Janet, get your head out of the sand. Keeping it there makes the other end a bigger target.

An open letter to Julian Assange and the Government of the United States. Bring it on Julian. Release it all now. I do not accept that my government should submit to a blackmailer such as you.

Julian Assange claims that he has thousands of copies of the remaining documents and has it set that they be released upon his order at his arrest or detention, or any attempt at taking his websites of line. Arrest him. It ends with that. Buckle under and his next demand will be even more obscene than this one. Blackmailers are stopped when we no longer fear what they are holding in abeyance.

When the U.S. Government admits that the documents are already released. We can move on. Fear the Fear. Knowledge is not only power, but it is also liberation from the low life blackmailers like Assange. Remember this, others now have copies of everything that Assange claims to have. Call the bluff. Call the bluff and end his game; then prosecute.

If you do anything but unmask the blackmailer, you are asking others to line up with plots of extortion forever after. Stop this madness by stopping this low-life. Julian, give me the documents and I will release them even if they don’t interfere with you. You are a low-life, bottom-feeder. You have no purpose or value, except for the value of your unrevealed hand. Once you reveal it, your true worth will be revealed. That value is 0.0 with a repeating decimal of zero to thousands of positions.

End it all now. Shine the bright light of unafraid truth on the cockroach and let him scurry to the corners never to emerge again.

In my next blog, I will reveal my emotions about this worthless speck of protoplasm calling itself Julian Assange.

When I was young some of my friends spoke of “ATNA, The Vegetarian Lion.” The full name of the lion was, or is, “All Talk – No Action,”  it might roar, but it won't bite. The short form of that name today is clearly “USA.”

If it isn’t clear that I am talking about the treaty obligations of the United States vis a vis the Republic of South Korea and/or Israel currently as well as Japan, Taiwan, The Philippines and any other country or state which has been convinced to depend totally or partially on the United States, let it be clear now. The United States will not defend any nation it is sworn to protect.

North Korea is a bankrupt state which cannot feed its own people. Despite this flaw, the People’s Republic of North Korea pursues a policy of nuclear armament and aggression against South Korea. The PRNK is supposed to be bound by armistice agreements with the ROK, but violates those agreements on a regular basis. The response of the US to all of those violations is a demand that “both sides” temper their responses, and not “escalate violence.”

The same boilerplate response about this aggression against an ally of the US is very well known to the people and government of Israel:

“We are dedicated to the safety and security of our ally _________________.” This hollow promise is often made to Israel, usually prior to the US buckling to Palestinian demands and/or granting another hundred million or several hundred million dollars to the terrorist organizations called Hamas, Hezbulla, and the PA.

Forget about the US. The US is no longer a believable partner for anything. The US will not protect you, no matter what promise they made.

Forget about the UN, under whose auspices the Korean Armistice and the Israel/Arab cease-fire. The UN has NEVER brought peace to anyplace. The UN has NEVER come to the aid of the oppressed and saved them. I call to your mind the memories of the Hutu/Tutsie Genocide, Darfur, Chechnya, the many massacres of the rump states of Yugoslavia, and of course the Korean peninsula and the disposition of the Palestine Mandate Territory.

“It’s better than nothing,” is not a blanket true statement. Often, doing nothing is the best choice. Getting back to my youth, we used to “count heads” before we got into fights. An early lesson of counting heads successfully was to learn which of your friends would run. You can’t count on a friend who will run from a fight. To all of you who are depending on the US to protect you, including Arizona, Texas and California to name a few, I have one piece of advice: “FAGETABOUTIT” THE Cavalry is NOT on the way. The Calvary has another agenda, and it doesn’t include keeping its word, or protecting its so-called allies.  FAGETABOUTIT!!!!!

Still, sometimes, the deep truth of what is actually going on jumps up and smacks me in the face so that I can’t avoid noticing how far America has traveled on the downhill slope toward its ultimate demise. The bloom of youth has faded from the youthful cheeks of America’s people. We have changed. The American civilization of builders and conquerors is crumbling before our very eyes. Soon even those who are looking at the hand the magician wants us to follow will be able to see that there is no magic left.

One of my adult children called me this evening and told me the punch line to a very cruel joke. It is a joke that is being played on all of us just as it is being played on my daughter and others like her, and I don’t think it is funny.

