RUTHFULLY YOURS

http://www.jewishideasdaily.com/content/module/2012/1/6/main-feature/1/the-whole-damn-deal/e

On April 2, 1979, President Jimmy Carter recorded in his diary that he had asked Robert S. Strauss to be his Mideast peace negotiator. Strauss answered, “I’ve never even read the Bible. And I’m a Jew.” Observance-wise, Bob Strauss, who spent 50 years as a consummate practitioner of American politics, wasn’t much of a Jew. Yet his outsized career paints a surprisingly familiar portrait of Jews in post-World War II America.

There is an excellent recent biography of Strauss titled The Whole Damn Deal—which is what Strauss always said when he was asked what he liked best about his career. Strauss was inclined to like things. His father Karl—Charlie, after he immigrated from Germany in 1906—was a traveling salesman who reached West Texas, married, and went to work in his father-in-law’s dry goods store. Young Strauss was raised in a town with two Jewish families. He experienced his only moment of religious exclusion when the local minister told him why he couldn’t be president of the Baptist Young People’s Union.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.042127e01fad2e1d10d2684b82ca74ff.31&show_article=1
Iraq grapples with political tension as bombs kill 68
WHEN DO WE CALL A FLOP A FLOP. THE WAR WE WAGED AND COULD NOT WIN…..RSK

Iraq faces calls to end a political stand-off after a wave of attacks against Shiite Muslimskilled at least 68 people, the worst toll in nearly five months.

The violence, which wounded more than 100, comes two weeks after a crisis erupted when the Shiite-led authorities charged Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi with running a hit squad soon after US troops pulled out.

The US and the European Union swiftly condemned the attacks.

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/61425/twitter-fails-act-over-ed-miliband-lookalikes-anti-israel-death-threats

● A Jerusalem-based lawyer has claimed that Twitter is providing services to groups such as Hizbollah.

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who specialises in cases against terror groups, said that the company could be violating US law.

Although Hizbollah does not have an official Twitter account, that of the Al-Manar TV network, which Hizbollah controls, has 7,500 followers.

● Twitter users in Israel are only able to select “Palestinian Territories” when listing their location.

Users can choose a location using their mobile phones. But anyone wanting to choose Israel finds a drop-down menu which offers only “Palestinian Territories”.

Twitter says: “We list countries where we’ve launched SMS with at least one operator. We’ve been in touch with operators in Israel but haven’t yet been able to launch SMS there. So it’s not included on the list.”

Twitter fails to act over Ed Miliband lookalike’s anti-Israel death threats

The international social networking site Twitter has provoked fury after refusing to act against a user responsible for a stream of death threats and antisemitic abuse. Shereef Abdallah, who advertises himself as an Ed Miliband lookalike and claims to have worked on the Labour leader’s election camp, began by targeting people identified as supporters of Tony Blair. He has since widened his online attacks to anyone who challenges him.

http://news.investors.com/Article/596910/201201051902/obamas-banana-republic-abuse-of-power.htm

Constitution: President Obama’s nonrecess “recess appointments” can’t be excused as over-the-top electioneering. This president has crossed over from socialistic extremism into lawlessness and, perhaps, impeachability.

The U.S. Constitution established a strong presidency — so strong that even one of the most esteemed founding fathers, Patrick Henry, worried it would be kinglike. But this week saw a president exceed even those broad constitutional powers because doing so fits his election-year narrative of a “do-nothing Congress” so well.

Now we have the makings of a banana republic, where the rule of clearly written constitutional law is compromised by a ruler’s subjective whim.

The Constitution is crystal clear on the recess appointment authority of the president.

“The president shall have power,” Article II, section 2 states, “to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.”

The Senate has not been in recess. And Congress’ authority over when it is and isn’t in recess is no small matter of parliamentary procedure. Rather, it is a power the Framers explicitly bestowed in Article I, Section 5:

“Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days.”

Yet Obama on Wednesday, with no recess in effect and against the publicly stated position of his own Justice Department, made four “recess appointments.”

Former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray was named head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — a new, intrusive federal agency established last year by the Dodd-Frank law — and three spots on the National Labor Relations Board were filled……READ MORE AT SITE

http://times247.com/ Deadly gunfire sprays Nigerian church, killing 5 AP Thursday, January 5, 2012 News Gunmen attacked a church in northeast Nigeria during a prayer service Thursday night, killing at least five people and wounding others in an assault that occurred amid an increasingly violent campaign by a radical Muslim sect.  Read Read more at: http://times247.com/ […]

http://www.stonegateinstitute.org/2734/criminalize-free-speech

The European Union has offered to host the next meeting of the so-called Istanbul Process, an aggressive effort by Muslim countries to make it an international crime to criticize Islam.

The announcement comes less than one month after the United States hosted its own Istanbul Process conference in Washington, DC.

The Istanbul Process – its explicit aim is to enshrine in international law a global ban on all critical scrutiny of Islam and/or Islamic Sharia law – is being spearheaded by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a bloc of 57 Muslim countries.

