RUTHFULLY YOURS

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324640104578163283236552800.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_MIDDLETopOpinion

We are beginning to doubt whether Bashar Assad is a genuine reformer. Our latest clue comes from NBC News, which reported yesterday that “the Syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own people and is awaiting final orders from [dictator] Assad.”

As of yesterday, “the nerve agents were locked and loaded inside the bombs,” which “could be dropped onto the Syrian people from dozens of fighter-bombers,” according to the NBC report. “U.S. officials stressed that as of now, the sarin bombs hadn’t been loaded onto planes and that Assad hadn’t issued a final order to use them.” Well, that’s a relief. Or not: “If he does [give the order], one of the officials said, ‘there’s little the outside world can do to stop it.’ ”

The international community is responding. “U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has written to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad urging him not to use chemical weapons,” Reuters reports. Ban told the head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons that “any use of such weapons would be an outrageous crime with dire consequences.” Who knows, Moon may get angry enough to write a second letter.

This seems as good a time as any to mention the Walter Duranty Awards, a brand-new journalism prize for whose inaugural dinner in October this columnist served as master of ceremonies. Winning first prize, edging out CBS’s Bob Simon and What’s Left of Newsweek’s Andrew Sullivan, were Anna Wintour of Vogue and writer Joan Buck, for a March 2011 cover story titled “Asma al-Assad: A Rose in the Desert.”

Claudia Rosett, who presented the award, summed up the article:

Ms. Buck, for whom Vogue obtained extraordinary access to the Assads, gushed about Asma as “the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies . . . breezy, conspiratorial, and fun . . . a thin long-limbed beauty with a trained analytic mind who dresses with cunning understatement.” Ms. Buck treated her readers to visions of Asma waking at dawn to begin her charitable rounds, including her campaign urging millions of young Syrians to engage in “active citizenship.” There were vignettes of Asma flying around Syria in a French-built corporate jet, or careening through traffic behind the wheel of a plain SUV, en route to museums, schools, and orphanages, a study in “energetic grace,” deftly accessorized with little more than a necklace of Chanel agates; shoes and Syrian silk tote bag by French designer Christian Louboutin.

You can read the whole piece at PresidentAssad.net, but it is gone from Vogue’s website. Further investigation suggested there was a dark side to the Assad family’s activities.

http://www.prudenpolitics.com/newsletter?utm_source=Replaces%20failed%20send%20of%2012-7-12&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5459 The Republicans are looking for the best way to fall off Fiscal Cliff, which has become a place fixed in the geography of public opinion, like Sioux Falls and Grand Canyon. If a man can survive going over Niagara Falls (another famous fixed place) in a barrel, maybe the Republicans can survive falling off […]

http://www.andrewbostom.org/blog/2012/12/07/morsi-now-backed-by-egypts-us-equipped-military/ The Washington Post [1] has just published (12/7/12) a report highlighting how Egyptian President Morsi has cemented his relationship with Egypt’s US-equipped military—an ominous, if predictable development, given the steady, incremental re-Islamization of all institutions in Egypt, over decades [2]. Noting one apparent source of Morsi being “emboldened”—in addition to mass, popular [3] “Sharia […]

http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/2337/Climate-Change-for-a-Change-in-Qatar.aspx= It’s “Candid Camera” meets the Global Green-Bots, as CFACT (Committees for a Constructive Tomorrow) “punks the UN.” DC-based CFACT is, as Lord Monckton puts it, the “only climate-skeptical group recognized by the UN.” In the video, CFACT asks delegates to this week’s UN Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar — you bet it’s a […]

On December 7, 1941 “A day that will live in infamy” War was declared and the perpetrators surrendered, Imperial Shinto was defeated, and on September 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, the Japanese signed the Official Instrument of Surrender:

“We hereby proclaim the unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters and of all Japanese armed forces and all armed forces under Japanese control wherever situated.”

Fast forward to the brutal massacre of American civilians on the jihad of September 11, 2012. Except for memorial ceremonies, the day is forgotten, the enemies are called a fringe of the”religion of peace,” and the words terror and jihad are expunged from defense department documents and media reports, and creeping Sharia infects all our institutions, and the Taliban, al Qaeda and all of their wicked international clones are on the march in every single continent.

9/11/2001 has become a day that lives on in apathy.

Alas…ruefully yours

9!11/2001 has become a day that lives on in apathy.

Alas…

Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:

Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.

Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya.

Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island.

