Today is a day when we give thanks to God Almighty for all our blessings...for our beloved America.
Today is a day for friends and family.
Wishing all my blog followers a very Happy Thanksgiving and see you all tomorrow.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
This
week, President Barack Obama doomed Israel to a choice between
unpalatable options: either striking at Iran's nuclear facilities in its
own defense and thereby internationally isolating itself, or watching
as its most ardent enemy goes nuclear. The deal, put into place with
Iran by the Obama administration, allows Iran to continue developing
nuclear-enrichment processes, encompasses virtually no real monitoring
standards and grants cash to a regime busily preparing for a second
Holocaust.
Obama made the conscious decision to shove Israel into this corner for two reasons. First, because he is an egotist determined to divert attention from his domestic political woes. Second, because he is a hard-core, anti-Israel fanatic who believes that Israeli power represents the chief threat to peace in the Middle East.
The first rationale explains Obama's timing. After years of flirting with Iran -- a flirtation dating all the way back to his presidential campaign of 2008, during which he said he would engage in direct negotiations with the Islamic theocracy without preconditions - Obama culminated the burgeoning relationship with a rammed-through deal leaving Iran in control of its own nuclear destiny. Why the sudden rush? With his poll numbers dropping precipitously and his signature program, Obamacare, dragging down his presidency, Obama needed a big win.
The media duly delivered this to Obama by proclaiming his diplomatic blunder an enormous victory.
Ignoring the fact that Obama tacitly gave Iran the right to nuclear development in contravention of all United Nations' resolutions and the best interests of the United States, The New York Times proclaimed, "No one can seriously argue that it doesn't make the world safer." The newspaper also called Israel's dismay at the deal "extremist" and "theater," and even admitted that the Iran deal acted as a "welcome change of subject" for Obama.
The Obama administration, meanwhile, rapidly erected a series of straw men designed to make the president look like a tower of strength rather than the appeaser he is. Secretary of State John Kerry immediately stated that those who opposed the deal thought war should be the "first option" -- an odd proclamation, given Israel's repeated desire to delay action. Obama himself said that the time for "tough talk and bluster" was over -- as though harsh sanctions backed by the threat of force were a bluff. (Which, apparently, they were.)
Though none of this explains why Obama wanted to make a deal in the first place. Yes, it was a convenient distraction -- but the president of the United States can always find a way to shift the political narrative.
The truth is that the president despises Israel and always has. He has spent his entire adult life surrounded by Israel-haters, from Professor Derrick Bell to Reverend Jeremiah Wright, from former Palestine Liberation Organization spokesman Rashid Khalidi to Jimmy Carter's former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski. His current ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, has suggested that the United States ought to place troops on Israeli ground to protect Palestinians from those brutal Jews.
Obama's administration has repeatedly leaked Israeli national security information in order to stop Israel from striking Iran, and Obama himself forced Netanyahu to apologize to the government of Turkey for stopping its flotilla, directed toward helping the terrorist group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip.
The Obama administration sees Israel building homes in its capital city of Jerusalem as more of a threat to peace than Iran building nukes.
Obama's political philosophy dictates that Israel is a colonialist outpost offending the locals -- an unfortunate hangover from the Holocaust instead of a historic Jewish dream and possession. Obama's belief system suggests that Middle Eastern conflict springs not from religious and cultural differences but from Jewish intransigence. So Israel must be stopped. And if that means arming Iran, Obama is happy to do it. If he can while simultaneously winning himself a second Nobel Peace Prize and distracting people from his failed domestic tenure, so much the better.
Will Executive Action be Used on Immigration Reform? WH Won't Rule It Out
Leah Barkoukis / Townhall Columnist
Hmm. Didn’t Obama just say
that he won’t act unilaterally on immigration reform? Why, then, didn’t
White House spokesman Josh Earnest rule out the possibility of using
executive actions?
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Earnest said: “I don’t want to speculate about what sort of actions the president might or might not take."
The Hill provides the context:
Obama has come under pressure from immigration activists, who have challenged the president to act unilaterally now that a comprehensive immigration bill appears stalled in the House. The president was heckled twice during events in San Francisco on Monday while discussing immigration reform, with protesters each time demanding an end to deportations via executive order.
In 2012, the Obama administration announced it would stop deporting some illegal immigrants who entered the United States as children, assuming they met certain criteria. […]
But while the White House has ruled out a sweeping halt to deportations, it is unclear whether Obama could use his executive authority, which includes the ability to grant temporary work permits, to help some of those here illegally.Earnest did go on to say, however, that fixing a broken immigration system is something that can only be done with Congress, echoing what Obama told one of the hecklers who interrupted his speech on Monday. Looks like we'll have to wait and see what the president actually does, not just says.
Thank you, Hobby Lobby
Religious
liberty is front and center on the nation's Thanksgiving table. On
Tuesday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores
Inc. The family-owned craft store company is intrepidly challenging the
constitutionality of Obamacare's abortion coverage mandate. Hobby
Lobby's faithful owners deserve our thanks and praise as they defend
freedom of conscience for all Americans.
The privately held retail chain's story is the quintessential American Dream. Founder David Green started out making mini picture frames in his Oklahoma garage in 1970. He recruited his two sons, Mart and Steve, to pitch in at an early age. The family's first establishment took up a tiny 300 square feet of retail space. Hobby Lobby now runs nearly 600 stores across the country, employs 13,000 people and topped $2 billion in sales in 2009.
