RUTHFULLY YOURS

http://sarahhonig.com/2014/03/23/that-dinner-cancellation/

Just about the only semi-newsworthy report to have emerged out of the latest round in Vienna of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear project is the fact that Iranian foreign minister Muhammad Zarif had cancelled a dinner date with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Viewed against the presumed big picture this is a negligible item, bordering on preoccupation with idle incidentals. Yet, as such, it’s highly significant. It almost goes to show that there’s really no big picture. Supposed talks with Iran continue sporadically and constitute the pretext for alleviating sanctions on the rogue regime’s nuclear ambitions. But in effect, nothing is happening.

Another session of imaginary haggling comes and goes and all that’s left to tell is the fact that Ashton was denied the pleasure of dining with Zarif. The cancellation is her punishment for having, according to the Iranians, “breached protocol” by having hobnobbed with opposition representatives on her recent trip to Tehran. There she effusively tried to curry favor with the powers-that-be and even demonstratively donned a striking black headscarf to both cause no offense and to overenthusiastically ingratiate herself.

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/alaska-2014-candidates-for-congress-where-they-stand?f=must_reads#ixzz3CBffiVDt

To see the actual voting records of all incumbents on other issues such as Foreign Policy, Second Amendment Issues, Homeland Security, and other issues as well as their rankings by special interest groups please use the links followed by two stars (**).
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U.S. Senate

________________________________________
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R) – Next Election 2016

Senator Mark Begich (D) Incumbent

http://www.begich.senate.gov/public/
http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Mark_Begich.htm **
ISSUES: http://www.begich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/issues
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
ECONOMY/JOBS/ENVIRONMENT
Voted For the Keystone Pipeline in March 2013
ALASKA RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Sen. Begich is working to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and provide safe, secure and reliable sources of energy by responsibly developing ANWR, NPR-A and North Slope OCS for Alaska&…
As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Begich is actively pushing the Department of Defense on the need to identify and develop new sources of rare earth materials needed for weapon systems.
One of the biggest hurdles is federal permitting. Senator Begich has pushed federal agencies to streamline and coordinate their permitting processes to give developers a clearer path forward with reasonable requirements.
HOMELAND SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION
In 2013, Begich became chairman of the Subcommittee on Emergency Management, Intergovernmental Relations and the District of Columbia. As chairman of this new subcommittee, working alongside Ranking Member Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Begich oversees agencies and programs critical not just to Alaska but also around the country:
The Federal Emergency Management Administration, including preparation, response, mitigation, and recovery from disasters; Relief funding and efforts for flooding, fisheries and other disaster declarations;
Coordination between the Department of Homeland Security and states, localities, and first responders to prevent and respond to disasters and terrorism; Financial assistance programs related to resilience, disaster prevention, relief and mitigation.
HEALTHCARE
Senator Begich voted for historic health care legislation that achieves the goals he has long supported. The new health care law ensures Alaskans and all Americans will have access to more affordable and reliable health care.

