Thanks to Rebecca for the “heads-up:”

Go to this site first: Yoni’s Blog.

From Rebecca:

If the Bush admin is helping the Palestinians this way it is wrong. Jews will die as a result and who knows if they will use the weapons we give them to topple Hamas? What if they use the stuff we give them to topple the Jews? Democracy in the Middle East spreading is a great idea, but when it comes to who we are dealing with it may end up being a pipe dream. I also agree that it is a “make-believe” mindset to think that there could ever be peace between the Palestinians and the Jews. But, that is my opinion, and evidently it is Yoni’s as well.

So, let’s examine this on its face.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Palestinians deserve to live better than they do and be “free of the humiliation of occupation” in a state of their own.

“I promise you my personal commitment to that goal,” Rice said at a dinner marking the third anniversary of the American Task Force on Palestine.

“There could be no greater legacy for America,” Rice told the group, which describes itself as nonpartisan and supportive of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.

“The Palestinian people deserve a better life … free of the humiliation of occupation,” she said.

Rice has made five trips to the region as secretary of state, looking for ways to promote President George W. Bush’s advocacy of a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Yoni The Blogger said:

This woman is STUPID.

The Palestinians are the Nazi’s of today they don’t deserve anything more than a harsh war fought with no quarter given to them.

Rice saying this makes as much sense as saying the KKK deserves to be free of the humiliation of occupation of the USA by normal people so that they can be free to spread their filth and hate.

I’m with Yoni on this one. The Palestinians have made their points clearer than crystal: there can be no Jewish State. And certainly there can be no Jewish State even remotely close to their own. That would be a massive mistake.

In my opinion, it would be a Massive Mistake to lend ANY credence to what the Palestinians want.

If their wants and desires were so incredibly important (and let there be NO MISTAKE about my thoughts on this matter), then various Middle Eastern factions would have designated and accounted for a Palestinian State amongst their millions of acres.

If a soulful Palestine was a priority then Muslims in control would have provided their own territories for this necessary accommodation.

But Muslim countries didn’t volunteer an INCH of land.

That bespeaks volumes in and of itself.

Yoni is right.

And Condi is wrong. Flat-ass wrong.

BZ

It’s already occurring.

What? you might ask. That could never occur on domestic United States soil.

Get over it; it’s here and it’s now. Muslims are dictating to our sovereign citizens what will or will not occur.

You may not be aware but there is a numerically-large contingent of Muslims in Minnesota — of all places. And in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area local Muslim cabbies have decided they will not transport those persons they believe have alcohol with them.

Cabdriver Muhamed Mursal doesn’t wear his Muslim beliefs on his sleeve, but he soon may broadcast them via a light on top of his cab.

Mursal and hundreds of other Muslim cabdrivers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport refuse to take travelers they know are carrying alcohol. No one is searching bags, but a Napa Valley wine box or a see-through bag from the duty-free store can be enough to leave a fare waiting for the next cab. Airport officials estimate that happens at least three times a day.

There is clearly strength in numbers and the Muslim community in general certainly realizes this. USA Today cites:

Minneapolis-St. Paul is concerned that its taxi service is deteriorating. Citing their religious beliefs, some Muslim taxi drivers from Somalia are refusing to transport customers carrying or suspected of carrying alcohol. It started with one driver a few years ago, but the average number of fare refusals has grown to about three a day, says airport spokesman Patrick Hogan. “Travelers often feel surprised and insulted,” he says. “Sometimes, several drivers in a row refuse carriage.”

Minneapolis-St. Paul is wondering how to accommodate the drivers.

Really?

Here is how you accommodate the drivers who refuse certain fares:

You fire them and hire others.

From PipelineNews.org:

By Beila Rabinowitz
September 19, 2006 – San Francisco, CA –
PipeLineNews.org – In another sign of increasing Muslim intolerance in the U.S., Islamic taxi drivers – primarily of Somali extraction – at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport are refusing to accept fares whom they suspect of possibly transporting alcohol.

Recent changes at the terminal have proved a boon for the drivers, forcing passengers to use the ubiquitous taxis to get around within the confines of the airport making them ripe for exploitation.

Another angle is that such discrimination by Muslim drivers might make it possible for them to weed out the low fare inter-terminal travelers from those wishing to travel outbound at substantially higher fees, thus assigning themselves all the longer distance fares while the infidels are taking the short ones.

