Israeli Official Makes Worst Choice of Words Ever

Wow!

The Times of London reports:

"An Israeli minister gave warning today that the army may unleash a “holocaust” on the Gaza Strip if Islamists there do not end their daily barrages of home-made Qassam rockets and their increasing use of Iranian-built Grad missiles.

"The more Qassam fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, they will bring upon themselves a bigger holocaust because we will use all our might to defend ourselves," Matan Vilnai, the Deputy Defence Minister said."

Now we know Zionism is dead, and morally bankrupt. An official of a state supposedly founded so the Holocaust can never happen again has actually threatened people with a "holocaust".

To be fair, some observers say that the term "shoah" in Hebrew can be used to refer to disasters other than the Holocaust. But isn't it obvious that in an atmosphere of racial conflict like this, that it's inflammatory to use that word?

The Tennessee Republican Party Leaps off the Deep End!

This is amazing- this is not from Ann Coulter! This is not from some nutty right-wing radio talk show host! This isn't even from some nebulous 527 paid for by some eccentric Republican billonaire! This appeared on the web site of the actual Republican Party of Tennessee as an actual press release. They tried to modify it after the nasty reaction, but Google has the original in its cache! Now, we can see what they actually put on their OFFICIAL Web site! Unfortunately, the cached copy highlighted my search terms. Edits in the current copy are described below [in brackets]:

By the way, this same dolt who wrote this was fired from his last job for posting a "Mohammed Blows" cartoon on his blog. Apparently the Tennessee Republican party either doesn't know how to use Google, or more likely, they're a bunch of racist jerks who dig this kind of thing.

[photo of Obama in silly Somali outfit was removed from the article]

ANTI-SEMITES FOR OBAMA

NASHVILLE, TN - The Tennessee Republican Party today joins a growing chorus of Americans concerned about the future of the nation of Israel, the only stable democracy in the Middle East, if Sen. Barack Hussein Obama is elected president of the United States.

["Hussein" was removed.]

“It’s time to set the record straight about Barack Obama and where he really stands on vital issues such as national security and the security of Israel,” said Robin Smith, chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party. “Voters need to know about two items that surfaced today which strongly suggest that an Obama presidency will view Israel as a problem rather than a partner for peace in the Middle East.

On Sunday, Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan on Sunday likened Obama to a new messiah, calling him “the hope of the entire world.” That’s the same Louis Farrakhan who has a history of making openly anti-Semitic statements, calling Judaism a “gutter religion,” and suggesting that crack cocaine might have been a CIA plot to enslave blacks.

Farrakhan, addressing 20,000 people at the annual Savior’s Day celebration in Chicago, praised the Democrat presidential candidate, calling Obama “The hope of the entire world that America will change and be made better.”

He also compared Obama to the founder of Islam, remarking that both had a white mother and black father, according to the Associated Press. “A black man with a white mother became a savior to us,” Farrakhan said. “A black man with a white mother could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall.”

Obama, (pictured dressed in Muslim attire in a 2006 visit to Africa) has on the campaign trail pledged to rapidly remove American soldiers from Iraq regardless of the resulting instability and the creation of opening that would be filled by Islamic extremists, like Al Qaeda, in Iraq’s government and military.

[reference to the photo in previous paragraph has been removed]

Obama has pledged to hold a Muslim Summit to determine Middle East policy with the very leaders that have as their goal to remove Israel from the map, referenced Jews to be “dogs” and “pigs,” among other vile references.

Over the weekend, news reports surfaced casting more disturbing evidence of Obama’s anti-Israel leanings.

The board of a nonprofit organization on which Obama served as a paid director alongside a confessed domestic terrorist granted funding to a controversial Arab group that mourns the establishment of Israel as a “catastrophe.”

The co-founder of that organization, Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi, who also has held a fundraiser for Obama, is a harsh critic of Israel and has made statements supportive of Palestinian terror. Khalidi reportedly has worked on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization while it was involved in anti-Western terrorism and was labeled by the State Department as a terror group.

