Taps: Last Post

TAPS

Day is done, gone the sun,

From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Fading light, dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright.
From afar, drawing nigh, falls the night.

Thanks and praise, for our days,
'Neath the sun, 'neath the stars, neath the sky;
As we go, this we know, God is nigh.

Sun has set, shadows come,
Time has fled, Scouts must go to their beds
Always true to the promise that they made.

While the light fades from sight,
And the stars gleaming rays softly send,
To thy hands we our souls, Lord, commend.

BZ

"I'm on sacred ground, and I'm in the best of company."

"I've made it to Arlington."

God bless the American soldier.

There are no finer, more effective warriors who have sacrificed so much for the entire planet. These men are produced right here, in the United States of America.

Not women. Men. Men with courage, daring, history, bravado, innocence, naivete, survival, sacrifice and, ultimately, victory. One American soldier is worth an entire Congress of politicians.

Every nation on this earth owes debts of gratitude to American soldiers. No other nation has, before or since, stepped up for global protection.

Europe would have been lost. Australia would have been lost. Asia would have been conquered. The Middle East would have been conquered. South America would have been up for grabs. Russia and China would be dominant or dead.

And no other nation produces or so willingly sacrifices such a breed.

God bless the American soldier.

BZ

Classic WWII Movies On TCM, For Memorial Day:

TCM, or Turner Classic Movies, has a wonderful World War II movie marathon (34 films!) for the Memorial Day weekend.

I've been watching great film after great film!

Just a heads-up, for those of you who may be interested.

BZ

OBL's Mission, What No One Mentions: The Stealth Helo

The OBL mission on May 2nd was a resounding success. OBL received the proverbial and loving "Double Tap" -- as I taught my department under my administration as Rangemaster, to mean: one to center mass, one to the head. Occasionally we went Triple Tap: two to the chest, one to the head.

Thanks to SEAL Team 6.

I won't address the political issues here; that's for other past and future posts.

The problem with the helo issue was due to higher-than-anticipated temperatures and weights calculated down to the single pound.

And a technology that had existed, quietly, for the past four years was revealed here in the following news photo:

Stratfor weighs in here. He writes:

Numerous media sources have reported that the stealth helicopter was a modified Blackhawk. Having said that, we have no independent confirmation as to whether or not it was a Blackhawk. Our sources are indicating that the stealth helicopter has been operational for a good four years, predominantly flying special operations missions only at night.

In looking at the design of the helicopter wreckage from the bin Laden safe house, it carries many of the characteristics that you would typically see on the stealth bomber and aircraft that is flying today. The design of the helicopter is one that is masked to reduce its radar signature as well as dampen the noise from the rotors. And it’s our understanding that the aircraft was designed for that specific purpose, meaning special operations missions to be handled at night behind enemy lines for the sole purpose of masking its approach to an attack site. From a person I talked to who has flown in one of these stealth helicopters, the helicopter has been described as amazingly quiet in the air, and the noise is much like an outdoor air conditioner next to your house in the dead of the summer.

The helicopter was flown out of the 160th at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and certainly explains why President Obama made the visit to personally recognize the flight crews.

Our aviation sources close to the operation advise that the stealth helicopter crashed due to a brown out. In essence, as the helicopter approached, with the pilot utilizing night vision goggles, the dust and the dirt of the compound created an atmosphere which caused the pilot to set down the helicopter on the wall. After the helicopter crashed, a front portion, the cockpit area, was blown up by special operations SEALS while they were departing with bin Laden’s body.

Having done a lot of aircraft investigations in my past, one of the things you will notice is, the Pakistanis lost control of the crash site. At this point it’s unclear how much of the wreckage has already been lost that potentially could show up on the black market or in the hands of a nation-state that would be fascinated to learn the technology used in order to enter and exit Pakistani airspace without getting caught.

The “Above the Tearline” aspect of this video is the fact that we have been flying this stealth helicopter for four years is a remarkable achievement, and the fact that there had been no leaks until the pictures of the helicopter next to safe house surfaced.

But, in the clear, there is a comparison here:


Following that, video analysis here. See below:



The SEALs detonated the bulk of the forward cockpit but couldn't, in their haste, attach explosives to every part of the helo. When some persons excoriate our operators for leaving "something" behind, I would submit this: they managed to destroy the greater portion of our electronic techno presence leaving -- just that. A portion of a tail. With stubby tail.

Our exposure. Kept in secret until now.

And ignored by our media.

Seen here on Bloviating Zeppelin.

BZ

Tasteless, Uncouth

What's with the black belt under the breasts?
- Princess Letizia of Spain , French First Lady Carla Bruni, and Tasteless.





As my college professors used to say: "contrast and compare."
I would have been, simply, flatly embarrassed.


Apparently, MO endorses being dressed by a four-year-old.
And colorblind as well.

Oh please. Just let it stop. Beyond embarrassing.