Why airport officials have caved to the unreasonable religious demands of an extremist minority is puzzling but the involvement of the Muslim American Society – an Islamist group whose name pretty much denotes their ultimate intent – in this process may help explain it, MAS being adept at injecting itself into such controversies and always on the side of the extension of Sharia into mainstream America.

Airport spokesman Patrick Hogan though unwilling to tackle the issue head-on, did at least give lip service to the image problem this was causing the airport “Travelers often feel surprised and insulted…Sometimes, several drivers in a row refuse carriage.”

Partially addressing the obvious inequities in such behavior, airport authorities are now forcing those who have refused a fare because of the alcohol issue to go to the end of the line in the taxi queue.

Reports have claimed that a system of roof lights might be proposed by the airport as early as today with the idea that for instance a yellow light would indicate a taxi willing to take a fare carrying alcohol whereas one having a red light would not.

So. How much shall we accommodate Muslims in this country? Where will this end? A refusal to carry blind persons with Seeing Eye dogs? No pork in containers? A search of the potential fare? A series of questions about one’s political leanings? Or perhaps a complete refusal of all those who refuse to adhere to Sharia law?

And what shall be the terms of our national surrender?

BZ

I was conspicuously absent on Thursday and a good portion of today. That was because I took my father and my fiance on a trip to Apple Hill, in the foothill country of Fornicalia above the Sacratomato Valley. Autumn is the perfect time to visit Apple Hill and its ranches.

Apple Hill lies at about the 3,500 foot level and consists of a number of farms and ranches that produce apples, pears, wines and, oddly enough, one really good beer. I’ll get to that in a moment.

I took Thursday off and picked up Dad. We drove his Maxima up Highway 50 to the Camino offramp and so began our Apple Hill journey. First stop: High Hill Ranch.

We took in the various crafts booths; I purchased a fabulous print from Robert Foster, and Dad and my fiance consumed some apple pie a-la-mode. Smiles abounded. I purchased the print “Bearspective” and had it signed by the artist. Check out his site — fabulous artwork!

They took in some wine tasting at the Lava Cap Winery vineyard, and we drove to the Jack Russell Brewery where I purchased two packs of dog brew and a dimple mug.

We concluded the day with three orders of ribs at Poor Reds in El Dorado County. Poor Reds pours more Galliano than anywhere in the continental United States — and they are proud of that fact, via their Golden Cadillacs drinks.

When you enter the bar, the light hurts the eyes of those at the bar and you must soothe their savage souls. Buying a drink or two usually massages sufficiently — as long as you buy yourself a Golden Cadillac as well — which arrives in the form of a wide martini glass and another backup glass as well. It’s as though you’ve ordered a massive milkshake and acquired the metal mixing glass. You couldn’t be more fortunate.

Folks: don’t do this at home. Only Poor Reds mixes Golden Cadillacs like this.

If you’re lucky you’ve arrived sufficiently early for dinner. If you’re after 6 PM you’re hosed. You must wade three-deep to the bar for help. And you must fight for the ribs that fall off the rack and the baked potato and the salad with your choice of dressings — in a dimly-lighted area insufficient for most nominal bathrooms.

But that’s the way it is at Poor Reds.

Today Chris and I mixed and poured more concrete for the vertical posts.

I already took my Ibuprofen. I’ll be taking some in an hour or so.

I checked out “Gridiron Gang” last night with my fiance and was impressed. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a remarkably versatile actor. And quite impressive.

BZ

From the Associated Press:

North Korea stoked regional tensions Wednesday, threatening more nuclear tests and saying additional sanctions imposed on it would be considered an act of war, as nervous neighbors raced to bolster defenses and punish Pyongyang.

South Korea said it was making sure its troops were prepared for atomic warfare, and Japan imposed new economic sanctions to hit the economic lifeline of the communist nation’s 1 million-member military, the world’s fifth-largest.

North Korea, in its first formal statement since Monday’s claimed atomic bomb test, hailed the blast as a success and said attempts by the outside world to penalize North Korea with sanctions would be considered an act of war.

Further pressure will be countered with physical retaliation, the North’s Foreign Ministry warned in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

Then, the Bush Administration indicated:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States would not attack North Korea, rejecting a suggestion that Pyongyang may feel it needs nuclear weapons to stave off an Iraq-style U.S. invasion.

