NETANYAHU GIVEN 2 MORE WEEKS TO FORM A GOVERNMENT

Benjamin Netanyahu's been granted 2 more weeks to form a government. I really hope he agrees to the wishes of Bayit Yehudi and Yesh Atid for how they'll enter the government, and it's no great loss if the Haredi parties don't join in the end. Yair Lapid's said:

Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid sent a clear message regarding his opinion on the government's future composition Saturday, saying, via a Facebook post, that "It would not be a calamity if the haredim sit in the opposition in the upcoming term."

He also said that the majority of Israelis were in favor of a new and different social agenda, "But the haredi parties firmly oppose it. It is obviously their right, but politicians also need to be prepared to pay the price for their positions sometimes."

Emphasizing the fact that he "does not hate" the ultra-Orthodox, Lapid said: "We don't disqualify or ostracize anyone. Every Jew is my brother, and I will not succumb to hate speech.

"Moreover, I think that our world would be more meager without Torah study. This doesn't mean they cannot work or enlist in the army, but Torah studies are one of the basic principles of 'Israeliness' and we have no Jewish existence without it."

No argument there. The Haredi leaders are not helping if they only denounce Lapid in vicious terms like this one did, and act as though they never have to say they're sorry. They could help tremendously by acknowledging much more honestly why it sets a good example to be part of the workforce, and if they were to enter that, then like I've said before, military service could be moot. So it's time they climbed off their high horse and admitted they're human and can make mistakes.

Egypt Considers Renting The Pyramids Out To Fight Financial Crisis Brought On By Morsi's Islamist Government

From al-Arabiya, via Will at THE OTHER NEWS:

Egypt’s finance ministry sent a proposal to the country’s antiquities ministry to consider offering key monuments, including the pyramids, to international tourism firm as a quick solution to generate funds needed to overcome the financial crisis, an official has said. 

Rumors about the proposal, which some described as preposterous, have circulated online for weeks.  

But on Wednesday, Adel Abdel Sattar, the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, in an interview with Egypt’s ONTV channel confirmed the existence of a proposal to offer Egypt’s monuments, including the pyramids in Giza, the Sphinx, the Abu Simbel Temple and the temples of Luxor, to international tourism firm. 

I guarantee you, if the Egyptian government rents out these precious antiquities to a non-Muslim firm, Jihadists will destroy them within a year.

ELLIE GOULDING VERSUS KELLY CLARKSON

TWO GREAT SONGS, BY TWO GREAT SINGERS... AND ONE VIDEO DIRECTOR???

KELLY CLARKSON:

ELLIE GOULDING:

OKAY: THE GOULDING ONE HAS MORE SPECIAL EFFECTS, BUT STILL...

THE SEQUESTER CUTS REVEAL A LOT ABOUT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA

But... of course... it's not Obama's fault:

FERN HILL BY DYLAN THOMAS - IMAGE BY MARC CHAGALL

Fern Hill

  by Dylan Thomas

Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,
     The night above the dingle starry,
          Time let me hail and climb
     Golden in the heydays of his eyes,
And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns
And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves
          Trail with daisies and barley
     Down the rivers of the windfall light.

And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns
About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home,
     In the sun that is young once only,
          Time let me play and be
     Golden in the mercy of his means,
And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves
Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold,
          And the sabbath rang slowly
     In the pebbles of the holy streams.

All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay
Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air
     And playing, lovely and watery
          And fire green as grass.
     And nightly under the simple stars
As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away,
All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars
     Flying with the ricks, and the horses
          Flashing into the dark.

And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white
With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all
     Shining, it was Adam and maiden,
          The sky gathered again
     And the sun grew round that very day.
So it must have been after the birth of the simple light
In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm
     Out of the whinnying green stable
          On to the fields of praise.

And honoured among foxes and pheasants by the gay house
Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long,
     In the sun born over and over,
          I ran my heedless ways,
     My wishes raced through the house high hay
And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows
In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
     Before the children green and golden
          Follow him out of grace,

Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me
Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand,
     In the moon that is always rising,
          Nor that riding to sleep
     I should hear him fly with the high fields
And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land.
Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
          Time held me green and dying
     Though I sang in my chains like the sea.

OBAMA'S PLAYBOOK

From "Can Obama Be Stopped?" by Daniel Greenfield:

The big mistake of the last election was assuming that public dissatisfaction with Obama would be enough to remove him....

[...]

Obama’s worldview did not win. Not in 2008 or 2012. His tactics did....

[...]

Obama has a very simple playbook. 1. Create anxiety about an issue. 2. Demand action on it. 3. Hammer the Republicans for their inaction. Every morning the news stories are largely a reflection of one of the three phases of that strategy.

In this game, Republicans can either take the initiative or defend their lack of action on the Obama agenda. What we are seeing lately is a Republican Party that is constantly on the defensive, trying to explain why they haven’t yet done what Obama wants them to do and how they would have done it already if he didn’t keep on interrupting them....

Americans SHOULD be able to see that playbook for what it is. But they don't! And the GOP isn't even making a dent in Obama's playbook.  Even people who should know better are whining and running scared as sequestration looms.

From Obama's perspective, the recent sequestration "crisis" is all about destroying the GOP majority in 2014.  If he is successful, we'll see a replay of 2008-2010.  On a bigger scale.

ON EVE OF KERRY'S VISIT TO TURKEY, ERDOGAN COMPLETELY RELEASES HIS INNER ANTISEMITE

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been heavily criticised by the US, Israel and the UN for branding Zionism a "crime against humanity". He told a UN forum this week: "As with Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism, it is inevitable that Islamophobia be considered a crime against humanity." Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called the comments "dark and mendacious". 

New US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to raise the issue when he meets Turkey's leaders on Friday.

ALSO BBC:

New US Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting Turkey for talks expected to focus on the conflict in Syria. The two Nato allies both oppose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but differ on how best to support the opposition. The visit is being overshadowed by a row over comments by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called Zionism a "crime against humanity". 

US officials said Mr Kerry would raise the remarks directly with Mr Erdogan. Israel's relations with Turkey have deteriorated in recent years.

WE'LL SEE HOW OBAMA AND KERRY HANDLE THIS.

THE ADMINISTRATION SHOULD NOT MERELY GENERALLY EXPRESS PUBLIC CRITICISM AND THEN NOT ATTACK THE COMMENT WHILE THE NUMBER 3 ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL - KERRY - IS THERE.

OBAMA SHOULD INSTRUCT KERRY TO PUBLICLY ATTACK THE REMARKS WHILE IN TURKEY. "RAISING THE REMARKS WITH ERDOGAN" IN PRIVATE IS BULLSHIT.

THERE SHOULD BE NO GREY AREA AND NO WIGGLE ROOM ALLOWED.

I DON'T EXPECT KERRY - WHO WAS SOFT ON ASSAD FOR YEARS - TO DO THE RIGHT THING.

AND KERRY'S BOSS & CONTROLLER - BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA -CONSIDERS ERDOGAN ONE OF HIS CLOSEST FOREIGN ALLIES - ONE HIS SPEAKS TO REGULARLY.

IF THESE TALKS HAVE BEEN FRANK, THEN OBAMA HAS HAD DIRECT KNOWLEDGE OF THE DEPTH OF ERDOGAN'S ANTISEMITISM FOR 5 YEARS - AND EITHER APPROVES OR CONDONES IT.

YESH ATID'S SHAI PIRON: HAREDIS AREN'T PRAYING FOR SOLDIERS SAFETY

Rabbi Shai Piron, the number two on the Yesh Atid list, had the following explanation for why they won't enter a government with the Haredi parties:

"We do not hate haredim; we do not boycott haredim and do not oppose any sort of partnership with the haredim," the MK wrote on His Facebook page.

