In the sixth ballot, Michael Steele beat Katon Dawson to become the new RNC Chairman. Here's how things played out:The Rebuild the Party plan has often been characterized as a way to remake the party through technology. Though we've sometimes slipped in using that word to describe certain elements of the plan -- I generally feel uncomfortable with it being pigeonholed as a "technology" plan. I've generally struck "technology" from my vocabulary, taking instead about "new media" or simply, the "Internet" or when talking about a generational shift in fundraising or a 435 district strategy, wholesale party reform. Why? Because the word "technology" reinforces old siloed habits of thinking and implies that the solution is spending money on cool tech toys, rather than a quantum shift in approach.Thought-provoking posts; I recommend reading them.
An open letter to a citizen of Gaza: I Am the Soldier Who Slept In Your Home
By Yishai G (reserve soldier) - ygoldflam@gmail.com
Originally published in Hebrew in Maariv, translated by IMRA
Hello,
While the world watches the ruins in Gaza, you return to your home which remains standing. However, I am sure that it is clear to you that someone was in your home while you were away.
I am that someone.
I spent long hours imagining how you would react when you walked into your home. How you would feel when you understood that IDF soldiers had slept on your mattresses and used your blankets to keep warm.
I knew that it would make you angry and sad and that you would feel this violation of the most intimate areas of your life by those defined as your enemies, with stinging humiliation. I am convinced that you hate me with unbridled hatred, and you do not have even the tiniest desire to hear what I have to say. At the same time, it is important for me to say the following in the hope that there is even the minutest chance that you will hear me.
I spent many days in your home. You and your family's presence was felt in every corner. I saw your family portraits on the wall, and I thought of my family. I saw your wife's perfume bottles on the bureau, and I thought of my wife. I saw your children's toys and their English language schoolbooks. I saw your personal computer and how you set up the modem and wireless phone next to the screen, just as I do.
I wanted you to know that despite the immense disorder you found in your house that was created during a search for explosives and tunnels (which were indeed found in other homes), we did our best to treat your possessions with respect. When I moved the computer table, I disconnected the cables and lay them down neatly on the floor, as I would do with my own computer. I even covered the computer from dust with a piece of cloth. I tried to put back the clothes that fell when we moved the closet although not the same as you would have done, but at least in such a way that nothing would get lost.
I know that the devastation, the bullet holes in your walls and the destruction of those homes near you place my descriptions in a ridiculous light. Still, I need you to understand me, us, and hope that you will channel your anger and criticism to the right places.
I decided to write you this letter specifically because I stayed in your home.
I can surmise that you are intelligent and educated and there are those in your household that are university students. Your children learn English, and you are connected to the Internet. You are not ignorant; you know what is going on around you.
Therefore, I am sure you know that Qassam rockets were launched from your neighborhood into Israeli towns and cities.
How could you see these weekly launches and not think that one day we would say "enough"?! Did you ever consider that it is perhaps wrong to launch rockets at innocent civilians trying to lead a normal life, much like you? How long did you think we would sit back without reacting?
I can hear you saying "it's not me, it's Hamas". My intuition tells me you are not their most avid supporter. If you look closely at the sad reality in which your people live, and you do not try to deceive yourself or make excuses about "occupation", you must certainly reach the conclusion that the Hamas is your real enemy.
The reality is so simple, even a seven year old can understand: Israel withdrew from the Gaza strip, removing military bases and its citizens from Gush Katif. Nonetheless, we continued to provide you with electricity, water, and goods (and this I know very well as during my reserve duty I guarded the border crossings more than once, and witnessed hundreds of trucks full of goods entering a blockade-free Gaza every day).
Despite all this, for reasons that cannot be understood and with a lack of any rational logic, Hamas launched missiles on Israeli towns. For three years we clenched our teeth and restrained ourselves. In the end, we could not take it anymore and entered the Gaza strip, into your neighborhood, in order to remove those who want to kill us. A reality that is painful but very easy to explain.
