Quote: 

"Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time, who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done, if we are always doing." 

~ Thomas Jefferson, letter to Martha Jefferson, 1787 

Meet me in the stairwell(Remembering 9/11/2001 )

Alan Jackson - Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning) - Music Videos

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=9119BCNU

God Bless America: A 9-11 Tribute from Herman Cain

Ben Johnson, The White House Watch

Only Republican presidential candidate and former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain could drive the Left out of its gourd by doing nothing more than singing a 93-year-old American anthem. His campaign has released a 9/11 tribute video, featuring Cain himself singing "God Bless America" - originally written by Irving Berlin in 1918 - over a compilation of unforgettable images that the day's tragedy seared into our collective memory. Cain, whom the New York Times has credited with "a pretty good singing voice," allegedly recorded the song in one take.

It is exactly the sort of innocuous tribute any pol from state solicitor to presidential hopeful might churn out. But judging from the Left's response, you'd think he had cut his own version of "John Walker's Blues." 

The campaign's press release states, "Although we shall never forget the loss of precious life on that Tuesday morning, terrorists did not and will never win, for the spirit of America - the triumphant spirit that has sustained us for more than two centuries - was reaffirmed, even in our darkest hour." Cain concludes, "In honor of the fallen and those who continue to sacrifice for our sake, may we be ever mindful of the goodness of our people, our resiliency through trials and God's continued grace upon this land."

The Left, which long ago lost the ability to hear itself, knows better. David Badash of The New Civil Rights Movement emoted, "that he would sing, 'God Bless America,' with images of one of our nation's most-tragic events, is beyond the pale." In fact, "If you are not offended by this ad, you should get down on your hands and knees and search for your humanity because obviously it got lost somewhere." He then dubbed it the "most offensive use of 9/11 ever." Others have piled on, as well. Alex Pareene at Salon.com brands the tribute a "monstrosity" and Cain a "crass exploiter of tragedies for political gain."

Why the off-the-charts hysteria? Badash lies, "In Cain's ad, Cain positions himself as a savior, who presumably was there on 9/11 to pick up the pieces and mend America." But the video presents little evidence for Badash's allegations. Philip Bump of Mediaite, who takes Cain to task for the video, writes that it could as easily be seen as "a perfectly fine expression of a man's feelings about an American tragedy."

But not all musical tributes are created equal. The Huffington Post showers praise upon a song Joe Scarborough reportedly wrote and sang as a tribute to 9/11. The MSNBC host's "Reason to Believe" is, alas, not the Rod Stewart classic but a quasi-bluegrass number lacking Stewart's soul, Cain's guilelessness, or Bill Monroe's honesty. Scarborough's ditty is told from the perspective of a 9/11 widow who is still trapped in a "nightmare" 10 years later, because her son is fighting "an endless war." Somehow, Cain's invocation of God's blessing upon the American people merits contempt but Scarborough's marriage of the 9/11 tragedy and his opposition to the war in Afghanistan constitutes a poetic and cultural breakthrough.

Why not watch both videos below and make up your own mind?

While some may be rubbed the wrong way by Scarborough's conflation of terrorism with the War on Terror, one cannot begrudge him his right to try to become this generation's corporate-sponsored Pete Seeger, Jeffrey Immelt's antiwar troubadour-of-the-airwaves. The song's greatest failing is putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable of "rea-SON."

And the Left's greatest failing is screaming bloody murder over its enemies' every action while praising its own, far greater infractions. This does not stem from "hypocrisy," a philosophical disconnect, or any other jaundiced miasma bubbling up from a baked cerebellum. It comes about because leftists hate their opponents and everything we do - viscerally, shamelessly, completely.

9/11 Anniversary: Scenes From the Day 

If you see a story that you believe would be useful and important to our readers, simply respond to this email with a link and a brief description of why it is important.  (Even if it may be obvious)

LISTEN LIVE TO REPATRIOT RADIO

"BETTER THAN EVER"

(all times are eastern)

Monday 3-4pm "Bordering on Insanity" - Rabbi Nachum Shifren and Garry Miller

 Please come to our Constitution Day event entitled "Everything you wanted to know about ObamaCare, but didn't know who to ask."

 They said we had to pass it to know what's in it, but over a year later, people STILL don't fully understand how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) - aka "ObamaCare" - will affect them and their health.

 That's why a coalition of citizens and health care professionals will present "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About ObamaCare But Didn't Know Who to Ask" on the campus of DeSales University in Center Valley, PA from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 17, 2011 - which, ironically, happens to be Constitution Day.  DeSalesUniversity is located in the Lehigh Valley of PA, within easy driving distance of the major population centers of central, northeast, and southeast PA.

Policy professionals, physicians, business and legislative leaders, and representatives from groups most affected by the PPACA will share their insights and expertise through presentations, breakout sessions, exhibits, and panel discussions.

They'll explain how ObamaCare affects personal liberty and the Constitution, families and seniors, taxpayers, Medicare and the deficit, insurance premiums and the uninsured, businesses, employees and the economy, doctors, patients, and access to care, American innovation in medicine, and more. 

Also included will be detailed updates on state and national efforts to defund, repeal, replace, and nullify ObamaCare from some of the legislative leaders spearheading those efforts.

Participants will leave the three hour event far more informed about what's in the PPACA than most of the legislators who voted for it, and will be energized to get involved in the fight to save America's health care.  Participants, both live and online, will be empowered by their new understanding of how the PPACA will not accomplish any of the things its name implies, and will be able to effectively communicate that new understanding to others, providing important education about why this ill-conceived piece of legislation needs to be defeated by any means possible.

Already, according to Rasmussen's most recent poll, 54% of Americans want to see ObamaCare repealed, while only 39% oppose repeal - but the people who passed it clearly have not heard the voices of the American people yet.  The more Americans know about the PPACA, the more they dislike it, and this conference will help to provide the tools citizen advocates and health care professionals need to effectively participate in the process to defund, repeal, and replace ObamaCare.

The event will be free to the public on site in a venue which will seat 500, and a live streaming video, and a professionally produced program will promote information about our coalition's sponsoring groups, as well as providing important information about the PPACA.  

Please consider joining with the Lehigh Valley Coalition for Health Care Reform to help educate the public about ObamaCare through your sponsorship of this important event.  If you'd like to be involved, please contact me ASAP and I'll reserve your space in our program and on the promotional materials.  We are currently working on creating a web page and Facebook page for the event.

For additional information about this event and opportunities to get involved, please contact Donna Baver Rovito at ROVSPA@aol.com.

PLEASE RSVP AT THIS MEETUP SITE:

www.meetup.com/lehigh-valley-coalition-for-health-care-reform

Sincerely, 

Donna Baver Rovito

Chair, "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About ObamaCare But Didn't Know Who to Ask"

Chair, LehighValley Coalition for Health Care Reform

Editor, Liability and Health Reform Update

ROVSPA@aol.com

610-398-8551

There will be weekly meetings every Wednesday at P J Ryan's, 231 Bridge Street, Phoenixville - 6pm - downstairs

We will be discussing UN Agenda 21 & Sustainable Development, as well as other topics relevant with today's problems like the NWO, Congress, debt, how to be prepared for the future disasters, etc.... At this weeks meeting will start with sending some people over to sit in on the meeting below.  We need to know what our opposition is doing  . . . If you have any questions please feel free to email me back or contact Maggie at www.theunsolicitedopinion.com or Maggie@theunsolicitedopinion.com

If you would like to join the Green Team or volunteer for a sub-committee, please email us

CONTACT Diane about this email at : uncanney2@verizon.net   

Dear Patriot,

Please join Americans for Prosperity Foundation and thousands of grassroots activists for the 5th annual Defending the American Dream Summiton Friday and Saturday, November 4-5 at the Washington Convention Center in downtown Washington, DC.

Last year, more than 2,600 of our best activists descended on Washington for the Summit to demonstrate to elected officials, government bureaucrats, and the national media that the grassroots movement is alive and well.  We focused on reining in out-of-control spending and taxation, advancing sound free market public policy, and in a very real way, defending the American Dream.

Special bus packages are running from PA and for only this week you can register for an additional $70 off those all-inclusive bus packages. Sign up now to take advantage of this great opportunity! Use the code "Bus70" when registering.

Bus packages from PA include round trip transportation and hotel accommodations on top of all the other benefits of the Defending the American Dream Summit.

Summit Highlights Include:

• Friday Gala Dinner
• General Session with Keynote Speakers
• Continental Breakfast on Saturday morning
• Special Interactive Sessions for Teens & College Students
• Movie Night featuring Entertaining Films By Liberty Loving Filmmakers
• Seminars for Youth On Why Freedom Matters and How they Can Make a Difference
• Bloggers Row
• Free-Market Job Fair
• State-Specific Strategy Meetings
• Network With Leading Activists From Across The Country

 ... and much more!

Don't forget, receive $70 off a bus package until midnight on August 14th! Click here to register today and help defend the American dream! Use the code "Bus70" when registering.

Defending liberty and promoting prosperity is a family affair.  Give your children the gift of freedom and bring the whole family to the Defending the American Dream Summit this year.  In fact, we're offering a discount for families and small groups! Click here for more information about our special packages.

Join us and thousands of fellow freedom fighters and send a message that the American Dream is alive and well in this great country!

Sincerely,

Tim Phillips
President
Americans for Prosperity Foundation 

The Doctrine of Abrogation: Open the Koran Day

It's time to sign up!

 

 Earlier this year we announced a major event for this fall, "The Doctrine of Abrogation: Open the Koran Day."

We have scheduled this event for the weekend of October 28 - 30, 2011, which is close to the two year anniversary of the Ft. Hood jihadist massacre perpetrated by Major Nidal Hasan (pictured at right).

If you would like to learn more about this national event, or would like to host a local venue, please click here.

Please read the description of the event and the sign-up instructions carefully, and then access the sign-up form at the bottom of the page.

Also, if you would like to study the Koran, we have a resource to recommend. The Qur'an Dilemma is an accurate, readable English translation that contains commentaries and analysis, including commentaries on the doctrine of abrogation, the history of the codification of the Koran, chronological sequence of the Koran, and the status of women in the Koran. To find out more visit here.
 

 2012 Presidential Candidate Selector
or Obama, His Allies & Critics Matching Quiz

Politicians have already indicated their 2012 presidential aspirations. This matching quiz includes President Obama, top members of his administration, Obama's most vocal critics (Boehner, Cantor, etc.) and likely White House prospects (Palin, Pawlenty, Jindal, etc.). You may select a position for every issue, or just select issues important to you. The political figures' positions are based upon their voting records, special interest group ratings and their statements in the public record. In cases where there is no known public record or statement, these politicos are not given a score on that issue. We add candidates, revise their views and include new issues as they become known or change. Check back often for updates.   

 Read more: 

Go here to register: 

 September 15 

RedState Morning Briefing

For September 12, 2011

1. LIVE FROM FLORIDA - No One Except Ron Paul

I'm in Tampa, FL for the CNN-Tea Party Express Republican Presidential Debate. The debate begins at 8pm on CNN. I'll be on WSB Radio from 5pm to 7pm doing a "pre-game" show and then, starting at 7pm, I'll be on CNN the rest of the night.

When the debate starts, Michele Bachmann intends to join Mitt Romney in defending social security against Rick Perry and his evil, awful "ponzi scheme" comment.

To be clear, none of the Republican Presidential candidates, except Ron Paul, wants to abolish social security. Not even Rick Perry who, though he wrote it was an affront to our constitutional system, made clear in both his book and on stage in California that he was not going to refight 70 years of American legislative progress, but would instead work to fix a broken system.

But Romney and Bachmann intend to keep going after Rick Perry for his "ponzi scheme" comment.

They might want to reconsider. Alex Tabarrok notes at Marginal Revolution that Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman called social security "the biggest ponzi scheme on earth. That was back in 1999.

In 1967, Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Samuelson also considered social security a ponzi scheme.

Oh, and they aren't the only one's to use the word "ponzi" to describe social security. So did Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman.

That doesn't even include Mitt Romney who called the social security system a "criminal enterprise."

2. Where's the new [stimulus] bill Mr. Obama?

After promising time and time again to focus on jobs.

After promising time and time again to pivot to jobs.

After promising time and time again to give a jobs plan speech right after his Martha's Vineyard vacations.

After promising new fresh proposals, not a rehash of plans he has pitched previously.

After demanding time and time again before a joint session that Congress pass his [stimulus] bill.

After demanding time and again at a campaign rally in Richmond that Congress pass his [stimulus] bill.

President Obama hasn't yet provided Congress the [stimulus] bill.

This inconvenient truth was made clear during the press gaggle, Obama's Press Secretary Jay Carney, conducted yesterday on board Air Force One, while en route to Obama's taxpayer-funded campaign rally in Richmond, Virginia.

3. The American Jobs Act of 2011: Lather, Rinse, Repeat and Fail.

It's fortunate that all our Elected Leader promised us was a Job's Plan. Because the plan he presented last night looks like a cribbed version of Christine Roemer's failed effort from 2009. The President's proposed American Jobs Act features the same boondoggles, the same EBT Cards, the same targeted tax relief and undoubtedly; the same result.

