Sowell-Obama "s Past Actions Speak Legions!

A friend was recently robbed in Barcelona. He yelled, frightened the thief and recovered him money, cards and documents.

Our oldest granddaughter was robbed at knife point in Barcelona, also recently, while she was a student there. Spain not only copped out on us in Iraq, after the terrorists bombed their train, but the country is infested with thieves I am told.

This from a fellow memo reader. Whether it works overseas or not I do not know.(See 1 below.)

Another fellow memo reader forwarded this to me. Whether it was actually the response of an Israeli citizen as a consequence of a Rutgers' law student's activities is not the point. It is the rebuttal that counts. It could just as easily have been sent to Jimmy C as the president of Ms. Kates' college.

Charlotte Kates is apparently a pro-terrorist law student at Rutgers University who organized the pro-Palestinian conference and defends suicide bombers.

The following letter was written to the President of Rutgers State University by an Israeli citizen after reading Kates' published comments on the Israeli/Palestinian situation. (See 2 below.)

I am currently reading Richard North Patterson's "Exile." Richard is an author and friend of long standing and prior to writing full time was a partner in my father's law firm. "Exile" is an excellent and enjoyable read and Richard sets forth the conflicting Palestinian-Israeli arguments and positions in a very readable and fascinating fiction.

The IAEA is deciding what to do about Iran for the umpteenth time. (See 3 below.)

Naomi Ragen sent me an article by my friend Khaled Toameh about Arab views of Israel. It confirms what we intuitively should know and what GW has said, all along, about freedom and democracy being universal. GW's belief and words, however, have been drowned by the Iraq War, the mistakes, the press, the media and the Naysayers. History will prove he was right as the region ultimately moves away from dictatorships etc.

It also undercuts what Jimmy C and his cronies have stated about Israel being an Apartheid nation. (See 4 below.)

But then here are some recent headlines of the Arab controlled press and that of other nations, some controlled, some not. And more calumny from Iran's Supreme Leader and Ahmadinejad from Rome. (See 5 and 5a below.)

Hamas has improved their weaponry thanks to Iran. Olmert and company continue to expect Israelis under attack to "suck it up." (See 6 below.)

Thomas Sowell keeps hammering away at Obama hoping the public is listening knowing the press and media have circled the wagons to protect their new found far left Messiah. (See 7 below.)

I will be attending my youngest granddaughter's confirmation so no memos for about a week. You too will have to "suck it up."

Dick

1) If you are ever forced by a thief or someone to take money out of an ATM machine, enter your pin number reversed. So if your number is 1254 mark 4521. The ATM machine will give you your money, but will automatically recognize this as a plea for help and will alert the police unknown to the thief. This option is in all ATM machines, but not many people know this.

2)Dear Ms. Kates,

I think you are a remarkable woman. You are neither an Arab nor a Jew, you do not study the Middle East, or any associated subject and, correct me if I am wrong, you have never visited this region. Therefore I am somewhat astounded at your expertise and your comments on Israel being an "Apartheid" state.

I have lived in Israel for many years and I would be delighted to take you on a little virtual tour of our country. Let me first give you a couple of minor points. Israel occupies 0.1% of the landmass of the Middle East and it is the only Jewish state, not only in this region, surrounded as we are by 22 Arab states, but in the world.

Let us begin your virtual tour!!

You have already been through immigration at Tel Aviv Airport with your boyfriend, whom we shall call Ken. You will have filled out a visitor's form. This form will not ask you, as it will in many of the countries that surround us, what is your religion, and it will certainly not ask you, as they do in Saudi Arabia, for a "certificate of religion".

The day is Sunday! You will want to attend a church service. No problem in the Apartheid State of Israel. We tolerate and freely allow worship for all religions. This is more than can be said for nearly all of the surrounding 22 Arab nations. In fact many of them would not even have a single church, let alone a synagogue.

After a lovely service you and Ken would head for a leisurely lunch, maybe at one of the lovely beach front restaurants in Tel Aviv. You would most likely have returned to your hotel and put on a very casual outfit, as fitting the very hot Israeli summers. This could be a pair of shorts and a tight-fitting skimpy t-shirt. No problem in the Apartheid state of Israel.