And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

As commander in chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.

http://times247.com/
Veteran’s final request: Remember Pearl Harbor
News
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
by: Torsten Ove
Friday, December 7, 2012

Veteran’s final request: Remember Pearl Harbor
The USS Shaw explodes after being hit by bombs during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in this December 7, 1941 photo. Photo Credit:AP, U.S. Navy

Art Nagy of McKeesport died last month at age 90, and the Mon-Yough chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association died with him. A veteran of the Japanese attack 71 years ago today, he was the last member.

But his story will live on at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum, which plans to display his uniform and medals as part of a Pacific war exhibit that also will include a clock salvaged from the USS Oklahoma, torpedoed at Pearl on Dec. 7, 1941.…

He asked that his uniform be donated to the hall, along with a case containing his medals, and he wanted the U.S. flag that draped his coffin at his military funeral to fly at McKeesport City Hall through today. “Those were his last wishes,” said Stephen of Cranberry. “He made all that pretty clear, and I’ve done that.”

Read more: http://times247.com/articles/final-request-remember-pearl-harbor#ixzz2EMnwEc2b
North Korea rocket launch delayed by snow
CBS News
Friday, December 7, 2012
News
North Korea rocket launch delayed by snow
New satellite images indicate that snow may have slowed North Korea’s rocket launch preparations, but that Pyongyang could still be ready for liftoff starting Monday. Read more…

Read more: http://times247.com/#ixzz2EMoMMdzy
NYT Cairo chief: Brotherhood is ‘moderate’
Daily Caller
Friday, December 7, 2012
News
The New York Times Cairo bureau chief David K. Kirkpatrick insists that the Muslim Brotherhood is a “moderate, regular old political force,” despite Muslim Brotherhood-backed Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi’s recent power grab and the Islamist organization’s radical views. Read more…

Read more: http://times247.com/#ixzz2EMotyzMp
Hamas, Fatah moving toward rapprochement
Jerusalem Post
Friday, December 7, 2012
News
Fatah accepted Hamas’s invitation to participate in celebrations in the Gaza Strip marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Islamist movement. The invitation, the first of its kind in a decade, is seen as a sign of rapprochement between the rivals. Read more…

Read more: http://times247.com/#ixzz2EMpCDpl3
Monckton mocks global warming, ejected at Doha
E&E Greenwire
Thursday, December 6, 2012
News
Lord Monckton slipped into the seat reserved for the delegation of Burma. “In the 16 years we have been coming to these conferences, there has been no global warming,” Monckton said as the hall turned into a chorus of boos before being escorted from the hall. Read more…

Read more: http://times247.com/#ixzz2EMpPaCqR

Abbas’ afterglow http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=3016 What a week it’s been for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Last Thursday, his bid for non-member observer status at the United Nations passed at the General Assembly with flying colors. Then, upon his return home to the Muqata Compound in Ramallah, he was greeted by thousands of flag-waving constituents. This was […]

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/is-pearl-harbor-ancient-history
I recall in my youth thinking that the Civil War (1861-1865) was ancient history. As with most children, anything that occurred before my birth was “ancient.” In point of fact, the Civil War had ended just 72 years before I was born in 1937 and there were likely some men still alive who had fought in it or recalled it as youth.

I suspect that the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941, the day that Franklin Delano Roosevelt said “will live in infamy” is ancient history to several recent generations of Americans, many of whom are the aging baby boomers, the children born after our troops returned home, married, and began to raise families after 1945, the year World War II ended.

What I fear most is that the children and grandchildren of those baby boomers may not even know what occurred on that Sunday morning 71 years ago.

The general ignorance of Americans about their own history comes with its own price. Forgetting or never knowing that a long Cold War was fought with the Soviet Union from the end of World War II until its collapse in 1991 has left this nation with a President whose ideology concerning capitalism and centralized government closely mirrors the communist empire America expended blood and treasure to defeat.

While younger generations may have a fleeting grasp of the 1970s Vietnam War, most probably do not even know that, shortly after World War II ended, many U.S. servicemen were called to duty to fight the invasion of South Korea by North Korea, 1950-1953, a communist satellite of China whose troops were involved. I have an older brother who served in the Tokyo-based Supreme Headquarters Far East Command during that war. You can bet he remembers it.

The Korean War ended in a stalemate. Technically, only a ceasefire agreement exists. South Korea went on to become an industrial success story while North Korea still cannot keep the lights on at night. It makes nuclear weapons and missiles to pay the bills these days, in addition to a variety of other criminal activities. The grandson of its first dictator is the new dictator and observers have dubbed North Korea “China’s hidden dagger” because nothing happens there without Chinese oversight and permission.

