Obama Hypocrisy! White House That Slammed Israel Announces Civilian Casualties In Syria And Iraq Are OK

During Israel's operation in Gaza Barack Obama continually blasted Israel for the civilian casualties despite the fact that Israel went out of its way to avoid hitting civilians and Hamas used its civilians as human shields. Today the White House acknowledged the strict standards President Obama imposed last year to prevent civilian deaths from U.S. drone strikes will not apply to U.S. military operations in Syria and Iraq. In other words he ripped Israel though it was doing everything it could, but Obama told the American military that civilians deaths were not that important.

A White House statement to Yahoo News confirming the looser policy came in response to questions about reports that as many as a dozen civilians, including women and young children, were killed when a Tomahawk missile struck the village of Kafr Daryan in Syria's Idlib province on the morning of Sept. 23.

The village has been described by Syrian rebel commanders as a reported stronghold of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front where U.S officials believed members of the so-called Khorasan group were plotting attacks against international aircraft.

But at a briefing for members and staffers of the House Foreign Affairs Committee late last week, Syrian rebel commanders described women and children being hauled from the rubble after an errant cruise missile destroyed a home for displaced civilians. Images of badly injured children also appeared on YouTube, helping to fuel anti-U.S. protests in a number of Syrian villages last week.

“They were carrying bodies out of the rubble. … I saw seven or eight ambulances coming out of there,” said Abu Abdo Salabman, a political member of one of the Free Syria Army factions, who attended the briefing for Foreign Affairs Committee members and staff. “We believe this was a big mistake.”

Asked about the strike at Kafr Daryan, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said Tuesday that U.S. military “did target a Khorasan group compound near this location. However, we have seen no evidence at this time to corroborate claims of civilian casualties.” But Caitlin Hayden, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, told Yahoo News that Pentagon officials “take all credible allegations seriously and will investigate” the reports.

But Ms Hayden also said that the White House policy that President Obama announced last year barring U.S. drone strikes unless there is a “near certainty” there will be no civilian casualties — "the highest standard we can meet," he said at the time — does not cover the current U.S. airstrikes in Syria and Iraq.

The “near certainty” standard was intended to apply “only when we take direct action ‘outside areas of active hostilities,’ as we noted at the time,” Hayden said in an email. “That description — outside areas of active hostilities — simply does not fit what we are seeing on the ground in Iraq and Syria right now.”

Hayden added that U.S. military operations against the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) in Syria, "like all U.S. military operations, are being conducted consistently with the laws of armed conflict, proportionality and distinction."

The laws of armed conflict prohibit the deliberate targeting of civilian areas and require armed forces to take precautions to prevent inadvertent civilian deaths as much as possible. It also prohibits the use of human shields.

While the White House has said little about the standards it is using for strikes in Syria and Iraq it said plenty about Israel's actions despite all the precautions taken by the Jewish State.  Do what I say not what I do is a great policy for a President who says he is Israel's friend.

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Rosie O'Donnell NFL Player's Penalty Will Drive Us To War or Something

Rosie O' Donnell is living proof that ones IQ does not need to reach double digits to get a TV gig. On The View Tuesday, the panel discussed NFL player Husain Abdullah receiving a penalty supposedly for praying in the end zone Tuesday night.

According to Abdullah himself the penalty was not because of the prayer but because he slid into the end zone before the prayer:

"I don't think it was because of the actual prostration that I got the penalty," Abdullah told The Associated Press afterward. "I think it was because of the slide."

And that's precisely the explanation that Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he received from the game officials. They had no issue with the prayer, Reid said, only the celebratory slide.

But that didn't stop the brilliant hosts at "The View" who were sure the penalty was an act of bias. Even worse O'Donnell suggested it was penalties like this which propel us into war and to bomb countries that did nothing to us.  Who knew?

Goldberg: How about this? This is going to be shocking, but the NFL has yet another new controversy on its hands after last night's game. Chiefs player Husain Abdullah, a devout Muslim, was penalized for unsportsman like conduct for bowing in prayer after a big play. Now, players like Tim Tebow, you know, do the whole thing and the – [makes sign of the cross]. You know? And so why don't other people get penalized? Is this -- are we feeding into Muslim fear?

O'Donnell: Yes. I think as a nation we are. [ Applause ] I think that, you know, it propels us to war. You have to rally the country in order to bomb a country that did nothing to you and you need to rally them and so that's what I think that was. Anyone is allowed to represent their joy in whatever way possible for two minutes on a football field and I think it's anti-Muslim bias.

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Newsbusted: Lois Lerner 'Took The 5th' Because She Refused To Brag About Her Accomplishments

Former IRS employee and target of he Teaparty targeting scandal Lois Lerner has twice refused to talk to the House Oversight Committee choosing instead to "take the 5th." Last week however she poured out her heart to POLITCO , denying any role in targeting Teaparty organizations. Now in a special report by Newsbusted Anchor Jodie Miller has uncovered a shocker (see video below). Apparently Ms. Lerner is very modest and the reason she took the 5th is she hated to brag about all the wonderful things she did working for the IRS.

Other news items covered in the latest installment of Newsbusted the twice- weekly faux news feature from Newsbusters.org (embedded below) include; Obama's reaction to the latest Secret Service screw-up; Mayor DeBlasio and the dead groundhog; the President's latte salute,  and much, much more.

Please make sure you watch the video below because something bad always happens to the people who don't. Last week the head of the Secret Service Julia Pierson forgot to press play and now the service has been caught in another scandal. So if you don't want to be slammed publicly for a series of screw-ups you better press play.

Oh and if you cannot see the video player below please click here

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Mandy Nagy Fundraiser – Please contribute

Mandy is not only a great blogger but a dear friend who suffered a stroke a few weeks back..please read the below and if you can afford it donate some much needed funds (I already have).

(Cross Posted from Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion)

  by William A. Jacobson  

On September 6, Mandy suffered a serious stroke, and has been in the hospital ever since. The details and her progress are in my prior post, Pray for Mandy Nagy.

It is hoped that Mandy will move to a rehab facility soon.

The most recent update to my original post was this comment from Mandy’s mom: “Mandy was doing well this morning. But she wants to come home. I told her that’s not possible yet.”

I don’t want to go into too much detail, but Mandy faces at least several hard months ahead of her, maybe more.

Mandy’s family has established a “supplemental needs” trust, with her mother as Trustee. All funds raised will go into that Trust.

Your donations are greatly appreciated. There are two ways to donate.

You can pay by credit card at the GoFundMe page:

You also can pay by check, payable to the “Mandy Nagy Supplemental Needs Trust” at the following address:

Mandy Nagy Supplemental Needs Trust
P.O. Box 33
Liberty Corner, NJ 07938

Help spread the word by sharing this post on Facebook and Twitter — and also sharing the GoFundMe page.

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Latest Climate Idiocy: Global Warming Created ISIS

In recent weeks the Obama administration has blamed President Bush and/or the intelligence community for the creation of ISIS, others have blamed President Obama and his reluctance to get involved in another Middle East conflict, but apparently both positions are wrong. According to a recent article in the Huffington Post, the reason why ISIS was able to form and grow so fast was global warming (note: do not check your calendar it's September not April fools day they really believe this).

The authors of the piece; Charles B. Strozier Professor of History, The City University of New York; and Kelly A. Berkell Attorney and research associate, Center on Terrorism at John Jay College of Criminal Justice believe that ISIS formed because of a severe drought in Syria from 2006-2010 and that drought happened because of---you guessed it---Climate Change.

As the Obama administration undertakes a highly public, multilateral campaign to degrade and destroy the militant jihadists known as ISIS, ISIL and the Islamic State, many in the West remain unaware that climate played a significant role in the rise of Syria's extremists. A historic drought afflicted the country from 2006 through 2010, setting off a dire humanitarian crisis for millions of Syrians. Yet the four-year drought evoked little response from Bashar al-Assad's government. Rage at the regime's callousness boiled over in 2011, helping to fuel the popular uprising. In the ensuing chaos, ISIS stole onto the scene, proclaimed a caliphate in late June and accelerated its rampage of atrocities including the recent beheadings of three Western civilians.