Based in Saudi Arabia, the OIC has long pressed the European Union and the United States to impose limits on free speech and expression about Islam.

But the OIC has now redoubled its efforts and is engaged in a determined diplomatic offensive to persuade Western democracies to implement United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) Resolution 16/18, which calls on all countries to combat “intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of … religion and belief.” (Analysis of the OIC’s war on free speech can be found here and here.)

http://townhall.com/columnists/dianawest/2012/01/06/gop_candidates_walk_a_tightrope_on_iraq/print

On Dec. 31, 2011, Iraq’s Nouri al-Maliki declared a national holiday to celebrate the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Funny way to say “thank you” for all the blood and treasure, no?

No mention, huh? I guess it was just a trillion-dollar mirage, a figment, a never-never fantasy best dropped from speeches, polite conversation, maybe history books. Then again, silence suits the American political classes fine. Amazingly, following the U.S. withdrawal, the questions, “What was that all about?” or, “What went wrong in Iraq?” or even, “Did something go wrong in Iraq?” (never mind, “What is going wrong in Afghanistan?”) don’t rise even to the level of conversation-enders. They don’t rise, period, not even among GOP presidential candidates, beyond the odd sound bite.

Famously, of course, Ron Paul calls for withdrawal of U.S. troops everywhere, a rollback of the international security force the U.S. military has become, certainly since entering World War II. While Paul’s constitutional position is strong, his misunderstanding of Islam undermines his rationale for me; indeed, it transforms his policy into submission. The aftermath of withdrawal under a Paul presidency could be as dangerous as it would be under more Obama.

I support withdrawal from guaranteed recidivist hellholes such as Iraq and Afghanistan as a means to shore up the wall against the spread of Shariah (Islamic law) in the West rather than, in effect, continuing to fight/accommodate Shariah culture in the Islamic world. This is a no-win struggle in which only a see-no-Shariah utopian could still engage. It is this Islam-blind engagement that is the simple but devastating flaw of the Bush-Obama counterinsurgencies (COIN). But it continues to get a national pass.

http://townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/2012/01/06/obamas_superczar_is_on_the_loose/print

Here is the operating motto of the Obama White House: “So let it be written, so let it be done!” Like Yul Brynner’s Pharaoh Ramses character in Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments,” the demander in chief stands with arms akimbo issuing daily edicts to his constitution-subverting minions with an imperious wave of his hand. His entourage of insatiable usurpers never rests.

Can’t delude legislators into adopting a $1.5 billion Kabuki summer-jobs makework boondoggle? Create an unfunded program through executive fiat.

Can’t muster up a filibuster-proof majority for radical nominees? Czar-ify ’em.

Can’t get Congress to approve vast wild lands designations? Grab them under cover of a holiday lame-duck session.

Can’t get the illegal alien bailout DREAM Act passed on Capitol Hill? Executive-order it.

“So let it be written, so let it be done!”

markdurie.com blog

Outlawry in Egypt: the disturbing case of Sayyid Al-Qemany, friend of freedom

Things are not going well for lovers of freedom in Egypt.
Egypt is under a moral and spiritual siege. Freedom of speech is deteriorating rapidly, because of rather than in spite of the ‘Arab Spring’. A recent incident illustrates the critical state of affairs for free-thinking Egyptians.

Sayyid Al-Qemany is a well-known 64 year old prize-winning intellectual and writer on religious and political topics who has emphasised the importance of critical thinking, and opposed Islamic radicalism. He has argued for the separation of religion and state and demanded the repeal of article 2 of the Egyptian Constitution, which stipulates that the Islamic sharia is the main source of the nation’s legislation.

Al-Qemany identifies as a Muslim, but believes the Islamic faith should apply to the domain of personal belief and sacred ritual, not politics. He has also pointed out that not all the verses of the Qur’an are applicable today – such as laws permitting slavery and concubinage – and some are not even followed in any Islamic jurisdiction in the modern world.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-brothers-crowned-world-debating-champions-1.405442

Israeli brothers crowned world debating champions
Omer and Sella Nevo secure Israeli title at world university debating championships for third year in a row.

By Riva Gold

The Israeli team won the World University Debating Championships in the category of the English as a Second Language on Tuesday, securing the title for the third year in a row.Tel Aviv University students and brothers Omer Nevo, 26, and Sella Nevo, 22, traveled to Manila and brought home the gold as the first-place team and the first and second-place ESL speakers, respectively.

Israeli brothers, Sella and Omer Nevo, hold their trophy after winning the World University Debating Championships in Manila on January 3, 2012. Photo courtesy of the Nevo brothers

In their final round, the two mathematics and computer science students beat out teams from Malaysia, Berlin, and the Netherlands in a debate that was streamed live online.

In addition to winning the championship, the Nevo brothers broke a record by collecting the most points in the preliminary rounds and narrowly missing the non-ESL octofinal rounds.