The Woods Fund, a Chicago-based nonprofit that describes itself as a group helping the disadvantaged, provided a $40,000 grant in 2001 to the Arab American Action Network, or AAAN, for which Khalidi’s wife, Mona, serves as president. The Fund provided a second grant to the AAAN for $35,000 in 2002. Obama was a director of the Woods Fund board from 1999 to Dec. 11, 2002, according to the Fund’s website. Tax records show he was paid $6,000 per year for his service in 1999 and 2001.

Also serving on the Wood’s Fund board alongside Obama was current University of Illinois-Chicago professor William C. Ayers, who was a member of the Weathermen terrorist group which sought to overthrow of the U.S. government and took responsibility for bombing the U.S. Capitol in 1971.

“You don’t even have to go outside Obama’s campaign to find advisers who are anti-Israel,” said Bill Hobbs, communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party. “Robert Malley, a principal foreign policy adviser to Obama, has advocated negotiations with the Iranian-funded radical terrorist group Hamas and urged that Hamas – which sends suicide bombers to kill innocent women and children - receive international assistance.”

According to DiscoverTheNetworks.org, an online guide to the political Left, Malley “consistently condemns Israel, exonerates Palestinians, urges U.S. disengagement from Israel, and recommends that America reach out to negotiate with its traditional Arab enemies.”

“Nothing in Barack Obama’s history or his choice of advisers suggests he will be a friend to Israel,” said Hobbs. “On the contrary, supporters of Israel should view a possible Obama administration with extreme caution, as America’s ally is being put in the cross-hairs by the anti-Jewish left.”

A Spry Farrakhan Sings Obama’s Praises
Associated Press
http://www.breitbart.com/print.php?id=D8V13IMO1&show_article=1

Farrakhan: Obama is the ‘hope of the entire world’
Chicago Sun-Times
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/811444,CST-NWS-farr25.article

Islamic Links on Obama Web Site Stir Criticism
CNS News
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200802/NAT20080225a.html

Robert Malley
DiscoverTheNetworks.org
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2310

-30-

[here the Republican Pary added a snide remark on their correction under pressure from the IslamoHippie oppressors: "*Clarification: This release originally referenced a photo of Sen. Obama and incorrectly termed it to be “”Muslim” garb. It is, in fact, Somali tribal garb, hence, we have deleted the photo. Also, in order to diffuse attempts by Democrats and the Left to divert attention from the main point of this release - that Sen. Obama has surrounded himself with advisers and recieved endorsements from people who are anti-Semitic and anti-Israel - we have deleted the use of Barack Obama’s middle name."]

Bill Hobbs
Communications Director
Tennessee Republican Party
2424 21st Avenue, Suite 200
Nashville, Tennessee 37212
Phone: (615) 269-4260
Email: billhobbs@tngop.org

Comtempt of Congress: The Republicans Who Voted Yes

On the straightforward question of whether Harriet Myers and Josh Bolten are in contempt of Congress (the correct answer is yes), only three Republicans voted in favor of contempt of Congress. The three Republicans were Wayne Gilchrist, Walter Jones, and Ron Paul. These are also the three antiwar Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This is very odd. Apparently fighting the war in Iraq requires corrupt US Attorneys. And despite losing the majority in 2006, having a president who has a 24% approval rating, a Republican nominee-apparent who appears to be badly trailing his most likely opponent in the polls, and signs that the next elections will be as disastrous for Republicans in Congress as the last one, every single Republican except these three continues to march in lockstep off Bush's cliff. It makes you wonder if they're afraid of being anthraxed.

1979: When Barack Obama was Right On

Florida Republican Primary Liveblog (Jan.29)

(6:26) Polls close at 7:00, which is awfully early. I'm not sure if they close at the same time in the Central Time Zone (yes, the western end of the Panhandle really is as far west as Chicago), but it would be pretty bad if it did because it would only be 6 there. I guess you have to squeeze in voting between the poll opening and having to go to work because it's Tuesday.