"The haredim have contributed greatly to Israel's uniqueness in many fields, but now there is a debate on Israel's character. I argue only with people I like. The opinion of those that I don't like does not interest me. I like haredim. Very much. And we have a major dispute, not only over equal share of the burden, but mainly over sovereignty and priorities in our country."

Addressing the universal draft issue, which is the main bone of contention between Yair Lapid's party and Likud-Beiteinu during the coalition negotiations, Piron said, "We are in disagreement not only because the haredim do not go to the army, but because they do not even pray for the soldiers' well-being." The rabbi was referring to the prayer for peace in the country, which is recited in religious Zionist synagogues on Shabbat.

"We are in disagreement because we want different priorities in the housing and interior ministries," the Yesh Atid lawmaker continued to say. "We are in disagreement because the relationship between religion and state should be different. We are in disagreement because we want everyone to study the core subjects."

That's an interesting note he's got there. I suppose ghetto mentality can really lead to terrible omissions like that, and the leaderships would do well to start including it in both synagogue prayer and school curriculums.

4 MUSLIMS IN AUSTRALIA FOUND GUILTY OF BEATING CONVERT

Four Muslim sickos have been charged with assault on a convert:

The Sydney case is believed to be the first in an Australian court relating to such punishment being meted out under the pretext of sharia, or Islamic law.

Christian Martinez, 32, was whipped with an electric cord at his home in Silverwater in Sydney's west between July 16 and 17 in 2011.

His religious mentor, Wasim Fayed, was accused of carrying out the whipping as punishment under sharia, while the other three men held Mr Martinez down on his bed.

Fayed, 44, along with Zakaryah Raad, 21, Tolga Cifki, 21, and Gengiz Coskin, 22, pleaded not guilty to charges of assault occasioning bodily harm in company and stealing.

Raad also faced two charges of intimidation. [...]

In July 2011, Mr Martinez had asked Fayed for help in getting off illicit drugs he was taking.

Fayed had replied, ''I'm going to tie you up, OK, and that's what you need, brother."

Fayed and the other offenders went round to Mr Martinez's home and Fayed lashed him on the back 40 times as the others held him down.

Mr Martinez pleaded with Fayed for him to stop but Fayed replied he was doing it because he loved him and next time he thought about drinking he would remember the pain.

Part way through the lashing Mr Martinez said he wanted to vomit and he was allowed to go to the toilet and throw up before he was held and whipped again.

The offenders then left the premises and Mr Martinez discovered a hard drive used to store CCTV footage in his home had been taken, for which the four men were charged with stealing.

In his judgment, Magistrate Maloney referred to a statement from the imam of the Omar mosque in Auburn, Sheik Omar El Banna, who said the whipping was not sanctioned by the community or any imams or religious leaders.

Oh, here's where the taqqiya comes in. It IS sanctioned, under sharia. And Fayed did not "love" him at all. A pure taqqiya statement is what he made. He and his cronies should all be thrown in the slammer for their crime. We must also hope the convert learns a lesson and leaves both the so-called religion and mentor behind.

AND THE WINNER OF THIS YEAR'S MISS ISRAEL BEAUTY CONTEST IS...

Yityish Aynaw, a black Ethiopian-Israeli who once served in the army, the first lady of black descent to win the local pageant:

Yityish Aynaw, a former Israeli army officer, became the first Ethiopian-Israeli to win the Miss Israel pageant.

A panel of judges awarded the title to Aynaw, a 21-year-old model who came to Israel about a decade ago, at the International Convention Center Haifa on Wednesday.

"It's important that a member of the Ethiopian community wins the competition for the first time," she was quoted by Israeli media as telling the judges in response to a question. "There are many different communities of many different colors in Israel, and it's important to show that to the world." Aynaw came to Israel with her family when she was 12. Acclimating to Israel was difficult at first, Aynaw said, but she picked up the language quickly with the help of a friend.

She has been working as a saleswoman at a clothing store since her army discharge.

During the competition, Aynaw cited the slain American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. as one of her heroes.

"He fought for justice and equality, and that's one of the reasons I'm here: I want to show that my community has many pretty qualities that aren't always represented in the media," she said.

She is most definitely deserving of her victory, and I'm proud of and congratulate her, and thank the judges for choosing her too. Here's an extra report on The Jewish Press from a reporter who lives in the same city as her.

Update: more on YnetNews and Times of Israel. 

SOME IMPROVEMENTS IN BEIT SHEMESH SITUATION

JTA reported that there have been some signs of improvement in Beit Shemesh, but there's still a long way to go:

Next to the Modern Orthodox Orot Banot girls school in Beit Shemesh, fresh mounds of dirt and a huge hole in the ground indicate the spot where a community center is being built.

Orot Banot was at the center of conflict between local haredi Orthodox extremists and Modern Orthodox residents in late 2011, after a group of haredi men spit upon an 8-year-old girl, Naama Margolis, as she walked to school through their neighborhood. The incident marked a high point of internecine conflict in this city of 80,000 near Jerusalem and made headlines around the world.

Today, Beit Shemesh activists are hoping the community center under construction augurs a more harmonious future in which all Beit Shemesh residents coexist peaceably.

“The reputation that Beit Shemesh got bothered everyone,” said Ilan Geal-Dor, executive director of Gesher, a nonprofit group that fosters secular-religious dialogue. “We’re all going to live here, so let’s see what we can do together,” he said. [...]

Orot Banot has operated without incident for a year. Construction on the community center, meant to serve the whole city, continues unabated. A host of programs have been launched to help foster mutual respect and coexistence between the city's various communities.

A roundtable of community leaders, from haredi to secular, now meets every six weeks to try to head off future conflicts and collaborate on issues of shared concern. Several times a month, secular, Modern Orthodox and haredi young men gather to study Torah and celebrate Shabbat together. A mixed group of 16 women has spent a year creating documentary films about Jewish women’s issues. And a larger women’s council spent 2012 encouraging dialogue between Beit Shemesh’s various groups. [...]

Last year, haredi leaders dissuaded their followers from tearing up Israeli flags on Israel’s Independence Day -- previously an annual practice. And the group has collaborated on efforts that benefit all city residents, like pushing for renovations on the city's main road.

There's still a lot to be done. But I will concur that this is good to hear.

3 ACCESSORIES TO FOGEL MURDERS SENTENCED

The monsters who murdered the Fogel family 2 years ago had at least 3 helpers who've also been given time in the slammer:

Salah Awad was convicted of admitting to his home the two murderers on the night the Fogel family members were killed. The two told Salah Awad of their act, and he allowed them to leave the murder weapons in his home and gave them a change of clothing so they could get away. Later, he moved the weapons to another location after getting wind that he was part of the investigation. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Another culprit, Hassan Awad, also arranged for hiding places for the terrorists. He was sentenced to 23 months in prison, and will be required to pay a fine. A third culprit, Yazid Awad, admitted to investigators that he had knowledge of the murders and of the Awad brothers' role in the crime, and offered them “material assistance.” He was sentenced to four years in prison.

Given the sadistic methods used in the murder, even their sentences aren't enough.

MUST SEE TV: 9 MINUTE BBC DOC ON ISLAMIST TERROR IN BRITAAIN

NOT NEW, BUT STILL GOOD. 