While ISIS threatens brutal violence against all who dissent from its harsh ideology, climate change menaces communities (less maliciously) with increasingly extreme weather.

The drought that preceded the current conflict in Syria fits into a pattern of increased dryness in the Mediterranean and Middle East, for which scientists hold climate change partly responsible. Affecting 60 percent of Syria's land, drought ravaged the country's northeastern breadbasket region; devastated the livelihoods of 800,000 farmers and herders; and knocked two to three million people into extreme poverty. Many became climate refugees, abandoning their homes and migrating to already overcrowded cities. They forged temporary settlements on the outskirts of areas like Aleppo, Damascus, Hama and Homs. Some of the displaced settled in Daraa, where protests in early 2011 fanned out and eventually ignited a full-fledged war.

Although I am not a climate scientist (actually neither are the authors) it is easy to strike down their theory, both from a political and a scientific point of view:

• ISIS did not form in Syria it formed in Iraq. In fact one of the reasons each party has been able to blame the other for the rise of the terrorist group is that ISIS used to be al Qaeda in Iraq. They were thrown out of the Bin Laden group because the ISIS leaders did not play nice with the al Qaeda leaders.  

• Perhaps the single most important factor in ISIS' recent resurgence is the conflict between Iraqi Shias and Iraqi Sunnis. ISIS fighters themselves are Sunnis, and the tension between the two groups is a powerful recruiting tool for ISIS. The Shia government of Iraq refused to share power with the Sunnis (who held power under Saddam Hussein). The Shia/Sunni fight began as a fight over who got to take power after the Prophet Muhammad's death and has been going on for almost 1400 years--way before ISIS.

• Most observers believe ISIS was able to grow because American troops pulled out of Iraq too early and didn't help out in Syria until it was too late.  Unless the drought happened in Washington DC, it couldn't have had any influence on the President's decision.

•  Droughts? science that states there has been no increase in droughts world-wide. In other words if you believe the world is going to hell in a hand basket due to global warming, that climate change is not increasing the number of droughts in in the world.
  

"It is misleading and just plain incorrect to claim that disasters associated with hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or droughts have increased on climate timescales either in the United States or globally,” Professor Roger Pielke Jr. said in his testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

In May of 2014 Professor Pielke  published a graph that shows the intensity of the planet's droughts from 1982 to 2012. The graph shows that neither droughts nor their intensity have seen a growth trend during that 30-year period.

• It's not getting warmer. Its incredible that almost every day the global warming hoaxers come up with another example of how the earth is being destroyed due to their hypothesis like the one being explored here. The truth is as of Sept. 1 the Earth hasn't warmed in the last 17 years and 11 months (new numbers, through October 1will be out in a few days). Another way to look at it is the warming stopped approximately ten years before the drought in Syria...making it difficult for there to be a connection.

It is interesting that the authors contend "ISIS threatens brutal violence against all who dissent from its harsh ideology" which is true, ISIS not only threaten violence but they follow through with their threats. Also true is that the climate change proponents threaten violence. Thankfully they do not follow through with it, but they do attack people who question their unproven hypothesis as science haters and deniers of truth. Perhaps if they examined the facts instead of desperately trying to prove their hypothesis true climate change enthusiasts would realize the holes in their arguments.

Climate change helping to create ISIS is now #49 on the "official list," of stupid things global warming enthusiasts have blamed on their failed theory:

1. The Arab spring
2. Incredible shrinking sheep,
3. Invasion of jellyfish in the Mediterranean
4. Surge in fatal shark attacks 
5. Boy Scout tornado deaths,  
6. Severe acne,  
7. Global conflict,   
8. Beer tasting different,  
9. Suicide of farmers in Australia, 
10. Bigger tuna fish, 
11. Fish shrinkage
12. Longer days, 
13. Shorter days,   
14. Collapse of gingerbread houses in Sweden, 
15. Cow infertility,  
16. UFO sightings in the UK,  
17. Rise in insurance premiums, 
18. Heroin addiction 
19. Bear attacks in Japan  
20. Frigid Cold Winters in Great Britain 
21. Cancer
22. Death from heart disease, diabetes, stroke, respiratory disease and even accidents,
23. Homicide, suicide
24. Water -borne disease outbreaks
25. Heavier, wetter snowstorms treacherous for travel and ambulation, 
26. Lyme disease, swarms of allergy-inducing, stinging insects, along with mosquitoes and devastating pine bark beetle infestations and the spread of forest and crop pests  
27. 40,000 dead crabs 
28. Shorter, higher pitched frog mating calls
29. Unrest in the Middle East.  
30. Screwed-up love making,  
31. The Japanese earthquake-tsunami,  
32. Horrible rash of tornadoes in southeast United States, 
33. Extended severe allergy seasons, Lyme disease, malaria or dengue fever, trauma, depression, high blood pressure and heart disease, 
34. Eye Disorders.
35. Increased threat of wars, violence and military action against the UK. 
36. Migration of possibly rabid Vampire bats from Mexico, 
37. Extreme weather, disappearing islands and less productive workdays
38. Giant Snakes
39. Armed robbery, prostitution, and drug abuse in Ghana,  will make you go nuts,
40. The rise of terrorist group Boko Haram 
41. Caused the Seychelles snail to go extinct (its alive and well), 
42. Rock Snot
43. Increase anxiety, fear and depression
44. Expensive Olives
45. No more red-haired people, women will become pear-shaped,  incontinent, impotent bald guys with extra hair growing from his toes. 
46. Global Cooling
47. The Sinking of The Titanic 
48. Illegal Immigration  
49. ISIS

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'If You Want To Go There Rosie, I Will Dammit. I'm Really Sick Of Your S***!' Rosie O and Whoopie Fight On Set Of View

In this corner we have Whoopi Goldberg the lead host of The View who despite her last name has never been Jewish, in the other corner we have Rosie O'Donnell once thought of as a nice talk show host but long ago revealed to be an angry woman in love with her own clippings. That was the nasty showdown on the set of The View last Thursday when the show's moderator Whoopi Goldberg and co-host Rosie O'Donnell got into a heated spat in front of the studio audience.

According to the UK Mail, Rosie was upset because Whoopi cut her off on a 'Hot Topic' subject that O'Donnell indicated she was passionate about backstage before the show. The segment ran out of time and Whoopi had to cut to a commercial.

Doing a once a week radio show I can vouch for the difficulties of making a break on time.

The segment was running long, so producers told Whoopi it was time to go to commercial break in her ear. But queen Rosie refuses to wear an ISD monitor in her ear so the control room is unable to speak to her.


Apparently even before this incident there was tension between the two, Rosie wants to be the moderator and Whoopi wants out. She is not happy with the new View

Rosie took Whoopi's break to commercial personally. Whoopi told her that if she had an ear monitor, she would have known what was going on. When Whoopi did the abrupt cut to commercial, when Rosie let loose, the insider said.

'As soon as they went to commercial break, Rosie took the handheld microphone that they use to engage the audience,' explains the tipster.

'Instead of talking to the crowd, Rosie spoke directly to Whoopi in the mic that she "hurt my feelings," and that she was "very upset by it" and "didn't appreciate" what Whoopi had done.'

Standing to the side without a microphone, Whoopi responded by saying: 'This isn't the time for this, Rosie.'

Instead of moving on, O'Donnell continued to gripe openly in front of the audience in the microphone about what she perceived as an on-air snub.

Well I just don't appreciate you saying that you were going to do something and not doing it. It makes me upset and I just don't want to have to go through this,' O'Donnell continued.

Goldberg, looking annoyed, shot back: 'I said this was not the time Rosie.'

Not phased by the Oscar winner's petition to leave matters alone until after the show, the 52-year-old comedienne continued to vent about Whoopi's actions.

The View moderator then fired back to Rosie: 'F*** it, I told you to leave it alone and you just don't want to listen. If you want to go there Rosie, I will dammit. I'm really sick of your s***!'

Finally queen Rosie backed down,'

New co-host Rosie Perez then jumped up and made light of the moment, ending the quiet that had fallen over the room.

'Oh s***, Twitter is going to be off the hook now,' Perez quipped, causing the crowd to laugh. 'They're about to get it,' she continued.

