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         I'm happy to show you another DIY project that Bogdan and I made this past month. - A NEW COAT!-

By Findalis

Chanukah Day 1





Jews fight?  That was asked when I was a child.  Right!  They can't fight their way out of a paper bag.  Jews don't know how to fight.  That is why the Nazis were able to kill them.

But the reality is that Jews were known for their fighting prowess for thousands of years.

The miracle of Hanukkah wasn’t performed by G-d alone. The Maccabees played a crucial role in defeating the Syrian Greeks on the battlefields. It was a partnership of human courage and Divine guidance. Matisyahu and his sons prevailed because they were wise enough to recognize that although Jews revere peace, we acknowledge that there may be a time that demands we go to war.

And that was not an easy thing for our people to admit – neither then, nor today.

Psychologists tell us there are basically two ways in which we can cope with the world: fight or flight. Encountering any difficulty, one can either attempt to cope, grapple and wrestle with an issue and overcome it, or one can flee and give up at the outset.

Some may rationalize flight as the correct religious response. Let me not do anything, and if G-d really desires a certain outcome, let Him handle it to His satisfaction.

As I heard Rabbi Soleveichik once explain it, this was the way of Jacob, even from the time he was in the womb. Jacob had actually been conceived first. He should’ve been the one to be born before his brother. Technically, he was the eldest, with all the attendant privileges of primogeniture. His brother Esau, however, pushed himself forward and forced himself over Jacob. “And after that came forth his brother and his hand had hold on Esau’s heel and his name was called Jacob” [Genesis 25:26] . The very name Jacob comes from the Hebrew word related to heel. Jacob was holding on to his brother’s heel; he begins his life being trampled upon, unfairly deprived by force of his rights.

Jacob’s life continued to unfold, guided by the unspoken philosophy that “nice Jewish boys don’t fight.” His twin brother Esau fooled father Isaac into thinking that he was the more pious and deserving son - and were it not for the intervention of his mother, Jacob would not have said a word in the face of this injustice.

When Jacob fell in love with Rachel only to have his father-in-law switch brides and trick him into a marriage with Leah, his response was to quietly accept the obligation to work for yet another seven years in order to earn the hand of the woman that was already rightly his.

Passivity in the face of evil and the silent acceptance of ill treatment defined Jacob’s theology. Jacob eventually realized his error in the dramatic story that so altered his perception that it was responsible for a change of name, a change that acknowledged that his newfound insight literally turned him into a new person.

Left totally alone and attacked by a mysterious assailant the commentators identify as the evil representative of Esau, Jacob realizes he has no alternative but to fight. At the end of a long night of battle, Jacob is left limping but nonetheless receives a blessing. He is now no longer the stepped-upon Jacob, but from this time forward is Israel – “because you have striven with G-d and with men and have prevailed” [Genesis 32:29].

Jacob may have suffered a blow, but he won the greater battle – the battle over his unwillingness previously to engage in combat. Jacob won the greatest victory of all – he finally managed to conquer himself.

And, explain the commentators, if he was left limping, what of it? That would simply mean he would never again be able to run away from anyone or any place, not even from himself.

The name change of Jacob to Israel differs from that of Abram to Abraham. Once Abram became Abraham he would never again be called by his original name. Abraham identified his new mission as “the father of many nations,” the first one to bring monotheism to the consciousness of the world. That name change was exclusive.

However even after Jacob became Israel, when the pacifist became the fighter, we still find him at times referred to by his earlier name. The reason is obvious. It is what was stated so beautifully by Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes: “There is a time for peace and there is a time for war.” Both names are to be used, both modalities are to be employed.

Peace is the ultimate goal. But until the messianic era, war remains an unfortunate necessity.

We wish we would only have to imitate the way of Jacob who sat peacefully in his tent dedicating his life to study. But as long as there remain those like Esau who threaten our existence we know we must assume the identity of Israel and do battle with our enemies.

The Maccabees understood this. While they surely would have preferred to lead the peaceful life of priests, they recognized the responsibility placed upon them by the threat of a Greek-Syrian army bent on their destruction.

Of course nice Jewish boys don’t want to fight. That is not our way. But the world needs to know that we are the nation of Israel, defending the land of Israel. And like our forefather Israel, we will fight for survival. Like the Maccabees, Israel will go to war when it’s necessary. That’s because we love peace so much that we are ready to fight for it.