SHARE IT WITH FOLKS WHO DON'T THINK THIS THREAT IS ORGANIZED AND COORDINATED AND GLOBAL:

WASH POST: OBAMA'S SEC EDUCATION - ARNE DUNCAN - LIED ABOUT SEQUESTER EFFECT

ACCORDING TO THE WASHINGTON POST, ARNE DUNCAN - OBAMA'S OL' PAL FROM CHICAGO WHO HELPED RUN THEIR SCHOOL SYSTEM INTO THE GROUND - LIED WHEN HE DESCRIBED HOW THE SEQUESTER WAS GOING TO EFFECT 'THE CHILDREN" AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

YUP: WASH POST: ARNE LIED!

NO REAL SURPRISE HERE, AS FAR AS DUNCAN IS CONCERNED: AL OBAMA AND HIS COMRADES DO IS LIE LIE LIE.

THE ONLY NICE THING IS THE WASH POST CALLING THEM OUT ON IT.

AND I DO MEAN THEM.

OBAMA AND HIS COMRADES HAVE MADE A CONCERTED AND COORDINATED EFFORT TO PAINT THIS MINUSCULE SEQUESTRATION AS A GOP LED DISASTER.

IT'S BS.

THE PEOPLE KNOW IT.

AND EVEN THE MSM HAS TO REPORT IT.

OBAMA IS A MISERABLE FAILURE DESTROYING THE USA AND WITH IT THE FREE WORLD.

THAILAND SIGNS ON TO "PEACE" TALKS WITH ISLAMISTS

Thailand's government has signed its first-ever peace talks deal with Muslim rebels aimed at ending a decades-long conflict in the south. The deal was signed in Malaysia by the National Revolution Front (BRN), one of several groups operating in Thailand. More than 5,000 people have been killed since the conflict reignited in the Muslim-majority region in 2004.

IDIOTS: THIS IS APPEASEMENT AND ALL THEY'LL GET IS A HUDNA. AND THEN MORE VIOLENCE AND JIHAD-TERROR THAN EVER.

ASIDE: 

MORE HAVE BEEN KILLED IN THAILAND THAN IN THE ISRAELI-ARAB CONFLICT, OVER THE SAME TIME-SPAN, BUT THERE HAVE BEEN ZERO U.N. ACTIONS TO QUELL THAILAND'S WAR.

GEE, I WINDER WHY? COULD IT BE BECAUSE THE THAIS FIGHTNG JIHAD ARE NT JEWISH?

YES.

SANITY PREVAILS IN BRITAIN

As the Oxford Students Union wisely rejects a boycott of Israel:

The Oxford University Students’ Union (OUSU) rejected on Wednesday a motion calling for sanctions against Israel.

The OUSU motion calling for the Oxford student union to boycott Israeli institutions, goods and produce lost by a vote of 69-10, with 15 abstentions.

The motion would have seen the union joining the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement in protest of what was described as “Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and its hindrance of attempts to create a Palestinian state.”

Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) welcomed the decision to reject the motion, saying, “We welcome the decision of the Student Union, a decision that had it been accepted would certainly have stained both the institution and the students.”

“I hope that other countries, organizations and institutions understand that waving the flag of progress in one hand and waving the flag of boycotts in the other means waving of two flags that cannot exist side by side,” said Yishai.

They'd also be missing out on some great food products and such if they went along with the horrible boycott movement. I honestly don't see what good it's doing their image either. Now would they just let go of the whole nonsense and get back to studying stuff like algebra instead? It'd do a world of good for them then.

More over here:

The motion called for the OUSU and National Union of Students to join the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign, known as the BDS movement, against the Jewish state.

"We [the OUSU and the NUS] have a moral responsibility to fight injustice,” and demand that Israel “end its occupation of all Arab lands,” read the motion which was proposed by Emily Cousens, a student at Wadham College.

It was originally seconded by Wolfson College student Yulin Zhang, however he pulled out “after reflecting on the issue and not being comfortable with it.”

I don't know if he's a Chinese student, but he did the right thing to avoid making himself part of the decision.

The decision was hailed by the Union of Jewish Students who called on students to constructively engage with Israel, its ideas and people, rather than chose to boycott.

“It’s encouraging to see that this vote reflects a student body who are willing to discuss the complexities that exist within Israel and do not see boycotting it as a viable option or avenue to discuss the conflict,” UJS campaigns director Judith Flacks said.

I agree there.

HMMM: LARGEST EVER METH BUST IN AUSTRALIA INVOLVED METH FROM CHINA!?

Australian police say they have made their largest-ever seizure of the drug methamphetamine hidden in a shipment from southern China. The drugs weighed a total of 585kg (1,290 pounds) and had an estimated street value of A$430m ($440m: £291m). They were found last Friday in a container of chemicals from Shenzhen. 

Three men - a Singaporean, an Australian and a Hong Kong man - have been arrested and are due to appear in court in Sydney on Thursday. They face a maximum life sentence if found guilty.

HMMM... IT'S NOT JUST GLOBAL JIHAD PUSHING COCAINE AND HEROIN. (YES: IRAN IS INVOLVED.)

CHINA IS PUSHING METH.

FOR CHINA AND GLOBAL JIHADISTS SELLING US DRUGS IS A TWOFER:

THEY GET HARD CASH AND THEY WEAKEN US FROM WITHIN.

HAGEL CONFIRMED AS DEFENSE SECRETARY, THOUGH NOT WITHOUT SERIOUS SIGNS OF DISAPPROVAL

What a shame, but Chuck Hagel was confirmed for defense secretary, though the silver lining is that there was a significant number of dissenters in the Senate, and Hagel had to spend much of his confirmation battle disavowing the very positions that Obama seems to want him for. Even so, a sad thing he was confirmed for the job, and we have to now be wary of any bad things he's bound to do now that he's gotten the position.

WHEN YESHIVA REGISTRATION SERVES AS AN EXCUSE FOR DRAFT DODGING

Whether or not the Haredi parties will be in the coalition, based on this Forward article, there's no telling if any serious change will occur overnight. But it does raise an interesting issue about whether the would-be yeshiva students are really dedicated to their studies or whether it's just to avoid responsibility:

Netanyahu’s plan seeks to increase significantly the number of Haredim serving, through a system of financial penalties that will be imposed on yeshivas where few students obey the draft, as well as through some penalties for individual students who avoid conscription. Its aim is for 60% of Haredi men aged 18 to 24 in 2018 to have served or to be serving.

But the plan may leave intact the Haredi insistence that any man who wishes to study in a yeshiva should be free from service. It is widely believed that large numbers of Haredim are enrolled in yeshivas to avoid service but do not actually attend lessons, and they are the target of the proposal.

“I suggest focusing on the Haredim who don’t study but who nevertheless receive government benefits and service exemptions,” said Eugene Kandel, chairman of the National Economic Council of the Prime Minister’s Office, speaking to Israel’s Channel 2 on February 16. “With 20% effort we could bring 70% of Haredi men into meaningful service in the Israel Defense Forces and into the labor market within five years.”

While it certainly is important to cut down on welfare to the Haredis who aren't helping the country, this does tell something very thought-provoking: as I've wondered at times myself, do all Haredis who don't work or serve in the army actually spend time studying? A perfect example of those who don't would have to be those creepy leches who terrorized the schoolgirls in Beit Shemesh over peanuts. Indeed, what were they doing out on the street there spitting at them and threatening violence? Where I was born that's called "playing hooky".

One of the loudest voices of opposition to the plan comes, unexpectedly, from a Haredi lawmaker. Dov Lipman, who emigrated from the United States eight years ago and worked as a yeshiva teacher, before making it to the Knesset from the bottom of the Yesh Atid list. He has become the perfect poster boy for his party’s draft plan. He worries that if the government decides to make an exception for men who claim they are actually studying, it will indicate a capitulation to Haredim. “They say, ‘Whoever is in learning remains in learning,’ which is essentially no change to the status quo,” Lipman said. [...]