As soon as you agree with me that Hamas is your enemy and because of them, your people are miserable, you will also understand that the change must come from within. I am acutely aware of the fact that what I say is easier to write than to do, but I do not see any other way. You, who are connected to the world and concerned about your children's education, must lead, together with your friends, a civil uprising against Hamas.
I swear to you, that if the citizens of Gaza were busy paving roads, building schools, opening factories and cultural institutions instead of dwelling in self pity, arms smuggling and nurturing a hatred to your Israeli neighbors, your homes would not be in ruins right now. If your leaders were not corrupt and motivated by hatred, your home would not have been harmed. If someone would have stood up and shouted that there is no point in launching missiles on innocent civilians, I would not have to stand in your kitchen as a soldier.
You don't have money, you tell me? You have more than you can imagine.
Even before Hamas took control of Gaza, during the time of Yasser Arafat, millions if not billions of dollars donated by the world community to the Palestinians was used for purchasing arms or taken directly to your leaders bank accounts. Gulf States, the emirates - your brothers, your flesh and blood, are some of the richest nations in the world. If there was even a small feeling of solidarity between Arab nations, if these nations had but the smallest interest in reconstructing the Palestinian people - your situation would be very different.
You must be familiar with Singapore. The land mass there is not much larger than the Gaza strip and it is considered to be the second most populated country in the world. Yet, Singapore is a successful, prospering, and well managed country. Why not the same for you?
My friend, I would like to call you by name, but I will not do so publicly. I want you to know that I am 100% at peace with what my country did, what my army did, and what I did. However, I feel your pain. I am sorry for the destruction you are finding in your neighborhood at this moment. On a personal level, I did what I could to minimize the damage to your home as
much as possible.
In my opinion, we have a lot more in common than you might imagine. I am a civilian, not a soldier, and in my private life I have nothing to do with the military. However, I have an obligation to leave my home, put on a uniform, and protect my family every time we are attacked. I have no desire to be in your home wearing a uniform again and I would be more than happy to sit with you as a guest on your beautiful balcony, drinking sweet tea seasoned with the sage growing in your garden.
The only person who could make that dream a reality is you. Take responsibility for yourself, your family, your people, and start to take control of your destiny. How? I do not know. Maybe there is something to be learned from the Jewish people who rose up from the most destructive human tragedy of the 20th century, and instead of sinking into self-pity, built a flourishing and prospering country. It is possible, and it is in your hands. I am ready to be there to provide a shoulder of support and help to you.
But only you can move the wheels of history.
Regards,
Yishai, (Reserve Soldier)
Regarding the Hamas terrorist group’s firing of rockets into Israel, Carter blames Israel for not opening up the borders and said that Hamas is merely interested in drawing world attention to the plight of Gaza civilians, who are without food and water. Carter claimed that Hamas is not interested in hurting Israelis. As "proof", the former president stated that although hundreds of rockets were fired into Sderot by Hamas between 2007 and June 2008, "only one Israeli was killed in Sderot."
More here.It is a stunning rebuke to the organization which promotes itself as "arguably the most visible and public American Muslim organization." The decision to end contacts with CAIR was made quietly last summer as federal prosecutors prepared for a second trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), an Islamic charity convicted in November for illegally routing money to Hamas. CAIR was named as an un-indicted co-conspirator in the case.
Its name appears on a roster of "Palestine Committee" members. Evidence in the case shows the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas's parent organization, created the Palestine Committee to help Hamas politically and financially. CAIR founders Omar Ahmad and Nihad Awad, who remains the executive director, also appear on a telephone list of Palestine Committee members. The men also participated in a secret 1993 gathering of Hamas members and supporters called to discuss ways to "derail" U.S.-led peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians.
The IPT obtained a letter from the FBI's Oklahoma City field office, which explained that a meeting with local Muslim groups had to be postponed due to restrictions on CAIR's access. For that to change, wrote James E. Finch, special agent in charge of the FBI's Oklahoma City field office, "certain issues must be addressed to the satisfaction of the FBI. Unfortunately, these issues cannot be addressed at the local level and must be addressed by the CAIR National Office in Washington, D.C."
