All posts by Sheila Stokes

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

I’m of the generation that grew up watching John Wayne and Roy Rogers, and greatly admired both men. After I read a few of the books written by Dale Evans Rogers, Roy’s wife, I admired him even more. They were straight shooting, honest men. Hard working, with guts and integrity. And that was just in their private lives, let alone their persona in the movies. As you can tell, I’m from a time gone by.

I guess what got me to thinking about heroes was a facebook meme I saw a couple days ago. It had a picture of Batman and said “My boss told me to dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Now I’m sitting in Human Resources at a disciplinary meeting dressed as Batman.” I was telling a girlfriend about it and said I wanted to find one that said I’m sitting in a disciplinary meeting dressed as Judah Maccabee. She seemed a little astonished. She said Judah’s battles were in many arenas. Spiritual, physical, emotional and psychological. She felt that was quite a chunk to chew. I agree.

The night before I had watched a 1982 movie called “The Wall” about the Warsaw ghetto, and how the resistance came to be. Well, at least Hollywood style. One of the leaders of the resistance turned out to be (in the movie anyway) a woman named Rachel. She was one of the first to insist to the resistance the cattle cars weren’t going to the Ukraine. She was the first to insist they were going to have to be responsible for defending themselves. She was the one that was teaching them how to shoot a pistol. Sadly there is not enough back-story in the movie to know how she acquired such knowledge, but her directions were pretty good. But as best as I can tell, she was just a nice woman who was enjoying a nice Jewish life with her family when the world went crazy.

Judah was the same, he and his family were having a nice Jewish life in Modin. Well, as nice as you can have when Antiochus has decided your religion will not be allowed to exist and you must abandon it and now accept HIS religion. Oh, and if you follow yours, you will die.

My girlfriend pointed out some of my thought processes are a tad bit different than a lot of peoples. Ok, maybe so. So I asked her who HER heroes are? She is quite a bit younger than I am.

Her choices were Corrie Ten Boom, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Nathan Hale, Patrick Henry and all the founding fathers. For quite similar reasons. Corrie? A nice old lady building and fixing watches, well, until the world went cray-cray. Laura? She and her family were some of the early pioneers. Their lives were not easy and they went through many difficult and trying times. But they stuck it out to help settle their land and have nice lives. The founding fathers? Well, they were farmers and simple men. Men with families just going about their daily lives. Yet, when the need for them to rise to the challenge in the case of freedom and liberty, they did. She summed it up with ordinary, everyday people doing extraordinary things. People with regular lives becoming amazing heroes. Ordinary people overcoming extraordinary odds.

I asked a relative of mine who her heroes were. She is five years younger than I am. Hers? Winston Churchill, “Iron” Margaret Thatcher, and sigh, Colin Powell. All for the same reason, they were people who took unpopular stances when it was necessary to do the right thing, because it was the right thing.

A friend of mine a couple years older? Leonard Bernstein. Because he stepped in and did such a marvelous job when the chips were down. I kind of caught her off guard with the question as our whole conversation up to that point had been a completely different topic.

My point is this, all of the people I surveyed are within about 15 years of each other. We have similar reasons for picking our heroes.

What are children taught today are heroes in the public schools? There are pages on Michael Jordan, paragraph on George Washington? Really. The media tells us it is a football player who is “courageous” enough to tell the world he is “gay”. Ok, takes courage, but is the result the same as Nathan Hale? A man has a sex change operation? Courage? Um, well, ok. But actually I think his/her saying on public television that he/she is a Republican took more. It reminds me of collage in the 60s. All these kids dressed alike, bathing as often, chanting the same slogans and protesting for the same causes claiming they are “bucking the system” and never seeing the irony.

Today we have celebrate “diversity”, as long as you go along with what the liberal political correctness tells you IS diversity. If not? You will be attacked in the media as a hater, your bank account subject to IRS seizure and the tolerant left will try to shut your business down. We must be diverse, as long as we are diverse the way it’s “allowed”. Ahh, what was it Hitler said about giving him a generation? I’m sure professor Bill Ayers said similar though. Just a guess.

So now I will sound like the old person I am. I will bemoan that today the main topic is who will win American Idol, what are the Kardashians wearing and where is Paris Hilton, while they may not know there is a Paris, France.

