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August 2012

NIALL FERGUSON: HIT THE ROAD OBAMA!

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/08/19/niall-ferguson-on-why-barack-obama-needs-to-go.html
I was a good loser four years ago. “In the grand scheme of history,” I wrote the day after Barack Obama’s election as president, “four decades is not an especially long time. Yet in that brief period America has gone from the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. to the apotheosis of Barack Obama. You would not be human if you failed to acknowledge this as a cause for great rejoicing.”

Despite having been—full disclosure—an adviser to John McCain, I acknowledged his opponent’s remarkable qualities: his soaring oratory, his cool, hard-to-ruffle temperament, and his near faultless campaign organization.

Yet the question confronting the country nearly four years later is not who was the better candidate four years ago. It is whether the winner has delivered on his promises. And the sad truth is that he has not.

In his inaugural address, Obama promised “not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth.” He promised to “build the roads and bridges, the electric grids, and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.” He promised to “restore science to its rightful place and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost.” And he promised to “transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.” Unfortunately the president’s scorecard on every single one of those bold pledges is pitiful.

In an unguarded moment earlier this year, the president commented that the private sector of the economy was “doing fine.” Certainly, the stock market is well up (by 74 percent) relative to the close on Inauguration Day 2009. But the total number of private-sector jobs is still 4.3 million below the January 2008 peak. Meanwhile, since 2008, a staggering 3.6 million Americans have been added to Social Security’s disability insurance program. This is one of many ways unemployment is being concealed.

In his fiscal year 2010 budget—the first he presented—the president envisaged growth of 3.2 percent in 2010, 4.0 percent in 2011, 4.6 percent in 2012. The actual numbers were 2.4 percent in 2010 and 1.8 percent in 2011; few forecasters now expect it to be much above 2.3 percent this year.

Unemployment was supposed to be 6 percent by now. It has averaged 8.2 percent this year so far. Meanwhile real median annual household income has dropped more than 5 percent since June 2009. Nearly 110 million individuals received a welfare benefit in 2011, mostly Medicaid or food stamps.

Welcome to Obama’s America: nearly half the population is not represented on a taxable return—almost exactly the same proportion that lives in a household where at least one member receives some type of government benefit. We are becoming the 50–50 nation—half of us paying the taxes, the other half receiving the benefits.

And all this despite a far bigger hike in the federal debt than we were promised. According to the 2010 budget, the debt in public hands was supposed to fall in relation to GDP from 67 percent in 2010 to less than 66 percent this year. If only. By the end of this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will reach 70 percent of GDP. These figures significantly understate the debt problem, however. The ratio that matters is debt to revenue. That number has leapt upward from 165 percent in 2008 to 262 percent this year, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund. Among developed economies, only Ireland and Spain have seen a bigger deterioration.

JULIA GORIN: THE LONDON (ANTI)JEWISH CHRONICLE…MISINFORMATION AND DISINFORMATION ON SERBIA

http://www.juliagorin.com/wordpress/?p=2895

Out of nowhere, on Aug. 1st appeared a seemingly out-of-place news item in the UK Jewish Chronicle, delivering a stale and inaccurate bit of information concerning Alex Cvetkovic, the subject of my Algemeiner article this week:

Israel Approves Extradition of Serb Wanted for Srebrenica Massacre

An Israeli court has ruled that a Bosnian Serb should be extradited to face trial for war crimes during the Srebrenica massacre.

Aleksandar Cvetkovic is wanted for his involvement in the 1995 atrocity, which saw more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys killed by the Serbian Republic Army.

Cvetkovic has a Jewish wife and gained Israeli citizenship after he moved to the country five years ago.

But in January the 42-year-old was arrested following an extradition request from the Bosnia and Herzegovina government. He has until the end of the month to appeal to Israel’s Supreme Court.

Small things first: Serbian Republic Army? It’s actually the Bosnian-Serb Army. And it’s “Serb Republic,” not Serbian Republic, which would imply that something is of or within Serbia.

