BJinAmerica's blog

This week, our State Department honored ten women with its International Women of Courage Award. All were worthy recipients, and we should applaud them, their work, and the fact they were honored. I just wish our State Department had named eleven women this year.

There is another woman that should have been honored, because she speaks out on a subject that the world’s media pretty much ignores. For that matter, our leaders also pretend it isn’t happening; they like to push the myth that the world’s people are joined at the hip because of our common humanity. (Don’t ya’ know, Iraq has democratic elections, and everything is grand over there.)

Still, it’s hard to stomach the story being ignored, because it encompasses ethnic and religious hatred; pedophilia; female abuse and torture. Oh, maybe that's the rub, they are only girls after all. What’s a little girl or a woman for that matter, when you are trying to push a new world order based on a lie?

A British teenager’s emotional, singing tribute to her dying mom has gone viral on YouTube. Sarah Phillips, 16, recorded the song "Autumn" into her cell phone a few hours before her mother’s death from cervical cancer at the age of 48. The Newser website tells the rest of the story like this:

A friend later put music to it and Sarah found photos and film clips to make a video. A handsome Debbie Phillips is seen smiling, hugging her daughter and husband, balding from chemotherapy and traveling on family holidays.

 

"Now it's quiet and I can't hear you sing, 'My little fish, don't cry. My little fish, don't cry,'" Sarah sings. She told the Telegraph she decided to record the song before her mom died because she would have been too upset to sing it at her mom's funeral. "I had this song in mind as something really appropriate because there's a line that says: 'You still live on in my father's eyes,'" said Sarah. Her mom, "was upset by what she would miss – weddings, having grandchildren. She would have been an amazing grandmother," she added.

H/T: Twandx

"This is not a time when women should be patient. We are in a war and we need to fight it with all our ability and ever weapon possible. WOMEN PILOTS, in this particular case, are a weapon waiting to be used." - Eleanor Roosevelt, 1942 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

There is a great story in women’s history that is enmeshed in America’s WWII saga, a story filled with women heroes, who did their duty and risked their lives. Nearly 70 years have passed since America fought in World War II, and unfortunately this story and its heroes have never received the full recognition they deserve. This grave oversight will be corrected this coming Wednesday, March 10, when the story (that was kicked to the curb for way too long) will be the focus of a Congressional Gold Medal Celebration. This Wednesday, the women pilots who made up the WASP will finally get the recognition they deserve.

History

American women had already made their mark as pilots before World War II. Women like Amelia Earhart, Jacqueline Cochran, Nancy Harkness Love, and Bessie Coleman were experienced women pilots and aviation record-holders. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that two women pilots, Jackie Cochran and Nancy Harkness Love, shared the idea that women pilots should be used by the military. Each woman separately proposed the idea way back in 1940.

 “Our strength lies in our intensive attacks and our barbarity...After all, who today remembers the genocide of the Armenians?”  -Adolph Hitler, persuading others that The Holocaust would be tolerated-                

 This Week 

The Congressional Foreign Relations Committee, by a vote of 23-22, approved a resolution condemning the 1915 slaughter of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as “genocide”. The resolution was passed despite a last-minute Obama administration effort to derail it, which has put a chill on America’s relations with Turkey.

As a result of that vote, Turkey has recalled its ambassador from Washington, a move it pulled when a 2007 committee passed a similar resolution. It worked for Turkey in 2007 and the resolution did not pass. So, indications are that the current resolution has an uncertain future in Congress, despite the fact that it is a Democratic Congress and Obama promised as a Presidential candidate that he would support such a resolution.

Lately, more and more Americans are questioning. We're questioning our legal system, our banking institutions, our elected representatives, and because we are not getting honest answers we find ourselves not knowing what to believe. We don't even know who to believe. But when real life experiences are shared by someone, who has little to gain and much to lose as a result of what he says, we at least better pay attention.

Mosab Hassan Yousef is the son of the jailed Hamas terrorist leader, Sheikh Hassan Yousef. As a young man, he assisted his father in his political activities, but his experiences led him to question what he witnessed. He eventually secretly converted to Christianity and for a decade operated as an undercover agent for Israel. Mosab Yousef reveals this information and much more in his new book, Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices.