Perhaps it is just me, perhaps it is the rainy day, but I can not help but wonder, for how little can the title “Hero” be purchased today? Will people be the same today as they were in the meeting in the film clip from “The Wall”, they delayed fighting evil, because they did not recognize evil for what it was, and if they began to they were unable to admit to it. Almost every hero listed above, no matter who selected them, recognized a threat to their area and addressed it.

From 1st Maccabees 3:17

Now when Seron, a prince of the army of Syria, heard say that Judas had gathered unto him a multitude and company of the faithful to go out with him is to war ; he said, I will get me a name and honor in the kingdom ; for I will go fight with Judas and them that are with him, who despise the king’s commandment. So he made him ready to go up, and there went with him a mighty host of the ungodly to help him, and to be avenged of the children of Israel.

And when he came near to the going up of Beth-horon, Judas went forth to meet him with a small company: who, when they saw the host coming to meet them, said unto Judas, How shall we be able, being so few, to fight against so great a multitude and so strong, seeing we arc ready to faint with fasting all this day ? Unto whom Judas answered.

It is no hard matter for many to be shut up in the hands of a few; and with the God of heaven it is all one, to deliver with a great multitude, or a small company: for the victory of battle standeth not in the multitude of an host; but strength cometh from heaven. They come against us in much pride and iniquity to destroy us, and our wives and children, and to spoil us but we fight for our lives and our laws. Wherefore the Lord himself will overthrow lo them before our face and as for you, be ye not afraid of them.

Now as soon as he had left off speaking, he leapt suddenly upon them, and so Seron and his host was overthrown before him. And they pursued them from the going down of Beth-horon unto the plain, where were slain about eight hundred men of them ; and the residue fled into the land of the Philistines.

Then began the fear of Judas and his brethren, and an exceeding great dread, to fall upon the nations.

Judah Maccabee Meme
Judah Maccabee Meme

So who are YOUR heroes, and why?

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FEELING A BIT, WELL, DUMB

A friend sent me a story the other day about how Chrysler cars could be hacked and controlled. This is not a trifling deal like the Iranian nuke deal either. This is a big important deal if you happen to be driving one of these vehicles that is connected to the Sprint wireless program Uconnect.

Hackers can cut the brakes, shut down the engine, drive it off the road, or make all the electronics go haywire.


Uh oh.

But to be fair, it seems that the only reason that the article is about Chrysler products is because the investigators are

a tiny team that lacks the funding to keep buying cars and the time to break into them.

Uh oh.

Sprint, as network controller could block the hacks, but has not said if it will do so, just that it is working with Chrysler.

You can read the whole article yourself.

I can save the team some footwork and expense though. Government Motors onStar is a huge liability. At the very least to your privacy, and that’s NOT if it’s hacked. Turns out that onStar collects quite a lot of information on vehicles and sends it to Government Motors. Well, and third parties, not defined or designated. But hacked, why yes indeed. An article came out yesterday that onStar can be hacked and it seems Government Motors is far less willing than Chrysler to acknowledge or discuss fix. Government Motors told the hacker who contacted them it had fixed the vulnerability.

Kamkar said he discussed the fix with representatives from GM, but their efforts failed to thwart the attack method he uncovered, which uses a device he built and dubbed ‘OwnStar.'”

“They have not yet fixed the bug that ‘OwnStar’ is exploiting,” he told Reuters.

I’m shocked, shocked I say. Uh oh.

You can read the whole article yourself.

Beyond that, some people are incredible creatures called “nerds”, and they read changes in things called “Terms and Conditions”. Some of these “nerds” have blogs, where they put in regular people language what these things say. One such “nerd” detailed what he found out about the changes in onStar’s terms and conditions and what it meant for regular humans. Not good stuff, but if you use or have used onStar you might want to give it a read.

You can read the whole article yourself.

The right wing conspiracy publication known as USAToday came out with an article a couple years ago talking about the pending installation of “black boxes” into the moving data collection devices that used to be known as the family car. USAToday does a nice job of detailing what all can and will be collected and again how it can be used. The black boxes are not the same as onStar, this is a separate avenue of data collection. Although we have nothing to fear from this. Nothing at all.

Fears have been “blown out of proportion,” says Mukul Verma, a former top GM safety expert who is now a consultant. “I don’t think there is any chance of it being used or misused without people’s permission.”

You can read the whole article yourself.

Uh oh.