Producers hurried over to the two ladies with notes and information regarding the next segment and when the show returned live, it was as though nothing had gone wrong.

Rosie's actions are not surprising, she was a prima donna during her first go-round at The View, why would she be any different this time? The only thing that will keep her in line is the fact that Whoopi is stronger and more grounded than her.

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White House Fence Jumper Got Further Than First Reported--First Family Could Have Been In Danger

This is both scary and anger inducing, the White House fence jumper who supposedly was caught inside the front door of the White House carrying a knife before getting apprehended got much further than first reported. After darting past a guard at the front, Omar Gonzalez, who had a knife, went past the stairway that leads up to the first family’s living quarters. He then ran into the East Room, which is often used for receptions and or presidential addresses. Thank God he did not go up the stairs as Michelle Obama's mother was home at the time.

According to the Washington Post the intruder jumped the fence, sprinted through the front door, was confronted by a female Secret Service agent, who he overpowered, and ran through much of the main floor before begin apprehended,.

We already know the front door was unlocked, and the dogs weren't released, but additionally an alarm box near the front entrance designed to alert guards to an intruder was muted — apparently at the request of the usher’s office, an unnamed Secret Service official told WAPO

Gonzalez was only brought down near a door leading to the Green Room, a parlor adjacent to the East Room of the White House that is used for formal events including bill signings, press conferences, receptions and ceremonies.

And remember this security breach on Sept. 19, occurred just minutes after President Obama, his daughters and one of their friends boarded the presidential helicopter for a weekend getaway to Camp David.

Secret Service Director Julia Pierson has said the breach was “unacceptable” to her, and on Friday she briefed President Obama on her plans to shore up security.

Pierson is expected to face tough questions about the Gonzalez incident Tuesday at a hearing by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The hearing is likely to cover a number of security lapses by the agency, including new revelations published over the weekend by The Washington Post about the failure to identify and properly investigate a 2011 shooting attack on the White House.

WAPO reported over the weekend that the Secret Service did not immediately respond to shots fired at the White House in 2011, amid what the agency describes as uncertainty about where the shots originated. Four days later, it was discovered that at least one of the shots broke the glass of a window on the third level of the mansion, the Secret Service said.

At the time of the 2011 breach, the president and first lady Michelle Obama were away, but their daughters were in Washington — one home and the other due to return that night.

These breaches of security are more than unacceptable, it's disgusting. There is no excuse not to protect the President and his family. Even worse the White House is supposed to be the easiest place to protect the President.  I have to tell you--the Obamas are more patient about it than I would be. We are talking about protecting someone's kids and family. Here's hoping Ms Pierson gets hell at Tuesday's hearing.

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Give 'Em Hell Bibi! Commentary Video And Transcript of Netanyahu's UN Speech

Harry Truman once said about the standard cheer from his supporters, "I don't give them Hell, I tell the truth and they think it's hell." That same line could be applied to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the UN on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Monday and brutally pointed out the hypocrisy of the world body, his allies in the U.S. and Europe, as well as much of the rest of the world which fights the ISIS terrorists but protects the terrorists of Hamas and Iran.

Netanyahu's speech omitted the usual diplomatic niceties one would expect at the United Nations. He began by announcing that his speech will address both the "the dangers we face" and "the brazen lies about my country and about the people who defend it." And his words certainly followed through on that promise.

He spoke of the terrorism of Hamas and Iran and they hypocrisy of those who fight ISIS while appeasing those other terrorists (are you listening Barack?)

Netanyahu then addressed the Iran issue, noting that the Islamic Revolution was based on the decree that the whole world will cry, 'There is no God but Allah in the entire world.' And added that the aim of the Revolutionary guards was to establish "Islamic World Government,"

Bibi pointedly addressed the hypocrisy of the UN Human Rights Council and Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas who spoke to the same body a week prior and accused Israel of committing war crimes, and reminded the body about Abbas doctoral dissertation which was tome "proving" the Holocaust was a myth.

Netanyahu believes the dynamics of the Middle East are changing, that some Arab nations are realizing that a strong Israel is welcome in the face of a radical Iran. He added that a future peace may start with those nations and work their way into a peace with the Palestinians instead of the reverse which is the traditional way people have projected the process, "a broader rapprochement between Israel and the Arab world may help facilitate an Israeli-Palestinian peace. And therefore, to achieve that peace, we must look not only to Jerusalem and Ramallah but also to Cairo, to Amman, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and elsewhere."

Reminding the UN that security must come first and reminding them of the fallacy of "land for peace," Netanyahu pointed out that recent withdrawals from Gaza and Lebanon didn't bring peace, they brought terrorism.

The Prime Minister ended on a positive note, that peace was possible and desirable, and though his words be harsh, he quoted Isaiah chapter 62 Verse 1 in Hebrew and English

For the sake of Zion, I will not be silent, for the sake of Jerusalem, I will not be still until her justice shines bright and her salvation glows like a flaming torch.

Thank you, Mr. President. Distinguished delegates, I come here from Jerusalem to speak on behalf of my people, the people of Israel. I’ve come here to speak about the dangers we face and about the opportunities we seek. I’ve come here to expose the brazen lies spoken from this very podium against my country and against the brave soldiers who defend it.

Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Israel pray for peace, but our hopes and the world’s hopes for peace are in danger because everywhere we look militant Islam is on the march. It’s not militants. It’s not Islam. It’s militant Islam. And typically its first victims are other Muslims, but it spares no one: Christians, Jews, Yazidis, Kurds. No creed, no faith, no ethnic group is beyond its sights. And it’s rapidly spreading in every part of the world.

You know the famous American saying, all politics is local? For the militant Islamists, all politics is global, because their ultimate goal is to dominate the world. Now, that threat might seem exaggerated to some since it starts out small, like a cancer that attacks a particular part of the body. But left unchecked, the cancer grows, metastasizing over wider and wider areas. To protect the peace and security of the world, we must remove this cancer before it’s too late.

Last week, many of the countries represented here rightly applauded President Obama for leading the effort to confront ISIS, and yet weeks before, some of these same countries, the same countries that now support confronting ISIS, opposed Israel for confronting Hamas. They evidently don’t understand that ISIS and Hamas are branches of the same poisonous tree.

ISIS and Hamas share a fanatical creed, which they both seek to impose well beyond the territory under their control. Listen to ISIS’ self-declared caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. This is what he said two months ago: A day will soon come when the Muslim will walk everywhere as a master. The Muslims will cause the world to hear and understand the meaning of terrorism and destroy the idol of democracy. Now listen to Khaled Mashal, the leader of Hamas. He proclaims a similar vision of the future: We say this to the West — by Allah you will be defeated. Tomorrow our nation will sit on the throne of the world.

As Hamas’ charter makes clear, Hamas’ immediate goal is to destroy Israel, but Hamas has a broader objective. They also want a caliphate. Hamas shares the global ambitions of its fellow militant Islamists, and that’s why its supporters wildly cheered in the streets of Gaza as thousands of Americans were murdered in 9/11, and that’s why its leaders condemn the United States for killing Osama bin Laden whom they praised as a holy warrior.

So when it comes to their ultimate goals, Hamas is ISIS and ISIS is Hamas. And what they share in common all militant Islamists share in common. Boko Haram in Nigeria, al-Shabab in Somalia, Hezbollah in Lebanon, al-Nusra in Syria, the Mahdi army in Iraq, and the al-Qaida branches in Yemen, Libya, the Philippines, India and elsewhere.

Some are radical Sunnis, some are radical Shiites, some want to restore a pre-medieval caliphate from the seventh century, others want to trigger the apocalyptic return of an imam from the ninth century. They operate in different lands, they target different victims and they even kill each other in their battle for supremacy. But they all share a fanatic ideology. They all seek to create ever-expanding enclaves of militant Islam where there is no freedom and no tolerance, where women are treated as chattel, Christians are decimated and minorities are subjugated, sometimes given the stark choice, convert or die. For them, anyone can be considered an infidel, including fellow Muslims.