In Israel we allow freedom of dress, especially for women, who are not made to wear bulky long robes, a veil to cover their face, and, wouldn't it be a pity if you had to cover that lovely coiffed hairdo, as you would probably have to in most of the surrounding 22 Arab states.

During lunch, Ken could gaze lovingly into your heavily painted eyes, complete with a good application of black mascara. He would be free to lean across and kiss your lips, finely painted with lip liner, 2 shades of burgundy lipstick and gloss. People would probably think you were in love, especially as Ken has proudly displayed a good wine on the table. Public displays of affection and consuming alcohol in the Apartheid state of Israel is nothing unusual and its not even scorned upon.

That's more than can be said for most of the surrounding 22 Arab states, where your glossy lips would be considered whorish and alcohol is forbidden.

But Ken, being a little flirtatious, pinched one of the young waitresses while you went to reapply your lipstick. It was harmless and, luckily for the young girl in the Apartheid State of Israel, her father and 6 brothers will not take her to the family pool in the evening and drown her, as they would in some of the surrounding 22 Arab states.

After lunch you and Ken drive around. You are even allowed to drive. It is not forbidden in Israel.

You stumble across a kindergarten. The children are running around and enjoying themselves. They are not made to sit for hours reciting, by rote, pages from religious books. Their games are in the sand pit or on the swings. They are not infested with hate or told the only honor to their lives will be in death.

In the Apartheid state of Israel we rejoice in life and living. We do not promote murder and violence by brainwashing our children with hatred, as they do in many of the surrounding 22 Arab states.

By the end of the day you and Ken come across a political rally. Many thousands have turned up. In the Apartheid State of Israel all the citizens, men, women, Jew, Arab and Christian are free to vote. We are allowed to openly criticize the government and our media, including the TV and newspapers offer, without prejudice, a choice of opinions. Every person has the right to openly agree with or condemn the government. This can certainly not be said for most of the surrounding 22 Arab states, ruled as they are by oppressive dictators, where any dissent is met with dire consequences.

Of course, most of the 22 surrounding Arab countries can't offer you a good old-fashioned homicide bombing as a tourist attraction. This can only happen in the apartheid state of Israel, surrounded as we are, by so many hostile countries determined, as you are, to wipe us off the face of the earth.

Where else can you get on a crowded bus, often packed with children and come face to face with some poor, plighted Palestinian ghoul who thinks life isn't very jolly, having been fed and brainwashed by evil organizations like Hamas, to believe that the only way forward is to murder innocent people? This dehumanized creature will have been fed on a 24/7 diet of lies and hate incitement, he will have been coaxed
with the reward of 72 vestal virgins waiting for him in Paradise. His demonic mother will be dancing in the street waving her $10,000 check.

While Israelis are scraping their dead children off the sidewalks, the Palestinians will be lighting fireworks and dancing in the street, to honor this mass murderer as a hero, often to their children who are being systematically nurtured to be the next generation of mass murderers.

The Apartheid state of Israel? Forgive me Ms. Kates but you seem somewhat confused as to the meaning of the word. It usually refers to segregation. It's funny isn't it that a large section of the Jews who live in this apartheid state had to flee for their lives from nearly all of the surrounding 22 Arab states. These
countries not only have no tolerance for Jews, they refer to anyone who is not a Moslem as an Infidel and an enemy.

I find it somewhat curious that you find nothing "apartheid" about these countries. Maybe you should do a project on how many churches there are in Saudi Arabia. Let me help you - there are none. It would not be tolerated.

I am proud to live in this Apartheid State. In 60 years we have become one of the most technologically advanced nations on this planet, with many innovations that have made Israel a true leader in many fields. It is tragic that we have to live in a region that feels threatened by our achievements.

Israel is not an apartheid state and it is appalling that a so-called intelligent and thinking person like you can go around finding feeble excuses for mass murder.