2.
3.
It has long been suspected that Cheryl Williams was planning on running for chairman. Word had been that she would declare her intentions after the January 2009 precinct meetings, but she announced on her blog on January 24th.
Physician at Gaza's Shifa Hospital tells Italian newspaper number of dead in Israeli offensive 'stands at no more than 500 or 600, most of them youths recruited to Hamas' ranks'. Senior Palestinian Health Ministry official denies claims, IDF estimate on 1,200 casualties in Strip remains unchanged.
"The number of deceased stands at no more than 500 to 600. Most of them are youths between the ages of 17 to 23 who were recruited to the ranks of Hamas, who sent them to the slaughter," according to the newspaper article.The doctor wished to remain unidentified, out of fear for his life.
A senior Palestinian Health Ministry official later denied the claims, and the Israel Defense Forces' estimate on the number of casualties in Gaza has also remained unchanged.
Despite the claims, the IDF stood behind its estimate that between 1,100 to 1,200 people were killed in the Strip during the fighting, more than two-thirds of them Hamas members.
The reporter for the Italian newspaper also quoted reporters in the Strip who told of Hamas' exaggerated figures, "We have already said to Hamas commanders – why do you insist on inflating the number of victims?"
These same reporters mentioned that the truth that will come out is likely to be similar to what occurred in Operation Defensive Shield in Jenin. "Then, there was first talk of 1,500 deaths. But then it turned out that there were only 54, 45 of which were armed men," the Palestinian reporters told the Italian newspaper.
No surprise; the Palestinian terrorist organizations are always inflating the casualty figures in a lame attempt to gain international sympathy.
An Al-Qaeda affiliate in Algeria closed a base earlier this month after an experiment with unconventional weapons went awry, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Monday.(Washington Times article, Fox News article)The official, who spoke on the condition he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the issue, said he could not confirm press reports that the accident killed at least 40 Al Qaeda operatives, but he said the mishap led the militant group to shut down a base in the mountains of Tizi Ouzou province in eastern Algeria.
He said authorities in the first week of January intercepted an urgent communication between the leadership of Al Qaeda in the Land of the Maghreb (AQIM) and Al Qaeda's leadership in the tribal region of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan. The communication suggested that an area sealed to prevent leakage of a biological or chemical substance had been breached, according to the official.
"We don't know if this is biological or chemical," the official said.
The story was first reported by the British tabloid the Sun, which said the Al-Qaeda operatives died after being infected with a strain of bubonic plague, the disease that killed a third of Europe's population in the 14th century. But the intelligence official dismissed that claim.
Barack Hussein Obama - the 44th President of the United States of America"The coming political pilgrimage is similar to another grand event in both size and preparation. The Hajj, the most important religious pilgrimage in the Muslim world."
We Cease, They FireI agree.
by Michael Freund
Israel's government last night suddenly agreed to a unilateral cease-fire in what can best be described as a last minute attempt to transform victory into defeat.The foolhardiness of this move quickly became apparent, as Israel ceased, but Hamas continued to fire.
The Jewish state's self-imposed cessation of hostilities went into effect at 2 a.m. local time. Not surprisingly, just a few hours later, Hamas began firing rockets again at southern Israel, targeting six at the town of Sderot this morning.
Sure, international pressure is mounting for Israel to stop defending itself, and a new administration is about to be inaugurated in Washington which is far less likely to be sympathetic to Israel's cause.
But neither of these developments can possibly justify leaving Hamas in place in Gaza, and subjecting 900,000 Israelis in the south of the country to continued rocket fire on their homes.
There is no recourse other than outright victory, and no room for stopping until the mission is complete.
The best way to bring about a true cease-fire is to eliminate Hamas once and for all. Then, you can be sure, the rocket attacks will certainly come to a halt.