Ladies and gentlemen, militant Islam’s ambition to dominate the world seems mad, but so too did the global ambitions of another fanatic ideology that swept into power eight decades ago. The Nazis believed in a master race. The militant Islamists believe in a master faith. They just disagree who among them will be the master of the master faith. That’s what they truly disagree about. And therefore, the question before us is whether militant Islam will have the power to realize its unbridled ambitions.

There is one place where that could soon happen — the Islamic State of Iran. For 35 years, Iran has relentlessly pursued the global mission which was set forth by its founding ruler, Ayatollah Khomeini, in these words. “We will export our revolution to the entire world until the cry ‘there is no god but Allah’ will echo throughout the world over.” And ever since, the regime’s brutal enforcers, Iran’s revolutionary guards, have done exactly that.

Listen to its current commander, General Mohammad Ali Jafari. And he clearly stated his goal. He said “Our imam did not limit the Islamic revolution to this country, our duty is to prepare the way for an Islamic world government.”

Iran’s President Rouhani stood here last week and shed crocodile tears over what he called the globalization of terrorism. Maybe he should spare us those phony tears and have a word instead with the commanders of Iran’s revolutionary guards. He could ask them to call off Iran’s global terror campaign, which has included attacks in two dozen countries on five continents since 2011 alone.

You know, to say that Iran doesn’t practice terrorism is like saying Derek Jeter never played shortstop for the New York Yankees. This is — this bemoaning by the Iranian president of the spread of terrorism has got to be one of history’s greatest displays of doubletalk.

Now, some argue that Iran’s global terror campaign, its subversion of countries throughout the Middle East and well beyond the Middle East, some argue that this is the work of the extremists. They say things are changing. They point to last year’s election in Iran. They claim that Iran’s smooth-talking president and foreign minister, they’ve changed not only the tone of Iran’s foreign policy but also its substance. They believe that Rouhani and Zarif (generally/genuinely ?) want to reconcile with the West, that they’ve abandoned the global mission of the Islamic Revolution. Really?

So let’s look at what Foreign Minister Zarif wrote in his book just a few years ago:

We have a fundamental problem with the West, and especially with America. This is because we are heirs to a global mission which is tied to our raison d’être, a global mission which is tied to our very reason for being.

And then Zarif asks a question — I think an interesting one. He says: How come Malaysia — he’s referring to an overwhelmingly Muslim country — how come Malaysia doesn’t have similar problems? And he answers: Because Malaysia is not trying to change the international order.

That’s your moderate. So don’t be fooled by Iran’s manipulative charm offensive. It’s designed for one purpose and for one purpose only: to lift the sanctions and remove the obstacles to Iran’s path to the bomb. The Islamic Republic is now trying to bamboozle its way to an agreement that will remove the sanctions it still faces and leave it with a capacity of thousands of refugees — of centrifuges, rather — to enrich uranium. This would effectively cement Iran’s place as a threshold military nuclear power. And in the future, at the time of its choosing, Iran, the world’s most dangerous regime, in the world’s most dangerous region, would obtain the world’s most dangerous weapons. Allowing that to happen would pose the gravest threat to us all. It’s one thing to confront militant Islamists on pickup trucks armed with Kalashnikov rifles. It’s another thing to confront militant Islamists armed with weapons of mass destruction.

I remember that last year, everyone here was rightly concerned about the chemical weapons in Syria, including the possibility that they would fall into the hands of terrorists. Well, that didn’t happen, and President Obama deserves great credit for leading the diplomatic effort to dismantle virtually all of Syria’s chemical weapons capability. Imagine how much more dangerous the Islamic State, ISIS, would be if it possessed chemical weapons. Now imagine how much more dangerous the Islamic state of Iran would be if it possessed nuclear weapons.

Ladies and gentlemen, would you let ISIS enrich uranium? Would you let ISIS build a heavy water reactor? Would you let ISIS develop intercontinental ballistic missiles? Of course you wouldn’t. Then you mustn’t let the Islamic state of Iran do those things either, because here’s what will happen. Once Iran produces atomic bombs, all the charms and all the smiles will suddenly disappear. They’ll just vanish. And it’s then that the ayatollahs will show their true face and unleash their aggressive fanaticism on the entire world.

There’s only one responsible course of action to address this threat. Iran’s nuclear military capabilities must be fully dismantled. (Applause.) Make no mistake: ISIS must be defeated. But to defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power is to win the battle and lose the war. (Applause.) To defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power is to win the battle and lose the war.

Ladies and gentlemen, the fight against militant Islam is indivisible. When militant Islam succeeds anywhere, it’s emboldened everywhere. When it suffers a blow in one place, it’s set back in every place. That’s why Israel’s fight against Hamas is not just our fight, it’s your fight. Israel is fighting a fanaticism today that your countries may be forced to fight tomorrow. For 50 days this past summer Hamas fired thousands of rockets at Israel, many of them supplied by Iran. I want you to think about what your countries would do if thousands of rockets were fired at your cities. Imagine millions of your citizens having seconds at most to scramble to bomb shelters day after day. You wouldn’t let terrorists fire rockets at your cities with impunity, nor would you let terrorists dig dozens of terror tunnels under your borders to infiltrate your towns in order to murder and kidnap your citizens. Israel justly defended itself against both rocket attacks and terror tunnels. (Applause.)

Yet Israel faced another challenge. We faced a propaganda war because in an attempt to win the world sympathy, Hamas cynically used Palestinian civilians as human shields. It used schools — not just schools; U.N. schools — private homes, mosques, even hospitals to store and fire rockets at Israel. As Israel surgically struck at the rocket launchers and at the tunnels, Palestinian civilians were tragically but unintentionally killed. There are heartrending images that resulted, and these fueled libelous charges that Israel was deliberately targeting civilians. We were not. We deeply regret every single civilian casualties.

And the truth is this: Israel was doing everything to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties. Hamas was doing everything to maximize Israeli civilian casualties and Palestinian civilian casualties. Israel dropped flyers, made phone calls, sent text messages, broadcast warnings in Arabic on Palestinian television, all this to enable Palestinian civilians to evaluate targeted areas. No other country and no other army in history have gone to greater lengths to avoid casualties among the civilian population of their enemies. (Applause.)

Now, this concern for Palestinian life was all the more remarkable given that Israeli civilians were being bombarded by rockets day after day, night after night. And as their families were being rocketed by Hamas, Israel’s citizen army, the brave soldiers of the IDF, our young boys and girls, they upheld the highest moral values of any army in the world. (Applause.) Israel’s soldiers deserve not condemnation but admiration, admiration from decent people everywhere. (Applause.)

Now, here is what Hamas did. Here is what Hamas did. Hamas embedded its missile batteries in residential areas and told Palestinians to ignore Israel’s warnings to leave. And just in case people didn’t get the message, they executed Palestinian civilians in Gaza who dared to protest. And no less reprehensible, Hamas deliberately placed its rockets where Palestinian children live and play. Let me show you a photograph. It was taken by a France 24 crew during the recent conflict. It shows two Hamas rocket launchers, which were used to attack us. You see three children playing next to them. Hamas deliberately put its rockets in hundreds of residential areas like this — hundreds of them.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a war crime. And I say to President Abbas, these are the crimes, the war crimes, committed by your Hamas partners in the national unity government which you head and you are responsible for. And these are the real war crimes you should have investigated or spoken out against from this podium last week. (Applause.)

Ladies and gentlemen, as Israel’s children huddle in bomb shelters and Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense knocked Hamas rockets out of the sky, the profound moral difference between Israel and Hamas couldn’t have been clearer. Israel was using its missiles to protect its children. Hamas was using its children to protect its missiles. (Applause.)

By investigating Israel rather than Hamas for war crimes, the U.N. Human Rights Council has betrayed its noble mission to protect the innocent. In fact, what it’s doing is to turn the laws of war upside down. Israel, which took unprecedented steps to minimize civilian casualties — Israel is condemned. Hamas, which both targeted and hid behind civilians — that’s a double war crime — Hamas is given a pass.

The Human Rights Council is thus sending a clear message to terrorists everywhere: Use civilians as a human shield. Use them again and again and again. And you know why? Because, sadly, it works. By granting international legitimacy to the use of human shields, the U.N. Human Rights Council has thus become a terrorist rights council, and it will have repercussions — it probably already has — about the use of civilians as human shields. It’s not just our interests. It’s not just our values that are under attack. It’s your interests and your values.

