Cartoon War On Warren Continues.
I took the Warren DNA test and found out her ancestors and mine are related. Our great, great, great grandparents were feathered friends. Lynn and I own a lot of Native American artifacts and beaded items. Now I know why I was always drawn to Kachina's.
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Mark Steyn comments.
Were we to break diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, as many self-righteous in Congress from both isles demand, we would feel moralistically good. However, it would prove to be a disaster beyond comprehension.
There are times when we must tolerate, and lamentably look the other way or tread lightly because alternatives are worse.
Personally, I would love to deport Farrakhan but there are constitutional prohibitions so I must tolerate his anti-Semitic inanities and hope saner heads in the black community will eventually have the good judgement and courage to disavow him..(See 1 below.)
And then:
Democratic Socialist Ocasio-Cortez compares climate change to 'existential threat' of Nazi Germany.
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Unlike Obama, who was a weak leader, Trump has been tough on China. Russia. Iran, N Korea, Palestinians, our European allies, illegal immigration and now must be as tough as he can, under most difficult circumstances on The Saudis. Therefore:
10 Reasons why you want to vote Democrat in the Mid-terms
· You hate Donald Trump
· You want open borders
· You want ICE disbanded
· You want the Tax Cuts reversed
· You want all the Regulations Trump eliminated, reinstated
· You want to Impeach Trump
· You want to Impeach Kavanaugh
· You want "free" healthcare
· You want "free" college tuition
· You want the U.S. to become more "Socialist"
I could have come up with 20 reasons but you get the picture. (See 2 below.)
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Jaipur. (See 3 below.)
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1)Sunday Briefing
October 21, 2018
— Mark Steyn, author America Alone, After America, andThe Undocumented Mark Steyn, in his October 20 column
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2) Please, pro-Israel Democrats: Rescue your party
Abraham Katsman Blog
Dems, I must ask you: Is winning in the Midterms worth the price of sacrificing your ideals, of electing radical, Israel-hostile candidates
Regardless of where blame lies for the widening chasm between Republicans and Democrats, traditional liberals are in danger of losing their remaining grip on the Democratic Party for years to come. One measure of this is the growth of the party’s left wing and its push for re-alignment away from Israel, which increasingly threatens continued bipartisan Israel-support. For pro-Israel Democrats, this is a dangerous trend: if you think there is hostility in the air toward Israel now, just wait til “Israel” becomes merely another partisan weapon that political parties use to hammer each other. Please, Democrats: don’t let that happen.
It’s been years since the Democrats were led by idealistic pro-Israel liberals like “Scoop” Jackson, RFK, Humphrey, and Moynihan; or even Michael Dukakis, Paul Simon, Harry Reid or Joe Lieberman. Or even Bill Clinton. Very soon, it will no longer even be the party led by pro-Israel Nancy Pelosi (age 78), Ben Cardin (75), or Steny Hoyer (79).
The new stars among Democrats are rising entirely on the left side of the horizon. In the eyes of this new wave of “intersectional” grievance activists and politicians, Zionism is just another manifestation of colonialism; Israel and the Jews are on the wrong side of the Left’s oppression ledger, and the intersectionalists want to even the score. This can’t be good for the health of the party, or the future of the special U.S.-Israel relationship.
The latest media darling, and “future of our party” according to DNC Chairman Tom Perez, is 28-year-old Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she of the bright, confident smile and dim —though no less confident — command of policy. She knows that Israel’s killing of armed Hamas rioters and saboteurs storming the Gaza border was “a massacre” and that the “occupation” is “a crisis of humanitarian conditions.” But when challenged to explain further, laughs and says “I am not the expert on geopolitics on this issue.”
Up-and-coming Democrats already assured of winning congressional seats include Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (“Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evils of Israel.”) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) (Palestinian-American socialist and BDS activist who deemed (half-black) Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) guilty of racism for meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu).
Other celebrated new faces include Ammar Campa-Najjar (CA)(grandson of the mastermind of the Munich Olympics terror massacre who, though claiming to support peace efforts, has referred to his terrorist grandfather as a legend and hero, and receives funding from Hamas-linked CAIR.); Leslie Cockburn (VA)(who authored a conspiratorial book revealing “Jewish control” of global institutions and U.S. foreign policy, and finding Israeli manipulation behind nearly every foreign crisis faced by America—cited favorably by David Duke.); and Scott Wallace (PA) (whose Wallace Global Fund has granted hundreds of thousands of dollars to organizations that support BDS, including to the so-called Jewish Voice for Peace).
