(story here)

I am a blogger. Hear me roar!

Eleven organizations from the US, Palestine and Israel have called on baseball’s New York Mets to cancel a 21 November dinner at the Caesars Club at Citi Field for the Brooklyn-based Hebron Fund. The dinner is a fundraiser for Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank City of Hebron. In a letter sent to the Mets on 3 November, the groups said, “The New York Mets will be facilitating activities that directly violate international law and the Obama administration’s call for a freeze in settlement construction, and that actively promote racial discrimination, and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homes in Hebron.” Seven hundred Israeli settlers, living amidst 150,000 Palestinians in Hebron, are expanding their hold on the historic old city by driving out the Palestinian residents. (Read more from electronicintifada.net)

Found this cartoon here.

It’d be more accurate if the fat man’s other hand was on the holster of a firearm.

In an announcement today which likely surprised no one, the US army announced that the military base just northwest of the Black Sea Port City of Constanta, Romania will become a “permanent” base for the American military.

The announcement of a permanent American presence in the former Warsaw Pact and current NATO member nation will likely underscore a growing US presence in Eastern Europe. (Read more from antiwar.com)

Pentagon currently owns or rents 702 overseas bases in about 130 countries and HAS another 6,000 bases in the United States and its territories. There are about 190 countries in the world. We will not be the first empire to have collapsed after overextending itself. It’ll happen to the fervent cries of “SECURITY! SECURITY! SECURITY!” coming from our Television pundits.

Came across two stories recently w.r.t. the government’s war on commerce.

Delinda Epstein, a 51-year-old Las Vegas resident, had comfortable life prior to the real estate collapse that cost her a good job with a construction company. Unemployed for more than a year, she lost her truck and home, and now lives in a tiny apartment.

Desperate to pay the rent, Epstein decided to post an ad on Craigslist offering to do small chores, run errands, and perform other odd jobs in exchange for a negotiated fee. Providing transportation was one of several services she mentioned.

Shortly thereafter, she received a call from a man identifying himself as “Richie,” who wanted to be picked up at the airport and shuttled over to Rhodes Ranch (an upscale “golf course community”). Epstein drove to the airport, picked up the man, and negotiated a $30 fee.

Immediately thereafter, a badge-wielding goon rapped on her windshield and announced that he and “Richie” were undercover officers with the Transportation Authority (TA). Epstein was slapped with a $3,800 fine for offering “unlicensed transportation services.”

The fine was reduced to $250, which is still an extravagant sum given Epstein’s straitened circumstances. She had to surrender her car, which had been impounded would be returned only if Epstein paid several hundred dollars in processing fees. And the TA is demanding that she get rid of her cell phone number — which had been used in hundreds of job applications — because it had been used in a supposedly illegal business transaction. (Read more from lewrockwell.com)

See also:
 

Certified Trades, Permits, Licenses, Insurance . . . . These only protecting cartels, government and insurance companies, NOT consumers.

A new SurveyUSA poll in Kentucky finds that Rand Paul, an ophthalmologist and son of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), has a narrow lead in the Republican primary for Senate against the establishment favorite, Secretary of State Trey Grayson.

The numbers: Paul 35%, Grayson 32%, within the ±4.7% margin of error. Back in August, Grayson was ahead of Paul by 37%-26%. This is a Republican-held open seat, currently occupied by retiring GOP Sen. Jim Bunning. (Read more from talkingpointsmemo.com)

When government taxes us and flips the bill on our behalf, impossibly controversial questions like what is medicine, when does life begin or what is marriage, become monumentally significant and a firestorm of lobbying, pandering and corruption ensues.

When we get to keep our money and pursue our own happiness, opposing views can co-exist peacefully.

Reporting from Washington – Backed by some of the most powerful members of the Senate, a little-noticed provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses. (Read more from latimes.com)

Jewish Republican party officials and the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) are among several groups that have called on U.S. President Barack Obama to rescind his appointment of former senator Chuck Hagel as co-chairman of his Intelligence Advisory Board.

Hagel made clear his attitude towards Israel when he spoke at the pro-Arab and self-proclaimed pro-Israel J Street lobby last week. He echoed President Obama’s previous statements that meeting the demand of the Palestinian Authority for a new Arab state within Israel’s current borders “is central, not peripheral, to U.S. vital security interests in combating terrorism.”

He also said that the “special relationship” between the United States and Israel “must not come at the expense of our Arab relationships.” (Read more from israelnationalnews.com)

The US House of Representatives has condemned the Goldstone Report, which accuses Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza. The resolution, which defined the report as “one-sided and distorted” was supported by a wide majority of 334 delegates against 36 who opposed it. Twenty-two delegates abstained.