Sure makes one wish for the good old fashioned cars doesn’t it? One you could just drive. Yeah, I did when I needed to get a car a couple years ago. I knew exactly what brand I wanted, and hunted and hunted and hunted for one. Most of the dealerships I stopped at or contacted gave me the same information. “I’m sorry ma’am, but since cash for clunkers happened those are hard to find. In fact good used cars that people wanted that they could just buy outright are VERY hard to find. But we have a really nice Chevy Cruze, or this gently used Chevy Volt. If you don’t mind a little singeing, we have almost all the burn smell out of it now. Can give you a really good deal on it.” Ok, I admit, I made up the last part about the Volt, but not the rest of it.

Yep, I do love technology, I really do. I adore my phone, my computer and my tablet. But let’s be honest, they have vulnerabilities. I suppose if you choose to get one of those cars with that kind of technology you can decide for yourself the risk to benefit ratio.

But any time you get something with mechanical moving parts and introduce electronic control into it I think there is probably a risk. We should each get to decide if we take the risk or no.

That being said the last electronic I wish to draw your attention to is the “smart gun”. From Bearing Arms today comes a article about rifles using TrackingPoint technology. A married couple has figured out how to hack into TrackingPoint. They can use a wireless connection to change the information and even the target the gun tells the shooter they are aiming for. Wired details all the work the couple did and what all they can do with it.

You can read the whole article yourself.

Uh oh.

Smart gun technology, you know, the kind gun grabbing politicians keep telling us will keep us “safe”. It will prevent the “evil handguns that only have a purpose to kill” from doing so, according to Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who wants them banned. Seeing as how they have no “sporting purpose”. Smart gun technology, like having to wear a special watch to be able to use your gun. What could go wrong with that? Or your gun has to recognize your fingerprint to use your gun. While you may be annoyed your spouse used your toothbrush, I’m pretty sure if they need to use YOUR gun, it is important.

I don’t hate technology, but it does seem we are losing choice in just how much of it is allowed into our daily lives. And it seems to me, that when the direction that push is coming from is the government, the results won’t be good. After all, what could go wrong?

From the Bearing Arms Article

By their computerized nature, any computerized “smart” gun can be rendered inoperable just as the TrackingPoint was in this test, and some smart guns are rumored to have been designed from the ground up to be rendered inoperable with the push of a button by either the manufacturer, or by government itself.

Uh oh.

Ok, this one is just for a grin. No “uh oh” honest.

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Let’s Make A Deal

So barry and kerry are very busy patting themselves on the back for their “historic” agreement reached with Iran. It’s a really great deal. For Iran. As for the US, we have now taken sides in the Sunni vs Shia middle east face off. I have heard more than one comparison to the 1938 Munich agreement signed by that waste of oxygen Neville Chamberpot, oops, Chamberlain. And appeasing tyrants has always worked out so well. The sanctions against Iran will be lifted (ok, so I like the photo), the ketchup tycoon has backed off the anywhere anytime inspections they touted, and basically we get nothing. Not even the four prisoners being held by Iran. They didn’t even come up. Pity, it would have given ketchup, er kerry, one more thing to cave on. Even some of the other muslim countries don’t like the deal. Our allies no longer trust us, no one need worry about the obama regime attacking them (unless it’s conservatives).

But at least before this disastrous deal giving the country which has vowed to destroy the US and Israel, nuclear power is final, it will have to go through the US congress. Well, no.

Turns out barry and kerry decided to submit the agreement to the United Nations BEFORE it could go through congress. Which prompted sputtering and outrage from those invaluable protectors of the American people, like the carpet wetting  John Boehner. They whined that congress would continue to do their job no matter that the “agreement”had been submitted to the UN. What I wonder, is it that congress thinks they will do? It seems barry and kerry think it’s more important that the agreement go to the U.N. because it affects other countries. Hmmm, okaaayyy, if that’s how it works, let’s be consistent.

It seems on the 16th of July this year the Israeli Sanhedrin called barry to appear in front of the court on the 9th of September for for what it says are “criminal offenses” against the Jewish people following the passage of the Iran nuclear deal. The Sanhedrin accuses Obama of “deliberately promoting genocide for the Jewish people.” Well, and the American citizens too. Link is well worth checking, it has the documents. That was even before the Sanhedrin found out that barry and kerry gave Iran the technology to make sure Israel couldn’t take out their nuclear facilities.

Ok, well, if we go by ketchup kerry’s reasoning for bypassing congress on the nuclear agreement,

“Well, they have a right to do that, honestly. It is presumptuous of some people to say that France, Russia, China, Germany, Britain ought to do what the Congress tells them to do,” said Kerry. “They have a right to have a vote. But we prevailed on them to delay the implementation of that vote out of respect of our Congress.”

