Record 5.6 magnitude earthquake shakes Oklahoma

2011-11-06T15:10:00.001-06:00

The Saturday night earthquake had a magnitude of 5.6, and its epicenter was four miles east of Sparks in Lincoln County, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey. The quake hit at 10:53 p.m., and it was reportedly felt as far away as Illinois, Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas.

Mary Reneau talks with her husband on the telephone while she looks at the floor of her dining room, now littered with broken china, glassware and other sentimental keepsakes that were damaged when tossed to the floor during an earthquake in the early morning hours of Saturday, Nov. 5. , 2011. Doors of her furniture flew open and drawers were edged slightly open during the quake. Mary and her husband, Joseph were awakened around 2:15 a.m. when their house shook and items began falling off the walls and form shelves and cabinets inside their two-story brick ranch-style home in rural Lincoln County, about six miles northwest of Prague. Austin Holland, a seismologist with the Oklahoma Geological Survey, placed the quake's epicenter within two to three miles of the Reneau home. The Reneaus have lived in their house for 25 years. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman ORG XMIT: KOD

The largest earthquake ever recorded in the state of Oklahoma struck Saturday night, officials said.

The quake had a magnitude of 5.6, and its epicenter was four miles east of Sparks in Lincoln County, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey. The quake hit at 10:53 p.m.

The quake was reportedly felt as far away as Illinois, Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas.

“There’s a crack going from the closet to the ceiling. I’ve never seen that before. I was in my bedroom grabbing my phone and I happened to notice it,” Moore resident Todd McKinsey said.

McKinsey said he lives near NW 12 and Santa Fe Avenue.

“That’s drywall. It’s totally separated,” he said.

“Earthquake damage in Oklahoma, that’s an anomaly right there,” McKinsey said.

“The picture by the TV fell off the wall, and we jumped up because we thought somebody had hit the house,” Noeh Morales said.

“It was like a roaring noise. I’ve never one that bad over here,” he said.

Morales said he was asleep at his home near SW 69 and Pennsylvania Avenue in Oklahoma City.

“It woke me out of a dead sleep. I felt the whole house shaking. I jumped and ran outside to see what was going on,” he said.

The strongest earthquake previously reported was April 9, 1952, in El Reno, according to the geological survey. Its magnitude was 5.50.

Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, said no injuries were reported to emergency management officials and she had no reports of major damages.

The Lincoln County sheriff’s office said late Saturday that damage has been reported across the county, but officials still were responding to calls and were not sure of the extent of damage.

The Lincoln County emergency manager reported portions of U.S. 62 have buckled and the chimney on a two-story house collapsed near Prague. A boulder also rolled onto a roadway in the area, the emergency manager told The Tulsa World. Other buildings have been damaged, and further assessments will be made after daylight.

"It was a pretty ornery little earthquake," said Joey Wakefield, Lincoln County's emergency manager.

The Oklahoma City Fire Department reported no injuries or serious damage as of 11:15 p.m.

Prague rattled

Earlier Saturday, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake rattled central Oklahoma, causing damage to some homes and businesses in Prague.

“It was very loud,” Lincoln County resident Mary Reneau said. “The big grandfather clock we have stopped at 2:15 a.m. It was bad enough that it stopped that clock. That’s really something. My heart goes out to these people who go through these very big quakes. I couldn’t imagine what that is like.”

The U.S. Geological Survey said the initial quake was centered about six miles north of Prague at 2:12 a.m.

That quake was followed by a series of aftershocks. A 3.4 magnitude aftershock was felt moments later, followed by another 2.7 magnitude aftershock about five miles southeast of Sparks. Sparks is in Lincoln County.

Oklahoma Geological Survey seismologist Austin Holland said there have%been at least 40 aftershocks recorded since the initial event.

Holland spent Saturday installing several temporary seismic stations in and around Prague. He said the quake was the result of movement along the Seminole Uplift Structure.

“It’s a very complicated fault structure, but it is very prominent in its geological signature,” Holland said.

Holland said the fault has been active since early Feb. 10. He said Lincoln County, where the fault lies, can experience between 10 and 30 quakes per month.

The most intense motion from the quake could be felt in Prague. Holland said that’s no surprise since the epicenter was located near the town.

“You can think of it like throwing a rock in a pond,” he said. “The ripples radiate out from the center and decrease rapidly farther away from the epicenter.”

Reneau was told by Holland the epicenter was almost directly under their two-story brick home, which is about five miles northwest of downtown Prague. Reneau spent Saturday morning cleaning up broken dishes and glass in her kitchen. There also were some cracks in the home’s walls.

Making matters more interesting is the fact the Reneaus recently were informed by their insurance company that their earthquake insurance had been dropped.

She said the family had taken out the insurance several years ago.

Like most residents in town, the quake woke her up.

Elsewhere in town, most residents felt the quake and were certainly talking about it, said Brenda Rohling, who owns Cow Pokes Barbeque restaurant in Prague.

“It’s kind of wicked. I don’t know how to explain it,” she said. “We had one last February that everyone felt but nothing this intense. This was way beyond that. It was unique. People are talking about it.”

Chris Degraffenrid is a manager at the Boomerang Cafe in Prague. He said that building sustained some light damage.

“There are some cracks, some foundation movement but nothing major,” he said.

Degraffenrid said while he actually slept through the quake, “Some of my employees and some of my friends were awake when it happened. I’ve heard that some people have had some broken glass and mirrors, things like that, but nothing too severe.”

Checking for damage

Prague City Manager Jim Greff said authorities still are checking for damage. He said the cracks in the Boomerang Cafe building were easy to spot because that structure had been remodeled recently.

“We know those cracks weren’t there, but there are quite a few cracks in other buildings that we just don’t know how long they’ve been that way or if there are new cracks,” he said. “We’re asking anyone who thinks they may have had some damage to contact us.”

Greff said several books fell off a shelf at the library, along with a picture that fell from the wall.

“We could hear the dishes rattling in the kitchen,” he said. “A lot of people said they heard a boom. I got up after the first one and felt the first aftershock right under my feet.”

Heather Spicer, of Sapulpa, said the quake woke up her son and dog.

“At first I thought an airplane had crashed nearby,” she said.

“But now I believe it was an earthquakebecause the whole house just kept vibrating with what sounded like distant thunder outside.”

Edda Miner, of Norman, said, “Between 2 and 2:30 a.m., east Norman had an earthquake, small, but I could feel it, and the lamp over the table was swinging. Very weird feeling.”

Matt Hoover, of Perkins, was wrapping birthday presents at 2:20 a.m. when he felt the quake. He thought the experience, his first with a quake, was exciting.

“The whole house started to shake and a low rumble could be heard throughout the house,” he said. “It lasted about 20 seconds.”

Oklahoma earthquake photos

Aftermath of record Oklahoma earthquake

Earthquake List for Map Centered at 36°N, 97°W

Last of US’s most powerful nuclear bombs, put into service in 1962, being dismantled in Texas

2011-10-25T13:31:00.001-05:00

(National Nuclear Security Administration/Associated Press) - This undated handout photo provided by the National Nuclear Security Administration shows the United States’ last B53 nuclear bomb. The 10,000-pound bomb is scheduled to be dismantled Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011 at the Pantex Plant just outside Amarillo, Texas. It’s a milestone in President Barack Obama’s efforts to reduce the number of nuclear weapons and their role in the U.S.

By Associated Press,

AMARILLO, Texas — The last of the nation’s most powerful nuclear bombs — a weapon hundreds of times stronger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima — is being disassembled nearly half a century after it was put into service at the height of the Cold War.

The final components of the B53 bomb will be broken down Tuesday at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, the nation’s only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility. The completion of the dismantling program is a year ahead of schedule, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, and aligns with President Barack Obama’s goal of reducing the number of nuclear weapons.

Thomas D’Agostino, the nuclear administration’s chief, called the bomb’s elimination a “significant milestone.”

Put into service in 1962, when Cold War tensions peaked during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the B53 weighed 10,000 pounds and was the size of a minivan. According to the American Federation of Scientists, it was 600 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, killing as many as 140,000 people and helping end World War II.

The B53 was designed to destroy facilities deep underground, and it was carried by B-52 bombers.

With its destruction, the next largest bomb in operation will be the B83, said Hans Kristensen, a spokesman for the Federation of American Scientists. It’s 1.2 megatons, while the B53 was 9 megatons.

The B53’s disassembly ends the era of big megaton bombs, he said. The bombs’ size helped compensate for their lack of accuracy. Today’s bombs are smaller but more precise, reducing the amount of collateral damage, Kristensen said.

Since the B53 was made using older technology by engineers who have since retired or died, developing a disassembly process took time. Engineers had to develop complex tools and new procedures to ensure safety.

“We knew going in that this was going to be a challenging project, and we put together an outstanding team with all of our partners to develop a way to achieve this objective safely and efficiently,” said John Woolery, the plant’s general manager.

Many of the B53s were disassembled in the 1980s, but a significant number remained in the U.S. arsenal until they were retired from the stockpile in 1997. Pantex spokesman Greg Cunningham said he couldn’t comment on how many of the bombs have been disassembled at the Texas plant.

The weapon is considered dismantled when the roughly 300 pounds of high explosives inside are separated from the special nuclear material, known as the pit. The uranium pits from bombs dismantled at Pantex will be stored on an interim basis at the plant, Cunningham said.

The non-nuclear material and components are then processed, which includes sanitizing, recycling and disposal, the National Nuclear Security Administration said last fall when it announced the Texas plant’s role in the B53 dismantling.