Like the rest of Barack Obama's Presidency, this bill will be smaller than the failure bomb detonated in 2009. He intends to only add $447Bn worth of "paid for" spending to the deficit this time. The last time out, the price tag was $787Bn. So, outside of a $342Bn concession to the results of the 2010 Midterm Election, President Obama has learned positively nothing from the last 2.5 years.

4. Good News: Oil Drilling Off Florida Begins Nov. 1. Bad News: It's in Cuba.

While it's been the subject of rumor, gossip and misinformation for the last several years, this time it's real: drilling off the north shore of Cuba is scheduled to begin November 1. Six wells are planned to be drilled with this rig by the various international companies who own exploration rights off the north shore of the island.

5. Obama Vindicates Rick Perry on Social Security

The major controversy right now in the GOP presidential primaries is over Rick Perry's contention that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme that can't deliver on its promises under its current structure. Mitt Romney doesn't exactly dispute this - in fact, Romney himself said the same thing in his book, but then Romney always did like to attack other Republicans for things he himself has said or done - but Romney's argument is that you can't say these things out loud and win elections.

Well, President Obama Thursday night handed Perry a huge gift, by providing a vivid illustration of how Perry is right about Social Security.

6. The Unintended Consequences of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis' Witch Hunt

In less than two weeks, on September 21st, the public comment period will be closing on a Department of Labor scheme to have employers report the amount of money paid to outside vendors (namely, attorneys, PR firms, website developers, video firms, polling firms and just about every type of communications and human resource consultant) as newly-minted "persuaders."

7. Liberals Continue Push for Job-Killing Agency and Regulations

Last year, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) sent the President a letter raising concerns about 191 pending regulations that costs American business billions of dollars a year. The President ignored the letter, so Speaker Boehner sent him another one. The potential cost of these Obama regulations will be devastating to an already sputtering economy and constitute a massive hidden tax on all Americans.

The only way for Senators to stop regulations in the short term is to block the work of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This bureau will be a regulation creating machine and an entity that will slow economic growth - much like Obama's 191 pending regulations. The only way for Senators to stop the bureau from mass producing new regulations is to refuse confirmation of the president's nominee to head the Bureau, Richard Cordray.

Start a rumor:

The radical, fringy, and racially incendiary Reverend Jeremiah Wright was actually Barack Obama's pastor and friend for two decades-oh wait, that's true! 

Conservative party game:

Liberals always like to consider themselves bastions of tolerance. So push the boundaries with this little game, as personally tested with enormous success by your author. Buy your kids a pack of those realistic fake cigarettes which puff out dust at the end so it looks like your kid is really smoking. Tell them not to be too obvious about it, but next time you find yourself at a social engagement where kids mix with grown ups, get them to wander around "smoking" nonchalantly as if it's something they do all the time. For maximum impact, you could even have them come up to you and say, "Dad/Mom. You got a cigarette?" "Sure son," you can reply, retrieving a fake cigarette from a real pack and "lighting" it for them. The important thing is to make absolutely no comment and act as if this is all the most normal behavior in the world. Relish the liberals' tension and discomfort as they agonize over how best to confront you over your disgracefully lax parenting. It really is about as fun as fun gets. 

Pick a fight with a liberal on:

FAIRNESS.
The top 5 percent of taxpayers contribute 60 percent of government revenue; the top 10 percent of taxpayers contribute 75 percent of revenue; another two-fifths make up the rest. Half the U.S. population is now exempt from paying tax. 2012 may turn out to be the first presidential election in American history where non-taxpaying voters outnumber taxpaying voters. At this point, remind the liberal: "Still, I guess the imbalance will find a way of working itself out in the end. Your side thinks it can go on taking more and more of our money. Our side has most of the guns and ammunition." 

Read more: 

Featured Posts 

Scribecast: Cyrus Nowrasteh Discusses the Only Movie Banned in America

Remembering 9/11: A New Perspective on the World

Remembering 9/11: U.S. Senator Marco Rubio

Remembering 9/11: Rep. Mike Pence -- From Tragedy to Triumph

Being Relentless About 9/11

President Obama's Stimulus Speech - The Sequel

Fourth Circuit Rules, but Challenge to Obamacare Still Stands

Reaction Roundup: Heritage Responds to Obama's Jobs Speech

Depends on What You Mean by 'Meeting': Super Committee Expected to Be Super Secret

Lunch with Heritage Online Chat on Jobs and the Super Committee

QUICK HITS

VIDEO: We at the Heritage Foundation remember September 11, 2001. We must honor those who perished by ensuring that the promises we made on that day continue to be met. We must never forget, and we must never quit.

Senator Marco Rubio says we, as an American people, should be proud of what our nation still stands for - the defense of the liberties and freedoms of people all over the world.

Senator Rob Portman was in the White House on September 11, 2001. He says that we must remain vigilant in our efforts to disrupt and destroy terrorist networks that threaten our Nation and allies.

Actor Gary Sinise recalls when his eight year-old son woke him on 9/11 to watch the fateful news and how he and his family attended church on the National Day of Prayer, and his conviction that America would make it through.

Billie Tucker, co-founder of a tea party group in North Florida, says new threats are at our door, and they cannot and must not be ignored.

Ten Years of War

Like a ship pulling away from shore, time brings distance to all events. No pain is as fresh ten or twenty years later as on the day it happened. The shock of the impossible becomes the new normal and then it becomes more background noise.

 

"A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic," said Joseph Stalin. This is something that the statisticians in Berlin, Moscow, Tehran and Riyadh know quite well when they count up their numbers. But compound death is not a statistic, it is incomprehensible. The banality of the media coverage of September 11 reveals the struggle of grappling with a story too big to tell that can only be broken down into human fragments of personal stories.

This is true for most of the dark footprints of history. There is no story of the Holocaust, there are only countless personal stories of survivors and the procedural story of the Nazi killing machine. These perspectives never come together into a single story only human fragments and procedural details, the departments and mechanisms, how many milligrams of Zyklon B it takes per kilogram to kill a person and how many people can be loaded on a train in how much time.
 

A Day Like No Other

This is, without a doubt, the finest and most poignant photographic collages we have ever seen. Download the attachment, watch and remember what happened on 9/11. 

Watch the Presentation Here . . . 

 The Ten Commandments

             "I am the Lord your God...."  Ex 20:2-17

DID YOU KNOW?   
As you walk up the steps to the building which houses the U.S. Supreme Court you can see near the top of the building a row of the world's law givers and each one is facing one in the middle who is facing forward with a full frontal view - it is Moses and he is holding the Ten Commandments!

 DID YOU KNOW?   
As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door.

 DID YOU KNOW?   
As you sit inside the courtroom, you can see the wall, right above where the Supreme Court judges sit, a display of the Ten Commandments!

 DID YOU KNOW?   
There are Bible verses etched in stone all over the Federal Buildings and Monuments in Washington, D.C.

DID YOU KNOW?

Read more:  

September 09, 2011
 
  UNION PRES BLAMES BECK FOR POST 9/11 HATE   The Frequent White House visitor and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has released his official 9/11 statement and its contents will shock most clear-thinking people. Read Trumka's twisted rhetoric  HERE.

NYC IS WARNED ABOUT A 'CREDIBLE THREAT'   A "credible" terrorist threat looms as NYC prepares to mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. Watch VP Joe Biden and Mayor Michael Bloomberg explain what is known about this threat HERE.

OBAMA'S JOB$ PLAN IS FACT CHECKED BY AP   The President claims that his soon-to-be-formalized $447 billion dollar American Jobs Act will be completely "paid for" and "deficit neutral." The Associated Press drilled down into Mr. Obama's proposals and begs to differ. See their work HERE.
  NYC & DC ON 'HIGH ALERT', OBAMA PUTS STRAW MAN TO WORK, UNCLE OMAR FREED  In keeping with the spirit of the season, our basket is filled with fifteen great stories harvested from all across the Internet. See the Friday Morning Must-Reads HERE.

OOPSY! WH SPOKESMAN SAYS OBAMA WANTS TO 'PUT PARTY AHEAD OF COUNTRY'   Following the President's much-anticipated Jobs Speech last night, WH Spokesman Jay Carney appeared on Fox News and made a curious statement to Bill O'Reilly. Was it just a mix up or a Freudian Slip? Watch the clip HERE.  

VIRAL VIDEO DU JOUR - HOW MANY TIMES DID OBAMA SAY 'PASS THE BILL'?   Some have said that during last night's address to Congress, Barack Obama's repeated calls for Congress to "pass this bill right away" sounded more like a salesman pressing hard to close a deal than a President proposing a bold jobs program. Watch the 44 second clip of Obama saying "pass the bill" HERE.

Egyptians storm Israeli Embassy building

YNET 

Hundreds of Egyptians partially tear down wall surrounding Israeli Embassy in Cairo, remove flag from building for second time this month. Over 200 Egyptians reportedly injured. Foreign Minister opens emergency situation room

Some of the protesters then stormed the embassy premises and tore down the flag from the building for the second time in less than a month. Eyewitnesses reported that the protesters threw the flag on the street, prompting loud cheers from the mass crowds gathered outside the embassy.

Israeli officials stated that the Egyptian protesters broke into the building and managed to reach the floor on which the embassy is located. However, they have not managed to break in through the fortified doors.

Sources in Jerusalem called the incident a "grave event," and noted that it is still unclear whether the Egyptian security officers who guard the building fled the scene.

The Foreign Ministry opened an emergency situation room and is constantly being...

Read the whole entry »

US colleges to receive warning letters on anti-Semitism

By JOANNA PARASZCZUK    

Universities, colleges "may be liable for massive damages" if they fail to prevent anti-Semitism on campus, Israel Law Center warns.

    Hundreds of US college and university presidents were set to receive warning letters on Thursday morning, instructing them of their legal obligations to prevent anti-Semitism on campus.

The letters also remind universities it is their legal duty to prevent university funds from being diverted to unlawful activities directed against the State of Israel.

RELATED:
Opinion: Can universities study anti-Semitism honestly?
UC-Irvine students secretly met with Hamas official 
Civil rights group the Israel Law Center (Shurat HaDin) is carrying out the legal campaign in response to "an alarming number of incidents of harassment and hate crimes against Jewish and Israeli students on US college campuses."

"Anti-Israel rallies and events frequently exceed legitimate criticism of Israel and cross the line into blatant anti-Semitism, resulting in hateful attacks against Jews," the center's lawyer Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said on Wednesday.

One university that has attracted criticism over anti- Semitism on campus is Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

Aaron Marcus, a senior at Rutgers, says he was dubbed a "racist Zionist pig" in a public Facebook posting by a fellow student.

According to Marcus, that comment was made after he questioned a Rutgers University Student Assembly decision to donate money to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, a nonprofit organization with close ties to Islamic charity the Holy Land Foundation, which funds Hamas.

The political science and history student said he complained about the incident to the university administration, but was told the student's comments were protected under the US Constitution's First Amendment, and she had a right to freedom of speech.

"They didn't even mention that her actions were in direct violation of the student code of conduct or acknowledge the fact that she was taking part in an extreme case of campus bullying," Marcus said.

Lawyer Kenneth Leitner, Israel Law Center's director of American affairs, said "perpetrators of hate" are exploiting academic ideals.

"By condoning it, college administrators have allowed an environment of intimidation and hostility against Jewish students and faculty to fester on campus," Leitner said.

This sort of harassment and intimidation interferes with students' educational rights, and poses a threat to their physical safety and well-being, according to the Israel Law Center.

The center hopes the legal warnings will prompt US colleges to take action against what it says is a growing problem of campus hatred.

"Jewish and Israeli students are often too intimidated to speak because they fear they will be held collectively responsible for the supposed 'wrongdoings' of the Jewish State of Israel," the Law Center's warning letter says.

Former Brandeis University student Herschel Hartz said US universities are guilty of a double standard by allowing anti-Semitism to thrive while protecting students of other ethnicities against discrimination.

"Brandeis University ignores anti-Semitism and seeks to brush it under the rug," he said.

Hartz said that when he confronted his then-roommate over anti-Semitic messages posted on an online instant messaging service, the roommate assaulted him.

He called campus police, but eventually took the issue to court and obtained a restraining order.

Brandeis didn't do anything to protect him, Hartz said.

"If you look into the history of Brandeis University around that time, a freshman student was expelled for putting posters on the campus expressing an inappropriate joke about Islam. The double standard is amazing," he said.

The Law Center's letter also reminds schools of their legal obligation to monitor the funding and activities of all on-campus student groups, and warns them that by failing to do so, they could unwittingly fall foul of stringent US legislation.

The letter cites a recent ruling by the US Supreme Court in the Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project case, which held it is illegal to provide any support to a terrorist organization - even if that support appears to be relatively benign.

In that case, the Supreme Court found providing any support to a terrorist organization, even for supposed humanitarian purposes, was enough to incur criminal liability.

The Law Center points to the Muslim Students Association (MSA), which operates in hundreds of college campuses in the US, and which it describes as "the university arm of the Muslim Brotherhood organization."

"Although I have no information that any MSA chapter is directly supporting Hamas at this time, certain MSA chapters have openly supported Hamas in the past, and your institution must remain vigilant of the difference between protected speech and prohibited conduct, especially as it pertains to funds that your institution knowingly provides," the Law Center's letter reads.

