their narrative and admit historical guilt. Failing politically, militarily and economically, they will fight a battle for moral superiority, the kind of battle that does not allow for compromises or truces. Americans, meanwhile, will simply want to get out. After 9/11, George Bush...

Info & Sites on the Arab Israeli conflict  BOOKSFrom Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict by Joan PetersMyths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict By Mitchell G. BardThe Fight for Jerusalem By Dore GoldThe Case for Israel by Alan M. DershowitzBASIC FACTSMyths & Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflicthttp://www.us-israel.org/jsource/myths/mftoc.htmlFrequently Asked Questions About Israelhttp://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0ken0Fact and Fantasy in the Holy Landhttp://www.eretzyisroel.org/~samuelArab-Israeli conflict - Basic factshttp://www.science.co.il/Arab-Israeli-conflict.aspHistory, maps & factshttp://palestinefacts.orgConcept wizard info, Visual information about the Middle East conflicthttp://www.conceptwizard.com/info.htmlIsrael Size Comparison Mapshttp://www.iris.org.il/sizemaps.htmA History of Terrorism in Israel (since the 1920’s)http://lindasog.com/public/terrorvictims.htmMEI- Middle East regimes and Terrorismhttp://www.middle-east-info.orgIHC Historical Factshttp://www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/xmlpath.pl?id=3FURTHER SITESOne...

'Palestine': UNITED WE STAND IN EVIL! 'Palestinian' unity Israel, US rebuff Makkah accord http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/19/stories/2007021902451400.htm For the only 'unity' among 'Palestinian Arabs' is the anti Israel fascism of not even recognizing the "stranger", the "other", the non Muslim (mainly), the non Arab (mostly). A "unity" Orchestrated by those that export to the world the textbooks as "Christians being Pigs, Jews apes", the wonderful "moderate" Saudi Arabia, the Hatred kingdom, of course. Did you ever think this oily rich Goliath would ever lift a finger for it's Arab brothers? "Next to the Jews, we hate the 'Palestinians' the most." said Saudi King...

A lawyer from Roanoke is accusing two Virginia state senators of using their elected positions to block eminent-domain reform that would hurt their Hampton Roads-based law firm. Attorney G. David Nixon, in a Feb. 6 letter to the state ethics commission, states that Republican Sens. Thomas K. Norment Jr., of Williamsburg, and Kenneth W. Stolle, of Virginia Beach, have conflicts of interest involving eminent-domain proposals that go before the Senate because they represent public utility and government clients who use the power to take property from residents and business owners.

IN THE November 2006 election, the voters demanded congressional ethics reform. And so, the newly appointed chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is now duly in charge of regulating the ethical behavior of her colleagues. But for many years, Feinstein has been beset by her own ethical conflict of interest, say congressional ethics experts. As chairperson and ranking member of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee (MILCON) from 2001 through the end of 2005, Feinstein supervised the appropriation of billions of dollars a year for specific military construction projects. Two defense contractors whose interests were largely controlled by...

To be a "good" Muslim References 'Palestinian' child abuse -  Evil 'Joy' -  Australia - Muslim land -  Spain - Muslim land -  Europe - Muslim land -  Arabs DON'T care about 'Palestinians' -  Loyalty -  'Pallywood' -  (use of) Ambulances for terror -  (use of) Women for terror -  Human Shields -  Middle east background -  September 11 terror plot on London -  Myth on: 'Terrorists are desperate' -  Jews & Christians as "Apes & Pigs"? -  Non Muslims as "Cows" -  Early history -  Early terrorism -  Muslims & WW2 -  World domination & Caliphate -  'Palestinians' in Lebanon -  Jordan - Black September -  Syrian Crimes -  Lobbies -  Excuses -  Global conflicts Respond violently to anyone that says, writes, draws that...

The all out myth of 'all Arabs being natives in all of the middle east'     A myth that terrorists which have far greater ambitions such as to Islamize the entire region if not the entire world or racist local Arabization, have been using it (still do) to the loss of so many lives among Israelis, 'Palestinians', but it is a tool in the wider Arab land to fuel bitterness at the entire west, (with historic colonialists like Great Britain, France, Belgium, etc. in mind).   To be true to history, the Berbers were before the other Arabs...

1. True or False: One side is regularly condemned internationally for war crimes it is alleged to have committed. The other is shielded, left to commit them at will. 2. True or False: One side desecrates holy places. The other respects religious shrines, and the right of all to worship as they choose. 3. True or False: One side can be trusted to observe negotiated peace accords and agreed cease-fires. The other side violates them at will. 4. True or False: One side takes care to abide by the terms of peace agreements and cease-fires, until such time as the...

The Middle East: Nobody Gets It http://www.postchronicle.com/commentary/article_21254233.shtml Jihadists have only one goal – to establish the world-wide caliphate. To institute Sharia law on a global scale. To convert or kill any non-muslim

The most important tension within the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives is not between liberals and conservatives or free traders and fair traders. It is between older members who once enjoyed the power and perks of majority status, and their younger colleagues who will experience real power for the first time. The older members -- many of whom will be taking over committee chairmanships -- came to political maturity in the pre-Clinton, pre-Gingrich era, before the full flowering of the permanent campaign. They governed from a House in which committee leaders typically had more power than the...

The infamous J. Carter has another destructive launch his hateful anti Israel book "Palestine peace not apartheid". Carter as in to be blamed partially for his role in today's entire world's danger from the fanatical Islamic regime in Iran, would he just not push so hard for a change in Iran, when we are told as Americans, time and time again, not to interfer into other states' affaires, but it seems it is a selective call. Now, Carter has from self hatred anti Americanism to anti Israelism, rest assuree it was by "advice" from his Arab tyrants buddies. As Prof....