Somehow, my daughter learned to embrace the American dream with both hands and clutch it tightly to her breast. My daughter has a husband, two children and a dog. She holds down a fine job with great prospects with a company that is a “player” of some consequence in the world of finance. She is brilliant; her husband is brilliant; their two children are brilliant, and; their dog is exceptional. My daughter lives in a beautiful McMansion in a fairly new subdivision of a major American city.

My daughter is underwater on her mortgage. This relatively new term has come into vogue with the “Housing Bust.” Once, when we bought our homes in America, we understood that we would owe much more than what our homes were worth for many years after we signed our mortgages. It is the way amortization of loans works. When we sign the loan papers, the interest becomes part of the debt, and once that is added in, the debt is greater than the fair market value of the house. It wasn’t much of a problem over the course of many years, especially when Americans bought their houses to live in.

I am not quite sure when, but some time ago, Americans began buying houses as “Quick turnover” investments. Americans no longer believed in “settling down” in their new homes, but believed that they could buy a house and in five or six years sell it for a big profit, and move on to another house. In shampoo talk, “wash, rinse, repeat.”

Then, a few years ago, that also changed. People were losing jobs; and people were underwater on their mortgages, and couldn’t make the monthly payment. People were losing their homes to foreclosure, and as there was a shortage of qualified buyers, the banks were being squeezed to do something about all the properties they were accumulating. A new term became popular in the mortgage industry; “short-sale.”

A short-sale allowed a person who was underwater with her home to negotiate with her bank to sell the house to a qualified buyer at a price under what was owed on the original loan. This allowed the bank to dump the property at what was now market value price and also allowed the original owner to escape with some dignity, a lower credit rating, and no further need to pay a mortgage which they could not afford to keep current.

While all of this was developing, the Federal Government, for its own reasons, seriously began depressing the interest rates on mortgages. Among the reasons that the government wanted mortgage rates artificially low was to encourage new, qualified buyers to hungrily buy up all of those newly revalued homes with tempting interest rate loans and thus prop-up the housing market. Today, we are at or near an historic low mortgage interest rate. Now I am ready to tell this cruel joke to all who want to hear and to some who need to hear.

My daughter and her husband have been paying their mortgage, on time for some years now. A month or so ago, she realized that she was paying a fairly high interest rate on her mortgage, (compared to current rates). Being pretty good at crunching numbers, my daughter realized that she could save a bundle, both in the short term and in the long term, if she could refinance her mortgage. I am her father and she still asks for my advice although I am sure that she understands much that I still have to learn about money matters.

My daughter asked me who I might recommend as a place to get her house refinanced. While I admitted that I don’t know anyone, I believe that companies who advertise a lot want to do business, and companies that can afford to advertise a lot might likely be doing well. I suggested that she might try a company that advertises on the radio in Jacksonville as “the people you call first.” Lacking any better choices, (I assume), off she went to consult with “the people you call first.”

This company’s mortgage consultant listened to all that my daughter had to say about how her family was able to continue paying on the mortgage as it stands; how her family was always current, and; how all she wanted was to re-fi to lower their payments and their total indebtedness. The mortgage consultant listened, I suppose attentively, and then suggested that my daughter “walk away” from the house; that they stop paying the mortgage and that he knew a realtor who was very good at convincing banks to go for short-sales.

A professional, (perhaps), in the mortgage industry, working for “the people you call first” advised my daughter that rather than continue to follow rules on which this country was built, she should renege on a promise that she and her husband had made. He advised her to go back on her word and stick it to the mortgage holder. He advised her that he “knew” a realtor who could make it work so that the mortgage holder would agree to a short sale. He told her all of this and basically called her stupid for wanting to just continue to keep her home. This consultant from “the people you call first” explained to her that if she walked away from the house, she could probably qualify for another house within three or four years, but that if she stayed in her house/home she would not “be ahead” for maybe as long as ten years. What he didn’t offer my daughter was the lower interest rate loan that is supposed to be available in today’s market.

It seems that in today’s America, the First Option is deception. It isn’t the America I grew up in.

Ladies and Gentlemen, members of the Congress of the United States of America, good morning. I am the CEO of a large multi-national corporation. We generate large amounts of energy and large amounts of money. As CEO, I represent the interests of my shareholders. I do this to the best of my ability, and I do it quite well.