The Law Center also refers to a Rutgers University event last year, in which students group BAKA - Students United for Middle East Justice successfully applied to a student-run allocations committee for an event in support of US To Gaza, an organization that was raising money to buy an American ship to run Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, in support of Hamas.

In its letter, the Law Center warns the funding runs counter to the US Neutrality Act, which makes furnishing money for hostile naval expeditions against any country at peace with the US a crime.

    Ted Belman
Jerusalem, Israel  972 (0)54 441 3252

Top 10 Non-Jews Positively Influencing Jewish Future

By Dovid Efune, Dir. Algemeiner Journal  

I aim to provide a glimpse at their often courageous, sometimes unacknowledged activities on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people.

10. Julie Burchill
Columnist and novelist
Currently a columnist for The Independent, she has written for newspapers such as The Sunday Times and The Guardian. The Jewish Chronicle described her in 2008 as "Israel's staunchest supporter in the UK media."

9. Jon Voight
Actor
Supporter of Jewish causes, most notably Chabad, Voight is also a prolific spokesman for Israel. A rarity in Hollywood circles, he has advocated for Jewish values, consistently reaching an often indifferent audience.

8. Patrick Debois
Founder, Yahad-In Unum
A Roman Catholic priest, Debois is head of the Commission for Relations with Judaism of the French Bishops' Conference and Consultant to the Vatican. He is the co-founder and president of Yahad-In Unum, an organization whose mission is to...

Read the whole entry »

Will liberal NY Jews support Israel and reject Obama?

Column One: American Jews and liberal art of demonization
By CAROLINE B. GLICK
09/07/2011 00:07

New York Ninth Congressional District race attracting great attention because it's serving as a referendum on Obama's policies toward Israel.

US election season is clearly upon us as US President Barack Obama has moved into full campaign mode. Part and parcel of that mode is a new bid to woo Jewish voters and donors upset by Obama's hostility to Israel back in the Democratic Party's fold.

To undertake this task, the White House turned to its reliable defender, columnist Jeffrey Goldberg. Since 2008, when then-candidate Obama was first challenged on his anti-Israel friends, pastors and positions, Goldberg has willingly used his pen to defend Obama to the American Jewish community.

Trying to portray Obama as pro-Israel is not a simple task. From the outset of his tenure in office, Obama has distinguished himself as the most anti-Israel president ever.
...

Read the whole entry »

Harper says 'Islamicism' biggest threat to Canada

Prime minister says Conservatives will bring back controversial anti-terrorism laws
CBC News

In an exclusive interview with CBC News, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the biggest security threat to Canada a decade after 9/11 is Islamic terrorism.

In a wide-ranging interview with CBC chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge that will air in its entirety on The National Thursday night, Harper says Canada is safer than it was on Sept. 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda attacked the U.S., but that "the major threat is still Islamicism."

"There are other threats out there, but that is the one that I can tell you occupies the security apparatus most regularly in terms of actual terrorist threats," Harper said.

Harper cautioned that terrorist threats can "come out of the blue" from a different source, such as the recent Norway attacks, where a lone gunman who hated Muslims killed 77 people.

But Harper said terrorism by Islamic radicals is still the top threat,...

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Israel will soon be surrounded by Islamists bent on her destruction

[See also; Turkey set to sign military pact with Egypt]

DEBKA comments on the warnings from the home front and the denials by the Defense Ministry.

debkafile's military analysts point out that while Gen. Eisenberg's outlook is substantially credible for the long term, the events rushing forward in Libya, Syria and Egypt and the uncertainty in Jordan are rapidly shrinking the foreseeable time scale to weeks and making his words a wake-up call, whereas Gilead's words aim at obfuscating six pertinent facts:

1. The "stable regimes" he referred to are a myth: In Egypt the military rulers are not in control. The latest US intelligence assessments, as the defense ministry's adviser is no doubt aware, register dismay over the discovery that the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi extremist groups are assured of a two-thirds majority in elections for the presidency and parliament, for which the movement for toppling Hosni Mubarak fought so hard. The...

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Militant Islam's Agenda in 105 Seconds

by Bill Levinson

Starts at 1:15 and ends at about 3:00. Everything we need to know about militant Islam in 105 seconds or less.

The movie (stars Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren) is worth ordering and watching, although its availability in DVD is surprisingly scarce. It ends with the militant "Muslims" running away from a dead guy.

NJDC asked to recognize Rep. Joe Walsh's support for Israel

by Bill Levinson

To: David A. Harris, National Jewish Democratic Council (sent 9/10/11)
Posted: IsraPundit

Dear Mr. Harris,

The National Jewish Democratic Council has often espoused Barack Obama's purported commitment to the security of Israel (e.g. "Israel Protecting Ashdod with Obama Administration-Funded Iron Dome Battery" at http://www.njdc.org/blog/post/irondome090111). It is equally reasonable for NJDC to recognize Rep. Joe Walsh's (IL-08) introduction of legislation that explicitly calls out the Palestinians for their ongoing litany of mindless violence against Israel and bad faith in negotiating with Israel, and that supports Israel's right to annex Judea and Samaria outright in response to this intransigence. Per http://walsh.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=49§iontree=6,49&itemid=323,

Today, Congressman Joe Walsh introduced a resolution supporting Israel's right to annex Judea and Samaria in the event that the Palestinian Authority continues to press for...

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Congressman introduces legislation to back annexation

The Jerusalem connection 
Today, Congressman Joe Walsh introduced a resolution supporting Israel's right to annex Judea and Samaria in the event that the Palestinian Authority continues to press for unilateral U.N. recognition of Palestinian statehood. It anticipates the General Assembly vote on recognition of Palestinian statehood scheduled for September 20. The resolution coincides with a bill being introduced in the Israeli Knesset to terminate all obligations and agreements made between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and implement full Israeli sovereignty over the land in which Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria currently reside.

"The Palestinian Authority has repeatedly violated peace agreements and has even joined forces with the terrorist group Hamas. But the United States has continued to give aid to the Palestinians on the one condition that they continue to negotiate with Israel for peace. Now the Palestinians can't even do that and have cut Israel...

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WHAT WAR ON TERROR?

By Caroline Glick, JPOST

UNFORTUNATELY, THE US's containment strategy in its War on Terror is undermined by the second and third problems inherent to its policies.

The second problem is that since September 11, 2001, the US has steadfastly refused to admit the identity of the enemy it seeks to defeat.

US leaders have called that enemy al-Qaida, they have called it extremism or extremists, fringe elements of Islam and radicals. But of course the enemy is jihadist Islam which seeks global leadership and the destruction of Western civilization. Al-Qaida is simply an organization that fights on the enemy's side. As long as the enemy is left unaddressed, organizations like al- Qaida will continue to proliferate.

It isn't that US authorities do not acknowledge among themselves whom the enemy is. They do track Islamic leaders, and in general prosecute jihadists when they can build cases against them.

But their refusal to acknowledge the nature of the enemy has...

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Israel provides better healthcare than the US and at half the cost.

Learning from Israel about healthcare 
Physicians, health-policy analysts and insurers from the US are learning from the Israeli example about how to provide universal coverage and excellent healthcare at low cost.

In Israel healthcare begins at birth.

With President Barack Obama's health care bill finally passed in the US, top US medical groups are looking to the Israel healthcare model to learn about the country's success in ensuring that all its citizens receive quality primary medical care.

The US-based Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) brought a group of physicians, health-policy analysts and insurers on a fact-finding visit to Israel as guests of the Myers-JDC Brookdale Institute, Israel's leading social and health-policy think tank. The purpose: To find out how Israel achieves universal coverage and excellent health care at low cost.

A summary of the trip, titled 'Israel Does it Right,' has had a significant ripple effect. "Others have followed our lead...

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Turner has 6 point lead over Weprin

Turner blows past Weprin, leads by 6 points in latest NY-9 Siena poll 

With only four days until election, Republican Bob Turner appears to have gained major ground in his race against Democrat David Weprin, according to the Siena Research Institute poll. Turner now leads Weprin 50-44 among likely voters, in a dramatic reversal from last month, when Siena had Weprin up 48-42.

"Republican Turner heads into the final days of the campaign with a six-point lead in this heavily Democratic district after having trailed Democrat Weprin by six points just four weeks ago," Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said in a statement. "While Turner has an overwhelming 90-6 percent lead among Republicans, Weprin has only a 63-32 percent lead among Democrats, and Turner has a 38-point lead among likely independent voters. Currently, Turner enjoys a slightly larger lead among independent voters than Weprin has with Democrats. Weprin needs to find a way to win a larger share of Democratic and...

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Hoffa Does Not Speak for Working Americans

by Bill Levinson
(originally posted in The American Thinker)

James P. Hoffa's résumé suggests that he knows little or nothing about genuine blue-collar labor, either as a practitioner or a facilitator such as an engineer or technician. His depiction of Tea Party members as "son of a bitches " shows that he knows nothing about public relations either. As stated in Paul Linebarger's Psychological Warfare (1954, emphasis added):

Sending the Japanese cartoons of themselves, mocking the German language, calling Italians by familiar but inelegant names - such communications cropped up during the war. The senders got a lot of fun out of the message but the purpose was unintelligently considered. The actual effect was to annoy the enemy, stiffening his will to resist.

(Continued at American Thinker)

NYT praises Sarah Palin. What!!??

This is what I have been saying. Sarah Palin is not polarizing. She appeals to Reps and Dems alike and to Union and non-Union workers alike.. Ted Belman

Some of Sarah Palin's Ideas Cross the Political Divide 

By ANAND GIRIDHARADAS, NYT

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - Let us begin by confessing that, if Sarah Palin surfaced to say something intelligent and wise and fresh about the present American condition, many of us would fail to hear it.

That is not how we're primed to see Ms. Palin. A pugnacious Tea Partyer? Sure. A woman of the people? Yup. A Mama Grizzly? You betcha.

But something curious happened when Ms. Palin strode onto the stage last weekend at a Tea Party event in Indianola, Iowa. Along with her familiar and predictable swipes at President Barack Obama and the "far left," she delivered a devastating indictment of the entire U.S. political establishment - left, right and center - and pointed toward a way of transcending the presently unbridgeable political...

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Syria on the boil

• Syrian Forces Kill 20 in Homs - Khaled Yacoub Oweis
  Syrian forces backed by tanks killed at least 20 civilians in the city of Homs on Wednesday in one of the fiercest military assaults on urban centers to crush six months of pro-democracy protests, activists and residents said. "Military helicopters are flying overhead and snipers are shooting from rooftops at anything. Tank machinegun fire is coming at us like rain," a resident of the Bab Sbaaa district said. (Reuters-Los Angeles Times)
• See also Explosion of Violence in Syria Caught in Series of Horrifying Video Clips - Ian Black (Guardian-UK)
• See also Assad Declares State of War in Syria, Mobilizes Troops
  Syrian President Bashar Assad declared a state of war on Wednesday and issued a general mobilization of troops, Al-Quds newspaper reported Thursday. A "major military operation" required full mobilization of military forces in Syria for concentrated offensives on cities...

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Soros fingerprints all over protests here, too

Sordid ties of architect who specializes in crisis
By Aaron Klein, © 2011 WND

TEL AVIV - The Democrat strategist identified as an architect of the social protests currently rocking Israel previously ran the campaign of Bolivia's former president, who was ushered into office amid escalating social protests in that country.

After Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada took power in Bolivia in 1985, he quickly implemented an economic "shock therapy" crafted by Jeffrey Sachs, a Columbia University professor who sits on the board of an organization literally seeking to reorganize the entire global economic system.

That group is the Institute for New Economic Thinking, or INET.

Find out here what Americans need to accomplish to restore their nation to greatness.

Philanthropist George Soros is INET's founding sponsor, with the billionaire having provided a reported $25 million over five years to support INET activities.

Last weekend saw the largest protests in...

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Could Turkey and Iran be trading places

Jonathan Tobin writes in Contentions, Turks Turned Their Backs on America Before Dumping Israel 

By Ted Belman

Prior to the Islamic takeover of Iran in 1979, Iran was a great friend of Israel and nobody much mentioned Turkey which was quite secular at the time.

Now it appears that Iran is our worst enemy and Turkey is competing with them for that honour. Turkey is no longer secular. It has witnessed an Islamic evolution and is now challenging and threatening Israel. It seems that in the Arab/Islamic world whoever challenges IsraeL the most, is viewed most favourably.

Israel Hayom has an article, A Different World by Dror Eydar in which he writes Bernard Lewis, [arguable the world's foremost expert on Islam]

"posed a possible future scenario in which both Iran and Turkey replace each other. Iran would change, with its opposition taking over, and would once again be a modern secular republic friendly to Israel. And Turkey would take Iran's current place."

...

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Obama's Crony Capitalism

Ed Lasky, AMERICAN THINKER 

Barack Obama has his own stable of Enrons, companies benefiting from close ties to the president, seemingly able to leverage campaign donations, receiving taxpayer dollars to boost their prospects.  They may be unviable on their own (as Solyndra was) or just get an added boost from us to help them against competitors whose investors and executives do not play the game.