Stranger, though, was this outdated update suddenly appearing at this time. Observe the last line: “But in January the 42-year-old was arrested…He has until the end of the month to appeal to Israel’s Supreme Court.”

The January that Cvetkovic was arrested in was January 2011. And it was after his August 2011 hearing that he had “until the end of the month to appeal to Israel’s Supreme Court.” As we know, his appeal is already in progress, and the Supreme Court is poised to rule on it.

Knowing now that whoever is behind this Jewish Chronicle lacks basic journalistic skills, I was intrigued and looked found and found the following Aug. 2nd article:

The Muslims Who Admire Israel

There are not many Muslim politicians in the world who openly admire Israel. In fact, Emir Suljagic, an author and former member of the Bosnian Social Democratic party, may just be in a minority of one.

To understand why, one word helps above all others: survival. Mr Suljagic evaded death during the massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in July 1992 thanks to a piece of good fortune that echoes many near-miss tales from the Holocaust.

Well the first reason he may have evaded it in 1992 is that the supposed massacre didn’t happen until 1995. So again, these people can’t even get the year right. And notice that no editor or reader caught the error. One merely had to go back to the previous inaccurate article — from just the day before — and compare years, as that one did have “1995.”

When he was 17, he fled the ethnic cleansing taking place in the Drina Valley and took refuge in Srebrenica. As the town fell to Serb forces and the round-up of Bosniaks began, Mr Suljagic encountered none other than the Serb general, Ratko Mladic.

Mladic asked Mr Suljagic who he was, upon which he produced his identity card. The general looked at the card and let him go, only because was a UN-employed translator.

Yes, let’s take Mr. Suljagic at his assumption that this was the “only” reason Mladic didn’t just snuff him out right there. (Though one wonders what the reasons are for the thousands of other Muslims Mladic didn’t kill. They couldn’t all have been 17-year-old translators.)

ISRAEL:BARBARIANS AT THE GATE:By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

http://noisyroom.net/blog/2012/08/18/israel-barbarians-at-the-gate/ “This election does not just involve America… it involves the free world. The Islamic barbarians are at the gates of Israel and the clock is ticking towards war. Something that I very much fear Obama and the Progressives want, and soon. We must get rid of Obama and the Progressives to turn America back […]

THE WEEKLY GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com
http://blogs.jpost.com/users/just-look-us-now

In the 19th August 2012 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:

· Israeli scientists have made another major discovery on the road to eradicating cancer.
· Israeli humanitarian aid receives more recognition at the United Nations.
· Help for autistic children who need a cuddle but can’t bare anyone to touch them.
· Israeli software can build a picture of a criminal from unmatched DNA found at the crime scene.
· Curiosity – the Mars rover – had an Israeli check-up prior to take-off.
· For my birthday treat, I can’t decide between Cirque du Soleil and the Dancing Camel brewery.
· This week marked the 5th anniversary of our immigration to this amazing country.

· My latest JPost descriptive summary “How does Israel do it?”
You will not have seen this before as the JPost blog site was unavailable for most of last week
Please vote for it by clicking on the right most star at the end of the article.

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Using HIV to kill cancer cells. (Thanks to Israel21c) Scientists at the Hebrew University – Hadassah Medical School have discovered a peptide (small protein) derived from the HIV virus that interferes with a cell’s ability to repair itself. The peptide weakens cancer cells, making them more vulnerable to conventional therapies.
http://israel21c.org/health/hiv-peptide-packs-a-punch-for-cancer-treatment/

How to treat trauma victims. 26 doctors, nurses and hospital administrators from 20 countries arrived at Haifa’s Rambam Hospital to share its experience and know-how in treating trauma victims. Lectures, workshops, simulations and tours prepared attendees to build systems for treating mass-casualty victims.
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/InnovativeIsrael/Learning_treat_trauma_victims_7-Aug-2012.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hxMlRsMismc