The mining of the earth for those products sustains the comfortable way of life which you and the people you represent have become used to. We are always looking for ways to improve the safety of our facilities, admittedly, mostly out of self-interest. We do this quite well, for the most part, and are proud of our record over the years. We provide our stockholders, our customers and our employees with substantial good and return for their participation in our efforts. We do this under stringent regulation, and we comply to the best of our ability with all of the regulation imposed on our activities.

Mining, in all of its forms, carries with it dangers. Dangers to those engaged in the process and dangers to the surrounding environs. Our shallow and deep underwater wells have exemplary records of safety, and productivity. It is to be expected that there will be accidents and incidents during our activities. We have always taken responsibility for any untoward effects of our activities. We will continue to do so. I might even call our activities exemplary.

I am proud of our balance sheet, in any way that you can measure meeting and exceeding goals. I come to you today as the CEO of a profitable corporation, standing before the equivalent of the “Board” of a corporation deeply in the red. I am willing to help you in your turn around, as long as you are not actively engaged in bankrupting my corporation.

I am prepared for your questions. Thank you.

I am not speaking of the little things, but of the grand institutions of Western Culture, (if there is such a thing). I am speaking of freedom of expression, freedom of Religion, and Religious Practice; I am speaking of the freedom to associate with whom I chose to associate. I am speaking of democracy, (representative, or direct, or whatever remnant we have here). I am speaking of Islam’s attacks, in principle against all these things as well as its attacks against capitalism, (as well as socialism, fascism, and communism). I want to make you aware of the concept that Islam opposes most of what you support, including but not limited to pre-planning a funeral, and movies, music, and television. Islam supports strict observance of Sha’ria Law, including its instructions of how and when to beat your wife, and why it is proper to kill your daughter, or for that matter, any apostate.

And now, back to the title. The only “good” Moslem is a “Bad Moslem,” speaks to the issue of observance. It also speaks to a clear difference between Islam and the older Religions of Christianity and Judaism, from which it claims ancestry. I do know that in the earliest stages of Tribal Judaism, apostasy may have been a capital crime, and as recently as the Inquisition in Christianity also. Still, I would like to think that we are beyond that by now, especially in an age when disaffected Christians merely declare themselves to be a separate sect, and go merrily on their way.

The class which I am hoping to see emerge in Islam in great numbers is that of “non-practicing Moslem.” Jews have huge contingents of “non-practicing” Jews, and Christians also see large numbers of people who profess to be “Christians” who do not attend, ascribe to, or affiliate with a specific “Church.” This is a “mellowing” trait in Judaism and Christianity which is not visible in Islam. These people are, if not “beyond the pale,” at least “beyond the reach” of the extreme views espoused by the full canon of whatever religion they claim to be theirs.

A “Bad Moslem” could not be lured to wrap his/her child with explosives. A “Bad Moslem” could not be convinced to fly a plane into a building, or explode a bomb in a subway, or bus, with the single intention of killing as many “non-believers” as possible.

I want to make it clear that I differentiate between “Bad Moslems” and Moslems who are “Bad People.” The leaders of Hamas, who steal from their own people and pocket millions of Euros and Dollars, and keep their people in abject poverty “for show and tell,” are “Bad People.” The leaders of Saudi Arabia who claim to be “pro-western,” but fund Hamas, Al Qaeda and Wahabi Madrasas in the United States to raise another generation of Moslems who will kill and maim in the name of Allah, on condition that they can have peace at home, are “Bad People.” The government of Sudan, its co-conspirators and fellow travelers who continue to practice genocide against other Moslems, who are either “too-dark skinned” or just because they aren’t Arabs, are “Bad People.” Mahmud Amadinijad, his enablers and co-conspirators are “Bad People.” I hope you get the picture by now.

It is truly a tough world out there, and it will likely get tougher before it gets better. I really hope that somehow we can start seeing some “Bad Moslems.”

Scott Brown, the Senator Elect from the great State of Massachusetts was elected, went to D.C. and then fell off the map. Politics, no, POLITICS, like a great pond, rippled and then closed back into its normal smooth surface, and nobody knows where the pebble dropped in. The President of the United States of America is charging forward with his plans to CHANGE America, so that it will be unrecognizable.