Harriet Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American abolitionist and author. She and her husband (Calvin) vehemently opposed slavery, supported the Underground Railroad, and housed fugitive slaves in their home. When Congress passed its 1851 Fugitive Slave Law, which prohibited assistance to runaway slaves, Stowe presented her objections to the law on paper. In June of 1851, the 40-year-old mother of seven saw her first installment of "Uncle Tom’s Cabin"  appear in National Era, an antislavery journal.

Stowe's first novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), fully developed the characters and storyline of earlier installments and clearly depicted the unbearable existence of human beings under the yoke of slavery. Some people believe it is America's first protest novel. It was eventually turned into a play, and the theme of both the novel and play is said to have influenced millions here and in Britain. Uncle Tom’s Cabin made the issues surrounding slavery tangible to those in the Northern States and ignited anti-slavery forces. In America's South, it was widely detested and branded as a lie.       

For some reason, our media types have pushed the meme that women in this country never really worked until WWII, when American men left in droves to fight and American women manned the factories that kept our war effort alive at home. The history of early American female settlers (who tended the fields, fed their families, died in childbirth, and sometimes raised families alone) was ignored. As was this fact, women filled many factory jobs early in the Twentieth Century, toiled on family farms, and worked back-breaking jobs to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.

 It’s important that Americans never forget that part of our history. The female gender has paid its price to earn its place in the American workplace; nothing was given to us. Women even played an active role in the unionization of American workers. The price of our inclusion was high, and some women lost their lives in the process.

It has been written that Obama doesn’t like Britain, because his father and grandfather were jailed by the Brits during the 1950’s in Kenya’s Struggle for Independence. Obama shared that his grandfather was jailed for "more than six months" in his Dreams from My Father, but he provided no details about the event. Other accounts relate that his Kenyan grandfather was also tortured. Obama’s Granny Sarah (Mrs. Sarah Onyango) says her husband recounted his torture to her. She even gave details of the ordeal to reporters during Obama’s run for the presidency. Although Obama has wisely never discussed his feelings, there have been indications that Britain is not on his Favs List.

When Obama took over the Oval Office and officially called it his own, he quickly had a bust of Winston Churchill, photo right, removed. The MOFO website says it was because Churchill had a history of saying things like: “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal division of blessings, while the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal division of misery.”  A case can be made that It might have something to do with philosophical differences, but I think it is more likely that Churchill  has less happy memories for Obama than for Americans who celebrate his wartime leadership. It was during Churchill's second term of office that Britain suppressed Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion and allegedly tortured Hussein Onyango Obama, the President's grandfather.

Sometimes we read the news and wonder, “What were they thinking?” It happened to me a couple of times this week, so I’m passing the two stories along to share the information and to get your reaction. Oh, if you read something that you think fits in this category, please share it here.  Then, we'll tell you what we think. It can serve as our group therapy, a way to mental health in a down economy, or just a place to release the burden. 

 When the POTUS met with the Dalai Lama last Thursday, there was no brouhaha. Reporters were barred, network cameras were not allowed, only one photograph was released of the meeting in the small White House Map Room, and no personal comment was made by President Obama. A White House statement was released through a spokesperson.

Oh, sorry, there is one other photograph that was taken. It was shot as the Dalai Lama was thrown out with the garbage led out a back exit to avoid reporters and pesky cameras, a maneuver which obviously did not work as intended.

                                                           "Have you seen Joe Stark's Internet letter?

WOW!

In 104.19 treacherous seconds, Lindsey Vonn lived up to the hype that had been placed on her by the media and advertisers. Vonn hurled herself down an icy course that was 32 football fields long and won the gold medal in the Women’s Downhill, the first gold medal by an American in that event. On a treacherous course that derailed some Olympic hopefuls, she was nothing short of amazing.

As was snowboarder Shaun White, who defended his Olympic title in the Men's Halfpipe last night, and came out a winner. The Flying Tomato secured the win on his first run without trying his signature Double McTwist 1260. He saved that for his victory lap, ending his performance with a winning score of 48.4.