Just before watching, Florida has 21 counties with populations over 200 000: these are Miami-Dade (2 253 362), Broward (1 623 018), Palm Beach (1 131 184), Hillsborough (998 948), Pinellas (921 482), Orange (896 344), Duval (778 879), Polk (483 924), Brevard (476 230), Volusia (443 343), Lee (440 888), Seminole (365 196), Pasco (344 765), Sarasota (325 957), Escambia (294 410), Manatee (264 002), Marion (258 916), Collier (251 377), Leon (239 452), Alachua (217 955), and Lake (210 528). The total population is 15 982 378 in the 2000 Census, the fourth largest in the United States, of which 16% is African-American and 20% is Latino.
The Latino population is concentrated in the southern part of the state, with Miami-Dade County being 18% African-American and 66% Latino (nearly half the state Latino total), Broward County being 21% African-American and 17% Latino, and Palm Beach County being 30% African-American and 18% Latino. In contrast, Duval County is 28% African-American and only 4% Latino.

The population of Florida is concentrated in coastal areas and in a central area between the coasts around Orlando. The four major metropolitan areas are Miami (the fourth largest urban area in the United States), which contains Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties (5 007 564, 31%), Tampa/St.Petersburg, which contains Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco Counties (2 265 195, 14%), Orlando, which contains Orange, Seminole, and Osceola Counties (1 434 033, 9.0%), and Jacksonville, which contains Duval and Clay Counties (919 693, 5.8%). In Florida, suburban-type housing developments are very widespread and actually cover large parts of both coasts. One interesting cultural characteristic is that the western area, the Panhandle, resembles Georgia and Alabama more than it resembles peninsular Florida, but this is a small part of the total population. The Panhandle's major counties are Escambia (seat Pensacola) and Leon (seat Tallahassee).

This is the last Florida election conducted with electronic voting. The state voted to ban it after the 2006 elections, just six years after the 2000 voting debacle, but apparently not in this primary.

(7:03) As the polls close, I should mention that this will primarily focus on Republican results because the Democratic Party has stripped Florida of its delegates for an unauthorized early primary. The Republicans have only stripped half of the delegates, which the state party says will be the half which were to be allocated proportionally to the share of the vote, making Florida the first winner-take all state on the primary calendar. The Republican winner will be awarded all 57 delegates which the party leaders says will be allowed at the convention. In the Democratic primary, unlike in Michigan, all major candidates are on the ballot, so results will not be as totally ridiculous as they were there.

(7:16) MSNBC reports minor irregularities in Broward County involving nonfunctioning voting machines early in the morning and in Miami-Dade County involving incorrect party registrations which forced voters to vote in the other primary. The Miami-Dade irregularities were reported to affect both parties.

(7:28) Machine problems are also reported in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. One precinct in Boynton Beach in Palm Beach County was shut down for part of the day due to failure of all of its voting machines. However, nothing on the scale of the Horry County disaster in South Carolina seems to be out there.

(7:38) Results- with 1% reporting, the votes are McCain 32 679, Romney 32 435, Giuliani 18 837, Huckabee 16 784, and Paul 3 557. Two suburban counties have over 15% reporting and in those McCain leads Romney 31%-29% in Pasco County in the Tampa-St.Petersburg area and Romney leads 34%-32% in Osceola County in the Orlando area.

(7:42) 4% reporting- Romney 64 384, McCain 61 058, Giuliani 34 217, Huckabee 26 276, Paul 6 066. Volusia, Manatee, and St.Lucie Counties report narrow McCain leads with over 15% reporting.

(7:46) 7% reporting- McCain 85 404, Romney 83 705, Giuliani 43 244, Huckabee 32 900, Paul 8 415. Bradford County, a small rural county near Jacksonville, is the first county reporting a Huckabee lead. In major counties, Manatee and Sarasota report small McCain leads. Huckabee is not doing well in Leon County (Tallahassee) in the western region, with 16% as opposed to 40% for McCain and 29% for Romney. This is also the first large McCain lead reported.

(7:50) 10%- McCain 125 056, Romney 112 428, Giuliani 67 057, Huckabee 46 723, Paul 11 380.
Osceola County has flipped to McCain. At 8:00 the Central Time part of the Panhandle will have its polls close.