The Washington Post have been superb in their coverage of Solyndra; a few months ago they tipped readers to yet another company apparently benefiting from donations to Obama's campaign.  The company is publicly-held Polypore.  They own another company called Celgrad that makes a key component of batteries used in the electric cars that Obama touts and spends our taxpayer dollars on developing and producing (for example, grants made to Fisker Automotive, a company that has Al Gore as a major investor).

The Washington Post's reporters...

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Israeli Exceptionalism

John C. Wohlstetter, AmericanSpectator 

Much was made of President Obama's dismissal of the idea of American exceptionalism, when he noted that the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism, etc. No doubt Achilles believed in the latter, as Hector believed in Trojan exceptionalism. But in many ways there truly is no more exceptional a nation than modern Israel.

Exiled for nearly two thousand years by Roman imperialism, survivors of countless persecutions over the centuries - including those of an Islam far less tolerant that "Religion of Peace" partisans would have us believe - the Jews were awakened to the promise of return to the Holy Land by Napoleon. The man Winston Churchill called "the greatest man of action to take the world stage since Julius Caesar" invaded Egypt in 1798 and, more even than the atrocities of September 11, 2001, that invasion "changed everything." Bonaparte promised the Jews that they could return to the Holy...

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Turkey is testing Israel with threats of force

Does anyone think an apology would have forestalled this? Clearly Erdogan has been trying to bully and intimidate Israel prior to this gambit which is more of the same. Israel has no choice but to maintain the boycott which has now been declared legal. And the US is permitting this? The Law Forum (Nitsana Dershan-Leitner) wrote to the Israeli government advising that the consent of Knesset is needed to amend the Treaty with Egypt. This prevented them from consenting to more Egyptian troops in the Sinai. Now Egypt is joining Turkey in the challenge to Israel in her territorial waters. Ted Belman

Erdogan drives toward armed clash with Israel. Oil and gas at stake 
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report September 9, 2011,

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan this week coolly moved his country step by provocative step towards an armed clash with Israel - not just over the Palestinian issue, but because he covets the gas and oil resources of the eastern Mediterranean opposite Israel's...

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THE INTERFAITH TASKFORCE FOR AMERICA AND ISRAEL (ITAI)

123 S. Broad Street, Suite 1832, Philadelphia, PA 19109

Friday, September 9, 2011

Dear ITAI Members and Donors:

THIS WEEKLY MIDDLE EAST REPORT features Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, "a Hitler of sorts," whose hatred for the Jewish State is only matched by his neighbor President Ahmadinejad of Iran. The topic for this week, Erdogan Escalates Tension With Israel illustrates the Turkish Prime minister unwillingness to compromise and end the dispute over the Mavi Marmara. In fact, Erdogan is using the issue to aggressively campaign against Israel...

______________________________________________________________________________

ERDOGAN ESCALATES TENSION WITH ISRAEL

By: Joseph Puder

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been called by some in Israel "a Hitler of sorts."  His latest threats and contemptuous tone belie a deep hatred for the Jewish State.

Erdogan just announced that Ankara was freezing defense trade with Israel and that his nation's navy will step up its surveillance patrols of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea- "a move that could potentially lead to confrontation with Israel- and warned of more sanctions against Israel as relations between the former allies deteriorated further." His belligerent tone serves to deepen the tension that already exists between Israel and Turkey.

Erdogan recently gave a speech at the Turkish parliament during which he raised the level of rhetoric against Israel.  In an attempt to exact his "pound of flesh" and get as much mileage out of the Mavi Marmara incident as possible, he is demanding that, in addition to the apologies and promise of compensation that Israel has already made to the families of the nine Turks who were killed, Israel must also lift the Gaza blockade as a pre-condition for normalizing the Turkish-Israeli relations.  Clearly, Erdogan is playing his intimidation of Israel gambit to curry favor with the Sunni Arab and Muslim world, upstaging Iran's long-standing support for Hamas and the Palestinians.  What is also apparent to policy-makers in Jerusalem is that Erdogan is more interested in humiliating Israel than he is in ending the dispute between the two countries.

The Washington Times reported (8/24/11) that Israel's outgoing ambassador to Turkey Gabby Levy described Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan as a "fundamentalist who hates the Jewish State on religious grounds." This was contained in a confidential report that was sent by U.S. ambassador to Turkey, James F. Jeffrey, to Washington and then released on the anti-secrecy Wikileaks website.  The U.S. ambassador's cable pointed out that Levy "dismissed political calculations as a motivator for Erdogan's hostility towards Israel, arguing that the Prime Minister's party had not gained a single point in the polls from his bashing of Israel.  Levy attributed Erdogan's hostility to his "deep seated emotions. He hates us (Jews) religiously and his hatred is spreading."

The timing of Erdogan's latest outburst coincided with a United Nation's report called the Palmer Report, named for Geoffrey Palmer, New Zealand's former Prime Minister, who headed the U.N. Inquiry panel addressing the takeover of the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara by Israeli naval commandos on May 31, 2010, which resulted in the death of nine people. The report concluded that Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip is justified, but characterized the Israeli use of force as "excessive and unreasonable."  The report also blamed Turkey for not doing enough to stop the run on the blockade.  "The flotilla acted recklessly in attempting to break the naval blockade," the report stated.  "The majority of the flotilla participants had no violent intensions, but there exist serious questions about the conduct, true nature and objectives of the flotilla organizers, particularly the IHH," which is "a radical Islamist organization based in Turkey with strong ties to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Hamas in Gaza." 

While some on the U.N. panel argued that Israel used "excessive force," the Palmer Report made it clear that "Israeli Defense Forces personnel faced significant and violent resistance from a group of passengers when they boarded the Mavi Marmara requiring them to use force for their own protection.  Three soldiers were captured, mistreated, and placed at risk by those passengers.  Several others were wounded." The report also affirmed that "humanitarian vessels should allow inspection and stop or change course when requested."

Jerusalem immediately accepted the Palmer findings released last weekend by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Ankara, on the other hand, directed by Erdogan, declared the report "null and void."  Ironically, it was Turkey that initially demanded an official UN probe of the events aboard the Mavi Marmara.

Erdogan was a protégé of the first Islamist Prime minister of Turkey, Necmettin Erbakan, (1996-1997), who was removed from office by the Turkish military. Erbakan mentored the younger Erdogan and Erbakan's Welfare Party was transformed by Erdogan into the AKP party. Erbakan yielded a great deal of influence through a transnational network called Milli Gorus (MG) or "National Vision." MG cooperates with Yusuf al-Qaradawi through the so-called European Council for Fatwas and Research (ECFR) headed by al-Qaradawi.  Erbakan's fanatical Jew-hatred was reflected in a 2007 Middle East Media Research Institute rebroadcast of a television interview in which Erbakan alleged that "Jews had sought world domination since the delivery of the Torah." According to Erbakan, "the safety of Israel ...means that they will rule the 28 countries from Morocco to Indonesia . . . All the Crusades were organized by the Zionists." Erbakan insisted that "racist imperialist Zionism organized 19 Crusades just to reach its goals. To organize the Crusades, it used the Christians." Erbakan, who referred to Jews as "bacteria," also claimed Jews invented Protestantism. In a particularly notable flight of paranoia, he declared that a Jewish man named "Kabbalah" originated a scheme for world conquest. 

Erbakan originated the call for close Turkish-Islamic Republic of Iran relationship which Erdogan has followed as well, albeit he now fancies himself as the reviver of the old Ottoman Empire and an historic rival of the Persian Empire.  Having won three consecutive elections, Erdogan has been able to consolidate his power, and practically eliminated the power of the secular military.  He has replaced the military top brass, as well as the judiciary, with his own loyalists. Erdogan feels invincible at this time, and that explains his preoccupation with Israel.

Trade between Turkey and Israel has, over the years, grown to significant levels for both countries.  Israel's exports to Turkey amount to $1.3 Billion, while Turkey's exports to Israel reached $1.8 Billion in goods and services.  For Erdogan, however, his personal animus towards Israel overrides the interests of Turkey's business community.  Erdogan expelled the Israeli ambassador in Ankara and reduced the level of diplomatic ties to Second Secretary.  He has also ordered strip-searches of Israeli passengers in Turkey's major airports.  And, in a provocative move to further escalate tension in the relations with Israel, last week he announced that he will consider visiting Gaza.

For Israelis, Erdogan has become a vicious enemy, second only to Iran's Ahmadinejad.  Israelis do, however, cherish the relationship they had with the once friendly secular-Muslim Turkey, and hope that cooler heads will somehow restrain Erdogan - ultimately serving the interest of both the Turkish and Israeli people.

Good morning.  I wanted to share my letter to the Temple University Newspaper Editor.  As you'll see, we asked for the University's President to sponsor a flag memorial, as we wanted to honor and remember this momentous time in history.  She never responded.  The student body president did respond, rejecting the idea, citing "financial hardship" for the university, which is shameful lie, and concern for the psychological effects of such a monument, which is absurd.  It is all detailed in the letter.  Our organization Temple University Students for Intellectual Freedom (we are no longer TU Purpose) wants to bring awareness of this issue from the tops of the hills, and we need your support to help us spread the word with forwarding our letter, if possible.
--
Alvaro E. Watson

President
Temple University Students for Intellectual Freedom (TUSIF)
http://tiny.cc/TUSIF
TUSIFreedom@gmail.com      

Dear Editor,       

            To honor the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, Temple University Students for Intellectual Freedom (TUSIF) proposed a campus-wide memorial that would call the tragic events and heroic actions of 9/11 to Temple's collective conscience.

As part of the 9/11: Never Forget project, we had hoped to plant 2,977 American stick flags, which were very small (4" x 6"); each representing a 9/11 victim. Students would plant flags in the days preceding the ten-year anniversary.

            We requested support from several student organizations, and support quickly mounted. With the backing of 10 student organizations, TUSIF looked to President Hart for support.

            In a month's time, only the Student Body President replied, informing us that neither he nor Student Government supported a Flag Memorial. At least, not one funded by Temple, citing "financial hardship" and concern for "the emotional or psychological effect of a physical memorial." This statement concerns me for two reasons: (1) cost was never mentioned; the flags' cost was under $450; (2) His concern for Temple's traumatic reaction to a flag memorial is simply absurd. Should we not have a permanent 9/11 memorial in New York? By his selective logic, we should scrap our physical memorials to the victims of hurricane Katrina.

            After two follow-up letters, we stopped chasing President Hart's support, and simply asked for a meeting with her. A few days later, she wrote, thanking us for keeping her informed of our efforts, not once acknowledging our proposal or meeting request.

            For our 9/11 Memorial Concert this past Wednesday 7^th, as we invited President Hart, we had hoped she would take the time to greet our keynote speaker Fabrizio Bivona, who was a first-responder on 9/11. Not to mention, he has served as an emergency medical responder in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico. This man is not only an American hero, but also an international hero. Somehow President Hart couldn't find time to shake his hand.

            Temple University provides $2500 per semester to student organizations, where I may enjoy my interests in juggling, yoga, knitting, or even politically incorrect joke-telling.

            It is utterly embarrassingly that the Temple University administration shamelessly finds any excuse not to fund a cheap 9/11 Flag Memorial.

Alvaro Watson

TUSIF, President

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

 Subject:* The correct view of the Muslims
   
 
  *Only two blacks were newly elected to congress this cycle, and both are
  Republican. Col West is from southern Florida, a bastion of the Democratic
  Party. He won in a walk.*

 *This new Congressman was an extremely popular commander in Iraq. He was
forced to retire because during an intense combat action a few of his men
were captured. At the same time his men had captured one of the guys who
were with the Iraqis who captured his men. *
   
  *Knowing that time was crucial and his interrogators were not getting
anywhere with the prisoner, COL West took matters into his own hands. He
burst into the room and demanded thru an interpreter that the prisoner tell
him where his men were being taken. The prisoner refused so COL West took
out his pistol and placed it into the prisoner's crotch and fired. *
 
  *Then, the COL told the prisoner that the next shot would not miss. So the
prisoner said he would show where the American service members were being
taken. ** **The Americans** **were rescued. Someone filed a report on
incorrect handling of prisoners. COL West was forced to retire. COL West
was just elected in November 2010 to Congress from** **Florida**.* *During
the elections he was part of a panel on how to handle or how to relate to
Muslims. You will see his answer here.*

  *Here is one of the new congressmen from Florida explaining very
definitively in just over a minute the truth about Islam. Please watch.

Sura 9:5 says, "Slay the idolaters wherever you find them

Posted on September 10, 2011 by John Hinderaker  

Want More Jobs? The Low-Hanging Fruit Is Energy

 Read more: 

Obama lied, Solyndra died

Read more:  

This Week in Climate News 

Posted: 10 Sep 2011 05:24 AM PDT

(Steven Hayward)

Ho-hum, another day, another solar power company in bankruptcy, this time in down in Australia, and for the same reason: the subsidies ran out.  Instead of calling it "green energy," maybe we should just start calling it "socialist energy" because it has the same flaw: sooner or later you run out of other people's money.

I noted last week the Climate Inquisition's success in forcing the resignation of the editor of the Journal of Remote Sensing, who for some reason declined to suggest that the offending Spencer-Braswell paper be withdrawn, as is the usual procedure if a paper is later determined to be wrong.  There's a good long commentary and analysis of this whole matter from blogger William Briggs ("Statistician to the Stars"-I like that) that is worth reading.