Muhamad Ali’s daughter visits Hadassah hospital. Rasheda Ali, daughter of the legendary Muhamad Ali, came to Hadassah Ein Kerem to see Professor Karussis’s stem cell work to treat brain diseases. Ms. Ali is a member of the advisory board of Israeli biotech Brainstorm. Her father suffers from Parkinson’s disease.
http://www.hadassah.org/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=keJNIWOvElH&b=5772823&ct=12095915&notoc=1

Three children receive donor organs. Just hours before a man was due to donate a lobe of his liver to his three-year-old nephew, a deceased donor was found and whose organs saved two further children. All three operations were performed at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva.
http://www.jpost.com/Health/Article.aspx?id=280776

Bioactive coating for brain instruments. Modern medicine is advancing so fast. Brain diseases are being treated using electrodes placed in the brain itself. Because the body reacts against invasive materials, Tel Aviv University scientists have developed a protein coating for the electrodes that fools the body’s immune system.
http://www.aftau.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=17021&news_iv_ctrl=-1

24/7 NEWS AND VIEWS

Jobless numbers on the rise in swing states
Unemployment rates rose in July from…
Read more…
Dem-turned-Republican Davis rallies for Ryan
Former Democratic Rep. Artur Davis s…
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Read more: http://times247.com/#ixzz23zynKDK6
Morsi seen restoring Iran ties with trip to Tehran
Associated Press
Saturday, August 18, 2012
News
Morsi seen restoring Iran ties with trip to Tehran
Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi will attend a summit in Iran later this month, a presidential official said on Saturday, the first such trip for an Egyptian leader since relations with Tehran deteriorated decades ago. Read more…

Read more: http://times247.com/#ixzz23zz2G8Ox

DANIEL GREENFIELD: THE WORLD OF TOMORROW

http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/

The slogan under which Obama hopes to win the next four years is “Forward”. “Forward” is the quintessential progressive slogan, progressives being people who are so forward-thinking that they want to remake the 21st Century in line with their 19th Century ideas. Progressivism, like so many other flavors of futurism, is so new it’s old. It’s the world of tomorrow as imagined by men with top hats and full beards whose Twitter-wielding descendants are still shouting, “March Forward!” at us 150 years later.
The last century has represented a great love affair with the future. A hundred years of spring cleaning accompanied by the resounding cry, “Out with the old, in with the new.” Everyone was a progressive now. The one thing that all the participants in the Second World War had in common was that they were all dreaming of the future. A Thousand Year Reich, a United Nations or Communism: millions died for the sake of a wonderful future.

The Germans died for a Nazi superstate built out of Albert Speer’s monstrous concrete towers of babel, a technocratic revival of Mad King Ludwig’s castle building projects. The Russians died for collective agriculture and inspiring posters of grim workers hoeing the earth and electrifying the countryside. Everyone else died because they were either in the way of one vision or the other. Then they died so that a United Europe and a United Nations might usher in a better world.

The world of tomorrow has seen better days. The West is still in love with the future. If you doubt that, stop by an Apple Store and marvel at all the shiny surfaces. Try not to notice that the aesthetic is a retro futurism because even our future has become our past. Forty years after the Soviet Union tried to land a Mars rover and fifteen years since the first time we did it successfully, we landed a bigger and better rover on Mars. We may not be able to reach the ISS without taking a ride on Soviet Soyuz tubs, but the parts of NASA that aren’t dedicated to proving that science and technology are burning up the planet through Global Warming, can still execute an occasional engineering triumph.

