Well, they tried…

Hamas has decided that, “we don’t need your stinkin stuff” - except that it was thier stuff…

Jerusalem (CNN) — Israel has attempted to deliver humanitarian aid from an international flotilla to Gaza, but Hamas — which controls the territory — has refused to accept the cargo, the Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday.

Palestinian sources confirmed that trucks that arrived from Israel at the Rafah terminal at the Israel-Gaza border were barred from delivering the aid.

20 trucks of stuff. From the same flotilla that was looking for a fight - and got one. Except they lost.

Again.

Oh wait…. you didn’t know about this? It was on CNN!

And before all the wailing, anguish, and deaths of “innocents”, there was the parents of Gilad Schalit�(remember Gilad? - the Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas four years ago?)begging for help just to get letters and food packages to him via the so-called activists.

The “Free Gaza” morons would have nothing to do with it.

The Schalit family on Thursday asked for assistance from international left-wing activists due to arrive in the Gaza Strip later in the day.If the left-wing activists pressure Hamas to allow international organizations to bring letters and food packages to Gilad Schalit, the kidnapped soldier’s family has agreed to support the international expedition’s attempt to dock, Army Radio reported Thursday.

Lawyer Nick Kaufman presented the offer to the organization “Free Gaza,” one of the organizers of the flotilla headed for Gaza, which promptly refused the offer. �

�

Note that the flotilla wound up with 20 trucks of stuff that Hamas refused. But CNN didn’t mention this jewel:

�This flotilla is a provocation that is not needed considering the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which is stable and good,� said Col. Moshe Levi, commander of the IDF�s Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration. Levi said that 100 trucks, loaded with supplies, enter Gaza on a daily basis, and that in the past two months over 1,200 tons of medical supplies were transferred to the Strip.

100 trucks a day. And the ya-ya wankers from Free Gaza not only wouldn’t give the Schalit family a mention, they went looking for a fight. And now they have Iranian Republican Guard weenies coming to their rescue.

What could possibly go wrong?

June 15th, 2010 Posted by bit | Getting it Right | post comments

An Opportunty for States Rights

Finally.

Who would have thought that the “Health Care” demagogues would have to fight the states instead of the Repubs. I’m a little relieved that there’s at least one more front that has to be conquered before the Alinsky tactits of forced subservience can prevail.

From the Alabama Policy Institute:

The Alabama Policy Institute commends A:labama State Rep. Mac Gipson, R-Prattville, and State Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, for their prefiling and introduction of a constitutional amendment to protect the right of individuals to make their own health care choices. The Alabama Health Care Freedom Act will be introduced in the regular session of the Alabama Legislature which starts on Jan. 12, 2010. A constitutional amendment requires the Legislature to pass and then voter approval.

Rep. Gipson’s constitutional amendment says, in part, “In order to preserve the freedom of all residents of Alabama to provide for their own health care, a law or rule shall not compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer, or health care provider to participate in any health care system - the purchase or sale of health insurance in private health care systems shall not be prohibited by law or rule “.

“I believe we all recognize the need to help make health insurance more affordable and accessible for more people” said Rep. Gipson. “However, creating new mandates for individuals and employers will not reduce costs or increase competition; it will trample on the rights of individuals to make their own health care choices and hurt our economy” he asserted.

Sen. Beason said, “I believe Rep. Gipson is right in saying this amendment, if passed, gives us a vehicle for a constitutional and legal challenge on the proper roles of the federal government towards the states. Also, I don’t want government bureaucracies coming between my family’s decisions with doctors.

Bully for them. Next year will be more than interesting.

November 10th, 2009 Posted by bit | Getting it Right | post comments

Uncle Jimbo on Blackfive

Uncle Jimbo goes a little too far in suggesting that Cliff May from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies put a beat down on Jon Stewart. It was more akin to what one commenter described - they had a spirited debate. In the end Jon Stewart did what he usually does and that is constantly interrupting the debate with his own innuendo and lazy morals. But the post is an interesting one and the comments section is a learning experience. There are two video’s of the debate and are worth watching if for no other reason than to see how Stewart has left the comedy circuit and tried to vainly enter the left wing morals market.

