Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog

Chants of “Free, Free Palestine” and “Israel Is Here To Stay” resounded along New York City’s Park Avenue, as both anti-Israel forces and pro-Israel supporters squared off in front of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Tuesday evening, March 9th, while inside the hotel the organization known as The Friends of the Israel Defense Forces gathered for their annual gala fundraising dinner. The guest of honor and keynote speaker for this year’s dinner was Lt. General Gabi Ashkenazi, Chief of Staff of the IDF.

As part of their Israel Apartheid Week activities, 13 anti-Israel organizations including Adalah-NY, American Jews for a Just Peace, Codepink, Jewish Voice for Peace, American Muslims for Palestine, the International Action Center, Committee for Open Discussion of Zionism, Jews Say No!, the New York Collective of Radical Educators, the Green Party of New Jersey, The Islamist Thinkers Society, Progressive Democrats of America, the National Lawyers Guild – NY Chapter, the Judson Church, Women in Black and other assorted pro-Palestinian apologists gathered outside the Waldorf Astoria to condemn the role of the IDF in the 2008/9 Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. Referring to Gen. Ashkenazi as “the butcher of Gaza” the demonstrators claim that “Israeli military forces launched a brutal attack on the 1.5 million Palestinians of Gaza. Over a 22 day period the Israeli military killed more than 1400 people and destroyed factories, hospitals and homes.”

The 500 demonstrators staged a rancorous protest outside the hotel as they held aloft such signs saying, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free”, “Israel is a Terrorist State,” “No More US Tax Dollars for Israel” and “Nuremberg Justice For Israeli War Criminals”. Lamis Deuk, a spokesperson for the Palestinian contigent said, “The very same people who murdered Palestinian women and children in Gaza are being honored here tonight at a $1000 a plate dinner, while the Palestinian people in Gaza are starving as a result of Israeli blockades that prevent delivery of food and medical supplies.” When asked about the role that Hamas had played in provoking the Israeli initiative in Gaza through the constant barrage of lethal Kassam rockets into such Israeli towns as Sderot, Deuk said, “Israel is an occupying force that has systematically oppressed the Palestinian people and the very establishment of a Jewish state is inherently racist. This is why Hamas had a legitimate right to attack the oppressors.”

Chanting, “Free, Free Palestine”, “Israel is a Terrorist State” and “End the Occupation Now” the demonstrators called for the end of US aid to Israel and condemned the Obama administration for pandering to the Israeli lobby.

Across the street, about 100 pro-Israel demonstrators representing such organizations as the Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam, Americans for A Safe Israel, Stand With Us, and the Zionist Organization of America staged an intrepid counter-protest as they stood as a bulwark against the calumnies of the anti-Israel faction. Many members of the group wrapped themselves in Israeli flags and held signs saying, “Suicide Bombing is Mass Murder;” “Hamas Targets Civilians, Israel Targets Terrorists;” “The IDF Protects Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze and Bahai”.

“The Israeli army is the most moral and ethical fighting force in the world” declared Rabbi David Algaze of Congregation Chavurat Yisrael of Forest Hills, New York. “They have displayed the utmost restraint when battling Hamas terrorists, murderers and criminals and the lies that are being spewed forth by misguided Jews and the forces of radical Islam must be confronted in the strongest of terms” he continued. ‘Let the world know that the Jewish people will not be intimidated by those who seek to demonize and delegitimize Israel. We are exceptionally proud of the members of the IDF and we will continue to support the right to defend ourselves from those who seek to eradicate us.”

Concerning the conclusions of the UN mandated Goldstone Report, Rabbi Algaze said, “The Goldstone Report is replete with glaring inaccuracies and omissions. It was a terribly biased investigation and these people here today who are excoriating Israel are just using this report as a pretext for the expression of their venom for Israel. What they are really saying is that Israel has no right to exist at all and neither do the Jewish people.”

Helen Freedman, president of Americans for a Safe Israel said, “Why is it that the oppressed has been turned into the oppressor? The world knows that Hamas intentionally used their own women and children as human shields in Gaza in order to vilify Israel. The world knows that Hamas is an Iranian proxy and is being bankrolled by oil rich Islamic countries. The world knows that countless Jewish lives in Israel and around the world have been snuffed out by Islamic suicide bombers and the world remains deafeningly silent.”

Arish Sahani of the Indian Intellectuals Forum and a member of the Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam said, “The Palestinians are inciting war against Israel and Israel has every right to defend herself and her citizens just like any other country in the world would. Why is Israel held to a higher standard and why are Jews compelled to be constant victims. Why aren’t they given the right to fight back against sworn enemies just like everybody else. The answer is that the forces of radical Islam are guided by the Koran which is in essence a manual for war; a manual for the disrespect for the sanctity of life. The Koran obligates Muslims to murder all civilized people who are not Muslims and this war against freedom and democracy will never stop.”

Other demonstrators such as Chuck Waxman from Queens, a representative of the Jabotinsky movement and a former member of Brit Trumpeldor of America, also known as Betar, an activist Zionist organization said, “these Islamic radicals incessantly preach hatred of Jews and anyone who is not Muslim. Their mission is to murder Jews, to denigrate Jews through cleverly disguised propaganda and bald faced lies. Rather than Hamas and their terrorist supporters making demands on Israel, we call upon Hamas to release Corp. Gilad Shalit.”

Dr. Marvin Belsky, the chairman of the Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam said, “The tragedy of today’s demonstration lies in the fact that we are severely outnumbered by our enemies. Every Jewish establishment organization was informed of this counter-protest and none of them showed up to support Israel and the Jewish nation. The HRCARI is a nascent movement who has its collective finger on the pulse of radical Islam and we are cognizant of the dangers to the Western world that such a movement represents. Fascists come in all stripes and radical Islamists are in the forefront of usurping our freedoms and liberties. Make no mistake about it; if the world remains mute while Israel is being raked over the coals, the US, Europe and the rest of the free world will be next. The time is long overdue for Jewish organizations to take a leading role in exposing the nefarious agenda of radical Islam and to stridently oppose the deleterious ramifications of their well oiled propaganda machine.”

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Fern Sidman holds a B.A, in political science from Brooklyn College. She was the educational coordinator for the Betar Youth Movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She was national director of the Jewish Defense League from 1983-1985. She was a researcher for several books written by Rabbi Meir Kahane, ZTK”L. She was the managing editor of the publication entitled, The Voice of Judea, and is a regular contributor to its web site. She is currently a writer and journalist living in New York City. Her articles have appeared in The Jewish Press, The Jewish Advocate, The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, and numerous Jewish and general web sites including, Front Page Magazine, Daniel Pipes and Michael Freund.
We are delighted to have Ms. Sidman as a regular contributor to the Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog.