Meanwhile Financial Times columnist Peter Foster has an interesting bit comparing climate orthodoxy to Keynesian economic orthodoxy-a comparison that had not occurred to me but which makes complete sense.

A question I frequently get from time to time is how much the U.S. government is spending on the whole climate change racket, and the answer is: nobody knows.  One sign that the matter has got completely out of hand is that nearly every government bureau has a climate program, because who wants to be left out of this action, especially if it means money.  One estimate a couple years ago from the Science and Public Policy Institute put the number up around $7 billion in 2009, and cumulatively at $79 billion since the whole bandwagon got rolling in the late 1980s.  (By contrast, the U.S. spent a total of about $500 million for the decade-long acid rain study in the 1980s-up to that point the largest scientific study of an environmental problem.)

There's a new report just out from the Government Accountability Office that puts the number at $8.8 billion in 2010, and a cumulative $103 billion since 2003.  Your tax dollars at work.

Oh, and while we're at it: remember the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative ("reggie," for short), the effort of northeastern states to demonstrate that cap and trade could work?  Looks like it is slowly collapsing.  I'm sure the New York Times and the major TV network news programs will be right on this.

** VIDEOS * TODAY'S HOT PICKS **

Another Day of Infamy

John Miller 

Let Us Put the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 in Context

Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman 

Today's Hot Topics

We choose, you peruse.

Iranian TV Loves Soros Report on Islam

Cliff Kincaid 

Ten Years Later, Radical Islam Still a Taboo Subject

Steve Emerson 

All the Wrong 9/11 Lessons

Michelle Malkin 

How Long Has the CIA Had Dealings With the Muslim Brotherhood?

The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report 

Missing In Action: All-American Courage

Since 9/11, we've wallowed in hysteria and fear. 

Ralph Peters 

Before 9/11, conservatism stood for stalwart courage and confidence in the United States of America. What has happened in the intervening years to change this?

Report Card on the 9/11 Commission's Recommendations

Peter Gadiel, Patrick Dunleavy 

Family Security Matters and 9/11 Families for a Secure America check key recommendations from the 9/11 Commission to see if they have been implemented. The news is not good.

California Dreamin' - A National Nightmare?

John Howard 

CONGRATS AND THANK YOU: FEDERAL FUNDS DENIED FOR PARK51 MOSQUE!

By Dick Morris | 09.11.2011

Dear Friend,

Thanks to your support and the outpouring of 71,000 signatures, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has refused federal funds for the Ground Zero Park51 Mosque! They made their decision at their meeting on Wednesday, September 7th.

Your pressure was, I believe pivotal in stopping our tax money from going to this offensive project. We will keep you informed if the Park51 Mosque sponsors try it again!

Thank you!

Dick Morris

The government has no business being in radio and TV. This example is only one reason government must never control communications. The folks at PBS are sycophants and must be freed to find jobs in the private sector.

Lou

PBS alters transcript to hide Obama gaffe

Friday, September 9, 2011

To: Friends & Supporters

From: Gary L. Bauer


Ponzi Scheme?

I received an avalanche of responses from you this morning on Rick Perry's comments about social security. Virtually everyone agreed that the social security program has been looted by politicians and that, without reforms, it will be in trouble in the years ahead. Most of you felt the term "Ponzi scheme" was accurate. But nearly two-thirds of you thought that it was a tactical mistake to use rhetoric that can so easily be exploited by Obama, big media and the left to scare seniors.

I think you are right. If we are going to win in November 2012, conservatives have to be wise. Obama loses if people vote on the economy, the deficit and American decline. But if senior voters think a Republican president is going to take away their social security check, it increases the likelihood that Obama will win key states like Florida. I believe Perry needs to explain soon that NO ONE in the GOP is planning on cutting current beneficiaries or those within 10 years of retirement.

The Speech

Once again Obama has exploited his office. On the eve of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 he delivered a transparently political stump speech to a joint session of Congress. It was the kind of speech intended to divide America and smear those who disagree with his big government, high tax, socialist agenda. He proposed at least $450 billion in immediate new spending and said it will be paid for in the future - no doubt through higher taxes on you!

Obama made another familiar demand - "Pass it now" he demanded time and time again. This is the same demand he made on the $900 billion stimulus and on Obamacare, and we are still discovering hidden "time-bombs" in both of those "emergency" measures.

I will go more deeply into this next week, but for now let me remind you of a reality most of the media ignored. Obama did not actually deliver a bill to Congress last night. Perhaps he will next week. But as of now there is nothing to read, analyze, debate or amend. The real costs cannot be measured. In short, as of today, there is nothing to "pass now!"

Join Me In D.C.

The 2011 Values Voter Summit will be held next month -- October 7th through the 9th -- at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Texas Governor Rick Perry and Rep. Michele Bachmann have joined our all-star line-up of speakers. You will also hear from House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, former Senator Rick Santorum, Rep. Ron Paul, Bill Bennett, Gen. William Boykin, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Erick Erickson, Mark Levin, Phyllis Schlafly and others. This year's summit will feature a gala dinner honoring former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese.

There will be educational sessions on a wide range of issues, including secularism and the future of America, the welfare state and the family, the Tea Party movement and much more. My public policy group, American Values, will host a lunch on Saturday, October 8th.

Register now at www.valuesvotersummit.org. I look forward to seeing you there!


Note: I will send you my reflection on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 this Sunday.
    

The Democracy Alliance: A Major Cog in the Soros Machine

By Discover The Networks
 

A financial clearinghouse for the progressive movement, the Democracy Alliance bankrolls such varied left-wing enterprises as think tanks, media "watchdog" groups, "ethics" organizations, voter-mobilization groups, media outlets that attack conservatives, and leadership-training centers.

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More to read:  Jewish Voice for Surrender

Identifying George Soros's Agendas

Obama's "Green Jobs" Hoax

Supporting Al Qaeda, in a NYC Borough

Cleaning the Air by Redistributing Wealth

The Constitution and Limited Government  

Edward J. Erler is professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino, and a senior fellow of the Claremont Institute. He earned his B.A. from San Jose State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in government from Claremont Graduate School. He has published numerous articles on constitutional topics in journals such as Interpretation, the Notre Dame Journal of Law, and the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. He was a member of the California Advisory Commission on Civil Rights from 1988-2006 and served on the California Constitutional Revision Commission in 1996. He has testified before the House Judiciary Committee on the issue of birthright citizenship and is the co-author of The Founders on Citizenship and Immigration.

The following is adapted from a speech delivered at a Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar on May 24, 2011, in Dallas, Texas.

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The Crisis of the European Union: Causes and Significance

Václav Klaus
President, Czech Republic

Václav Klaus, the president of the Czech Republic, spoke to friends of Hillsdale College in Berlin during Hillsdale's 2011 cruise in the Baltic Sea. The speech was delivered at Berlin's Hotel Adlon on June 11, 2011.

As some of you may know, this is not my first contact with Hillsdale College. I vividly remember my visit to Hillsdale more than ten years ago, in March 2000. The winter temperatures the evening I arrived, the sudden spring the next morning, and the summer the following day can't be forgotten, at least for a Central European who lives-together with Antonio Vivaldi-in le quattro stagioni. My more important and long-lasting connection with Hillsdale is my regular and careful reading of Imprimis. I have always considered the texts published there very stimulating and persuasive.

The title of my previous speech at Hillsdale was "The Problems of Liberty in a Newly-Born Democracy and Market Economy." At that time, we were only ten years after the fall of communism, and the topic was relevant. It is different now. Not only is communism over, our radical transition from communism to a free society is over, too. We face different challenges and see new dangers on the horizon. So let me say a few words about the continent of Europe today, which you've been visiting on your cruise.

You may like the old Europe-full of history, full of culture, full of decadence, full of fading beauty-and I do as well. But the political, social and economic developments here bother me. Unlike you, I am neither a visitor to Europe nor an uninvolved observer of it. I live here, and I do not see any reason to describe the current Europe in a propagandistic way, using rosy colors or glasses. Many of us in Europe are aware of the fact that it faces a serious problem, which is not a short- or medium-term business cycle-like phenomenon. Nor is it a consequence of the recent financial and economic crisis. This crisis only made it more visible. As an economist, I would call it a structural problem, which will not, by itself, wither away. We will not simply outgrow it, as some hope or believe.

The Foundation

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." --Thomas Jefferson

Government & Politics

Obama's Speech Job

In case you were busy washing your hair, rewinding your CDs or getting a root canal last night, Barack Obama gave a speech. Yes, another one, and with warmed-over recycled ideas, to boot. He made sure we all knew his speech was about jobs because he used the word "jobs" 44 times. (Given his narcissism, we wonder if that number was intentional.) Indeed, he centered the speech on his "American Jobs Act," which, by the way, aims to create jobs. He hasn't yet sent an actual bill to Congress, though he called for Congress to "pass this bill right away" (or some variant) 17 times, but ... jobs.

In the spirit of bipartisan comity, we'll start by lauding something with which we agreed: "Those of us here tonight can't solve all of our nation's woes," the president said. "Ultimately, our recovery will be driven not by Washington, but by our businesses and our workers." We couldn't have said it better. Government doesn't create jobs; it can only create conditions under which the economy can flourish. Unfortunately, it was downhill from there, because Obama's very next sentence began, "But..."

Obama repeatedly framed his proposals as "nothing controversial" because "everything in here" has already been proposed by "both Democrats and Republicans." We hate to disagree, but nearly everything in the speech was controversial. From tax hikes on job creators in exchange for gimmicky tax credits, to more money dumped into the bottomless pit of education and infrastructure, to the very premise that government must grow in order for the economy to grow -- the ideas presented last night were the wrong ones.

Taxes were a major theme, but instead of proposing permanently lower rates and a broader base -- something that would actually work -- the president called for more temporary complications and supposed sweeteners. Obama said that Congress must extend the temporary payroll tax cut they passed last year, because, he warned, "If we allow that tax cut to expire -- if we refuse to act -- middle-class families will get hit with a tax increase at the worst possible time." That's interesting: A tax cut expiration is a tax increase. Funny how that didn't apply to the Bush tax cuts, which were good for 10 years, not just one. And funny how it doesn't apply to increasing the taxes of job creators "at the worst possible time." Indeed, that was his next proposal.

"[T]here are many Republicans who don't believe we should raise taxes on those who are most fortunate and can best afford it," he said, but, "We need a tax code where everyone gets a fair shake, and everybody pays their fair share. And I believe the vast majority of wealthy Americans and CEOs are willing to do just that, if it helps the economy grow and gets our fiscal house in order." Of course, "everybody" means the top 2 percent. He then declared with a straight face, "This isn't class warfare." Republicans in the chamber gave him the only appropriate response: laughter.

Estimates are that this stimulus package as proposed would cost about $447 billion. That's about half of the first stimulus, and we saw how well that worked. (Little wonder that Democrats have stricken the word "stimulus" from the lexicon.) How on earth will another few hundred billion dollars suddenly fix anything? "Everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything," Obama insisted, but how?

First of all, through the aforementioned tax increases on a select and punishable few. Primarily, however, Obama wants the debt reduction committee, created in the debt ceiling deal to find $1.5 trillion in savings over 10 years, to come up with even more savings, again over 10 years. In other words, let's spend another $450 billion now and have future presidents and Congresses pay for it later. Also, "a week from Monday," Obama will release "a more ambitious deficit plan." If this all wasn't so preposterous, it would've been another laugh line.

Obama also mocked those who think that government is too big. He trotted out his predictable straw-man arguments about Republicans wanting to cut "most government spending" or eliminating "most government regulations." He certainly intends to fight hard for the new floor of government spending and regulation he has established. He may offer a concession here or there, but by and large the damage has already been done. Even rolling back to the bloated and costly -- but still far smaller and cheaper -- government of 2008 will be impossible while he occupies the White House. Finally, there's a big difference between limited government and no government. It is the former that we must seek.

Just how half-baked was this speech?

On Cross-Examination

The Heritage Foundation's policy experts offered their responses to Obama's proposals, from refinancing mortgages to infrastructure spending and tax gimmicks.

The Cato Institute explains in an outstanding video why Keynesian government spending won't actually help.

Open Query

"What here hasn't already been tried and failed before?" --GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann

On the Campaign Trail: The GOP Debate

Eight of the Republican presidential candidates gathered at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Wednesday night for the first of five fall debates. All eyes were on newly entered candidate Rick Perry. The Texas governor, who spent the week in his state managing wildfire response, is not the slickest debater in the field. That honor would likely go to Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich. Yet Perry did well enough to solidify his status as the new frontrunner. Michele Bachmann, on the other hand, performed well but continued to fade after Perry's entrance took a huge bite out of her support. Of course, with the media placing Perry and Romney front and center and focusing most of their attention on the two pack-leaders, everyone else on the stage took a backseat. That's what they get for allowing MSNBC to carry the debate.

Some observations about the other candidates: Jon Huntsman continued his disappointing run to the left, apparently under the mistaken impression that independents and Democrats will decide the Republican primary. He will not win the nomination on this course.