The discussion that was supposed to take place revolved around torture (and the “memos”) and includes the condemnation of the US dropping the bombs on Japan that ended WWII. The comments section dissected that era also. Have fun.

April 30th, 2009 Posted by bit | Getting it Right | post comments

The Bingo War

First, I’m not a big fan of casino’s. I’m not suggestting they’re a bad thing - I’m just not a fan. Sort of like not eating boiled okra but fried is fine.

That being said, I’d like to point you to a revealing article by the editor of Birmingham’s Black&White City Paper - the free newsprint that generally contains all the events going on in and around Birmingham. In addition to the events, there is generally quite a good representation of the political situation in several articles.

The editor, Chuck Geiss, has done quite a story on the bingo issue that Alabama is dealing with in the Legislature. For those of you outside of Alabama (and those in Alabama who just don’t keep up), there is a move to “legalize” bingo in the Legislature (i.e. - read tax) and let the public vote on the issue. Whether it makes it out of the Legislature is not clear as of today. That could all change tomorrow. But the Chuck Geiss article ought to be required reading for anyone who wants to actually be informed on this issue.

This is the lead-in to the rest of the story:

There appears to be a plethora of deceit, strong arm tactics, and self serving banishments in other areas of the state so that success is limited to those areas where the proponents want success to be - and specifically not anywhere else. And it’s all for education - a suspect, repeatable argument that is used to sway anyone who has kids in public schools. Alabama schools are not at the top of any national list nor are they at they bottom - though they haven’t been far at times. Alabama has school funding issues as does every state. And, perhaps in the future, there is gambling to help out that budget. Critics of gambling for education point out that Georgia, where the lottery has funded college education for years, has the same issues as everyone else these days. Maybe. But if they’re still funding college education for students who are making the grade in high school, they’re doing better than we are - much better.

But that’s not what Chuck Geiss’s editorial is focused on. It’s an eye-opening look at what is being requested and what is being denied - the latter being a larger issue.

Have a read or pick up the paper. It’s free.

April 17th, 2009 Posted by bit | Getting it Right | post comments

Wonder what the ACLU is gonna do about this?

From the Long War Journal:

DC court finds Gitmo detainee properly held

By Thomas JoscelynApril 6, 2009 10:52 AM

On Thursday, April 2, a federal judge ruled that Guantánamo detainee Hedi Hammamy is being held for good reasons. Judge Richard Leon of the DC District Court found the US government’s evidence was sufficient to show that Hammamy supported al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Hammamy, who is also known as Abdul Haddi bin Hadiddi in the US government’s unclassified Guantánamo files, was arrested by Pakistani authorities in April 2002 and transferred to Guantánamo months later. Government prosecutors demonstrated that Hammamy’s passport was recovered in a cave in the Tora Bora Mountains, which were the main fallback zone for fleeing al Qaeda and Taliban forces after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001. Judge Leon concluded that Hammamy offered no plausible explanation for how his paperwork ended up there. Prosecutors also argued that Hammamy took part in the battle of Tora Bora.

April 7th, 2009 Posted by bit | Getting it Right | post comments

Bill Ayers takes a hike

A few days ago, a blog called the Doug Ross Journal noted an invitation for Bill Ayers, the unrepentent terrorist of the Weather Underground, to speak publicly - at a Naperville High School student assembly!

I guess that since he’s all about teaching teachers to be socialists, someone in the teaching profession in Chicago would ask him to do this. Someone like Alan Leis, the Superintendent of the Naperville School District.

It’s not going well.

In fact, it got canceled. From Little Green Footballs, an email to Charles Johnson from a reader:

Thank you very much for your e-mail regarding Ayers visit to Naperville North High School. I too have been concerned about this event since learning of it last week, and have been working on it since. I want to advise you that this event has been canceled. A formal announcement will follow later today via Talk 203.