Lipman said that Yesh Atid is demanding a draft for all Haredim when they reach the age of 18, with the exception of 400 outstanding students. It wants to create more Haredi-only units and to cater to the religious demands of Haredim to make service culturally acceptable in the community. Lipman says that this can happen, that the Haredi community will reduce its opposition and that there “won’t be massive numbers [of objectors] going to jail.”

Yesh Atid’s one leniency toward the Haredi sector is its five-year lead-time for a draft, or in Lipman’s parlance, the “amnesty.” Currently, the condition for receiving an exemption is that Haredi men are enrolled in yeshiva, and if enrolled, they are legally barred from working. The Yesh Atid plan says that this rule should be canceled for five years, opening employment opportunities to any Haredim who don’t want to study but wish to avoid the draft.

Yesh Atid, like Netanyahu, believes that many Haredim have no interest in studying in yeshiva and are enrolled simply to receive an exemption. An “amnesty,” it hopes, will disprove the Haredi community’s claim that the draft undermines a culture of near-universal yeshiva study.

Well, there are a lot of positive possibilities in this proposal, and if the Haredis were to work more and rely far less on welfare, the army issue wouldn't be so big a deal. Again, the point about any Haredis only enrolling for the sake of draft dodging is a very valid one.

Yedidia Stern, the author of another prominent draft proposal, finds the idea of the amnesty absurd. If it were implemented, he said, Haredim would be exceedingly careful to safeguard their community’s narrative on yeshiva study, and they would ensure that students do not leave and prove Yesh Atid correct. “If the leadership of the Haredi community will understand that the next five years is a test case for Torah study, then the pressure on people to stay in yeshiva will be enormous,” he predicted.

Stern, who is vice president of research at the Israel Democracy Institute, argues that Yesh Atid’s proposal is based on a cultural misunderstanding about what motivates fear of the draft. He said, “The real reason they do not go to the army is the feeling that if a boy of 18 who has spent his life in a ghetto and not seen beyond it won’t come out of the army the same way he went in, they fear he will stop being Haredi, and the fear is that the community’s identity could be over.”

Like that's the worst thing that could happen! If they continue to keep the faith in itself, isn't that what's important? And isn't ghetto dwelling and mentality one of the worst problems to befall this or any century? To be fair, if the Haredi leaders would pressure the members to stay in yeshivas, that might help keep them out of trouble like in the Beit Shemesh case, and they'd do better to stay off the streets and behave themselves. But ghetto mentality is still a very poor example, and something has to be done to penetrate it and get the dwellers to look past the ghetto to a wider world and learn what it's like.

Stern’s solution is to estimate when Haredi men are confident in their identity and to wait until then before drafting them. According to his research, at 22 some 77% of Haredi men are married, suggesting that they are “culturally solid.” Also, he hopes that a draft of men at that age won’t trigger fear of widespread abandonment of a Haredi lifestyle.

But it doesn't help to be part of an insular one that thrives on welfare, and if the Haredi community continues with that mindset, that's why it's just not a sustainable way of living. Stern has to consider this. Only when insularity is abandoned does positivity have a real chance.

GUNS : COPS :: FIRE EXTINGUISHERS : FIREMEN

NYTIMES: WOMEN ARE FAT CUZ THEY'RE DOING LESS HOUSEWORK!

One reason so many American women are overweight may be that we are vacuuming and doing laundry less often, according to a new study that, while scrupulously even-handed, is likely to stir controversy and emotions.

IF YOU WANT TO BE THIN, THEN: BACK IN THE KITCHEN, GIRLS!

LAWSUIT: NEW BELGIAN/BRAZILIAN OWNERS OF BUDWEISER BEER WATERED IT DOWN!

The complaint claimed that "Anheuser-Busch employs some of most sophisticated process control technology in the world to precisely monitor the alcohol content at the final stages of production, and then adds additional water to produce beers with significantly lower alcohol contents than is represented on the the labels".

Lead lawyer Josh Boxer says former employees came forward with evidence 

The lawsuit alleged that the practice began after the American Anheuser-Busch merged with the Belgian-Brazilian InBev in 2008, to form the world's largest alcohol producer. "Following the merger, [Anheuser-Busch] vigorously accelerated the deceptive practices, sacrificing the quality products once produced by Anheuser-Busch in order to reduce costs," the lawsuit said.

AWFUL.

UH-OH: ITALY'S BORROWING COSTS SURGE AFTER ELECTION

Italy's borrowing costs rose sharply at an auction on Wednesday, in the first test of its ability to borrow money long-term at affordable rates after the country's inconclusive election result. Italy sold the new 10-year government bonds at a yield of 4.83%, up from 4.17% at its last sale in January. The yield provides an indication of the yearly interest rate Rome would have to pay to borrow new money.

But it did sell all 6.5bn euros' worth (£5.6bn) of 10- and five-year bonds. The new five-year bond was sold at a yield of 3.59%, up from 2.94% in January. The higher borrowing costs at the auction had been expected, as yields had risen on Tuesday after the parliamentary election revealed no clear winner in both houses.

THE EURO AND THE EU ARE DOOMED.

THE LONGER THEY TRY TO SAVE THEM, THE WORSE/DEEPER HOLE THEY ARE DIGGING FOR THEMSELVES.

IF SPAIN AND GREECE AND ITALY HAD THEIR OWN CURRENCIES, THEN THEY'D BE CHEAP AS DIRT RIGHT NOW AND THEIR COMPANIES WOULD BE DING A HUGE EXPORT BUSINESS.

BUT AS LONG AS THEY'RE TRAPPED IN THE  EURO, THEY'RE EPORTS WILL DWINDLE.

IT LOOKS LIKE THERE'S A BREAKTHROUGH IN COALITION NEGOTIATIONS

And Shas may also be out of the government:

After several weeks in which it seemed that the gaps between the sides in the coalition negotiations on burden equality could not be bridged, we're now being told, according to Maariv, that a solution is near. Senior Likud negotiators said Tuesday night that they are close to an agreement with the Jewish Home over an outline for equal burden legislation. According to those sources, the Jewish Home team told them they are authorized to negotiate on behalf of Yesh Atid as well.

At this point, sources in both teams are saying they are close to an agreement, at least over the recruitment age for Haredim: 21. This figure is a kind of compromise between age proposed by the Likud-Beitenu: 24, and the Yesh Atid position: 18.

There were huge problems with the age 24 idea, which was, in essence, a Trojan horse pushed in by the Haredi parties through the Likud-Beitenu team. First, in terms of the recruit's usefulness to the IDF, at 24 he is basically unavailable to combat duty. Also, by the time he is 24, the average Haredi man could be the proud father of several children, which entitles him to a significant military stipend. In other words: at 24 he is more trouble than he's worth.

Also, the Jewish Home team was arguing that the same Supreme Court that killed the previous Tal Law on grounds of inequality will no doubt reject the age 24 idea on the same grounds. Even at age 21, the Haredi recruits are only expected to serve two years—which is very likely to be challenged in front of the court by anyone who didn't make it into the government and isn't Haredi. [...]

Finally, whether or not the next coalition will include Shas and Torah Judaism, the 17-seat strong Haredi block, it appears that their two "traditional" portfolios, Interior and Housing, Shas's source of patronage jobs and huge influence over Israeli society, is lost to them, at least for now. It isn't clear yet, however, whether those two rich portfolios will be given to Bennett's party or kept in Likud-Beitenu's embrace.

Well, if Shas it out, then I'd say it's for the best. And if Bayit Yehudi and Yesh Atid get some ideal ministries, that'll be interesting to see about too.

