More reasons to say NObama

Received by email from From Richmond Times-Dispatch, Monday, July 7, 2008:

Dear Editor, "Times-Dispatch",

Each year I get to celebrate Independence Day twice. On June 30 I celebrate my independence day, and on July 4 I celebrate America 's. This year is special, because it marks the 40th anniversary of my independence.

On June 30, 1968, I escaped Communist Cuba , and a few months later, I was in the United States to stay. That I happened to arrive in Richmond on Thanksgiving Day is just part of the story, but I digress.

I've thought a lot about the anniversary this year. The election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot about Cuba and what transpired there. In the late 1950s, most Cubans thought Cuba needed a change, and they were right. So when a young leader came along, every Cuban was at least receptive.

When the young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced the old system, the press fell in love with him. They never questioned who his friends were or what he really believed in. When he said he would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and education to all, everyone followed. When he said he would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said, "Praise the Lord."

And when the young leader said, "I will be for change and I'll bring you change"; everyone yelled, "Viva Fidel!"

But nobody asked about the change, so by the time the executioner's guns went silent, the people's guns had been taken away. By the time everyone was equal, they were equally poor, hungry, and oppressed. By the time everyone received their free education, it was worth nothing. By the time the press noticed, it was too late, because they were now working for him. By the time the change was finally implemented, Cuba had been knocked down a couple of notches to Third-World status. By the time the change was over, more than a million people had taken to boats, rafts, and inner tubes. You can call those who made it ashore anywhere else in the world the most fortunate Cubans. And now I'm back to the beginning of my story.

Luckily, we would never fall in America for a young leader who promised change without asking, what change? How will you carry it out? What will it cost America?

"C H A N G E"

Would we?

Manuel Alvarez, Jr. & Sandy Hook

Nature Magazine responds

Folks, here is an encouraging reply from the editor of Nature Magazine, who responded to letters written by folks like you about Nature's interactive map of the world here, which did not designate Israel as a legitimate or sovereign country. Click here to read the background story.

Here is the reply from the editor of Nature:

Thank you for your letter, one of many we have received on this subject.

The state of Israel is clearly marked on the map you refer to, though not named. It is not referred to as Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The number 34, identified as “Occupied Palestinian Territory”, refers to the occupied territories of the West Bank, as its associated line indicates. (The status of Gaza is not addressed, because the scale does not permit it). This territory, like all the numbered and named countries and territories on the map, is represented in green, reflecting membership in the Organization
of the Islamic Conference. The map is clearly presented as a representation of the 57 countries of the OIC, of which Israel is not a member.

It is unfortunate that, due to a drafting error in the commercial template from which this graphic was developed, the border between the West Bank and Jordan is not shown on the map, and regrettable that we did not catch this error in our editorial preparation.

I apologise for this error, which I can see does to some extent raise the question of what entity on the map the number “34” refers to. We are publishing a correction and correcting the mistake in our online material. To avoid repeating the error we are revising the template too.

With this correction made, the question of what the 34 refers to becomes obvious; it can only refer to the otherwise unidentified green entity pointed to by the line from the number 34. Given that the convention of the map is that only green entities have numbers, I think the question of the point at which the indicator line ends, which has exercised some of those who have written to us, is immaterial. If it were to continue into the area representing the west Bank the effect of bisecting Israel would be unfortunate.

Some correspondents have suggested that this error is in some way connected with the fact that support for translating some articles in this issue into Arabic was provided by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science. I can assure you that it was not, and that the Foundation had no input into the editorial content of this issue whatsoever.

Yours sincerely

Oliver Morton
Chief News and Features Editor
Nature

British science journal, "Nature", replaces Israel on map with the term "occupied Palestine"

A British science journal, Nature, on its interactive map of the world here, does not designate Israel as a legitimate or sovereign country. In fact, the word "Israel" is replaced by the term "occupied palestinian territory". This "journal" appears in many British libraries.

Refer to the web site, http://www.nature.com/news/specials/islamandscience/map/islam-map.html and roll your mouse over the geography of Israel and pay attention to the popup of the designated countries. Look closely at #34.

Please send your feedback to the editor: news@nature.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Update: Nature Magazine editor responds.

Letter from Sderot - Challenging US Ambassador's praise of Israel's restraint policy

Published in the Jerusalem Post Jan 22nd, 2007

Dear Editor,

In the January 19th interview conducted by Jerusalem Post correspondent Herb Keinon with US Ambassador Richard Jones, it was most surprising to hear Mr. Jones say that "Now you are showing restraint...Because there is a cease- fire...The fringe groups can get away with violating the cease-fire...The policy of restraint is improving your security in the long run. You really haven't suffered that much in terms of loss of life [from the Kassams] and you have given Gaza a little breathing space..."

Does Mr. Jones not know that the Al Aksa Brigades, the military wing of the Fateh, chaired by Machmud Abbas - hardly a "fringe group" - also takes credit for the 77 missile attacks on the Western Negev SINCE the November 26th, 2005 cease fire?

Meanwhile, does Ambassador Jones not understand that there was "no loss of life" over the past two months only because these missiles accidentally missed their civilian targets?

Can Ambassador Jones please explain just how Israel’'s security is "improved" when terrorists fire missiles to terrorize Israel’'s population in the Western Negev while Israel allows its adversaries in Gaza to regroup, rearm and reorganize?