And that is one of the contemporary messages of Chanukah.

Source

The people of Israel don't ask for war.  They prepare for war, they train for war, they pray for peace.  Yet their neighbors demand that they leave their ancient, ancestral land.  A land that they fought for.  Not just in the past, but for the last 65 years.  And we will NOT just leave the land over a piece of paper.  Will will NOT tear a city in 2 to appease Obama.  And we will NOT give up our weapons to appease a world more concerned with finishing the job Hitler did, then allow the children of the Holocaust survive.  Nor will we trust an enemy who for decades has threaten to wipe us off the planet.

For this first night I did not choose a Chanukah video, but I do believe that this song says the meaning of Chanukah and the Jewish people more than any other could.

Andy Williams Sings "The Exodus Song (This Land Is Mine)"


Click here if the video doesn't load.

As we gather with family and friends to celebrate our National Holiday Rational Nation USA wishes all it's readership, whether they be liberal, conservative, libertarian, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Atheist or whatever the very best of Thanksgivings and humbly asks that all remember how truly fortunate we are to live in a land where freedom of political and religious speech is allowed.

It is I think appropriate on this day to post George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation. Whether one is religious and believes in one supreme being or not Thanksgiving personifies the importance of being thankful for all we have achieved as a nation and if the USA returns to, and holds true to the principles of The Age of Reason and the Enlightenment we will be fine for another 224 years.

To all you extreme partisans and zealots I say, THINK ABOUT IT.

Happy Thanksgiving All!!!

Thanksgiving Proclamation

Issued by President George Washington, at the request of Congress, on October 3, 1789

By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and—Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favor, able interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other trangressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go. Washington

Release of video about border incident.


Flyers were distributed in Tijuana by Border Rush organizers that Mexican nationals were going to cross over into the U.S. border. At least a three camera news crew members from Milenio dot com captured the failed massive rush attempt into the U.S.

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

One of these guys is going to be very happy on Election Night 2014 (Photo: EPA/Aude Guerrucci)

As the tumble from lofty heights and the expectations that accompanies such heights continues Peresident Obaba and his fellow Democrats have reason to be concerned. VERY concerned.

With the horrendously botched ACA roll out and the huge credibility gap created by the Presidents misleading statement that "If you like your health insurance keep you can keep your health insurance plan, PERIOD" the opportunity for the Republican party to retain the House and retake the Senate in 2014 is becoming increasingly possible.

With the tide turning against the Presidents party the enthusiasm within the ranks of Republican and Libertarian activists will build and grow exponentially. Not unlike the "Hope and Change" of 2008 and 2012.

From The Washington Post no less.

President Obama’s poll numbers are at record lows. The health care law that serves as the cornerstone of his domestic policy legacy is even more unpopular. And there are few chances to change the conversation among a skeptical public that isn’t happy with Washington.

Sound familiar? It should: The national political climate today is starting to resemble 2010, when Republicans won control of the House of Representatives by riding a wave of voter anger.

Wave elections are rare. Only a handful of times in the previous century has one party racked up big wins. Democrats won big handfuls of House seats in 1930, 1932, 1948, 1958, 1974, 2006 and 2008. Republicans won back more than 40 seats in 1938, 1942, 1946, 1966, 1994 and 2010. And with nearly a year to go before Election Day, voters’ moods can change dramatically.

But the rocky rollout of the Affordable Care Act and President Obama’s crumbling support suggests another wave might be building. While voters usually punish a president’s party in at least one midterm election, they may be winding up to deliver another smack to President Obama’s allies on Capitol Hill.

Voter dislike of ObamaCare cost Democrats the House in 2010. It could cost them the Senate in 2014.

The poll numbers hint at the toll the Affordable Care Act has taken on the Democratic Party. A CNN/ORC International poll conducted November 18-20 shows 49 percent of registered voters favored a generic Republican candidate for Congress, compared with 47 percent who favored a Democratic candidate. A Quinnipiac University poll conducted November 6-11 shows the generic ballot tied, at 39 percent each. {Read the Full Report}

Keep the popcorn and the beer close at hand, it's going to be VERY interesting.

Via: Memeorandum

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

Brave New World and Big Brother continuing to grow in the Land of the Free, the United States of America. Government is simply growing too effing big for its britches. Thank you GWB, BHO, and all your henchmen.