Dan Sullivan (R) Challenger
http://www.sullivan2014.com/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Search&utm_term=Sullivan4Senate&utm_content=Fought for Alaska&utm_campaign=brand
Alaska’s Attorney General and Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, his accomplishments have focused on protecting Alaskans, promoting energy security and economic opportunity, and fighting against federal government overreach.
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
HEALTHCARE
Promoting Affordable Healthcare while Fighting ObamaCare
Access to affordable and quality healthcare is an extremely important issue to Alaskans, and it is critical for policy makers to achieve that goal. At the same time, we must revive our national economy and rein in the trillions of dollars of deficits that the Obama Administration has run over the past five years.
President Obama and Senator Begich have fundamentally changed the American healthcare system for the worse through ObamaCare. Now, as a result of Begich’s decision to cast the deciding vote for ObamaCare, Alaskans are losing their healthcare and facing skyrocketing premiums.
ObamaCare spends trillions of dollars we don’t have, while commandeering one-sixth of our nation’s economy. It also hurts Alaskans by raising taxes on them, escalating insurance premiums, forcing employers to drop coverage and putting the government in between them and their doctor.
As Alaska’s Attorney General, Dan sued to stop ObamaCare. He will continue that fight as your U.S. Senator. It is time to repeal and replace ObamaCare and empower Alaskans to make their own healthcare decisions, not the federal government.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Promoting Responsible Development of Alaska’s Resources
Given Alaska’s world-class resource base and strategic global location, our natural resource potential can lead America into a new era of economic prosperity. As Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, Dan defended the state’s economic interests and worked with the private sector to maximize Alaska’s full economic potential. His work has focused on getting big things done for Alaska, and when necessary, aggressively fighting back against those who try to shutdown or delay economic opportunities for our citizens.
We must take a proactive, results-based strategy to Washington by tackling energy issues at the federal level and capitalizing on the enormous opportunity for development here in Alaska and throughout the rest of the country.
ECONOMY AND FEDERAL OVERREACH
As both Alaska’s Attorney General and as Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, Dan has fought the Obama Administration’s dramatic expansion of the federal government into our lives.
The President Obama-Mark Begich agenda undermines Alaska and America’s future. Dan will make rolling back their agenda his number one priority as Alaska’s U.S. Senator.
Many talk about fighting the Obama Administration, but Dan has been in the arena taking action against this unprecedented overreach.
From taking Alaska’s fight against ObamaCare to the U.S. Supreme Court to challenging the abusive authority of the Environmental Protection Agency, Dan has fought the Obama Administration every step of the way. Remember, the states created the federal government, not vice versa.
CUTTING RED TAPE
Strong economic growth begins with reducing bureaucratic red tape, which is having crippling effects on job growth and small businesses across the country.
Overregulation is an issue that affects Alaskans and Americans every day, particularly in regard to permitting for responsible resource development projects, both small and large. Investors eyeing projects in Alaska and the Lower 48 hesitate to get involved because of the high risk for permitting delays and litigation. And when the Obama Administration discourages those investments and jobs through regulatory burdens, energy and mineral investment opportunities are lost to nations with substandard environmental regulations.
As Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, Dan instituted a comprehensive strategy to reduce red tape and make the state’s permitting system more efficient, timely and certain. As a result, his department reduced a backlog of 2,500 state permits by 40 percent. The Alaska Legislature also passed numerous statutory changes to further improve the state’s permitting system while protecting the environment. This kind of leadership and experience in cutting red tape is needed in Washington.

Congressman at Large
Don Young (R) Incumbent
http://donyoung.house.gov/
http://www.ontheissues.org/house/don_young.htm **
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
http://donyoung.house.gov/issues/
ECONOMY/JOBS/ENVIRONMENT
We must remove harmful government regulations and unnecessary litigation, and begin to develop a comprehensive plan for Alaska’s energy future. Alaska’s energy and economic futures are mutually dependant, because cheap energy brings with it increased industry and jobs. However, in Alaska, we have significant challenges that many in the Lower 48 do not face such as transportation costs and the lack of a widespread electrical grid. Fortunately, Alaska has more energy potential than anywhere else in the U.S.
Our state is diverse, and a one-size-fits-all approach will not work, but certainly regional approaches to Alaska’s energy needs should be pursued. For example, Southeast should never have to burn another gallon of diesel fuel. With the immense hydro potential, we should focus our efforts on a Southeast intertie. Also, the Aleutians have tremendous wind and geothermal potential that has yet to be harnessed to its full potential. An in-state gas-line will allow North Slope gas to supplement Cook Inlet, and allow Anchorage to continue to grow, while also providing Fairbanks with the advantages of cheap natural gas that Anchorage has been solely enjoying for decades. In my view, critical to this plan is a mechanism to separate some natural gas, or a product of natural gas, such as propane, to be packaged in containers and barged to serve the needs of the villages in the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim region. An incremental regional approach is going to be the key to Alaska’s energy future.
HEALTHCARE
I have voted over 40 times to repeal Obamacare. At the same time I am engaging in constant dialogue with my colleagues to find a better way forward in healthcare reform. We as lawmakers must reexamine falling Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement rates and find ways, where fiscally possible, to shift these cost cuts to areas that do not provide to irreplaceable services. We must decrease individuals’ use of health services later in life by improving our healthcare habits and preventative health outreach earlier in life. This should involve empowering states and localities, folks who know what their town needs, with innovative ways to engage youth and educate them on the importance of regular screenings and healthy lifestyle habits.
DEFENSE
It is vital that we provide the best training possible to our men and women in the military. The Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex (JPARC) has the potential to be the premier training grounds for all branches of our military. From the immense air and land space to the water along Alaska’s vast coastline, our troops can work together in joint training operations and prepare for real world war scenarios. It is important, however, that the military not infringe unreasonably on the air and land used by Alaskans to fly to towns and villages, hunt, and enjoy the other outdoor activities for which Alaska is known. The military in Alaska has always been strongly supported by Alaskans across, and I hope that military leaders will take the concerns of Alaskans into consideration as they expand their use of the JPARC facilities.

