RUTHFULLY YOURS

HOW MAYOR BLOOMBERG FUNDS AL QAEDA

New York has the highest cigarette tax rate of any state, and nearly two-thirds of the state’s cigarette market is illegal, announced the think tank Tax Foundation on Thursday.

In New York City the tax rate is even higher, adding another $1.50 per pack to the state rate. It’s not uncommon for smokers to pay $12 for a pack.

Large scale cigarette smuggling networks in New York State are dominated by tight knit nationality-based networks, primarily families through blood or marriage of Lebanese, Yemeni, Jordanian and Palestinian descent.

Federal and New York State law enforcement officials estimate that nearly 60 percent of all convenience retail outlets in New York City are now Arab-owned, and with the Arab networks compartmentalized by ethnicity and family ties, the risk of infiltration by law enforcement is minimal.

In total, law enforcement officials in New York State estimate that well-organized cigarette smuggling networks generate between $200,000 – $300,000 per week. A large percentage of the money is believed to be sent back to the Middle East where it directly or indirectly finances groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Al Qaeda.

…maybe they can get into large sodas next.

3 Out of 5 Cigarettes Sold in State With Highest Cigarette Taxes are Smuggled

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/ LET’S GET RIGHT TO THE POINT While the White House was busy drafting proposals to ban assault rifles, the last of the regulations imposed on Saudi travel to the United States after September 11 were being taken apart. While some government officials were busy planning how to disarm Americans, other officials were negotiating the […]

Concern in Cairo The latest news from Cairo is that ousted president Hosni Mubarak is to face trial all over again, both on charges from which he was acquitted a year ago (corruption) and on those he was convicted on (the killing of demonstrators). The retrial was ordered speedily, even strangely, by the standards of […]

NY Times’ Kristof: AIPAC and NRA Are Like Pigs Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times columnist for more than a dozen years, has made a name for himself as a defender of social justice causes such as poverty, gender injustice and, in particular, the brutal mass murders that have taken place in Sudan. Kristof is […]

http://nsroundtable.org/as-we-see-it/our-trusted-friends/

The symbolism here could have been so much more poignant had this agreement (see below) been signed on 9/11 but, alas, Homeland Security Secertary Janet Napolitano probably had her hands full this past September 11th. That was when the Benghazi debacle was unfolding.

So little time, so many debacles to deal with…

U.S-Saudi ‘Trusted Traveler’ Deal to Accelerate Airport Screening

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/18/261067.html
Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Mohammed bin Naif and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano signed the Trusted Traveller deal on Jan. 16, 2013. (Photo courtesy of Arab News)

Saudi Arabia and the United States have signed a “Trusted Traveler” agreement to facilitate and accelerate the trusted passenger screening on the principle of reciprocity in both Saudi and U.S. airports.

The Saudi state agency reported that Minister of Interior Prince Mohammed bin Naif and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano “signed an agreement on arrangements relating to the implementation of a program of the ‘Trusted Traveler’ between the two countries.”

According to the agreement U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s trusted traveler program, Global Entry, will be implemented. Global Entry streamlines the screening process at airports for trusted travelers, allowing customs authorities to focus on those travelers they know less about, in order to more effectively identify potential threats and keep our borders and country secure.

“I am proud of the bond between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and today’s meeting marks another major step forward in our partnership,” said Secretary Napolitano. “By enhancing collaboration with the Government of Saudi Arabia, we reaffirm our commitment to more effectively secure our two countries against evolving threats while facilitating legitimate trade and travel.”

Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Naif and Secretary Napolitano also released a joint statement affirming ongoing cooperation on cybercrime, maritime security and infrastructure protection, and cooperation on cyber security, which is critical to both nations’ economic competitiveness and national security.

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=299980

If integrity is a necessary quality for reputable journalism, Jeffrey Goldberg’s recent column is a disgrace to his profession – and an insult to Israelis’ intelligence.

The [E1] construction project is of great significance for Israel’s interests. I would like to see the entire neighborhood, encompassing thousands of housing units, completed in order to ensure contiguity between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim. – the late Gideon Ezra, public security minister in Ehud Olmert’s government, March 14, 2006

It is unthinkable that we would talk about Ma’aleh Adumim as part of the State of Israel and leave it as an island or isolated enclave. It is absolutely clear that there will be built-up continuity between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim – Ehud Olmert, then acting prime minister, in a pre-election interview, March 10, 2006

And these are the main changes, not all of them, which we envision and want in the permanent solution: … First and foremost, united Jerusalem, which will include both Ma’aleh Adumim and Givat Ze’ev – as the capital of Israel, under Israeli sovereignty – Yitzhak Rabin, in his last address to the Knesset seeking ratification of Oslo II, October 5, 1995

I apologize to my readers if the tone of this column is more abrasive that usual. But Jeffrey Goldberg’s column this week (January 14) published by Bloomberg titled “Obama: Israel Doesn’t Know What Its Best Interests Are,” is so infuriatingly impudent, so deceptively disingenuous, so maliciously misleading, so pretentiously pompous that it strains the bounds of civility to almost impossible limits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR3-sczuyZU
PLEASE ALSO READ: GUSH ETZION BY RUTH KING

http://www.mideastoutpost.com/archives/gush-etzion-by-ruth-king.html

Toldot Yisrael (http://www.toldotyisrael.org) presents the tragic yet inspiring story of the 35 Haganah soldiers who gave their lives in January 1948 trying to bring much needed supplies to the kibbutzim in the besieged Etzion Bloc south of Jerusalem .