I am informed that the Newest member of the Senate will be sworn in on Thursday February 11^th. I am also informed that this will be “a week before schedule.” I am informed that the President’s budget proposal includes the assumption that the Obamacare revisions to Healthcare will be passed, and the assumption that “tax-advantages” from the various parts of Obamacare will contribute to the Budget. I am informed that the ex-Senator from Massachusetts is still sitting in the Senate and voting on issues, bills, etc.

Where the Hell is all the tea? I don’t think it is in Boston Harbor. Have the various Conservative movements still not sobered up from the night of Scott Brown’s “Victory?” “The 41^st Vote” still hasn’t been seated, and he is being ignored by supporters and opponents alike. Wake up America!!! The war is still raging, and we are still taking casualties. Are you out carousing, celebrating victory? The Progressives are out there still “shagging” the Republic, and you are at best “sleeping it off.” Scream, yell and make life difficult for the Progressives who continue destroying our great country.

Why did Bernanke get a second term without Scott Brown in the Senate? Who cares if Brown would have voted for him or not? Senator Brown should have been there to cast his vote; the vote of the citizens of Massachusetts.

How did the Senate pass the bill to raise the debt ceiling? Did you notice that it was passed? Do you care? Wake up America!!

Tonight, I am excited about a special election for the Senate seat formerly held by the late Ted Kennedy. Special elections generally are less exciting than all regular elections, and most elections aren’t quite as much fun when I don’t have a pony in the race or a dog in the fight, as they say. This seat, however, is different as is this race. This race has three candidates, which might surprise some people who are following it closely but not that closely. Beside the Republican and Democrat there’s a third party candidate and in a race that needs nothing extra to spice it up, this third party candidate spices it up good. His family name is Kennedy and when he can actually draw a crowd of any number he might count as a crowd he begins explaining that he is not related to any of the Kennedys of that famous family. It is sort of funny that the only way he might get some name recognition is by disavowing any relationship to the more famous family of the same name. I’ve seen some of his material and I find it at least amusing. Here’s a man in a very hotly contested race spitting into the wind. I feel sorry for him, but let’s get on with the meat of this race.

The Republican Party is licking its chops over the possible win of the 41^st Republican seat in the Senate. The sweetener for the Republicans is that it could be the seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy which will cast the vote to prevent cloture on Obama’s Health Care bill. Even without the real political philosophical problems that the Republican Party has with this bill, killing this bill with the 41^st vote being provided by the Junior Senator from Massachusetts would be frosting on the icing on the Boston cream pie. The glee with which the Republicans would celebrate the end of the Democrat guaranteed super majority is beyond comprehension. The new Junior Senator from Massachusetts would have earned his place in party history on casting what might be his very first vote. Most Republicans, especially Conservative Republicans are right now on an anticipatory high so much so that they are forgetting to check the rest of this gentleman’s credentials. He looks like he snuck in the door wearing a Republican tuxedo jacket over his SEIU t-shirt, but who cares, as long as he gets elected for this one vote.

On the other side of the aisle the Democrat Party is already licking its wounds, not only expecting the Republican to win and defeat Obama’s Health Care bill, but they also are faced with a Democrat candidate who, if elected, will not be a good fit ideologically to the rest of the Democrat Party. The upper echelons of the Democrat Party even seem to be having trouble remembering her name. When the President came to campaign for her on the 17^th he received a lukewarm reception and I say this based on the lukewarm press coverage that the campaign visit received.

Even though this is quite an exciting election, at this point most of the excitement seems to be being generated around the issue of “dirty tricks.” Pundits are ready asking which dirty tricks will the Democrats use to sneak Health Care in if the Republican is elected as the Junior Senator from Massachusetts? Will it be in the form of a reconciliation to avoid the need for a cloture vote? Will it be local Massachusetts tactics to postpone the certification of the election until after the sitting place keeper gets to vote for the healthcare bill? Or will the Democrats choose to use tried and true methods such as those they used in the Gubernatorial race in Washington State and the most recent Senatorial race in Minnesota?

When ever happens tomorrow in those voting booths, and I remember when they were booths, you can be sure that the drama over the special election for the new U.S. Senator to represent Massachusetts will just be beginning. Recently, as I watch the political drama unfold in the United States I am reminded of the Roman formula for good government, “Bread and Circuses.” Let’s have the Marine Corps Band come in playing something at least as rollicking as, “The Thunderer.” It is time for the show to begin.

