by jwright, from my article published January 29 in the Cadillac News.
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“Change You Can Believe In?” You must be joking. $850 billion taxpayer dollars spread over a 647 page bill, HR-1, the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” is being rushed through the House of Representatives. It’s referred to as a “Stimulus and Job Creation Package.” Your taxpayer dollars that are supposed to stimulate our economy and shorten the recession, but will take years to take effect, won’t create many actual jobs. Call it what it is; “Porkification.”
Here’s part of what the Congressional Democrat lawmakers propose:
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1. $4.19 billion to ACORN – A questionable, far left political organization.
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2. $200 million for the beautification of the National Mall, including $21 million for sod. (Note: this was removed via an Republican amendment before the House vote, as was one other spending item.)
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3. Over $200 million for contraceptives and the abortion industry.
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4. $650 million for digital TV coupons.
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5. $136 billion to create at least 32 new government programs – more than a third of H.R.1’s spending provisions would go towards growing the government—not the economy.
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6. $600 million for new cars for the federal bureaucrats.
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7. $50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts. (This may have been the other spending item removed.)
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8. $6 billion for colleges and universities –many of whom already have billion dollar endowments.
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9. $300 billion to bail out selected state governments – “Wealth redistribution?” Are the days over of state governments taking care of themselves and balancing their own budgets? (Of that $300-billion, $140 billion goes to additional education funding, doing absolutely nothing to stimulate the economy or create jobs.)
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10. Increased spending on more than 150 existing federal programs. (The Wall Street Journal published an article saying that less than 5%, or only $5-billion of this massive boon-doggle would be spent on job creating infrastructure such as bridge and highway repair.)
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In summary, this list illustrates that Congressional Democrats have little intention of actually stimulating the economy, and “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” comes up embarrassingly short on efforts to cut taxes in any meaningful way. The nation is facing near bankruptcy and it appears they are attempting to spend our way into prosperity.
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Additionally, when this HR-1 passed the House, with 'Yea' votes consisting of just Democrats, and all 177 Republicans and 11 Democrats in opposition, the Senate then added more spending rasing the total to about $900 billion. Add in the interest this bill will cost, because there is NO money in the national treasury to fund it, the costs will exceed more than $1 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Isn't that sweet? Congress just indebted every family in the country about another $6,700.00.
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Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in effect, "This isn't a stimulus bill, it's a spending bill." If it looks like a pig and walks like a pig, it's probably a pig, and that's PORK friends. There's still time to call your particular United States Senator and let your thoughts be heard.
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jaq~
Friday, January 30, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
A conversation: The Black Community's New Expectations
by jwright
Following the Inauguration, some of us in the political discussion group I mentioned earlier were discussing how President Obama might become a role model for the black inner city youngsters and maybe even their parents. The following is an email exchange between several of us.
Jim: I just heard another one of those Obama supporters who expects to be rich due to the fact that Obama is President! She stated, “We aren’t rich like you folks but will be one day because we have Barack Obama as President.”
Now isn’t that special? Do you believe how dumb and naïve some people are? Can you imagine how suicidal this person is going to be when Obama fails to deliver on that expectation? What is wrong with people today with that cult mentality and their expectations for a handout that will make them rich? Was this country built on that mentality?
Alan: Absolutely not. In fact, I think it will get worse. I believe that many out there will have the attitude that they will be given a free pass because "one of theirs is in charge."
I believe that they will test the system more, expect more and, when they don't get it, will revolt.
Jaq: Well, they certainly have former Secretary of Labor (under Clinton) Robert Reich on their side. He's all for taking a portion of the "Stimulus infrastructure dollars" and handing it out to anyone but white male, skilled construction workers, contractors, etc. (Michelle Malkin » Robert Reich: Keep stimulus money away from skilled workers and “white male contractors” ).
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There, boys and girls, is the beginning of a broadening welfare program to redistribute our future tax dollars (and those of our kids and their kids as far as the eye can see.) How much infrastructure will be improved while handing out billions to the disadvantaged?
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At some point, more than 50% of the damn population will either be federal employees and po' folks on federal welfare of some description. Then we'll be well on our way to a one party system. Democrats forever! Mercy... the thought of it is sickening.
..
Alan: Hopefully I will be living nearly full time in Thailand by the time things get that bad. My kids are the ones that I worry about. My son will no doubt head back to Asia as soon as he graduates. Either Japan or China.
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My oldest daughter is pretty much settled with a very good job as a senior project director for a major construction company.
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My youngest daughter is in her second year of Architecture and Design and has no problems moving back to Japan for her graduate degree in Architecture as she has an affinity towards Asian design.
.
Things don't look so good for the social structure of America. Once they removed God from our public lives, the rest went downhill fast. Liberalism is a disease whose only cure is getting what they actually want. But then it is too late. Therefore, liberalism is a terminal disease killing everything it touches.
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Jaq: Alan, you are fortunate to be in such a position. What per cent of the country could be as fortunate, .0001%?
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That leaves a lot of us, particularly the ones that DIDN'T vote for Obama, Pelosi, Reid & Company holding the bag.
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Myself, I may be close to being as fortunate as you considering my tender age... :) hell, I may die before the liberal/socialist bullshit gets too deep. Even Hell might begin to look good as opposed to what this nation could turn into.
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Good luck, my friend.
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Alan: I truly am blessed, Jack. In the great scheme of things, we all are. It was only the good fortune of being born in American while each of us had a chance that put is in the position we are today. Each of us here on this thread have worked hard all of our loves and made no excuses for the failures we have had along the way or the misfortunes that have been subject to. We took the good with the bad and just kept on going knowing that our generation will succeed and that our children's generation will do even better than we did.
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We grew up in an America with a God, with a balanced political scene, with the American dream a reality for all. We saw Europe become socialized and watched it decay into a mere shadow of what it used to be. We looked at America and believed that we would never, never fall into that despair that fell on Europe. At least we felt that way until Vietnam began dividing our nation.
The leftist surge was sponsored by the communists and was all too eagerly signed on by the media with the likes of Walter Cronkite. They started by beating up Nixon and forcing his resignation. This gave them momentum and power. They next brought in an idiot of a peanut farmer to set the standards of a weak, meek and pacifist America.