IS GEICO PROMOTING BEASTIALITY?

SEEMS SO TO ME.

UK GUARDIAN: "Chicago unites in fury at Bloomberg "

UK GUARDIAN:

Chicago unites in fury at Bloomberg 

New York mayor tries to make guns the issue of special election, but both sides say he's missing the point

NANNY BLOOMBERG DOESN'T KNOW WHEN TO STOP.

MORE PROOF ISLAMIC LAW IS EVIL: Maldives girl gets 100 lashes for BEING RAPED BY HER STEP-FATHER

BBC:

Maldives girl gets 100 lashes for pre-marital sex 

Rights groups have urged the government to abolish the punishment 

A 15-year-old rape victim has been sentenced to 100 lashes for engaging in premarital sex, court officials said. 

The charges against the girl were brought against her last year after police investigated accusations that her stepfather had raped her and killed their baby. He is still to face trial. 

Prosecutors said her conviction did not relate to the rape case.
Amnesty International condemned the punishment as "cruel, degrading and inhumane". 

The government said it did not agree with the punishment and that it would look into changing the law.... 

Zaima Nasheed, a spokesperson for the juvenile court, said the girl was also ordered to remain under house arrest at a children's home for eight months. She defended the punishment, saying the girl had willingly committed an act outside of the law. Officials said she would receive the punishment when she turns 18, unless she requested it earlier. 

The case was sent for prosecution after police were called to investigate a dead baby buried on the island of Feydhoo in Shaviyani Atoll, in the north of the country. Her stepfather was accused of raping her and impregnating her before killing the baby. The girl's mother also faces charges for failing to report the abuse to the authorities. The legal system of the Maldives, an Islamic archipelago with a population of some 400,000, has elements of Islamic law (Sharia) as well as English common law.

NORMALLY, I MIGHT ADD A COMMENT, BUT NO COMMENT IS NECESSARY; THIS ARTICLE SPELLS IT ALL OUT: ISLAMIC LAW BLAMES THE RAPE VICTIM AND IS THEREFORE IS EVIL.

MORE SCIENTIFIC PROOF THE FETUS IS AN AWARE HUMAN BEING

BBC:

Scientists say babies decipher speech as early as three months before birth. 

The evidence comes from detailed brain scans of 12 infants born prematurely. 

At just 28 weeks' gestation, the babies appeared to discriminate between different syllables like "ga" and "ba" as well as male and female voices.The research lends support to the idea that babies develop language skills while still in the womb in response to their parents' voices. ...

... Babies hear can hear their mother's voice in the womb and pick up on the pitch and rhythm”

Experts already know that babies are able to hear noises in the womb - the ear and the auditory part of the brain that allow this are formed by around 23 weeks' gestation.

But it is still debated whether humans are born with an innate ability to process speech or whether this is something acquired through learning after birth.

The authors of the study in PNAS say environmental factors are undoubtedly important, but based on their findings they believe linguistic processes are innate.

Dr Fabrice Wallois and colleagues say: "Our results demonstrate that the human brain, at the very onset of the establishment of a cortical circuit for auditory perception, already discriminates subtle differences in speech syllables."

THE FETUS IS NOT SOME FOREIGN LUMP OF CELLS PARASITICALLY LIVING OFF ITS HOST; IT IS A HUMAN BEING IN THE WOMB OF ITS MOTHER.

IT SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH.

"GIGANTIC" MEDICAL STUDY PUBLISHED IN THE PRESTIGEOUS NEW ENGLAND MEDICAL JOURNAL PROVES THAT EUROPE'S DIET - AND NOT ITS SOCIALIST HEALTHCARE SYSTEM - IS WHY THEY HAVE LONG LIVES

About 30 percent of heart attacks, strokes and deaths from heart disease can be prevented in people at high risk if they switch to a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil, nuts, beans, fish, fruits and vegetables, and even drink wine with meals, a large and rigorous new study has found. 

The findings, published on The New England Journal of Medicine’s Web site on Monday, were based on the first major clinical trial to measure the diet’s effect on heart risks. The magnitude of the diet’s benefits startled experts. The study ended early, after almost five years, because the results were so clear it was considered unethical to continue. 

The diet helped those following it even though they did not lose weight and most of them were already taking statins, or blood pressure or diabetes drugs to lower their heart disease risk. 

“Really impressive,” said Rachel Johnson, a professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont and a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association. “And the really important thing — the coolest thing — is that they used very meaningful endpoints. They did not look at risk factors like cholesterol of hypertension or weight. They looked at heart attacks and strokes and death. At the end of the day, that is what really matters.”

AMERICANS HAVE A COMPARTIVELY LOUSY DIET, AND AMERICA HAS AND MUCH MORE ETHNICALLY HETEROGENEOUS POPULATION THAN EUROPE - A POPULATION WHICH INCLUDES MANY ETHNIC GROUPS IN RELATIVELY HIGH PERCENTAGES (AS COMPARED TO EUROPE) WHICH HAVE SERIOUS GENETIC DIATHESIS FOR DISEASES WHICH GREATLY REDUCES LIFESPAN FOR THEIR ETHNIC GROUP AND FOR AMERICA AS A WHOLE.

SO.... WHEN LEFTIST POLITICIANS TELL YOU THAT EUROPEANS LIVE LONGER BECAUSE OF THE SOCIALIST HEALTHCARE SYSTEM THEY ARE JUST PLAIN WRONG.

TOTALLY EFFIN WRONG.

TEXAS LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHER WHO HAD STUDENTS DRESS IN BURKAS

A female teacher too, one who clearly has very little self-respect, encouraged her female students to do this (Hat tip: Jihad Watch):

A Texas lawmaker is launching an investigation after a teacher reportedly invited female students to dress up in Islamic garb and then told her classroom they should call Muslim terrorists – freedom fighters.

State Sen. Dan Patrick, chairman of the senate education committee, told Fox News he is very disturbed by the photograph as well as reports that students were exposed to a story that blamed Egypt’s turmoil on democracy – rather than the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Parents are very sensitive to any issue that seems to be anti-American – that blames democracy for some sort of trouble in the world,” he said.

The lesson on Islam was taught in a world geography class at Lumberton High School. The teacher brought burqas and other Islamic clothing for the female students to wear. They were also assigned to write an essay based on a Washington Post story that blamed Egypt’s troubles on democracy – instead of the Muslim Brotherhood.

“I am outraged,” one of the parents, who asked not to be identified, told Fox News. “I felt my blood pressure go through my head.”

The parent said she was not aware of the lesson until she discovered a photograph of her 14-year-old daughter wearing a burqa on Facebook.

“As parents we should have been made aware this

“I felt like the line had been crossed,” she told Fox News. “Christian kids who want to pray have to do it outside of school hours – yet Islam is being taught to our kids during school hours.”

Sen. Patrick said he understands why the parents are upset.

“Could you imagine if someone asked a Muslim student to dress up as a priest,” the senator asked. “The parents of a Muslim student might be rather upset about that.”

The young girl’s father wondered why the teacher was giving children lessons about Islam in a geography class.

“She went from learning about Mexico to learning about Russia to learning about Islam,” he said. “Islam is not a country. Islam is not a continent.”

Quite right. It is only a religion, period. Religion and race are two entirely different things.

And the teacher clearly has very little self-confidence or self-respect for her gender if she's going to encourage her female students to dress in such vile garb. Interesting how she didn't bring any such garments for the boys.

The parents said they confronted their daughter and told her to explain exactly what she had been taught.

“They were asked about their perception of Islam,” she said. “Most of the class said they thought about terrorism. And her response was, ‘we’re going to change the way we perceive Islam.’”