“The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn’t so.” — Ronald Reagan

One of the reasons liberals tend to do such an incredibly poor job of governing is that they fundamentally misunderstand the nature of the American people. Given that liberals also fundamentally misunderstand Christianity, the Constitution, economics, and human nature, I guess it’s no big surprise that they don’t get the American people either. Come to think of it, I guess it’s pretty much par for the course. I mean, let’s face it, without conservatives around to help keep them in check, liberals would utterly destroy everything that is good about America and most of them would be baffled about what they were doing wrong right up until the end. But enough about the Left’s general lack of common sense — let’s talk about how they misjudge the American people.

They believe the American people want liberal policies. When you’re a conservative, it’s almost impossible to filter out liberal views. Your kids are exposed to liberalism at school, Hollywood forces liberal ideas down your throat when you watch TV, the local paper leans left — you just can’t get away from it. On the other hand, if you’re a liberal, you really don’t have to hear what conservatives think…

Liberals believe that many Americans don’t know what’s in their own best interests. Liberals tend to falsely believe that they’re better, smarter, and more caring than the average person. This often leads them to make rather glib and far reaching assumptions about the “best” way for OTHER people to live…

Liberals believe that the American people want to be treated like children. Sure, there are always going to be losers who want the government to do everything for them, but bottom feeders who want to be taken care of by the government have never represented the majority of the American people. If they ever do, liberals will undoubtedly be happy about it, but the rest of us won’t because it’ll mean the end of America as a great nation…

Liberals believe that most conservatives are evil. The problem with pegging people who merely disagree with you as greedy, evil, malevolent racists is that it tends to lead to kneejerk disagreement with everything they believe. That’s why people go to such great lengths to compare their political opposites to Nazis — because the thinking goes, the Nazis are bad and if they’re like Nazis, no matter what they’re saying, then it must be bad. Incidentally, the Nazis were socialists, animal rights activists, advocates of bigger government, supporters of the social welfare state, and supporters of unions — just like liberals — but that’s neither here nor there…

Liberals believe they can lie to the American people without consequence. Saying that politicians lie is like noting that rats like cheese. Without question, politicians from both parties are guilty of lying.

However, in the political realm, liberals lie much, much more often than conservatives. Why? There are two reasons for it. Conservatives tend to believe liberals are stupid, but liberals tend to think conservatives are evil. Is it wrong to lie about someone who’s dumb? Yes. Ok, now would it be wrong to lie to stop Hitler? Ehr — probably not. Because so many liberals view conservatives as evil, in their culture it’s considered acceptable for them to lie about the Right. Very, very seldom will you ever hear a liberal criticize another liberal for lying about a conservative even though it’s an every day thing in the liberal media…

Read the complete article here.

Another home grown Islamic terrorist.
I take a lot of criticism for continuing to point out the violence that is inherent in Islam, by those who claim otherwise, but my point seems to be proven over and over. They just keep coming.

A Pennsylvania woman known to authorities as “JihadJane” has been charged in federal court with using the Internet to recruit jihadist fighters to carry out murders and violent attacks overseas.

The woman, Colleen R. LaRose, was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements to a government official and attempted identity theft, according to the indictment, unsealed Monday.

Sources tell Fox News the “Swedish citizen” who “JihadJane” was allegedly looking to kill is Lars Vilks, who drew one of the controversial Prophet Muhammad cartoons. There was a series of arrests in Ireland earlier Tuesday that are reportedly connected to LaRose’s case.

In September of 2007 Al Qaeda offered a bounty for the murder of Viks.

LaRose and five unindicted co-conspirators are accused of recruiting men to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe and of recruiting women who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe for similar missions.

The accused co-conspirators are located in South Asia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and the United States.

“Today’s indictment … underscores the evolving nature of the threat we face,” said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division.

Original Link.

True to form for this administration, Obama and company (the liberal left), will ignore the will of the people and just ram their liberal policies through…at least that is their hope. It appears that Obama is so liberal, he’s even making his base uncomfortable, let alone conservatives.

The head of an immigration enforcement political action committee believes a high-profile Senate primary race will make it tough for President Barack Obama and the Democrats to shove an amnesty bill through before the approaching midterm elections.

The Los Angeles Times reported Friday that Obama took up the issue privately with his staff and Senators Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), who have spent months trying to craft a bill.

“McCain earlier promised Schumer and the Democrats that both he and Graham would sign the comprehensive immigration reform amnesty bill,” Gheen explains. “The bottom line to it is John McCain is backing out of his agreement because right now. J.D. Hayworth is likely to defeat John McCain [in the upcoming Republican primary]. If John McCain signs the amnesty bill, J.D. Hayworth is certain to beat John McCain.”

Original Link.

We have become such a backwards and messed up society. We are willing to classify unborn human babies as “non persons” until they are born (some of the less known, ultra liberals would even extend it past that point if they could get away with it), and now some scientists want to classify dolphins as ‘nonhuman persons’.
Unbelievable!!

One of the most serious consequences coming from our society’s collective abandonment of the Judeo-Christian ethic handed down to us from our Founders is our startling tendency to drift from truth into utter confusion. While the biblical worldview provides a solid foundation upon which to build our respect for life, liberty and property, its emerging replacement – moral relativism – offers only the passing whims and fancies of whichever political and cultural fad is currently in vogue.

Take for example what recently occurred at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The fascinating topic of conversation (please note the sarcasm) was the ethical and policy implications of dolphin intelligence. In other words, should we grant dolphins some form of human rights that would protect them to a greater degree than other animals?

But it was Thomas White of Loyola Marymount University who stole the show and demonstrated just how dangerously confused our society is becoming. According to ScienceNOW magazine, White “made the argument that dolphins aren’t merely like people – they may actually be people, or at least, ‘nonhuman persons’ as he described them.”

Evidently White made the suggestion that since dolphins meet virtually all the criteria that philosophers agree help us define humanity (living, aware of environment, demonstrate emotions), it should logically be accepted that dolphins are people too. Of course, if this is the criteria that must be met for personhood to be granted, one could make a strong case for apes, baboons, dogs, cats, rabbits, and a whole host of other animals to be put on the same philosophical plane as humans. Oddly enough, the same geniuses who want dolphins to be protected with personhood rights are the very ones who vehemently deny baby humans in the womb those same rights.

Read the rest of the article here.

Remember, Muslims are Muslims first and everything else after that.

American Muslims are banned from helping U.S. soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq and other “Muslim lands,” according to a shocking fatwa, or religious decree, recently issued byAmerican-based Islamic jurists.