The plant will play a large role in similar projects as older weapons are retired from the U.S.’s nuclear arsenal.

Tulsa Man Accused of Hate Crime

2010-12-31T09:51:00.004-06:00

He sent an intimidating letter to the Islamic Peace Academy, a charge states.

A Tulsa man is charged with a hate crime for allegedly sending an intimidating letter to the Islamic Peace Academy and posting a video online showing him desecrating a Quran, court records show.

Jesse Quinn Harrison, 33, was charged Tuesday with one count each of transmitting a threatening letter and malicious intimidation or harassment - what Oklahoma statutes call a hate crime.

According to the charges, Harrison is accused of sending a nine-page letter to the Islamic Peace Academy in Tulsa "with the intent to intimidate."

He also made a video that shows him "smearing pork on the Quran and an Islamic religious figure and grilling those items," according to the charge.

The charge states that the video was made to "produce violence directed to others because of their religious beliefs."

A man with the same name and Tulsa address as those listed on the charges posted on Facebook a YouTube video that matches the one described in the charges.

The 5 1/2-minute video, posted to YouTube on Oct. 1, is attributed there to a "Rockwell Porter" - a name the charges list as an alias for Harrison.

The video, which doesn't show its creator's face, intersperses images of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States with the grilling of a Quran, a picture of an Islamic figure and two pork chops. Once the items are grilled, they are stacked on a bun and given to a dog.

The Merle Haggard songs "The Fightin' Side of Me" and "Okie from Muskogee"
play in the background.

At the end of the video, a memorial to Michele Heidenberger, a flight attendant who died when terrorists crashed her plane into the Pentagon, is shown on the screen.

According to the charges, Harrison also uses Heidenberger's name as an alias.

The video and a brief anti-Islamic message were posted by Harrison's account on several additional Facebook pages, including those of the White House and the FBI.

On a Dec. 15 Facebook entry, Harrison threatens to "march on the Tulsa Islamic Mosque" on New Year's Eve.

The charges allege that the crimes occurred between Sept. 17 and Dec. 20.

A warrant for Harrison's arrest also was issued Tuesday.

No one was home Thursday evening at the address listed for Harrison on the charges and on Facebook.

A neighbor said Harrison has not been at the residence since last week.

A spokeswoman for the Islamic Society of Tulsa would not comment Thursday.

Muneer Awad, executive director of the Oklahoma Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he didn't know any details of the case, but he said more hostile rhetoric toward Islam has recently worked its way into the mainstream.

"The rhetoric has not helped," Awad said. "It has forced people to take an extreme stance."

However, he said that although any threat should be taken seriously, cases such as Harrison's are on the fringe.

Many non-Muslims in Oklahoma have good relationships with the Muslim community, he said.

"Whenever instances like this come up, we always have friends from the non-Muslim community to help," Awad said.

tulsaworld.com/articleid=20101231_11_A15_ATulsa470729

Oklahoma Earthquake: Moderate Quake Rattles Nerves

2010-10-14T09:54:00.003-05:00

An earthquake that struck central Oklahoma on Wednesday was one of the strongest in the state's history, the Oklahoma Geological Survey reported.

One of the strongest earthquakes in state history startled Oklahomans Wednesday morning, rattling windows and nerves but causing no major damage or injuries.

The quake was centered eight miles southeast of Norman, south of Lake Thunderbird, near E Post Oak Road and 84th Avenue SE, Oklahoma Geological Survey research seismologist Austin Holland said. He estimated the magnitude of the 9:06 a.m. quake at 5.1 and called it a "small to moderate earthquake," while the U.S. Geological Survey put it at 4.3.

Although there were only two reported minor injuries in Oklahoma, people were caught off guard by a jolting earthquake in the land of tornadoes.

Readers of The Oklahoman reported the quake felt or sounded like "a 747 landing in the neighbors' yard," "a semi hit our house" or "my house had been hit by a trash truck." People from seven states reported to the U.S. Geological Survey that they felt the quake, including from as far away as Brentwood, Tenn.

"That sucker it rattled my whole house, it literally shook the whole thing," said Charles Parnell, who lives in east Norman near Lake Thunderbird. "The chandelier jumped up and down a little bit, but there was no damage. It just surprised the heck out of me."

said his agency's 5.1 estimate likely will be reduced.

"I'm certain that we'll probably come down in our magnitude measurement because the USGS's 4.3 is so much lower than our 5.1. We keep track of the USGS magnitudes in our catalogs so we can improve. It's always good to compare your work to the foremost experts in the field of earthquake measurement."

Phone lines flooded

On Wednesday, Emergency Medical Services Authority in Oklahoma City said dispatchers received numerous calls relating to the earthquake. Most callers were having anxiety and worry over the earthquake, spokeswoman Lara O'Leary said, but two patients fell and needed medical care and were taken to Oklahoma City hospitals.

Oklahoma City resident Kenneth Tankersley, 52, was one of them. He broke his left ankle when he fell from a ladder outside his house as the earthquake struck. He said he was trying to take down an antenna when the ground shook.

"I guess my ladder wasn't set very solid, and it just shook me off of it," Tankersley said by phone.

Randy Keller, director at the Oklahoma Geological Survey, said the quake "came in loud and strong on all of our seismic stations."

Norman police Capt. Tom Easley said there were no known reports of injuries or damage in the city, but residents flooded the 911 lines.

Rick Smith, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service, Norman Forecast Office, was in his office at the National Weather Center in Norman.

"It was a rumble. It didn't last long, but there was a jolt at the end," Smith said.

At the University of Oklahoma, a section of glass in the ceiling at Dale Hall was shattered, though it remained in place, and there was no immediate confirmation it was caused by the earthquake.

In Purcell, about 12 miles south of Norman, the sensation was intense, said Erica Lippel, a spokeswoman for the Purcell Police Department.

"Everybody pretty much went out in the street," she said.

A bumpy 2010

There have been about 570 earthquakes in the state this year, many too small to be felt. A 4.1 magnitude quake was reported on Feb. 27 near Sparks along the Turner Turnpike northeast of Oklahoma City.

The cause of Wednesday's quake and other recent ones could result from a buried fault or even oil and gas drilling activity, said Estella Atekwana, professor of hydrogeology at Oklahoma State University. The exact cause wasn't determined.

A 5.5 magnitude earthquake on April 9, 1952, is the largest ever recorded in Oklahoma, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That one at El Reno, Oklahoma City and Ponca City cost thousands of dollars.

Earthquakes that wouldn't be felt in places like California, where subsurface conditions are different, can be felt here, Randy Keller, the Oklahoma Geological Survey director said in 2009. The hard rock beneath the Sooner State is better at conducting the seismic waves.

North Shawnee Explosion Update

2010-08-12T19:44:00.002-05:00

Last update Aug 11, 2010 @ 10:38 PM

SHAWNEE, Okla. —

As sheriff’s investigators probe the blast set off Saturday by a distributor of legal explosive targets, nearby residents have expressed concern, while the man responsible is apologetic and said there was no malicious intent.
More than 100 calls reporting an explosion were made to 911 about 9:05 p.m. Saturday. A search and investigation were launched, revealing the cause to be a larger mix of a legal exploding target detonated at the distributor’s home near Wolverine and Bryan roads.
The cause of the commotion was a 40-pound explosive target, said Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Capt. Travis Palmer.
Jeremy Kinnamon, who is a distributor, said this is also his hobby. The 40-pound batch had been pre-mixed for a fun day of shooting, but the group didn’t show up, he said, and darkness came fast. The batch had to be detonated for him to remain legal, he said.
“I am apologetic to people...It was never intended to be a prank or malicious, or to cause such a disturbance,” he said. “In order for it to be legal, it has to be mixed and set off on site.”
Kinnamon, who typically uses 5- or 10-pound targets per shot, said this was the most he’s ever used at the property; he said he couldn’t have let the mixture sit overnight.
While he could have made two 20-pound targets or four 10-pounders, he said several blasts might have caused more problems; he said the time of day seemed to be more of a factor.
The target is a two-part binary explosive, he said, consisting of ammonium nitrate and aluminium oxide. Once combined, it has to be detonated.
“There’s a lot of laws and rules,” he said. “It wasn’t ‘Let’s shake the world.’”
Kinnamon said exploding targets are used as part of marksmanship improvement and a small amount — similar to a can of snuff — is placed behind the bulls eye of a long-range target.
The targets can only be detonated with a rifle that shoots at least 2,400 feet per second, he said. There’s no fire at detonation, but there is a boom and smoke letting the shooter know he’s hit the bull’s eye, he said. Kinnamon said some also use the product to blow up beaver dams.
As part of this investigation, the sheriff’s office contacted federal authorities with the ATF — the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — and the state fire marshal’s office for any possible violations of the law, but there appeared to be none, Palmer said.
But many residents have expressed concern about the startling blast.
Robin Mikles, who lives within a one-mile radius of the area, said, “It literally shook our house — the noise was huge. It really scared us.”
They also went outside and noticed “black smoke rising in the air.”
Mikles said she wishes she would have had more of an idea what was going on, but her home didn’t have any damage.
“I hope they don’t do that large of an amount...It’s unnerving,” she said.
Fred Gouker, who resides about one-fourth of a mile from the site, had no damage at his home.
“It did rattle the house very good — the windows rattled,” he said. “It definitely got our attention.”
While he was unaware of Kinnamon’s business in these targets, Gouker said if it’s legal to do, then he’s not really worried. Gouker said he had heard two smaller explosions in the day.
As part of the probe, Palmer said a few residents have reported cracked windows and walls, and even a few pictures being knocked off walls because of the incident.
One resident said she heard a “horrendous boom,” and it caused a piece of siding under a porch to become unattached, resulting in some insulation falling from the attic.
The woman said they normally hear gunshots because they live outside the city limits, but she was surprised by this incident. She said the neighbor shoots often, “but never to this extreme.”
Kinnamon said he was 150 feet away when he shot the suspended target in the middle of his 250-acre property. He said his home’s six-foot windows were unaffected and pictures hanging on his walls didn’t fall. Other homes are at least 400 to 800 yards away, he said, so he doesn’t know what to say to those who have said they have damage.
“My intention was not to scare or upset anyone,” he said.
But in the future, he said, “I’d be happy to tone it down.”
Kinnamon told The News-Star he plans to make a public apology, and said for future events, he will let law enforcement and the public know there may be noise in that area.
He said he keeps in regular contact with the ATF and other agencies on a regular basis; he said the products for these types of targets are sold at gun shows.
While Palmer said the ATF found nothing illegal about the incident because of Kinnamon’s business, deputies were still investigating this matter Wednesday and awaiting word from the FBI.
Once the investigation report is complete, it also will be turned over to the local District Attorney’s office for review concerning state laws, Palmer said.
“We will turn it over to the DA and let them decide,” Palmer said.
Watch for updates.