With a few salient comments, I let these photographs speak for themselves. I shake my head at the predominantly "tone deaf" stance of Mr Obama and, in these instances, Mrs Obama as well. In summation, see the top photo caption.

BZ

How the Demorats phrase it

From a recent DSCC e-mail:

They’ve really done it this time. Health care. Pell grants. Now Medicare’s on the chopping block.

Democrats think Medicare is a promise. Republicans think it’s a litmus test. Candidates who aren’t willing to kill it won’t get anywhere in 2012.

Look, the GOP’s got a vision for America, and it’s no place you’d want to live. Only four Senate seats stand in their way. We can block their idiocy – for now. But if we lose our majority in 2012, we’ll also lose Medicare, Social Security, health care reform – the safety net Americans depend upon.

We CAN prevent this, and I need your help. Your gift to the DSCC will help protect our majority and stop the GOP assault on our values, but you need to give right now.

Give an immediate $5 to the DSCC, and Democratic senators will match your donation. It’s like giving a $10 donation for only $5. But you must act quickly. We need to raise $231,871 by May 31 to protect our Democratic firewall!

Meeting this goal is so important that Democratic senators will match every dollar you give, doubling your impact. I know it’s easy to get distracted by the three (or four, or five) ring circus that is the presidential race. Thing is, if we lose the Senate, President Obama’s agenda is dead. If you think a Republican Senate will work with him, then I’ve got a nice piece of land in Wasilla to sell you.

I need you to step up, because the right wing sure is. Exhibit A is tomorrow’s NY-26 special election. Karl Rove’s American Crossroads bought more than $700,000 in ads supporting the Republican candidate. For a single, solitary House seat. You can imagine what they’ll be willing to drop on each of these Senate races.

And boy, we’ve got a ton of them. We’re defending 23 seats. The Republicans have 10. If they gain four, they’ve got the majority – and free rein to implement their awful agenda.

The DSCC gets more than 90% of its donations from the grassroots. Your $5 can make a real difference on the ground – especially with the May Match. The match means your $10 gift will only cost you $5 – if you act today.

Democratic senators will match your gift today and help the DSCC reach $231,871 by May 31. That means your $10 gift only costs $5. It’s a great deal – and the best way I know to defend our Democratic majority!

The GOP’s got a vision all right – and a severe need for corrective lenses. We can stop them, but it’s going to take all of us. Thanks for standing up for what’s right.

Sincerely,

James Carville

________________________________


The Demorats repeated bleat:

"If they gain four, they’ve got the majority – and free rein to implement their awful agenda."

-Less spending
-Less government
-Balanced budgets
-ObamaKare elimination
-Fewer taxes
-Fewer regulation
-More drilling to = energy independence
-Belief in American sovereignty
-Adherence to the Constitution

Man, I gotta hand it to the Demorats. They're absolutely correct. Adherence to those above bullet points? That's absolutely beyond awful!

Meanwhile, bipartisan slaps to Mr Obama abound -- and rightly so:

House lawmakers from both parties are siding with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over President Obama in their differing approaches to the Israel-Palestine border dispute.

Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) said Tuesday that Obama is "tilting toward Hamas" – a reference to the Palestinian group the United States and Israel consider a terrorist organization. He emphasized that Congress would never base its approach to Israeli aid on such a position.

"A majority of the Congress disagrees with him,” Andrews said of Obama.

Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), for one, said the president "absolutely … made a mistake" with his 1967-borders proposal, and suggested it would harm — rather than bolster — the chances of renewed peace talks.

"With all of the political turmoil and unrest in the Middle East, I don’t understand why the president injected himself into that issue right now," he said.

Both Rep. Steny Hoyer (Md.), the House Democratic whip, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have also rejected Obama's proposal in recent days, telling the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that preconditions have no place in the negotiations.

Further, what you suspected is actually correct. The Demorats under Mr Obama would indeed like to completely remove Americans' ability to defend themselves -- by Executive Fiat. From HotAir.com:

On March 30, the 30th anniversary of the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, Jim Brady, who sustained a debilitating head wound in the attack, and his wife, Sarah, came to Capitol Hill to push for a ban on the controversial “large magazines.” Brady, for whom the law requiring background checks on handgun purchasers is named, then met with White House press secretary Jay Carney. During the meeting, President Obama dropped in and, according to Sarah Brady, brought up the issue of gun control, “to fill us in that it was very much on his agenda,” she said.

“I just want you to know that we are working on it,” Brady recalled the president telling them. “We have to go through a few processes, but under the radar.”

The statement reinforces an article in the Huffington Post describing how the administration is exploring ways to bypass Congress and enact gun control through executive action.

The Department of Justice reportedly is holding meetings discussing the White House’s options for enacting regulations on its own or through adjoining agencies and departments. “Administration officials said talk of executive orders or agency action are among a host of options that President Barack Obama and his advisers are considering. “

Yeah, those wacky Republicans and Conservatives, who want government to live within its means and continue to provide citizens the ability to defend themselves. How crazy is that?