Two captured terrorists interviewed by Maariv/NRG say that Hamas was not expecting Israel's response to the escalation in missile attacks on Israeli targets that preceded Operation Cast Lead. One of them, a 52-year-old victim of a premature detonation who had already done time in an Israeli jail, said, "Hamas took a gamble. We thought, at worst Israel will come and do something from the air - something superficial. They'll come in and go out. We never thought that we would reach the point where fear will swallow the heart and the feet will want to flee. You [Israel] are fighting like you fought in '48. What got into you all of a sudden?"When the IDF gets going, terrorists begin to melt. It has been reported that many Hamas terrorists deserted during Israel's Operation Cast Lead.
Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, III, US Airways pilot and former F-4 Phantom pilot in the USAF, masterfully ditched Flight 1549 in the Hudson River after engine failure due to a bird strike.'For the first time in 50 years of commercial jet flight, the pilots of US Airways Flight 1549 successfully executed one of the most technically challenging maneuvers, landing a jetliner on water without fatalities.Although commercial jetliners are required to be equipped with life vests and inflatable slides for use in an emergency landing on water, it is a seldom-attempted feat. Indeed, even though pilots go through the motions of training to ditch a plane in the water, the generally held belief is that such landings would almost certainly result in fatalities.
To accomplish such a feat shortly after takeoff, while maneuvering past the skyscrapers and dense development of Manhattan, and into the crowded Hudson River, is widely being hailed as a testament to the crew's piloting skills.
"The fact that passengers were able to walk off of that airplane and wait on the wing for rescuers to arrive is remarkable. It's amazing," said aviation consultant Tommy McFall, who is both a former airline pilot and a retired accident investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.
[...]
Pilots are trained from their first days as students in single-engine trainers for the possibility of a water landing, but the procedure is always considered theoretical, since there is really no way to practice it.
In such emergencies, pilots are trained to bring the airplane in for a smooth landing, just as they would on dry land. In order to keep the plane as watertight and boat-like as possible, pilots are trained to keep the landing gear stowed inside the fuselage.
One of the biggest obstacles to a safe water landing is a jetliner's engines, which hang below the wings on planes such as the A320. Because of their size, the engines could force the cockpit to hit the water at a steep angle.' (WSJ article)
For more about this real-life hero, visit the website of Safety Reliability Methods, Inc., founded by Sullenberger.
US Airways Flight 1549 went down in the Hudson River in New York City today, after apparently hitting a flock of geese, disabling both engines.Hammons campaigned with such an ordinance as one of his main planks in his platform.The councilors voting against the measure did not hesitate in letting Hammons know how much they disliked his proposal.
“I’m very much opposed to it,” Luttrull said.
“On what grounds?” Hammons asked.
“I think it’s just stupid,” Luttrull answered.
Ritchey said Hammons’ repeated messages calling for openness and transparency in the city government implies those now in office have something to hide.
He asked Hammons who is doing what that he thinks is wrong.
From the Muskogee Phoenix:
Muskogee County Commissioners have declared a burn ban in effect until further notice.
It is unlawful to build a campfire or bonfire, or to burn trash or other material or otherwise cause a forest, grass, range, crop or other wildlands fire, according to Oklahoma law.
It is unlawful for any person to set fire to any forest, grass, range, crop, or other wildlands, or to build a campfire or bonfire, or to burn trash or other material that may cause a forest, grass, range, crop or other wildlands fire.
Tonight is the BCS National Championship game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the University of Florida Gators.
They held posters of all sizes, with phrases such as "Terror, made in Israel, sponsored by the U.S.", "War is not the answer", "Israel is the terrorist", "End the occupation of Palestine", "Stop the genocide", and "Stop the war".
Breaking: Bill Richardson drops Commerce Secretary nomination amid investigation.
WASHINGTON – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Sunday announced that he was withdrawing his nomination to be President-elect Barack Obama's commerce secretary amid a grand jury investigation into how some of his political donors won a lucrative state contract.
Richardson's withdrawal was the first disruption of Obama's Cabinet process and the second "pay-to-play" investigation that has touched Obama's transition to the presidency. The president-elect has remained above the fray in both the case of arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the New Mexico case.