Explosion Reported in North Shawnee

2010-08-10T12:32:00.000-05:00

Posted Aug 09, 2010 @ 10:35 PM

SHAWNEE, Okla. —

More than 100 calls were made to 911 Saturday night after some type of explosion was reported in the north Shawnee area. A search and investigation were launched, revealing the cause of the explosion to be part of a local resident’s business, and apparently legal.
The source of the blast, felt as far away as Meeker, was a 40-pound explosive firearm target, said Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Capt. Travis Palmer.
The incident occurred on a property along Bryan Road, north of Garrett’s Lake Road, where a man has a business of selling these type of exploding targets, Palmer explained.
The targets, made with ammonium nitrate and aluminium oxide, require a certain type of rifle to ignite, he said.
Reports of an explosion, with causes possible by a bomb or a plane crash, flooded the 911 center in Pottawatomie County about 9:05 p.m. Saturday, Palmer said, with no one knowing what had happened or where.
Firefighters searched the area and law enforcement officers from local and tribal agencies, along with numerous sheriff’s reserves, canvassed the area in search of what happened, Palmer said. Deputies gathered numerous statements from neighbors in the area.
“It was a serious matter — everyone was extremely concerned” Palmer added.
Once authorities found the source, deputies began an investigation and even called out the Oklahoma Highway Patrol bomb squad, Sheriff Mike Booth said, but there was no need for them to be there.
Booth said it was discovered the man was experimenting with building a target and had to detonate it. It also was determined the ingredients the man had were legal because of his business, Booth stated.
As part of the follow-up, the sheriff’s office contacted federal authorities with the ATF and the state fire marshal’s for any possible violations of the law, but it appears none have taken place, Palmer said.
“According to the ATF, it is legal because it’s his business,” Booth said. “There’s no federal law keeping him from doing that.”
Still, authorities don’t feel such explosions should be done, especially without some type of notice. As a result of the blast, some nearby homeowners reported to deputies that they had damage in the their homes, like cracked windows and walls, and broken picture frames.
“Any civil liability is on him,” Booth said. “Criminally, our hands are tied.”
Palmer said numerous resources were spent on this matter. To err on the side of caution, Palmer said he planned to check with Homeland Security and the FBI as follow-ups continue in the case.
“There was a lot of endangerment in this fiaso ... we’re not smiling about it,” Palmer said.
Palmer said the blast was felt miles away and it shook the Sac and Fox Casino on Westech Road. Deputies also were receiving reports that it may have had a slight register on the Richter Scale, which measures seismic activity, or earthquakes.
Calls seeking comment from an ATF representative were not returned.

Mandatory Military Service Works in Israel

2010-07-01T17:51:00.003-05:00

A rite of passage in Israel, when one turns 18, is being drafted into the military. Men serve three years and women normally serve half that long. Officers (men or women) are signed for an additional year, for the privilege of attending the Officers' Training School. Some (men and women) then remain in service as a vocation and are entitled to early retirement at the age of 40, at which time they typically embark on a second career.

This was the way the system used to work. After completing the matriculation exams, a young person, fresh out of high school, would undergo exams and screening, go through boot camp, and start the most influential period of one's life. These soldiers and their commanders are entrusted with the safety and security of the Jewish Homeland. They carry out the policies of the Israeli government. Whatever the composition of the ruling coalition, the military is there to execute its decisions, with the goal of defending the Jewish State.

Once, if a person did not serve as everyone else, he would be ostracized from society. The chances of getting a job dissipated, life was unbearable. The exceptions were the ultra-orthodox Haredi Jews who do not serve men study at Yeshivot (religious seminaries) and women are to be married at a very early age and raise children. In the Jewish state, this exemption became an entitlement, causing a rift between the secular and religious sectors, the former enraged by the lack of equal burden under the law.

Over the past 20 years, things have changed. First, there was a massive immigration from the former Soviet Union, followed by immigration from Ethiopia. With an ever-increasing number of enlistees among the new immigrants, the military could afford to become more "selective." That proved to be a mistake. It happened at the same time that another worrying trend emerged: a new fashion not to serve. Various teen idols avoided service; a phenomenon that gained more and more acceptance, until matters reached a critical level that could no longer be ignored. Last year, the military began fighting this phenomenon and named it a top priority.

Second, a segment of the religious sector had the courage to stand against the tide and declare that serving in the Jewish army of the Jewish state is a privilege and a duty. First God, then Country: not mutually exclusive rather both a reflection of the same belief in the God of the Hebrews and His promise to His people. In the military, all meals are kosher, time is given for the daily prayers, the Sabbath and the Jewish holidays are all strictly observed and most importantly if not I for myself (and my countrymen), who is?

This segment of modern orthodoxy, usually described by the type of yarmulkas worn by the men ("Knitted Yarmulka"), has become dominant. A very high percentage (some say a majority) of all elite units comes from this segment of society. The "Knitted Yarmulkas" replaced the members of the Kibbutzim of yesteryears, becoming what Israelis call "the salt of the land," its essence, prime and best examples.

With the new generation of draftees this week, motivation to serve in the most elite combat units is at an all-time high. Many compete for every available spot. Morale is high. Just three years ago, the military failed in the Second War in Lebanon. The blow was so rough that to this very day, comparisons are being made to that bitter failure, to the mistakes and faults that led to Israel's loss of deterrence.

One of the lessons learned was soldiers should not be carrying cell phones. The cost in human life was grave and soldiers can, actually, be on the front line without reporting home every few minutes. Another lesson was officers at all levels should not be interviewing on local and international media silence is immensely important. The Israel Defense Forces ("IDF") follow a clear hierarchy. There is one face and voice, although multiple languages may be used. Another "discovery" was that there must be a censor whose guidance and supervision lead to saving lives instead of disseminating classified information. Seemingly, "Military 101" had to be re-learned.

There were other problems: Logistics fell behind those forces at the very front, causing shortages previously unforeseen. Equipment taken out from warehouses was either not functioning properly or in less than desirable condition. Many reserve units did not train or were trained to fight a different scenario (urban vs. open warfare, for instance). Complaining aside, these were short-term obstacles that could be overcome. Israel is very good at improvising, and she learns and improves especially when the toll is heavily felt.

Since the issues that surfaced three years ago were symptomatic of an inner, much deeper problem, we must tie them into the rampant avoidance of service and ask if the IDF has lost its lure? The answer, one finds, is that the IDF continues to offer the following unique propositions:

a) The IDF is a melting pot it is an army of all the people, those from rich and poor homes, religious and secular backgrounds, different shades of skin color, smart and slow, disabled and healthy, courageous and hesitant. Service pushes all through a mixer, treating them equally, placing the same demands and entrusting the same great responsibilities regardless of creed, ethnicity, or other labels or affiliations;

b) The IDF is a singular pivotal point in a young person's life. Mandatory military service in the IDF creates a thinking, responsible citizen who has paid dues to society and is ready to assume a different role as an adult. In the United States, a youngster attends four years of college following high school graduation. Compare the person with a Bachelor's degree with the person who finished military service, and you will find the latter more reliable, more responsible, with more practical abilities to face life;

c) The IDF is an army of all of Israel. By necessity and design, it is ISRAEL. Each family of this tiny country surrounded by enemies has a son, a daughter, a father or grandfather, a brother or uncle, a niece or a granddaughter who serves, thus creating an extended network;

d) The IDF is an army that is responsible for every one of his members. People often wonder why did Israel release hundreds of terrorists to get back body parts of two soldiers (for which she went to the Second War in Lebanon), or why is she discussing the possible release of a thousand more terrorists for one twenty some year old Gilad Shalit held in captivity in Gaza. Shalit's captors have not allowed access to the International Red Cross even once for close to four years.

For Jewish people, saving the life of one amounts to saving the whole world. For an Israeli, there is an unspoken promise that every parent can sleep quietly knowing the son or daughter will always come back from the front, that Israel will ensure this happens. Indeed, every child in Israel knows the name of Gilad Shalit, the symbol of all that is wrong with Israel's enemies and the aspiration of Israel for peace, normalcy and sanity;

e) The IDF is the embodiment of Jewish thought and wisdom, of honor and sense of humanity. The cleanliness of virtue, the pristine innocence of deeds, the ability to tell your soldiers "follow me" and lead, the knowledge that no soldier is left behind at the battlefield and the code of honor which is part of the IDF's DNA are the founding blocks of the Israeli military.