BZ

This is what a REAL Leader sounds like:

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Tuesday (5-24) before a joint session of Congress. The text of his speech follows, which deserves reading in its entirety if you missed the presentation.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is how a True Leader speaks: with clear and direct language, no equivocations, no double-speak and from the heart. No teleprompter in sight. See the full video (sorry, embedding has been disabled) here.

Oddly enough, Rand Paul thought it important to skip PM Netanyahu's speech. Paul believes in eliminating any monetary aid to Israel.

Text in full:

Vice President Biden, Speaker Boehner, distinguished senators, members of the House, honored guests, I'm deeply moved by this warm welcome, and I'm deeply honored that you've given me the opportunity to address Congress a second time.

Mr. Vice President, do you remember the time that we were the new kids in town? (Laughter, applause.) And I do see a lot of old friends here, and I see a lot of new friends of Israel here as well -- Democrats and Republicans alike. (Applause.)

Israel has no better friend than America, and America has no better friend than Israel. (Applause.) We stand together to defend democracy. We stand together to advance peace. We stand together to fight terrorism. Congratulations, America. Congratulations, Mr. President: You got bin Laden. Good riddance! (Cheers, applause.)

In an unstable Middle East, Israel is the one anchor of stability. In a region of shifting alliances, Israel is America's unwavering ally. Israel has always been pro-American. Israel will always be pro-American. (Applause.)

My friends, you don't have to -- you don't need to do nation- building in Israel. We're already built. (Laughter, applause.) You don't need to export democracy to Israel. We've already got it. (Applause.) And you don't need to send American troops to Israel. We defend ourselves. (Cheers, applause.)

You've been very generous in giving us tools to do the job of defending Israel on our own. Thank you all, and thank you, President Obama, for your steadfast commitment to Israel's security. I know economic times are tough. I deeply appreciate this. (Applause.)

Some of you have been telling me that your belief has been reaffirmed in recent months that support for Israel's security is a wise investment in our common future, for an epic battle is now under way in the Middle East between tyranny and freedom. A great convulsion is shaking the earth from the Khyber Pass to the Straits of Gibraltar.

The tremors have shattered states. They've toppled governments. And we can all see that the ground is still shifting.

Now, this historic moment holds the promise of a new dawn of freedom and opportunity. There are millions of young people out there who are determined to change their future. We all look at them. They muster courage. They risk their lives. They demand dignity. They desire liberty. These extraordinary scenes in Tunis, in Cairo, evoke those of Berlin and Prague in 1989. Yet, as we share their hopes --

You know, I take it as a badge of honor, and so should you, that in our free societies you can now protest. You can't have these protests in the farcical parliaments in Tehran or in Tripoli. This is real democracy. (Cheers, applause.)

So as we share the hopes of these young people throughout the Middle East and Iran, that they'll be able to do what that young woman just did -- I think she's young; I couldn't see quite that far --(laughter) -- we must also remember that those hopes could be snuffed out, as they were in Tehran in 1979. You remember what happened then.

The brief democratic spring in Tehran was cut short by a ferocious and unforgiving tyranny. And it's this same tyranny that smothered Lebanon's democratic Cedar Revolution and inflicted on that long- suffering country the medieval rule of Hezbollah.

So today the Middle East stands at a fateful crossroads. And like all of you, I pray that the peoples of the region choose the path less traveled, the path of liberty. (Applause.)

No one knows what this path consists of better than you.

Nobody. This path of liberty is not paved by elections alone. It's paved when governments permit protests in town squares, when limits are placed on the powers of rulers, when judges are beholden to laws and not men, and when human rights cannot be crushed by tribal loyalties or mob rule. Israel has always embraced this path in a Middle East that has long rejected it. In a region where women are stoned, gays are hanged, Christians are persecuted, Israel stands out. It is different. And this was seen -- (applause) -- thank you.

There was a great English writer in the 19th century, George Eliot. It's a she; that was a pseudonym in those days. George Eliot predicted over a century ago that, once established, the Jewish state -- here's what she said: "The Jewish state will shine like a bright star of freedom amid the despotisms of the East." Well, she was right.

We have a free press, independent courts, an open economy, rambunctious parliamentary debates -- (laughter) -- now, don't laugh -- (laughter) -- ah, you see? You think you're tough on another -- on one another here in Congress? Come spend a day in the Knesset. Be my guest! (Laughter, applause.)

Courageous Arab protesters are now struggling to secure these very same rights for their peoples, for their societies. We're proud in Israel that over 1 million Arab citizens of Israel have been enjoying these rights for decades. (Applause.) Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel's Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights. (Applause.) Now, I want you to stop for a second and think about that. Of those 300 million Arabs, less than one-half of 1 percent are truly free, and they're all citizens of Israel. (Applause.)

This startling fact reveals a basic truth: Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East; Israel is what's right about the Middle East. (Applause.)