The nuclear agreement with The Islamic state of Iran will certainly effect Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and pretty much every other country since who knows what the crazies will do. If we are going to yield American sovereignty to the U.N. over the nuclear deal, shouldn’t we yield the American President and maybe even throw in the Secretary of State to be turned over to the Sanhedrin?

You know, I’m concerned about the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty that barry had kerry sign. Since this regime rules by executive action, and executive order, why should we think that in their opinion that two-thirds of the Senate needs to approve it? I mean, it affects other countries as well. Congress may well stomp it’s fancy shoes, but I don’t really expect them to do anymore about that than they will this bypass.

It seems barry and kerry are very invested in making sure that Begin’s daring raid can not be repeated.

Thanks for the video Y.B.

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To Keep Them Safe

On 16 July 2015 a observant member of the religion of peace shot up military recruiting center in a strip mall, and then proceeded on to a Naval reserve center. The price tag for this particular member of the religion on peace having a rampage is one dead sailor and four dead marines. I suppose the correct way to put it is “having a rampage”, perhaps “pitching a hissy fit”? Well, if the government initially said it had it may have had no connection to terror, it can lead to confusion. To paraphrase a couple of things I read on FaceBook that may account for this confusion perhaps it was “Fluffy’s” yells of “Jesus loves you and died for your sins” as he killed the service members that confused the trained government investigators. “Fluffy” is the name I’m choosing to use as I also chose not to give slime the fame it desires. These attacks follow attacks in Little Rock, Fort Hood, The Naval Shipyard. I’m not sure why the government had such a hard time determining that the attacks were related to Islam “The Religion of Peace” considering that ISIS had been sending out tweets as warnings according to Pam Geller who posted some nice screen shots. Of course poor little Andrea over at MSLSD tried to lead her 4 viewers down the garden path by attempting to persuade them that “Fluffy”was just your typical rural Tennessee woodsman, what with hunting, fishing and all. The fact that “Fluffy” worked at a nuclear power plant for 10 days didn’t seem to distress little Andrea nearly as much. Those MSLSD news readers are as confused as BHO about things. It could be because The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria doesn’t actually have anything to do with Islam according to BHO’s Orwellian speech. In fact, after the terrorist attack by “Fluffy” the only comments made by BHO were regarding Ramadan.

“Michelle and I would like to extend our warmest wishes to Muslims in the United States and around the world celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr,” a statement from the president read.“As Muslims mark the end of the month, they are reminded that Ramadan is a time to reflect spiritually, build communally, and aid those in need. While Eid marks the end of Ramadan, it marks a new beginning for each individual — a reason to celebrate and express gratitude on this holiday.”

Perhaps no one had told him about the yells involving something about Allah and the snackbar. Yes, I got that one off FaceBook too.

Why is this important? Because BHO does not yet realize who the enemies of America are. Now, I will admit that perhaps he doesn’t consider the enemies of America as his enemies. Perhaps they aren’t, since he just gave them nuclear weapons and a pile of money and the technology to defeat any attack Israel might wage against the reactor. But they are in fact, enemies of the country of America.

There was an interesting opinion piece in Slate, that points these attacks on our military personnel state side are not considered terrorist attacks, but valid targets. Why? Because how many times BHO has bragged about taking out their training centers. They are paying back in kind. They don’t much care that while the people in their training bases are armed to the teeth, our recruiting stations and military bases were made toothless by the rabid Clinton regime. Yes, the Clinton regime decided military bases would be safer if everyone was a victim waiting to happen. Liberals do not love our military I do not believe. BHO, as the Clinton regime, has been no supporter of the military. It’s almost as though he sees them as the enemy.

Ordinary everyday Americans have a much different view of our military than this though. Around the country ordinary, everyday American Sheepdogs have been showing up armed to protect THEIR military recruiting stations. I believe quite a few of those showing up are veterans of the military themselves. This is happening in different places around the country, not just in Chattanooga.

http://www.teaparty.org/armed-americans-stand-guard-outside-military-recruitment-center-108421/

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2015/07/20/lancaster-ohio-armed-citizens-unite-to-protect-military-recruiting-centers-in-wake-of-tennessee-massacre.html

Interestingly, this comes about the same time BHO has decided to apply the same techniques used by the disgrace known as The Veteran’s Administration. The Veteran’s Administration under the Clinton regime began to use the force of the V.A. and the Department of inJustice against veterans. The BHO regime is just following along the Alinsky path of disarmament, this time using the Social Security Administration.