The strength of these pillars is evident in the respect the IDF enjoys both by fellow professionals from around the world and from those who are at its mercy. They, more than anyone else, know that if the roles were reversed, murder for the pure enjoyment and exemplary effects (causing sheer fear and subjugation), killings without even a thought for human life, raping and maiming for the utter satisfaction and complete disrespect to other human beings would be rampant;

f) The IDF is Israel's future, for it enables Israel to focus on innovation and creativity, to flourish and thrive, to grow and succeed in the harshest of environments (climate, lack of resources, human enemies, etc.). By providing the deterrence and safety net, the IDF allows citizens not in active service to live their daily lives in the most unlikely and currently unfriendly of places their eternal homeland. The IDF is the cement, the building blocks, the embodiment of past, present and future of Israel.

As President Obama continues his deliberations about the future of our young men and women in Afghanistan, I am reminded of the following observation: As long as the burden is not felt and shared by all Americans, as long as we neither understand nor appreciate the sacrifices of our young men and women, they should not be in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Every fallen soldier, a precious life extinguished, is wasted if most Americans assign little if any price for the sacrifice made. Americans on the front lines overseas are willing to give their lives to uphold all that we take for granted so that others, their fellow Americans, can continue their daily lives. A day will come and by necessity we will return to these hostile faraway lands, but then the burden will be shared more equally by all, not only by some.

Israeli society provides an inspiring example how to turn a terrible necessity one of having to protect oneself for one's continued existence into a benefit to the society at large, educating, preparing the individual for a meaningful life and letting one know that with rights come obligations.

May our young men and women come back home soon, may Israel continue to be strong, as it is the last fort standing and protecting the West. May there come a day that Micah's prophecy becomes reality: "and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." (4:3)

In the series "Postcards from Israel," Ari Bussel and Norma Zager invite readers throughout the world to join them as they present reports from Israel as seen by two sets of eyes: Bussel's on the ground, Zager's counter-point from home. Israel and the United States are inter-related - the two countries we hold dearest to our hearts - and so is this "point - counter-point" presentation that has, since 2008, become part of our lives.

Islamic Tactics of Taqqiya teaches Muslims to practise Deception , Fraud & Double Standards to spread Islam

2010-07-01T13:35:00.001-05:00

Islamic Tactics of Taqqiya teaches Muslims to practise Deception , Fraud & Double Standards to spread Islam :-

Whatever US may do to help Muslims and Arabs , they will always blame America for their problems.

Muslims always use double standards to cheat Non Muslims.

Even Koran Teaches the Islamic Tactics of Taqqiya which allows muslims to use deception to spread Islam.

Oil Rich Gulf Muslim countries are spreading their money on buying latest Military hardware , F-16 , Machine guns , War ships and offcourse secret program to build nuclear weapons.

This enormous amount of money and resources could be used to resettle " so called Palestinian Muslim Brethren " in the empty lands of Sinai desert ( Egypt) or in Rub al Khali area of Saudi Arabia .

Arabs will pay and reward to families of suicide bombers but they are not willing to invest in modern & carrer oriented education in middle east. and the education which is provided by Saudi Funded Wahabi Schools and seminraies will only help muslim children to become Suicide Bombers , Terrorists , Murderers or Clerics.

Wahabi Islam / Militant Islam / Jihadist Islam / Radical Islam is infact mainstream Islam which is practised or atleast supported by 99 % of Muslims in the world. so Islam is Islam and its dangerous , there is no sense in fooling ourselves by classifying Islam into categories.

A Time will come when West ( or infact rest of the world ) will have to collide with Islam head on.

There will be no more options left .

Remember the fact that Islam and Freedom cannot coexist peacefully.

Islam is biggest threat to humanity and its more dangerous than Hitler led Nazi Germany or Stalin led Soviet Union.

We have to realise and prepare to fight and win the long war against Islam.

Exclusive: You're Doin' Fine, Oklahoma!

2010-06-21T16:00:00.001-05:00

I haven’t been this excited since Golda Meir explained to the world “We don't thrive on military acts. We do them because we have to, and thank God we are efficient.”

Well, Oklahoma State Representative Rex Duncan, thank God, you too are efficient and doing what you have to do. Rep. Duncan is the chief architect of proposed legislation that bans Sharia law in his state. He calls the proposed ban a necessary "preemptive strike" against Islamic law coming to Oklahoma.

I have often said and written that we only have to look at Europe or Britain to see where we as a country are headed if we don’t wake up and act. The photo above from the U.K. tells the story of Islam and Sharia.

As I have explained many times before in various articles, Sharia law allows the following (and this is just when it comes to women):

· Obligatory female genital mutilation (FGM).

· Requirement of women to obtain permission from husbands for daily freedoms, such as leaving the house unescorted by a male family member.

· Beating of disobedient women and girls.

· Compulsory acceptance of polygamy and forced child marriages.

· Requirement of the testimony of four male Muslim witnesses (or eight women) to prove rape;

· Stoning to death of adulteresses.

Luckily for the people of Oklahoma they have a man representing them like Rep. Rex Duncan. I had the pleasure of speaking with Rep. Duncan and, I must say, I was impressed. Not only is Rep. Duncan an attorney, but he has served 31 years in the Guard, Reserves and active duty. He volunteered for active duty following 9/11 and served 16 months as a Special Forces officer with the Special Operations Command-Central. His duty assignments included the Middle East and Horn of Africa. He currently serves as Commander of the 189th Regiment, Regional Training Institute in Oklahoma City with the rank of Colonel.

I asked Rep. Duncan what made him decide to write a ban on Sharia law given the fact that Oklahoma has so few Muslims – only 30,000 out of a population of 3.7 million - and thus the chance of Sharia law being applied there seems slim. He explained:

“It would have been a safe bet that Oklahoma would be the last State to enact this law, but if we waited until it was on our doorstep it would be too late.”

What excites me even more than this ban of Sharia law is the fact that Rep. Duncan shared with me that:

“Representatives from other states have been contacting me for the language we used and you will probably see this start to be adopted by other states as well.”

Here is what I love about this possible amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution; it would forbid judges from using international law as a basis for their decisions, including Sharia law.

The question on the ballot for the voters of Oklahoma will read something like this:

“This measure amends the State Constitution. It would change a section that deals with the courts of this state. It would make courts rely on federal and state laws when deciding cases. It would forbid courts from looking atinternational law, or Sharia Law when deciding cases.

SHALL THE PROPOSAL BE APPROVED? Yes or No”

The actual wording that will appear on the ballot has yet to be written and is currently being crafted by the Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson (D). Yes, you read that correctly, A.G. Edmonson is a Democrat and is actually changing the wording to be more precise. Rep. Duncan explained that the

“wording on the state ballot would include the explanation of ‘law of nation’ and ‘Islamic law’ as well as ‘laws followed by Mohammed’ ”.

The actual “legalese” for this law came from HJR1056 which states:

“The Courts provided for in subsection A of this section, when exercising their judicial authority, shall uphold and adhere to the law as provided in the United States Constitution, the Oklahoma Constitution, the United States Code, federal regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, established common law, the Oklahoma Statutes and rules promulgated pursuant thereto, and if necessary the law of another state of the United States provided the law of the other state does not include Sharia Law, in making judicial decisions. The courts shall not look to the legal precepts of other nations or cultures. Specifically, the courts shall not considerinternational law or Sharia Law. The provisions of this subsection shall apply to all cases before the respective courts including, but not limited to, cases of first impression. “

What a novel idea, let’s use the laws and Constitution of the United States when deciding cases here in the U.S.! I have written about Sharia law many times before, specifically where I saw Sharia creeping in to our judicial system. In “How Do You Plead, Guilty or Not Guilty? ‘I Plead Muslim!’” I expressed my concerns of how Sharia law and the use of another culture’s beliefs were encroaching into our court system.

Although I feel it is overdue, in this case I can honestly say at least it’s not too late. My hat is off to Rep. Duncan. I can only hope and pray that other states follow suit. This is what I have been screaming, lecturing and writing about for far too long and I am so glad that someone finally gets it.

If you care about this issue, your Congressmen need to hear from you. It’s vital that the electorate participates in the process of citizenship in a free country. This is the first step, a baby step, towards running to the finish line which will be when our U.S. Congress and Senate enact a similar law nationally.

If you support a ban on Sharia (and other un-American laws) having influence in American courtrooms, you can show Rep. Rex Duncan that, no matter where you live in this great nation of ours, you endorse his efforts. He can be contacted at his office (405 - 557-7344) or he can be emailed at rexduncan@okhouse.gov .

During my conversation with Rep. Duncan we discussed the fact that Oklahoma is still a red state and that A.G. Edmondson is a Democrat. I stated to him: “This is not a partisan issue, it is an American issue.” Rep. Dugan agreed with my assessment 100%.

As the song “Oklahoma” so proudly proclaims: “You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!”

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Gadi Adelman is a freelance writer and lecturer on the history of terrorism and counterterrorism. He grew up in Israel, studying terrorism and Islam for 35 years after surviving a terrorist bomb in Jerusalem in which 7 children were killed. Since returning to the U. S., Gadi teaches and lectures to law enforcement agencies as well as high schools and colleges. He can be heard every Thursday night at 9PM est. on his own radio show “America Akbar” on Windows to Liberty Radio Network. He can be reached through his website http://gadiadelman.com.