Israel fully supports the desire of Arab peoples in our region to live freely. We long for the day when Israel will be one of many real democracies in the -- in the Middle East.

Fifteen years ago, I stood at this very podium. By the way, it hasn't changed. (Laughter.) I stood here and I said that democracy must start to take root in the Arab world. Well, it's begun to take root, and this beginning holds the promise of a brilliant future of peace and prosperity, because I believe that a Middle East that is genuinely democratic will be a Middle East truly at peace.

But while we hope for the best and while we work for the best, we must also recognize that powerful forces oppose this future. They oppose modernity. They oppose democracy. They oppose peace.

Foremost among these forces is Iran. The tyranny in Tehran brutalizes its own people. It supports attacks against Americans troops in Afghanistan and in Iraq. It subjugates Lebanon and Gaza. It sponsors terror worldwide.

When I last stood here, I spoke of the consequences of Iran developing nuclear weapons. Now time is running out. The hinge of history may soon turn, for the greatest danger of all could soon be upon us: a militant Islamic regime armed with nuclear weapons.

Militant Islam threatens the world. It threatens Islam.

Now, I have no doubt -- I'm absolutely convinced -- that it will ultimately be defeated. I believe it will eventually succumb to the forces of freedom and progress. It depends on cloistering young minds for a given amount of years, and the process of opening up information will ultimately defeat this movement. But like other fanatacisms that were doomed to fail, militant Islam could exact an horrific price from all of us before its eventual demise.

A nuclear-armed Iran would ignite a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. It would give terrorists a nuclear umbrella. It would make the nightmare of nuclear terrorism a clear and present danger throughout the world.

See, I want you to understand what this means, because if we don't stop it, it's coming. They could put a bomb anywhere. They could put it in a missile; they're working on missiles that could reach this city. They could put it on a -- on a ship inside a container; could reach every port. They could eventually put it in a suitcase or in a subway.

Now, the threat to my country cannot be overstated. Those who dismiss it are sticking their heads on the stand. Less than seven decades after 6 million Jews were murdered, Iran's leaders deny the Holocaust of the Jewish people while calling for the annihilation of the Jewish state. Leaders who spew such venom should be banned from every respectable forum on the planet. (Applause.)

But there's something that makes the outrage even greater. Do you know what that is? It's the lack of outrage, because in much of the international community, the call(s) for our destruction are met with utter silence. It's even worse because there are many who rush to condemn Israel for defending itself against Iran's terror proxies. Not you. Not America. (Applause.)

You've acted differently. You've condemned the Iranian regime for its genocidal aims. You've passed tough sanctions against Iran.

History will salute you, America. (Applause.)

President Obama has said that the United States is determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The president successfully led the Security Council at the U.N. to adopt sanctions against Iran. You in Congress passed even tougher sanctions.

Now, these words and deeds are vitally important, yet the ayatollah regime briefly suspended its nuclear program only once, in 2003, when it feared the possibility of military action. In that same year, Moammar Gadhafi gave up his nuclear weapons program, and for the same reason. The more Iran believes that all options are on the table, the less the chance of confrontation. (Applause.) And this is why I ask you to continue to send an unequivocal message that America will never permit Iran to develop nuclear weapons. (Applause.)

Now, as for Israel, if history has taught the Jewish people anything, it is that we must take calls for our destruction seriously.

We are a nation that rose from the ashes of the Holocaust. When we say never again, we mean never again. (Applause.) Israel always reserves -- (applause) -- Israel always reserves the right to defend itself. (Applause.)

My friends, while Israel will be ever-vigilant in its defense, we'll never give up our quest for peace. I guess we'll give it up when we achieve it. (Applause.) Because we want peace. Because we need peace. Now, we've achieved historic peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, and these have held up for decades.

I remember what it was like before we had peace. I was nearly killed in a firefight inside the Suez Canal -- I mean that literally -- inside the Suez Canal.

And I was going down to the bottom with a 40-pound pack -- ammunition pack -- on my back, and somebody reached out to grab me.

And they're still looking for the guy who did such a stupid thing. (Laughter.) I was nearly killed there. And I remember battling terrorists along both banks of the Jordan.

Too many Israelis have lost loved ones, and I know their grief. I lost my brother. So no one in Israel wants a return to those terrible days.

The peace with Egypt and Jordan has long served as an anchor of stability and peace in the heart of the Middle East. (Applause.) And this peace -- this peace should be bolstered by economic and political support to all those who remain committed to peace. (Applause.) The peace agreements between Israel and Egypt and Israel and Jordan are vital, but they're not enough. We must also find a way to forge a lasting peace with the Palestinians. (Applause.)

Two years ago, I publicly committed to a solution of two states for two peoples -- a Palestinian state alongside a Jewish state.

(Applause.) I'm willing to make painful compromises to achieve this historic peace. As the leader of Israel, it's my responsibility to lead my people to peace. (Applause.)