(8:00) CNN has projected Hillary the winner of the meaningless Democratic primary. With 15% reporting, the results are Hillary 214 759, Obama 119 334, and Edwards 63 495. The Republicans now have 15%- McCain 175 207, Romney 155 219, Giuliani 88 120, Huckabee 65 320, and Paul 16 387. Most reporting counties show a slight McCain lead except for rural counties around Jacksonville which show Romney or Huckabee leads.

(8:07) CNN exit polls are out. They predict a McCain win with 34%. The other candidates got- Romney 31%, Huckabee and Giuliani 15%, and Paul 4%. The report is that the Republican electorate is 56% male, a major gender imbalance. 35% of the Republican electorate was under 50 and a mere 7% under 30. Catholics, which in a Republican primary in Florida are probably mostly Latino (with some Yankees), favored McCain over Romney by 37% to 28% with Giuliani at 24% and Huckabee at 4%.

(8:25) With 30% reporting, we have McCain 294 934, Romney 285 270, Giuliani 133 669, Huckabee 117 882, and Paul 27 215. Romney leads in the lower Gulf coast area, famous as the home area of Porter Goss and Katherine Harris. He also has a slim lead in Orange County, containing Orlando, but elsewhere seems to be running behind McCain. Huckabee is leading in three minor northern counties in the sparsely populated area around the Suwannee River.

(8:39) 35% reporting, McCain 342 886, Romney 322 522, Giuliani 155 414, Huckabee 135 455, Paul 31 015. Another metropolitan center, Duval County, which is the city of Jacksonville, reports Romney leading McCain 40% to 27%.

(8:47) The Tampa/St.Petersburg area shows McCain ahead of Romney. Broward County in South Florida shows McCain with a larger lead.

(8:56) 46% reporting. McCain 404 294, Romney 366 298, Giuliani 177 601, Huckabee 153 928, Paul 36 140. With 31% reporting, Miami-Dade County's vote is McCain 38 030, Giuliani 26 046, Romney 11 062, Huckabee 4 786, and Paul 1 475. The very low Romney vote (13%) is very interesting. McCain also leads strongly in the other two South Florida counties with Romney barely leading Giuliani.

(9:04) Palm Beach County is jinxed! The partial result showing a large McCain lead with Giuliani and Romney nearly tied is replaced with 0% reporting on the NYT site. Oddly, CNN has 0% reporting with totals which are 10 661 McCain, 7 809 Romney, 5 206 Giuliani, 2 363 Huckabee, and 995 Paul. The same anomaly occurs on the Democratic side-Hillary 35 242, Obama 16 128, Edwards 5 807.

(9:13) Orange County, which contains Orlando, has 92% Republican reporting and 0% Democratic. CNN shows no county totals.

(9:15) CNN calls Florida for McCain. This would give him all 57 delegates if it stands up.

(9:28) 62% reporting- McCain 502 311, Romney 442 278, Giuliani 212 554, Huckabee 185 718, Paul 44 496.

(9:48) CNN reports new delegate totals: McCain 95, Romney 67, Huckabee 26, Paul 6, Giuliani 1. The number of delegates up for grabs on Super Tuesday: 1 081. 1 174 are required to clinch the nomination.

(9:55) It looks like the sites are still accumulating Palm Beach results but are showing 0% reporting. The result is now McCain 23 216, Romney 17 204, Giuliani 9 880, Huckabee 4 948, and Paul 2 011. With 74% reporting, the state totals are McCain 581 995, Romney 505 017, Giuliani 241 826, Huckabee 215 862, and Paul 51 613.

Obama Must Be A Contender: We Meet His Colorful Friends

You know someone's being taken seriously in an election when they bring out the embarrassing friends.

http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2008/01/syrianborn_back.php

Syrian-born backer of Obama ordered to Jail

Tuesday, 29 January, 2008 @ 12:14 AM

Beirut / Chicago - A federal judge sent accused Illinois political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko to jail today after federal prosecutors accused him of violating his bail terms by a convoluted series of financial transactions with Mideast banks.

Rezko has become an "Achilles heel" for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama after disclosures he and people associated with him had raised almost $200,000 for Obama and that Obama sought Rezko's "help and advice" in the purchase of a new home.