.
As the young left wingers grew up, they became the destructive force behind emasculating and changing America. They became and are the media, the Hollywood elite, the jet sum and flotsam of the hippy leftist generation whose first task was to eliminate God from our public lives. They are the liberal elitists who are nothing more than mini Czarists themselves.
They set forth an agenda of weakening America, setting one segment of the population against the other, turning right into wrong, removing censorship, promoting free and open sex and considering perverted relationships as normal.
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How far has this country gone in so few years? Most of the nation still prefers a Ronald Reagan to a Barack Obama, but the powerful left has fully and totally undermined our nation by belittling our presidents, reducing the standards of education, scandalizing our sacred institutions of marriage and religion, minimizing the reality of the threats against us by our enemies, kneeling before those that want to destroy us and bringing our social structure to its knees.
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They have produced a divide and conquer mentality amongst Americans inciting class warfare, pushing gay agendas, caring more for the environment than f or the humans that inhabit it, making us dependent upon foreign resources as well as foreign workers, allowing unions to dictate their own terms of employment thereby shutting down American businesses and weakening our positions in the world.
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I am fed up with these ingrates. These hypocritical asswipes who have no concept of the consequences of their actions. They don't deserve America but are more than willing to enjoy its spoils.
Lynn: Good grief, Alan, you sound almost like one of those gun clinging, right wing, Bible fundamentalists. :) I've asked a lot of people what do they think has caused our country's downward slide into being a few steps from a Sodom or Gomorrah. Most all start off with the removal of God from public life and national consciousness.
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Of course, I think the same but then I'm one of those gun clinging, right wing, Bible fundamentalists. lol It appears to me that when there is an acknowledgment and respect in something greater than yourself be it God as I know Him or a simple acknowledgment of a Higher Power, that respect flows over into one's daily life.
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By no means do I think a believing people are near perfect, but the majority of people seem to have an internal guidance system to be a little more honest, a little more courteous, a little more respectful of others, and a little more responsible.
.
There is a hope, enthusiasm, and an expectation for tomorrow. I'm not deluded that we'd have a Utopia or had a Utopia but this country is consumed by greed, reeks of dishonesty, and an air of gloom and victimhood permeates the atmosphere.
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Our political leaders look out for themselves and are consumed with securing more money, more prestige, more power, and insuring their reelection. There is no love or loyalty for this country, only what they personally can obtain. I am thankful that I lived at our zenith and deeply sadden and distressed as it slowly dissolves.
Alan: You are spot on, Lynn. It has nothing to do with religion or being a religious zealot. It has to do with the acknowledgment that there is someone greater than us. Someone who the founding fathers based the birth of our nation upon.
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If we look at the alternative, we wind up with Soviet dominated communism. We also see the void that China went through during the Maoist revolutions. Remove God from the people and they only have the government to look up to as their Godhead.
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The liberals in this country are doing just that. Even Russian and China knew, as witnessed by freedom of religion in China now and same in Russia and the old Soviet states, that you can't control the people for long. Something the liberals will never get.
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Liberalism has not learned nor is willing to learn. You can't strip God from our lives, remove him from schools, remove him from courthouses and government establishment. It appears to be the bond that allows us the greatness and the freedom needed for the well being of our nation.
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Liberals substituded humanism. They cloak their agenda under the banner of PC. The desire not to ever hurt someone's feelings, even if it decays the inner fabric of America and undermines the will of the vast majority of Americans. Heading up this liberal cause is the ACLU, better know as the new American Communist Party.
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It is a sad day when the people of America are too timid to take back from this left wing minority what is theirs. Their rights to express their beliefs in schools, government oaths, civic auditoriums and public functions.
Jim: I couldn’t agree with you more, great post. You and I have so many similarities and I really can relate to your post. I have said on this thread how happy I am with my life. I have a wonderful family and we are close so I must have done something right growing up.
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I cannot help but notice how unhappy many liberals are and it seems they want to spread their misery equally to everyone else. I will never forget growing up in a relatively poor family and being taught that I could do anything that I wanted to do but that there are consequences for choices made. Over the years I made many mistakes but never booted God out of my life or my family’s life.
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I started out as a Democrat and the first President I supported was JFK however wasn’t old enough to vote at the time. I remember the Communist years and how we were told that Communism will bury us. At the time I thought that meant militarily but grew to learn that they would destroy us from within and without a shot being fired. I see that happening today as God is being removed from our lives and there is a moral decay today sweeping this country led by the secular progressives whose live for today ideology ignores personal responsibility. I have yet to hear any liberal blame themselves for personal problems they created.
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I believed strongly in the American dream and knew that I could achieve that dream with hard work, dedication, and the right mental attitude. I never relied on any President to take care of me and to make my life better although I knew that a President could hurt us by raising taxes and by failure to keep us safe. Those therefore remained the two most important issues for me in any election.
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Today I see the hero worship, cult mentality of so many. “Save me, Mr. President, from mistakes I have made”, “I will never have to pay my mortgage or for gasoline again” seem to be the cry of far too many. The swooning, fainting, stars in the eyes, and unrealistic expectations of one individual simply doesn’t’ make any sense to me. This attitude wasn’t prevalent when I was growing up so what happened to us?
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Could it be the removal of God from so many lives? I believe that is part of the problem along with the instant gratification crowd that lives for today instead of planning for tomorrow. In today’s world everyone lets the things they want get in the way of actually getting the things they need. This entitlement mentality where everyone deserves a home, everyone deserves health care, everyone deserves a living wage ignores the fact that all these are EARNED not guaranteed. The economic and history ignorance of so many is staggering. I see it all the time here on this thread but more importantly in real reported in the media.
.
I will continue to keep things in the proper perspective and focus on that which I can control. I will remain proactive instead of being reactive and will never lose my positive attitude and will refuse to participate in the liberal negative rhetoric and creation of victims. That is why I always appreciate your posts.