SARAH STERN: THE ANSWER IS “BLOWING IN THE WIND”

http://www.emetonlineblog.com/2012/08/the-answer-is-blowing-in-the-wind/ ” Everything would have been fine, if only Hitler wouldn’t have lied to me.” -Neville Chamberlain As I write these words, I am returning home from a trip to Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Part of the reason for this trip was to find out where, under these ancient cobble stone streets, or perhaps on […]

PROFESSOR RENE LOUIS BERES: TWO WAYS ISRAEL CAN DETER A NUCLEAR IRAN

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/08/15/two-ways-israel-can-deter-a-nuclear-iran_print.html Louis Rene Berés is a professor of international law in the department of political science at Purdue University. Before making his final preemption decisions on a still-nuclearizing Iran, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must first make a carefully informed judgment on Iranian rationality. In essence, he will have to determine, systematically and dispassionately, whether […]

BILL MISSED RWANDA AND HILLARY IS IGNORING SOUTH AFRICA….THE MASSACRES …THE LOOMING GENOCIDE

Genocide looms for white farmers South Africa’s black president sings killing songs as thousands massacred By Alex Newman

http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/genocide-looms-for-white-farmers/

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – The eyes of the world were on South Africa two decades ago as the apartheid era came to an end and Western governments helped bring the communist-backed African National Congress to power.
Last month, however, when Genocide Watch chief Gregory Stanton declared that white South African farmers were facing a genocidal onslaught and that communist forces were taking over the nation, virtually nobody noticed.

Few outside of South Africa paid attention either when, earlier this year, the president of South Africa began publicly singing songs advocating the murder of whites.

The silence is so deafening that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton didn’t even publicly mention the problems when she was there last week. Instead, she was busy dancing, pledging billions of dollars and praising the ruling government.

“I find that quite disturbing, as if Afrikaner lives do not count for the Obama administration,” Dan Roodt of the Pro-Afrikaans Action Group, PRAAG, told WND.

He says the situation is rapidly deteriorating.

Genocide Watch, a highly respected U.S.-based nonprofit organization led by arguably the world’s foremost expert on genocide, has been sounding the alarm on the genocidal onslaught facing South Africa for a decade. The world media, however, has barely uttered a word about it.

Over those 10 years, thousands of white South African farmers, known as Boers, have been massacred in the most horrific ways imaginable.

MORE ON SOUTH AFRICA….AN OPEN LETTER TO THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER…..SEE NOTE

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=281560

THE GREAT HOPE OF AFRICAN INDEPENDENCE AND THE END OF APARTHEID IS GOING THE WAY OF ZIMBABWE WITH LAND SEIZURES AND ENDEMIC CORRUPTION….RSK

Dear Mr. Ebrahim,
You are a minister of the South African government, appointed to advance the interests of the Republic and the people of South Africa in an impartial and rational manner. As a citizen and as a national religious leader of South Africa, I object to the way in which you are abusing your high office to promote your own personal agenda. You obviously have a “blind spot” when it comes to Israel; you lose your sense of objectivity and rationality when dealing with the Jewish state.

Most recently you have used your platform and title in an active campaign to prevent South Africans – and especially members of government – from visiting Israel. This is but one example of your irrational obsession with Israel to the detriment of the proper execution of your governmental duties. You have acted in breach of your government’s own foreign policy, in terms of which South Africa and Israel have full diplomatic relations.

Your actions hark back to apartheid-style control of information and censorship. Why would you try to prevent South Africans from traveling to Israel and seeing the situation for themselves? Do you think, Mr.

Ebrahim, that the South African people are not as clever as you are, that they cannot think for themselves and that they need to be protected from the facts? Maybe you are afraid – and rightly so – that if people go to Israel and see the situation for themselves their perspective will be completely different. Are you worried that they will see that, in fact, there is no apartheid in Israel? South Africans visiting Israel will find a multiracial, multi-ethnic vibrant society where more than 1.5 million Arabs live as full and equal Israeli citizens, vote as part of a single national voters’ roll and have full legal rights in all areas of society. Are you concerned that when South Africans travel on buses, visit parks, malls, hospitals and university campuses, attend the Israeli parliament and the Supreme Court they will find Jews and Arabs living and working together in complete equality? They may hear, for example, that, in fact, it was an Arab judge who convicted former Israeli president Moshe Katsav on rape charges.