Ms. Kates, there is no justification, in any society, for getting on a crowded bus, often packed with children, detonating an explosive belt, often packed with nails and shrapnel, and destroying innocent lives.

This is not a freedom fighter, or a person seeking justice, but a chronically and irreversibly evil human being.

I can only assume that one day in the near future Ms. Kates, you will chip off that heavy layer of make up and discover your conscience.


3) Alarmed nuclear watchdog board meets on Iranian nuclear bomb work



The 35-member Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board is discussing the latest report from its director Mohammed ElBaradei which asserts that Iran is hiding work with possible military nuclear dimensions - “a matter of serious concern” which should be explained without delay.

The meeting started in Vienna Monday, June 2, amid deep concern over intelligence gathered by 10 different countries that Iran may have been looking into high explosives of the sort used in implosion-type nuclear bombs, and exploring modifications to missiles consistent with making them capable of delivering a nuclear weapon. This is in defiance of three rounds of UN sanctions.

Reports that US intelligence presented 18 documents confirming this finding, drawing on materials contained in a laptop stolen from one of the heads of Iran’s nuclear program in Tehran in late 2006 by Iranian dissidents.

Citing the new IAEA report, the Financial Times quoted scientists and analysts as predicting that during next year, Iran is likely to build up a stockpile of enriched uranium that could be turned into enough fissile material for a bomb in a matter of months. Iran is twice as effective in enriching uranium as before.

Yet, according to political sources, the Israeli government – in disarray over corruption disclosures against prime minister Ehud Olmert - is in no condition for clear action in the face of Iran’s progress towards a nuclear bomb capability. By the time Israel sorts out its political crisis, whether by an early election or the formation of a new government, several months will have elapsed , time for Iran to have moved beyond the point of no-return on nuclear weaponization.

An official connected to the watchdog disclosed that since December, the Iranians have processed close to 150 kilograms, double the amount produced in the same period 18 months ago.

The ElBaradei report describes Iran’s installation of new IR-2 and IR-3 centrifuges for enriching uranium at the Natanz site as “significant” - yet not communicated to his agency. IAEA inspectors on a visit in April were denied access to the sites where the centrifuges are manufactured and the scientists involved.

Some of the production, the report states, comes under Iran’s “military” (a reference to the Revolutionary Guards corps which is in charge of Iran’s nuclear weapons industry).

The board is to spend between three and five days on this report and expected to reach tough conclusions. Nonetheless, the European Union’s senior diplomat Javier Solana is trying to hand over an incentives package developed by France, Germany, Britain, the US, Russia and China that is supposed to entice Tehran to give up its nuclear program.

4)One of the reasons Arab dictatorships hate having the Jewish
state in their midst and wish to wipe it off the planet is
because we set a "bad" example for their people, who might
actually see how a real democracy - with all its faults- actually
works. Below some surprising reactions from the Arab world over
the latest Israeli corruption probes.



Naomi







'No one is above the law in Israel'
By Khaled Abu Toameh








The corruption case against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has earned
Israel tremendous respect throughout the Arab world, where many
have called on their leaders to benefit from Israel's democratic
system and independent judicial system.



Words of praise for Israel are a rare phenomenon in the Arab
media. But judging from the reactions of many Arabs to the
corruption case in the past week, the trend appears to have
changed. Even some Arabs who describe themselves as "sworn
enemies of the Zionist entity" have begun singing praise for
Israel.

Over the past week, the corruption case against Olmert received
wide coverage in the mainstream Arab media, prompting an outcry
about the need for transparency and accountability in the Arab
world.

"Show me one Arab or Islamic country where a prime minister or a
senior government official was ever questioned for financial
corruption or bribery," said a reader who identified himself only
as Majed. Majed, like many others, was responding to a news
story on an Arab Web site about the testimony in court of
American philanthropist Morris Talansky, who told police he had
given Olmert more than $150,000 in cash over the course of some
14 years.

Another reader, Sami, commented: "The Israeli regime with all its
defects is better than all the Arab 'democracies' and still
changes ministers and governments every few years."