One of the most respected Islamic law authorities in America has decreed it is “not permissible” for even Muslims who are citizens of America to send food or other aid toAmerican troops serving in those Muslim countries.

The Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America, or AMJA, ruled it is a “sin” to help the U.S. military in its multi-front war on terror. AMJA delivered the ruling through its online “fatwa bank”:

“Q: Is it permissible to participate in taking food to the American and foreign soldiers working in Muslim lands?”

“A: That would not be permissible, for that would be helping others in sin and transgression.”

Critics warn that such anti-military views by Muslim scholars have translated into homegrown violence against American soldiers.

Another American cleric, Anwar Awlaki, has decreed that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are crimes against Muslims and has warned fellow Muslim Americans not to serve in the U.S. military or support U.S. military efforts in any way. Recently, he has issued fatwas declaring U.S. troops and military bases open target for jihad.

The Fort Dix Six terrorists cited Awlaki’s sermons as a prime motivating factor in their plot to attack Army personnel based at the New Jersey post.

“He gave the fatwa,” Muslim terrorist Dritan Duka of New Jersey said of Awlaki. “Hit them (American soldiers) here” in the U.S.

In a series of e-mail exchanges, Awlaki personally counseled Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the accused Fort Hood terrorist, who railed against the Iraq and Afghanistan wars during a PowerPoint presentation to Army colleagues. He also praised a deadly 2009 attack on an Army recruiting station in Arkansas by a MuslimAmerican.

Hasan in late 2008 and early 2009 had asked Awlaki “about killing American soldiers and officers and whether that was legitimate or not.”

In response, Awlaki gave his blessing to such attacks.

After the Fort Hood massacre, Awlaki declared Hasan a “hero” and exhorted other Muslim soldiers to “follow the footsteps of men like Nidal.” Awlaki’s sermons are recorded on CDs and sold as box sets at mosques and Islamic bookstores across America.

Another popular American Muslim cleric, Zaid Shakir, who is still preaching in America, has encouraged Muslims to attack U.S. military planes flying in and out of Fort Bragg, N.C., according to the book, “Muslim Mafia,” an expose of the radical Muslim Brotherhood and its front groups in America. Shakir is a regular speaker at Council onAmerican-Islamic Relations events.

Terror expert Paul Sperry, author of “Infiltration” and “Muslim Mafia,” says AMJA is top-heavy with radical Muslim Brotherhood leaders posing as moderates.

He notes that many of its jurists teach Islam at the radical Saudi-funded American Open University, a fully accredited satellite campus of the Muslim Brotherhood-controlled Al-Azhar University in Egypt.

One prominent AMJA jurist listed is Sheik Omar Shahin, an admitted former supporter of Osama bin Laden and the ringleader of the so-called Flying Imams who disrupted a US Airways flight in 2006.

The Muslim Brotherhood promulgates the strict Islamic code known as Shariah.

“Bringing about the enforcement of the Divine Law (Shariah) and the abolition of man-made laws cannot be achieved only through preaching,” the late Muslim Brotherhood leader Sayyid Qutb of Egypt beseeched followers in his book “Milestones.” “When obstacles and practical difficulties are put in its way, it has no recourse but to remove them by force.”

“Islam has the right to destroy all obstacles in the form of institutions and traditions. It is the duty of Islam to annihilate all such systems,” Qutb argued. “Wherever an Islamic community exists which is a concrete example of the Divinely ordained system of life, it has a God-given right to step forward and take control of the political authority so that it may establish the Divine system on earth.”

AMJA has called for reviving the call to “Shariah rule.”

“Muslims are to be ruled and governed only by the Shariah,” it says in one recent fatwa.

Critics say many of its rulings are misogynistic, oppressing women’s rights and micromanaging every aspect of their lives.

According to AMJA’s fatwas, Muslim women living in America are prohibited from:

* Growing their fingernails or using nail polish;

* Plucking their eyebrows;

* Showing their hair in public;

* Wearing jeans in public;

* Handling the Quran during menstruation, or praying in the mosque during menstruation;

* Traveling without a male escort who is a close relative;

* Resisting their husband’s sexual advances outside of the menstrual period;

* Praying in close proximity to men in the mosque or anywhere near the front of the prayer room;

* Swimming or sunbathing in a bathing suit even in a women-only area;

* Undergoing surgical contraception such as tubal ligation;

* Running for political office;

* Posting photos of themselves on Facebook or MySpace.

“Women are Satan’s snare,” AMJA says.

AMJA supports Shariah punishment including “lashing” women who have premarital sex (zina) and “stoning” those who have sex outside their marriage.

“We should emphasize here that the way out of these problems in this day and age is to judge by Shariah and to implement the Divinely ordained criminal punishments (hudood), as commanded by Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, at the hands of the rulers,” AMJA scholars agree, “for establishing one of the hadd punishments in a land is better for its people than if it were to rain every morning for 40 years.”

AMJA also says President Obama, whose father and stepfather were Muslim, was born and raised a Muslim and should return to Islam.

“We ask Allah to bring him back to his religion,” AMJA says.

Obama says he became a Christian as an adult while attending Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

Original Link.

Marxism, communism, Nazism, fascism–these evoke thoughts of tyrants and dictatorships. Well, Marxism and communism might be wishful utopianism to some within political ideology circles in these days of movement toward socialism. But for the most part, thoughts of these isms generate study-related memories of the likes of Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Mussolini, and other such humanity-destroying beasts.

The matters involved within the recollection include revolution, war, torture, gulag, genocide–any and all systems of governing that should be avoided at all costs. Fear and apprehension over dictatorships were the very reason the United States Constitution was written. Specifically, the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to that Constitution, spells out the rights of each citizen that government cannot usurp. These rights are, the shapers of the Constitution meticulously wrote, “inalienable.” That is, these are rights given by God, thus cannot be taken away by men–and/or women–in government.

Another ism has developed that threatens the inalienable rights of man. Its ominous construction continues at a torrid pace and will ultimately be worse than any of the aforementioned isms. As a matter of fact, it will be all of those tyrannical nightmares rolled up into one system of utter decimation. George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, authors of well-known novels, played upon fear of such governments in their futuristic books, 1984 and Brave New World. The swiftness of movement of the developments of late makes their works of fiction look ever more prophetic.

Orwell used London and Britain in 1984 as the genesis of a world of ruthless control. “Big Brother is watching you” is a phrase the author used with portentious effect. It continues to be used by those who warn of the exponentially-encroaching surveillance technologies. Again, Orwell’s vision was almost prophetic in the biblical sense.