In a court hearing in Chicago, prosecutors detailed a $3.5 million wire transfer from a bank in Beirut, Lebanon that they said was moved through a series of accounts until it reached Rezko or some of his relatives who had posted property for his bond.

Under the terms of his agreement, prosecutors said in a filing with the court, Rezko was obligated to disclose any change in his financial status.

In court, prosecutors said Rezko had become a "flight risk" because of his secretive transactions in the Mideast.

According to the court filings, the money came from a company, General Mediterranean, owned by a British-based Iraqi billionaire, Nadhmi Auchi, who was convicted in France on fraud charges.

The filing says when Auchi was unable to obtain a visa to visit the United States in 2005, Rezko intervened and "asked certain Illinois government officials" to appeal the State Department's ruling.

The officials who Rezko approached are not specified. Sen. Obama had just taken office as a U.S. senator in 2005, the same year he sought Rezko's help in the purchase of his home.

The senator has said he was unable to afford both the home and an empty lot next to it which were effectively being sold as a package. Rezko's wife ultimately bought the empty lot, closing the same day as Obama did on his home.

Antoin "Tony" Rezko (born 1955 in Aleppo, Syria) is a restaurateur and real estate developer in Chicago, Illinois.

Rezko ( pictured with Bill and Hillary Clinton) was reportedly a friend and a fund raiser of the Clintons

During a recent presidential debate Hillary chastised Obama for Rezko contributions . She described Rezko as a “ slum landlord”. When she was shown the picture with Rezko she denied ever meeting him.

Obama adviser David Axelrod responded to Clinton remarks by saying , “If they are standing there beaming with Tony Rezko it means they knew who Tony Rezko was. He was a player, a prominent figure raising money and about town.”

Sources: ABC News , Ya Libnan

Uncontrolled Deorbit of Spy Satellite?

Recent reports indicate that a US surveillance satellite has lost power and is expected to make an uncontrolled reentry into the Earth's atmosphere in late February or March.

Since such satellites have the highest resolution when they are close to the ground, the satellites orbit at an altitude where there is significant atmospheric drag. To counteract this drag, the satellite is outfitted with a thruster, powered by the decomposition of liquid hydrazine fuel into nitrogen and hydrogen gas, to provide thrust which counteracts this drag. If the satellite loses power, it stops firing the thruster and the drag on the satellite causes it to sink deeper and deeper into the atmosphere, which increases drag. Eventually the satellite re-enters.

I would guess the risk of loss of data is pretty low here. All they have to do is design the satellite so that there won't be anything readable left upon reentry. I think we can do that. The memory shouldn't be too readable after being burnt up in the atmosphere, and modern spy satellites don't have any film. Hydrazine in the Earth's atmosphere would combine with nitrogen to form ammonia and be removed from the air by rain. It is conceivable that information could be gathered from debris about the materials used in the satellite which could be useful to people designing their own satellites.

The spacecraft, known as "USA 193", NROL-21, or object number 29651, was launched December 14, 2006, from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc in southern California. The orbital characteristics fit those of a "Lacrosse" Earth-observing radar satellite:

"Perigee: 354 km (219 mi). Apogee: 376 km (233 mi). Inclination: 58.50 deg. Period: 91.83 min. COSPAR: 2006-057A. USAF Sat Cat: 29651. Classifed NRO mission of uncertain objectives, possibly military observation with a mixed payload. The ground track nearly repeated every 2 days (30.92 revs), enabling frequent revisit of targets of interest. The first four Lacrosses behaved similarly (28.9 revs in 2 days). and Lacrosse 5 made 43.05 revs in 3 days. Keyholes nearly repeated every 4 days; NOSS every 4 days."

The orbital characteristics are well-known- in fact, amateur astronomers take pictures of them passing over all the time. In fact they even can take ones good enough to reveal that the solar panels aren't there. The one at the top of this post has panels- they extend from upper left to lower right.

Lacrosse radars are believed to offer radar images with one-meter resolution through clouds or at night, a major advantage in a time-critical mission such as bomb damage assessment. However, there are only five of the things and the other side knows where they all are, and each one passes over a given spot about once every two days.