Osama Bin Laden Is Living In Iran

2010-06-10T01:59:00.003-05:00

Osama bin Laden is alive and well and living in Savzevar, Iran, with his al Qaeda compatriots.

His hiding place has been pinned down for the first time by the Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al-Siyassa as the mountain town of Savzevar in the northeastern Iranian province of Khorasan.

Bin Laden, according to the report, remains in Savzevar under the protection of SAVAMA, the Iranian intelligence service.

Other al-Qaeda dignitaries reportedly are sheltered in Iranian safe-houses, including Dr. Ayman al-Zawahari, who has been spotted in the guise of an Iranian cleric with a black turban and a dyed red beard, along with Saad bin Laden, Osama’s eldest son; Yaaz bin Sifat, a top ranking planner of terror operations; and Mohammed Islam Haani, who served as the mayor of Kabul under the Taliban.

More news concerning bin Laden has been earthed by Israeli intelligence officers, who disclosed that Recep Erdogan, Turkey’s Prime Minister, remains aware that the al Qaeda officials were safely housed in Iran.

The leak to the Kuwaiti daily purportedly was intended to display the strong bonds that have developed between Turkey and Iran in the wake of the Israeli commando raid on a Turkish vessel, which was leading a fleet of ships through the Gaza blockade on May 31.

Savzevar, a small town of about a quarter of a million inhabitants, is connected by road to Tehran and Mashhad and has a small airport.

A center for producing grapes and raisins, Savzevar is difficult to access because it is enclosed by lofty mountains and a salt desert of more than 50,000 square kilometers.

On May 13, American intelligence sources reported that several al Qaeda operatives, including Saif al-Adel, have received permission from the Iranian government to leave the country and to cross the Iranian border into Turkey for the purpose of orchestrating terrorist attacks on American targets.

Al-Adel is believed to have been assigned the task of planning an attack on the world soccer games which open in South Africa on June 12.

Last December, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged the United States has not had any good intelligence on bin Laden's whereabouts in years. Until recently, the elusive master-terrorist was generally thought to have gone to ground in the wilder parts of Pakistan-Afghanistan border region.

Osama bin Laden’s ties to Iran stem back to 1995 when he forged an alliance with Imad Fayez Mugniyah, the founder and senior intelligence officer of Hezbollah, and attended a terror summit in Tehran. Mugniyah assisted bin Laden in establishing the first cells of al Qaeda in South America.

In the wake of the bombing of Tora Bora in December 2001 by U.S.-led coalition forces, more than five hundred al Qaeda and Taliban operatives scaled the mountains in the south along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. They cut through Afghanistan’s southernmost provinces to head west to Iran, where they found safe haven.

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Paul L. Williams is the author of The Day of Islam: The Annihilation of America and the Western World, The Al Qaeda Connection, and other best-selling books. He is a frequent guest on such national news networks as ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, MSNBC, and NPR. Visit his website at http://thelastcrusade.org.

Palestinian Nationalism and the Real War Against Israel...

2010-04-28T23:42:00.005-05:00

The Middle East war is not now and never was a conflict between Israelis/Jews on the one hand and Palestinians on the other. In fact, the Arab-"Palestinians", while currently the perpetrators of most of the anti-Jewish atrocities, were never a very important part of the conflict. In fact, before about 1970, virtually no one in the world considered the Middle East conflict to be one between Israelis and Palestinians.

The term "Palestinian" itself had referred to Israeli Jews back in the 1940s, and had been slowly deconstructed and redefined to refer to the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza. The Middle East Conflict was always a war by Arabs against Jews, not a conflict between Israelis and "Palestinians." The war was repackaged as a conflict between Jews and Palestinians as a public relations gimmick by the Arab fascist regimes. These regimes had never had any interest in "Palestinians," in creating a "Palestinian" state, or in "Palestinian nationalism" before 1967. That is because Palestinian nationalism did not and DOES NOT exist. The Palestinians were a regional group of Arabs having virtually no cultural nor national distinctive traits separating them from Syrians, Lebanese, and Jordanians. They are all basically Arabs!.

The bulk of what are called "Palestinian Arabs" are members of families who migrated into the Land of Israel beginning in the late 19th century. Palestinian nationalism is a mislabeling of Arab nationalism. Arab nationalism exists, although it is closely bound up with Islamic nationalism and even Islamism. Palestinian nationalism, however, is a phantom. It is nothing more than genocidal hatred of Jews!

The Arab assaults and aggressions against Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1968, and 1973 had nothing to do with Palestinians. The Palestinian terror campaign would itself be easy to suppress today and eradicate if the Middle East conflict were really a Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Israel would simply obliterate the terrorists and expel their supporters to Syria and Lebanon. The Middle East war continues because it is really an Arab-Israeli war, not an Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is also in large part a war between barbarism and civilization. In many ways an Islamic religious jihad against the Jews.

HISTORY of Israel & "Palestine"

South Park Parodies Angry Muslims, Making Muslims Angrier

2010-04-26T09:25:00.005-05:00

Matt Stone and Trey Parker have received death threats for exposing Mohammed in the 200th episode of Southpark

The above clip is from South Park’s 200th episode, which has reprised the role of the Prophet Muhammad, in a political parody of the fact that every religion can be made fun of without riots breaking out except for Islam.

In the episode, the children meet Tom Cruise at a chocolate factory where he is packing bundles of fudge into boxes. They ask him why he’s “packing fudge”, which angers Cruise and leads him to bring a lawsuit against South Park. The only way that Cruise will drop the suit is if the town brings the Prophet Muhammad to South Park.

The whole point of the show is to lampoon the double standards applied to Islam and other religions in the media. There is a scene involving the “Super Best Friends”, that features every religious figure acting as super heroes, including Buddha, who does lines of cocaine on a table as Jesus is speaking. For the scenes of Muhammad, the image is blacked out by a large “censored” graphic.

Eventually, Muhammad agrees to appear in South Park in a bear mascot costume so as not to offend Muslims. But this, apparently, still managed to upset Muslims. Despite the point of the cartoon being a farcical exaggeration of Islamic intolerance, reality managed to disprove that it was an exaggeration at all.

An Islamic group posted a video on YouTube today condemning the South Park episode, and calling for attacks on the creators. They posted images of Matt Stone and Trey Parker, followed with images of others who have dared to insult Islam, including a picture of the murdered Theo Van Gogh with a knife sticking out of his chest. In the video the speaker said that whosoever insults Islam shall be met with the sword, and that once the followers of Islam have taken up the sword against someone, there shall be no negotiation that causes them to change their mind.

This could properly be termed an official “fatwa” against the creators of South Park.

“We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh for airing this show,” the group said on its website. “This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality that will likely happen to them.”

South Park has managed to illustrate that not only does Islam not have a funny bone, but that it is a dangerously violent and extremist faith that is so intolerant that it actually manages to chill something as unserious as a cartoon notorious for portraying Satan as being in a homosexual relationship with Saddam Hussein.

CNN asks rhetorically whether South Park has gone “too far” this time. But, of course, it hasn’t gone far enough. The fact remains that we allow our fear of radical Islam to keep us from publishing portrayals of the prophet in the media, lest we inflame the delicate sensibilities of people for whom the concept of humour seems to have been surgically removed at birth.

No one has questioned the freedom of Muslims to believe that the Prophet Muhammad cannot be depicted, but to impose that view on the rest of the world isn’t an opinion any longer. It’s tyranny. South Park cleverly illustrates just how far that tyranny has spread, when a cartoon about a bear representing the prophet can compel Muslims to threaten murder.

Very Nice Gem To My Blogger Collection =)

Letter Promoting KKK Rally Circulating in Oklahoma City

2010-04-16T23:32:00.009-05:00

Enlarge this picture

A letter promoting hateful and racists statements along with an upcoming KKK rally at the State Capitol has been sent to several local businesses.

Enlarge this picture

Editors with HateTrackers.com, a Web site that follows hate groups across America, questioned the legitimacy of the letter but said Klansmen still gather in Oklahoma. The site sent several pictures of two groups still operating in Oklahoma.

By Rusty Surette, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A one-page letter laced with racism and hate has shown up at a number of Oklahoma businesses.

The letter's opening line is, "Hello Fellow White Oklahomans and Christians," followed by "Oklahoma is Redneck KKK Country." The top of the page reads "White Christians' Fraternal Order."

The letter, dated April 7, is a promotion for the Ku Klux Klan and an upcoming rally at the Oklahoma State Capitol. It was sent to a number of businesses including an Edmond bank and the Black Chronicle newspaper in Oklahoma City.

Read the full letter.

The letter goes on to read, "We want to reassert white supremacy through terrorism and intimidation. We want to bring back lynching" and "we want a law passed so that Oklahoma Darkies are only allowed to come out from 9 p.m. to 12 p.m."

"It almost makes me want to vomit," said Ladonna Holmes, an Oklahoma City resident who read the letter.

The name listed on the envelope's return address is the John Birch Institute. Wisconsin-based John Birch Society said they are not responsible for the letter.

See the addressed envelope.

"We do not know who sent it. We do not approve of the letter's message and strongly denounce both the message and the individual or group involved in this disgusting and illegal activity. We have reported this to the Oklahoma City Police Department," said Bill Hahn, Public Relations Manager for The John Birch Society.

What's more puzzling, the return address on the envelope is 701 Colcord Drive, which is the address for Oklahoma City Police headquarters. Since the letter did not originate from there, according to police, investigators are now trying to track down where they came from.