Newt Gingrich won't win the nomination, but he won some points in the debate by attacking the moderators for their inane questions. He correctly pointed out that any candidate on the stage would be better than Barack Obama, and that they are in a sense a team working toward winning the White House.

Herman Cain is still struggling to get noticed, and he missed a golden opportunity immediately after Gingrich's answer to attack Obama, instead choosing to attack Romney. He wasn't wrong, but he seemed to have completely missed what Gingrich said and failed to play off of it.

Rick Santorum also won't win the nomination, but wins the award for stupidest question asked of him by the moderators: Where do the poor fit among Republicans? The implication is that Republicans don't care about the poor. Unfortunately, Santorum's answer -- talking in the third person about how much he has done for the poor -- wasn't the best answer.

Ron Paul's contribution is that he leaves no stone unturned, no orthodoxy unchallenged and no candidate unassailed. His questions and points are important for conservatives to consider in fine-tuning positions and policies. All the same, he won't be the nominee. (Yeah, we know -- we might as well be Soviets for saying so.)

In fact, unless something changes drastically, this race is between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney.

Quote of the Week

"If 10 percent is good enough for God, 9 percent should be good enough for government." --Herman Cain at the GOP presidential debate Wednesday night

What did you think of the debate?

This Week's 'Alpha Jackass' Award

Whatever happened to civility? Democrats were certainly quick to call for it when Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was shot, along with several others, in Tucson in January. In spite of the facts, the Left blamed the Right for heated political rhetoric. Yet when a union leader spews hatred and calls for "war," Democrats suddenly don't mind so much.

"We gotta keep an eye on the battle that we face: A war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party," thundered Teamster president Jimmy Hoffa Jr. at a Labor Day rally. "They got a war, they got a war with us and there's only going to be one winner. It's going to be the workers of Michigan, and America. We're gonna win that war." Then he promised, "President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let's take these son of a b-----s [sic] out and give America back to an America where we belong."

Not only was he vulgar, but he also botched the grammar.

Barack Obama took the stage later, saying he was "proud" of Hoffa and other labor leaders. The White House and other Democrat leaders have pointedly refused on multiple occasions to repudiate or even question Hoffa's words. Hoffa himself doubled down, later insisting that he would say it again "because I believe it. They've declared war on us. We didn't declare war on them, they declared war on us. We're fighting back. The question is, who started the war?" Maybe that's why 500 union members in Seattle stormed the Port of Longview with baseball bats and crowbars taking six security guards hostage over hiring objections.

Speaking of a war on "them," the newest rage on Internet is a video game called "Tea Party Zombies Must Die," in which the player kills zombie versions of the Left's favorite conservative bogeymen. "DON'T GET TEA-BAGGED!" reads the description. "The Tea Party zombies are walking the streets of America. Grab your weapons and bash their rotten brains to bits! Destroy zombie Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Glenn Beck, the Koch Brothers, and many more!" (National Review's Daniel Foster has screenshots.) We're just glad to see the juveniles on the Left channeling their angst in such productive ways.

Hope 'n' Change: ObamaCare Wins With Stacked Deck

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld ObamaCare Thursday, overturning a lower court's decision in favor of the state of Virginia. The Fourth Circuit ruled that Virginia lacked standing in the case, though at least two judges would have upheld it on the "merits." The Sixth Circuit Court likewise upheld the law earlier this year, though the 11th Circuit Court struck down the individual mandate last month as unconstitutional. Although the Fourth Circuit is roughly evenly divided between Republican and Democrat appointees, this particular three-judge panel consisted of one Clinton appointee and two appointed by Obama. Certainly not a fair hearing. Again, the bottom line is that ObamaCare is headed to the Supreme Court.

New & Notable Legislation

House Republicans are working on legislation that will block a recent proposed ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regarding unionization. The ruling speeds up the process of union elections, offering little time for employers and workers to debate union organization. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups have blasted the ruling as an infringement on workers' rights. Another bill has been drafted to keep the NLRB in check by preventing the board from ordering a company to relocate its employees. Senate Republicans have vowed to block any nominations to the NLRB until these issues are resolved.

From the Left: Politicizing Hurricanes

Congressional Democrats manufactured a scandal out of thin air this week, blaming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor for blocking disaster funding in the wake of Hurricane Irene. There haven't been many stories about people being denied aid, however, because it's simply not the case. Yet Democrats are charging that Cantor is doing exactly that. On the contrary, the GOP added $1 billion to FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund in June, and offset the increase by cutting spending on the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program, a liberal pet project to create luxury electric cars. Cantor has noted on separate occasions that the federal government plays too large a role in disaster relief, but, despite Democrats' claims, his efforts to fund FEMA have been more generous than even the White House proposed. The only thing he's guilty of is hobbling Joe Biden's dream project to create electric cars that nobody will buy anyway.

National Security

Warfront With Jihadistan: Iraq Withdrawal on Steroids

Seeking to shore up plummeting poll numbers and pander to its anti-military base, the Obama regime is reportedly set to drastically reduce U.S. troop strength in Iraq to just 3,000 by year's end, a major reduction in strength in the still highly volatile country. When asked about this report, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta tried to sidestep, saying "no decision has been made" on the number of troops to stay in Iraq, but multiple sources confirm that Obama has already made the decision.

There are currently about 45,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. American commanders recommended a somewhat lower number to remain there by year's end, but the Obama regime, ever thinking of 2012, whined about "the cost and the political optics" of that many troops remaining in Iraq. U.S. commanders then further reduced their recommendation to 10,000, saying that number could work "in extremis," meaning in reality our troops would be hard pressed to continue training Iraqi forces while also maintaining security in large sections of Iraq. Still, even that low troop level was too much for Obama.

U.S. commanders are rightly angry. "We can't secure everybody with only 3,000 on the ground, nor can we do what we need to with the Iraqis," argued one. Another senior military official said that by reducing the number of troops to 3,000, the Obama regime has effectively reduced the U.S. mission in Iraq to training only, at best, while leaving a still-insufficient Iraqi security force to fend for themselves, all of which will endanger the remaining 3,000 U.S. troops -- for nothing more than supposed political gain.

Thankfully, there was some good news for our troops, as August marked the first month since March 2003 that not one U.S. military member died in either combat or non-hostile circumstances while supporting Iraqi operations. Sadly, Obama's latest move seems destined to ensure that August will be the last month we lose no troops in Iraq, at least until he completely surrenders Iraq and brings the handful of remaining troops home.

What will withdrawal from Iraq mean?

Tenth Anniversary of 9/11

Sunday we solemnly mark the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, when 2,996 innocents, mostly American citizens, were murdered by Islamic fascists. In keeping with the presidential proclamation designating Sept. 11 of each year as Patriot Day, all flags should be flown at half-staff in memory of those who lost their lives that day.

We invite you to join us as we offer our prayers for the families of those lost and for our Armed Forces now serving on the front lines of the Long War against Jihadistan. As we continue to engage our jihadi foes on battlefronts around the globe, let us never forget why we fight.

Also, don't miss Mark Alexander's essay on the subject: Are We Safer Today? Given the recent intel that al-Qa'ida in Pakistan is planning anniversary attacks in Washington and New York, we would say we're not safe yet.

Department of Military Correctness: DADT Repeal Has Consequences

In yet another setback to military order and disciple, the Air Force and Army Exchange Service approved on-base sales of a magazine marketed for homosexual military members. We won't give any additional publicity to this rag beyond providing our readers with more evidence of the results of repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Such "priority" military issues surely don't trump recent news of the failed body armor or the ill-advised troop reductions in Iraq. But we're glad to see the Pentagon is working overtime to set "straight" this horrible deficiency in our troops' reading material.

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is also pushing for the Pentagon to extend housing and transportation allowances to same-sex partners of military personnel. Pentagon spokesman George Little said, "Provisions in the Defense of Marriage Act and other laws prohibit the Department of Defense from extending certain benefits, such as housing and transportation allowances, to same-sex partners, but a same-sex partner can be designated a beneficiary, for example, for life insurance. The department continues to examine benefits to determine any that may be changed to allow the service member the discretion to designate persons of their choosing as beneficiaries." Welcome to the slippery slope.

Business & Economy

Income Redistribution: Tax Credits for Illegals?

Often in government we find the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, but in this case both hands are annually costing the public treasury $4.2 billion and counting, with much of it going to those who are charitably called "undocumented workers." The culprit is a tax loophole that allows workers without a Social Security number to file for an Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC). At one time, the ACTC was allowed only if a taxpayer had three or more children and owed more in Social Security taxes than earned income credits. Over the years, though, those restrictions have been stripped away and the amount claimed via the ACTC jumped from $924 million in 2005 to $4.2 billion last year. It's yet another financial incentive for illegals to not just have "anchor babies" but to also bring older kids along as well.

One enforcement problem is that the IRS refuses to check the immigration status of those who request an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) and use it in lieu of a Social Security number when filing their taxes. While many legitimate citizens use an ITIN for various reasons, those who use the ITIN to claim the ACTC aren't getting the scrutiny requested by the Treasury Department inspector general who compiled the shocking report. Not only is the government not securing the borders, it's now creating ever more ways to encourage illegal immigration. Perhaps preventing illegals from receiving tax credits they don't deserve is yet another job Americans won't do.

Share your thoughts on illegals receiving redistributed income

Regulatory Commissars: Ozone Regs Off the Table -- for Now

In a surprising move, Barack Obama pulled rank and instructed EPA chief Lisa Jackson to withdraw new ozone regulations that would have meant much of the country was in noncompliance with the new standards -- only portions of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Maine would have passed muster. That's important because areas deemed out of compliance have their businesses placed under more scrutiny if they wish to expand, while local governments could lose a portion of their federal highway funding.

Had the standard been tightened from the current 84 parts per billion to 60 parts per billion, a study by a manufacturer's group pegged the economic damage at $1.7 trillion annually, with a corresponding overall loss of 7.3 million jobs. Furthermore, while currently available technology can shave a few parts per billion off at relatively little cost, to attain such a stringent standard could force corporations to choose between moving operations offshore or filing for bankruptcy.

Instead, the regulations will be reviewed on their original schedule beginning in 2013, after the next presidential election. Obviously, this doesn't mean companies will be off the hook since these regulations could still be put in place, but the impending election and Obama's chances in it mean American business gets a stay of execution -- for now.

The Post Office's Woes

First the banks, then the auto industry. Soon, the U.S. Postal Service may be begging for a bailout. The agency, which has been operating at a loss for years and this fiscal year alone faces a $9.2 billion deficit, is in such dire straits that it may miss making a $5.5 billion payment for retiree health care due Sept. 30. But that's not all. The USPS is actually at risk of closing shop. In the words of Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe, "Our situation is extremely serious. If Congress doesn't act, we will default." In other words, no rain, no snow, no sleet, no hail, no money, no mail. While some may blame the USPS's demise on the rise of email and the concomitant drop in postal mail, significant fault also lies with the Postal Service itself. After all, union labor accounts for 80 percent of the organization's costs, financed in large part by increasing debt, and it's bound by a no-layoff contract. Comparatively, labor costs for private sector UPS and FedEx are 53 percent and 32 percent, respectively. (Care to guess which one of those two companies is unionized?)

To cut $20 billion from USPS's $75 billion in operating costs by 2015, Donahoe hopes to close post offices, cut the number of sorting facilities from 500 to 200, reduce personnel numbers from 653,000 to 433,000, and eliminate Saturday deliveries. Predictably, unions are crying foul. Meanwhile, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are split (not surprisingly) on how to address the problem. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the power to establish Post Offices. Unfortunately, by thinking like bureaucrats instead of businessmen, Uncle Sam has managed to bankrupt an enterprise that enjoys a virtual monopoly. Only the government could do that.

Investigating a Bankrupt Stimulus Recipient

Solyndra is a manufacturer of solar panels, and the California-based "green energy" firm received $535 million in "stimulus" loan guarantees from the Department of Energy. On Tuesday, Solyndra filed for bankruptcy, eliminating 1,000 jobs, and questions remain about the $535 million in taxpayer money. Nothing like stimulating the economy.

On Thursday morning, the FBI raided the facility, executing a search warrant and interviewing laid-off employees. Meanwhile, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is preparing to hold hearings on the government's loan and the possibility of recovering any of the money. "How did this company, without maybe the best economic plan, all of a sudden get to the head of the line?" asked committee chairman Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI). "We want to know who made this decision ... and we're not going to stop until we get those answers."

The answers might not be welcome. According to Peter Lynch, a solar industry analyst, the company's problems should have been quite evident. "Here's the bottom line. It costs them $6 to make a unit. They're selling it for $3. In order to be competitive today, they have to sell it for between $1.50 and $2. That is not a viable business plan." It's remarkable, though, how similar it is to the Democrats' plan for government.

Culture & Policy

Second Amendment: The Gunwalker Chronicles

The growing cesspool of bad actors and actions oozing out of "Operation Fast and Furious" and its progeny -- such as "Project Gunrunner," the unintentionally apt name assigned by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to its Southwest Border Initiative to interdict gun smuggling to Mexico -- appears to be growing ever further. Now, in addition to "Gunwalker" -- Gunrunner's derisive pseudonym based on the 2,000 illegal weapons that "walked" out of sight under full supervision of ATF and the Department of Justice (DOJ) U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona -- ATF and DOJ are apparently busy teeing up more vignettes of buffoonery.