Chanukah 2012 Guide for the Perplexed
Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: US-Israel Initiative” Based on Jewish Sages, December 7, 2012, http://bit.ly/SKSxSO

1. Chanukah is the only Jewish holiday which commemorates a Land of Israel national liberation struggle, unlike Passover (the Exodus from Egypt), Sukkot/Tabernacles & Shavouot/Pentacost (on the way from Egypt to the Land of Israel), Purim (deliverance of Jews in Persia), etc. Chanukah is the longest Jewish holiday (8 days) with the most intense level of Light (8 consecutive nights of candle lighting).

2. The key Chanukah developments occurred, mostly, in Judea and Samaria: Mitzpah (also Prophet Samuel’s burial site), Beth El mountains (Judah’s first headquarters), Beth Horon (Judah’s victory over Seron), Hadashah (Judah’s victory over Nicanor), Beth Zur (Judah’s victory over Lysias), Ma’aleh Levona (Judah’s victory over Apolonius), Adora’yim (a Maccabees’ fortress), Elazar & Beit Zachariya (Judah’s first defeat), Ba’al Hatzor (Judah defeated and killed), the Judean Desert, etc. Unified JerUSAlem was the Capital of the Maccabees. Chanukah is not a holiday of “occupation.” Chanukah highlights the moral-high-ground of Jews in their ancestral land.

3. Shimon the Maccabee – who succeeded Judah and Yonatan the Maccabees – defied an ultimatum by the Syrian emperor, Antiochus (Book of Maccabees A, Chapter 15, verse 33), who demanded an end to the “occupation” of Jerusalem, Jaffa, Gaza, Gezer and Ekron, Shimon declared: “We have not occupied a foreign land; we have not ruled a foreign land; we have liberated the land of our forefathers from foreign occupation.”

4. Chanukah’s historical context (Books of the Maccabees and the Scroll of Antiochus)

Alexander The Great – who held Judaism in high esteem and whose Egyptian heir, Ptolemy II, translated the Torah to Greek – died in 323BCE following 12 glorious years. Consequently, the Greek Empire disintegrated into five, and thirty years later into three, kingdoms: Macedonia, Syria and Egypt. The Land of Israel was militarily contested by Syria and Egypt. In 198BCE, Israel was conquered by the Syrian Antiochus III, who considered the Jewish State as an ally. In 175BCE, a new king assumed power in Syria, Antiochus (IV) Epiphanies, who wished to replace Judaism with Hellenic values and assumed that Jews were allies of Egypt. In 169BC, upon his return to Syria from a war against Egypt, he devastated Jerusalem, massacred the Jews, forbade the practice of Judaism (including the Sabbath, circumcision, etc.) and desecrated Jerusalem and the Temple. The 167BCE-launched rebellion against the Syrian (Seleucid) kingdom featured the Hasmonean (Maccabee) family: Mattityahu, a priest from the town of Modi’in, and his five sons, Yochanan, Judah, Shimon, Yonatan and Elazar. The heroic (and tactically creative) battles conducted by the Maccabees, were consistent with the reputation of Jews as superb warriors, who were hired frequently as mercenaries by Egypt, Syria, Rome and other global and regional powers.

5. The Hasmonean dynasty

*Mattityahu son of Yochanan; the priest-led rebellion – 166/7BCE

*Judah the Maccabee, son of Mattityahu – 166-161BCE

*Yonatan the Maccabee, son of Mattityahu – 161-143BCE

*Shimon the Maccabee, son of Mattityahu – 143-135BCE

*Yochanan Hyrcanus son of Shimon – 135-104BCE

*…

*Mattityahu Antigonus – 40-37BCE

6. The name Maccabee (מכבי or מקבי) is a derivative of the Hebrew word Makevet (מקבת), Power Hammer, which described Judah’s tenacious and decisive fighting capabilities. It could be a derivative of the Hebrew verb Cabeh (כבה), to extinguish, which described the fate of Judah’s adversaries. Another source of the name suggests that Maccabee, מכבי, is the Hebrew acronym of “Who could resemble you among Gods, Jehovah” (“Mi Camokha Ba’elim Adonai” מי כמוך באלים י).

7. The origin of the term – Chanukah – is education-oriented.

According to the first book of Maccabees, Judah instituted an eight day holiday on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, 165BCE, in order to commemorate the inauguration (Chanukah, חנוכה, in Hebrew) of the holy altar and the Temple, following Syrian desecration. A key feature of Chanukah is the education/mentoring of the family (Chinuch חינוך and Chonech חונך in Hebrew), commemorating Jewish history. The Hebrew word, Chanukah, consists of two words, Chanu חנו in Hebrew (they rested/stationed) and Kah כה in Hebrew (which is equal to 25, (referring to the Maccabees’ re-consecration of the Temple on the 25th day of Kislev. Some have suggested that the timing of Christmas (December 25th) and the celebration of the New Year 8 days later (January 1) have their origin in Chanukah, which always “accompanies” December.