Jackie Romberg
District 203 Board of Education

It just seems so sweet.

I can only hope that Ayers is miffed. Or pissed. Either will do.

March 30th, 2009 Posted by bit | Getting it Right, morons | post comments

Biden just doesn’t get it…

Joe Biden may go down as the second most arrogant and ill informed vice president in recent history (behind only the Goracle). The current appeasement White House administration is trying to sell the COIN tactics used in Iraq as something they can repeat in Afghanistan - though the military leaders do not think that is feasible with certain elements, especially the Taliban. But dumbass Biden plows on and completely misses the point of the Anbar Awakening’s successful effort in Iraq, trying to show that the same “surge” should be successful in the Taliban areas of Afghanistan. Bill Roggio rightfully takes offense at Biden’s ignorance:

I question Vice President Biden’s percentages of Taliban leaders and fighters who are reconcilable and irreconcilable. I have yet to hear an intelligence agency or the military describe the Taliban as such, and in fact most people I’ve spoken to think just the opposite. And as I’ve noted here several times: please, someone, name one of these mythical moderate Taliban leaders willing to negotiate an end to the insurgency and break away from al Qaeda.

But Vice President Biden made one statement about the Anbar Awakening that is completely incorrect. He claimed that the Awakening is made up of the “most extreme elements of the Sunni resistance.”

“We engaged in Iraq the most extreme elements of the Sunni resistance in Anbar Province. . . . The same principle pertains here. Whether or not it will bear as much fruit remains to be seen. There’s only one way, and that is to engage,” he said.

The Anbar Awakening is anything but the “most extreme elements of the Sunni resistance.” In fact, the Anbar Awakening is made up of the more moderate, mainstream elements of the insurgency as well as the prominent tribes in the province. The 1920s Revolution Brigades, a largely nationalist insurgent group, and elements of the Islamic Army of Iraq, another insurgent group largely made up of former military officers, formed the insurgent backbone of the Awakening. These groups are hardly radical Islamists, and certainly not the most extreme elements of the Sunni Insurgency.

Read the rest - it’s short and to the point. Saying that Biden is “misrepresenting” the Anbar Awakening is a leap of kindness on Roggio’s part.

For those who may not be familiar, Bill Roggio is the founder of the Long War Journal, an information and analysis effort that has wrapped itself into the Islamist movement and exposes many of the weaknesses and movements of the Jihadi effort. The Long War Journal is cited daily in publications all over the world, including such policy centers as the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations.

March 14th, 2009 Posted by bit | Getting it Right, morons | post comments

Considering Bernie Madoff a Terrorist

Dennis Lormel at The Counterterrorism Blog has an interesting post up that describes a curious vacancy in Bernie Madoff’s plan - an exit strategy.

As a former FBI Agent, with extensive investigative experience in sophisticated fraud and financial crime schemes, I was intrigued by a statement Madoff made to the court during his pleading. He said “… and as the years went by, I realized my arrest and this day would inevitably come.” Someone needs to ask Madoff the question “at what point in time did you realize that your scheme would be detected?” How many years ago did Madoff reach his conclusion? In my experience, at that point in time, Madoff began planning his exit strategy.

Lormel goes on to note that Madoff’s exit strategy was actually missing:

Big time fraudsters usually theorize that their schemes have a certain shelf life, and at some point, their fraud will be detected. Therefore, many of these fraudsters make contingency plans and devise exit strategies. In many cases, that would mean fleeing the U.S. and relocating to a safe haven such as Robert Vesco and Marc Rich did. Interestingly, Madoff did not. So what was his exit strategy?

The scariest note that Lormel makes mention of is the Annual Threat Assessment that was delivered to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence:

On February 12, 2009, Director of National Security (DNI), Dennis C. Blair, testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. DNI Blair provided the Committee with the Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community. The first sentence of the assessment states:

“The primary near-term security concern of the United States (U.S.) is the global economic crisis and its geopolitical implications.”