A friend who is a well-known journalist in Great Britain recently e-mailed me with the following troubling, though fascinating, information:

I was putting together some slides for one of my presentations yesterday and discovered that Britain has 1.5 times as many surveillance cameras as China! We now have cameras that talk to people, bossing them around in the streets! They are being installed in twenty cities. They are also getting listening devices. Some places also have face-monitoring systems so they can scan for people the authorities are interested in.

The average Briton is now filmed about three hundred times per day! We also have camera cars patrolling the streets, filming whatever takes their fancy and harassing motorists.

We are years ahead of America in plans to put GPS systems in cars, etc. They also want even more speed cameras, speed-averaging cameras–you name it. All of them are being linked into one enormous grid. The records of journeys are logged and kept. As you drive down the main highways, your number plates are scanned every few miles. Our son and I spent a day in the control room where all this information is monitored–an astonishing operation, with screens showing all the main roads. The EU is now planning to store all e-mails, log every web page visited, every phone call, etc., which Britain has done for years.

My friend has told me–has told the world–that cameras train on his home from right across the street, atop a telephone-type pole. It is just a matter of time until all of England is under a surveillance system much more sophisticated and intrusive than our 1940s author, George Orwell, could have imagined. All of Europe is sure to follow suit, and we can see more than cursory evidence that America is coming into Big Brotherism’s orbit of control.

The whole world is on track for super-sophisticated tracking. And a familiar name pops through the inky blackness of cyberspace to make this a readily observable fact. The familiar name is google.com.

Who in the world knows as much about you and your private thoughts as Google? That’s the question Katherine Albrecht, radio talk-show host and spokeswoman for Startpage, a search engine that protects user privacy, is posing to American Internet surfers.

“It would blow people’s minds if they knew how much information the big search engines have on the American public,” she told WND. “In fact, their dossiers are so detailed they would probably be the envy of the KGB.” (Chelsea Schilling, “Life with Big Brother: Killer Way to Slay the Google Beast!” WorldNetDaily, 1/27/2010)

Albrecht detailed how Google and other search engines gather and maintain dossiers on everyone who uses the service. The information is released to governments–to, for example, America’s Homeland Security Agency–when such information is requested. It seems the Bill of Rights is cast aside, without a constitutional amendment of any sort even being considered. Such ability to collect data on their victims was merely the dreams of such people as those in Stalin’s secret service and Hitler’s Gestapo.

Albrecht said Americans unwittingly share their most private thoughts with search engines, serving up snippets of deeply personal information about their lives, habits, troubles, health concerns, preferences and political leanings.

. “We’re essentially telling them our entire life stories–stuff you wouldn’t even tell your mother–because you are in a private room with a computer,” she said. (ibid.)

Big Brotherism, of course–in our view at Rapture Ready–is another way of defining the ideology that is heading up the drive toward establishment of the regime of Antichrist, found in Revelation 13:16-18. With government’s groping for control in ways that totally disregard the wishes of U.S. citizenry, more often than not throwing constitutional safeguards to the winds of political expediency, the ideology becomes ever more manifest through our daily headlines.

All of this shows how very near this generation must be to the Tribulation hour–thus, that much closer to Christ calling His Church to be with Him (John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

–Terry

Original Link.

All aspects of President Obama’s Chicago-style tactics are on display as he cajoles, bullies and bribes the House to pass his health care proposals despite the overwhelming public rejection with which they have been met.

To some, he offers bribes. Rep. Jim Matheson, endangered species — a Utah Democrat — succeeded in getting his brother Scott appointed to a federal judgeship. Matheson voted against Obamacare when it first passed the House. With his new-found winnings in his pocket, he now professes to be undecided. He faces a clear conflict between his district and his conscience on the one hand and the bribe to his brother on the other. The conscience will probably lose.

Matheson supports his party 91 percent of the time according to The Washington Post even though John McCain got 58 percent of the vote in his district in 2008. But Matheson got re-elected — by professing independence from the Democratic Party’s liberal line — with 63 percent of the vote, so he probably figures he can sneak in a vote for health care and still con his district into re-electing him. After all, he’s not heavy. He’s my brother.

Even as Matheson basks in the glow of presidential bribery, Eric Massa, a renegade Democrat from the Southern Tier of New York state faces his wrath. Massa’s sin was to vote against Obamacare. So Pelosi and the ethically challenged House Ethics Committee are investigating him for “verbally abusing” a male member of his staff.

In this age of more serious offenses, using “salty language” to express his displeasure with staff work would not seem to rank high on the list of indictable offenses. If it were, Lyndon Johnson would have been impeached. But Massa is being hung out to dry as an example to other would-be independent-minded Democrats. The attacks on him have gotten so bad that Massa has announced his retirement after only one term in office.

Read the rest of the article here.

Mark Twain is believed to have once said, “Figures don’t lie, but lying can figure.” If Twain were living today, he might be talking about the European debt crisis.

The European Union’s constitution has a flaw in it that is now starting to manifest itself. The EU was brought into existence by putting the cart before the horse: A full-fledged currency was formed without a central bank, a treasury, and a political organization to regulate the monetary policy.

The lack of strong oversight has created ample opportunity for financial fraud and mismanagement. Right now, Greece is the center of attention. It has a massive debt load that has pushed it close to the point of default.

One of the rules for being a member of the European currency is that you must have a budget deficit–the difference between what the government spends and the funds it receives though taxation and other measures–of no more than 3 percent of gross domestic product. Greece currently has a GDP deficit of 12.7 percent.

Greece’s runaway spending doesn’t sit well with more responsible nations like Germany. A recent poll shows that 71 percent of Germans think the EU should not help Greece at all. By sharing the same currency, they suffer the consequences of the euro’s decline in value. It’s basically like opening a joint checking account with a shopaholic.

It’s no wonder that German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the euro is in its most difficult situation since it was launched. “The euro is now, for the first time since its introduction, in a difficult situation, but it will come through,” Merkel was quoted as telling the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

The euro currency can survive a default by Greece because the country accounts for only about 2.5 percent of the EU’s total GDP. The problem is that Greece is not the only euro nation with debt troubles. Portugal, Ireland, and Spain are close behind.

We are now learning that several nations cooked their books to join the EU. In order to meet targets, governments over the years have used all sorts of accounting tricks to hide budget deficits. In the case of Greece, it hid a huge chunk of its military budget. Greece admitted to underreporting military spending by €8.7 billion between 1997 and 2003. It also hid $15 billion in expenses from European regulators by recording them as off-balance-sheet transactions though the same type of financial derivatives that got the US housing market into a pickle.

We live in a world where nothing gets done unless there is a crisis. This is especially true when it comes to financial responsibility. People are rioting in the streets of Greece over a few token measures to bring in spending. Years of government handouts have allowed the situation to get so bad that some economists doubt whether anything can be done.