A very disturbing trend, one the government is very likely to accelerate in the coming months and years.

The Washington Post - Microsoft is moving toward a major new effort to encrypt its Internet traffic amid fears that the National Security Agency may have broken into its global communications links, said people familiar with the emerging plans.

Suspicions at Microsoft, while building for several months, sharpened in October when it was reported that the NSA was intercepting traffic inside the private networks of Google and Yahoo, two industry rivals with similar global infrastructures, said people with direct knowledge of the company’s deliberations. They said top Microsoft executives are meeting this week to decide what encryption initiatives to deploy and how quickly.

Documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden suggest — but do not prove — that the company is right to be concerned. Two previously unreleased slides that describe operations against Google and Yahoo include references to Microsoft’s Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger services. A separate NSA e-mail mentions Microsoft Passport, a Web-based service formerly offered by Microsoft, as a possible target of that same surveillance project, called MUSCULAR, which was first disclosed by The Washington Post last month.

Though Microsoft officials said they had no independent verification of the NSA targeting the company in this way, general counsel Brad Smith said Tuesday that it would be “very disturbing” and a possible constitutional breach if true.

Microsoft’s move to expand encryption would allow it to join Google , Yahoo , Facebook and other major technology firms in hardening its defenses in response to news reports about once-secret NSA programs. The resulting new investments in encryption technology stand to complicate surveillance efforts — by governments, private companies and criminals — for years, experts say.

Though several legislative efforts are underway to curb the NSA’s surveillance powers, the wholesale move by private companies to expand the use of encryption technology may prove to be the most tangible outcome of months of revelations based on documents that Snowden provided to The Post and Britain’s Guardian newspaper. In another major shift, the companies also are explicitly building defenses against U.S. government surveillance programs (emphasis mine) in addition to combating hackers, criminals or foreign intelligence services.

Certainly this should be a very big concern for those in the liberty camp that understand too much of a good thing is dangerous to your well being. Including and especially Government.

Via: Memeorandum

Is it possible? As Dana Milbank, Washington Post opinion writer points out most likely for the birthers, those, who like Donald Trump believe President Obama forged his birth certificate, is not a USA born citizen, and therefore an illegitimate president. So much for the loonies.

However, the Obama Administration and its practice of excluding photo journalist in favor of in house photographers to record official events is troublesome, at least IMO it is.

From the Washington Post opinion pages.

Is the Obama White House airbrushing history?

It was a hallmark of the Stalin era: Fallen Soviet leaders vanished from official photographs. Nobody accuses President Obama of such subterfuge (well, nobody except for those who believe he forged his birth certificate), but a change in longtime practice in the White House has raised questions about the integrity of images Americans see of their president.

The White House has increasingly excluded news photographers from Obama’s official events and is instead releasing images taken by in-house photographers, who are government employees. These photos often appear online and in newspapers, even though they lack the same standards of authenticity that govern those taken by photojournalists.

“As surely as if they were placing a hand over a journalist’s camera lens, officials in this administration are blocking the public from having an independent view of important functions of the executive branch of government,” the White House Correspondents’ Association, joined by the Associated Press and other news organizations, wrote in a letter to White House press secretary Jay Carney last week. “You are, in effect, replacing independent photojournalism with visual press releases.”

New York Times photographer Doug Mills likens the administration’s actions to Tass, the Soviet Union’s news agency.

The most famous of the photo press releases was the image from the White House Situation Room on the day U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden; the image was digitally altered so that material on the table in front of the secretary of state could not be seen.

Maybe that alteration was an exception. And photojournalists don’t expect to be granted access to the Situation Room. But the doctored image raises the question of whether other photo releases are altered, too; in the age of Photoshop, it’s easy — at the start of the year, Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s staff (clumsily) altered a group photo of Democratic women in Congress to add four absent members. And often, it’s undetectable. {Read More}

What say you?

Via: Memorandum

Edgar N. Jiménez Lugo

Let the countdown begin!
In less than one month we celebrate Christmas and yes, it is the most wonderful time of the year! With this being said I have here today a post with my favorite picks for holidays from JOE FRESH:
 Cashmere Sweaters ( to stay warm), Sequins Tops & Tuxedo (for a little bit of glam) and some Opulent Baroque Print Dresses/ Skirts ( for Party).
All these and many other festive pieces you can find them in Joe Fresh stores and, If you are from New York or you will be there for Holidays, check their NEW store in SoHo (Here). Canadian residents are lucky to shop online (Here )

Also I included here a few photos from my last trip In their SoHo store.
What piece is your favorite?