Forrest Dunbar(D) Challenger
http://www.forrestforalaska.com/

AL DURA

Long Range Ballistic Myth

From the staged “death” of a Palestinian youth to the real threat of an Iranian bomb

Advance praise-

With her expert knowledge of both France and the Middle East, the Paris-based writer Nidra Poller is uniquely positioned to explore the full ramifications of the al-Dura saga from start to finish. This book should be on the reading list of all those interested in the way some Western media manipulate their coverage of Middle East issues under the guise of regular news reporting.Tom Gross former Jerusalem correspondent, The Sunday Telegraph, contributor to The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian

A compelling and incontestable exposé of the propaganda fraud that helped legitimize the Palestinian war of terror (the so-called “al-Aqsa Intifada”) and foment worldwide violence against Israel and Jews. A must read.Professor Efraim Karsh Kings College London and Bar-Ilan University

The images broadcast by France 2 on September 30, 2000, allegedly depicting the murder of Mohamed al-Dura and ominously accusing the IDF of deliberate murder, sparked an unprecedented wave of verbal and physical violence against Jews in Israel and around the world. This violence included the beheading of Daniel Pearl, the lynching of IDF reservists in Ramallah, and the Durban Conference. If a picture is worth a thousand words, Enderlin’s broadcast was worth over a thousand Jewish victims and a vicious defamation campaign against Israel. This blatant case of unethical journalism became an “affair” as Charles Enderlin and his state-funded employer tried to shield themselves, via intimidations and manipulations, from investigation and truth. Nidra Poller’s book sheds light on this dark side of French journalism. With wit, eloquence and facts, Nidra Poller brings a modicum of sanity to a world that badly needs it. Emmanuel Navon Tel Aviv University

This is, to my knowledge, the only comprehensive study of the Al Dura Affair. Nidra Poller follows it day by day, approaching it—as the famous French anthropologist Marcel Mauss would say— as a “total social fact,” the mirror and the microcosm of an entire period, a collective syndrome affecting democratic societies confronted with global jihad. As an American living in France she has the advantage of standing on the front lines in the country most violently struck by the shock of this upheaval. Her book reads like a breathtaking chronicle that traces the chain of events and brings to life the characters of this real life story, gripped by distress in the first decade of the 21st century when the fate of Israel is the barometer of a crisis that is shaking the foundations of democracy. Prof. Shmuel Trigano, Université de Paris 10 Nanterre

Available in print & kindle editions at amazon.com

Available in Kindle edition at amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=al+dura+long+range+ballistic+myth

Print edition forthcoming March 2014

http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/type/frank-gaffney/

Three years ago today, an earthquake-induced tsunami devastated Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power complex. The flooding knocked out power required to cool reactors and their spent fuel pools, causing dangerous – and continuing – radioactive contamination. Unfortunately, unless we act quickly, such a catastrophe is in the cards for America, too.

After the tidal wave flooded over five-hundred square kilometers of the Japanese coast, we learned that those siting the reactors at Fukushima ignored stone markers that had for centuries warned against building anything below the high-water mark of previous tsunamis.

Centuries-old stone tablets can be found along the Japanese coast warning of tsunamis in towns like Aneyoshi, Iwate Prefecture, in northern Japan. One marker reads, “High dwellings are the peace and harmony of our descendants… Remember the calamity of the great tsunamis. Do not build any homes below this point.”

That unheeded warning cost over 19,000 lives and literally incalculable sums. And the price in both can only increase as a result of the difficulties associated with trying to contain the leaking radiation in ground water under the stricken plant. Seawater is sure to flood the same areas again when – not if – future earthquakes trigger additional tsunamis.

http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/2790/Buzz-Words-Hide-Ukraines-Meaning-for-US-and-EU.asp

Reading as widely on Ukraine as possible, I kept wondering why the story wasn’t making sense. Then I realized the buzzwords used to tell the story weren’t adding up.