Those of you that know me know that I like to troll the Internet. (I do it, because our news media has abdicated its role as the nation's gatekeeper.)  Anyway, I was trolling when I came across a story that led me to a video on You Tube that is introduced like this at that site:

Subscribe kekeke01

February 11, 2010 (more info)

The Israeli ambassador Michael Oren gets booed off stage by students of the University of California. Booed off stage just like he deserves to be.

The video is of a February 8th presentation by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at the University of California-Irvine. It was sponsored by the Middle East Studies Student Initiative. If you go to the You Tube site to view the video, you will find other videos dealing with the same subject and more than a few comments full of hatred and vitriol that most Americans would find offensive.

 Pertinent UC-I Background

In case you are not aware of it, the University of California-Irvine campus has what some call an annual May ‘hate-fest’ against Israel and the Jewish people. In spite of outreach and tolerance projects, some members of the resident Muslim student population are joined by outside agitators and together they repeatedly threaten and assault Jewish students. For some unknown reason, the administrators at this campus can’t seem to get a handle on the problem. I’m not a Jew or a Muslim, but I am an American and I have trouble understanding how California is able to maintain sanctuary cities for its illegal Latino residents, but California, the City of Irvine, and the University of California can’t seem to offer any sanctuary for American or foreign born Jews.

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) announced today that he will not seek reelection in 2010. In recent Indiana polls, Bayh led both Dan Coats(R) and John Hostettler(R) by double digits (Coats by 20 points and Hostettler by nearly 16 points). Bayh also had nearly $13 million in campaign cash and was in good shape for the 2010 race.

 In 2008, Bayh was rumored to be the favored VP pick for Hillary Clinton if she won the nomination, and he was also rumored to be a possible VP choice for Obama when he won the Democrat nomination. But things have changed since 2008. Bayh is a centrist in a party that has twisted farther to the left. Bayh openly criticized the Progressive agenda after Scott Brown’s win of the Massachusetts’ Senate race.

In an interview with ABC at that time, Bayh argued that the MA results reflected the unpopularity of the Democratic agenda and that it was time for Obama and the party to change course. He argued that voters "just aren't buying our message." In the ABC interview, he was also quoted as saying:

Many of us were shocked by the Friday shotgun murders of three University of Alabama professors. Professor Amy Bishop (photo to the right) murdered DR Gopi K. Podila, DR Maria Ragland Davis and DR Adriel Johnson, all professors in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alabama’s Huntsville campus. Bishop shot the trio after being informed by them that she was denied tenure at the university. (She also critically shot two other faculty members and wounded a staff member.) Bishop, who is 42-years old, faces a capital murder charge for her murderous rampage.

This story has legs, because it is offensive on so many levels. At first, it assailed our sensibilities, because the act was outrageous, cruel, and inhuman. Who murders co-workers for doing their job? Then, the story became offensive, because of the way it was handled by some people. 

 ed. note: I've promoted this back to the top in order to remind people of what is happening in Iran.  Wear Green or think Green.

On January 28, Iran’s government executed another young Iranian to silence opposition forces protesting the re-election of Mahmud Ahmadinejad. Arash Rahmanipour, just 19 years-old, was one of a group of eleven people sentenced to death for “moharebeh”, which means “waging war against God”. I’ve posted his photo on the left, because his image is so unlike what one would expect given the accusation against him. It was taken in court as he faced his accusers. Arash looks like a lamb led to slaughter and that pretty much accurately describes what happened to him.

While the Iranian government spread its version of the story, Rahmanipour’s lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, has told the truth as she witnessed it. Tehran’s Chief Prosecutor General said that Arash Rahmanipour confessed to crimes and had been tried in the presence of his lawyer. But Sotoudeh, said that the confessions were extracted under duress, and that she was not allowed to attend the trial. According to the Islamic Republic News Agency, Rahmanipour had been arrested during the post-election turmoil. Sotoudeh says he was arrested two months before the election, and his case had nothing to do with the post-election strife. 