Rice told CNN that President Bush has told the North Koreans that “there is no intention to invade or attack them. So they have that guarantee — I don’t know what more they want.”

But she also said that the decision by Pyongyang to go ahead with its nuclear program means it likely will see “international condemnation and international sanctions unlike anything that they have faced before.”

You may not be aware, but there are still over 29,000 US soldiers stationed in South Korea, following the 1953 end of the Korean War. US Army General B. Bell, commander of our forces in South Korea, responded to the threat from North Korea:

Be assured that the alliance has the forces necessary to deter aggression, and should deterrence fail, decisively defeat any North Korean attack against South Korea. U.S. forces have been well- trained to confront nuclear, biological and chemical threats.”

Japan is considering additional sactions as well:

National Public Safety Commission Chairman Kensei Mizote said following an emergency security meeting late Wednesday that the government had decided to impose additional sanctions, including a total ban on North Korean vessels.

Of course, due to the nature of the history of the Framed Agreement and the questions regarding Jimmy Carter’s role in 1994 when send “behind the scenes” by then-President Clinton, Mr. Carter took it upon himself to write this wonderfully self-serving piece today, with some highlights noted below:

Responding to an invitation from President Kim Il-sung of North Korea, and with the approval of President Bill Clinton, I went to Pyongyang and negotiated an agreement under which North Korea would cease its nuclear program at Yongbyon and permit inspectors from the atomic agency to return to the site to assure that the spent fuel was not reprocessed. It was also agreed that direct talks would be held between the two Koreas.

But beginning in 2002, the United States branded North Korea as part of an axis of evil, threatened military action, ended the shipments of fuel oil and the construction of nuclear power plants and refused to consider further bilateral talks. In their discussions with me at this time, North Korean spokesmen seemed convinced that the American positions posed a serious danger to their country and to its political regime.

Responding in its ill-advised but predictable way, Pyongyang withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, expelled atomic energy agency inspectors, resumed processing fuel rods and began developing nuclear explosive devices.

Time out. Comments: Of course, Jimmy, how horrible is it that we had a president that would lower himself, actually deign to tell the truth about the nature of evil. So I suppose we should have, at that time, continued oil shipments, continued shipping them anything on their Nuclear Shopping List and continued having a nice chat, all the while knowing that Pyongyang just slammed a homer up the previous administration’s butt?

And what’s the deal, Jimmy, with the line about responding in an “ill advised” but “predictable” way? Predictable then moves “ill advised” into the “acceptable” category?

More:

What must be avoided is to leave a beleaguered nuclear nation convinced that it is permanently excluded from the international community, its existence threatened, its people suffering horrible deprivation and its hard-liners in total control of military and political policy.

Article tag line: “Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, is the founder of the Carter Center and the winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize.” Change to read: “Jimmy Carter, universally thought to be the weakest functioning American president of the 20th century, wrote this article to reaffirm the remarkably high esteem unto which he holds himself as the final arbiter of what is proper for the World.”

Carter oddly omits the part where North Korea cheated on every aspect of the deal the moment Carter turned back to his limo.

Everyone also conveniently omits the part where North Korea deals in and sells heroin and methamphetamine, and also how it has been systematically counterfeiting ONLY American currency ($100 bills) in such a way as to meet or exceed our printing capabilities.

Just thought everyone might like to know.

BZ

From the WorldNetDaily:

North Korea threatens U.S. with nuke missile;
Official says Pyongyang will fire weapon unless Washington acts to resolve standoff.

Communist North Korea has threatened to fire a nuclear-tipped missile unless the U.S. takes action to resolve its standoff with Pyongyang, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The unnamed North Korean official who issued the threat said the intent is to bring Washington to the negotiating table.

“We hope the situation will be resolved before an unfortunate incident of us firing a nuclear missile comes,” the official said yesterday. “That depends on how the U.S. will act.”

The South Korean agency previously reported the North Korean official said that Pyongyang was willing to return to the negotiating table and quit its nuclear program if the U.S. takes “corresponding measures.”

“The nuclear test is an expression of our intention to face the United States across the negotiating table,” official said. “What we want is security of the (North), including guaranteeing our system.”

Did the North Koreans detonate an actual nuclear device or not?

Do they mean this or not?

Why does Nancy Pelosi openly denigrate a US missile shield system?

BZ