I’m having a very serious argument with myself. It’s about what to do with all of these thugs, hoodlums, madman or whatever you’d like to call these Islamic fascist terrorists who are continuing to wage war against us. A large part of me would very much like to see these people killed in the most demeaning (to them), way possible and have their punishment be broadcast throughout the Muslim world as a warning to others who might wish to follow in their path of jihad. That part of me of course would make the second line of this essay a lot longer by adding expletives in front of the words thugs, hoodlums, madmen etc.. Another large part of me sides with the president of the United States and the Atty. General holding that what we learned in all those wonderfully run government schools about how our justice system would surely bring justice; punish the wrongdoers and violators of law, and allow those who were not guilty of such acts to be vindicated.

In a world where all other things might be equal I would share the first opinion during the early years of my life, and hold strongly to the second opinion as I matured and calmed my youthful spirit. But as I matured and learned among other things, that all other things are never equal. That being considered, I still find that I hold both opinions, and mostly hold them both equally strongly.

Taking the second position first I’ve become quite cynical with regard to the ability of United States legal system to bring criminals to justice, and to set honest man free. I see before me a legal system crumbling beneath its own weight. I see the lower levels of enforcement being overburdened and underpaid. I see enforcement in general being pressured to “make” big cases and let “little fish” go free. I see a judiciary that is also most underpaid, understaffed and overburdened. I see judiciary being squeezed between backlogs on the dockets and overcrowding in the prisons. And if that were not enough, the judiciary is also being forced away from “judgment” by sentencing guidelines which act more like straitjackets. All of these considered I see very little room left for justice. How could I want when I place the fate of United States of America, so beloved to me into this meat grinder of a system which can quite easily turn them out free a technicality despite their admission of guilt.

For the historical record, it should be known all of the Guantanamo detainees are in perfect health despite what condition they were captured in. All have gained weight. All have an unlimited access prayer at the proper time, carefully prepared foods to meet the religious needs and better hygiene than most of them have known for their entire lives. With this knowledge we must understand where these detainees sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole they would live longer and better lives than were they returned to their native lands. This is not to suggest that they be returned to their native lands, but to indicate that their captivity has been for most of them a major improvement in their standard of living.

As for the uncultured, raw and wild beast within me, I can only say that I wish to see them punished with a capital P, and with no mercy shown. But it must be known that I am not saying this merely to please my vile wild self but also because I have some acquaintance with militant Islamist extremists. I lived among them in Israel for over 10 years, and I feel that I can claim some insight into what might motivate them to continue and what might motivate them to slow down. Islam from its earliest beginnings under the Prophet Mohammed was OK a warrior culture. Strength and victory are honorable; weakness, failure and dishonor are synonymous. Any sign of kindness, pity, empathy or any other such emotion are all considered signs of weakness and indicate where best to attack “the enemy,” (do not forget that “the enemy” is us).

In Somalia and Iraq as well as at the twin towers these Islamic fascist militants attacked us in a manner designed to debase us by desecrating our dead. This, to them, is an extremely high level attack to our stature as human beings. Were we to treat them in this manner they would be rioting for months and years, but they would remember that we are not weak; and the more that they see us acting from strength the more they will respect us, and the more likely our victory.

The problem with this position is that within our culture we find such acts to be disgusting. We cannot envision ourselves perpetrating acts such as burning the bodies of our enemies and tying their burned corpses bridges over main highways. We can only despise someone who would attack civilians in such a manner as to reduce the bodies of thousands indistinguishable fine dust. We have never and will never drag the charred remains of enemy pilots through the streets of our cities singing and dancing. Looking at all of this, and discussing it on this page, I still find myself torn in a tug of war myself. I find no resolution I find no solution and I find very little point of agreement with the stated policy current government of the United States.

Diverse weights

Jewish law is very interesting in that a simple law which may appear to be only dealing with commerce is intended to have implications and applications far beyond the simple reading. The implication and application of diverse weights deals not only with actual physical weights of specific items in commerce but also to many other transactions which we engage in as humans. Let’s take an example from politics.