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs-Tyranny

For some strange reason I'm getting the sense "the deal" may very well turn out quite unfortunately to be a dude. This from FARS News Agency.

“What has been released by the website of the White House as a fact sheet is a one-sided interpretation of the agreed text in Geneva and some of the explanations and words in the sheet contradict the text of the Joint Plan of Action (the title of the Iran-powers deal), and this fact sheet has unfortunately been translated and released in the name of the Geneva agreement by certain media, which is not true,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said on Tuesday.

She said that the four-page text under the name of the Joint Plan of Action (which has been released by the Iranian foreign ministry) was the result of the agreement reached during the Geneva talks and all of its sentences and words were chosen based on the considerations of all parties to the talks. In fact one of the reasons why negotiations between Iran and the G5+1 took so long pertained to the accuracy which was needed for choosing the words for the text of the agreement, Afkham said, explaining that the Iranian delegation was much rigid and laid much emphasis on the need for this accuracy.

Afkham said that the text of the Joint Plan of Action was provided to the media a few hours after the two sides agreed on it.

After the White House released a modified version of the deal struck by Iran and the six world powers in Geneva early Sunday morning, the Iranian Foreign Ministry released the text of the agreement.

Read the full text of "the deal."

Via: Memeorandum

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs-Tyranny

As the floodgates of bad news for ObamaCare and President Obama seem to continue to widen. Or, is it just more anti Obama nutter talk fueled by the wacko right wing extreme obstructionists of the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party?

According to Mark Halperin health care rationing and "death panels" are going to be a reality of the ACA. This from TPM

One of the Beltway's best-known pundits gave credence this week to perhaps the fringiest of all Obamacare conspiracy theories.

In an interview on Monday with the conservative Newsmax, Time's Mark Halperin said that so-called "death panels" are enshrined in the Affordable Care Act.

"It's going to be a huge issue," Halperin said. "And that's something else about which the President was not fully forthcoming or straight-forward."

"So, you believe there will be rationing, a.k.a 'death panels'?" host Steve Malzberg asked Halperin, the co-author of the 2012 election chronicle "Double Down."

"It's built into the plan. It's not like a guess or like a judgment. That's going to be part of how costs are controlled," Halperin said before arguing that it's necessary to ration care. {Read More}

Well there you have it. You, the loyal readers be the judge because I haven't an idea who to believe anymore. I guess it's time for more popcorn and beer because this ObamaCare thing is becoming almost as interesting and exciting as any Sunday NFL game.

Via: Memeorandum

Zacatecas authorities removed several women that were apparently tortured, raped and then hanged from a bridge with a narco sign hung next to them.

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

Is it all scare tactics? Right wing hyperbole orchestrated to bring down the hated ACA and deny President Obama's hoped for legacy? A bunch of nutters as the left not so fondly refers to those who have opposed the ACA since the start just being obstructionists?

Certainly the ACA roll out has been riddled with difficulty, including security concerns. President Obama's credibilty has unquestionably been damaged, a result of promises broken with respect to oe being able to keep there insurance if they liked it. And now this... From Fox News.

Almost 80 million people with employer health plans could find their coverage canceled because they are not compliant with ObamaCare, several experts predicted.

Their losses would be in addition to the millions who found their individual coverage cancelled for the same reason.

Stan Veuger of the American Enterprise Institute said that in addition to the individual cancellations, "at least half the people on employer plans would by 2014 start losing plans as well." There are approximately 157 million employer health care policy holders.

Avik Roy of the Manhattan Institute added, "the administration estimated that approximately 78 million Americans with employer sponsored insurance would lose their existing coverage due to the Affordable Care Act."

Last week, an analysis by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, showed the administration anticipates half to two-thirds of small businesses would have policies canceled or be compelled to send workers onto the ObamaCare exchanges. They predicted up to 100 million small and large business policies could be canceled next year. {Read More}

Related reading, Democrats Fear Obamacare Will Cost Them The Senate

Via: Memeorandum