This was the first time in six years that terrorism was not listed as the primary threat to the country. Fraud and other criminal activity resulting in the laundering of illicit funds have always been considered a threat to our national economy. The current financial crisis was primarily driven by the frightful combination of fraud, greed and arrogance. The magnitude of that fraud, greed and arrogance has clearly shaken not only our national economy but the global economy as well. In so doing, as noted by DNI Blair, the resulting international instability created by the financial crisis has become the most significant threat to our national security.

 It was good to see that Lormel considers the actions of Madoff to be “economic terrorism” and should be harshly punished - particularly in seizing his assets. Lormel did not have kind words for the greed of other business executives who have been fraudulent in this economic meltdown - calling them “despicable”. 

The general concensus, from people I have had conversations with, is that those business executives who have been grinding the public trust into dust should all be in jail. I agree. And our Congress wants to keep bailing them out. As though the money arrogant and greedy executives lost will ever come back.

And the bank presidents, who are taking most of the blame from the street, get million dollar pay raises. Or coyly tell the stock holders they will forego their “incentive” pay, yet take grandiose stock options for the same amount.

There hasn’t been honor or statesmanship in Washington for years. But to dive into an empty pool as this current Congress has is embarrassing. They seem to think, somehow, that we will change our minds about their behavior and the single digit approval rating they collectively have will climb.

They couldn’t be father from the truth or more disconnected from their constituents.

March 13th, 2009 Posted by bit | Deranged politics, Getting it Right | post comments

California’s Conundrum

Victor Davis Hanson writes of what has happened in California - a state now financially bankrupt and needing a bailout worse than AIG. After discussing what has gone wrong, Hansen notes:

But less discussed is the common culprit: a weird sort of utopian mind-set. Perhaps because have-it-all Californians live in such a rich natural landscape and inherited so much from their ancestors, they have convinced themselves that perpetual bounty is their birthright — not something that can be lost in a generation of complacency.

I can see why they would be like that - the state of mind driving the liberalism in California has a common denominator with past European attitudes - such as “Liberal Fascism”.  Kind of like that other “fascism” that a lot of Americans had to die for.

In short, after Californians sue, restrict, mandate, obstruct and lecture, they also get angry that there is suddenly not enough food, fuel, water and money to act like the gods that they think they have become.

If anyone knows about that insane California attitude, it is Victor Davis Hanson. He grew up on a vineyard farm in central California. He speaks from real experience.

One interesting tidbit of the article listing much of California’s problem? Prisons account for 10% of the state budget - almost as much as Higher Education.

Prison costs increased about 50% in less than a decade and now claim almost 10% of state spending — almost as much as higher education.

That information is parsed just before -

More than half a million aliens are caught each year trying to enter California’s southern border illegally. Some estimates put illegal alien state residents at 3 million, a population that might cost the state’s taxpayers $13 billion per year for services.

The link between prison costs and illegal immigration is not lost on Hanson. In his book Mexifornia, he leaves no doubt what the immigrant problems stem from and what the costs are. It is definitely worth a read.

When I was younger, people mostly dreamed about California - they wanted to visit, they wanted to move there, they wanted some part of California to touch them for almost any reason. Now it seems to be irrelevant whether you see it or not.

March 8th, 2009 Posted by bit | Moonbats, Getting it Right | post comments

Star Parker @ Townhall

Star Parker is a write for Townhall.com. This essay sounds like she has been talking to Bill Cosby - and she definitely agrees with him.

Six years ago I wrote a book called “Uncle Sam’s Plantation.” I wrote the book to tell my own story of what I saw living inside the welfare state and my own transformation out of it.

I said in that book that indeed there are two Americas. A poor America on socialism and a wealthy America on capitalism.

I talked about government programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS), Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EANF), Section 8 Housing, and Food Stamps.

A vast sea of perhaps well intentioned government programs, all initially set into motion in the 1960’s, that were going to lift the nation’s poor out of poverty.