Let us posit that your Party lost a seat in Congress and the current law in your State required that the Governor appoint a replacement to finish out the term. Let us further posit that your party is in charge of the State Legislature and the Governor is from the opposing party. It would be safe to assume that the Governor would choose a member of his own party to fill the seat vacated by the member of your party. If you were to believe this was going to happen you might introduce into the Legislature legislation which would prohibit the Governor from appointing anyone to fill the open seat for the remaining term, and require that the seat be filled only after a special election. This in itself is a violation of the commandment against diverse weights.

Let me add to this, that this is why Torah law forbids the owning of diverse weights and does not require that those weights be used for a violation of the law to occur. As you can see from my not quite hypothetical above it isn’t just the use of diverse weights as we saw earlier in the state of Massachusetts. It is the preparation to use those weights by possessing them which is a violation of Torah law and an affront all citizens of the United States.

It pains me every time I have to say, “don’t you understand that we are at war, and no matter what we try to do, the enemy will continue to be at war with us until we defeat them?” It seems that the  good natured, fun loving American people would rather engage in a part time defensive war that will allow them to be at home in the evening with their children watching sitcoms.

Years ago I wrote a sermon at the beginning of the war in Kosovo. In that sermon I spoke about the historical fact that in any clash of civilizations the aggressor, most often the barbaric or less civilized must win the first round, if not the first few. It is the nature of such clashes that the aggressor attacks an unwary and often defenseless “enemy.” Due to this imbalance of intentions and concomitant imbalance of preparedness, when an attack is mounted it is at a time, in a place, and in a method of the aggressor’s choosing, it is rare that the defender can succeed in defending its populace, borders and/or facilities in the first round of any conflict with great success.

It must also be noted that an act of aggression against a nation or civilization at peace effects dis- ease upon the population of the now defending civilization. This dis-ease is of itself a partial victory for the aggressor. The defending civilization is required to make adjustments in its way of life and in the lives of its citizenry so as to make defense possible. We see these effects in the besieged population of the State of Israel suffering a long and drawn out defensive war against Arab aggressors. We also see these effects in the population of the United States of America suffering a defensive war against similarly stateless, and supra-national forces. It is difficult enough to wake a peaceful nation to a war footing when there is some warning of an impending attack and of who the aggressor might be. When the Imperial Japanese navy attacked Pearl Harbor despite the severity of the blow to the United States Navy the simple fact that the aggressor was imperial Japan and its Allies made it easy to focus American efforts toward defeating those enemies.

Today we face an amorphous, ever changing enemy that is not bound to any state, either philosophically or politically. This makes for the ultimate moving target. Any state which grants cover either permanently, temporarily or even selectively to any of the participants ultimately has perfect deniability. Additionally, we must take into account that the aggressor is not merely stateless, but considers itself above the need for cover of any state. If we look at the example of the Taliban in Afghanistan we can see that perhaps the holding of Afghanistan as a Taliban State worked to the detriment of the needs desires and goals of the Taliban. With the Taliban being in control of a quasi legitimate state the Taliban leaders had to at least give lip service to international agreements and commitments. Now that the Taliban are no longer the ruling party or parties in Afghanistan they are free to act as some marauder band of free agents whenever and wherever they choose

The philosophy of the Muslim zealot centers around the “uma,” the ultimate, eventual, and in their eyes inevitable conquest of the entire world by the followers of The Prophet. This view substantially differs from both the Christian and Jewish views of the ultimate reign of God on earth. The Muslim zealot sees it as his/her job to actively physically convert all non-believers or put them to death. Tradition holds that a nonbeliever is given three chances to convert to Islam after that it is proper to kill the nonbeliever. Some people refer to these three chances as three warnings. For the sake of argument any three of the recent attacks on U.S. property and persons can be considered as the three warnings. If they are construed as the three warnings by anyone who is of Jihadi persuasion, they can view themselves as having a clear right to attack any and all of the infidels who have not yet converted. There is no need for mercy; there is no need for any further warning. It is “open season” on the infidels. Do not expect the season to close until we have submitted, or until they have DEFINITIVELY lost. While I say definitively lost and not quite sure what that means when fighting against Muslim Jihadists. Every defeat in our view is merely a setback in theirs. Every ceasefire or peace treaty in our view is called a “HUDNA” in Arabic. HUDNA is defined in the Koran as the temporary cessation of war to allow the Muslim forces to recoup and rebuild and prepared to strike again. The HUDNA was a tactic used by The Prophet himself.