"The content of these letters is very disturbing," said Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Jennifer Wardlow. "We have not been able to find any type of originating fax number to trace it to, which obviously is a problem in any kind of investigation."

Police are asking anyone who knows who is responsible for the letters to contact authorities.

The letter goes on to promote a KKK rally called "Mighty Whitie's Day" at the state Capitol. It's scheduled for later this month, but at last check, the necessary reservations for a rally at the State Capitol have not been made by any group associated with the letters.

To prove the KKK is still active in our state, the Oklahoma City-based Web site HateTrackers.com sent nine recent photos of Klansmen near Shawnee and Broken Arrow. In the photos, members of the KKK can be seen carrying the Oklahoma flag.

HateTrackers.com's Klu Klux Klan Photos in Oklahoma

The editors of HateTrackers.com, which carefully follows hate groups across America, questioned the legitimacy and source of the letters.

"It's a hoax. The United White Knights do not openly declare illegal or terrorist acts and they're now more into white separatism than white supremacy, and more likely to be raging against illegal immigrants," stated the editor of HateTrackers.com in an e-mail. "The phone number they're using [on the letter] is to the John Birch Society, which has been referred to as the White Collar KKK, but they wouldn't dare be so openly blatant about things or directly associate with the UWK. In any event, even if a bad joke, the climate out there is too tender to be getting tweaked like this."

The Complete List of Obama Statement Expiration Dates

2010-04-02T19:42:00.002-06:00

By popular demand, a comprehensive list of expired Obama statements...

HEALTH CARE MANDATES

STATEMENT: “We've got a philosophical difference, which we've debated repeatedly, and that is that Senator Clinton believes the only way to achieve universal health care is to force everybody to purchase it. And my belief is, the reason that people don't have it is not because they don't want it but because they can't afford it.” Barack Obama, speaking at a Democratic presidential debate, February 21, 2008.

EXPIRATION DATE: On March 23, 2010, Obama signed the individual mandate into law.

HEALTH CARE NEGOTIATIONS ON C-SPAN

STATEMENT: “These negotiations will be on C-SPAN, and so the public will be part of the conversation and will see the decisions that are being made.” January 20, 2008, and seven other times.

EXPIRATION DATE: Throughout the summer, fall, and winter of 2009 and 2010; when John McCain asked about it during the health care summit February 26, Obama dismissed the issue by declaring, “the campaign is over, John.”

RAISING TAXES

STATEMENT: “No family making less than $250,000 will see any form of tax increase.” (multiple times on the campaign trail)

EXPIRATION DATE: Broken multiple times, including the raised taxes on tobacco, a new tax on indoor tanning salons, but most prominently on February 11, 2010: “President Barack Obama said he is “agnostic” about raising taxes on households making less than $250,000 as part of a broad effort to rein in the budget deficit.”

RECESS APPOINTMENTS

STATEMENT: Then-Senator Obama declared that a recess appointment is “damaged goods” and has “less credibility” than a normal appointment. August 25, 2005.

EXPIRATION DATE: March 27, 2010: “If, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis.”

BORDER SECURITY

STATEMENT: “We need tougher border security, and a renewed focus on busting up gangs and traffickers crossing our border. . . . That begins at home, with comprehensive immigration reform. That means securing our border and passing tough employer enforcement laws.” then-candidate Obama, discussing the need for border security, speaking in Miami on May 23, 2008:

EXPIRATION DATE: March 17, 2010: The Obama administration halted new work on a "virtual fence" on the U.S.-Mexican border, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Tuesday, diverting $50 million in planned economic stimulus funds for the project to other purposes.

GUANTANAMO BAY

STATEMENT: Executive Order stating, "The detention facilities at Guantánamo for individuals covered by this order shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order." January 22, 2009.

EXPIRATION DATE: November 19, 2009: "Guantánamo, we had a specific deadline that was missed."

MILITARY TRIBUNALS

STATEMENT: “Somebody like Khalid Sheik Mohammad is gonna get basically, a full military trial with all the bells and whistles.” September 27, 2006

EXPIRATION DATE: Ongoing. “President Obama is planning to insert himself into the debate about where to try the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, three administration officials said Thursday, signaling a recognition that the administration had mishandled the process and triggered a political backlash. Obama initially had asked Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to choose the site of the trial in an effort to maintain an independent Justice Department. But the White House has been taken aback by the intense criticism from political opponents and local officials of Holder's decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian courtroom in New York.”

RECOVERY.GOV

STATEMENT: “We will launch a sweeping effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars by going to a new website called recovery.gov.” – President Obama, January 28, 2009

EXPIRATION DATE: “More than two months after some of the funds were released, [Recovery.gov] offers little detail on where the money is going… The government [spent] $84 million on a website that doesn't have a search function, when its purpose is to ‘root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government.’” April 2, 2009

Eighteen from his first 100 days:

1. "As President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."

2. "I will make sure that we renegotiate [NAFTA]."

3. Opposed a Colombian Free Trade Agreement because advocates ignore that "labor leaders have been targeted for assassination on a fairly consistent basis."

4. "Now, what I’ve done throughout this campaign is to propose a net spending cut."

5. "If we see money being misspent, we're going to put a stop to it, and we will call it out and we will publicize it."

6. "Yesterday, Jim, the head of Caterpillar, said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off."

7. "I want to go line by line through every item in the Federal budget and eliminate programs that don't work, and make sure that those that do work work better and cheaper."

8. "[My plan] will not help speculators who took risky bets on a rising market and bought homes not to live in but to sell."

9. "Instead of allowing lobbyists to slip big corporate tax breaks into bills during the dead of night, we will make sure every single tax break and earmark is available to every American online."

10. "We can no longer accept a process that doles out earmarks based on a member of Congress's seniority, rather than the merit of the project."

11. "If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime."

12. "Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe the United States has to be frank with the Chinese about such failings and will press them to respect human rights."

13. "We must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights."

14. "Lobbyists won’t work in my White House!"

15. "The real gamble in this election is playing the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expecting a different result."

16. "I'll make oil companies like Exxon pay a tax on their windfall profits, and we'll use the money to help families pay for their skyrocketing energy costs and other bills."

17. "Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days." Obama is 1-for-11 on this promise so far.

18. A special one on the 100th day, "the first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing I'd do."

And a list from of promises that expired during the campaign:

Monday, November 03, 2008

IRAQ

STATEMENT: “Based on the conversations we’ve had internally as well as external reports, we believe that you can get one to two brigades out a month. At that pace, the forces would be out in approximately 16 months from the time that we began. That would be the time frame that I would be setting up,” Obama to the New York Times, November 1, 2007

EXPIRATION DATE: March 7, 2008: Obama foreign policy adviser Samantha Power, to the BBC: “You can’t make a commitment in whatever month we’re in now, in March of 2008 about what circumstances are gonna be like in Jan. 2009. We can’t even tell what Bush is up to in terms of troop pauses and so forth. He will of course not rely upon some plan that he’s crafted as a presidential candidate or as a US senator.”

Also: July 3, 2008: "My 16-month timeline, if you examine everything I've said, was always premised on making sure our troops were safe," Obama told reporters as his campaign plane landed in North Dakota. "And my guiding approach continues to be that we've got to make sure that our troops are safe, and that Iraq is stable. And I'm going to continue to gather information to find out whether those conditions still hold."

STATEMENT: On June 14, Obama foreign policy adviser Susan Rice called the RNC’s argument that Obama needed to go to Iraq to get a firsthand look "complete garbage."

EXPIRATION DATE: On June 16, Obama announced he would go to Iraq and Afghanistan “so he can see first hand the progress of the wars he would inherit if he's elected president.”

DEBATES

STATEMENT: May 16, 2008: "If John McCain wants to meet me, anywhere, anytime to have a debate about our respective policies in Iraq, Iran, the Middle East or around the world that is a conversation I’m happy to have."

EXPIRATION DATE: June 13, 2008: Obama campaign manager David Plouffe: “Barack Obama offered to meet John McCain at five joint appearances between now and Election Day—the three traditional debates plus a joint town hall on the economy in July [on the Fourth of July] and an in-depth debate on foreign policy in August.”

IRAN

STATEMENT: “We can, then, more effectively deal with what I consider to be one of the greatest threats to the United States, to Israel, and world peace, and that is Iran,” Obama speaking to American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Chicago, March 5, 2007

EXPIRATION DATE: “Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, these countries are tiny...They don’t pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us.” – May 20, 2008

STATEMENT: Question at the YouTube debate, as the video depicted leaders of the countries, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "Would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea?....."

"I would," Obama answered. July 27, 2007

EXPIRATION DATE: May 10, 2008: Susan E. Rice, a former State Department and National Security Council official who is a foreign policy adviser to the Democratic candidate: “But nobody said he would initiate contacts at the presidential level; that requires due preparation and advance work.”

JEREMIAH WRIGHT/TRINITY UNITED

STATEMENT: "I could no more disown Jeremiah Wright than I could disown my own grandmother."

—Barack Obama, March 18, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: on April 28, 2008, cut all ties to Wright, declaring, “based on his remarks yesterday, well, I may not know him as well as I thought.”

STATEMENT: Obama said that his church, “Trinity United "embodies the black community in its entirety" and that his church was being caricatured on March 18, 2008.

EXPIRATION DATE: On May 31, 2008, Obama resigned his membership at Trinity United Church.

JIM JOHNSON

STATEMENT: Criticism of running mate vetter Jim Johnson loan from Countrywide was "a game" and that his vice-presidential vetting team “aren’t folks who are working for me.” June 10, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: June 11, 2008, when Obama accepted Johnson's resignation.