Now, this is not easy for me. It's not easy, because I recognize that in a genuine peace, we'll be required to give up parts of the ancestral Jewish homeland. And you have to understand this: In Judea and Samaria, the Jewish people are not foreign occupiers. (Cheers, applause.)

We're not the British in India. We're not the Belgians in the Congo. This is the land of our forefathers, the land of Israel, to which Abraham brought the idea of one god, where David set out to confront Goliath, and where Isaiah saw his vision of eternal peace. No distortion of history -- and boy am I reading a lot of distortions of history lately, old and new -- no distortion of history could deny the 4,000-year-old bond between the Jewish people and the Jewish land. (Sustained applause.)

But there is another truth. The Palestinians share this small land with us. (Applause.) We seek a peace in which they'll be neither Israel's subjects nor its citizens. They should enjoy a national life of dignity as a free, viable and independent people living in their own state. (Applause.) They should enjoy a prosperous economy, where their creativity and initiative can flourish.

Now, we've already seen the beginnings of what is possible. In the last two years, the Palestinians have begun to build a better life for themselves. By the way, Prime Minister Fayyad has led this effort on their part, and I -- I wish him a speedy recovery from his recent operation. (Applause.)

We've helped -- on our side, we've helped the Palestinian economic growth by removing hundreds of barriers and roadblocks to the free flow of goods and people, and the results have been nothing short of remarkable. The Palestinian economy is booming; it's growing by more than 10 percent a year. And Palestinian cities -- they look very different today than what they looked just a few years -- a few years ago. They have shopping malls, movie theaters, restaurants, banks.

They even have e-businesses, but you can't see that when you visit them. (Scattered laughter.)

That's what they have. It's a great change. And all of this is happening without peace. So imagine what could happen with peace. (Applause.)

Peace would herald a new day for both our peoples, and it could also make the dream of a broader Arab-Israeli peace a realistic possibility. So now, here's the question. You've got to ask it: If the benefits of peace with the Palestinians are so clear, why has peace eluded us? Because all six Israeli prime ministers since the signing of the Oslo Accords agreed to establish a Palestinian state, myself included; so why has peace not been achieved?

Because so far, the Palestinians have been unwilling to accept a Palestinian state if it meant accepting a Jewish state alongside it.

You see, our conflict has never been about the establishment of a Palestinian state; it's always been about the existence of the Jewish state. (Applause.) This is what this conflict is about. (Extended applause.)

In 1947, the U.N. voted to partition the land into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Jews said yes; the Palestinians said no.

In recent years, the Palestinians twice refused generous offers by Israeli prime ministers to establish a Palestinian state on virtually all the territory won by Israel in the Six Day War. They were simply unwilling to end the conflict. And I regret to say this: They continue to educate their children to hate. They continue to name public squares after terrorists. And worst of all, they continue to perpetuate the fantasy that Israel will one day be flooded by the descendants of Palestinian refugees. My friends, this must come to an end. (Applause.)

President Abbas must do what I have done. I stood before my people -- and I told you, it wasn't easy for me -- I stood before my people and I said, "I will accept a Palestinian state." It's time for President Abbas to stand before his people and say, "I will accept a Jewish state." (Cheers, applause.)

Those six words will change history. They'll make it clear to the Palestinians that this conflict must come to an end; that they're not building a Palestinian state to continue the conflict with Israel, but to end it.

And those six words will convince the people of Israel that they have a true partner for peace.

With such a partner, the Palestinian -- or rather the Israeli people will be prepared to make a far-reaching compromise. I will be prepared to make a far-reaching compromise. (Applause.)

This compromise must reflect the dramatic demographic changes that have occurred since 1967. The vast majority of the 650,000 Israelis who live beyond the 1967 lines reside in neighborhoods and suburbs of Jerusalem and Greater Tel Aviv.

Now these areas are densely populated, but they're geographically quite small. And under any realistic peace agreement, these areas, as well as other places of critical strategic and national importance, we'd -- be incorporated into the final borders of Israel. (Applause.)

The status of the settlements will be decided only in negotiations, but we must also be honest. So I'm saying today something that should be said publicly by all those who are serious about peace. In any real peace agreement, in any peace agreement that ends the conflict, some settlements will end up beyond Israel's borders. Now the precise delineation of those borders must be negotiated. We'll be generous about the size of the future Palestinian state. But as President Obama said, the border will be different than the one that existed on June 4th, 1967. (Applause.) Israel will not return to the indefensible boundaries of 1967. (Cheers, applause.)

So I want to be very clear on this point. Israel will be generous on the size of a Palestinian state but will be very firm on where we put the border with it. This is an important principle, shouldn't be lost.

We recognize that a Palestinian state must be big enough to be viable, to be independent, to be prosperous. All of you -- and the president too -- have referred to Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, just as you've been talking about a future Palestinian state as the homeland of the Palestinian people. Well, Jews from around the world have a right to immigrate to the one and only Jewish state, and Palestinians from around the world should have a right to immigrate, if they so choose, to a Palestinian state.