If Social Security, which has never participated in the background check system, uses the same standard as the VA, millions of its beneficiaries would be affected. About 4.2 million adults receive monthly benefits that are managed by “representative payees.”

So now the Clintons have disarmed a group of people that were willing to give their lives to protect this country and BHO is disarming a group of people made vulnerable by age, probably a good portion of them Veterans as well.

Popular Communist opinion on guns.
Popular Communist opinion on guns.

These people are not the enemies of America. These are not the people that are shooting up military bases and recruiting stations.

If you can not identify and name your enemy, you can not win the fight. It is as though BHO has identified his enemy, and we have met this enemy. It is US. ~~Pogo.

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HaHaganah Museum

The next museum I will share with you is the HaHaganah museum in Tel Aviv. It was originally the meeting place of HaHaganah, because the building where the museum resides is the former home of Eliyahu Golomb, one of the founders of HaHaganah. Many an important meeting took place there. The topics would have ranged from how to get more Jewish refugees into Israel to defense of the settlements. The meetings held in the house were secret and they would have been conducted from1930-1945. In 1954 the building was sold to an entrepreneur and plans were made to demolish the building. Former members of the Haganah found out and intervened. They wanted the irreplaceable house built in 1923 turned into a museum. Said entrepreneur agreed. I guess anyone would. Who wants to argue with a bunch of ticked off Haganah. I suppose the owner didn’t want to mess with them. They got their museum.

HaHaganah Museum
HaHaganah Museum

HaHaganah was the evolution of Jewish Defense forces. The first group formed was Bar-Giora, named for Simon Bar Giora one of the leaders of the revolt against Rome. Meeting for the first time on September 28, 1907 in Ytizhak Ben-|Zvi’s apartment they set their goal. It was settle the land and guard it from Arabs. Their motto was

“In fire and blood did Judea fall; in blood and  fire Judea shall rise.”

This was also one of the mottoes of Jewish defenders during the Russian pogroms. Members had to have a years worth of farming experience as well to be in the Bar-Giora.

The Bar-Giora became the HaShomer in April 1909. HaShomer meant the Watchman. The HaShomer was larger and more organized than the Bar-Giora. The HaShomer set it’s goal to provide organized defense for all of the Jews living in “Palestine”. One of the first challenges they faced was lack of weapons, due to lack of the necessary funds. They finally obtained a loan & the necessary weapons were purchased and distributed. Many of the new owners refused to be separated from their new weapons even for a moment. They soon adopted the dress and customs of the local Bedouins, Druze and Circassians. As well as advancing from being units on foot to horseback. This is always a good thing to my way of thinking. Another challenge the HaShomer faced was shortage of ammunition. It was expensive and hard to procure. This led to secret production centers being set up. The HaShomer were quite effective in their duties, despite the fact at no time was there ever more than 100 members. In 1920 the HaShomer were disbanded to become HaHaganah. Just a quick note here, some people at work asked my opinion on a “Hosmer”. I had no idea what they were talking about. Travel broadens your knowledge base. I now know they probably wanted to know what I thought about the HaShomer! I think they were amazing!

HaShomer
HaShomer

In June 1920 HaHaganah (The Defense) came into being. Initially a loose group, the Arab riots of 1929 changed it’s nature. It changed from a militia to a mature military body. HaHaganah was independent of paying locals to be watchmen nor did they depend on foreign recognition. Though the British Security Forces did work with it to form a civilian militia. The British were mostly pro-Arab and anti-Zionist. At times they urged the Arabs to attack the Jewish settlers. The Arabs soon discovered they could control the immigration policies of the British by rioting. At times the British would work with the Arabs. The Arabs would riot and the British would withdraw their troops & the Jewish police leaving the Jews at the tender mercies of the rioting Arabs. There were many incidences where the casualty rate would have been much, much higher if not for HaHaganah. The British, in general, were proving to be about as good a friends to the new yishuv settlers as they were to the Irish about that time frame.

But even the British get a surprise once in a while. Charles Orde Wingate was just such a surprise. Wingate was born to a religious Christian family & firmly believed in the Bible. Therefore he also firmly believed that the Jewish people belonged in Israel, and he did everything possible to make that happen. He was a talented horseman, who had also studied Arabic and Semitic culture. In 1936 he earned the rank of Captain and the intelligence officer was transferred to Israel later that year.