The Greens' Christian faith is at the heart of how they do business. They are dedicated to integrity and service for their customers and their employees. The debt-free company commits to "honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with biblical principles," as well as "serving our employees and their families by establishing a work environment and company policies that build character, strengthen individuals and nurture families."
The company donates more than 10 percent of its income every year to charity. All stores are closed on Sundays to allow employees more family and worship time. It's the company's dedication to biblical principles that led Hobby Lobby in April to raise full-time employees' starting minimum wage to $14 an hour at a time when many other firms have been forced to slash both wages and benefits.
"We believe that it is by God's grace that Hobby Lobby has endured, and he has blessed us and our employees," CEO David Green pointed out. "We've not only added jobs in a weak economy; we've raised wages for the past four years in a row. Our full-time employees start at 80 percent above minimum wage."
Many of Hobby Lobby's employees are single moms working two jobs. Green doesn't need federal mandates to tell him how to treat and retain good employees. He does it because it is the "right thing to do." While countless businesses have been forced to drop health insurance for their shrinking workforces during the Age of Obama, Hobby Lobby headquarters opened an onsite comprehensive health care and wellness clinic in 2010 with no co-pays.
Hobby Lobby employees are covered under the company's self-insured health plan, which brings us back to the company's legal case. Last September, Hobby Lobby sued the feds over Obamacare's "preventive services" mandate, which forces the Christian-owned-and-operated business to provide, without co-pay, abortion-inducing drugs including the "morning after pill" and "week after pill" in their health insurance plan. The company risked fines up to $1.3 million per day for defying the government's coercive abridgement of their First Amendment rights.
As Lori Windham, senior counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing Hobby Lobby in its court battles, said at the time: "Washington politicians cannot force families to abandon their faith just to earn a living. Every American, including family business owners like the Greens, should be free to live and do business according to their religious beliefs." Amen.
This summer, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals exempted Hobby Lobby from the abortion mandate and allowed the business to avoid those crippling fines while pursuing its case. Now, the Supreme Court will decide whether Democratic Party pandering trumps bedrock constitutional principles.
Planned Parenthood femme-a-gogues, Senate Democratic leaders, Christian-bashing celebs and atheist bullies immediately attacked Hobby Lobby for "denying women access to birth control." The lies and religious persecution, especially on the eve of America's national holiday commemorating the pilgrims' escape thereof, are unconscionable. Hobby Lobby's company health insurance plan covers 16 of the 20 FDA-approved contraceptives required under the Obamacare mandate -- at no additional costs to employees. What Hobby Lobby refuses to do is to be forced to cover abortifacients that violate the owners' faith and conscience.
Every employee is aware of the founders' history, devout work ethic and faith. No one is forced to work at Hobby Lobby. If workers want birth control, they can pay for it themselves. (And unlike so many other service workers, they have more take-home pay to spend on the "preventive services" of their choice.)
The intolerant control freaks at the White House took to Twitter right after the Supreme Court announcement to pile on the pander to the Sandra Fluke/Lena Dunham wing of the Democratic Party.
"Birth control should be a woman's decision, not her boss's," Team Obama tweeted. That's precisely the argument against federally mandated health care benefits enforced by government in violation of religious liberty and subsidized by employers and taxpayers against their will. Let's pray the Supreme Court sees the light.
Iran: White House lying about details of nuke deal
From Jihad Watch / Posted by Robert Spencer
So it's even worse than we have been led to believe. "Iran: White House Lying About Details of Nuke Deal," by Adam Kredo for the Washington Free Beacon, November 26:
Iranian officials say that the White House is misleading the public about the details of an interim nuclear agreement reached over the weekend in Geneva.
Iran and Western nations including the United States came to an agreement on the framework for an interim deal late Saturday night in Geneva. The deal has yet to be implemented
The White House released a multi-page fact sheet containing details of the draft agreement shortly after the deal was announced.
However, Iranian foreign ministry official on Tuesday rejected the White House’s version of the deal as “invalid” and accused Washington of releasing a factually inaccurate primer that misleads the American public.
“What has been released by the website of the White House as a fact sheet is a one-sided interpretation of the agreed text in Geneva and some of the explanations and words in the sheet contradict the text of the Joint Plan of Action, and this fact sheet has unfortunately been translated and released in the name of the Geneva agreement by certain media, which is not true,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham told the Iranian press on Tuesday.
Afkham and officials said that the White House has “modified” key details of the deal and released their own version of the agreement.
Iran’s right to enrich uranium, the key component in a nuclear weapon, is fully recognized under the draft released by Tehran.
“This comprehensive solution would enable Iran to fully enjoy its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes under the relevant articles of the NPT in conformity with its obligations therein,” the agreement reads, according to a copy released to Iranian state-run media.
“This comprehensive solution would involve a mutually defined enrichment programme with practical limits and transparency measures to ensure the peaceful nature of the programme,” the Iranian draft reads. “This comprehensive solution would constitute an integrated whole where nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”
Iran’s objection to the deal raises new concerns about final stage talks meant to ensure that the deal is implemented in the next few weeks.
The White House confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon on Monday that the final details of the plan have yet to be worked out, meaning that Iran is not yet beholden to a six month freeze its nuclear activities....
From Pamela Geller...
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