It is currently fashionable among Democrats to blame their growing alienation from Israel on Israel, especially Netanyahu and his policies. But while Israel’s policy orientation has held fairly steady for 10 years, the makeup of elected Democrats has not. Consider the ever-growing number of left-leaning J Street-endorsed members of Congress—all Democrats— over the past five elections: Following the 2008 election, there were 33, one seventh of Democrats elected; following 2010, 45; following 2012, 70; following 2014, 79; following 2016, 99 — currently, more than half the Democrats in Congress. It is not J Street or Israel that has changed; it is the party.
The leftists aren’t on the Democrats’ fringe any longer. This year, J Street is endorsing a record 136 candidates for Congress, again all Democrats. Notably, it does not endorse aging party leaders Pelosi, Hoyer or Cardin.
Far-left Democrats are sweeping primary elections across the United States. Many are young: those who win their general elections may serve for the foreseeable future. The more they win, the more they are the party. If not publicly radical themselves, they are still firmly aligned with those who publicly work against the lone Jewish state; they will legislate accordingly. Nevertheless, the win-now-at-any-cost Democratic establishment is enabling their election, though they must know what that means for the party down the road.
Perhaps the most disturbing illustration of this trend is the gubernatorial race in Florida. Democrat Andrew Gillum, 39, has been trained, employed, financed, supported, endorsed and funded by hard-left individuals and organizations that are particularly hostile to Israel, including $1.2 million from George Soros. Gillum accuses Israel of using Hamas rocket attacks to “justify” its “outsized response” against Palestinians. Furthermore, he says that Israel’s disproportionate “firepower” is a primary cause of regional instability.
And look at the company he keeps. No organization is closer to Gillum than Dream Defenders, a radical movement aligned with Black Lives Matter that helped raise $3.5 million for Gillum’s primary campaign. It advocates an end to “disaster capitalism,” the abolition of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and says that “police and prisons have no place in “‘justice’.”
Dream Defenders strongly supports the BDS movement, considering the entire State of Israel to be a “continued settler colonial project.” It regurgitates the revisionist libel that “Israel was declared on top of stolen Palestinian land, with Zionist militias committing massacres and forced evictions, then immediately ethnically cleansing over 750,000 Palestinians from the lands, and internally displacing thousands more.” The organization is alarmingly close to the PFLP terror group, even bringing delegations to meet PFLP and PLO personnel in the West Bank. Gillum, who signed the Dream Defenders “Freedom Papers” manifesto, says he is “pleased and proud” with their work.
As Tallahassee mayor, Gillum welcomed and encouraged attendees at an event organized by CAIR in support of BDS. He’s also a graduate of the Rockwood Leadership Institute, a training program to churn out progressive revolutionaries. Van Jones and Linda Sarsour are both graduates, as are numerous BDS activists.
Troubling? Unbelievably, with a complicit press and shameless Jewish and Democratic leadership, he’s getting a pass. His campaign scrubbed his history: photos of Gillum with BDS activists and anti-Israel radicals have been replaced by photos of him in a synagogue wearing a kippah. An AIPAC-worthy pro-Israel/anti-BDS policy statement adorns his website. Pro-Gillum editorials from Jewish elected officials, leftist rabbis and political hacks are placed in sympathetic papers. These tactics are the height of both chutzpah and cynicism. Incredibly, they’re working.
Florida is the nation’s third largest state. If Gillum wins, he automatically becomes a party heavyweight. Too many short-sighted Democratic leaders are sweeping Gillum’s frightening record under the rug, blind to the resulting long-term harm to party, country, and bipartisan support for Israel.
Pro-Israel Democratic voters need not abandon their party; rather, they need to save it. They need to resist the siren song of these new, dynamic, and radically leftist anti-Israel candidates, and ignore their power-hungry establishment enablers. If their party is to remain welcoming of traditional liberals and Zionists, voters need to keep these candidates from party leadership and political stardom by defeating them now.
The intensity of Democrats anxious to win back Congress and take over important state governorships is understandable. But at what price? What shall it profit a party if it shall gain the whole world, and lose its own soul? Is winning worth the price of sacrificing all ideals (and possibly the future of Israel)? Of electing radical, Israel-hostile candidates who automatically become Democratic leaders and rising stars? Of Corbyn-izing the party for years to come?