When he arrived the Arabs were regularly attacking the British & the Jews. Wingate sized up the situation and formed S.N.S. or special night squads comprised mostly of HaHaganah. The were effective as offensive units as well as defensive. They could pre-empt as well as resist attacks and were very effective at helping the yishuv settlers. Therefore the S.N.S. was disliked by Arabs & British. The Yishuv called him “ha-yedid” The friend. Bet he was glad he had learned to speak Hebrew then! For Charles Orde Wingate it was first, last and always about the Jews belonging in Israel and being safe there. He was the perfect man, in the perfect place at the perfect time. Therefore in 1939 the Brits transferred him out. His passport was stamped with a restriction that he was not allowed to re-enter the country. You can’t make this stuff up. His influence lived on though in the people he had trained that went on to become heads of Palmach and later the IDF.

One heart wrenching incident that HaHaganah was unable to stop was the helpless settlers in the Hebron Massacre. The HaHaganah had gone to Hebron to offer their protection, but since the local Sephardic Jews had lived in peace with their Arabic neighbors for years they were concerned that the presence of HaHaganah could irritate the situation. The Haganah were sent away by the ONE British Policeman who had been recruited from the Black & Tans. The terror didn’t end even after they made it to The Beit Romano police station. The level of trust in the British to protect them, and the Arabs not to attack them was way too high, and the cost was very dear. There were stories of Arabs that acted to save the Jews, hiding them in their basements and cellars and defending them with their swords.

When the new settlers wanted to fight back, they had another conundrum. They were facing the bigger and well armed British army and their buddies with whom they also shared arms, The Arab Legion. One of the answers was the Davidka. Not an incredibly accurate weapon, it was loud and tended to scare the heck out of it’s targets.

Yes, a real Davidka
Yes, a real Davidka
Davidka Plaque
Davidka Plaque

Yes indeed! That is a real Davidka!

On May 26th 1948 David Ben-Gurion dissolved HaHaganah, and the other defensive groups to form the IDF.

Take away thoughts from HaHaganah museum: If you are going to trust your life and that of your family to someone, make VERY sure they are worthy it. Some mistakes can not be made up.

If you are going to defend yourself against a government that has no interest in your survival and is siding with your enemies? Weapons, effective weapons and lots of them are a must.

There may be people that were not born of your group that will fight harder for your group than some natural born members. Charles Orde Wingate was just such an incredible man, a G-d given gift to Israel and her new settlers.

Availability of weapons and ammunition is critical.
Availability of weapons and ammunition is critical.

The cost of re-inventing the wheel would be even more astronomical this time. We don’t need to do that. Attitudes are a big key in survival.

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Profiles in Courage-updated

One of the museums we visited was the Etzel museum in Tel Aviv. That monthly pass really is a good deal. I still have a couple days left on it, I keep contemplating popping back over there to just add a bit to my story, but I guess I won’t. There is more than one Etzel museum in Tel Aviv and this one was named for Amichai (Gidi) Paiglin.

This is one of those things that at the time seemed like a good idea, and seemed like it would be simple. I’d just make a few notes on the people and topics that really struck me and I wanted to share with our readers and then supplement with info from the net and put in a few links. That’s not how this turned out. What seemed to me, like something that would certainly have a page on Wikipedia, or I could find information “somewhere” on the web, there is nothing but a barren wasteland of info. At least for my first part, which is going to have to be done only from my notes and memory. Which at times is a barren wasteland in and of itself.

Ten days before the State of Israel was declared by David Ben-Gurion (whom I like less all the time) was the last day of a truce. The British were going to be pulling out, and The Irgun had decided to capture Jaffa. The battle had been pretty fierce and there were a many lives lost. In the area of of town where our story takes place the Irgun thought that they had an area where it would be safe for the women to bed down for the night, and that by the next morning they would finish the operation. That probably seemed like a good idea at the time as well. It didn’t work out the way it was planned either. The Arabs managed to sneak past the Etzal during the night and were in the parts of the town where most of the women were.