FISA

STATEMENT: Obama spokesman Bill Burton on October 24, 2007: “To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.”

EXPIRATION DATE: June 20, 2008: “Given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as president, I will carefully monitor the program.”

NUCLEAR ENERGY

STATEMENT: “I am not a nuclear energy proponent.” Barack Obama, December 30, 2007

EXPIRATION DATE: The above statement actually was the expiration date for his previous position, “I actually think we should explore nuclear power as part of the energy mix,” expressed on July 23, 2007; the above statement expired when he told Democratic governors he thought it is “worth investigating its further development” on June 20, 2008.

NAFTA

STATEMENT: Tim Russert:: Senator Obama . . . Simple question: Will you, as president, say to Canada and Mexico, "This has not worked for us; we are out"?

Obama: “I will make sure that we renegotiate, in the same way that Senator Clinton talked about. And I think actually Senator Clinton's answer on this one is right. I think we should use the hammer of a potential opt-out as leverage to ensure that we actually get labor and environmental standards that are enforced. And that is not what has been happening so far.” February 23, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: June 18, 2008, Fortune magazine: “Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified,” he conceded, after I reminded him that he had called NAFTA "devastating" and "a big mistake," despite nonpartisan studies concluding that the trade zone has had a mild, positive effect on the U.S. economy.

Does that mean his rhetoric was overheated and amplified? "Politicians are always guilty of that, and I don't exempt myself," he answered.

"I'm not a big believer in doing things unilaterally," Obama said. "I'm a big believer in opening up a dialogue and figuring out how we can make this work for all people."

PUBLIC FINANCING

STATEMENT: “If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.” Also, a Common Cause questionnaire dated November 27, 2007, asked “If you are nominated for President in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?”, Obama checked, “Yes.”

EXPIRATION DATE: June 19, 2008: Obama announced he would not participate in the presidential public financing system.

WORKING OUT A DEAL ON PUBLIC FINANCING

STATEMENT: “What I’ve said is, at the point where I'm the nominee, at the point where it's appropriate, I will sit down with John McCain and make sure that we have a system that works for everybody.”Obama to Tim Russert, Febuary 27.

EXPIRATION DATE: When Obama announced his decision to break his public financing pledge June 19, no meeting between the Democratic nominee and McCain had occurred.

WELFARE REFORM

STATEMENT: “I probably would not have supported the federal legislation [to overhaul welfare], because I think it had some problems." Obama on the floor of the Illinois Senate, May 31, 1997

EXPIRATION DATE: April 11, 2008: Asked if he would have vetoed the 1996 law, Mr. Obama said, “I won’t second guess President Clinton for signing” it. Obama to the New York Times.

GAY MARRIAGE

STATEMENT: "Barack Obama has always believed that same-sex couples should enjoy equal rights under the law, and he will continue to fight for civil unions as president. He respects the decision of the California Supreme Court, and continues to believe that states should make their own decisions when it comes to the issue of marriage.” – campaign spokesman, May 5, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: June 29, 2008: “I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states… Finally, I want to congratulate all of you who have shown your love for each other by getting married these last few weeks.” — letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club

PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION

STATEMENT: "Now, I don't think that 'mental distress' qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term." – Interview with Relevant magazine, July 1, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: July 5, 2008: “My only point is that in an area like partial-birth abortion having a mental, having a health exception can be defined rigorously. It can be defined through physical health, It can be defined by serious clinical mental-health diseases.” statement to reporters.

DIVISION OF JERUSALEM

STATEMENT: "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided." — speech before AIPAC, June 4, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: June 6, 2008: "Jerusalem is a final status issue, which means it has to be negotiated between the two parties" as part of "an agreement that they both can live with." – an Obama adviser clarifying his remarks to the Jerusalem Post.

Slaying the Cult of the Obama Zombies

2010-03-25T20:08:00.004-06:00

By Michelle Malkin • March 23, 2010

Our young friend Jason Mattera debuts his new book, Obama Zombies, today. Go out and get one for your favorite high-schooler or college student now before it’s too late. I told Jason to “knock ‘em dead” on the book tour — but of course, so many of the cult of O generation are already brain-dead.

Remember Julio?

Mattera provides a stark, refreshing contrast to Obama’s worship troops of twentysomething moochers. From Obama Zombies:

Obama Zombies uncovers the true, behind-the-scenes story of the methods and tactics the Obama campaign unleashed on youth culture. Through personal interviews and meticulous original research, Mattera explains why conservatism’s future rests upon jolting the young masses from their slumber, yanking out their earphones, and sparking a countercultural conservative battle against the rise of the ignorant Left.

The lesson from 2008 is crystal clear: When true conservatives run away Obama Zombies come out to play.

You know Jason well from his ballsy Hot Air TV/YAF video confrontations with the Beltway corruptocrats and wealth redistributors. Stay tuned for more…

Posted in: Barack Obama

13 Reasons Why CSS Is Superior to Tables in Website Design

2010-03-25T12:36:00.003-06:00

For the past few days, we’ve been scouring the web searching for the top 13 reasons why Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are superior to table-based layouts when designing a website. Some web designers swear that table-based layouts are better than CSS-based layouts, while others believe that table-based layouts are ancient history and XHTML combined with CSS is the only real solution to coding a web site’s visual layout. Since we’re one of those CSS die-hards, we’ve compiled a list of 13 reasons why CSS-based layouts are superior to table-based layouts.

Note: CSS cannot be used on its own to create a website – CSS is merely the tool used to style a web site’s visual information. HTML or preferably, XHTML, must be used to define the structure of a website. In addition, tables are perfect for tabular data, however, that’s about all they are good for nowadays.

The List

Faster page loading

Lowered hosting costs

Redesigns are more efficient

Redesigns are less expensive

Visual consistency maintained throughout website(s)

Better for SEO

Accessibility

Competitive edge (job security)

Quick website-wide updates

Easier for teams to maintain (and individuals)

Increased usability

More complex layouts and designs

No spacer gifs

Al-Qaida calls on US Muslims to attack America

2010-03-07T11:25:00.010-06:00

By PATRICK QUINN, Associated Press Writer –

CAIRO – Al-Qaida's American-born spokesman on Sunday called on Muslims serving in the U.S. armed forces to emulate the Army major charged with killing 13 people in Fort Hood.

In a 25-minute video posted on militant Web sites, Adam Gadahn described Maj. Nidal Hasan as a pioneer who should serve as a role model for other Muslims, especially those serving Western militaries.

"Brother Nidal is the ideal role-model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes," he said.

Gadahn, also known as Azzam al-Amriki, was dressed in white robes and wearing a white turban as he called for attacks on what he described as "high-value targets."

Gadahn grew up on a goat farm in Riverside County, California, and converted to Islam at a mosque in nearby Orange County.

"You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage," he said, an assault rifle leaning up against a wall next to him.

Gadahn has been wanted by the FBI since 2004 and two years later was charged with treason. There is a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.

He has in the past posted videos and messages calling for the destruction of the West and for strikes against targets in the United States. His location is unknown, but he is believed to be somewhere along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Hasan has been charged in the Nov. 5 shooting that killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas. The 39-year-old Army psychiatrist remains paralyzed from the chest down after being shot by two civilian members of Fort Hood's police force.

"Nidal Hasan is a pioneer, a trailblazer and a role-model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers," Gadahn said.

In the latest video, Gadahn said those planning attacks did not need to use only firearms like Hasan, but could use other weapons. "As the blessed operations of September 11th showed, a little imagination and planning and a limited budget can turn almost anything into a deadly, effective and convenient weapon."

Gadahn said fighters should target mass transportation systems in the West and also wreak havoc "by killing or capturing people in government, industry and the media."

He recommended finding ways to shake "consumer confidence and stifle spending" and noted that even unsuccessful attacks, such as the failed attempt to bomb a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day, can bring major cities to a halt.

"I am calling on every honest and vigilant Muslim in the countries of the Zionist-Crusader alliance in general and America, Britain and Israel in particular to prepare to play his due role in responding to and repelling the aggression of the enemies of Islam," Gadahn said.

Adam Gadahn Should Be Fair Game for an Oklahoma Grown JDAM. Can’t Wait for the Day This Traitor is Sploded.

Oklahoma Shaken by 4.4-magnitude Earthquake

2010-02-27T18:46:00.012-06:00

Originally published 05:03 p.m., February 27, 2010, updated 05:21 p.m., February 27, 2010

The U.S. Geological Survey has confirmed that an earthquake has affected the Norman area.

According to the USGS Web site, a 4.4-magnitude earthquake occured 44 miles East-Northeast of Oklahoma City.

The epicenter is located three miles from the town of Sparks, Okla., the USGS stated.

The earthquake began around 4:22, and effects of the quake were felt in Norman around 4:25.

Employees at the National Weather Center in Norman said they felt the quake, along with students posting "earthquake" on their Facebook pages.

"I was just watching TV, and the whole apartment shook," Deirdra Cook, multidisciplinary studies senior, said about her experience during the earthquake. "I wasn't sure what it was at first."

Cook lives in Traditions Square Apartments East in Norman.

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SPARKS, OK -- A 4.4 magnitude earthquake shook parts of Oklahoma Saturday afternoon, according to preliminary reports from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The epicenter of the quake was three miles ENE of Sparks and 22 miles NNE of Shawnee.

The News On 6 has had reports from a number of people who say they felt their homes shake and saw pictures rattling on the walls.