A Saudi national named Abdel Karim urged his Arab brethren to
stop criticizing Israel and learn something about its democracy.
"Before we curse Israel, we must learn from the democratic and
judicial system in Israel, where no one is above t he law," he
wrote.



Khaled, another Saudi national, chimed in: "Although we are
talking about Israel, which I have always hated very much, there
is still no one above the law there."

Mahmoud al-Bakili of Yemen posted the following response on one
of the Web sites: "We want this kind of accountability and
transparency in the Arab and Islamic world."

And there was this comment from an Arab who described himself as
a Syrian Voice: "Despite my strong hatred for the Zionist regime,
I have a lot of admiration and respect for this entity because
there is no one above the law. In the Arab world, laws are broken
every day and no one seems to care."



Egyptian writer Abdel Aziz Mahmoud said he doesn't believe the
day will ever come when an Arab leader will be put on trial for
sexual harassment or financial corruption.

"I don't think we will live to see the day when the police
interrogate an Arab leader for sexually harassing his secretary
or receiving bribes," he wrote. "Nor will our children and
grandchildren live to see that day. What happened in Israel can
never happen in any Arab country.



Some Arabs went as far as condemning the Arab people for failing
to rise against their corrupt dictators.



"There is corruption in Israel and the Arab world," wrote Abu
Hadi from Iraq. "But the difference is that the Israelis hold
their leaders accountable, while we the Arabs remain silent about
corruption."



Jamal, who described himself as the Madman, wrote that "the
reason why Israel has lasted for so long is because of its
independent and fair judicial system. I challenge the Arab s to
have such an independent judicial system."

Many of the readers found it quite ironic that Olmert was being
questioned because of "only" tens of thousands of dollars he
allegedly received from Talansky.



"They say he received something like $3,000 a year," said Abu
Atab from Morocco inaccurately. "This shows that Olmert is a
decent man. This is a small sum that any Arab government official
would receive on a daily basis as a bribe. Our leaders steal
millions of dollars and no one dares to hold them accountable."



Touching on the same issue, a reader from Algeria posted this
comment: "In the Arab world, our leaders don't accept less than
$1 million in bribes; the money must be deposited in secret bank
accounts in Switzerland. Olmert is a fool if he took only a small
sum."



Another comment, this time from Ahmed in Jordan, also referred to
the alleged amount: "Only a few thousand dollars? What a fool!
This is what an Egyptian minister gets in a day or what a Saudi
CEO gets in 45 minutes, or a Kuwaiti government official in five
minutes. This is what the physician of the emir of Qatar gets
every 30 seconds."



One Arab commentator who identified himself as Jasser Abdel Hamid
advised Olmert to seek citizenship of one of the Arab countries.
"Why don't you seek Arab citizenship?" he asked sarcastically.
"There you can take as much money as you want. Even if they
discover the theft, they will erect a statue for you in a public
square."



The following are more comments that appeared in recent days in
the Arab media:



Mohammed in Lebanon: "Can you imagine if there was an
investigation against an Arab or Muslim leader? Do you know how
much money they would discover?"



Abu Yusef in Egypt: "Unfortunately, this is the real democracy.
Our enemies are very good in practicing democracy. In the Arab
world, our leaders steal everything and no one ever dares to ask
a question."



Rashid in Saudi Arabia: "Despite all our problems with the Jews,
they are much better than us in fighting corruption and revealing
the truth."



Israel Lover in Saudi Arabia: "Israel is a state that deserves to
exist. It deserves our profound respect. I wish I were a citizen
of this state."



Hani in Ramallah: "This is democracy at its best! Enough of
dictatorship in the Arab world! Let's learn from the Israeli
example. Let's benefit from Israel's democracy."



Rashid Bohairi in Kuwait: "I swear Israel is a state that will
succeed. They are prosecuting their prime minister because of
tens of thousands of dollars. What about the millions of dollars
that Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority stole? How come
the Palestinian people are still hungry?"

