Doc's Talk: What to talk about this Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 28, 2013

What to talk about this Thanksgiving

I agree wholeheartedly with Libby Sternberg, Kevin Whiteman, Jim Geraghty, and others that it is creepy and fascist of leftist policy advocates to put out guides on how to discuss the specifics of programmatic and regulatory proposals with your nearest and dearest over the holiday weekend.*
I assume most of you out there don’t actually need instructions on what to talk about over Thanksgiving. But what fun would it be to write a post on this topic and not offer some suggestions? So here goes.

1. What you’re thankful for. Du-uh. I’ll start things off with saying that I’m thankful for God’s provision in my life and the lives of my loved ones. I’ve decided to spend the holiday being thankful and not asking the Lord for one blessed thing more than the relatively sustainable, hanging-in-there mess that trundles around with me. There’s a lot more to say here. Fill in your own blanks.
2. The blessing of not shopping on Thanksgiving. Or, if you prefer, the opportunities presented by Black Friday deals and special hours at your favorite department stores. Enjoy disagreeing and laughing about it. Point out that some states actually prohibit stores from being open on holidays. Reminisce, if you’re old enough to, about the much broader “blue laws” many states used to have. Decry the consumer culture. Hug the young people who think you’re an old fuddy-duddy. Shake your head over the foolishness of literally camping out in front of Wal-Mart for days before Thanksgiving, in order to get through the door first when Black Friday launches on Thursday evening.
3. The pope’s new apostolic letter, “Evangelii Gaudium” (Gospel of Joy). Yep, just dive right in there. (And no, I’m not Catholic, nor did I sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night.) What did the pope mean about “a culture of prosperity” being a bad thing? What is a culture of prosperity, as opposed to some other form of culture? (A culture of poverty and limitations?) If the pope talks about what’s in our hearts – whether we’re caring about people or the stock market, the forgotten lives of the lost or our next electronics purchase – what does that mean about what governments should do?
4. The meaning of liberty. You’re going to end up talking about it anyway. Obamacare, gun rights, reproductive rights, the IRS, the government shutdown, Republicans, Democrats, the pope’s letter, Aunt Stella who can’t stand it when everyone talks so much politics – it’s going to come up. So talk. If there’s one topic that can’t be left alone this Thanksgiving, it’s what liberty means. The rubber has made contact with the road, people. There isn’t one single human transaction we can have, in anno Domini 2013, to which this discussion is not relevant.
The big political problem in our lives right now is that we Americans don’t have a common understanding of what liberty means: what it is we should try to protect; what our government should respect as a prior right of the people. We can’t gloss over that problem anymore, even for a day. That doesn’t mean we need to have big fights about it in the next 120 hours, with our sisters or fathers or in-laws, but it does mean we have to recognize that that’s what’s going on. We don’t all see liberty as meaning the same thing. That difference is the one that will decide our nation’s future. By extension, it will decide the world’s future, for at least a generation. It’s everyone’s issue.
I recommend starting your thought process with this editorial by Myron Magnet, from today’s Wall Street Journal. It’s short. It focuses on the first Pilgrims, and on what I perceive to be the core of liberty: liberty of religious and moral conscience. If we do not have that, there will be no other liberties. We will be beholden to man-made institutions for, literally, everything in our lives, from our livelihoods to what we dare to hope for the future.
And don’t worry about settling issues or coming to conclusions. We spend most of our days on earth with no idea of the power of simply saying things. People remember. They may disagree vehemently, at a moment in time, but they’ll remember what they heard. The day will come when they’re ready to let it sink it. Be the person who said what they remember. Don’t let it be an ideologue or a conspiracy theorist who said the last memorable thing. Get the ideas out there.
Keep in mind, Thanksgiving for us is an American holiday as much as a “holy day” of thanksgiving to God. If we Americans don’t talk about the meaning of liberty, who will? Just remember to hug Aunt Stella.
5. The commercialization of Christmas. Or other rotten, lousy things that are being done to Christmas. Come on, you know you want to. I’ve got a nice little list of complaints ready to expound on. I mean, seriously, the people two blocks over who put out their lights and their menagerie of inflatable snowmen and reindeer the day after Halloween (known in Christendom as All Saints’ Day)? What was that about? Not even Wal-Mart got the Christmas displays out that fast.
6. Hanukkah coming early this year. Who knew, right? It’s usually in December, and gets paired in the community consciousness, for no other good reason, with Christmas. Well, we think of lighting candles for both of those holidays too. Anyway, it starts this evening (the 27th) and runs through 5 December. Remember to add Hanukkah wishes to your holiday greetings. Challenge the kids to look up why Hanukkah falls on different days, and falls so early this year (if they haven’t already had to look it up for school).

7. Football. Not necessarily a safe topic in some households, but an ever-fertile one in most. Either everybody loves football, or at least some curmudgeons are famous for hating it. Either way, it’s good for a yakk-fest, especially with the new “targeting” rules this year. To keep things lively, be sure to bring up Rush Limbaugh’s theory on the chickification of football (for the uninitiated, that means “the turning of football into a girl-friendly sissypants spectacle, with pink doodads and institutional safety terrors”). There are lots of annual rivalry games this weekend in college football. There are some good pro match-ups on tap. High school conferences have their state championship games still to be played. Embrace the inner pigskin and just make sure there’s plenty of pie to go with.
And to all at TOC Nation: A happy and blessed Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. God bless us, every one.

*OK, technically, Libby didn’t mention that it’s fascist, and only implied that it’s creepy, while Kevin alluded obliquely to the Stalinist nature of the name “Organizing for Action.” But I promise, Jim Geraghty invoked the “liberal fascism” allusion.
J.E. Dyer’s articles have appeared at Hot Air, Commentary’s “contentions,” Patheos, The Daily Caller, The Jewish Press, and The Weekly Standard online. She also writes for the new blog Liberty Unyielding.

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

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