Ladies and gentlemen, we live in a world steeped in tyranny and terror where gays are hanged from cranes in Tehran, political prisoners are executed in Gaza, young girls are abducted en masse in Nigeria, and hundreds of thousands are butchered in Syria, Libya and Iraq, yet nearly half — nearly half of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s resolutions focusing on a single country have been directed against Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East; Israel, where issues are openly debated in a boisterous parliament, where human rights are protected by the — by independent courts, and where women, gays and minorities live in a genuinely free society.

The human rights — that’s an oxymoron, the human — U.N. Human Rights Council, but I’ll use it just the same. The council’s biased treatment of Israel is only one manifestation of the return of one of the world’s largest prejudices. We hear mobs today in Europe call for the gassing of Jews. We hear some national leaders compare Israel to the Nazis. This is not a function of Israel’s policies. It’s a function of diseased minds. and that disease has a name. It’s called anti-Semitism. It is now spreading in polite society where it masquerades as legitimate criticism of Israel.

For centuries the Jewish people have been demonized with blood libels and charges of deicide. Today the Jewish state is demonized with the apartheid libel and charges of genocide — genocide. In what moral universe does genocide include warning the enemy civilian population to get out of harm’s way, or ensuring that they receive tons — tons of humanitarian aid each day even as thousands of rockets are being fired at us, or setting up a field hospital to aid their wounded?

Well, I suppose it’s the same moral universe where a man who wrote a dissertation of lies about the Holocaust and who insists on a Palestine free of Jews — Judenrein — can stand at this podium and shamelessly accuse Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing. In the past, outrageous lies against the Jews were the precursors to the wholesale slaughter of our people, but no more. Today, we, the Jewish people, have the power to defend ourselves. We will defend ourselves against our enemies on the battlefield — (applause) — we will expose their lies against us in the court of public opinion. Israel will continue to stand proud and unbowed. (Applause.)

Ladies and gentlemen, despite the enormous challenges facing Israel, I believe we have a historic opportunity. After decades of seeing Israel as their enemy, leading states in the Arab world increasingly recognize that together, we and they face many of the same dangers, and principally, this means a nuclear-armed Iran and militant Islamist movements gaining ground in the Sunni world. Our challenge is to transform these common interests to create a productive partnership, one that would build a more secure, peaceful and prosperous Middle East. Together, we can strengthen regional security, we can advance projects in water and agricultural, in transportation and health and energy in so many fields.

I believe the partnership between us can also help facilitate peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Now, many have long assumed that an Israeli-Palestinian peace can help facilitate a broader rapprochement between Israel and the Arab world. But these days, I think it may work the other way around, namely that a broader rapprochement between Israel and the Arab world may help facilitate an Israeli-Palestinian peace. And therefore, to achieve that peace, we must look not only to Jerusalem and Ramallah but also to Cairo, to Amman, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and elsewhere.

I believe peace can be realized with the active involvement of Arab countries — those that are willing to provide political, material and other indispensable support. I’m ready to make a historic compromise, not because Israel occupies a foreign land. The people of Israel are not occupiers in the land of Israel. (Applause.) History, archaeology and common sense all make clear that we have had a singular attachment to this land for over 3,000 years.

I want peace because I want to create a better future for my people, but it must be a genuine peace — one that is anchored in mutual recognition and enduring security arrangements — rock solid security arrangements on the ground, because you see, Israeli withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza created two militant Islamic enclaves on our borders for which tens of thousands of rockets have been fired at Israel, and these sobering experiences heightens Israel’s security concerns (regarding ?) potential territorial concessions in the future.

Now, those security concerns are even greater today. Just look around you. The Middle East is in chaos, states are disintegrating, and militant Islamists are filling the void. Israel cannot have territories from which it withdraws taken over by Islamic militants yet again, as happened in Gaza and Lebanon. That would place the likes of ISIS within mortar range, a few miles, of 80 percent of our population.

Now think about that. The distance between the 1967 lines and the suburbs of Tel Aviv is like the distance between the U.N. building here and Times Square. Israel is a tiny country. That’s why in any peace agreement, which will obviously necessitate a territorial compromise, I will always insist that Israel be able to defend itself by itself against any threat. (Applause.)

And yet despite everything that has happened, some still don’t take Israel’s security concerns seriously. But I do and I always will — (applause) — because as prime minister of Israel, I’m entrusted with the awesome responsibility of ensuring the future of the Jewish people and the future of the Jewish state. And no matter what pressure is brought to bear, I will never waiver in fulfilling that responsibility. (Applause.)

I believe that with a fresh approach from our neighbors, we can advance peace despite the difficulties we face. See, in Israel, we have a record of making the impossible possible. We’ve made a desolate land flourish, and with very few natural resources, we’ve used the fertile minds of our people to turn Israel into a global center of technology and innovation, and peace, of course, would enable Israel to realize its full potential and to bring a promising future not only for our people, not only for the Palestinian people, but for many, many others in our region.

But the old template for peace must be updated. It must take into account new realities and new roles and responsibilities for our Arab neighbors.

Ladies and gentlemen, there is a new Middle East. It presents new dangers but also new opportunities. Israel is prepared to work with Arab partners and the international community to confront those dangers and to seize those opportunities. Together, we must recognize the global threat of militant Islam, the primacy of dismantling Iran’s nuclear weapons capability and the indispensable role of Arab states in advancing peace with the Palestinians. All this may fly in the face of conventional wisdom, but it’s the truth, and the truth must always be spoken, especially here in the United Nations. (Applause.)

Isaiah, our great prophet of peace, taught us nearly 3,000 years ago in Jerusalem to speak truth to power.

 לְמַעַן צִיּוֹן לֹא אֶחֱשֶׁה, וּלְמַעַן יְרוּשָׁלִַם לֹא אֶשְׁקוֹט, עַד-יֵצֵא כַנֹּגַהּ צִדְקָהּ, וִישׁוּעָתָהּ כְּלַפִּיד יִבְעָר.

For the sake of Zion, I will not be silent, for the sake of Jerusalem, I will not be still until her justice shines bright and her salvation glows like a flaming torch.

 Ladies and gentlemen, let us light a torch of truth and justice to safeguard our common future. Thank you.

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Obama: Americans Are MUCH Better Off-They're Just Too Stupid to Realize It

Along with admitting he dropped the ball in Syria and Iraq, President Obama's 60 Minutes interview yesterday included the exclamation that Americans are better off than they were before he took office....but they don't realize it.

When I came into office, our economy was in crisis. We had unemployment up at 10 percent. It’s now down to 6.1. We’ve had the longest run of uninterrupted private sector job growth in our history. We have seen deficits cut by more than half. Corporate balance sheets are probably the best they’ve been in the last several decades.

Actually Obama is lying here unemployment in Feb 2009 was 8.1 percent, and while he did cut the deficit in half..first he doubled it adding $7 trillion to the national debt.  Our annual deficit is finally protected to fall to the too high levels of the Bush administration in 2015.

We are producing more energy than we had before. We are producing more clean energy than we ever had before. I can put my record against any leader around the world in terms of digging ourselves out of a terrible, almost unprecedented financial crisis.

Ronald Reagan used to ask the question, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” In this case, are you better off than you were in six? And the answer is, the country is definitely better off than we were when I came into office, but now we have to make…

When asked if the president thought the American people could feel that economic success, Obama said, “They don’t feel it." adding "The reason they don’t feel it is because incomes and wages are not going up."

That's the point, six years worth of Obama's progressive policies have not improved wages and incomes. Americans do understand that. Maybe Americans are not a stupid as Obama thinks.

Reagan would be horrified at Obama's comparison, especially the fact that he blames the American people for not understanding they are better off. 

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Fri./Sat US Airstrikes Kill 54 Syrian Civilians, Civilian Grain Silos Hit on Sun.---Media & Obama Silent

US-led airstrikes in Syria on both Saturday and Sunday killed civilians as the media which made civilian casualties the main issue in the recent Operation Protective Edge in Gaza continued to ignore the casualties in Syria.  According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, coalition airstrikes killed 28 civilians on Saturday, (26 were killed on Friday)  and on Sunday the Airstrikes hit grain silos instead of ISIS bases the number of casualties have not yet been determined however in that strike only civilians were killed.