5)The Middle East Times, Egypt
Middle East Peace: Full Speed To Nowhere

Moscow Times, Russia
America Isn't Much Better Than U.S.S.R.

Pravda, Russia
John McCain, Senility: America’s loss of the Pacific

Izvestia, Russia
The Americans Have Devised a "Floating Concentration Camp" (Picture of alleged American ship housing captors.)

Al-Dustur, Jordan
Bush's Anger is Unwise and Inappropriate

Al-Dustur, Jordan
Bush's Anger is Unwise and Inappropriate

Juventud Rebelde, Cuba
The U.S.: A Terrorist Government That Imprisons Anti-Terrorists

5a) Iran supreme leader: Bush and his advisers sound mentally ill


Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Monday that Iran would not bow to Western pressure and stop its nuclear program and that U.S. President George W. Bush and his advisers are acting erratically and sound mentally ill.

"Sometimes they threaten, sometimes they order assassinations ... and sometimes they ask for help - it's like mad people staggering to and from," he said.

"Iran is not after nuclear weapons. It is after peacefully using nuclear energy ... we will follow this path and ... will reach it," Khamenei said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

World powers have prepared an enhanced package of trade and other incentives for Iran if it suspends nuclear enrichment, something the Islamic Republic has consistently refused to do.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana is expected to travel to Tehran soon to submit the package.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear arms. The refusal of Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, to stop nuclear work has prompted three rounds of UN sanctions since 2006.

"The Iranian nation has announced a number of times that we are not after nuclear weapons. Everybody knows this and logic also confirms this," Khamenei said.

The UN nuclear watchdog said in a report last week that Tehran's alleged research into nuclear warheads was a matter of serious concern and it should provide more information on its missile-related work.

The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, said on Monday Iran seemed to be holding back information needed to clarify intelligence reports that it researched nuclear bombs in secret and he demanded "full disclosure" by Tehran.

Iran has rejected the intelligence as baseless, forged or irrelevant.

"Today no logical person or officials go after nuclear weapons. The Iranian nation oppose these kind of weapons," Khamenei said in the speech to mark the 19th anniversary of the death of late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

"Nuclear weapons do not bring a nation any power because it cannot be used," he told the crowd that had gathered at the shrine where Khomeini is buried near the capital Tehran.

Ahamadinejad in Rome: Europe is bearing the costs of a 'false' Zionist regime.

Europe is bearing the economic and political costs of a "false regime" of Zionists, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday in his second verbal attack on Israel in as many days.

On Monday, Ahmadinejad said that Israel would soon disappear from the map and the "satanic power" of the United States faced destruction. "I do not believe that my declarations create problems," Ahmadinejad said through a translator on arriving for his first trip to western Europe as president.

"People like my comments, because people will save themselves from the imposition of the Zionists. European peoples have suffered the greatest damage from Zionists and today the costs of this false regime, be they political or economic costs, are on Europe's shoulders," he said.

Ahmadinejad did not elaborate. He is in Rome to attend a United Nations summit on global food security.

The Iranian president reached the summit venue protected by tight security and has effectively been snubbed by many Western participants. He has no formal bilateral meetings planned.

Ahmadinejad had asked for a private audience with Pope Benedict. The Vatican said all such requests by heads of state who wanted to see the pope during the food summit were declined because he would not have been able to meet them all.

A Vatican statement said media interpretations that the pope was snubbing anyone were wrong.

On Monday Ahmadinejad said: "You should know that the criminal and terrorist Zionist regime which has 60 years of plundering, aggression and crimes in its file has reached the end of its work and will soon disappear off the geographical scene."

In New York, Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, said he had complained to the United Nations and the Italian government about Ahmadinejad's presence at the conference organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization.

"It is deplorable that a leader like him, who is failing both his own people and the international community, is allowed to hijack the agenda of this important FAO conference," Lauder said.




6)Exclusive: First Iran-made Multiple Launch Rocket fired from Gaza


The new weapon, of the type used by the Lebanese Hizballah against northern Israel, was fired for the first time by Palestinians from Gaza Tuesday, June 3. It landed on open ground in Shaar Henegev.