Here’s what we hear: Democracy in action drove a corrupt leader, whose snipers had fired on protesters in Kiev, to flee Ukraine. Enter Russian forces into Crimea, Ukraine. The “Free World” must now take its stand against the “Russian Bear” for freedom, sovereignty and rule of law, and reject the outcome of an “unconstitutional” referendum in which Russian-majority-Crimea is expected to vote to join Russia. Meanwhile, please inject billions of Western taxpayer dollars and euros into Ukraine.

Mute the rhetoric, though, and it’s hard not to notice that last month, a violent mob and rump parliament ousted the elected Ukrainian president in another “unconstitutional” process better known as a coup. It’s a coup even if Vladimir Putin calls it one, and even if Barack Obama calls it “standing up on behalf of democracy.”

In this way, “democracy,” too, becomes another buzzword. “Democracy,” good; “Putin,” maybe worse than Soviet-era dictators who came before him. (Romanian Communist defector Lt. Gen. Ion Pacepa went so far as to write online at The Blaze: “Russia’s gradual conquest of Ukraine has become the most dangerous challenge to peace and stability in the world since the end of World War II.”) If “democracy” vs. “Putin” is a struggle of the buzzwords, what is it that Washington and Brussels, capital of the European Union, are really supporting in Ukraine?

A good week for Abbas

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=7689

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas must be feeling pretty pleased with himself. In anticipation of his upcoming meeting at the White House, he needed something that would take the heat off PA rejection of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s “framework for peace.”

His prayers to Allah were answered, when two events unfolded that gave him the opportunity to condemn Israel from above the fray.

The first occurred on Monday morning at the Allenby (or King Hussein) Bridge between the West Bank and Jordan. Though details of the event are not entirely clear, what has emerged so far is that 38-year-old Raed Zeiter, a Palestinian judge residing and working in Amman, was killed by Israeli soldiers at the border crossing.

According to witnesses, Zeiter charged at the soldiers with a metal pole, while shouting “Allahu akbar” (“God is great”) and attempting to grab one of their weapons. When a soldier shot him in the leg, Zeiter lunged at and started strangling him. This prompted additional shooting, which led to Zeiter’s death.

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/rich-greens-spend-liberally-to-kill-hated-fossil-fuels?f=puball

“Climate change” historically polls very low, so the Republicans seem not to have noticed that an attack on the American energy revolution is going to be a hot political issue in at least the 2014 elections and probably 2016 as well.

Liberal activist groups have noticed, though, and are raising money, flexing for a game of hardball, already sitting on a win, and setting their sights on a complete victory.

In mid-February, billionaire and major Democratic National Committee donor Tom Steyer held a dinner at his palatial San Francisco home for 70 of his closest friends.

Former Vice President Al Gore was the headliner, and in attendance were Democratic Sens. Harry Reid of Nevada, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland and Mark Udall of Colorado.

Also present was Democratic Rep. Gary Peters, who is running for an open Senate seat in Michigan. League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski and former Sierra Club President Carl Pope circulated among the guests. The event raised more than $400,000 for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

February was a busy month for Mr. Steyer. Early on, he held a similar event for other Democrat high rollers at his ranch in Pescadero, Calif. The New York Times published a long feature on Mr. Steyer that appeared above the fold on the front page.

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/4808/the_double_edged_sword_of_jihad
The Jihad is spinning out of control and many Muslim states are now worried it could come back to hit them. The Saudis especially have played the double game too often. Now, they and others are terrified

Islamic nations are again learning that the jihad is a volatile instrument of war that can easily backfire on those who preach it; that “holy war” is hardly limited to fighting and subjugating “infidels” — whether the West in general, Israel in particular, or the millions of non-Muslim minorities under Islam — but can also be used to fight “apostates,” that is, Muslims accused of not being Islamic enough.

In an unprecedented move and following Egypt’s lead, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain recently withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar, largely due to its Al Jazeera propaganda network which, since the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood, has been inciting chaos in the region.

According to a March 7 Reuters report:

“Saudi Arabia has formally designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, in a move that could increase pressure on Qatar whose backing for the group has sparked a row with fellow Gulf monarchies….