There is the possibility that the European Union will collapse with some or all members leaving the common currency. The Bible strongly indicated that better days are ahead for the organization. The prophet Daniel predicted that an empire will arise out of Europe and dominate the whole world. What is missing is a special leader to set Europe’s destiny into motion.

The vision given to King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2 showed all the great Gentile empires that would come to rise on the earth. Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold; Media-Persia was the breast and arms of silver; the Grecian Empire was the belly of brass; and Rome was the legs of iron. The final government will be the feet of iron mixed with clay.

The interesting thing about the series of governments is that they progressively lose value as you go down the list. As the head of gold, Nebuchadnezzar had absolute power over his subjects. At the bottom was the Roman Empire, which was represented by iron. You had a ruler who was largely beholden to the Roman senate for his power base.

The Bible tells us there will be a final world power made of ten leaders. Because it is described as iron mixed with clay, this government will have a connection to the Roman Empire, and it will have an extremely weak power base. This scenario is what we see today.

The most likely outcome of the Greece debt crisis will be a Band-aid in the form of some kind of loan guarantee from an outside financial organization. The EU system is so flawed, another crisis is certain to quickly follow. It is my hope that the Rapture is the catalyst that triggers that event.

In any case, the backlog of financial problems is going to eventually require a change in the way the EU operates. Any sign that the EU is about to break apart should be our signal that the Tribulation hour is very near.

– Todd

Original Link.

“Stop messing with Texas!” That was the message Gov. Rick Perry bellowed on election night as he celebrated his victory over Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Republican primary for governor. In his reference to Texas’ anti-littering slogan, Perry was making a point applicable to national as well as Texas politics and addressed to Democratic politicians as well as Republicans.

His point was that the big government policies of the Obama administration and Democratic congressional leaders are resented and fiercely opposed not just because of their dire fiscal effects but also as an intrusion on voters’ independence and ability to make decisions for themselves.

No one would include Perry on a list of serious presidential candidates, including himself, even in the flush of victory. But in his 10 years as governor, the longest in the state’s history, Texas has been teaching some lessons to which the rest of the nation should pay heed.

They are lessons that are particularly vivid when you contrast Texas, the nation’s second most populous state, with the most populous, California. Both were once Mexican territory, secured for the United States in the 1840s. Both have grown prodigiously over the past half-century. Both have populations that today are about one-third Hispanic.

But they differ vividly in public policy and in their economic progress — or lack of it — over the last decade. California has gone in for big government in a big way. Democrats hold large margins in the legislature largely because affluent voters in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area favor their liberal positions on cultural issues.

Those Democratic majorities have obediently done the bidding of public employee unions to the point that state government faces huge budget deficits. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s attempt to reduce the power of the Democratic-union combine with referenda was defeated in 2005 when public employee unions poured $100 million — all originally extracted from taxpayers — into effective TV ads.

Californians have responded by leaving the state. From 2000 to 2009, the Census Bureau estimates, there has been a domestic outflow of 1,509,000 people from California — almost as many as the number of immigrants coming in. Population growth has not been above the national average and, for the first time in history, it appears that California will gain no House seats or electoral votes from the reapportionment following the 2010 Census.

Read the rest of the article here.

Remember that in Islam, a woman is nothing more than property, either of her father, a brother or her husband.

The majority of women in Gaza are being denied their inheritance rights, a survey by a Gaza-based women’s rights advocacy group has found.

The Women’s Affairs Center (WAC) study, Women and Inheritance, found 88 percent of those surveyed claimed to have been denied their inheritance. Around two thirds of those interviewed said they would not request aid to restore their legal rights.

Details of the study were published last week, ahead of International Women’s Day on Monday, in an attempt to highlight one of the most complicated issues facing Palestinian women.

“You can say it’s a matter of culture more than religion,” Diab Zayed, programs officer at the Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD) told The Media Line, noting that the problem exists in the West Bank as well as Gaza.

He explained that the family of a widow’s late husband would prefer to see inheritance pass to the deceased’s brothers and sons rather than the widow.

“Land is very important in the Palestinian community, and they don’t want the land to go to another family if the man dies,” Zayed said. “The [widowed] women might get an amount of money and that’s it.”

“There’s a lack of awareness among women,” he said. “They don’t even deal with it as part of their rights.”

The WAC highlighted several reasons why women in Gaza are reluctant to demand their inheritance: fear of losing their children, lack of awareness of how to approach legal aid organizations and pressure by family members to give up their rights.

PWWSD and several organizations are fighting to have property legally registered in women’s names, in order to prevent situations in which women are pressured to give up their rights.

Palestinian inheritance law follows Islamic law, which stipulates that women are only entitled to half the inheritance amount given to men.

For example, if a father bequeaths $1,000 in inheritance to two daughters and a son, then according to Islamic Law (Sharia), the son will receive $500 and the daughters $250 each.

If a woman is left widowed the inheritance money is by default shared between the children, the husband’s parents and his brothers, and involves a series of calculations dependent on each case’s circumstances.

Many Palestinian women are thus often paid off by other members of the family with a one-off lump sum and are forced to relinquish any rights they have to an estate.

“As a civil organization, we can’t say we stand against Sharia,” Zayed said. “But in practice, women don’t even get this half. We’re trying to persuade the community to at least give women their half, and maybe later things will change. We believe that women should get more than that half.”

Original Link.

To those who say Islam is peaceful and the violent aspect of it are “fringe groups”, please consider this:
The North American Islamic Trust “holds title to more than 300 mosques in America – including the large Islamic center outside Washington where the Fort Hood terrorist and some of the 9/11 hijackers worshipped.”
That doesn’t sound very “fringe” to me.

The custodian of most of the major mosques in America acts as a front for the radical Muslim Brotherhood in America, and publishes and distributes Islamic literature that exhorts Muslims to “kill” any Westerners who get in the way of spreading Islam, WND has learned.

“No political system or material power should put hindrances in the way of preaching Islam. If someone does this, then it is the duty of Islam to fight him until either he is killed or until he declares his submission,” asserts an Islamic publication distributed by the North American Islamic Trust.

NAIT holds title to more than 300 mosques in America – including the large Islamic center outside Washington where the Fort Hood terrorist and some of the 9/11 hijackers worshipped.

NAIT also owns and controls the mosque in Orange County, Calif., that converted al-Qaida spokesman Adam Gadahn to Islam.

Gadahn in a video released Sunday exhorted Muslims serving in the U.S. military to follow in the footsteps of accused Fort Hood terrorist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. He also called for attacks on mass transportation, along with assassinations or kidnappings of key figures in the government, industry and media.