First, there's "Grenade-walker" -- that's right, "grenade," as in 500 or so of them. That's how many Mexican authorities estimate could have been made from components in the possession of Jean Baptiste Kingery, whom they just arrested. Oh yeah: ATF also arrested Kingery, but that was more than a year ago and ATF released him without any charges, notwithstanding the fact he confessed to operating an explosives factory and making devices from U.S. supplies for drug cartels. But hey, what are a few hundred grenades among friends?

Then there's "Gunwalker, Part Deux." Incredibly, the same scenario that played out in Gunwalker is reportedly playing out in Indiana via gangs. This leads us to ask how these incidents could possibly be viewed as independent, isolated events. That is, how could either occur singly -- let alone together -- without full Justice Department knowledge and sanction?

Meanwhile, New York City Mayor and leftist shill Michael Bloomberg is not nearly as concerned with government's distribution of illegal guns and grenades onto American and Mexican streets as he is with the lawful possession of firearms within his city limits. Specifically, in the wake of Labor Day weekend violence in the city that resulted in 10 deaths, Bloomberg has asked "both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, both sides of the aisle," to step up to the plate and enact stringent gun control legislation, because "there are just too many guns on the streets and we have to do something about it." Never mind that NYC already has some of the toughest local anti-gun legislation on the books.

According to Mayor Bloomberg, the important thing to remember is that New York's violence is due only to the existence of guns. Responsibility does not attach to the shooters, the ATF, the DOJ or all the other bad actors who do the actual killing, maiming or enabling of the violence. From Bloomberg's viewpoint, inanimate weapons themselves should be held accountable for the crimes in which they are used. In truth, tighter gun control legislation only makes things easier for arms-possessing criminals, not their defenseless victims. In fact, were it not for violent gangs and recidivist offenders upon whom the courts lavish so much compassion, the United States would have a relatively low violent crime rate. In the meantime, small-brained pollyannacrats continue the effort to disarm gun owners through unconstitutional local ordinances and codes.

Faith and Family: A Crackdown on Abortion Protests?

After doing little more than gathering dust much of the time after Ted Kennedy sponsored its 1994 passage, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (or FACE Act) is getting some usage from the Obama administration. FACE was originally passed to muzzle pro-life activists who wished to dissuade pregnant women from having abortions, but it was rarely enforced due to fears of a First Amendment fight -- a tacit admission of its dubious constitutional standing. However, Obama's Justice Department has stepped up the pace of enforcement, despite the decline of violence at abortion clinics.

Violating the FACE Act can be costly, too. One defendant charged with this offense at a Washington-area clinic could be fined $10,000, plus another $5,000 for each of his three "victims." While one charged under the FACE Act had posted the names and addresses of abortion providers on the Internet with an expressed wish that they would be killed, many of the rest sued by the Obama administration were obstructing access to a clinic. In most other situations, this sort of violation would be a minor misdemeanor.

It's worth noting that the law also protects worshipers at a house of religion, but one questions whether the administration will enforce it in any case where harassment of parishioners at a Christian church is involved. We're not holding our breath.

The 21st Century 'Family'

The definition of "family" has become a hotly contested issue in recent years, as evidenced by, among other things, the same-sex marriage debate and the polygamous family featured in the reality show "Sister Wives." Now a New York Times article, "One Sperm Donor, 150 Children," highlights another phenomenon. The title says it all: one man's donation to the local sperm bank resulted in the birth of 150 children. Another man learned that he had fathered 70 children, despite the fact that the sperm bank had promised him a "low number." But the article's real focus is the growing trend of the donor children using the Internet to find and connect with one another as family.

There is currently no legal limit to the number of children that can be fathered by one donor. Thus, for example, as more women have chosen to have babies in this way, the chances have increased that their offspring could unknowingly become romantically involved with a half-sibling. There is also the fear that illnesses could be spread faster through the population. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine has recommended only 25 such births per 800,000 people, while other countries, such as France, England and Sweden, have already placed restrictions on the industry.

In the meantime, parents are taking matters into their own hands. Many tell their children to memorize their donor's confidential identification number so they can make sure they're not dating a sibling. In 2000, the Donor Sibling Registry was created so that children of donors can connect with each other, or simply see how many half-siblings they have. "Family," it seems, has an ever-changing definition -- but is that always for the better?

What do you think of the prospects for the American family?

And Last...

We have long suspected that Europeans must suffer from something beyond their predisposition for enacting bad policies. Surely their massive and bankrupt entitlement systems have resulted from more than just a few poor decisions over the years. Well, Reuters provides a clue: "Europeans are plagued by mental and neurological illnesses, with almost 165 million people or 38 percent of the population suffering each year from a brain disorder such as depression, anxiety, insomnia or dementia, according to a large new study." It gets worse. "With only about a third of cases receiving the therapy or medication needed, mental illnesses cause a huge economic and social burden -- measured in the hundreds of billions of euros -- as sufferers become too unwell to work and personal relationships break down." The study provides an interesting insight into European culture and government. As we try to avoid the same fate here in the U.S., what now must be determined is which came first, the chicken or the egg?

 Tea Party News
Friday, September 9th   (You can reply to this e-mail)

Today's Headlines:  Friday, September 9, 2011

A September 11th tribute to the media: Coverage from the immediate aftermath of 9/11/01

Jobs: HHS Announces $700M to Renovate and Build Health Care Centers

White House Touts Hoffa's Endorsement of Obama's Jobs Plan 
Only CNSNews.com brings you the news the liberal media ignores! Please help us with a tax deductible gift today. 
Obama Suggests Republicans Want a 'Race to the Bottom'

Bachmann on Obama's Plan: 'We Already Know It Will Fail'

Need Action, Not More Words, on Trade Agreements, Republican Leader Tells Obama

Republicans Reproach Obama for Delays in Submitting Job-Creating Free Trade Deals

Bachmann Questions Obama's Push to Spend on 'Green' Projects

U.S. Worried Terrorists May Get Libya's Missing Surface-to-Air Missiles

Terror Threat: Credible but Unconfirmed

COMMENTARY:

All the Wrong 9/11 Lessons
By Michelle Malkin
Ten years after al Qaeda murdered thousands of innocents on American soil, too many children have been spoon-fed the thin gruel of progressive political correctness over the truth.

Dancing With the Lecturers
By L. Brent Bozell III
It's ridiculous for ABC to argue children won't be confused by the political-correctness crusade that has transgender activist Chaz Bono dancing with the stars.

The Jobs Speech
By Rich Galen
Here's the thing Obama left out: He never told us how many jobs this would create and how far down it would bring the unemployment rate. Let's spend more money and hope for the best...

What 9/11 Wrought: The Bush Legacy
By Patrick J. Buchanan
Of George W. Bush, it will be said that, after 9/11, he led his country on a utopian crusade for democracy in the Muslim world -- and all but ignored the rise of a rival.

NEWSPAPER ROUNDUP:

USA Today analysis: Obama hopes to save his own job with jobs plan
Reports: Bank of America considers huge job cuts
Colorado's Democrat governor decries push for paid sick leave
Boston wants new limits on e-cigarettes
Former drug dealer sues D.C., claims defamation and racial discrimination
N.M. governor says grandparents came to USA illegally
Obama's illegal immigrant uncle quietly released from jail
Fast and Furious guns tied to second violent crime
Group wants to ban Pledge at Mass. schools; 'No educational value'
Woman bites St. Pete man in 'vampire' attack
Report: Hospital breach leads to medical data being posted online
Appeals court dismisses Virginia's challenge to Obamacare
Dana Milbank: The irrelevancy of the Obama presidency
Wal-Mart brings back layaway for holidays as consumers continue to struggle
Medicare eligibility age should go up, hospitals say
Designer Karl Lagerfeld likes Michelle Obama, but not her clothes
Jackie Kennedy Onassis not a fan of Martin Luther King Jr.

Immigration Hurts the Working Class
Study Shows Income Gap Widening.
Full Story

Romney Immigration Speech Tries to "Thread the Needle"
Speech to Hispanic Group.
Full Story

Ten Years After 9/11, Immigration Policies Still Pose a Threat
New Security Report from FAIR.
Full Story

Rep. Franks' Response to NYT Editors
A Defense of Alabama's Immigration Law.
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Sounds a Lot Like Amnesty
Deja Vu All Over Again For 2012.
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GE and China

Sep 10, 2011 06:13 am | Coach Collins

By Jim Emerson, staff writer

General Electric sees China as the world's fastest growing market  and will depend on cheap labor to keep its technological edge. They are able to work with the Chinese state run companies without the restrictions being placed on them by the EPA, OSHA and dealing with labor unions Not only are they selling out American workers they are helping a foreign military to catch up with the U.S. aerospace industry. This is the same company who's Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt told American companies they need to hire more people. (2)

Dual use technologies

"Dual use" is a term referring to technologies that can be used for civilian and military applications. This is a hot topic when companies are doing business with the Chinese. In order for GE to engage in a joint venture with China's state-run Aviation Industry Corp it must prove to the U.S. government that none of the technologies shared ... Continue Reading:GE and China

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Prison awaits former US Attorney Dennis Burke. Part 1

Sep 09, 2011 06:13 am | Coach Collins

Phoenix district United States Attorney Dennis Burke resigned last week, desperately hoping the move would help him avoid prison time for his criminal involvement in the Obama Regime's Operation Fast and Furious.

Chief of Staff to former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano,  Burke moved to Washington, D.C. as her Senior Adviser when Napolitano was chosen to head up Homeland Security,  acquiring along the way all the political clout necessary to become Obama's pick as US Attorney.

And when the dependably dishonest,  liberal  "yes man"  was named to the post in September of 2009,  Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder knew another indispensable Department of Justice operative was in place for the implementation of Operation Fast and Furious.

For although this criminal enterprise was a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms operation,  we now know it was actually the Obama empowered US Attorney's office in Arizona which pulled the strings it was hoped would bring the scheme to fruition.

In ... Continue Reading:Prison awaits former US Attorney Dennis Burke. Part 1

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"Arm Yourselves Citizens," says Cop to people of Chicago.

Sep 11, 2011 06:13 am | Coach Collins

by Doug Book,  staff writer

"Arm yourselves citizens. You are about to become the most unusual social experiment in history."  (1)

Such is the advice the owner of police blog  "Second City Cop"  gives to the residents of Rahm Emanuel's crime ridden city of Chicago. Months after inheriting a demoralized and shrinking police force from outgoing mayor Richard Daley,  Rahm Emanuel has charged newly appointed Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy with slashing $190 million from the Department budget.

Yet during last year's campaign,  Emanuel promised voters he would,  "...put 1000 more officers on the beat and erase a more than $635 million city of Chicago budget shortfall without cutting police,  raising taxes or using one-time revenues."  (2)

How does he intend to perform these feats of financial legerdemain?

Apparently he'll start by taking a page from former Mayor Daley's handbook of chimerical accounting. It was Daley's habit to authorize and account for certain numbers of police in Chicago's annual budget ... Continue Reading:"Arm Yourselves Citizens," says Cop to people of Chicago.

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Gun Owners Threaten the Power of the Left.

Sep 02, 2011 06:13 am | Coach Collins

By Doug Book, staff writer

 When Robert Baillio was pulled over by a member of the Shreveport police
 department,  he learned that Shreveport Mayor and  "Mayors Against Illegal
 Guns"  member Cedric Glover believes firearms belong only in the hands of
 the police.

 In fact Glover is such a believer that his officers are trained to identify
 likely gun owners for the purpose of harassing them into giving up the
 practice of driving while armed!

 The officer who detained Baillio-ostensibly for the improper use of a turn
 signal-later admitted it was actually the display of bumper stickers on the
 young man's truck which prompted the stop.

 One sticker read;  "NRA Member",  another;  "Armed we are Citizens,
 Unarmed we are Subjects."  And sure enough,  upon pulling him over,  the
officer's first question to Baillio was:  "Are you armed?"  The subject of
 turn signals never came up.

 Baillio's pistol,  immediately seized when ... Continue Reading:Gun Owners Threaten the Power of the Left.

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Helping People Versus Fixing People
By Joel F. Wade
RightSideNews.comm

They (all the politicians, almost all the media) have "progressively" reduced math education in America in hopes that somehow what they are doing now to Social Security sounds plausible.  And that is they have reduced the Social Security Payroll withholding tax by more than 30% or by $100,000,000,000 for "2011".  They are calling it a payroll tax cut.  The President is now proposing to have this extended to "2012" and including the employers contribution.  This proposal, when approved, will further cut SS funding by another $100,000,000,000, making the total reduction for "2012" a mere $200 billion.   I haven't  heard or read anything that has suggested that Social Security is overly funded.  Actually everything I have heard or read is just the opposite. 

The main points are:  They (all the politicians and all of the media) are lying to us while they are sabotoging the program.  Surprise, surprise, surprise shortly they will point out how far out of balance funding versus benefits are.  And that means they need to drastically "reform" (aka screw the participants) cut benefits to those of us who have been contributing in good, if not misplaced, faith. 