And here is what this means. It means that the Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside the borders of Israel. (Applause.)

You know, everybody knows this. It's time to say it. It's important.

And as for Jerusalem, only a democratic Israel has protected the freedom of worship for all faiths in the city. (Applause.) Throughout the millennial history of the Jewish capital, the only time that Jews, Christians and Moslems could worship freely, could have unfettered access to their holy sites has been during Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem.

Jerusalem must never again be divided. (Applause.) Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel. (Applause.)

I know this is a difficult issue for Palestinians. But I believe that, with creativity and with good will, a solution can be found.

So this is the peace I plan to forge with a Palestinian partner committed to peace. But you know very well that in the Middle East, the only peace that will hold is the peace you can defend. So peace must be anchored in security. (Applause.)

In recent years, Israel withdrew from south Lebanon and from Gaza. We thought we'd get peace. That's not what we got. We got 12,000 rockets fired from those areas on our cities, on our children, by Hezbollah and Hamas. The U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon, they failed to prevent the smuggling of this weaponry. The European observers in Gaza, they evaporated overnight. So if Israel simply walked out of the territories, the flow of weapons into a future Palestinian state would be unchecked, and missiles fired from it could reach virtually every home in Israel in less than a minute.

I want you to think about that, too. Imagine there's a siren going on now and we have less than 60 seconds to find shelter from an incoming rocket. Would you live that way? Do you think anybody can live that way? Well, we're not going to live that way either. (Cheers, applause.)

The truth is that Israel needs unique security arrangements because of its unique size. It's one of the smallest countries in the world. Mr. Vice President, I'll grant you this: It's bigger than Delaware. (Laughter.) It's even bigger than Rhode Island. But that's about it. (Laughter.) Israel under 1967 lines would be half the width of the Washington Beltway.

Now, here's a bit of nostalgia. I came to Washington 30 years ago as a young diplomat. It took me a while, but I finally figured it out: there is an America beyond the Beltway. (Laughter, applause.)

But Israel under 1967 lines would be only nine miles wide. So much for strategic depth. So it's therefore vital -- absolutely vital -- that a Palestinian state be fully demilitarized, and it's vital -- absolutely vital -- that Israel maintain a long-term military presence along the Jordan River. (Applause.)

Solid security arrangements on the ground are necessary not only to protect the peace; they're necessary to protect Israel in case the peace unravels, because in our unstable region, no one can guarantee that our peace partners today will be there tomorrow. And my friends, when I say tomorrow, I don't mean some distant time in the future; I mean tomorrow. (Applause.)

Peace can only be achieved around the negotiating table.

The Palestinian attempt to impose a settlement through the United Nations will not bring peace. (Applause.) It should be forcefully opposed by all those who want to see this conflict end. I appreciate the president's clear position on these -- on this issue.

Peace cannot be imposed. It must be negotiated. (Applause.)

But peace can only be negotiated with partners committed to peace, and Hamas is not a partner for peace. (Applause.) Hamas -- Hamas remains committed to Israel's destruction and to terrorism. They have a charter. That charter not only calls for the obliteration of Israel, it says: Kill the Jews everywhere you find them.

Hamas' leader condemned the killing of Osama bin Laden and praised him as a holy warrior. Now, again, I want to make this clear:

Israel is prepared to sit down today and negotiate peace with the Palestinian Authority. I believe we can fashion a brilliant future for our children. But Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by the Palestinian version of al-Qaeda. That we will not do. (Applause.)

So I say to President Abbas: Tear up your pact with Hamas! Sit down and negotiate. Make peace with the Jewish state. (Applause.) And if you do, I promise you this: Israel will not be the last country to welcome a Palestinian state as a new member of the United Nations; it will be the first to do so. (Extended applause.)

My friends, the momentous trials over the last century and the unfolding events of this century attest to the decisive role of the United States in defending peace and advancing freedom. Providence entrusted the United States to be the guardian of liberty. All people who cherish freedom owe a profound debt of gratitude to your great nation. Among the most grateful nations is my nation, the people of Israel, who have fought for their liberty and survival against impossible odds in ancient and modern times alike. I speak on behalf of the Jewish people and the Jewish state when I say to you, representatives of America: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you for your unwavering support for Israel. Thank you for ensuring that the flame of freedom burns bright throughout the world.

May God bless all of you, and may God forever bless the United States of America. (Cheers, extended applause.)

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.

God bless America.

Long live Israel.

BZ

P.S.
The Palestinians hated the speech. From YahooNews:

Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Netanyahu's insistence on keeping key parts of the territories the Palestinians want for their state is a "declaration of war against the Palestinians."

To Israel: stop "negotiating." Stop attempting to appease various other Western and ME nations. Simply start killing more attackers. Some only understand violence as strength. It is what it is.

Someone's Not Doing Their Job:

As you can see, someone on Mr Obama's staff didn't do their job and, as a result, our Mr Obama got egg on his face in Ireland, leaving the US Embassy.