Please, traditional Democrats: rise to the occasion. Save your party.
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3)Chapter 8 – Jaipur
We arrived in Jaipur about 1 p.m on Wednesday and did a quick
drive-around the city. This is known as
the Pink City, although a lot of the pink buildings have been painted more of a
sienna color now. Every once in a while,
you’ll see a pink one. Perhaps this
darker color fades over time?
The city was founded in 1737, so it is relatively the same age as
Savannah. It, too, was a planned city,
built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Sinngh II.
He was given the title Sawai, which means One and a Quarter, at the age
of 11 after having done great things on the battlefield. He planned the city as his new capital just
south of the existing capital of Amber.
A Bengali engineer named Vidyadhar Chakravarty drew plans for the city
on a grid pattern, with squares intersected by streets. It is considered one of the finest examples
of urban planning in the country. (I
think he just copied Savannah.)
I must say that this plan was totally lost on me, as we experienced
the same kind of hubbub and traffic as we
had in Delhi, only on a smaller scale.
There are only 5 million people in Jaipur.
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Oh, by the way, I’ve been told that my number of
25 million in Delhi was incorrect. The
official population is only 18
million. Unofficial is probably 25 million.
Either way, it is growing.
After the driving tour, we went to our lovely Taj Mahal Jaipur
oasis and checked in. There are
beautiful grounds here which I would have liked to stroll, but NO! No time for dilly-dallying! We had lunch and then had our first official
session with Matthieu in a small conference room in the basement of the
hotel. He showed slides of some of his
work, talked about his life as a photographer, and answered questions about
both technical and artistic issues that the group had. He has had a fascinating life, so it was very
entertaining to hear more about some of his adventures in Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and India. Then we got back on
the “coach” to go into the old part of town for a walk through the market area.
This is the kind of thing Jim loves and I don’t. He loves to take photos of people, and I like
to take photos of buildings and landscapes.
Walking through this kind of area with crowds, noise, traffic, people
constantly asking you to give them something or buy something is just not my
cup of chai. But, with Mattieu along to
give us pointers and direct our eyes toward good angles and shots, it wasn’t as
awful as it might have been. Jim was in
hog heaven, which, I think, comes right before nirvana.
We also have a local guide with us who is an older gentleman who
knows absolutely everything about Jaipur and the history of India and
Hinduism. He is a very gentle man, and
it is a pleasure to hear his stories.
There are two festivals going on at the moment, both of which will culminate
on Friday. He explained a little bit
about them, but, to be honest, I find Hinduism just baffling. There are over 2,000 gods, with different
reincarnations and stories about how they turned into lions or tigers or
bears. I have no idea how Hindus keep it
all straight. There are four main gods,
but even they have extremely complicated life stories. One of these festivals has to do with Cali,
who I think was Shiva’s wife. At the end
of the festival, they toss her likeness in the river. But, I get ahead of myself.
After a thorough examination of the market area, we went back to
the hotel for dinner. There was going to
be an exhibition of native dancing at the hotel, but I stayed in the room and
skipped dinner, since we had recently had a very large lunch.
The food warrants a comment.
We are being fed until we burst.
At each meal, plate after plate of wonderful Indian food comes our
way. Even though they only give you a
dollop of each thing, by the end of the meal, you’ve eaten like a maharaja on a
feast day. We happen to love Indian
food, so we are very happy. For those in
the group who prefer less spicy food, Nat Geo has arranged for special dishes
just for them. Very civilized. I’m still eating mostly rice and gravy, but a
few small morsels of meat and veggies have joined the list of consumables for
my jaw. Breakfast is scrambled eggs –
very easy to chew.
Thursday was also spent in Jaipur.
Early in the morning, Matthieu had arranged for 3 models to come to the
hotel for a photoshoot. They were all
dressed in Indian garb, right down to the henna tattoos on the ladies. We were able to ask them to pose as we liked
in the garden area. The male model
figured this was his big break for Bollywood, so he was really hamming it
up. Take a look at the photos.
After breakfast, we drove back into the old section to see the
Palace of the Winds – a façade behind which women sat to watch what was
happening on the streets. Then we
proceeded to the Amber Fort, high on a hill overlooking Jaipur in the older
city of Amer. We drove part way in the bus, and then got
into Jeeps for the rest of the trip up.