"It shook really bad. It almost felt like a bomb," said Samantha Cordell, who was at the Prague Community Center at the time of the quake. "It felt like something exploded outside the community center."

No serious damage has been reported.

This is the second earthquake to strike in the last two days.

Friday morning, a 3.1 magnitude earthquake hit a little closer to Oklahoma City.

The Oklahoma Geological Survey would like anyone who felt the quake to report it on their Web site.

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The earthquake hit about three miles east of Sparks about 4:22 p.m., the survey said. Sparks is between Chandler and Meeker.

A Lincoln County 911 dispatcher said no injuries and only minor property damage were reported.

"I was actually outside, and I felt our concrete slab move a little bit. They almost didn't feel it inside the building. It came through pretty quick," said John Woods, owner of Ladonna's Grill in Meeker.

"My daughter was at home about a block away. She said she heard it coming. She said she could actually hear a rumble coming, and then it moved east to west through the house. She said it was bouncing the house so hard that it felt like someone was knocking at the door," he said.

Woods said the quake was also felt at his mother's house in Shawnee.

"She said she thought the whole kitchen was going to come down," he said.

"I was just lying down taking a nap. My husband, we have an old tree in the back, he thought the tree had fallen in the house," said Tanya Roach of Shawnee.

Her kids — who were playing outside — were knocked of their feet by the temblor.

"It shook the house ... It sounded almost like there was a semi-truck or something pulling right next door to your house. That's what it felt like," she said.

"It was just so tremendous that it really scared me. Usually, in Sparks, like the ones they've had before, we never felt anything," Roach said.

People also reported feeling the temblor in Norman, Prague, Seminole, and as far as Tulsa.

Amie Gibson with the Oklahoma Geological Survey said the earthquake's magnitude may have registered higher on state equipment. Oklahoma Geological Survey data is not yet available.

The Dark Message of Austin

2010-02-22T10:25:00.006-06:00

Twenty-four hours after Joseph Stack committed suicide by flying an airplane into Building I of the Echelon office complex in Austin, Texas, the home pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post had no mention of the attack.

Stack's attack killed Vernon Hunter, a 67-year old revenue office manager for the Internal Revenue Service, but the words "Stack," "terror," and "airplane" were missing from CNN's front page. Only a small headline -- "Austin attack stuns community"-- sat near the top of the U.S. News section, above an equally vague "Colorado mourns education."

MSNBC offered "Plane crash pilot's background probed," under its "more news" tab, and only Fox News had the story at the top of its webpage, asking "Crime or Terror?" managing to ignore the fact that by any definition, the attack was an unambiguous example of both.

Perhaps the shock of a non-Muslim terrorist was too much to bear, or perhaps the lack of a clear-cut left-right, Democrat-Republican angle led to the story being downplayed, despite the fact almost every American blog of note was alive with discussion about the attack. It was very odd to see the mainstream press ignore what may turn out to be one of the most important events of 2010.

Stack's story is fairly clear-cut. According to his suicide note, the software consultant was upset at the IRS and changes in the U.S. tax code, upset at the fact that his efforts to address his grievances through normal political channels were ignored, and upset at the government-enabled transfer of wealth from the U.S. middle class to the elites. His note alluded to one of America's founding creeds -- no taxation without representation -- and urged Americans to revolt against government corruption.

Commentators on blogs spanning the political spectrum highlighted the fact that Stack's grievances resonated for a number of Americans, and terrorism expert Shlok Vaidya went as far as to call Stack's attack "the canary in the coal mine." Judging by the online response thus far with a number of impassioned debates on forums and blogs, the effects of his attack are potentially far more dangerous to stability in the U.S. than anything that al-Qaeda or any external enemy could presently generate.

Although only an extreme minority may see domestic terrorism as an answer to their political grievances, the online reaction to his note suggests that many agree with his take on the American political and economic system.

Despite his vulgar language and his heinous act, Stack struck a nerve, and his thoughts have found a wide and at least partially sympathetic audience online, especially when the note departed from his own story to the broader problems facing Americans:

"Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it's time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours?

"Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country's leaders don't see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political 'representatives' (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the 'terrible health care problem.' It's clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don't get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in."

So, considering that his message and his arguments have already spread online and found a somewhat captive audience, what will happen next? Will there be copycats? Will this be a wake-up call for America's ruling elite?

Judging by the muted official response and by the reaction of the mainstream press, the former may be more likely than the latter; something that should worry all of us.

Was The Plane Crash in Austin an Act of Terrorism?

2010-02-19T18:34:00.004-06:00

Why aren't we calling what Joe Stack allegedly did an act of terrorism?

It's been interesting to watch and listen as reporters, news anchors in radio and television, bloggers, and even Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo stumbled over themselves to avoid using the word terrorism, assuring us that what happened in Austin was a criminal act, not a terrorist act.

Why?

If the pilot were named Nidal Hassan, would we be more than willing to call it terrorism?

Stack writes in his 6-page manifesto that his action was designed to deliver what he called a pound of flesh to the Big Brother IRS.

If he wanted to leave a pound of flesh behind for Big Brother, why not just stay home and burn to death? Why fly the plane into a building, which he certainly knew would be occupied? Because he wanted to perpetrate an act of terrorism. He wanted retaliation against the government and the society he felt wronged him. He wanted to deliver his message. He wanted to terrorize us.

In his suicide note, he says, "Violence is not only the answer; violence is the only answer."

Why we can't bring ourselves to call that terrorism is beyond me.

At first, when you begin reading Stack's 6-page letter, you think he's going to recount some egregious case of the IRS or the United States government somehow exceeding its authority, unfairly driving him beyond the point of despair.

But Stack was not victimized by the IRS. He was a product of his own undoing. He writes that he didn't file a tax form in 1994, which you are required to do under American law. In specific years he either didn't pay or disagreed with what was classified as income. In one case, he didn't report $12,700 in income from his wife, which he claims he knew nothing about.

We're supposed to believe that because the IRS asked him to a) report all the income he and his wife earned, b) file his returns on time, and c) pay his taxes on time, that makes them the bad guy and him the good guy?

You do realize that when someone doesn't pay the $12,700 they owe, you and I pay it. Are you happy about that? Are you willing to alibi it?

Yet some are willing to make excuses for the man. Newly-elected Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown told Fox News that people are frustrated, almost suggesting he understood Stack's actions. Really?

Stack committed a series of mistakes, inadvertent or deliberate actions, which the IRS, as it is charged to do, ordered him to remedy. Instead he flies a plane into a building. Sen. Brown, are you suggesting that's a reasonable outlet for his frustration, or did you misspeak?

This man attempted to inflict as much damage as he could on those who represented the government he hated. Why is that not terrorism?

"Nothing changes unless there's a body count," wrote Stack. "By not adding my body to the count, I insure nothing will change."

Wrong. What's insured, and what Stack will never know, is that despite body counts and property damage, nothing changes for you after your dead, and nothing is going to change because of what he did. The IRS will continue to carry out our laws, collect taxes and be vilified for it.

Meanwhile, members of 15 families are adversely, even irretrievably, damaged, while the cost of property damage will be passed on to many more fellow Americans.

I'm at a loss to understand why there is any question about what this was, except that he had a common, anglicized name. If only he'd had a strange sounding Middle Eastern name, maybe we'd have felt a little more comfortable calling him a terrorist. But no, we won't do that if he's just plain old Joe Stack.

To suggest that because the American people are frustrated, the murderous actions by a domestic terrorist named Joseph Stack are somehow either acceptable or understandable is outrageous.

No one's making any excuses for Maj. Nidal Hassan, certainly not up in Fort Hood. Nor should they.

But let's call this what it is. An act of violence perpetrated against America in protest of her government is an act of terrorism. Period.

Woman Shoots, Kills Intruder in Lincoln County

2009-12-04T13:26:00.000-06:00

STROUD, Oklahoma -- A woman shot and killed a man who was trying to break into her Lincoln County home early Friday morning, authorities said.

Sheriff Chuck Mangion said 57-year-old Donna Jackson called 911 around 12:30 a.m. to report that she was home alone and a man was trying to break in her patio door.

Jackson told the 911 dispatcher that the man was screaming and threatening to hurt her.

"They need to hurry. He's going to break this thing open. When he does, I'll have to kill him and I don't want to kill him," Jackson said during the 911 call.

For nearly 10 minutes the man continued banging at the door and yelling profanities, threatening the woman.

"I can hear him banging the doors and yelling at her. I was scared for her," said Brenda Hart, a Lincoln County 911 dispatch who was on the phone with Jackson during the incident.

The man picked up a patio table and threw it through the glass door and entered the home. The woman then shot him in the chest, Mangion said.

The 911 dispatcher heard the glass breaking and the gun fire on the other end of the line.

"I shot him. I'm going out front. I hit him. God help me," Jackson said during the 911 call. "Please dear God. I think I killed him. Please Father in heaven, oh my god."

The burglary suspect was identified as Bill Riley, 53. Investigators said he may have been under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.

Mangion said Riley had been driving near the woman's house when he crashed his pickup truck.

It wasn't immediately clear why he went to Jackson's home.

"For me listening to the call the hardest part was hearing her pray for forgiveness, being put in a position that no one should ever have to be put into taking action in her own hands," said Joan Herd, a Lincoln County 911 dispatch who was on the phone with Jackson during the incident.

Jackson's family did not want to comment at this time.

Mangion said the case is being investigated as a homicide and information has been sent to the district attorney, who will determine whether if there will be any charges in this shooting. Under state law, Jackson was in the right to take legal action in self defense.