Understand that in Islamic Jihadist theories the only goal is the ultimate victory causing all of the earth to be defined as “Dar es Salaam.” All territory that is not under Muslim rule is considered to be “Dar el Harb.” In the Jihadists view it is the duty of the good Muslim to bring all land under Muslim control so that the peoples of those lands might enjoy the beauty of “Dar es Salaam,” the land of peace.

Since Islam does not recognize the possibility of losing in this great and Holy process ordained by Allah through The Prophet we find ourselves in a great predicament as regards finding out what will be victory for the other side; namely our side. To get a clear picture of what this means one only need look at the Spanish train bombing when the Jihadist organizations claiming responsibility for the bombings spoke of the recapture of Spain from the Catholics; a clear reference to the wars that ended in 1492 in a state which the Spanish call the “Reconquista.” Surely in the Jihadists mind they were not defeated in the last battle in Spain they merely entered into a HUDNA. Our western sensibilities have a hard time getting our minds around the concept of a 500 year ceasefire. I am sure that we also find it difficult to understand what kind of defeat it would take to push the Jihadists into a similar state so that we might continue our lives. I fear that we do not have the stomach for such a victory.

In the end, western civilization is declining with negative birthrates and open border policies that will bring us to the point of Islamic majorities in all of Europe within the next 50 to 60 years. The United States will not be far behind. With those considerations the future looks rather bleak. If you add to that a Washington administration that believes in conciliation and appeasement surely there is no way out of this.

17 Tevet 5770

This week we are reading Parashat Shemot which is the first weekly reading in the second Book of the TORAH, Shemot. Shemot means “Names.” Why are names so important to us? In the end, the TORAH is about a single family. All the other characters who appear in the TORAH, whether they are fully developed or just names that appear to fill out a cast of “extras,” are only in the TORAH because they interact with the family.

In a close family, each one of us is sworn to come to the aid of any/everyone else. Even, as we saw in the last several weeks of readings, when a family acts in dysfunctional ways, the family has the strength to recover and rebuild. This week we see how results of well intentioned actions of one family member can lead to trouble for the whole family. Parashat Shemot tells a story of the “Law of Unintended Consequences.” The Viceroy of Egypt, our brother, Yosef, while protecting his family cut a deal so sweet with the government of Egypt, that it was not sustainable beyond his own lifetime and reputation.

The new Pharaoh “did not know Yosef,” we are told. We can read into this more information about names. We don’t and never cared who the Pharaoh was. Even the Pharaoh who raised our brother Yosef to the rank of Viceroy is anonymous in the TORAH. This new anonymous Pharaoh now turns the tables and while it doesn’t say a thing about Pharaoh’s not remembering about the seven year plan which was continuing to make Egypt a regional power, this Pharaoh was taught in Egypt’s schools. To Egypt, the name of the Viceroy who saved Egypt is submerged under the name of the ruling Pharaoh.

We, however, are the keepers of our own history. We remember not only Yosef, but we even remember the starving group of seventy souls who made the journey to safety in Egypt. We remember them so well that we can recount their names, as we do at the beginning of this week’s Parasha. It is our job, our commitment, our thread of connection to our history that we remember our own names. The Sages Of Blessed Memory tell us that by dint of three things we survived the Egyptian captivity. These three things are:

1.       We didn’t change our names.

2.       We didn’t change our garb.

3.       We didn’t change (lose) our language.

Today, as we face a world in which homogeneity is the rule and globalization is the norm, we face pressures to change all three. The Observant Jew still wears distinctive garb, and I am not talking about Hassidic garb, but rather the Tzitzit and the Kippa. Today we have not only kept our language, but thanks to the efforts of great heroes of the Jewish people such as Eliezer Ben Yehuda Z”L, we have revitalized what was once considered a dead language. Today we keep our names and take pride in our names as perhaps never before.

Still, today, we must stop to remember names of brothers who are in dire need of our support. We must reach out into the prisons where our brethren are being held by other Pharaohs. We must make an effort to free Gilad Shalit. I am sure that almost all Jews remember that name and agree that he must be freed. We must also do all within our power to free Jonathan Pollard. I am similarly sure that many Jews think that, perhaps we shouldn’t make a case for freeing Jonathan Pollard.