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Jocelyn: What's scary is her scenario could come true. That ($350-billion) stimulus package that Obama is putting forward is earmarked especially for those people. You heard what Robert Reich had to say, didn't you? Granted, he's just an advisor but lets be clear, he is an advisor for a reason.
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When he says that the Administration has to find a way to cut out skilled individuals and that includes construction workers and focus on the chronically unemployed or unemployable to receive stimulus cash ($350-billion) in rebuilding our infrastructure, that should be taken to mean something like a promise. The Administration will pave that way forward. Obama campaigned on redistribution of wealth and anyone who thinks he's suddenly going to become a centrist is fooling themselves.
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These people aren't as dumb as we are for thinking that her scenario of becoming "rich" by her standards because her President is in office won't happen.
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This President cannot succeed. Now it's we who have to find a way to make that happen because our (Republican) leadership such as it is, is too busy holding their ankles.
Following the Inauguration, some of us in the political discussion group I mentioned earlier were discussing how President Obama might become a role model for the black inner city youngsters and maybe even their parents. The following is an email exchange between several of us.
Jim: I just heard another one of those Obama supporters who expects to be rich due to the fact that Obama is President! She stated, “We aren’t rich like you folks but will be one day because we have Barack Obama as President.”
Now isn’t that special? Do you believe how dumb and naïve some people are? Can you imagine how suicidal this person is going to be when Obama fails to deliver on that expectation? What is wrong with people today with that cult mentality and their expectations for a handout that will make them rich? Was this country built on that mentality?
Alan: Absolutely not. In fact, I think it will get worse. I believe that many out there will have the attitude that they will be given a free pass because "one of theirs is in charge."
I believe that they will test the system more, expect more and, when they don't get it, will revolt.
Jaq: Well, they certainly have former Secretary of Labor (under Clinton) Robert Reich on their side. He's all for taking a portion of the "Stimulus infrastructure dollars" and handing it out to anyone but white male, skilled construction workers, contractors, etc. (Michelle Malkin » Robert Reich: Keep stimulus money away from skilled workers and “white male contractors” ).
.
There, boys and girls, is the beginning of a broadening welfare program to redistribute our future tax dollars (and those of our kids and their kids as far as the eye can see.) How much infrastructure will be improved while handing out billions to the disadvantaged?
.
At some point, more than 50% of the damn population will either be federal employees and po' folks on federal welfare of some description. Then we'll be well on our way to a one party system. Democrats forever! Mercy... the thought of it is sickening.
..
Alan: Hopefully I will be living nearly full time in Thailand by the time things get that bad. My kids are the ones that I worry about. My son will no doubt head back to Asia as soon as he graduates. Either Japan or China.
.
My oldest daughter is pretty much settled with a very good job as a senior project director for a major construction company.
.
My youngest daughter is in her second year of Architecture and Design and has no problems moving back to Japan for her graduate degree in Architecture as she has an affinity towards Asian design.
.
Things don't look so good for the social structure of America. Once they removed God from our public lives, the rest went downhill fast. Liberalism is a disease whose only cure is getting what they actually want. But then it is too late. Therefore, liberalism is a terminal disease killing everything it touches.
.
Jaq: Alan, you are fortunate to be in such a position. What per cent of the country could be as fortunate, .0001%?
.
That leaves a lot of us, particularly the ones that DIDN'T vote for Obama, Pelosi, Reid & Company holding the bag.
.
Myself, I may be close to being as fortunate as you considering my tender age... :) hell, I may die before the liberal/socialist bullshit gets too deep. Even Hell might begin to look good as opposed to what this nation could turn into.
.
Good luck, my friend.
.
Alan: I truly am blessed, Jack. In the great scheme of things, we all are. It was only the good fortune of being born in American while each of us had a chance that put is in the position we are today. Each of us here on this thread have worked hard all of our loves and made no excuses for the failures we have had along the way or the misfortunes that have been subject to. We took the good with the bad and just kept on going knowing that our generation will succeed and that our children's generation will do even better than we did.
.
We grew up in an America with a God, with a balanced political scene, with the American dream a reality for all. We saw Europe become socialized and watched it decay into a mere shadow of what it used to be. We looked at America and believed that we would never, never fall into that despair that fell on Europe. At least we felt that way until Vietnam began dividing our nation.
The leftist surge was sponsored by the communists and was all too eagerly signed on by the media with the likes of Walter Cronkite. They started by beating up Nixon and forcing his resignation. This gave them momentum and power. They next brought in an idiot of a peanut farmer to set the standards of a weak, meek and pacifist America.
.
As the young left wingers grew up, they became the destructive force behind emasculating and changing America. They became and are the media, the Hollywood elite, the jet sum and flotsam of the hippy leftist generation whose first task was to eliminate God from our public lives. They are the liberal elitists who are nothing more than mini Czarists themselves.
They set forth an agenda of weakening America, setting one segment of the population against the other, turning right into wrong, removing censorship, promoting free and open sex and considering perverted relationships as normal.
.
How far has this country gone in so few years? Most of the nation still prefers a Ronald Reagan to a Barack Obama, but the powerful left has fully and totally undermined our nation by belittling our presidents, reducing the standards of education, scandalizing our sacred institutions of marriage and religion, minimizing the reality of the threats against us by our enemies, kneeling before those that want to destroy us and bringing our social structure to its knees.
.
They have produced a divide and conquer mentality amongst Americans inciting class warfare, pushing gay agendas, caring more for the environment than f or the humans that inhabit it, making us dependent upon foreign resources as well as foreign workers, allowing unions to dictate their own terms of employment thereby shutting down American businesses and weakening our positions in the world.
.
I am fed up with these ingrates. These hypocritical asswipes who have no concept of the consequences of their actions. They don't deserve America but are more than willing to enjoy its spoils.
Lynn: Good grief, Alan, you sound almost like one of those gun clinging, right wing, Bible fundamentalists. :) I've asked a lot of people what do they think has caused our country's downward slide into being a few steps from a Sodom or Gomorrah. Most all start off with the removal of God from public life and national consciousness.
.