U.S.-led airstrikes hit grain silos and other targets in ISIS-controlled territory in northern and eastern Syria overnight, killing civilians and wounding militants, an activist group said Monday.

The aircraft may have mistaken the mills and grain storage areas in the northern Syrian town of Minbej for an ISIS base, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. There was no immediate comment from Washington.

The United States has targeted ISIS and other fighters in Syria since last week with the help of Arab allies, and in Iraq since last month. It aims to damage and destroy the bases, forces and supply lines of the Al-Qaeda offshoot which has captured large areas of both countries.

The strikes in Minbej appeared to have killed only civilians, not fighters, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory which gathers information from sources in Syria.

"These were the workers at the silos. They provide food for the people," he said. He could not give a number of casualties and it was not immediately possible to verify the information.

This is not meant as a criticism of a US action in Syria, however it is an indictment of the disingenuous way the media is treating the US-led action as opposed to the Israeli action in Gaza.  During the 50 day long Israeli action in Gaza, the day's reporting would start with  pictures of dead Palestinians or blasting Israel for the civilian deaths. Then a media commentator or Administration official will admit that "Israel has the right to defend themselves," "Hamas started the conflict by sending rockets and building tunnels into Israel," "Hamas uses it citizens as human shields," and Israel "Goes out of its way to avoid civilian casualties.  Those words words were followed with a "but," statement such as, Israel's response is disproportionate, "it's slaughter" as Juan Williams called it on "The Five," or even it's appearing "to be indiscriminate, is asinine," which were Joe Scarborough's words on "Morning Joe."  Where is NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin? Why isn't he in Syria pointing out the each death, blindly using casualty figures from the terrorist groups?

Sadly civilian casualties are unavoidable in actions against terrorist entities such as ISIS or Hamas and I am sure that our forces are doing their best to limit the number of civilians killed in the US bombing missions. However the media and the Obama administration slammed Israel for civilian casualties in Gaza but silent about civilians in Syria.

Does the media and/or the Administration believe Syrian civilians worth less than Gaza civilians or is it that for some reason they are willing to single out Israel for civilian casualties.

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Biden's New Nat. Security Adviser is Pro-Hamas, Anti-Israel & Believes a Nuclear Iran Can Be Contained

In a story broken on this site two years ago the Democratic party removed 3 pro-Israel and one anti-Hamas plank from their 2012 party platform (they eventually added one pro-Israel plank back). Joe Biden just hired Colin Kahl one of the two people responsible for writing the Israel section of the platform as his national security adviser. Along with removing the sections of the platform, Kahl is also responsible for a policy floated by the Obama administration (and rejected by just about everybody) that rather than prevent Iran from getting nukes, the US should contain a nuclear Iran.

The Vice President announced today that Dr. Colin Kahl will serve as his new National Security Advisor, starting next week. Dr. Kahl comes to the Vice President’s office from Georgetown University, where he’s been serving as an associate professor in the Security Studies Program in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Dr. Kahl will succeed Jake Sullivan.

Kahl was responsible removing the following four items from the Democratic Party platform

1) The United States and its Quartet partners should continue to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism.

2) The issue of Palestinian refugees should be resolved by allowing them to settle in a Palestinian state rather than in Israel.

3) It unrealistic to expect the outcome of final status negotiations to be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949.

4) Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel.

The Jerusalem provision was added back over the objection of the Democratic Convention delegates, but Colin Kahl's removal of the isolating Hamas, as well as Palestinian refugees to resettle in a Palestinian state rather than flooding Israel and turning it into a Muslim State, and the1949 borders being unrealistic-- all remained out of the platform (more on the language below).

After the Platform controversy Kahl was Identified as the man behind the change in Foreign Policy ...

it's been well reported that the two officials given the responsibility for overseeing the drafting of the Israel platform plank in July and August were Obama campaign national security advisor co-chair and former Pentagon official Colin Kahl and former Florida Rep. Robert Wexler. 

....And Buzzfeed among other places:

A member of the Platform Committee itself said the language was drafted by staffers — notably former national security aide Colin Kahl — and overseen by former Rep. Robert Wexler, and that even some committee members did not see it until this Monday night.

As reported in the Weekly Standard Kahl is also behind floating the idea of "containing" a nuclear Iran, rather than doing everything to prevent it:

On Monday, the Center for New American Security published an 84-page report, called “If All Else Fails: The Challenges of Containing a Nuclear-Armed Iran.” The subject matter is particularly noteworthy given the report’s provenance. CNAS is a think tank close to the Obama administration that, among other things, advised the White House early in its first term on Afghanistan policy. Several of its scholars joined the administration, including CNAS founder Michelle Flournoy who served as undersecretary of defense for policy from 2009-2012; and Colin Kahl, formerly the Obama administration’s deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, who is lead author of this latest CNAS report.

Biden's hiring of Kahl and the fact that his removal of an anti-Hamas provision and two pro Israel provisions are just further examples of this administration's abandonment of the Jewish State. 

The below explains the three removed provisions of the Democratic Party platform never added back, which were just as important as the Jerusalem platform but often ignored by reporters explaining the story:

The United States should continue to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism. Do the Democrats still want to give this terrorist group legitimacy? Perhaps that is why Obama and Kerry insisted on Qatar (Hamas' Sugar Daddy) be part of the negotiations to end the Gaza war. Perhaps that is why Kerry selected Martin Indyk who is on the Qatar payroll as his Middle East negotiator.

...should resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel. While the number of Palestinian refugees in 1949 was somewhere between 800,000-900,000, today the number is over 4 million. This group of refugees is the only example in history where the number has grown without a population shift (the UN counts the original refugees, their children, grandchildren, first cousin twice removed on their mother's side, friends etc as refugees. Since they cannot defeat Israel militarily; one of the Palestinians' strategies is to flood this Democratic country with "refugees" so it will cease to exist as a Jewish state via election. That is why the 2008 platform included the refugee statement. 

In keeping with their strategy the Palestinians refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. And while the President has said Israel is the Jewish state, he has been very careful not to call for Palestinian recognition of Israel as the Jewish state. Is the removal of the "settle elsewhere" statement is an indication Mr. Kahl agrees with the Palestinian "flood Israel with refugees" strategy?

 ... All understand that it is unrealistic to expect the outcome of final status negotiations to be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949. Obama walked away from that big time last May when he called for Israel to begin negotiations by agreeing to return to the 1949 lines. At the time the Democrats said it was no change from previous policy--that was a lie. In 2008 he ran on the basis that a return to the 1949 lines were unrealistic. Why is that language is missing from this year's document?


H/T Weekly Standard  

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Obama Rebuffs Panetta on 60 Minutes--It Was Intelligence Who Underestimated ISIS Not Me

On tonight's 60 Minutes President Obama sort of admits his administraion underestimated ISIS and overestimated the Iraqi military. Obama was asked if ISIS's successful offensives in Iraq and Syria came as a "complete surprise" to him. Obama blamed he intelligence community.

Well, I think our head of the intelligence community acknowledged that they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria. Essentially what happened with ISIL is that you had al-Qaeda in Iraq, which is a vicious group, but our Marines were able to quash it with the help of Sunni tribes. They went back underground. But over the past couple of years, during the chaos of the Syrian civil war where essentially you have huge swaths of the country that are ungoverned, they were able to reconstitute themselves and attract foreign fighters—who believed in their jihadist nonsense and traveled everywhere from Europe to the United States to Australia to other parts of the Muslim world—converge on Syria, so this became ground zero for jihadists around the world, and they have been savvy in terms of social media

At the end of the interview Obama's asked if he agrees with Clapper that the US overestimated the ability of the Iraqi military, the president answers in the affirmative.

Of course he places blame on the nation's intelligence community rather than the senior members of he administration who interpreted the data. Or Obama himself who on last week's 60 minutes, said that ISIS grew because Obama allowed the US to leave Iraq too early and didn't allow the US to get involved with helping the Syrian rebels--against the wishes of his national security force.