Before you forget Jonathan Jay Pollard, or even switch to another page, I suggest that you look at the following page:

http://www.jonathanpollard.org/facts.htm

If you haven’t yet, or if you are back already, please note that according to the rules of Jewish observance, (Halacha), we are required to do what we can to free the imprisoned among our brothers. There is currently a movement to call the White House every day to ask politely to free Jonathon Pollard. The White House Switchboard number is: 1 202 456 1111 if the phone is answered by a machine please leave a polite message asking for the release of Jonathan Pollard. If you prefer to Fax: 1 202 456 2461

Please remember to call/fax every day and to ask your friends to become informed by visiting the website:

http://www.jonathanpollard.org

and then to call and/or Fax every day and invite their friends to do the same.

Shalom

Hers is a name to remember. Nadia Abu El Haj is a Professor of Archeology at Barnard College in New York City. She is on a tenure track and is currently being reviewed for tenure.

There is a growing concern among some activist Jewish organizations to oppose her being granted tenure. Ms. Abu El Haj’s claim to tenure is based on her single published work; Facts on the Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society. The book claims various “Proofs” that the Jewish Kingdoms in the Land of Israel never existed. The Jewish activists are in arms against her and her “Work” on the grounds that it is not only a flat out lie, but that it is a lie of the magnitude and scope of Holocaust Denial. This is a justified argument, as is the claim that her “research” includes unattributed quotes to unnamed “experts” in the field. These are the Red Flags in Academia. I will say it simply: Nadia Abu El Haj is a liar!!! (come sue me).

What you must know about her claims in her book, is that they are not an attack against the Jews. The Islamic Lie, which Nadia Abu El Haj is expounding includes a claim that there never was a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem; that the Haram-esh-Sharif never was the site of a Jewish Temple. The concept that there was no Jewish Kingdom is an assault on Christianity. Dwell on this thought: If there was no Jewish Kingdom, what did the Romans conquer? If there was no Temple, where did Jesus pray? If there was no Jewish Kingdom, there could not have been a Jesus.

The Islamic Religion and philosophy, while claiming common ancestry with Judaism, and Christianity, concurrently denies the existence of either in any historical context. This is a part of the de-ligitimation of any Religion but Islam.

I call on all true Christians to join the opposition to the granting of tenure, and even to the continued employment of Nadia Abu El Haj. Liars are not good role models for our children.

The proper decision in the tenure case of Nadia Abu El Haj is dismissal. Make your opinion known to the administration of Columbia/Barnard University, in New York City.

You may not know who Genarlo Wilson is. If you don’t recognize that name, you probably won’t recognize the name of David McDade either. Allow me to fill in some blanks.

Genarlo Wilson is incarcerated, sentenced to ten years in prison for having engaged in consensual oral sex as a seventeen-year old. His partner in that act was fifteen at the time. Genarlo has been in prison for three years less one month.

Since Genarlo’s conviction and sentencing, the case has become famous in Georgia. The case has become such a cause célèbre that Georgia passed a law which would make Genarlo’s crime punishable by no more than one year in prison. This new law failed to explicitly include Genarlo Wilson, and thus does not cover him.

Now it is time to be introduced to David McDade. Mr. David McDade is the Douglas County, GA District Attorney, prosecutor of the Genarlo Wilson case, and a distributor of Child Pornography.

According to a report published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mr. McDade claims that he had to release the video: “McDade told the Associated Press that he was required to release the tape under the state's Open Records Act because it was introduced as evidence at the trial.”

“The tape” was a home video made at the [party] where the incident occurred, by one or more of the participants. Perhaps it was originally a “tape” but according to reports, including a report by Neal Boortz on his syndicated radio program, the CD was mailed to nearly everyone in the media. What this means, IMHO, is that the District Attorney should be arrested as a prime suspect in the Federal Offense of Production and Distribution of Child Pornography, including whatever offenses were committed by “mailing” [if that is how they were distributed] that same child pornography.

Again, IMHO, it is unconscionable that the District Attorney should be allowed to skate on this act. I also suggest that all members of his staff and/or whatever outside contractors who had a hand in the production also be indicted, and arrested if warranted for participation in the violation of Federal Child Pornography Laws.

The Talmud teaches us: If justice is not applied to any one, then justice is not being applied to anyone.