We should impeach all the politicians who cannot demonstrate that they have taken every step possible to stop the sabotage.  Art

Top AFL-CIO union chief Richard Trumka -- President Barack Obama's guest of honor at his speech to Congress Thursday night -- urged Obama to "go to the mat" for Big Labor.

Of course, Obama hasn't been shy about doing just that for the last three years. Trumka just wants more, more, more.

Obama's "jobs" proposal appears to be full of it -- more special deals and bailouts for the union hierarchy.

And unsurprisingly, Obama made no mention of the Boeing jobs in South Carolina the Acting General Counsel of his National Labor Relations Board is trying to destroy.

Meanwhile, Big Labor has become even more militant, as events this week demonstrate.

On Labor Day, Obama and Trumka shared the stage at a political rally where Teamster union president Jimmy Hoffa urged his "army" of union militants to "take these sons of bitches out" -- threatening everyday Americans concerned about our struggling economy and growing debt.

And on Thursday, we saw a real live example of the militancy of some union extremists who really seem to think they're in an "army" -- and their enemies are job providers, independent workers, security guards and even the police.

The Associated Press reported that hundreds of Longshoreman union militants held security guards hostage for hours at a port in Longview, Washington.

Union thugs reportedly committed numerous acts of vandalism and violence including breaking windows, cutting brake lines on railroad cars, and threatening police officers with baseball bats.

Not a single arrest has been made.

The local police chief told the AP union militants warned him that Thursday's events were "only the start."

You might say they took a page straight out of the playbook of Richard Trumka, who climbed through the union boss ranks by encouraging militancy and even violence.

As President of the United Mineworkers (UMW) union in the 1980s and 1990s, Trumka led three violent strikes in which militancy was actively encouraged -- and workers who dared to continue working to provide for their families were subjected to threats and outright violence.

In 1997, the UMW was forced to settle with the widow of a nonunion worker who was shot in the back of his head. UMW officials even financially aided and filed grievances on behalf of seven union militants who pleaded guilty to crimes during the violent strike.

And after Trumka left the UMW and became the AFL-CIO's treasurer, he was implicated in a money-laundering scheme.

A former prosecutor at the Justice Department told ABC News in 2000, "If I were advising a candidate, I would advise him or her very strongly that [Richard Trumka is] not someone you want to embrace."

Eleven years later, Trumka is flying in Air Force One and sitting next to the First Lady as the President speaks before a joint session of Congress.

Trumka is as powerful as he is due to all the special privileges for Big Labor tucked into federal law.

The National Right to Work Committee has an aggressive plan of action to secure roll call votes on legislation that would eliminate some of Big Labor's most egregious special privileges.

>> The National Right to Work Act would eliminate the provisions of federal labor law that authorize union officials to compel workers to pay union dues or "fees" as a condition of employment.

>> The Freedom from Union Violence Act would close the loophole that exempts union officials from federal prosecution for acts of violence and vandalism they orchestrate in the so-called "pursuit of legitimate union objectives."

It's time to turn up the heat on Congress and demand they reign in the out-of-control executive branch that has further empowered Trumka and the rest of the union hierarchy.

Please, chip in with a contribution of $10 or more today to help the Committee mobilize hundreds of thousands or even millions of concerned citizens.

Obama's army will do whatever they can to protect their ill-gotten power. Help us fight back.

Sincerely,

Mark Mix

P.S. The National Right to Work Committee relies on your voluntary support. Please consider chipping in with a contribution of $10 or more today.

NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS ALERT
Vol. 18, No. 37      09/09/11

Hearing Scheduled for H.R. 822,
the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011

For months we have been reporting on a critically important bill: H.R. 822-the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011.  This vital NRA-backed legislation, introduced earlier this year by Congressmen Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) will enable millions of permit holders to exercise their right to self-defense while traveling outside their home states. 

Thanks to much hard work and action taken by NRA and our members, H.R. 822 has now garnered 242 cosponsors in the U.S. House.  On Tuesday, September 13, the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security will hold a hearing on the bill.

There is currently only one state (Illinois) that has no clear legal way for individuals to carry concealed firearms for self-defense.  Forty states have permit systems that make it possible for any law-abiding person to obtain a permit, while most of the others have discretionary permit systems. (Vermont has never required a permit.) 

House Committee Passes Veterans Act:  On September 9, the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee passed an amendment by U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) as a part of a larger piece of veterans' legislation.  The Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act, which was added to H.R.2349 as an amendment, would provide individuals receiving veterans' benefits with added protection against loss of the right to possess firearms due to mental health decisions. 

A Mexican City Takes a Stand Against Violence:  You've seen the headlines describing the violence in Mexico; the beheadings, kidnappings, assassinations, torture, and mass graves.  The long-running narco-terror war, the corruption within government, the rise of gangs, the poor economy; all have contributed to what are fast becoming virtual war-zones in many parts of the country. 

Outrage of the Week:  This week's outrage comes to us from Buffalo, N.Y., where a group called "Fathers Armed Together to Help, Educate, Restore and Save" held a "gun" buyback program for kids.  "FATHERS" offered pizza, dress shirts, notebooks and folders for kids who turned in Nerf guns and water pistols.  Yes, toys.  The group's theory is simple: indoctrinate the kids into thinking that guns are bad and should be feared and avoided, and crime will surely drop. 

NRA Fights to Secure Access to Federal Lands:  NRA and several other groups (U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, Safari Club International, Congressional Sportsmen Foundation, and the American Sportfishing Association, among others) are supporting new legislation that is critical to securing the future of hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting on Federal public lands. 

2011 Firearms Law & the Second Amendment Symposium:  The 2011 "Firearms Law & the Second Amendment Symposium," sponsored by The NRA Foundation, will be held on Saturday, October 15, 2011, at the University of San Diego Law School. 

Another Way To Get Involved--Join NRA's Facebook And Twitter Groups:  Internet social networking has exploded in recent years, and websites such as Facebook and Twitter attract millions of users.  This on-line community fosters a connection between its users, and allows distribution of user-generated content (like pictures, profiles, music, video, and text). 

NRA has been a part of this social technology for some time now, with a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites.  By actively participating in these new media, we are able to reach out to more potential members and supporters than ever before. 

The current king of on-line social networking is Facebook.  NRA's Facebook page continues to be extremely popular.  In fact, thanks to you, our page has grown from about 300,000 fans on July 28, 2010 to over 1,186,000 fans as of this week!

Grassroots News Minute Video:  To view this week's "Grassroots News Minute" video, please click here: http://www.nramedia.org/t/195516/5826922/6984/0/

STATE ROUNDUP  (Please note the only items listed below are those that have had recent action.  For other updates on state legislation, please go to the state legislation section at www.NRAILA.org, and check each week's issue of the Grassroots Alert.)

For additional information, please click on the links provided.

CALIFORNIA:  California Legislature Sends Three Anti-Gun Bills to the Governor
On September 8, California gun owners and sportsmen received a huge blow to their Second Amendment rights when the state legislature passed two anti-gun bills and sent them to the Governor.  A third anti-gun bill is already with the Governor. It is critical that you, your family, your friends and fellow gun owners in California continually CALL and E-MAIL Governor Brown to urge him to VETO SB 819, AB 809 and SB 427.

IDAHO:  Attend a Free NRA-ILA Grassroots Workshop at Cabela's in Boise on September 21!  Please join NRA-ILA staff on Wednesday, September 21^st, for an evening of important grassroots education to learn what you can do to protect our Second Amendment rights in Idaho! 

In order to ensure that gun owners are fully engaged to protect our Second Amendment rights, NRA-ILA Staff will discuss how you can take on an even more active role in your community to advance and protect our freedoms.  NRA-ILA will provide you with the materials and strategies needed to educate, empower, and engage your fellow gun owners.  That's why we hope you will attend NRA-ILA's FREE Grassroots Workshop to learn what more you can do to become a better activist in the fight to protect and promote the Second Amendment!  Please encourage your family, friends, and fellow firearm owners to attend as well.

NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS WORKSHOP (September 21^st, 2011)

Cabela's
8109 W Franklin Road
Boise, ID 83709
(208) 672-7900

6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Snacks and Registration

6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. NRA-ILA Grassroots Workshop

To register, please click here, or call the NRA-ILA Grassroots Division at 800-392-VOTE (8683).

KENTUCKY:  Sandhill Crane Hunting Season Approved by Feds
With approval by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, plans for Kentucky's new sandhill crane hunting season now move toward the final hurdle, the General Assembly review process.  A subcommittee of eight members has been formed and will meet this Tuesday, October 11, to discuss the proposed plans for this hunting season.  Please contact members of the Administrative Regulations Review Subcommittee and respectfully urge them to SUPPORT the proposed plan for the Kentucky sandhill crane hunting season. 

LOUISIANA:  Louisiana and Ohio Agree to Right-to-Carry Permit Reciprocity   On September 8, Louisiana State Police Colonel Mike Edmonson and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announcedan agreement allowing Right-to-Carry reciprocity between their two states. The NRA would like to thank Governor Bobby Jindal, Louisiana State Police Colonel Mike Edmonson and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine for assisting us with this effort. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE:  State Senate Votes to Override Veto on Self-Defense Bill
On September 7, the state Senate voted to override the Governor's veto of Senate Bill 88, "Castle Doctrine" legislation.  SB 88 must now pass in the state House of Representatives by a two-thirds vote for this bill to become law.  Please contact your state Representative(s) and urge him or her (them) to override the Governor's veto on SB 88. 

NEW YORK:  Sportsmen's Association for Firearms Education Firearm Civil Rights Conference
Please join the Sportsmen's Association for Firearms Education (S.A.F.E.) for its 2011 Firearm Civil Rights Conference in  Smithtown .  Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about Second Amendment issues, both nationally and locally, as well as meet and network with fellow sportsmen concerned about their civil rights and how to protect them.  

OHIO:  Ohio and Louisiana Agree to Right-to-Carry Permit Reciprocity   On September 8, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced an agreement with Louisiana State Police Colonel Mike Edmonson allowing Right-to-Carry reciprocity between their two states. The NRA would like to thank Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, Governor Bobby Jindal and Louisiana State Police Colonel Mike Edmonson for assisting us with this effort.   

PENNSYLVANIA:  Hearing on Sunday Hunting Scheduled for September 15
This Thursday, the House Game and Fisheries Committee will hold its second public hearing to consider ending the prohibition on Sunday hunting.  This hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m., at the East Allen Township Municipal Building, in Northampton.  Please contact members of the House Game and Fisheries Committee and urge them to support Sunday hunting.  

Attend PA Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs' Fall Convention   You are invited to attend the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs' (PFSC) Fall Convention on September 16-18, at the Radisson Harrisburg Hotel in Camp Hill.  The PFSC was formed in 1932 to ensure proper protections of  Pennsylvania 's wildlife resources, habitat, outdoor heritage and Second Amendment rights.   

TENNESSEE:  Alexandria Gun Ban Resolution Not on City Council Agenda
Due to the overwhelming response from NRA members, the proposed resolution to ban possession of firearms on the DeKalb County Fairgrounds in Alexandria is not expected to be on the agenda of the Alexandria City Council at its September 27 meeting. A special thanks goes out to our members who voiced their opposition to the Alexandria anti-gun resolution.

Declaration of Rights & Responsibilities  

As the American Declaration of Independence clearly states, when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for people to band together and collectively declare their rights and responsibilities to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle and bind them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should disclose the causes which impel them to such.

Therefore let us declare that we still hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But with those rights come responsibilities. 

In order to continually experience life, liberty and happiness as promised, nature's God demands obedience to His law to protect those rights. This is where we have fallen short and therefore, in order not to lose the blessings of freedom, the people of the world must turn from the sole focus on rights, and recognize the inherent and required responsibilities that we have.

. . .  Read the complete text here . . .

Thus, we the people do hereby declare not only our rights, but do now establish this bill of responsibilities.

1. Because I have the right to choose, I recognize that I am accountable to God and have the responsibility to keep the 10 commandments in my own life.

2. Because I have the right to worship as I choose, I have the responsibility to honor the right of others to worship as they see fit.

3. Because I have freedom of speech, I have the responsibility to defend the speech of others, even if I strongly disagree with what they're saying.

4. Because I have the right to pursue happiness, I have the responsibility to show humility and express gratitude for all the blessings I enjoy and the rights I've been given.

5. Because I have the right to honest and good government I will seek out honest and just representatives when possible. If I cannot find one then I accept the responsibility to take that place.

6. Because I have the God given right to liberty, I have the personal responsibility to have the courage to defend others to be secure in their persons, lives and property.

7. Because I have the right to equal justice, I will stand for those who are wrongly accused or unjustly blamed.

8. Because I have the right to knowledge, I will be accountable for myself and my children's education...to live our lives in such a way that insures the continuation of truth.

9. Because I have the right to pursue my dreams and keep the fruits of my labor, I have the responsibility to feed, protect and shelter my family, the less fortunate, the fatherless, the old and infirm.

10. Because I have a right to the truth, I will not bear false witness nor will I stand idly by as others do.

Unconditionally, while maintaining my responsibility to compassionately yet fiercely stand against those things that decay the natural rights of all men. And for the support of this declaration, and with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence we mutually pledge to each other our lives, fortunes and sacred honor.

 Susan's Paul Ryan Medicare Pamphlet - please print this and give it to your contacts