The teacher reportedly told the students that she did not necessarily agree with the lessons –but she was required to teach the material.

The Lumberton Independent School District released a statement to Fox News defending the class.

“The lesson that was offered focused on exposing students to world cultures, religions, customs and belief systems,” the statement read. “The lesson is not teaching a specific religion, and the students volunteered to wear the clothing.”

The school district said Judaism and Christianity were also part of the lesson. However, the parents said Christianity was not discussed in the classroom.

“The Christian perspective was not taught,” she said. “They went in-depth into Islam and I’m not comfortable with it.”

And I'm skeptical they had any lesson on Judaism either. Nor am I letting the teacher off the hook for what she did to the female students, even if the staff mandated the lesson, and her failure to inform parents about this makes her an accessory to the offense.

The parents said they immediately contacted the principal of the high school who defended the program and said it was required under CSCOPE – a controversial electronic curriculum system that provides online lesson plans for teachers.

“The principal told me it was world geography and they have to learn this stuff,” she said.

However, the school district said the lesson taught at the high school was not part of written CSCOPE lesson.

“This is the normal answer from every school using CSCOPE,” said Janice VanCleave, a vocal critic of the program and the founder of Texas CSCOPE Review. “They are definitely promoting the Islamic religion.”

VanCleave said the trouble is that teachers are not giving students the full story.

“They are not telling students how these young women are treated in this religion,” she told Fox News. “In the Islamic countries women are not treated well at all.”

Right again. And burkas are just one form of oppression and worse.

CSCOPE offered no comparable lessons on Christianity or Judaism, VanCleave told Fox News.

“I do think CSCOPE promotes the Islamic religion,” she said. “I don’t think it’s right to be proselytizing the Islamic religion in our schools.”

And that's just what the disgraceful "educators" were doing. The principal should be ashamed of himself for defending this atrocity, and he'd do well to apologize. I hope they cooperate with the senator's investigation.

IRAN CAN'T STAND THAT "ZIONIST WARNER BROS" WON AN OSCAR

More precisely, a movie produced by the company that was originally founded by Jews in the early 20th century, though they can hardly be called that today. The Wash. Post (via Jihad Watch) says:

Ben Affleck’s “Argo,” which recounts the successful rescue mission of several American diplomats during the 1979 hostage crisis in Tehran, won best picture Sunday night, and Iranian media was quick to react on Monday. [...]

The elation that followed Iran’s first Oscar victory for the film “A Separation,” which won best foreign film last year, however, has been pushed aside by what many here see as a politically motivated choice for this year’s best picture winner.

That perception was re-enforced by the surprise presenter of the award, Michelle Obama. Fars News, Iran’s main hardline outlet, wasted no time in questioning her role, writing, “In a rare occasion in Oscar history, the First Lady announced the winner for Best Picture for the anti-Iran Film ‘Argo,’ which is produced by the Zionist company Warner Bros.”

Others criticized the way Affleck referred to Islamic Republic in his acceptance speech when he said, “I want to thank our friends in Iran who live under terrible circumstances.” Mehr News ran this headline: “After distorting history, Ben Affleck continues to show a bleak picture of Iran: Iranians live in terrible circumstances.”

But they do. Especially women. I'm guessing that movies produced by Warner Bros. aren't allowed in Iran, and this one, we can be sure, won't be. Amazing that a company part of a conglomerate that I don't have a high opinion on because of how Time and CNN are hostile to Israel had the courage to produce a story like this, though the possibility the story won't give any clear critique of the Religion of Peace is still very likely. That said, good this movie won an Oscar. If I were any of the original founders, I'd be proud.

HAREDIS MAY NOT BE IN COALITION

The Likud's hinted that if, in the end, they can't form a government without Bayit Yehudi and Yesh Atid, they will be willing to leave the Haredis out:

If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fails in forming a government and finds himself with no choice but to give in to demands of Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, would prefer Yesh Atid and Habayit Hayehudi as members of his coalition over the religious parties, a senior source from Likud-Beiteinu said over the weekend.

While Netanyahu may have said at the start of negotiations that he has no intention of excluding the haredim from the coalition, if political complications continue – and regardless of whether the haredim sign a coalition agreement – they might find themselves left out.

"If Netanyahu feels he is backed into a corner and may lose the chance to form a government, he won't think twice about leaving the haredim out of the coalition," the source said. [...]

Sources in Likud-Beiteinu criticized the decision of the prime minister to favor the haredim from the start.

They claim that Netanyahu "originally wanted to leave Bennett out due to personal considerations, plus, he was sure Lapid was in his pocket – so he quickly devoted himself to the haredim.

"The public wanted a certain government in these elections, and Netanyahu wants to force it to accept a government from the past."

They say politics make strange bedfellows, and it sure is strange why he'd want to continue with Shas, which was disrespectful of him for many years, and even now. After 2-3 betrayals, I think he'd do well to let them go, which would teach them a lesson about leading such a socialist platform. Likewise, United Torah Judaism also needs to learn a lesson due to their opposition to army service. He'd be doing everyone a favor by making clear already that the despicable behavior of the Haredi parties cannot go unchallenged, and it could help his party's chances too, since they're not looking so good at the moment.

CHUCK HAGEL ADVOCATES SENDING US TROOPS TO ISRAEL TO ENFORCE A "PALESTINIAN" STATE

This article (via Jihad Watch and Atlas Shrugs) tells how in 2009, the awful Hagel called for sending US military to impose the Obama administration's beliefs upon Israel. Big Peace has more, including how:

Hagel would not be the first Obama administration official to advocate the deployment of U.S. troops to the area. In 2002, Obama adviser Samantha Power called for the U.S. to provide “a “meaningful military presence” in the “new state of Palestine” to carry out the “imposition of a solution on unwilling parties.” Like Hagel, she suggested that doing so meant “alienating a domestic constituency of tremendous political and financial import"--an apparent reference to American Jews, making use of Jewish stereotypes seen as offensive in some contexts.

If Hagel becomes the nominee for the defense secretary, it'll be a disaster.

SATMAR'S MODESTY SQUAD TARGETS WOMEN'S CLOTHING STORE IN WILLIAMSBURG

The New York Daily News tells that the hoodlums of Satmar are trying to hassle the owners of a women's clothing store that opened in their neighborhood:

A gang of overbearing religious scolds is targeting Jewish store owners who open shops in Williamsburg’s Satmar Hasidic enclave, ordering them to comply with a shadowy but strict set of standards or face sinful consequences.

Residents said the Va’ad Hatznius — known as the modesty patrol — struck again Thursday, blanketing lightposts and car windshields with flyers calling for the boycott of a new women’s clothing shop at 100 Lee Ave. and trumpeting an afternoon protest.

The store’s offense? Having big windows, through which the sight of women holding up dresses and picking through clothes are too easily observed from the street.

“It is not right,” said Moshe Spira, the manager of Grill on Lee, a sandwich shop down the block from the dress shop, explaining that the “man and his wife, trying to make a living for them and their family” opened just days ago.

“When we opened the store, they put up flyers,” Spira added. “They made a protest saying, ‘Don’t eat here.’ We were the first fast-food restaurant in the neighborhood. They were saying men and women can['t] sit together and are on the line together. We just ignored them and they moved on.”

(Note: I corrected a typo in the sentence: I think they meant to say that "men and women CAN'T sit together" but somehow forgot the apostrophe.)

The manager of the dress shop declined to comment about being the modesty patrol’s newest magnet for wrath. Community affairs cops checked out the store Thursday, scouting for protestors who never showed up.