The Justice Department recently blacklisted NAIT as an unindicted co-conspirator in a scheme to funnel millions of dollars to Palestinian terrorists.

NAIT Trustee Gaddoor Saidi was individually listed as an unindicted co-conspirator, as well, in the Holy Land Foundation case — the largest terror finance trial in U.S. history, which ended in guilty verdicts on all 108 counts.

In addition, the government identified NAIT as a front for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood in America. Hamas, which was designated a terrorist organization in 1995, has murdered 17 Americans and injured hundreds of other U.S. citizens.

Chicago-based NAIT also handles the finances for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim Students Association, and other Muslim Brotherhood front groups, which, shockingly, make up the Muslim establishment in America, according to the new book, “Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America.”

The Muslim groups have been vehemently protesting the FBI’s use of undercover informants in mosques and its recent seizure of several mosques in America. Last year, a mosque leader in Detroit was fatally wounded in a shootout with FBI agents who sought his arrest on felony charges.

Through its subsidiary American Trust Publications, also headquartered in Chicago, NAIT publishes and distributes the pro-offensive-jihad book “Milestones,” by the late Muslim Brotherhood leader Sayyid Qutb of Egypt, Osama bin Laden’s spiritual father.

“Jihad in Islam is simply a name for striving to make this system of life dominant in the world,” the NAIT tome asserts. “Wherever an Islamic community exists which is a concrete example of the Divinely ordained system of life, it has a God-given right to step forward and take control of the political authority so that it may establish the Divine system on earth.”

“Milestones” preaches that Shariah law should be implemented “by force” if Western societies resist the barbaric Islamic code.

“Bringing about the enforcement of the Divine Law and the abolition of man-made laws cannot be achieved only through preaching,” it says. “When obstacles and practical difficulties are put in its way, it has no recourse but to remove them by force.”

“Islam has the right to take the initiative,” the book claims. “It has the right to destroy all obstacles in the form of institutions and traditions. It is the duty of Islam to annihilate all such systems.”

Chillingly, Qutb’s strategy dovetails with one outlined in a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood manifesto recently declassified by the Justice Department.

It lists NAIT among Brotherhood, or “Ikhwan,” front groups participating in a seditious conspiracy of “eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within” through a “grand jihad,” with the ultimate goal of making Islam “victorious over all religions.”

Original Link.

Cluster munitions or cluster bombs are air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapons that eject smaller submunitions: a cluster of bomblets.

President Obama spent considerable time last week making private pitches to Capital Hill Democrats, asking them to trust him when it comes to healthcare reform. On Sunday, Associated Press reported the president will “persuade Congress to pass his healthcare overhaul even if it kills him and even if he has to ask deeply distrustful lawmakers to trust him on a promise the White House doesn’t ahve the power to keep.” Nevertheless, Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Michigan) and a dozen fellow Democrats who supported the House healthcare bill say they will vote against the Senate version unless it includes a ban on federal funding of abortion.

Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, notes the Senate bill (H.R. 3590) has multiple pro-abortion provisions and says that when those provisions are added up, it is the most pro-abortion piece of legislation ever to come before the U.S. House since Roe v. Wade.

“The Senate bill is a cluster bomb for pro-abortion provisions, and this is going to be a real career-defining vote for members of the House of Representatives,” Johnson explains. “Any House member who votes for this bill really forfeits any future claim to pro-life credentials. And really any House member who votes for this bill can no longer say he has a record against federal funding of abortion.”

Original Link.

“The biggest terrorist is the god of the Quran,” [Mosab Yousef] recently shared with The Associated Press. “I know this is very dangerous, and I know this will offend many people, but my goal [is] not to offend them. What I’m saying [is] that the biggest terrorist is Allah of the Koran, the god of the Koran, the god of Islam.”

Like Yousef, Walid Shoebat is a former Muslim who converted to Christianity and is now an outspoken critic of Islam. He believes that Yousef’s comments are right on the mark. “I was elated to watch brother Mosab speak on the TV and saying the problem is Allah,” Shoebat stated. “He’s going to the crux of the problem.”

The fellow convert adds, however, that Yousef’s life is now in danger. “The Quran also says if they leave the faith or they renege on the faith, then kill them wherever you find them,” he explains. “So it becomes the duty of every Muslim to try to find these people who left Islam to kill them. So now he lives in danger. I live in danger.”

Original Link.

Hip Hop artists and graffiti virtuosos from New York painting their way throughout Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Sderot? Who’d a thunk it, but it appears that a new organization called Artists 4 Israel will be doing just that. Founded about a year ago following Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, young artists in the New York area had just about enough of the incessant anti-Israel propaganda being spewed forth by the “politically correct” denizens of the radically left-wing enclaves that figure so prominently in the eclectic world of the New York artist and decided to do something about it.

Taking a courageously bold stance in their support for Israel, a cadre of young artists led by New York artists Craig Dershowitz, Tara Lyn Gordon and Seth Wolfson and several others were determined to debunk the ubiquitous myths that circulate about Israel being a racist, apartheid state and a callous war machine bent on the destruction of its enemies. Thus, Artists 4 Israel was born as an umbrella organization for graffiti and street artists, alternative poets and playwrights, hip hop musicians, modern dance troupes, photographers, sculptors and rap chanteurs to express their support for Israel as an open and free pluralistic society that fosters artistic license and expression. Through the implementation of highly inventive educational modalities as well as original street theater and other creative outlets they have succeeded in opening the hearts and minds of a new generation.

“Hamas started a culture war. We decided to be pro-active rather than defensive. Artists 4 Israel is the offense. Rather than countering the misconceptions, lies and hate preached by the terrorist funded Hamas culture war against Israel, A4I utilizes the arts to tell our own stories and create our own narratives highlighting the rights, beauty and strength of Israel”, intoned Craig Dershowitz, a founding member of the group.

For the last year, this seminal movement of collective artists and culture warriors has virtually exploded within the parameters of the chic art scene by “creating their own narrative” and garnering support in the bastions of the downtown art gallery world. “When the war in Gaza broke out, our artists started painting really great signs for the pro-Israel demonstrations that were held and people took notice of the fact that our signs were way more powerful than those of Israel’s detractors. Subsequently, we held a pro-Israel art gallery showing in Manhattan that drew close to 500 people and 85% of those in attendance were contemporary artists under the age of 30. It was then that we knew that Artists 4 Israel could really have a major impact in the liberal arts community”, said Mr. Dershowitz

Other awareness initiatives began soon thereafter including “The Keffiyah Exchange Program” which was modeled on the NYPD’s Cash for Guns program. While the keffiyah fashion craze has gripped the artists community, many in the Jewish world are disturbed by the jihadist symbolism that it represents. As such, Artists 4 Israel is offering “Free Stuff for Stupid Scarves” in partnership with a number of clothing brands, bars and restaurants and is giving away gifts to anyone who gives up their keffiyah at any of their drop off locations.