Read more here.
Blackwell has gathered so many influential supporters, as well as the most publicly announced Republican National Committee members, that any other candidate will have a hard time beating Ken Blackwell.Conservative Leaders Endorse Ken Blackwell for RNC C
A broad cross-section of American conservative economic, social and foreign policy leaders has endorsed the candidacy of former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell for chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
The election will be at an RNC meeting in D.C. January 28-31.
A meeting of conservative leaders, gathered by the Council for National Policy on November 13, asked Virginia Republican National Committeeman Morton Blackwell (no relation to Ken Blackwell) to prepare and distribute a list of questions for the RNC chairmanship candidates.
All six active candidates, Saul Anuzis of Michigan, Ken Blackwell of Ohio, Katon Dawson of South Carolina, Mike Duncan of Kentucky, John “Chip” Saltsman of Tennessee, and Michael Steele of Maryland, answered the questions. The 37 questions and the six candidates’ answers are posted on the website Townhall.com.
After a review on January 2 of the candidates’ answers and a discussion of their other qualifications, the conservative leaders listed below announced their support of Ken Blackwell and urged the 168 members of the RNC to elect him at their late-January meeting.
Their organizational affiliations are provided for identification only.
The conservative endorsers noted that there were other good candidates, but all agreed that Ken Blackwell is the best choice. They intend to contact grassroots conservatives across the country and ask them to urge the three RNC members from each state and U.S. territory to vote for Ken Blackwell for RNC chairman.
Gary Aldrich, Chairman, CNP Action, Inc.
MORTON C. BLACKWELL, Virginia Republican National Committeeman
Robert B. Bluey, Contributing Editor, RedState
L. Brent Bozell, Founder and President, Media Research Center
Kellyanne Conway, CEO and President, the polling company, inc./WomanTrendT. Kenneth Cribb, Jr., Former Domestic Advisor to President Reagan
JAMES C. DOBSON, Ph.D., FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN, FOCUS ON THE FAMILY
Becky Norton Dunlop, President, Council for National Policy
Stuart W. Epperson, Chairman, Salem Communications Corporation
STEVE FORBERS, CHAIRMAN & CEO, FORBES MEDIADr. Ronald Godwin, Vice Chancellor, Liberty University
Rebecca Hagelin, Author and Conservative Columnist
Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring
DAVID KEEN, Chairman, American Conservative Union
Tim LaHaye, Founder and President, Tim LaHaye MinistriesED MEESE, PAST PRESIDENT, COUNCIL FOR NATIONAL POLICY
James C. Miller, Past President, Council for National Policy
TONY PERKINS, PRESIDENT, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL
Ken Raasch, Chairman & CEO, Creative Brands Group
Alfred S. Regnery, Publisher, The American SpectatorPHYLLIS SCHLAFLY, PRESIDENT, EAGLE FORUM
PAT TOOMEY, PRESIDENT, CLUB FOR GROWTH
Richard Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com[all-caps emphasis are mine; major endorsements]
"The EU condemns the Israeli bombardments as well as rocket attacks from Gaza. It demands that this stops immediately."
"I [Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief] call for an immediate cessation of military actions on both sides. The EU has repeatedly condemned rocket attacks against Israel. The current Israeli strikes are inflicting an unacceptable toll on Palestinian civilians and will only worsen the humanitarian crisis."
"At the moment, from the perspective of the last days, we understand this step as a defensive, not offensive, action," said Czech EU presidency spokesman Jiri Potuznik.Vaclav Klaus, the conservative president of the Czech Republic, has now taken over the rotating presidency of the EU. His views on national sovereignty, global warming, and Israel are counter to much of the liberal governments of Europe. His predecessor in the EU presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy, had a different view on the latest Israeli conflict.
I really like this Vaclav Klaus..."France condemns the Israeli ground offensive against Gaza as it condemns the continuation of rocket firing."
"It is not the position of the British government."
