Displaying posts published in

2013

THE CONNECTICUT JEWISH LEDGER RESPONDS TO THE PEW POLL ****

http://www.jewishledger.com/2013/11/doom-and-gloom-or-rich-opportunity/

Now that the dust has settled a bit on the Pew Research Center’s “A Portrait of Jewish Americans,” it’s time to see how Jewish Connecticut is responding.

Conducted between February and June, this is the most comprehensive national survey of the Jewish population since the 2000-2001 National Jewish Population Survey conducted by United Jewish Communities (now Jewish Federations of North America). More than 70,000 screening interviews were conducted to identify Jewish respondents in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Longer interviews were completed with 3,475 Jews, including 2,786 Jews by religion and 689 Jews of no religion. While many communities are taking steps to incorporate the findings of the Pew study into their programming, not everyone accepts the findings as gospel, so to speak. In short, the study has its detractors.

While respondents overwhelmingly reported that they are proud to be Jewish and have a strong sense of belonging to the Jewish people, the survey also suggests that Jewish identity is changing in America, where one in five Jews (22 percent) now describe themselves as having no religion.

The survey explored identity, intermarriage, religious beliefs and practices, attitudes toward Israel and the Holocaust, and social and political views. The entire report is available at pewforum.org.

The Ledger asked representatives of Connecticut’s Jewish communities to weigh in on how the findings impact upon their respective constituencies and future plans. Several responded.

After Kerry Briefing, Senators Slam White House Over “Chamberlain”-Style Iran Deal & “Anti-Israel” Statements

 http://www.thetower.org/kerry-briefing-senators-slam-white-house-chamerlain-style-iran-deal-anti-israel-statements/ Senators walked out of a Banking Committee briefing given by Secretary of State John Kerry this afternoon expressing renewed dissatisfaction with the administration’s approach to negotiations with Iran, and blasting administration officials for attacking the credibility and concerns of both of U.S. allies and of other U.S. lawmakers. Speaking on his way out of […]

DANIEL MANDEL: NO OFFENSE? THE REFUSAL TO RECOGNIZE ANTI-SEMITISM

http://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/2013/11/no-offense/?utm_source=Mosaic+Daily+Email&utm_campaign=f9e49ff987-Mosaic_2013_11_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0b0517b2ab-f9e49ff987-41165129 Blood libels against Jews have been with us from time immemorial. Last week, one occurred in a Swedish tabloid, Aftonbladet, where it was falsely claimed that Israeli troops were murdering Palestinians and harvesting their organs. Rejecting Israeli calls for official condemnation, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt retorted that freedom of expression had to be protected and that […]

SRI LANKA ACCUSED OF WAR CRIMES- 40,000 TAMIL CIVILIANS WERE KILLED……SEE NOTE PLEASE

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/we-have-nothing-to-hide-sri-lanka-declares-ahead-of-chogm/story-e6frg6so-1226760003852

JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL HYPOCRISY WHEN IT COMES TO ISRAEL….JOHN KERRY MADE A “CAREFULLY WORDED” STATEMENT ON THIS IN MARCH :”the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry did not fail to recognize that Sri Lanka is in fact “on the path toward lasting peace and prosperity following decades of civil war and instability”. AND HILLARY CLINTON IN 2012 AS SEC. OF STATE…URGED SRI LANKA TO “CREDIBLY INVESTIGATE CHARGES”…..BUT JUST MENTION ISRAELI “SETTLEMENTS” AND THEY GO BALLISTIC…..RSK
SRI Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse says he’s ready to defend his country against allegations of war crimes raised at this week’s commonwealth summit, saying it had “nothing to hide”.

Tony Abbott and other commonwealth leaders are under pressure to raise concerns about Sri Lanka’s human rights record at the Colombo summit, which is already being boycotted by leaders from Canada, India and Mauritius.

But, speaking on the eve of the 53-member group’s summit, Mr Rajapakse said: “We are very open, we have nothing to hide.”

Mr Rajapakse said he was ready to meet British Prime Minister David Cameron to discuss allegations that up to 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians were killed by Sri Lankan forces in the closing stages of the civil war in the island’s north.

“I will be meeting him and we will see what, I will also have to ask some questions,” he said.

Mr Rajapakse, who was elected president of the former British colony in 2005, mounted a stout defence of his administration’s handling of allegations of rights abuses.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: JUMPING OFF THE GLOBAL TIGER’S BACK

The Obama administration has little interest in world leadership. http://www.nationalreview.com/node/363895/print The United States has ridden — and tamed — the wild global tiger since the end of World War II. The frantic ride has been dangerous, to us, but a boon to humanity. At the same time, America’s leadership role has been misrepresented and misunderstood […]

JONAH GOLDBERG: OBAMACARE SCHADENFREUDARAMA ****

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/363907/obamacare-schadenfreudarama-jonah-goldberg It feels pretty good to watch the whole thing fail. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, you’d have to have a heart of stone not to laugh at the unraveling of Obamacare. First, the obligatory caveats. It is no laughing matter that millions of Americans’ lives have been thrown into anxious chaos as they lose their […]

DAVID BOYER: DEMOCRATS IN DISTRESS….SEE NOTE PLEASE

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/13/healthcaregov-unlikely-be-running-end-month-deadli/

IN SPITE OF THE PANIC MAYBE THE GOP WILL GIVE SENATORS TED CRUZ AND MIKE LEE A LITTLE PRAISE…..THEY STARTED THE PUSH BACK….RSK

The White House scrambled Wednesday to find solutions for the glaring failures in Obamacare as rebellious congressional Democrats pressured the administration over their increasing political predicament.

In a closed-door meeting at the Capitol, House Democrats blasted administration officials over their handling of the Obamacare rollout, and the White House’s failure to address Mr. Obama’s broken promise to Americans that they could keep their health insurance plans.

Top Senate Democrats, meanwhile, were giving more support to a legislative proposal that would allow people to keep their insurance plans. The White House said the proposal from Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, Louisiana Democrat, has more merit than a House Republican plan scheduled for a vote Friday.

Presidential aides wouldn’t commit to a specific fix.

Numbers Aren’t Adding Up for ObamaCare By Arnold Ahlert

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/arnold-ahlert/numbers-arent-adding-up-for-obamacare/print/ The Obama administration did its best to inflate the number of ObamaCare enrollees yesterday, but it’s clear even the administration’s most vigorous efforts have fallen painfully short. The initial announcement made at 3:30 p.m. EST revealed that 106,185 people nationwide had “selected” an ObamaCare health insurance plan. The word “selected” is critical here, because the administration was forced […]

DANIEL GREENFIELD: IF YOU LIKE YOUR FOOD YOU CAN KEEP YOUR FOOD

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/if-you-like-your-food-you-can-keep-your-food/print/ Food prices have been steadily rising under Obama. The price of a pound of potatoes has gone up by a third, the price of a gallon of milk has increased by a fifth and the price of a 5lb bag of flour has gone up by a dollar. Bacon was at $3.60 a lb […]

Think ObamaCare Is Bad Now? It Gets Worse Next Year : Betsy McCaughey ****

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/think-obamacare-is-bad-now-it-gets-worse-next-year?f=puball ‘Substandard” and “cut-rate” is what President Obama calls the health plans that millions of Americans have lost, even though they wanted to keep them. Backpedaling on his promise that “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan,” Obama is now telling Americans another whopper: The insurance they can get on ObamaCare exchanges is […]