That could suggest the spooks are losing some influence, but regardless, it's good that the police checked things out. These fiends should be charged with intimidation of the store owners, but depending which ones were targeted, we can't be certain they'll turn to the cops about all this.

MUSLIMS IN OXFORD RAPED 12-YEAR-OLD WHOM THEY CONSIDERED PROPERTY

The UK Guardian won't get into clear details about the religious mindset that led to this shocking crime, but they do acknowledge the names of the perpetrators:

A young woman has told the Old Bailey that when she was 12 years old she was branded with the initial of a man so other men who raped her would know she "belonged" to him.

The jury was earlier told that the woman, now 19, had been sold to the man as an 11-year-old. She told the court that until she was 15 he repeatedly and brutally raped her, organising for other men to have sex with her.

The woman, known as girl D for legal reasons, said on several occasions Mohammed Karrar and his brother Bassam Karrar forced her to have sex with one of them while performing a sex act on the other.

The woman is the fourth witness to give evidence at the Old Bailey in the trial of nine men accused of offences including rape, trafficking and child prostitution against children as young as 11 in Oxford.

If you have the stomach for this, read more, but be forewarned that it's as repulsive as you can expect.

SURE, BLOOMBERG BANS BIG BOTTLES OF SODA, BUT WOULD HE EVER BAN MAGNUMS OF CHAMPAGNE? NOPE. NEVER.

HE BANNED 16 OUNCE DRINKS OF SODA AND NOW WANTS TO BAN 2 LITER BOTTLES OF SODA.

IT'S NOT THE SUGAR.

IT'S THE "LOW-CLASSNESS" OF IT.

IT'S WHY HE WANTS TO BAN STYROFOAM, WHICH IS AN INERT HARMLESS THING.

HE THINKS ITS BENEATH HIM AND DOESN'T WANT ANYONE ELSE TO USE WHAT'S BENEATH HIM.

ELITIST SCUM LIKE BLOOMBERG WANT TO BAN WHATEVER THEY DON'T LIKE.

THANKS OBAMA: KARZAI EXPELLING SPECIAL FORCES FROM LARGE SWATHS OF AFGHANISTAN

KARZAI'S ACTION PROVES THAT - BY FAILING TO GIVE PETRAEUS THE SURGE FORCES HE WANTED, AND THEN PULLING OUT TOO SOON - OBAMA HAS HANDED AFGHANISTAN TO THE TALIBAN.

JUST LIKE OBAMA HANDED EGYPT TO THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD.

OBAMA HAS BEEN THE BEST THING FOR GLOBAL JIHAD SINCE MOHAMMED.

RUSSIA'S INCOME TAX RATE IS 6x LOWER THAN FRANCE'S?!

YUP.

NO WONDER GERARD DEPARDIEU THREW OUT HIS FRENCH PASSPORT AND TOOK A RUSSIAN ONE.

THE OBAMACARE DOCTOR SHORTAGE HAS BEGUN - IN FLORIDA:

About 15 million Floridians have health insurance today, and Obamacare, which requires most adults to have coverage by January, could add as many as 2.5 million more. One million would come through a potential expansion of the federal-state Medicaid program that Scott announced this week he was backing. The others would be the result of new mandates requiring employers and individuals to have insurance or be fined. 

Currently, the state has 44,804 doctors, but about 5,600 of them are expected to retire in the next five years. And even though Florida has opened three new medical schools in the past dozen years, the state isn't producing as many doctors as it needs. Scott's budget this year has $80 million to fund programs to train 700 new residents a year, in hopes they'll remain in the state. 

Of all patients, people covered by Medicaid may have the hardest time finding a doctor; only 59 percent of the state's physicians are taking new Medicaid patients, according to a Kaiser Health News study.

THAT 59% IS CERTAIN TO GO UP AS THE REMAINING DOCTORS GET SWAMPED WITH MORE PATIENTS WHOSE "INSURER" - THE US TAXPAYER - WON'T PAY ENOUGH.

THIS IS WHY - BECAUSE OF OBAMACARE - THE US HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IS ON A ONE-WAY ROAD TO RUIN.

SIGH.

ONCE THE GREATEST HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IN THE WORLD.

SIGH.

I PREDICT OBAMA - OR ONE HIS AND GEORGE SOROS'S HAND-PICKED SOCIALIST SUCCESSORS, HILLARY, BIDEN, OR CUOMO - TRIES TO PASS A LAW FORCING DOCTORS TO TAKE FEDERALLY INSURED PATIENTS.

IOW: WE ARE ON THE ROAD TO TYRANNY.

SAM ADAMS REBELLED FOR FAR LESS THAN WHAT OBAMA IS DOING NOW...

SO... WHERE ARE THE PATRIOTS!?!?!?!?!

LANGUAGE AS BELLWETHER?

As a teacher for over forty years, I have taught many English-as-second-language students from all regions of the world.  Most of these students work very hard.  But one has more than 10% of the class with limited English, the native-English speakers in the class get shorter shrift.   Therefore, this February 24, 2013 article in the Daily Mail (UK) gave me pause:

Gladstone Primary is believed to be the first in Britain where every single one of its pupils does not speak English as a first language, but more and more pupils across the country are now from foreign backgrounds.

In a 2012 census of 1,600 schools, it was found English-speaking children are now in a minority, with the figures particularly startling in the 14 inner London boroughs, where there were 98,000 non-native English speakers compared to 78,000 who could list the language as their number one.

Nationwide, there were 97 schools where the number of pupils speaking English as a mother tongue was fewer than one in 20 of the school population.

After London, Birmingham had the highest concentration of 'foreign' pupils, followed by Bradford and then Leicester.

Punjabi was the most widely-spoken first language.

Punjabi is one of the primary languages of Pakistan.

Also from the article:

Peterborough is one of Britain's prime immigration hotspots and just down the road, another school, Beeches Primary, can tell a similar multi-cultural story.

Of its 592 pupils, there are 23 different native languages, with only 24 having English as a primary tongue.

Tim Smith, the headteacher, said Britain's ever-changing society meant more than 150 pupils leave and join every year, as families, especially from eastern Europe, move away from the school's catchment area as and when they get offered bigger accommodation.

The Tory MP for the city, Stewart Jackson, said Peterborough would not be able to cope with a fresh influx of people and urged the city council to reconsider proposals to accept large numbers of families being moved from London due to the government's housing benefits cap.

But Mr Parker said: 'Britain has always been a country of immigration. You only have to watch Who Do You Think You Are on TV to see how many famous people have their origins away from the British Isles.

'Our pupils will grow up wanting to play cricket for England...and support England and Pakistan.'

The UK is undergoing a major shift in demographics, and Muslims are a huge factor therein. What will the UK be like in ten years?

PHILLY'S BURKA CRIMES BECOMING A SERIOUS PROBLEM

Daniel Pipes has written more about the burka crimes being committed in Philadelphia, where it's become a very troubling problem:

As the Middle East Forum's David J. Rusin points out in his detailed survey of Philadelphia burqa crimes, Muslim garb holds two great advantages over other forms of disguise: First, many full-body covered women walk the streets without criminal intent, thereby inadvertently providing cover for thieves; the more full-body coverings around, the more likely that these will facilitate criminal activity. Second, the very strangeness and aloofness of these garments affords their wearers, including criminals, an extraordinary degree of protection. As in other cases (three purchases of alcohol in Toronto state liquor stores by a 14-year-old boy in a burqa; Muslim women not checked at Canadian airports), clerks so fear being accused of racism or "Islamophobia" that they skip state-mandated procedures, such as requiring niqabis to show their faces and establish their identities.