Marion Aharoni was one of the two women in the minaret who woke up to the sound of Arabic voices the next morning and realized that there were enough of them that the forces in that part of the town wouldn’t be able to hold it. Apparently communications had already been disrupted, and so Marion told the other gal to try to get to headquarters and advise them of the situation. In the meantime headquarters had become aware of what was happening and was trying to sort out their resources and their people to figure out how to best deal with the situation at hand. One of the people in charge of a unit was Ruth Moritz, I believe I have her code name down as Dvora. Ruth was amazing, she was a beautiful woman, I think, and had shown a lot of command skill. Her boyfriend Avaham Canaaite had been killed at the battle of Yafo (Jaffa). Ruth was near headquarters when the other lady finally arrived and informed them of the situation. Headquarters informed Ruth they had talked to their people in that area and no one was left in the minaret. Ruth said she was going to head over there anyway to make sure Marion got out. Headquarters told her no. Ruth said she was going and for everyone else who had legs to get out of there now. Headquarters advised Ruth she should go see to her unit and make sure they were all ready to roll, either evacuate or fight. Ruth told them she would just go check the minaret herself and make sure no one was left behind to face the Arab mob alone. And so she went. If she met fighters along the way, she advised them to get out. She made it to the minaret where Marion was still holed up waiting for orders. Not that there was a thing she could have done. By the time Ruth made it there the Arab mobs were very close. And there were a lot of them. And so to avoid falling into the hands of the Arab mobs they chose to jump from the minaret. Many Arabs at that time, as now, have the same unfortunate goal and tendency to slaughter Jews when possible. No one really knew what happened to the women. After two years a mass grave was found with the bones of two women and three men. I believe it was four years later that they finally found out what had happened.

Another update: We knew Ruth had incredible courage to go back and try to get out Marion who was in her company because she felt she was responsible for Marion. But something that is in the video that I had forgotten is Marion’s incredible courage. Marion was still in that tower because she had not heard the command to retreat. She heard the Arab mobs, she knew they were close. But she stayed and held her position because she had not heard the retreat command. What kind of incredible courage would that take? These were two amazing, smart, strong, courageous women. They deserve to have their names known and remembered outside of Israel.

The view of the minaret I think they jumped from was visible from my “office”.

View from my "office"
View from my “office”

And the evening we walked home from Yafo to Tel Aviv we walked by what I believe is the tower they jumped from.

The minaret
The minaret

The other thing that was striking to me was the Altalena. Yes, of course I knew about the Altalena, the ship. I did not know that was the name Ze’ev Jabotinsky wrote under in Russian newspapers though. The other thing was the date. I was at this Etzel museum on 1 June. 1 June 1948 was the day the Irgun, Hagana, and Lehi were all to have been disbanded and incorporated into the newly formed IDF. The cliff notes version of this is the Altalena was a ship bound for Israel carrying fighters and much needed weapons to the Irgun. Timing was an issue, and David Ben-Gurion, was aware the ship was coming in and basically sold the Irgun and Menachem Begin out. The IDF was ordered to attack the Altalena if they wouldn’t turn over all the weapons to the new IDF. That did not happen, and a firefight broke out between the IDF and the Irgun. Menachem Begin headed for the Altalena in a rowboat under fire from the IDF. He made it to the ship and they sailed for Tel Aviv where there were more IDF forces. Ben-Gurion ordered the ship sunk on the high seas by the new Israeli air force before it reached Tel Aviv.

Heiman Shamir Deputy Commander of the Air Force, tried to convince non-Jewish pilot volunteers to attack the ship. However, three pilots refused to participate in the mission, one of them saying, “You can kiss my foot. I did not lose four friends and fly 10,000 miles in order to bomb Jews.”

I told a Rabbi once, not everything that wasn’t born Jewish is an enemy of Jews. These three pilots would nicely prove this point.

In the end, Jews fired on Jews, and the Altalena was sunk despite having raised a white flag on Begin’s orders as he attempted to prevent a civil war.

Take-a-way thoughts of mine. We know the name of the shooter in the church in South Carolina, we know the name of several famous gangsters in America’s history, and possibly some names of famous Israelis. Certainly Ben-Gurion and Begin. While I was at the museum some groups of young soldiers were coming through. They were to study at the museum as part of the class apparently. In fact one room we were unable to access. It was a room where perhaps there was a movie you could view, but it was being used for a party of some sort. But these student soldiers study the people, the events and the history. And it matters to some of them, and perhaps to some, not so much. I was actually very surprised there was nothing on the net about Ruth Moritz and Marion Aharoni, but there isn’t, and so perhaps this telling, as imperfect as it is, will keep a memory of valor, courage and leadership alive.