Within the fort are palaces, temples, and homes for many people. The fort was built in the 16th and
17th centuries. It was begun in 1592 during the reign of Raja Man Singh. Maharaja Sawai
Jai Singh II, the founder and the ruler of Jaipur city, continued the
construction. It was completed by Sawai Jai Singh in the 18th Century.
There is a hall of mirrors in this fort, called Sheesh Mahal. Unlike Versailles, the mirrors are tiny
mosaics all over the walls and ceiling.
The effect in candlelight must be magnificent.
The palace within the fort is called Ganesh Pol. It was built in honor of Mughal Emperors in
whose army the Maharajas of Jaipur served. Ganesh Pol has an alluring image of
elephant headed god. Lord Ganesh (elephant God) is in the middle of the long
arch. And interestingly, Ganesh is not put in the traditional style of looking
at you face-on, but in the profile.
There is also a lovely lake with
various structures and pavilions behind the palace.
We took the Jeeps back down the hill, where the traffic coming up
was even worse than earlier. Peddlers
stand in the road trying to get you to buy something while motorcycles are
beeping at you to get out of the way and pedestrians are rushing to get past
you. And watch out for the cow
poop. Anyway, we made it, and got back
on the bus to go to lunch.
We had lunch at a beautiful haveli that used to belong to a
noblewoman but it now a hotel. A haveli
is a home of a VIP. It had a big garden
area, patio, and nice bathrooms. Very
important! Lunch was a buffet, so
stuffing ourselves was optional and our own fault. Did it anyway.
Jaipur is known for its textiles, so we went to a cooperative where
they train carpet makers and textile printers.
Oh-oh. Shopping alert. First we had a demonstration on how they
print multi-colored fabrics, which isn’t easy and they do it by hand. Each color in the design has a stamp, and a
person has to pound it down in exactly the right spot every time. Not easy.
Then, suddenly, we were upstairs being shown about 1,000 gorgeous
carpets. After they had unfurled 20 or
30 of them, I asked about the one that had caught my eye most. Naturally, it was the most expensive one in
the store -- $40,000. We are not getting
that one. It was 8 x 10 and all silk and
took 3 or 4 years to make, so I’m sure it was worth every penny, but someone
else will have to appreciate it in their home.
We did select one, though – smaller and a blend of silk and wool. Now we just have to figure out where to put
it. Oh, the trials of consumerism!
After shopping, we went to an observatory. Our kind and gentle guide had invited a
professor friend of his from Jaipur to come and talk to us about the
observatory, and he was especially interesting.
First, he explained some of the different sun dials on the premises, and
how they keep time to the minute. Then
he started to explain how important Astrology is to Indians. Knowing not just the sign under which they
were born but also the exact day and time tells them a lot about how to make
day-to-day decisions. It also helps them
choose a mate and name a child. The
professor then took Jim’s and my hands and held them together and looked at our
palms. He figured me out immediately –
brilliant, gorgeous, business-minded, young-at-heart, and delightful in every
way. Well, that might not have been exactly what he said, but that’s what I
heard. He also said that we were a good
match and would be married a long time. After
nearly 40 years, that wasn’t much of a leap.
We had another stroll through the old section of town. This time, since it was getting a bit dark, I
didn’t even carry my camera along. As we
drove along the roads, we saw people getting ready for the big festivals which
happen this Friday. The demon god effigy
will be burned to commemorate Shiva’s victory over the demon and the triumph of
good over evil. Don’t you just love a
happy ending?
Finally, after a long day, we arrived at the train station to board
our home for the next 5 nights – The Palace on Wheels, AKA the Royal
Maharaja. We met our cabin steward, who
showed us to our little room. It has
twin beds, a small desk in the corner, a bed table, and a closet. We have our own bathroom, with a glass sink –
how chic! – and a shower. There is
absolutely no room for clutter, so we will have to be very tidy for a few days. Good luck with that.
Dinner was in one of the two dining cars – either Maharaja or
Maharani. There are over 20 cars on this
train, but very few people. We had a
quiet dinner among the 8 of us travelers and 2 staff members, and prepared for
blast-off.
Photos are at: https://www.mmemery.com/Jaipur
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