The newly smuggled weapon carries a 8 kg payload – bigger than the Qassam missile with about the same 9 km range - drastically escalates the Hamas-led war against the southwestern Israeli population. For the first time, the Palestinian terrorists have acquired a weapon launched from a vehicle.

Military sources report that weapons consignments, including increasingly advanced systems, continue to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip from Iran and Sudan for Hamas and its terrorist allies.

The consignments are dropped from freighters into smugglers’ boats in the Suez Canal and unloaded on the Sinai coast. The Egyptian police are performing better now in intercepting illicit weapons deliveries, but their work is seriously impeded by the fact that some of the officers are bribed by the smugglers for their collaboration.

7) Irrelevant Apologies
By Thomas Sowell

It is amazing how seriously the media are taking Senator Barack Obama's latest statement about the latest racist rant from the pulpit of the church he has attended for 20 years. But neither that statement nor the apology for his rant by Father Michael Pfleger really matters, one way or the other. Nor does Senator Obama's belated resignation from that church.

For any politician, what matters is not his election year rhetoric, or an election year resignation from a church, but the track record of that politician in the years before the election.

Yet so many people are so fascinated by Barack Obama's rhetorical skills that they don't care about his voting record in the U.S. Senate, in the Illinois state senate, the causes that he has chosen to promote over the years, or the candidate's personal character and values, as revealed by his actions and associations.

Despite clever spin from Obama's supporters about avoiding "guilt by association," much more is involved than casual association with people like Jeremiah Wright and Father Pfleger.

In addition to giving $20,000 of his own money to Jeremiah Wright, as a state senator Obama directed $225,000 of the Illinois taxpayers' money for programs run by Father Pfleger. In the U.S. Senate, Obama earmarked $100,000 in federal tax money for Father Pfleger's work. Giving someone more than 300 grand is not just some tenuous, coincidental association.

Are Barack Obama's views shown by what he says during an election year or by what he has been doing for decades before?

The complete contrast between Obama's election year image as a healer of divisions and his whole career of promoting far-left grievance politics, in association with America-haters like Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers, are brushed aside by his supporters who talk about getting back to "the real issues."

There is nothing more real than a man's character and values. The track record of what he has actually done is far more real than anything he says, however elegantly he says it.

There is no office where the character and values of the person in that office matter more than the office of President of the United States. He holds the destiny of 300 million Americans in his hands and the fate of generations yet unborn.

That was never more true than today, with Iran moving ever closer to a nuclear bomb, while the United Nations wrings its hands and Congress fritters away its time on everything from steroids in sports to earmarks for pet projects back home.

Does anyone seriously consider what it would mean for Iran to have nuclear weapons? They are already supplying terrorists with the means of killing people in other countries, including killing American troops in Iraq.

Senator Obama has been downplaying the Iran threat, saying that they are just "a small country," not like the Soviet Union. The people who flew planes into the World Trade Center were an even smaller group than the Iranian government.

Half a dozen terrorists like that with nuclear weapons would be a bigger danger than the Soviet Union ever was, because the Soviet leaders were not suicide bombers. They could be deterred by the threat of what we would do to Moscow if they attacked New York.

You cannot deter suicidal fanatics. They are not going to stop unless they get stopped. Rhetoric is not going to do it.

Not only Senator Obama, but too many other Americans, seem to have no concept of the seething hatred that can lead people to destroy their own lives in order to lash out at others.

But terrorists have been doing this repeatedly, not only in Iraq and in Israel, but in other countries around the world-- including the United States on 9/11.

Have we already forgotten how the Palestinians were cheering in the streets over the news of the attack on the World Trade Center? How videotapes of sadistic beheadings of innocent people by terrorists have found an eager audience in the Middle East?

Are we going to leave our children hostages to hate-filled sadists with nuclear weapons? Are we to rely on Barack Obama's rhetoric to protect them?

Senator Obama's foreign policy seems to be somewhere between Rodney King's "Can't we just get along?" and Alfred E. Neuman's "What, me worry?"