Of course, I think the same but then I'm one of those gun clinging, right wing, Bible fundamentalists. lol It appears to me that when there is an acknowledgment and respect in something greater than yourself be it God as I know Him or a simple acknowledgment of a Higher Power, that respect flows over into one's daily life.
.
By no means do I think a believing people are near perfect, but the majority of people seem to have an internal guidance system to be a little more honest, a little more courteous, a little more respectful of others, and a little more responsible.
.
There is a hope, enthusiasm, and an expectation for tomorrow. I'm not deluded that we'd have a Utopia or had a Utopia but this country is consumed by greed, reeks of dishonesty, and an air of gloom and victimhood permeates the atmosphere.
.
Our political leaders look out for themselves and are consumed with securing more money, more prestige, more power, and insuring their reelection. There is no love or loyalty for this country, only what they personally can obtain. I am thankful that I lived at our zenith and deeply sadden and distressed as it slowly dissolves.
Alan: You are spot on, Lynn. It has nothing to do with religion or being a religious zealot. It has to do with the acknowledgment that there is someone greater than us. Someone who the founding fathers based the birth of our nation upon.
.
If we look at the alternative, we wind up with Soviet dominated communism. We also see the void that China went through during the Maoist revolutions. Remove God from the people and they only have the government to look up to as their Godhead.
.
The liberals in this country are doing just that. Even Russian and China knew, as witnessed by freedom of religion in China now and same in Russia and the old Soviet states, that you can't control the people for long. Something the liberals will never get.
.
Liberalism has not learned nor is willing to learn. You can't strip God from our lives, remove him from schools, remove him from courthouses and government establishment. It appears to be the bond that allows us the greatness and the freedom needed for the well being of our nation.
.
Liberals substituded humanism. They cloak their agenda under the banner of PC. The desire not to ever hurt someone's feelings, even if it decays the inner fabric of America and undermines the will of the vast majority of Americans. Heading up this liberal cause is the ACLU, better know as the new American Communist Party.
.
It is a sad day when the people of America are too timid to take back from this left wing minority what is theirs. Their rights to express their beliefs in schools, government oaths, civic auditoriums and public functions.
Jim: I couldn’t agree with you more, great post. You and I have so many similarities and I really can relate to your post. I have said on this thread how happy I am with my life. I have a wonderful family and we are close so I must have done something right growing up.
.
I cannot help but notice how unhappy many liberals are and it seems they want to spread their misery equally to everyone else. I will never forget growing up in a relatively poor family and being taught that I could do anything that I wanted to do but that there are consequences for choices made. Over the years I made many mistakes but never booted God out of my life or my family’s life.
.
I started out as a Democrat and the first President I supported was JFK however wasn’t old enough to vote at the time. I remember the Communist years and how we were told that Communism will bury us. At the time I thought that meant militarily but grew to learn that they would destroy us from within and without a shot being fired. I see that happening today as God is being removed from our lives and there is a moral decay today sweeping this country led by the secular progressives whose live for today ideology ignores personal responsibility. I have yet to hear any liberal blame themselves for personal problems they created.
.
I believed strongly in the American dream and knew that I could achieve that dream with hard work, dedication, and the right mental attitude. I never relied on any President to take care of me and to make my life better although I knew that a President could hurt us by raising taxes and by failure to keep us safe. Those therefore remained the two most important issues for me in any election.
.
Today I see the hero worship, cult mentality of so many. “Save me, Mr. President, from mistakes I have made”, “I will never have to pay my mortgage or for gasoline again” seem to be the cry of far too many. The swooning, fainting, stars in the eyes, and unrealistic expectations of one individual simply doesn’t’ make any sense to me. This attitude wasn’t prevalent when I was growing up so what happened to us?
.
Could it be the removal of God from so many lives? I believe that is part of the problem along with the instant gratification crowd that lives for today instead of planning for tomorrow. In today’s world everyone lets the things they want get in the way of actually getting the things they need. This entitlement mentality where everyone deserves a home, everyone deserves health care, everyone deserves a living wage ignores the fact that all these are EARNED not guaranteed. The economic and history ignorance of so many is staggering. I see it all the time here on this thread but more importantly in real reported in the media.
.
I will continue to keep things in the proper perspective and focus on that which I can control. I will remain proactive instead of being reactive and will never lose my positive attitude and will refuse to participate in the liberal negative rhetoric and creation of victims. That is why I always appreciate your posts.
.
Jocelyn: What's scary is her scenario could come true. That ($350-billion) stimulus package that Obama is putting forward is earmarked especially for those people. You heard what Robert Reich had to say, didn't you? Granted, he's just an advisor but lets be clear, he is an advisor for a reason.
.
When he says that the Administration has to find a way to cut out skilled individuals and that includes construction workers and focus on the chronically unemployed or unemployable to receive stimulus cash ($350-billion) in rebuilding our infrastructure, that should be taken to mean something like a promise. The Administration will pave that way forward. Obama campaigned on redistribution of wealth and anyone who thinks he's suddenly going to become a centrist is fooling themselves.
.
These people aren't as dumb as we are for thinking that her scenario of becoming "rich" by her standards because her President is in office won't happen.
.
This President cannot succeed. Now it's we who have to find a way to make that happen because our (Republican) leadership such as it is, is too busy holding their ankles.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
"Soft Underbelly" article Follow-up
by jwright
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I have had the pleasure (at times) of being connected with an online political discussion group for several years starting in the mid-1990s. One of the participants, known to me as SaraSabra, is an Israeli female who splits her time between Florida and Israel. Currently she is over there but she keeps in constant touch with us via her email communications.
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In my previous article I suggested that she might have some comments. She certainly did, and I have posted them below with her permission. Enjoy.
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John, I have a few comments....(laughing) but of course you had to know that...
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What he's saying shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone on the list... and Israeli's are not uniquely qualified to anticipate when and where terror will erupt. It just comes... it's an evolutionary process whereby the "don't have's" for whatever reason that they don't have, decide to make their presence and whatever point they feel they have known to the perceived "haves". (One can subsitute meanies, imperialists, genocidal maniacs, modern-day Nazis, far-right fascists...whatever euphemism one wants to for the "have's" in this case, as we have seen done over and over again).