A benevolent Uncle Sam welcomed mostly poor black Americans onto the government plantation. Those who accepted the invitation switched mindsets from “How do I take care of myself?” to “What do I have to do to stay on the plantation?”

Instead of solving economic problems, government welfare socialism created monstrous moral and spiritual problems. The kind of problems that are inevitable when individuals turn responsibility for their lives over to others.

The legacy of American socialism is our blighted inner cities, dysfunctional inner city schools, and broken black families.

Through God’s grace, I found my way out. It was then that I understood what freedom meant and how great this country is.

I had the privilege of working on welfare reform in 1996, passed by a Republican congress and signed into law by a Democrat president. A few years after enactment, welfare roles were down fifty percent.

I thought we were on the road to moving socialism out of our poor black communities and replacing it with wealth producing American capitalism.

But, incredibly, we are going in the opposite direction.

Instead of poor America on socialism becoming more like rich American on capitalism, rich America on capitalism is becoming like poor America on socialism.

Uncle Sam has welcomed our banks onto the plantation and they have said, “Thank you, Suh.”

Now, instead of thinking about what creative things need to be done to serve customers, they are thinking about what they have to tell Massah in order to get their cash.

There is some kind of irony that this is all happening under our first black president on the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.

Worse, socialism seems to be the element of our new young president. And maybe even more troubling, our corporate executives seem happy to move onto the plantation.

In an op-ed on the opinion page of the Washington Post, Mr. Obama is clear that the goal of his trillion dollar spending plan is much more than short term economic stimulus.

“This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending-it’s a strategy for America’s long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, health care, and education.”

Perhaps more incredibly, Obama seems to think that government taking over an economy is a new idea. Or that massive growth in government can take place “with unprecedented transparency and accountability.”

Yes, sir, we heard it from Jimmy Carter when he created the Department of Energy, the Synfuels Corporation, and the Department of Education.

Or how about the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 — The War on Poverty — which President Johnson said “…does not merely expand old programs or improve what is already being done. It charts a new course. It strikes at the causes, not just the consequences of poverty.”

Trillions of dollars later, black poverty is the same. But black families are not, with triple the incidence of single parent homes and out of wedlock births.

It’s not complicated. Americans can accept Barack Obama’s invitation to move onto the plantation. Or they can choose personal responsibility and freedom.

Does anyone really need to think about what the choice should be?

I’m trying to find where she went wrong - but I don’t have a clue.

February 17th, 2009 Posted by bit | Getting it Right | post comments

Gitmo Jihadi’s

It was bound to happen. And the point that Robert Spencer has made is a good one.

From Reuters via Jihad Watch:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon said on Tuesday that 61 former detainees from its military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, appear to have returned to terrorism since their release from custody.Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said 18 former detainees are confirmed as “returning to the fight” and 43 are suspected of having done in a report issued late in December by the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Spencer’s comment:

This shouldn’t surprise anyone, since nothing has been done over the years at Guantanamo to disabuse inmates of their beliefs about the responsibility of Muslims to wage war against and subjugate unbelievers. The prevailing PC “Islam Is A Religion of Peace” line prevents that — and makes for this recidivism. Indeed, the exaggerated respect that Guantanamo personnel have been directed to show towards the Qur’an — handling it with gloves, etc. — only reinforces the jihadist sentiments of the inmates, rather than win hearts and minds.

But none of this, of course, is any part of Obama’s calculation as he moves to close Gitmo. The prospect of major jihad terror attacks by former Gitmo inmates does not deter him, and even if one happens, he will most likely not regret what he is doing, because clearly in this his priority is not national security.

Does anyone believe obambi sees the security interests of the United States as an important issue?

January 25th, 2009 Posted by bit | Getting it Right | post comments

Coming Soon!

I have decided to re-engage on my website and get back to posting about those things that interest me. It will be a new look but the attitude will be the same. May even have some additional writers. Working on it…

December 13th, 2008 Posted by bit | Getting it Right | one comment