“I don’t know if there was any company in the Israel Defense Forces or in any army in the world that assembled such splendid manpower, pure bravery, and spiritual abundance as this company, who will forever be known by our people as the “lamed hey” (the thirty-five)…These lions of Israel were a mix of youthful spirit and glory, superior wisdom…and bravery fiercer than death.”
– David Ben Gurion

This movie is the fourth episode in the “Eyewitness 1948” short film series produced by Toldot Yisrael and was generously sponsored by the Alexander Family in memory of Shaul Pnueli, one of the fallen.

Producer
Eric Halivni (Weisberg)

Director and Editor
Tal Ella

Production and Cinematography
Peleg Levy

Narrator
Michael Greenspan

Editor
Dikla Shitrit

Original Score and Sound Editor
Uri Kalian

http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2013/01/does_a_film_mirror_americas_future_a_review_of_barbara.html The horrors of living in communist East Germany in the 1980s are subtly and exquisitely conveyed in the 2012 German drama Barbara, written and directed by Christian Petzold. Watching this film, I was reminded of Eva Hoffman’s introduction to Exit into History, wherein she writes: “And if story is closer to history in Eastern […]

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/338122/mccain-s-mideast-blunders-andrew-c-mccarthy

GOP AND THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD…..McCAIN OR BACHMANN

I wonder if the jihadists of eastern Libya are still “heroes” to John McCain. That’s what he called them — “my heroes” — after he changed on a dime from chummy Qaddafi tent guest to rabid Qaddafi scourge.

See, the senator and his allies in the Obama-Clinton State Department had a brilliant notion: The reason the “rebels” of eastern Libya hated America so much had nothing to do with their totalitarian, incorrigibly anti-Western ideology. No, no: The problem was that we sided with Qaddafi, giving the dictator — at the insistence of, well, McCain and the State Department — foreign aid, military assistance, and international legitimacy. If we just threw Qaddafi under the bus, the rebels would surely become our grand democratic allies.

This, of course, was a much more sophisticated theory than you’d get from lunatics like Michele Bachmann. Sit down for this, because I know it’s hard to believe anyone could spout such nutter stuff, but Bachmann actually opposed U.S. intervention in Libya. She claimed — stop cackling! — that many of McCain’s heroes might actually be jihadists ideologically hostile to the U.S. and linked to groups such as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the terror enterprise’s North African franchise. She even thought — yeah, I know, crazy — that if Qaddafi were deposed, the heroes would get their hands on his arsenal, ship a lot of it to AQIM havens in places such as Mali and Algeria, and maybe even turn rebel strongholds such as Benghazi into death traps for Americans.

Good thing we listened to McCain, no?

This week, while the guys the senator and the Obama administration aligned us with in Libya (and would like to align us with in Syria) were busy taking Americans and other foreigners hostage in Algeria, in addition to using Qaddafi’s arsenal to fight the French in Mali, McCain was working his magic in Cairo.

An unfortunate hiccup: McCain and his entourage, including fellow Libya hawk Lindsey Graham, showed up on President Mohamed Morsi’s doorstep just as it was revealed that Morsi, while a top Muslim Brotherhood official in 2010, had inveighed against Jews, calling them “blood-suckers” and “the descendants of apes and pigs” and claiming it was incumbent on Egyptians to “nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred” toward them.

ALAS…THIS WONDERFUL SITE OF BREAKING NEWS IS BEING DISCONTINUED….RSK
http://times247.com/
Thomas: Obama acting like imperial president
Townhall
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Commentary
At his news conference Monday, a petulant, threatening and confrontational President Obama spoke like an emperor or supreme ruler. All that was missing was a scepter, a crown and a robe trimmed in ermine. Read more…

Read more: http://times247.com/#ixzz2IL4lUsCp
Report: 30 hostages killed, 22 missing in Algeria
Reuters
Friday, January 18, 2013
News
At least 22 foreign hostages were unaccounted for on Friday and their al Qaeda-linked captors threatened to attack other energy installations after Algerian forces stormed a desert gas complex to free hundreds of captives, resulting in dozens of deaths. Read more…

Read more: http://times247.com/#ixzz2IL43Adoj
Lawmaker rips program promoting Islamic culture
Fox News
Thursday, January 17, 2013
News
Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., is denouncing the use of federal dollars to “promote the rich cultural heritage of Islamic civilizations.” Read more…

Read more: http://times247.com/#ixzz2IL4ZHLRM