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I look at the situation as a "class struggle".....Ladyhkr (another female email poster) looks at it as a "status struggle"....Fundy (another female email poster) apparently looks at it as an "interrelated Muslim - over-populating (in comparison to the aborting euro-caucasion-christian populace) socio -economic discontented with their lot in life conspiracy to overtake the world that can only be brought to a halt under the leadership of Ron Paul" struggle that will, by the by, bankrupt us along the way, if it hasn't already...
Whatever it is...there is no question that the "powers that be" will continue to wage conventional wars...and the "powers that aren't" will continue to attack the "soft underbelly".
I was driving by where Grad rockets hit Beer Sheva yesterday, and thinking about the difference of when I was a kid here.
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When I was a kid...I'd hop on a bus, and if there was an unattended package...you immediately reacted...like in the article. But more than that...before you sat down, (anyplace, not just on a bus) you used your hand to "sweep the seat" to make sure that nothing was there that you might sit on/over...because they used to leave bombs that would detonate upon physical pressure. In America, people think nothing of sitting down on a public seat in an airport or someplace and putting their things on the seat next to them. In Israel....you never did that...you would pile the things up underneath you, between your legs, on your lap, etc....but if something was on the seat, or beneath it, it was suspicious...you didn't so much as raise the alarm automatically, but you "swept the seat" by instinct just in case, and if something was there....people weren't blind to it...but they reacted appropriately.
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Those were the days before suicide bombers...generations have now been born that don't even remember those types of threat, nowadays, you have to "sweep the surroundings"....you literally have to eyeball everyone around, PROFILE, if you will...and yes...you are looking for people that look suspicious: Nervous, sweating, overdressed, not making eye contact, talking to themselves or conversely.....in the zone of euphoria....as if they are already on their way to heaven, (which I think I'd find even more alarming).
I have faith in America. Americans are a remarkably resiliant country, with a "can do / kick ass" attitude. We've shown it in the past. We are a nation of un-pedigreed mutts...and I say that with the greatest of respect.
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Americans came to this country seeking a better life from the countries that they left, and at their core, beneath the soft, bloated, underbelly that we have developed from living a particularly easy life in comparison to most of the rest of the world....we have maintained a very healthy work ethic, a belief in a strong defense, a "don't tread on me" mentality, an appreciation and sypmathy for the underdog, all while still being a world leader in technological progress and economy.
We have balance in this country...it enables us to roll with the punches and still come out swinging when the time comes...
We have had to change some of our travel habits a bit.... We have had some of our liberties (from most of which we haven't felt any real interruptions to our lives) curtailed....
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Some of our tax dollars have been siphoned off to pay for new "security systems".... Big Deal. I really haven't felt any appreciable difference in my way of living in the USA, other than I am always sure to wear socks when flying commercial because I don't want to walk barefoot where millions of others do.
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I have always felt that it was only a matter of time before terrorism (as opposed to pervasive violent crime) became a real problem in this country.... And I think that it is probably well on it's way here.
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We've had salvos and shots across the bow. We've had Oklahoma City and 9-11....direct hits...
and I don't doubt that we will have more. I also don't doubt that we will be able to adjust and adapt to the attacks.
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But.... PROFILING....will have to become a part of our strategy against this.
And in this case, the ACLU be damned. Pertinent questions will have to be addressed and the world of political correctness might have to be sacrificed on occasion when the question of the "greater good" is at hand.
.
Laws CAN and SHOULD be enacted so that the abuse of this does not occur...for instance....if crimes are detected un-related to national security, by routine national security profiling, they might not be acted upon. I'm not a legal mind to determine the ins and outs of this...BUT....it seems to me that there has to be more security involved, and that those that will cry "abuse of power" can relax a bit if there are some legal adjustments.
As for the issue of attacking where the crowds are...well... I think that's a given. it's sort of ingrained in me at this point to try and avoid huge crowds to optimize my comfort zone...and yet, there are times when i say, "to hell with it, fate is fate, and i'm going to enjoy myself and GO"....but I do know, that it is safer to get past the checkpoints in place when in airports, cruise embarkations, etc.... Just a few years ago, some whacko in LA attacked the exterior check-in area at the LA airport near the EL AL counter, because they know they can't get past. The same has happened in Frankfurt Germany and Rome Italy.
I'm sure I could go on, but I actually have to go out now....bringing some dinner to the hospital here for shabbat.
.
Shalom all,
Sara
.
I have had the pleasure (at times) of being connected with an online political discussion group for several years starting in the mid-1990s. One of the participants, known to me as SaraSabra, is an Israeli female who splits her time between Florida and Israel. Currently she is over there but she keeps in constant touch with us via her email communications.
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In my previous article I suggested that she might have some comments. She certainly did, and I have posted them below with her permission. Enjoy.
.
John, I have a few comments....(laughing) but of course you had to know that...
.
What he's saying shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone on the list... and Israeli's are not uniquely qualified to anticipate when and where terror will erupt. It just comes... it's an evolutionary process whereby the "don't have's" for whatever reason that they don't have, decide to make their presence and whatever point they feel they have known to the perceived "haves". (One can subsitute meanies, imperialists, genocidal maniacs, modern-day Nazis, far-right fascists...whatever euphemism one wants to for the "have's" in this case, as we have seen done over and over again).
.
I look at the situation as a "class struggle".....Ladyhkr (another female email poster) looks at it as a "status struggle"....Fundy (another female email poster) apparently looks at it as an "interrelated Muslim - over-populating (in comparison to the aborting euro-caucasion-christian populace) socio -economic discontented with their lot in life conspiracy to overtake the world that can only be brought to a halt under the leadership of Ron Paul" struggle that will, by the by, bankrupt us along the way, if it hasn't already...
Whatever it is...there is no question that the "powers that be" will continue to wage conventional wars...and the "powers that aren't" will continue to attack the "soft underbelly".
I was driving by where Grad rockets hit Beer Sheva yesterday, and thinking about the difference of when I was a kid here.
.