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Obama Sends Jewish Community Holiday Message But Gets Holiday All Wrong

As he has done every year in his Presidency, last Tuesday the day before Rosh Hashanah Barack Obama sent a special holiday message to the Jewish community. And as he has done every year in his Presidency, the message ignores the meaning of the holiday and its special message to all Americans: that progressive politics are antithetical to the teaching of personal responsibility embedded in the High Holiday period.

Giving credit where credit is due, it's not that Obama's words were inappropriate, as he spoke about charity and introspection which are indeed a major part of all Jewish holidays, but he missed the biggest theme about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

With the setting of the sun this past Wednesday, Jews across the world will begin the observance of the "Yomim Noraim "(Days of Awe), a ten-day period that is book-ended by the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This year’s High Holiday period comes at an interesting time for America as the president and his party are pushing all Americans toward a reliance on government, rather than personal responsibility. Only one of those choices is compatible with the true meaning of the High Holidays.

The High Holiday period is all about personal responsibility. All the prayers and readings are just tools to help us look inward, formulate a personal accounting of our deeds over the past year, good and bad, and to understand what we have learned or need to learn to correct.

Even the method of atoning for our sins goes against progressive values. Jews are taught that our Maker is not a big massive government that will fix everything. For earthly-type mistakes we must first approach the people we harmed to request forgiveness and if necessary, make restitution to. Then we must discover what led us to behave that way and correct the flaw catalyzing such behavior. Only then can we approach God for absolution.

It’s not that God cannot fix everything but his direct involvement would destroy the delicate balance he set up during creation.

The creation narrative in Genesis explains that man is created in God’s image. With those words, the Torah is not teaching us that we are all dead ringers for the “big guy upstairs.” If that were the case everyone’s driver’s license would have the same picture, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue would seem a bit creepy, and no one would be able to solve crimes because eyewitness testimony would be useless and everyone would have the same DNA.

The idea of being “created in God’s image” is supposed to teach us that just as God acts as a free being without prior restraint to do right and wrong, so does man. Our Maker performs “good” as a matter of his own free choice. Because we are created in his image man also has the opportunity to do the right thing as a matter of free choice. Only through free choice, can man truly be “in the image of God.”

That is why God created a world where both good and evil can operate freely. The Rabbis explain this when they said; “All is in the hands of Heaven except the fear of Heaven” (Talmud, Berachot 33b). In other words, God controls all the options we have, but it is up to man to pick between good and bad.

Free will is the divine version of limited government. God picks the winning direction but does not choose winners or losers. Neither does he interfere with the process of learning through repentance and understanding one's actions. We are not divinely perfect nor are we meant to be. We are only supposed to be closer to that perfect divine-ness when we leave this world than when we entered it.

Because we all are created in God’s image we believe that all men are created equal. This does not mean what progressives tell us, that when it comes to talents, looks, preferences, or natural abilities we are all equal. Nor does it mean we all should have the same big screen TV, wireless Internet, cookies and cream ice cream, or savings account balance.

What is actually meant by "all men are created equal" is that we all have the same ability to be infinitely good or wicked; we all have the same ability to forge a relationship with God regardless of our intellectual capability, social background, physical strength, golf handicap wealth, etc. During the High Holidays, we evaluate how well we have used the “lot we have been given” for good deeds and to forging that heavenly relationship.

Unlike progressivism, Jewish tradition respects economic success, so long as it is obtained honestly, and proper respect is shown for the social responsibility that comes with it. That social responsibility is much different than what President Obama and his supporters would describe. It is a personal duty and a job for the community led by its religious leaders, not the government. The Hebrew word for charity, "tzedaka," has in its root the word "tzedek," which means righteous, because we are taught that personally giving charity is one of the keys to being righteous.

Some of the ancient sages have suggested when God created the world; sparks of his holiness were spread across the earth. Every time that a person makes the choice of performing a righteous act (such as giving charity) one of those sparks is purified and sent back to heaven. Through that process we become closer to God.

President Obama, the progressive Democrats, and the nanny-statists of all political persuasion take away that choice. They believe that if the choice were to be left up to the individual, that individual would do the wrong thing. Therefore government needs to take an omnipotent God-like role and control our decisions.

People who support progressivism are rejecting the free will given to us by our Maker and handing it over to the government. Thus they are retarding their spiritual development, and as a result, canceling an opportunity to get closer to God. In a progressive society, the ten “Days of Awe” are not necessary; there is no introspection needed, because government makes their choices for them.

In an English dictionary the word sin is defined as:

Any act regarded as such a transgression, esp. a willful or deliberate violation of some religious or moral principle.

There is no word in Hebrew matching that definition. Instead the word used on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is “chet”. It is an archery term referring to an arrow that “missed the target.” The person who missed the mark is considered to have made the mistake due to a lack of focus, concentration or skill. The purpose of the High Holidays is for each of us to determine why they missed the mark. The answer cannot come from someone else or from the government. It has to come from inside each person.

In the same vein, the Hebrew word commonly translated as repentance, “teshuvah," actually means return. In other words, we have returned to the correct path. It's true meaning is much more than just repentance, which implies simply feeling sorry for what you have done. Teshuvah involves changing what it is inside you that led you to go off-course, (a concept that many politicians should adopt).

The Rabbis tell us the only way to do "Teshuvah" is by undergoing personal reflection and personal choice (as opposed to governmental regulation). God gives us a road map in the Torah, Prophets, Psalms and other sacred texts; he even gave us coaches (Rabbis), but to truly change ourselves and ultimately to truly change the world, we have to discover for ourselves the best way to read the road map.

In its purest essence the Jewish High Holiday period is the antithesis of the various forms of liberal and progressive government. We learn from the “Ten Days of Awe” that we must be honest with ourselves and rely on our own introspection to find the right path. We learn that while God may be evaluating the path we take, and he provides a road map to the right way, he does not nor will not make the decisions for us. Progressive and leftist governments take free will away; they make the decisions, determine the path, eliminate the need for introspection and the opportunity for each one of us to find those sparks of God in the world. What those type of governments take from their citizens is the greatest joy of all--- finding for themselves the path that will draw them closer to God. Finding that path is what the "Yomim Noraim "

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Al-Jazeera: Most Coalition Air Strikes Casualties in North Syria Were Civilians--Media That Bashed Israel is Silent

According to Al Jazeera, more than 27 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Tuesday's U.S. led air strikes in Syria.

The coalition forces launched a number of missiles Tuesday at dawn. The US Pentagon declared that the targets were ISIS and Jabhat Al-Nusra sites in Syria. The missiles targeted Jabhat Al-Nusra headquarters in the town of Kafr Diryan in northwestern Syria.

In addition, two residential neighborhoods in the town were completely destroyed. More than 27 people were killed in these air strikes, most of whom were civilians according to the fire brigades.

There were five strikes while the people were asleep. We pulled out 21 men, three women and six children. Some died in our arms while others were taken to hospital, and we were informed that they were martyred.

The locals say that this is the first time that they were attacked by missiles since the outbreak of Syrian revolution. The paradox, they say, is they were bombed not by the Syrian regime, but by an international coalition which killed and wounded many of them under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

One resident told the reporter:

This coalition is not against terrorism. It is against civilians, as you can see. The revolution has been going on for four years now, and not a single missile was shot at us by Bashar Al-Assad and his gang. The coalition fired two missiles, supposedly targeting ISIS, but there are no ISIS members here, not even ISIS children.

During the recent Israeli war with Hamas, mainstream media reporters embedded in the Gaza towns believed every civilian casualty report even though they were provided and inflated by Hamas. They were quick to show pictures of the dead children even when there was proof the killings were staged.

TV commentators droned on and on with their condemnations of the Jewish State. President Obama joined in, never doubting the veracity of the Hamas-fed reports.

The reports of civilian casualties in Syria have drawn no condemnations from the MSM, any expressions of outrage from the White House or U.S. State Department. Maybe they don't believe the Al Jazeera report, even though they accepted the Hamas-generated reports at face value. Is it because in their minds Syrian civilians are worth less than those in Gaza or is it due to an inherent prejudice against the the nation of Israel and/or Jews worldwide?