Anyone with a good background of 4 X 4'ing knows this is called a "high center," and in the instance here it results from the wheelbase of Mr Obama's limousine (as I documented here) being overly long and its chassis height too short -- for the approach angle, departure angle and height of that concrete rise.

Looking at the wheelbase of the ObamaMobiles (the lead vehicle does not contain Mr Obama) and the peak of that exit rise, someone with a practiced eye could readily have observed that the length and angles would be incompatible.

This video tells me two very, very important things:

1. The USSS failed to do adequate prep in terms of the routes to and from the Embassy;

2. The USSS failed miserably in their response when the vehicle stopped

Had this event occurred on other soil, that is to say, an overtly hostile or moderately hostile or questionable country, this would have been an Epic Fail for the USSS on the above points and placed their principal, Mr Obama, in grave jeopardy. You did note, did you not, the inordinately long amount of time it took agents to even open their doors to examine the situation, and the fact they placed no immediate defensive measures around their charge?

This is poor planning and lazy execution.

Something is going on. This is not customary for the United States Secret Service.

BZ

Gene Simmons: Obama Has No Clue

And to think that I despised Kiss all these decades.

I can remember, many years ago, traveling to Tower Records on Watt Avenue in Sacramento and purchasing a Kiss album. It was the only record or piece of entertainment that, in my entire life, I ever returned for a refund/exchange.

[Wait. I take it back. Robert Wyatt's album, "Shleep," which is an absolutely unmitigated piece of week-old fecal material, is light-years worse. Don Van Vliet of Captain Beefheart had more inherent musical talent in the upper-left quadrant of his spleen. Wait. I take it back again. I literally walked out of the Bill Murray movie "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" because it was so brain-glazingly stupid. That counts as a piece of entertainment returned, doesn't it?]

That said, my esteem of Gene Simmons (he of the foot-long tongue) has leaped immeasurably when, as documented in NewsBusters.org, he said that our Mr Obama has "no fucking clue what the world is like."

And to think that Mr Simmons "gets it," though he is no beribboned, medal-winning journalist!

In an interview with CNBC's Jane Wells:

JANE WELLS, CNBC: What do you think of President Obama’s suggestion that the borders be redrawn pre-67?

GENE SIMMONS, KISS: President Obama, I voted for an idea. What I didn’t realize what I was getting was an idealist. If you’ve never been to the moon, you can’t issue policy about the moon. You have no f—king idea what it’s like on the moon. For a president to be sitting in Washington, D.C., and saying, “Go back to your 67 borders in Israel,” how about you live there and try to defend an indefensible border nine miles wide? On one side you’ve got hundreds of millions of people who hate your guts, on the other side you’ve got the Mediterranean. Unless you control, in Israel, unless you control those Golan Heights, it’s an indefensible position.

It’s a nice idea, when you grow up you find out that life isn’t the way you imagined it, and President Obama means well. I think he’s actually a good guy. He has no f—king idea what the world is like because he doesn’t have to live there.

To that I would reply: Mr Simmons (who, oddly enough, was born Chaim Witz in 1949, Israel) merely states facts in evidence. Much more, as I alluded above, than the bulk percentile of persons deeming themselves "journalistas."

The video of this interview is below:

Unlike Mr Obama, Simmons realizes there is Actual Evil in the world, and it couldn't care less how it gets it, and how it keeps it. To wit:

Vladimir Putin has, out of the blue, now decided that he'll simply re-take the Russian Presidency. Because, after all, he knows he can. As I learned many years ago, whilst a rookie starting my career in our fetid and festering jails, the prevailing philosophy of criminals was and is: "what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine unless you have the balls and strength to stop me."

And Medvedev simply lacks the power.

Who could have, in reflection, imagined such insight from an aging bass player in a talentless rock band?

BZ

Harold Camping: MOONBAT

Let's see, last night at 6 pm I was driving home on I-5.

No yawning chasms cracked before me, due to an earth-wracking quake.

I turned on the TV. Nope, no earth-cracking quakes reported.

I went to dinner with my wife, we saw a movie. Still no earthquakes.

I woke up this morning in one piece. TV on. No quakes.

As I wrote earlier, Harold Camping exists solely to part the eminently-fleecible -- particularly the gullible and the elderly -- from their cash.

Instead of haughty and proud, he should be ashamed and fearful, thinking that God would choose him, of all people, to be a conduit for any form of Truth.

BZ

Herman Cain Announces His Candidacy For President

From Yahoo News:

ATLANTA – Herman Cain has run a pizza chain, hosted a talk radio show and sparred with Bill Clinton over health care. He's never held elected office. Now the tea party favorite wants to be president.

"In case you accidentally listen to a skeptic or doubting Thomas out there, just to be clear ... I'm running for president of the United States, and I'm not running for second," he told a crowd at Centennial Olympic Park on Saturday. Chants of "Herman" erupted from the crowd of thousands in downtown Atlanta.