In the resolution, the House calls on US President Barack Obama to work to curb the report in international institutions. (Read more from ynetnews.com)

See Also:

The Temple Mount is home to the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. It is also believed to be the sight of Israel’s first and second temples (Temple of Solomon) from the Old Testament. When I toured Jerusalem in 2006, I visited the Israeli Museum which had a scale model of Ancient Jerusalem with a rebuilt Temple of Solomon in place of the Dome of the Rock.

This is terrifying. There are those in Israel’s radical right who advocate destruction of Islam’s third holiest site and the rebuilding of the Temple of Solomon. Sometimes their advocacy is couched in the propaganda of national security. Other times, they seek compromises, like construction of the Third Temple on only part of the Temple Mount. Most Arabs view this suspiciously and compare it to the house-by-house confiscation of East Jerusalem.

Prof. Weiss at rightist event: Build third temple immediately During a rightist event held in Jerusalem Sunday evening, just hours after Muslims rioted in and around the Temple Mount amid reports that Jewish extremists were planning to visit the site, Professor Hillel Weiss said, “The (third) temple must be built now. The mosques do not have to be destroyed in order for us to do this.” . . . . “Reclaiming our sovereignty over (the Temple Mount) will bring redemption closer,” said the rabbi. Far-right activist Moshe Feiglin told the conference that the Temple Mount riots and the Goldstone Report, which accuses the IDF of committing war crimes during its December-January conflict with Hamas in Gaza, both constitute attempts to “undermine our legitimacy in this land.” (Read more from myantiwar.org)

Rabbis Convene, Call for Ascent to Temple MountAt a special conference Sunday night at Heichal Shlomo in Jerusalem, Zionist rabbis are calling for Jewish ascent to the Temple Mount and for an end to the use of the Temple Mount as a platform for Muslim incitement. . . . Many Zionist rabbis support ascent to the Temple Mount but some do not, citing the Nation of Israel’s current state of impurity. Those who support ascent insist that the visitors first undergo ritual immersion in a mikveh, remain along the outer perimeter of the grounds and stay outside of areas where Jewish law forbids them to go. (Read more from israelnationalnews.com)

I personally don’t think this will happen any time soon. Pressure from the world, and from moderate voices within Israel will keep the radicals at bay, but as Israeli politics drifts further into the hands of religious radicals who believe God wants them to take all the land, the Temple Mount becomes an increasingly dangerous flash point.

See Also:
- Israel’s mistake was in returning the pagan Dome of the Rock back to the moslems as a goodwill gesture instead of razing it back in 1967.

- This week, several dozen Muslim faithful refused to leave the mosque, amid rumours that Jewish extremists were coming to attack it.

From an email I received:

Ever want to buy your very own Congressman? A legislative tool to get the job done, especially dirty jobs that violate the trust of the American people? How much do you think it would cost?

It turns out surprisingly little.

Meet Rep. Mel Watt of North Carolina’s 12th District. Commercial banks have been his largest career donor, giving a total of $319,822 over the past ten years. That’s just a little over $30,000 per year.

What do banking lobbyists get in return?

Rep. Watt chairs the House Financial Services monetary policy subcommittee. Last Friday, Rep. Ron Paul reported that our Federal Reserve Transparency Act (HR 1207) was “gutted” in Rep. Watt’s subcommittee. Rep. Watt’s changes restricted inquiry around transactions with foreign central banks, monetary policy deliberations, transactions made under the direction of the Federal Open Market Committee and communications between the Board, the reserve banks and staff.

Not a bad return on investment for the Fed and its lobbyists.

In defense of Rep. Watt, however, it’s not totally his fault. His district is the most obviously gerrymandered in North Carolina, following I-85 like a snake from Charlotte to Winston Salem. It is overwhelmingly Democratic, and his re-election has never been seriously challenged. Why should he represent the people when he is electorally invincible?

An invincible incumbent is the most useful tool, and a bargain to boot.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 22 (UPI) — A 70-year-old woman shot and killed a man suspected of attempting to rob her during her visit to Columbus, Ohio, police said.

Columbus Police Sgt. Eric Pilya said the unidentified woman, who was in Columbus for a horse show, fatally shot the suspect after he allegedly attempted to rob her and at least four other people at a local motel, The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch said Thursday.

Police said the woman responded to the man’s alleged demand for money Wednesday night by grabbing a gun that had been in the room and opening fire.

The robbery suspect was injured in the shooting and died after staggering out into the Continent Inn’s parking lot, police said. (Read more from upi.com)