To their credit, some banks no longer allow head coverings. For example, a PNC Bank office in Philadelphia boasts a front-door sign stating: "The safety of our employees and customers is our foremost concern. We request that you remove any hats, caps, sunglasses or hoods while inside this financial institution." Such policies should reduce burqa bank robberies.

But as banks become harder targets, Islamic garb presents a more general danger to soft targets. For example, in the Philadelphia area, assailants donned Islamic garb to rob a real estate office in 2008 and commit murder at a barber shop in 2012.

Not fatal but equally horrific, was the Jan. 14-15 abduction and rape of a 5-year-old child in Philadelphia. A niqabi signed Nailla Robinson out from the Bryant Elementary School pretending to be her mother taking her to breakfast. Investigators believe the two walked a few blocks to where a man awaited them. Nailla then disappeared for nearly a day and was only found the next morning shivering half-naked in a park by a passerby. Last week, the police arrested Christina Regusters, 19, an daycare center employee with prior contact with Nailla. The fourteen charges against her include kidnapping, rape, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, and criminal conspiracy.

See, that's just some of the most horrific abominations that burkas can lead to, as criminals - even non-Muslim felons - can exploit them for violent crimes with guns and rape. That's why the authorities are going to have to stop cowering and start getting tough with laws that ban such backwards, osteoporosis-inducing garb, just like in some parts of Europe.

THE JEWISH HOME PARTY IS RIGHT: SHAS DOES NOT REPRESENT THE TORAH

About 2 weeks ago, Jewish Home's reps said:

Habayit Hayehudi leveled harsh criticism at Shas Monday, saying that the orthodox party's "self-professed monopoly on religion is the reason for the secular public's disdain of the Torah." [...]

"Anyone looking for the reasons why Israeli society is so divided needs look no further than Shas," a party source told Ynet.

"It's high time Shas understands that they don’t have a monopoly on the Torah. We're just as committed to the Halacha as they are and we can protect the religious sector just as well.

"If they can claim a monopoly on anything, it is on alienating the secular public and making it turn away from the Torah. From the haredi draft to daylight savings time – Shas never missed a chance to shy away from demonstrating progressive Judaism."

Another Habayit Hayehudi source said that "The local rabbinates have been bulldozed by the haredi establishment and have turned into a stipend machine."

And it's not just Shas that's been embarrassing the name of the Torah, but a lot of other Haredi movements as well, including the Satmar. Here's more:

"Shas thinks our memory is short," the source said. "So short, that they will cry 'a rift within the nation,' and we will forget what has been going on here all of these years, and was happening only two weeks ago. Suddenly they remember that the Bayit Yehudi are 'Jews like them' when all along the elections they called Bayit Yehudi 'goyim' (gentiles)."

"Who are their goyim? Yoni Shetbon, a graduate of Har Hamor Yeshiva who received a Chief of Staff's Citation for evacuating Maj. Roi Klein under fire? And Roi Klein himself, who jumped on the hand grenade in the Second Lebanon War is a 'goy'? Maybe the new Knesset Member Shuli Mualem, whose husband was killed in the helicopter catastrophe, is a gentile?

"How cynical can this get? Where are the remainders of the shame? And who are the ones talking about a rift in the nation? The one who, during the Oslo process, ignored the demonstrations, our cries, of the religious Zionist public, and is now again at the head of Shas (a reference to Aryeh Deri who allowed the Oslo Accords to pass– ed.)?"

The sources noted that before the elections, Bayit Yehudi turned to Shas and asked them to coordinate moves regarding the coalition, and Shas did not even want to meet with them. "They were not worried about a rift in the nation then. They were certain that they would be in the coalition. When we warned against a coalition of the Left with Shas, they were silent… When they attacked the rabbis of the Bayit Yehudi, when they attacked their MKs, Shas did nothing…. It seems that 'a rift in the nation' means a rift between Shas and a seat in the government."

The source added that by saying that Bayit Yehudi cannot take care of the religious world without Shas by its side, Shas was making a grave mistake. "It is time that they understand that they do not have a monopoly on the Torah... We will take care of the Torah world no less than those who claim to represent it but cause it harm. If Shas has a monopoly, it is on making the secular public grow sick of the Torah. From the matter of enlistment to the military to daylight savings time – wherever they could have displayed a positive face of Judaism, they missed the boat. In the matter of appointing Zionist rabbis, too, they treated us like lepers. An entire generation of Zionist rabbis has been cut down under the hareidi steamroller."

They were right to call out Shas - and others of their ilk - for what they're really doing: alienating the public from religion and the Torah by making the whole Haredi public look like a bunch of socialist leeches with nothing more than hatred and contempt for anyone who isn't Haredi, and even for specific ones who are. And all this was done under the clever cover of social services, most of which no doubt taught students to despise their own country and act like supremacists. People have to be careful not to allow such a pretentious political movement take advantage of them.

Update: here's more news on the latest developments in coalition talks, and how even Shaul Mofaz has joined with Jewish Home and Yesh Atid to only join the coalition together.

UK: 9 Year Old Boy Kills Himself After Being Bullied By Muslims At School

Asian = Muslim in Brit PC-speak.

From the Sun:

THE devastated family of a nine-year-old boy who hanged himself say he took his life after racist taunts by Asian bullies.Aaron Dugmore — thought to be one of Britain’s youngest suicides after bullying — was found in his bedroom after months of jibes at school, they claim. 

His family say that Aaron was threatened with a plastic KNIFE by one Asian pupil — who warned him: “Next time it will be a real one.” 

But despite complaints to the school, where 75 per cent of pupils come from ethnic backgrounds, they claim nothing was done to stop the bullying. 

Heartbroken mum Kelly-Marie Dugmore is convinced the taunts led to her son killing himself two weeks ago. She sobbed: “We are not racist people. Aaron got on with all the children at his last school, and for him to have been bullied because of the colour of his skin makes me feel sick to my stomach.” 

Aaron joined Erdington Hall primary in Birmingham last September after the family moved nearby. But Kelly-Marie, 30, and stepdad Paul Jones, 43, noticed a change in him from his first day. 

Paul said: “He became argumentative with his brothers and sisters, which wasn’t like him at all. Eventually he told us that he was being bullied by a group of Asian children at school and had to hide from them in the playground at lunchtime. 

He said one kid even said to him, ‘My dad says all the white people should be dead’.”

The media and the governments of the West are only letting themselves down by refusing to name these people as Muslims.

We the people who have to live with Muslims, we know the difference between a Muslim and an "Asian." 

In the UK, "Asian" means "Orientals" and the people of nations like Sri Lanka, India, and uh, what was that other one... oh yeah, Pakistan.

Brits know that most Hindus of India are nice people. Hindus have lived on the British isles for many years, and people have gotten along just fine.

It wasn't until the British isles became flooded with Muslims that this kind of hate started spreading.

The hate spread from Muslims, not from the indigenous population. 

The media and the governments of the West are busy propagating a myth that white people are the only ones who spread hatred. Certainly, white people have spread an awful lot of hate, and are capable of doing so today.

But, it is the traditionally white nations of this Earth who have thrown their doors open and welcomed the people of the world in, said, "Hello, come on it. Get a job, and hang out with us."

And, in general, immigration has been a great blessing on the nations of the West. 

But not when it comes to the people of the Islamic nations of the world. 

This is because Islam preaches Sharia law and the conquering of the world for Sharia, through violent Jihad. 

That is in the Koran and the Hadith. It does not emanate from the people intrinsically. It comes from their beliefs.

This is why, if you look at the problem closely, you will find, the hate does not come from Indian Hindus, but it will, in many cases come from Indian Muslims.

Islam is a violent religion, preaching violence, and it breeds violence in it's adherents.