When I was a kid...I'd hop on a bus, and if there was an unattended package...you immediately reacted...like in the article. But more than that...before you sat down, (anyplace, not just on a bus) you used your hand to "sweep the seat" to make sure that nothing was there that you might sit on/over...because they used to leave bombs that would detonate upon physical pressure. In America, people think nothing of sitting down on a public seat in an airport or someplace and putting their things on the seat next to them. In Israel....you never did that...you would pile the things up underneath you, between your legs, on your lap, etc....but if something was on the seat, or beneath it, it was suspicious...you didn't so much as raise the alarm automatically, but you "swept the seat" by instinct just in case, and if something was there....people weren't blind to it...but they reacted appropriately.
.
Those were the days before suicide bombers...generations have now been born that don't even remember those types of threat, nowadays, you have to "sweep the surroundings"....you literally have to eyeball everyone around, PROFILE, if you will...and yes...you are looking for people that look suspicious: Nervous, sweating, overdressed, not making eye contact, talking to themselves or conversely.....in the zone of euphoria....as if they are already on their way to heaven, (which I think I'd find even more alarming).
I have faith in America. Americans are a remarkably resiliant country, with a "can do / kick ass" attitude. We've shown it in the past. We are a nation of un-pedigreed mutts...and I say that with the greatest of respect.
.
Americans came to this country seeking a better life from the countries that they left, and at their core, beneath the soft, bloated, underbelly that we have developed from living a particularly easy life in comparison to most of the rest of the world....we have maintained a very healthy work ethic, a belief in a strong defense, a "don't tread on me" mentality, an appreciation and sypmathy for the underdog, all while still being a world leader in technological progress and economy.
We have balance in this country...it enables us to roll with the punches and still come out swinging when the time comes...
We have had to change some of our travel habits a bit.... We have had some of our liberties (from most of which we haven't felt any real interruptions to our lives) curtailed....
.
Some of our tax dollars have been siphoned off to pay for new "security systems".... Big Deal. I really haven't felt any appreciable difference in my way of living in the USA, other than I am always sure to wear socks when flying commercial because I don't want to walk barefoot where millions of others do.
.
I have always felt that it was only a matter of time before terrorism (as opposed to pervasive violent crime) became a real problem in this country.... And I think that it is probably well on it's way here.
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We've had salvos and shots across the bow. We've had Oklahoma City and 9-11....direct hits...
and I don't doubt that we will have more. I also don't doubt that we will be able to adjust and adapt to the attacks.
.
But.... PROFILING....will have to become a part of our strategy against this.
And in this case, the ACLU be damned. Pertinent questions will have to be addressed and the world of political correctness might have to be sacrificed on occasion when the question of the "greater good" is at hand.
.
Laws CAN and SHOULD be enacted so that the abuse of this does not occur...for instance....if crimes are detected un-related to national security, by routine national security profiling, they might not be acted upon. I'm not a legal mind to determine the ins and outs of this...BUT....it seems to me that there has to be more security involved, and that those that will cry "abuse of power" can relax a bit if there are some legal adjustments.
As for the issue of attacking where the crowds are...well... I think that's a given. it's sort of ingrained in me at this point to try and avoid huge crowds to optimize my comfort zone...and yet, there are times when i say, "to hell with it, fate is fate, and i'm going to enjoy myself and GO"....but I do know, that it is safer to get past the checkpoints in place when in airports, cruise embarkations, etc.... Just a few years ago, some whacko in LA attacked the exterior check-in area at the LA airport near the EL AL counter, because they know they can't get past. The same has happened in Frankfurt Germany and Rome Italy.
I'm sure I could go on, but I actually have to go out now....bringing some dinner to the hospital here for shabbat.
.
Shalom all,
Sara
Thursday, January 15, 2009
America's Soft Underbelly?
by jwright
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It's been a day short of a month since I penned something for this blog. Life happens...
.
I happened to assist Sweetsusan in driving her Toyota from northern Michigan to sunny Phoeniz Arizona for her Dad Albert to buy. On our second day we visited my oldest daughter and her family in the Denver Colorado area. We then trekked south for lunch in Santa Fe the next day and spent the night in Gallup, New Mexico. Lots of open, uninnhabited land out there and along the way. Leaving Gallup we drove to Flagstaff and spent an overnight with Susan's son and his family before driving south out of the snow to Phoenix. There I caught a nasty respiratory virus and am still ridding myself of that.
.
A lot has transpired since my last email. Some of it highly questionable. One of president-elect Obamas's choices for high office with a tremendous responsibility is the new pick to head our CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), Leon Paneta.
.
Leon is a friendly enough appearing sort, everyone's friend but what the hell does he know about Intelligence? Time will tell I guess, it always does.
.
With that in mind, the following article is taken from an email that I received late today. Rather scary reading in my opinion. After reading it, maybe you'll agree that it's scary too.
.
Here goes: "Juval Aviv was the Israeli Agent upon whom the movie ' Munich ' was based. He was Golda Meir's bodyguard -- she appointed him to track down and bring to justice the Palestinian terrorists who took the Israeli athletes hostage and killed them during the Munich Olympic Games.
.
In a lecture in New York City a few weeks ago, he shared information that EVERY American needs to know -- but that our government has not yet shared with us. He predicted the London subway bombing on the Bill O'Reilly show on Fox News stating publicly that it would happen within a week. At the time, O'Reilly laughed and mocked him saying that in a week he wanted him back on the show. But, unfortunately, within a week the terrorist attack had occurred.
.
Juval Aviv gave intelligence (via what he had gathered in Israel and the Middle East ) to the Bush Administration about 9/11 a month before it occurred. His report specifically said they would use planes as bombs and target high profile buildings and monuments. Congress has since hired him as a security consultant.
.
Now for his future predictions. He predicts the next terrorist attack on the U.S. will occur within the next few months. Forget hijacking airplanes, because he says terrorists will NEVER try and hijack a plane again as they know the people onboard will never go down quietly again. Aviv believes our airport security is a joke -- that we have been reactionary rather than proactive in developing strategies that are truly effective.
.