 Sports Illustrated is getting some heat for this month’s cover of Lindsey Vonn shown on the left. Some people are saying it’s too suggestive, but I’m willing to give the magazine a pass and save my condemnation for its next sexist swimsuit issue. Fewer than 4% of SI covers showcase female athletes, so I’m celebrating that Vonn is being featured. I am also old enough to remember its 1992 cover featuring A.J. Kitt shown to the right, which pictured him in a similar pose.

When all is said and done, this time Sports Illustrated got one thing exactly right. Just as its cover proclaims, Lindsey Vonn is America’s best woman skier ever, and she makes it look so effortless that it is a joy to just watch her. She has the grace, skill, and poise of a natural athlete who has taken years to perfect her style.

Jim Tracy, a United States ski-team coach, described the first time he saw her ski this way: “She’s hauling down the mountain, her skis probably going 60, but the rest of her was hardly moving. It was like watching water flow down a hill.”

On February 3 at the United Nations Headquarters, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised his Special Envoy to Haiti, former US President Bill Clinton, for demonstrating “extremely important leadership.” The UN Secretary-General then asked Clinton "to assume a leadership role in coordinating international aid efforts, from emergency response to new construction of Haiti."

The earthquake that struck the impoverished nation on January 12 left widespread devastation and death in its wake. The Haitian government recently reported that the death toll had topped 200,000. According to information released by the UN, MR Clinton will work with the Haitian government in recovery and reconstruction efforts. He will help coordinate the work of UN agencies and other international partners, including government & non-government donors and private investors.

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“We arrived at this point as a result of an era of profound irresponsibility that engulfed both private and public institutions from some of our largest companies’ executive suites to the seats of power in Washington.” -President Barack Obama's Spending Plan

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Remember the Copenhagen Climate Conference in Denmark? CBS reporter Sharyl Attkinsson remembered it and decided to follow the money and uncover exactly how much that experiment in international relations cost the American taxpayer. As a result of that investigation and thanks to Congressional expense reports, Attkinsson found that American taxpayers covered the expenses for the following Congressional members and their entourage:

Of all the things happening February 1st, this is the one that will most affect our country's future:

I didn’t think anything could rile up mild-mannered Senator Susan Collins (ME). I was mistaken. In her Republican response to Obama’s weekly address, she was obviously steamed and did not hold back.

I am impressed.  Her public statement on the Obama Administration’s terrorism policies, and its handling of the underwear bomber, pretty much speaks for me. I’m an Independent.

 Even if Obama wins a second term, Hillary Clinton will be moving on in 2012, according to an article in this week’s Telegraph. Clinton sees herself "going back to private life...."    

MSNBC's star spinner Chris Mathews is well known for taking the liberty of branding White Americans as racist any chance he can. Matthews even accused  Bill Clinton of being one, despite the fact that President Clinton was once dubbed the "First Black President" for his support of the Black American Community. Many viewers have determined that Mathews and his network aren't worth their time and switched channels.

That's what I happily did, so like other ex-viewers I wasn't watching when Mathews stuck his foot in his lying mouth, where it still remains. During his coverage of President Obama's first State of the Union address, Matthews uttered a comment  that sounded -- hmmm-- really, truly, racist. 

Despite the results of the Massachusetts election, President Barack Obama's State of the Union address communicated the message that he has stubbornly decided to stay the course with his far-left agenda. He ignored the winning strategy of Bill Clinton, namely, a shift to the center. His decision has handed his opponents an unexpected gift.

During the presentation of his first SOTU message, President Obama attempted to charm, but he appeared irritated, angry, even condescending at times. His overall professorial demeanor sometimes seemed defiant even haughty. He freely placed blame on everyone but himself, despite the fact that he was elected to the US Senate in 2004, and became President in 2009 with promises of change yet to be fulfilled.

Obama’s actions do not bode well for Democrats in November elections. He has demanded more spending, while promising future cuts in discretionary spending, failing to grasp how that move would negatively affect job creation. He smartly said: “we face a deficit of trust,” but failed to grasp that the truth of his statement reflected on his leadership.

He has ignored the mood of the country; he has stubbornly stayed the course.