In order to spotlight the brutal oppression of women by male hegemonies in Islamic countries, Ariists 4 Israel
has created a campaign to “dress down radical Islam” by sending out their own civilian cops or “fashion police” to hand out what appears to be tickets to immodesty dressed women on New York’s most populous streets. In actuality, these tickets are postcards addressed to the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington, DC protesting their nation’s treatment of women as inherently inferior beings. The A4I web site says, “Israel is a country of many freedoms, including equal rights and protection for women. By contrasting these liberties with the oppression and subjugation practiced by Israel’s neighbors Artists 4 Israel demonstrates the strength of Israel’s democracy”.

Empowering and educating young artists is also a major tenet of Artists 4 Israel and as such the group conducts programs on high school and college campuses. Artists 4 Israel teaches students that they have the power to use their individual talents and creativity to become advocates of their chosen causes. A4I offers practical guidance and leadership training to help students affect change.”What makes our organization effective is the fact that we are totally inclusive and we reach out to everyone, irrespective of religion, race or nationality. While we are an advocacy group for Israel, we are non-political and we do not take stances on issues pertaining to the conflicts between religious and non-religious factions in Israel or the disparity of viewpoints between the left wing or right wing parties”, said Mr. Dershowitz.

The highlight of this year’s A4I activities will take place from April 24th until May 2nd, when Artists 4 Israel will be sending some of America’s most famous street and graffiti artists to Israel on their “Murality” project. Murality joins the words “mural” and “morality” to display an ideal of justice within and through art. “Israel is a country that is predicated on the highest levels of morality and ethics” said Mr. Dershowitz and “we want our artists (who are not Jewish) to experience this first hand.”

The artists will be traveling to Sderot, Kiryat Gat, Herzliyah, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to battle terror and rockets with messages of unity and peace. In Sderot and Kiryat Gat the artists will be conducting art therapy classes with the children of these war torn communities who often experience post-traumatic stress disorder. These children and the entire community will join with the artists to transform the grim reminders of terrorism into soaring masterpieces of freedom and expression. While in Sderot, they will paint bomb shelters, Chabad’s rocket defense walls, army bases, the Jewish National Fund’s Indoor Recreational Center and Ateret Esther, the only school not fully protected from rocket attacks. In Kiryat Gat they will transform bombed out buildings into living art installations. In Jerusalem, they will design murals for “The Story of Hope”, a haven for Jewish women trapped in abusive relationships with Arab partners. In Tel Aviv, the artists will organize a large scale art exhibit of their works for the entire community in one day.

“Our art ambassadors will be painting from the time they wake up in the morning until the time they go to bed”, said Mr. Dershowitz. We want them to maximize their time and efforts as the artists hope to share their gift with as many of Israel’s residents and organizations as possible” he continued. Artists 4 Israel has also attracted the attention of Israeli performance artists including Meital Dohan, a leading actress in the Showtime series “Weeds”, who contacted A4I indicating her interest in becoming involved in this endeavor and has been chosen to be the official spokesperson for the “Murality” project in Israel.

“It is our fervent hope that this trip to Israel will prove that America’s avantgarde arts community supports Israel by sharing a message of hope and peace from America to Israel” said Mr. Dershowitz.

———————————————-

Fern Sidman holds a B.A, in political science from Brooklyn College. She was the educational coordinator for the Betar Youth Movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She was national director of the Jewish Defense League from 1983-1985. She was a researcher for several books written by Rabbi Meir Kahane, ZTK”L. She was the managing editor of the publication entitled, The Voice of Judea, and is a regular contributor to its web site. She is currently a writer and journalist living in New York City. Her articles have appeared in The Jewish Press, The Jewish Advocate, The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, and numerous Jewish and general web sites including, Front Page Magazine, Daniel Pipes and Michael Freund.
We are delighted to have Ms. Sidman as a regular contributor to the Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog.

The White House took great offense this week when conservatives suggested President Obama might be trading a judicial appointment for a wavering Democrat’s vote on his health care reform plan. “Absurd,” a miffed administration official told Politico.com. Wherever could the American people get such an impression? Let us count the ways.

On Wednesday, the very day Obama hosted 10 swing Democrats who had opposed the expansive health care takeover bill in November, the White House issued a press release trumpeting the nomination of Scott M. Matheson Jr. to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Matheson just happens to be the brother of Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah — one of the 10 Dems invited to sip wine and nosh on calorically correct appetizers with the arm-twister-in-chief.

The seat on the 10th Circuit has been vacant for nearly a year. When one of the judges, Michael McConnell, resigned to take a lucrative post at Stanford Law School last summer, Matheson — Rhodes Scholar, law school professor and dean — let the White House know right away he wanted the job. For nearly a year, there was no action.

Liberal groups have been complaining for months about the glacial pace of Obama’s judicial nominations — a predicament they blame not solely on obstructionist Republicans, but on Obama’s own team of incompetent, indecisive foot-draggers who put the issue at the bottom of their priority list. (It’s worth noting that Utah GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch supports Matheson’s candidacy.)

As the National Law Journal pointed out at the beginning of this year, “the Obama administration has been slower than the Bush administration was in sending judicial nominations to the Senate, submitting 12 circuit nominations last year compared with 28 for Bush in 2001. The White House last named a circuit nominee on Nov. 4.”

Now, out of nowhere, comes the announcement of Matheson’s nomination — in the heat of White House vote-grubbing to salvage the Democrats’ government health care designs? To quote Dana Carvey’s old Church Lady character on “Saturday Night Live”: How conveeenient.

Let us consider the possibility, for a brief moment, that this is all merely coincidence. Is the White House so fantastically blind and tone-deaf that it failed to detect the blood-red flags and blaring alarm bells that Scott Matheson’s judicial nomination would raise coming on the very day Obama was wooing his brother? Incorrigibly corrupt or incorrigibly stupid. Take your pick.

Read the rest of the article here.

The only comment I need to offer on this is “we told you so”. Enough said.

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan — A man freed from Guantanamo more than two years ago after he claimed he only wanted to go home and help his family is now a senior commander running Taliban resistance to the U.S.-led offensive in southern Afghanistan, two senior Afghan intelligence officials say.

Abdul Qayyum is also seen as a leading candidate to be the next No. 2 in the Afghan Taliban hierarchy, said the officials, interviewed last week by The Associated Press.