For example: 1) Our airport technology is outdated. We look for metal, and the new explosives are made of plastic. 2) He talked about how some idiot tried to light his shoe on fire. Because of that, now everyone has to take off their shoes. A group of idiots tried to bring aboard liquid explosives. Now we can't bring liquids on board. He says he's waiting for some suicidal maniac to pour liquid explosive on his underwear; at which point, security wil l have us all traveling naked! Every strategy we have is 'reactionary.' 3) We only focus on security when people are heading to the gates.
.
Aviv says that if a terrorist attack targets airports in the future, they will target busy times on the front end of the airport when/where people are checking in. It would be easy for someone to take two suitcases of explosives, walk up to a busy check-in line, ask a person next to them to watch their bags for a minute while they run to the restroom or get a drink, and then detonate the bags BEFORE security even gets involved. In Israel , security checks bags BEFORE people can even ENTER the airport.
.
Aviv says the next terrorist attack here in America is imminent and will involve suicide bombers and non-suicide bombers in places where large groups of people congregate. (i. e., Disneyland, Las Vegas casinos, big cities (New York, San Francisco, Chicago, etc.) and that it will also include shopping malls, subways in rush hour, train stations, etc., as well as rural America this time (Wyoming, Montana, etc.).
.
The attack will be characterized by simultaneous detonations around the country (terrorists like big impact), involving at least 5-8 cities, including rural areas. Aviv says terrorists won't need to use suicide bombers in many of the larger cities, because at places like the MGM Grand in Las Vegas , they can simply valet park a car loaded with explosives and walk away.
.
Aviv says all of the above is well known in intelligence circles, but that our U. S. government does not want to 'alarm American citizens' with the facts. The world is quickly going to become 'a different place', and issues like 'global warming' and political correctness will become totally irrelevant.
.
On an encouraging note, he says that Americans don't have to be concerned about being nuked. Aviv says the terrorists who want to destroy America will not use sophisticated weapons. They like to use suicide as a front-line approach. It's cheap, it's easy, it's effective; and they have an infinite abundance of young militants more than willing to 'meet their destiny'.
.
He also says the next level of terrorists, over which America should be most concerned, will not be coming from abroad. But will be, instead, 'homegrown' -- having attended and been educated in our own schools and universities right here in the U. S. He says to look for 'students' who frequently travel back and forth to the Middle East . These young terrorists will be most dangerous because they will know our language and will fully understand the habits of Americans; but that we Americans won't know/understand a thing about them.
.
Aviv says that, as a people, Americans are unaware and uneducated about the terroristic threats we will, inevitably, face. America still has only have a handful of Arabic and Farsi speaking people in our intelligence networks, and Aviv says it is critical that we change that fact SOON. So, what can America do to protect itself?
.
From an intelligence perspective, Aviv says the U.S. needs to stop relying on satellites and technology for intelligence. We need to, instead, follow Israel 's, Ireland 's and England 's hands-on examples of human intelligence, both from an infiltration perspective as well as to trust 'aware' citizens to help. We need to engage and educate ourselves as citizens; however, our U. S. government continues to treat us, its citizens, 'like babies'. Our government thinks we 'can't handle the truth' and are concerned that we'll panic if we understand the realities of terrorism. Aviv says this is a deadly mistake.
.
Aviv recently created/executed a security test for our Congress, by placing an empty briefcase in five well-traveled spots in five major cities. The results? Not one person called 911 or sought a policeman to check it out. In fact, in Chicago, someone tried to steal the briefcase!
.
In comparison, Aviv says that citizens of Israel are so well 'trained' that an unattended bag or package would be reported in seconds by citizen(s) who know to publicly shout, 'Unattended Bag!' The area would be quickly & calmly cleared by the citizens themselves. But, unfortunately, America hasn't been yet 'hurt enough' by terrorism for their government to fully understand the need to educate its citizens or for the government to understand that it's their citizens who are, inevitably, the best first-line of defense against terrorism.
.
Aviv also was concerned about the high number of children here in America who were in preschool and kindergarten after 9/11, who were 'lost' without parents being able to pick them up, and about ours schools that had no plan in place to best care for the students until parents could get there. (In New York City , this was days, in some cases!)
.
He stresses the importance of having a plan, that's agreed upon within your family, to respond to in the event of a terroristic emergency. He urges parents to contact their children's schools and demand that the schools, too, develop plans of actions, as they do in Israel .
.
Does your family know what to do if you can't contact one another by phone? Where would you gather in an emergency? He says we should all have a plan that is easy enough for even our youngest children to remember and follow.
.
Aviv says that the U. S. government has in force a plan that, in the event of another terrorist attack, will immediately cut-off EVERYONE's ability to use cell phones, blackberries, etc., as this is the preferred communication source used by terrorists and is often the wa y that their bombs are detonated.
.
How will you communicate with your loved ones in the event you cannot speak to them? You need to have a plan.
So there it is, boys and girls... one man's idea of what our future may hold. Pray he is mistaken.
jaq~
.
It's been a day short of a month since I penned something for this blog. Life happens...
.
I happened to assist Sweetsusan in driving her Toyota from northern Michigan to sunny Phoeniz Arizona for her Dad Albert to buy. On our second day we visited my oldest daughter and her family in the Denver Colorado area. We then trekked south for lunch in Santa Fe the next day and spent the night in Gallup, New Mexico. Lots of open, uninnhabited land out there and along the way. Leaving Gallup we drove to Flagstaff and spent an overnight with Susan's son and his family before driving south out of the snow to Phoenix. There I caught a nasty respiratory virus and am still ridding myself of that.
.
A lot has transpired since my last email. Some of it highly questionable. One of president-elect Obamas's choices for high office with a tremendous responsibility is the new pick to head our CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), Leon Paneta.
.
Leon is a friendly enough appearing sort, everyone's friend but what the hell does he know about Intelligence? Time will tell I guess, it always does.
.
With that in mind, the following article is taken from an email that I received late today. Rather scary reading in my opinion. After reading it, maybe you'll agree that it's scary too.
.