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Meghan McCain Finds Solution To Convincing Republicans That Global Warming Is 'Like' Real

Meghan McCain, daughter of Senator John McCain, whose primary talent is that she is the daughter of a U.S. Senator, is a co-host on Pivot's daily program ​​​TakePart Live. Monday evening's program featured a discussion of climate change and the self-proclaimed spokesperson for younger Republicans claimed to have found the solution to convince Republicans to believe in global warming. She bloviated:

Republicans obviously are the demographic that we’re not talking about, but I am going to make us talk about that for predominantly don’t believe in climate change. I mean I do watch Fox News at nighttime on occasion — and a lot of times you see people throwing around climate change, like, “of course climate change isn’t real, this is just a liberal issue.”

And I think this is a cultural issue. It’s like two cultures in America clashing against each other. It’s not even about climate change anymore. This is a Democrat issue; this is a Republican issue.

And I just think if we make this more accessible to people and turn this into a cultural issue, meaning, Republicans you’re not going to be able to hunt and fish as much, which I love doing, if there is no f**king fish to get!”

Perhaps before talking about fishing, Ms McCain could try and address the following facts which cast doubt on global warming such as:

Through September first of 2014- The Earth hasn't warmed in 17 Years And 11 Months. Heartland Institute analyst Peter Ferrara notes ;

If you look at the record of global temperature data, you will find that the late 20th Century period of global warming actually lasted about 20 years, from the late 1970s to the late 1990s. Before that, the globe was dominated by about 30 years of global cooling, giving rise in the 1970s to media discussions of the return of the Little Ice Age (circa 1450 to 1850), or worse.

In other words, the earth has cooled in 48 of the past 68 years.

Antarctic Sea Ice is at record levels and the Arctic ice cap has seen record growth.

There is not even one climate computer model that has accurately connected CO2 to climate change. In fact, CO2 is at its highest levels in 13,000 years and the earth hasn't warmed in almost 18 years. Approximately 12,750 years ago before big cars and coal plants CO2 levels were higher than today. And during some past ice ages levels were up to 20x today's levels.

There is no truth to the claim of a 97% consensus of scientists believing that there is man-made global warming. The number is a convenient fraud. Investigative journalists at Popular Technology reported the 97% study falsely classifies scientists' papers, according to the scientists that published them . A more extensive examination of the Cook study reported that out of the nearly 12,000 scientific papers Cook’s team evaluated, only 65 endorsed Cook’s alarmist position. That is less than 0.97%. How did they come up with 97%? Of all the scientists who had a definite opinion, 97% agreed there was global warming and it was the fault of mankind. How did the Cook folks determine which scientists believed what? They didn't ask; they read papers written by these scientists and came up with their own opinion.

Back to Ice Age-- predictions. There is new evidence via peer-reviewed scientific papers that the Earth may be heading toward an ice age.

One additional point: although Ms. McCain claims to love hunting and fishing, an examination of her public Instagram page reveals many of her outdoor activities, but there were no pictures of the Senator's daughter doing either of the activities she claimed to love. One picture on her Instragram page however, was obviously taken by Ms. McCain while she was whale-watching:

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Islamic State: The Richest Terrorist Group Ever, Gets Even Richer

An element making ISIS particularly dangerous is its ability to develop a self-sustaining economy, that among other things, makes it the richest terrorist group ever and equipped to fund far more evil than other terrorist groups. ISIS recently found millions in cash and gold in the captured home of former Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama Al-Nujayfi.

A recent Wall Street Journal report outlined the emerging financial empire being built by the vicious terrorist group. It is building a self-sustaining economy across the territory it controls in Syria and Iraq, by pirating oil and exacting tribute from a native population of at least eight million people. But now the terrorist organization has enriched itself further.

An ISIS video posted on the Internet on September 21 shows millions of dollars in cash and ingots which the terror group claims to have found in the home of former Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama Al-Nujayfi. The video shows an unidentified ISIS member warning the former speaker "just like we took your money, we shall chop off your head."

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Blessings and prayers upon our Prophet Muhammad and his Companions. This is the money of Osama Al-Nujayfi, former speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Allah's curses upon him. Observe, oh Muslims, all this money, estimated in the billions. These are gold ingots. Take a look at them. These are gold ingots. See these dollars. There are hundreds of thousands of dollars here. Maybe even millions of dollars. Praised be Allah, who enabled the mujahideen of the Islamic State in Nineveh Province to seize (this money).

[...] This money has returned to its rightful owners – the poor. This money belongs to the poor. Those pigs used to indulge themselves with this money at the expense of the poor. Praised be Allah for enabling us to restore this money to the (ISIS) treasury. Praise be to Allah.

[...] This money was found in one of the homes of the apostate Osama Al-Nujayfi. Let that pig watch this money. Oh Al-Nujayfi, Allah willing, just like we took your money, we shall chop off your head, Allah willing.

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Today Is The Anniversary Of The Day Brooklyn Died

 It was a meaningless game. The "Bums" would place third that year. The Braves of Milwaukee would win the pennant they had 1957 MVP and All-time home run leader Hank Aaron on their team. And their pitching staff was lead by future Hall of Famer and 363 game winner, Warren Spahn.

1957  wasn't the Dodgers' year but even worse it wasn't the Borough of Brooklyn's year. When the Pirates' Dee Fondy grounded out giving the the Dodgers a 2-0 victory on September 24th 1957, it was so much more than the last home game of the season. It was even more than the Dodgers' last game in Ebbets Field, it was the day the Borough of Brooklyn died. The Dodgers were part of the glue that kept Brooklyn together, with their last home game and the move to L.A. Brooklyn would never be the same.

Sure the basketball Nets moved to Brooklyn two years agoand Hockey's Islanders are joining them, but its different.  They aren't Brooklyn they are regional teams and not even the most popular or successful of regional teams.  The Knicks and the Rangers own NYC.

The Brooklyn Dodgers were so much more than a baseball team, they were the official "state religion" of Brooklyn. For example in 1952 first baseman Gil Hodges went through a horrible slump. After going hitless in his last four regular-season games of 1952, during the 1952 World Series against the hated Yankees, and into the following spring, fans reacted with countless letters and good-luck gifts, and one Brooklyn priest – Father Herbert Redmond of St. Francis Roman Catholic Church – told his flock: "It's far too hot for a homily. Keep the Commandments and say a prayer for Gil Hodges."
 
They were the "everyman" of a part of New York primary occupied by blue collar, strongly ethnic, first and second generation Americans. The Dodgers were just like them and lived amongst them, they weren't snooty like those dammed Yankees or those uptown Manhattan Giants.  They were proud to be 'Dem Bums," proud to be part of Brooklyn.

That all changed Sept 24, 1957. Walter O' Malley was moving the Dodgers to Los Angeles.  O'Malley may have held papers saying he owned the team, but it was grand larceny because the Dodgers were owned by the Borough of Brooklyn.

The names of Walter O'Malley (the Team owner who moved the Dodgers) and Robert Moses the NYC official who wouldn't let the Dodgers build another stadium in Brooklyn still generate hatred for anyone who was a fan of the Brooklyn team.

The Dodgers weren't the only team to leave New York that summer.  O'Malley convinced the owner of the Giants to move to San Francisco with possibly the greatest ball player in the game Willie Mays.  Together, he claimed they would own the state of California which they did for four seasons.

After four horrible seasons of no National League baseball in the largest city in America, Baseball expanded and gave the city the New York Metropolitans (Mets). Ironically that same Robert Moses, built the Mets a Stadium in Flushing by the bay, the same place he tried to force the Dodgers to move.  Shea wasn't the same warm home as Ebbets. It was a stadium, Ebbets field was a homey ball park--it was in Queens, not in Brooklyn. The Mets generated their own fan base...but they could never have the same relationship with their fans that the entire Borough of Brooklyn had with Dem Bums.

Ebbets Field was torn down but believe it or not when they miss the Dodgers, some fans still go down to where the ballpark stood and remember when baseball wasn't a game played in a stadium, it was a religion played in the holy grounds of Ebbets field

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