The announcement by the businessman, author and radio talk show host that he was joining the expanding Republican field came after months of traveling around the country to introduce himself to voters.

Now the 65-year-old will see if he can use that grass-roots enthusiasm to turn a long-shot campaign into a credible bid.

Your thoughts on Herman Cain?

BZ

The Rapture: Why Not Take Care Of Your Pets?

From the UK Mail Online, regarding today's "end of the world":

Saturday is last day on earth, claims evangelical Christian

Harold Camping, 89, wrongly predicted 'the rapture' date once before in 1994

God's chosen few ascend to heaven, sinners left behind to face earthquakes

Atheists hold parties to celebrate 'inevitable embarrassment'

Christian author calls Camping's prediction 'flat-out wrong'

That said, however, perhaps it's time to throw some actual concern towards this: what would happen to your pets under Mr Camping's dire prediction? Fear not, then:

Click here for your post-apocalypse/all-purpose pet care providers, namely: After The Rapture Pet Care!

As one Rapturist noted:

I agreed – it’s a real concern, and a legitimate concern. Our pets are given to us by God for us to care for. We are stewards of their lives. Should we simply forget them at the Rapture, allow them to starve or worse?

To wit:

This is what will happen for all pets registered with us immediately after the Rapture: Our non-Christian administrators will activate our rescue plan. Volunteers will be alerted immediately by email and telephone that they have been activated. Pets will be assigned to our Volunteer Pet Caretakers based upon location and other factors. Our administrators and Volunteer Pet Caretakers will do whatever it takes to find and rescue your pets. If your pet has a location chip, they'll use that, or they'll go to every location you've registered with us, and, if your pets are not at one of those locations, they'll search for your cars as well as stay in contact with the local pet shelters. If they are unable to reach a Volunteer Caretaker in your area for whatever reason, our administrators will communicate with local animal organizations, like the Humane Society, to advocate for your pet's rescue and care. Our administrators will stay in touch with our Volunteer Pet Caretakers regarding each and every pet to be sure everything is being done to rescue and care for them.

Ease your mind as you transition freely into perpetuity, knowing your personal pet will be overseen, as least for a time, by the evildoers left behind! And isn't that, at once, both ironic and somehow satisfying?

Before I go, I should care to point this out, from CNN Money:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- By now, you've probably heard of the religious group that's predicting the end of the world starts this weekend.

Harold Camping and his devoted followers claim a massive earthquake will mark the second coming of Jesus, or so-called Judgment Day on Saturday, May 21, ushering in a five month period of catastrophes before the world comes to a complete end in October.

At the center of it all, Camping's organization, Family Radio, is perfectly happy to take your money -- and in fact, received $80 million in contributions between 2005 and 2009. Camping founded Family Radio, a nonprofit Christian radio network based in Oakland, Calif. with about 65 stations across the country, in 1958.

I observe: isn't that odd? How many times must we be told that when persons seem to insist it isn't "about the money," it's inevitably about the money?

I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but it's evangelical Moonbats like Mr Camping, who take advantage of the elderly and the infirm on TV, that assist in giving Christianity a bad name.

As in: do you possibly think that somehow our Lord has deemed Mr Camping, of all people on the planet, to be the recipient of the most important information in the history of Mankind?

Nah. Me neither.

See you tomorrow.

BZ

Obama to Israel: shrink your borders to those of 1967

In re the Thursday speech of Mr Obama regarding Israel:

Clearly, it's the proverbial "tough love" for Israel with the exception, I proffer, that there is no love between Mr Obama and Israel. That said, where is the "tough love" for the Middle East? Acknowledgment that Israel is entirely surrounded by enemies (save the Mediterranean)? Mr Obama wants Israel to release the Golan Heights?

Mr Obama conveniently fails to mention the rockets faithfully and consistently launched by terror elements in the Gaza Strip, the fact that fully half the "Palestinian government" consists of Hamas -- an organization completely devoted to the total eradication of Israel. Hamas refuses to even acknowledge the 1948 resolution of the creation of the state of Israel.

Obama: Borders of Israel, Palestine should be based on 1967 lines

Published: 05.19.11, 19:56 / Israel News

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"The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states," President Barack Obama said in his speech. "The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state," he added. (Yitzhak Benhorin, Washington)

In an attempt to point out the obvious, I say: our Mr Obama cannot even manage the border of the United States to the south, with Mexico. And yet he deems it pertinent and important to re-write and manage the borders of Israel?

Yoni The Blogger weighs in:

May 19, 2011

Netanyahu says 'No' to 1967 borders

PM expects Obama to reaffirm bush pledges, whereby settlement blocs will remain in Israel

Attila Somfalvi
Published: 05.19.11, 21:41 / Israel News

Responding to President Barack Obama'smajor Mideast policy speech, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel will not be withdrawing to the 1967 borders as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Bibi stand strong against Obama, Israel's survival depends on your strength.

We can give up on Israel.

Or we can stand firm.

BZ