Here goes: "Juval Aviv was the Israeli Agent upon whom the movie ' Munich ' was based. He was Golda Meir's bodyguard -- she appointed him to track down and bring to justice the Palestinian terrorists who took the Israeli athletes hostage and killed them during the Munich Olympic Games.
.
In a lecture in New York City a few weeks ago, he shared information that EVERY American needs to know -- but that our government has not yet shared with us. He predicted the London subway bombing on the Bill O'Reilly show on Fox News stating publicly that it would happen within a week. At the time, O'Reilly laughed and mocked him saying that in a week he wanted him back on the show. But, unfortunately, within a week the terrorist attack had occurred.
.
Juval Aviv gave intelligence (via what he had gathered in Israel and the Middle East ) to the Bush Administration about 9/11 a month before it occurred. His report specifically said they would use planes as bombs and target high profile buildings and monuments. Congress has since hired him as a security consultant.
.
Now for his future predictions. He predicts the next terrorist attack on the U.S. will occur within the next few months. Forget hijacking airplanes, because he says terrorists will NEVER try and hijack a plane again as they know the people onboard will never go down quietly again. Aviv believes our airport security is a joke -- that we have been reactionary rather than proactive in developing strategies that are truly effective.
.
For example: 1) Our airport technology is outdated. We look for metal, and the new explosives are made of plastic. 2) He talked about how some idiot tried to light his shoe on fire. Because of that, now everyone has to take off their shoes. A group of idiots tried to bring aboard liquid explosives. Now we can't bring liquids on board. He says he's waiting for some suicidal maniac to pour liquid explosive on his underwear; at which point, security wil l have us all traveling naked! Every strategy we have is 'reactionary.' 3) We only focus on security when people are heading to the gates.
.
Aviv says that if a terrorist attack targets airports in the future, they will target busy times on the front end of the airport when/where people are checking in. It would be easy for someone to take two suitcases of explosives, walk up to a busy check-in line, ask a person next to them to watch their bags for a minute while they run to the restroom or get a drink, and then detonate the bags BEFORE security even gets involved. In Israel , security checks bags BEFORE people can even ENTER the airport.
.
Aviv says the next terrorist attack here in America is imminent and will involve suicide bombers and non-suicide bombers in places where large groups of people congregate. (i. e., Disneyland, Las Vegas casinos, big cities (New York, San Francisco, Chicago, etc.) and that it will also include shopping malls, subways in rush hour, train stations, etc., as well as rural America this time (Wyoming, Montana, etc.).
.
The attack will be characterized by simultaneous detonations around the country (terrorists like big impact), involving at least 5-8 cities, including rural areas. Aviv says terrorists won't need to use suicide bombers in many of the larger cities, because at places like the MGM Grand in Las Vegas , they can simply valet park a car loaded with explosives and walk away.
.
Aviv says all of the above is well known in intelligence circles, but that our U. S. government does not want to 'alarm American citizens' with the facts. The world is quickly going to become 'a different place', and issues like 'global warming' and political correctness will become totally irrelevant.
.
On an encouraging note, he says that Americans don't have to be concerned about being nuked. Aviv says the terrorists who want to destroy America will not use sophisticated weapons. They like to use suicide as a front-line approach. It's cheap, it's easy, it's effective; and they have an infinite abundance of young militants more than willing to 'meet their destiny'.
.
He also says the next level of terrorists, over which America should be most concerned, will not be coming from abroad. But will be, instead, 'homegrown' -- having attended and been educated in our own schools and universities right here in the U. S. He says to look for 'students' who frequently travel back and forth to the Middle East . These young terrorists will be most dangerous because they will know our language and will fully understand the habits of Americans; but that we Americans won't know/understand a thing about them.
.
Aviv says that, as a people, Americans are unaware and uneducated about the terroristic threats we will, inevitably, face. America still has only have a handful of Arabic and Farsi speaking people in our intelligence networks, and Aviv says it is critical that we change that fact SOON. So, what can America do to protect itself?
.
From an intelligence perspective, Aviv says the U.S. needs to stop relying on satellites and technology for intelligence. We need to, instead, follow Israel 's, Ireland 's and England 's hands-on examples of human intelligence, both from an infiltration perspective as well as to trust 'aware' citizens to help. We need to engage and educate ourselves as citizens; however, our U. S. government continues to treat us, its citizens, 'like babies'. Our government thinks we 'can't handle the truth' and are concerned that we'll panic if we understand the realities of terrorism. Aviv says this is a deadly mistake.
.
Aviv recently created/executed a security test for our Congress, by placing an empty briefcase in five well-traveled spots in five major cities. The results? Not one person called 911 or sought a policeman to check it out. In fact, in Chicago, someone tried to steal the briefcase!
.
In comparison, Aviv says that citizens of Israel are so well 'trained' that an unattended bag or package would be reported in seconds by citizen(s) who know to publicly shout, 'Unattended Bag!' The area would be quickly & calmly cleared by the citizens themselves. But, unfortunately, America hasn't been yet 'hurt enough' by terrorism for their government to fully understand the need to educate its citizens or for the government to understand that it's their citizens who are, inevitably, the best first-line of defense against terrorism.
.
Aviv also was concerned about the high number of children here in America who were in preschool and kindergarten after 9/11, who were 'lost' without parents being able to pick them up, and about ours schools that had no plan in place to best care for the students until parents could get there. (In New York City , this was days, in some cases!)
.
He stresses the importance of having a plan, that's agreed upon within your family, to respond to in the event of a terroristic emergency. He urges parents to contact their children's schools and demand that the schools, too, develop plans of actions, as they do in Israel .
.
Does your family know what to do if you can't contact one another by phone? Where would you gather in an emergency? He says we should all have a plan that is easy enough for even our youngest children to remember and follow.
.
Aviv says that the U. S. government has in force a plan that, in the event of another terrorist attack, will immediately cut-off EVERYONE's ability to use cell phones, blackberries, etc., as this is the preferred communication source used by terrorists and is often the wa y that their bombs are detonated.
.
How will you communicate with your loved ones in the event you cannot speak to them? You need to have a plan.
So there it is, boys and girls... one man's idea of what our future may hold. Pray he is mistaken.
jaq~
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