What would happen if Mexico fired 77 missiles into Western Texas or if Canada fired 77 missiles into the Pacific North West? Would any American suggest a policy of restraint? Would any American suggest a policy of restraint?

Noam Bedein
Media Liason
SDEROT INFORMATION CENTER FOR THE WESTERN NEGEV LTD
http://www.SderotMedia.com

Karen Ladik capitulates to anti-Semitism

Here's a copy of a letter I just sent to the editor of WND in response to a letter written to the editor written by a "Karen Ladik". Here is the cached link to WND's Letters to the Editor. If you scroll down on the cached linked page, you'll see Karen's original letter, which I reprint here:

When anti-Semitism looks good

The hardest thing about the Israeli coup on my country is seeing headlines like this: "Presbyterians or prostitutes?" on Joseph Farah's column.

Can you for a moment, imagine any mainstream publication using a similar headline about Jews or Judaism or Israel?

Joe, I am a lifelong conservative. I voted Perot twice, but have been loyal since Reagan.

I cannot and will not vote Bush. I probably won't vote at all.

When I read that headline, I thought to myself, its not just the GOP that has been co-opted, but my entire country, and much of the press.

If you don't see the irony in that headline, we are in more trouble than I thought.

NOBODY is allowed to speak of Jews the way you spoke of Presbyterians. And when someone complains of a double standard, they must then endure being smeared as an anti-Semite.

Anti-Semitism is looking pretty attractive these days. I have spoken to Catholics that feel the same way. We heard not a peep of the rampant problem of pedophile rabbis, while the Catholic Church endured 18 months of scathing press.

I can only imagine what the "independent'' media in America will now do to Presbyterians.
All those old "canards"? They are looking better and better to me and mine.

Karen Ladik

Here's my response to this female Jew-basher:

In this week's WND's Letters to the Editor column, http://www.worldnetdaily.com/letters.asp, Karen Ladik wrote of her capitulation to become an anti-Semite simply because Joseph Farah dared to entitle an article on his website called "Presbyterians or prostitutes?" That's all it took, Karen? I don't think so. In fact, I think you're already a Jew hater, and disliking a title of an article on a website is just an excuse for your already fomented hatred of Jews.

All one needs to do is dissect your letter. You begin with "The hardest thing about the Israeli coup on my country is seeing headlines like this." You gave yourself away, Jew hater. You already are convinced, like all Jew haters, that there is some Jewish conspiracy by Israel to take over the United States. The larger the conspiracy, the smaller the mind, Karen.

You continue to plead your American patriotism by writing how you are a Reaganite, as if your hatred of Jews is negated by your loyalty to a great American president. And my dear, nothing can negate your hatred of Jews, unless of course you repent of it.

You malign yourself even further with this: "Anti-Semitism is looking pretty attractive these days. I have spoken to Catholics that feel the same way. We heard not a peep of the rampant problem of pedophile rabbis, while the Catholic Church endured 18 months of scathing press. "

Bring it on, babe. Name ALL the pedophile rabbis, and we'll name ALL the Roman Catholic popes, priests, nations and citizens of Christian Europe who voluntarily purged their neighborhoods of Jews by turning them over to the Nazis and then moved into their homes, who inflicted pogroms, and who perpetuated the blood libel that Jews eat Christian babies and who, for 1900 years, heralded Jews as Christ killers.

Yes, I know that the RCC church has emerged from its anti-Semetic past, and I hold no grudges now, although 52 members of my family were slaughtered by Nazis in Lodz and the Pope and the Jesuits were silent about it; even the Red Cross grew to understand what the thick acrid black smoke clouds were as they hovered over parts of Europe. Sadly, it was merely 60 years ago, where almost all of Europe engaged in ethnic cleansing and the purging of Jews, including Slovakia's citizens.

Slovakia, you ask? Oops, looks like I hit a nerve, there.

Your signature on one of the Slovakia forums is "US of Israel", which I found while doing a Google search. Obviously, you're already a done-deal, fully pledged anti-Semite who gave up her soul in exchange to writing letters and forum posts of your hatred of Jews and Israel. Fortunately, about 2,300 Jews remain of the estimated pre-WWII population of 120,000 in Slovakia. Your mission to slaughter all of us failed.

See, Karen, you are a reminder that, as a Jew, we should act in a way that embodies the very essence of the Torah's values -- goodness, selflessness, responsibility for helping others, honesty, integrity. Being Jewish brings with it great responsibility. I am in possession of a deep pride that I have the privilege of trying to live up to what Judaism represents.

And you don't. You never will. You will never benefit from the gift of Torah, or what you call the Old Testament, what God gave to my people so that we could share the same gift with the rest of the world so that ALL nations can inherit the goodness and love of God. Too bad for you that you wear spiritual blinders.

And your closing statement in your letter to the editor, "All those old "canards" [about Jews]? They are looking better and better to me and mine."

Too bad for you Karen. Too bad. But go on, hate us. See, what you thought was passion in your letter, was only ammunition for me and mine. See, your passion and your hatred only make us stronger and more grateful, and it is your anti-Semitism that has and will continue to become the grinding stone upon which Jewish commitment and pride is sharpened.

And for that, I thank you.

Smooth Stone
http://smoothstone.blogspot.com/