8. Chanukah is the holiday of light, commemoration, optimism and liberty. Chanukah celebrates the liberation of JerUSAlem. The first day of Chanukah is celebrated when daylight is balanced with darkness, ushering in optimism for brighter future. Chanukah is celebrated in Kislev (כסלו), the month of miracles (e.g., Noah’s Rainbow appeared in Kislev) and the month of security/safety (the Hebrew word Kesel-כסל means security). The first and last Hebrew letters of Kislev (כסלו – כו) equal 26 (in Jewish Gimatriya) – the total numerical value of the Hebrew spelling of Jehovah – יהוה. Moses completed the construction of the Holy Ark on the 25th day of Kislev, as was the date of the laying the foundation of the Second Temple by Nehemiah. The 25th (Hebrew) word in Genesis is Light (OR, אור), which is a Jewish metaphor for the Torah. The word which precedes “light” is יהי (“let there be” in Hebrew) – 25 in Gimatriya. The 25th stop during the Exodus was Hashmona (same root as Hasmonean in Hebrew). Chanukah commemorates one of the early Clashes of Civilizations: the victory of light (Maccabees) over darkness, the few over the many (scarce light can penetrate darkness), liberty over slavery and remembrance over forgetfulness. The Hebrew spelling of darkness – חשכה – employs the same letters as forgetfulness – שכחה.

9. The thirty six Chanukah candles (without the constant candle – the Shamash) represent the 36 hidden righteous persons, whose virtue safeguards human-kind. There were 36 hours of divine light, welcoming Adam during the creation, lasting until the end of the Sabbath. Various forms of light, and candles, are mentioned 36 times in the Torah. There are 36 parts in the Talmud. Chanukah is celebrated during the Hebrew month of Kislev, whose spelling consists of two Hebrew words: Throne (כס) and 36 (לו). Candles are lit outside the home, or at the window, in order to spread light. Unlike the Shabbat candles, which are lit inside since they target the family, the message of the Chanukah candles targets the world at large.

10. Eight days of Chanukah represent divine capabilities and optimism. The ancient Temple Menorah consisted of seven branches, which commemorated the seven days of creation. The Chanukah Menorah has eight branches, reflecting the additional level of divine capabilities. The eight day celebration could be intended to make up for the holiday of Tabernacles, which could not be celebrated due to the war of liberation. The shape of the digit 8 represents infinity: no end to divine capabilities, as evidenced by the survival of the Jewish People against all odds. The root of the Hebrew word for 8 (Shmoneh, שמונה) is “oil” (Shemen, שמנ), which is also the root of “Hasmonean” (Hashmonayim, חשמונאים). The Aramaic name of the month of Kislev is Kislimo, which is “heavy” in Hebrew. The spelling of “heavy” is identical to the spelling of “oil” – שמן.

11. The statue of the head of Judah the Maccabee is displayed at the West Point Military Academy, along with the statues of Joshua, David, Alexander the Great, Hector, Julius Caesar, King Arthur, Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon – “the Nine Worthies.”

12. “In God We Trust” is similar to the Maccabees’ battle cry, which adopted Moses’ battle cry against the builders of the Golden Calf. A literal translation of Moses’ battle cry: “Whoever trusts G-D; join me!”

13. Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death,” and New Hampshire’s “Live Free or Die,” followed the legacy of the Maccabees’ sacrifice and political-incorrectness. The Maccabees followed in the footsteps of Abraham, Phineas the High Priest, Joshua & Caleb, King David and Elijah the Prophet, who knew that swimming against the stream gets one closer to the source!

14. “Rebellion against Tyrants is obedience to God” was proposed, as the US seal, by John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. It reflected the legacy of the Maccabees who were a tiny minority of “rebels” – condemned by the “loyalists/pragmatists” – rising against an oppressive super-power. They demonstrated the victory of the few over the many, right over wrong, moral over immoral, truth over lies, faith over cynicism and opportunism. Paul Revere’s nickname was the “modern day Maccabee.”

15. “Chanukah has a special significance in Montana these days. In Billings in 1993, vandals broke windows in homes that were displaying menorahs. In a response organized by local church leaders, more than 10,000 of the city’s residents and shopkeepers put make-shift menorahs in their own windows, to protect the city’s three dozen or so Jewish families. The vandalism stopped” (New York Times, Dec. 4, 2009, Eric Stern, senior counselor to Gov. Brian Schweitzer).