The story of Abdul Qayyum could add to the complications President Barack Obama is facing in fulfilling his pledge to close the prison at Guantanamo by sending some prisoners back to their home countries or to other willing nations, while putting others on trial.

U.S. intelligence asserts that 20 percent of suspects released from the Guantanamo Bay prison have returned to the fight and the number has been steadily increasing.

Original Link.

Good for them!!

Blue Dog Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak says he’s counted 11 lawmakers plus himself willing to kill President Obama’s health care overhaul over abortion language.

Stupak, of Michigan, sponsored a provision in the House of Representative’s health care bill that passed last fall that clearly prohibits the use of federal money to pay for abortions. That language did not make it into the Senate bill, the model Obama is using to craft the plan he is expected to send to Congress shortly.

Obama has urged the Senate to use the “reconciliation” procedure to pass the bill, which would allow Democrats to avoid a 60-vote majority needed to strike down a filibuster but would demand that lawmakers vote only on matters that impact the budget. Before that happens, however, House Democrats can prevent the legislation from reaching the Senate.

House legislation passed by a narrow 220-215 margin in November. Since then several Democrats have defected or departed, and all 254 who remain are eyeing November midterm elections and a restive electorate demanding Congress focus on jobs.

Thirty-nine Democrats voted “no” on the House bill, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will probably need some of those to switch their votes.

Abortion is one item that can not be tweaked in the reconciliation method. Senate Democrats have talked about a wholly separate bill for issues that can’t be “fixed” in reconciliation.

Without referencing abortion, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told Fox News on Thursday that every aspect of health care has an effect on the budget.

“There is no question (health care issues) impact the budget. They impact family budgets, they impact government budgets.”

But Sebelius also told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that there will be no federal funding for abortion.

This bill does not change the status quo on abortion, she said.

Other rank-and-file Democrats say they remain wary of the legislation, not only because of its substance but because of the political peril a “yes” vote would cause back home.

“I think he has succeeded in prying open a window of opportunity, but it’s a very narrow window,” said first-term Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. “And he and the leadership here had better clamber through that narrow window while they can.”

In a speech Wednesday at the White House, Obama called on lawmakers to end a year of legislative struggle and angry public debate and enact legislation ushering in near-universal health coverage for the first time in the country’s history.

“At stake right now is not just our ability to solve this problem, but our ability to solve any problem,” the president said. “And so I ask Congress to finish its work, and I look forward to signing this reform into law.”

Appearing before a select audience, many of them wearing white medical coats, Obama firmly rejected calls from Republicans to draft new legislation from scratch.

“I don’t see how another year of negotiations would help,” he said. “I believe the United States Congress owes the American people a final vote.”

Underscoring the pressure, many of the “no” voters made themselves scarce Wednesday while others said they had to wait to study Obama’s plan before stating their position.

“I haven’t seen the president’s proposal so I’m going to look at it,” said first-term Rep. Scott Murphy, D-N.Y

“It’s fragile,” Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., said of the mood in the House. “It’s getting close to the election.”

Nonetheless, Pelosi vowed to answer the president’s call.

“Our families and businesses deserve reform that will create millions of jobs, strengthen Medicare, reduce our deficit and no longer deny care or drop coverage to those who need it most,” Pelosi said. “We must act now.”

Republicans said Democrats would be sorry.

“Americans do not want a trillion-dollar government takeover of health care stuffed with tax hikes, Medicare cuts and giveaways to Washington special interests,” said House Republican leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. “Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”

Original Link.

President Obama unveiled his revised health care reform plan on Wednesday. The buzz word is “reconciliation,’ a rarely used legislative maneuver designed to resolve budget differences but one that could also be used to push through the Democrats’ health agenda by a simple majority vote. Are you angry that Obama and the Dems are resorting to using “reconciliation”?

Yes. This is outrageous! They’re using rules to bypass the clear voice of the people – payback in November, guys. 94% (153,465 votes)

Not sure, but if they have to resort to rules loopholes to pass a law, doesn’t that indicate that a lot of people oppose it? 2% (2,805 votes)

No. Look, we need health care reform and we need it now. Let’s get started, even if it means using a rules loophole. 3% (5,502 votes)

Other (post a comment) <1% (774 votes)

Total Votes: 162,546

Original Link.

Rifqa Bary, the teen who ran away from home, in fear of her life, after she converted from Islam to Christianity, is still fighting several different issues. We need to continue to pray for her.
The latest problem she is facing is her immigration status. If she is not given permanent residency by her 18th birthday, then she will be in danger of being deported.

A former Muslim, now a Christian pastor, is concerned that 17-year-old Rifqa Bary could be deported back to Sri Lanka when she turns 18 if she is unable to get approved for permanent U.S. residency.

Young Rifqa ran away to Florida last summer because she feared her father would harm or kill her after she converted from Islam. Pastor Jamal Jivanjee, also a convert from Islam, has been advising the teenager since, and he believes the plan is not in the girl’s best interest.

“The judge in the case is actually not being very cooperative with Rifqa’s attorney, Angela Lloyd, as she is trying to move forward with getting Rifqa permanent residency status,” Jivanjee notes. “It takes time to have this done, and if she turns 18 before she gets her permanent residency status, she’ll have to leave the country — and that’s very dangerous for her.”

Original Link.

See our previous post about Rifqa Bary.
Pastor: Threats Against Rifqa Serious.
Muslim Parents of Teen Christian Convert Renege on Custody Agreement.
Runaway Christian Convert to Remain Free of Parents, Judge Rules.
Rifqa Bary Case Takes a Positive Turn.
Court Issues Reunification Plan in Rifqa Bary Case.
Rifqa Bary Returns to Columbus.
Hamas-Linked CAIR Supervised Police Interview of Rifqa Bary’s Parents on Abuse Allegations.
Florida Investigation Finds No Credible Threat to Teen Christian Convert.
Teen Christian Convert Who Fled Muslim Family Gets Online Threat.
Muslim Teen Who Converted to Christianity Says Family Threatened to Kill Her.
Updated: Judge Decides Fate of Honor Student, Cheerleader Who Fears “Honor Killing” After Converting to Christianity.
Parents of Muslim Teen Who Converted to Christianity Have Ties to Mosque of Alleged Terrorist.
Political Asylum Suggested for Rifqa Bary, Teen ‘Muslim to Christian’ Convert.
Teen ‘Muslim to Christian’ Convert Order Back to Ohio by Florida Judge.
Rifqa Investigation Ignored Facts About Islam.

In Remembrance of Sarah & Amina Said and Noor Faleh Almalek.
Don’t let this become a memorial to Rifqa Bary as well. Stop Muslim “Honor” Killings Before They Happen!!