“Saudi Arabia and the UAE are fuming over Qatar’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood, and resent the way Doha has sheltered influential cleric Yusuf Qaradawi, a critic of the Saudi authorities, and given him regular airtime on its pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera.”

Qaradawi, of course, has been an Al Jazeera mainstay for many years, regularly preaching jihad against Israel and other “infidels”– telling millions of Muslim viewers to “obey the prophet, even if he tells you to kill.”

Back then, Qaradawi was not a problem for the Gulf States.

However, since the Egyptian June 30 Revolution saw the ousting and subsequent banning of the Muslim Brotherhood, and ever since the Brotherhood’s supporters — chief among them Qaradawi, through his Al Jazeera program — have been inciting violence in the region, especially in Egypt and Syria, the jihad is spinning out of control; and the Gulf monarchs know that, if not contained and directed, it can easily reach them.

For if jihadis are fighting fellow Muslims in Egypt and Syria — under the accusation that they are not “true” Muslims — what is to stop them from targeting the Gulf monarchies in the same context?

Thus, although the Saudis originally promoted the jihad against the Syrian government — sending and supporting militants, both Saudi and otherwise — in a complete reverse, the Arabian kingdom has just designated several of these jihadi organizations, including the Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant, as “terrorist” organizations.

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/4810/egypt_miracle_hepatitis_hiv_cure_farce_continues
The incoherent mess that is the Egyptian coup leaders’ attempt to cling on to their claims to have invented a miracle cure for HIV and Hepatitis keeps on getting worse

According to Dr. George Lakoff, a distinguished professor of cognitive science, health means life. If you have a serious illness or injury, and cannot get it treated adequately, you die. And tens of millions, of course, do.

Health denotes freedom. Life and freedom are real moral issues. And therefore health is a moral mission of the highest order, as Dr. Lakoff states. Moreover, health is a patriotic issue. Health security is a problem for far more Egyptians than military security. Everyone can understand that.

When you lie to the people about their health, you represent a very real terror. You kill not just the body but also the soul.

And so we return to the farcical claims by the Egyptian coup leaders a short while ago that they had found a miracle cure for HIV and Hepatitis C. They’re still forlornly holding on to their claims, but they can’t quite hold the line, even in their own media.

Two days ago, Egypt’s national newspaper Al-Akhbar ran a jubilant news story saying:

“Immediately after the Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces announced its device for treating HIV and Hepatitis C, local and international reactions began to come through; for example, the device-inventing team has been invited to give a talk on the mechanism of the machine at the International Conference on Viruses that will be held in China from 26-29 June.”

The whole world is in awe of the coup leaders’ breakthrough!

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/janet-tassel/the-israeli-solution-2/print/

Reprinted from The American Thinker.

To Caroline Glick, senior contributing editor at the Jerusalem Post, the concept of a “two-state solution,” carving an invented state of Palestine from the tiny body of Israel and hopefully expecting the two resulting entities to live in harmony is, at best, a “chimera.” Worse, it is a “humiliating, dangerous nightmare”; and worst of all, it spells the end of Israel.

What Glick proposes in her provocative new book, The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East, (available March 4) is to brush away the web of mischief, ignorance, deceit and hatred that surrounds the “peace plan,” and with newfound clarity, get rid of the misbegotten thing entirely. In its place, she proposes a one-state plan, the one state being Israel.

In Glick’s own words:

The Israeli one-state plan entails the application of Israeli law– and through it, Israeli sovereignty– over the west bank of the Jordan River: the area that, from biblical times through the 1950s, was known to the world as Judea and Samaria. In Israel, Judea and Samaria remain the terms used to refer to the territory….

Judea and Samaria are the terms she uses throughout. Israel having withdrawn from Gaza in 2005, Glick does not include Gaza in her plan, nor does she believe, for legal and strategic reasons, that it should be reabsorbed into Israel. Her one-state solution, the application of Israeli law and sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, which is “based on actual Israeli rights rather than fictitious Israeli culpability,”

would liberate Israel to craft coherent strategies for contending with the…evolving regional threat and the international assault on its right to exist….Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria will increase the security of all. It will transform the region from one governed alternatively by a military government and a terrorist kleptocracy into one governed by a unified, liberal rule of law.