Ruth Moritz and Marion Aharoni
Ruth Moritz and Marion Aharoni

And make no mistake, Ruth was a leader. When we have people like Shannon Watts, Dianne Feinstine, Nancy Pelosi and every other anti-gun harpie out there telling women that they won’t be safer if they can defend themselves, you know what crap it is. When you have the screeching harpies telling women that if they have a gun someone will take it away from them and use it on them, that’s crap. When you have the faux feminists telling women that a gun is too complicated, that they should get mace and a whistle, you know it’s crap. When the faux feminists tell women to just call the big strong policeman and wait, that’s crap. Ruth and Marion were true feminists, they were strong, beautiful women that fought in defense of themselves, their families and their country.

Right now part of America is busy throwing away the heritage that they have been sold by a liberal educational system and biased media. They throw it away with both hands because they don’t know true history, and don’t understand what they are throwing away. I was very glad to see those young Israelis going through that museum.

When in a dire situation, more people on your side is a very good thing.

The Altalena take-a-way? Politicians do what’s best for politicians. Betrayal sadly, apparently, should be expected. It’s about the power baby, it’s about the power.

Etzel Museum
Etzel Museum

 

I have never been so happy to need to update something as I am to add this. If you whine to the right people, sometimes, just sometimes, really great things happen. The whining was about the lack of information on Ruth online. The victim listener of my whining suggested that some problems are solved by going back to the language in which the incident occurred. That would be Hebrew. JACKPOT!!!

I had forgotten that Marion was in Ruth’s unit. A bit more than friends, I believe Ruth was her leader.

These sites are all in Hebrew, but with evil google’s translate you can read a rough version in English. Enough to get more information. AND, a movie. I’ve written the museum to see if they would consider posting the English version I saw while I was there.

Wikipedia

Etzel Museum remembrance page

Irgun Fighters of Independence

תודה לך דב עוד פעם

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You Heard That Where?

The attack in South Carolina was the latest in a series of horrors that have occurred in Gun Free Zones. And the roaches have been scurrying out of the woodwork. To no one’s great surprise Hillary said she still hates law abiding citizens and can’t wait to see them dead. Well, sort of, she might have phrased it more like a politician, but that’s the essence of it. Barry of course has been saying that for years. His name IS still barry this week, right?

But to the subject at hand. It has come out that the alleged killer (Lt. Col. Grossman says we do not use mass murders names, the name can fade to oblivion) chose the church because it was a gun free zone and didn’t have security. Like other mass killers, some of them elected politicians, they wants disarmed victims.

But the reporting on the incident is interesting. Actually reporting, chuckle, chuckle, is interesting. When the police HQ in Dallas were attacked a CNN anchor called it “brave”. Why yes, that is the same CNN that has been caught using footage of fully automatic weapons being fired while reporting on a story about semi-automatic weapons. More than once.

Then we have a guest on MSNBC who stated that had anyone there been able to defend themselves it would have been amazing if even three people had been left alive. Seriously. Disarmed, defenseless (now dead) people are safer. I’m sure MSNBC’s 11 viewers nodded along sagely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv5d2WyhIqk

So MSNBC and CNN both favor disarmed victims, and CNN thinks that an attack on Police is brave. Well, she is in great company. Hamas recently declared the death and wounding of a disarmed hiker and a friend as a “Heroic Operation”. Apparently Danny Gonen and a friend had been hiking were heading back when a peaceful Arab waved them down asking for help. They stopped and he asked for water. Then shot them.

So where did you hear that? If it was on CNN, or MSNBC (in case of it’s 11 viewers stumbled onto our site) you might mull over the view point with which it’s being reported. CNN thinks it’s brave to attack police and MSNBC thinks if you can defend yourself and have a chance to fight to live you are less safe. Which is probably why I’ve heard talk show host Mark Levin call them MSLSD. At least hamass is more honest in this case. They hate Israel and are happy to see innocent defenseless people slaughtered. What does that say about the mainstream news media. Seriously, if they can’t even report a news story that has already happened, why would you trust them with a weather forecast?

As a side note, the South Carolina shooter had a view on Jews as well.

Unlike many White nationalists, I am of the opinion that the majority of American and European Jews are White. In my opinion the issue with the Jews is not their blood, but their identity.  I think that if we somehow could destroy the Jewish identity, then they wouldnt [sic] cause much of a problem. The problem is that Jews look White, and in many cases are White, yet they see themselves as minorities. Just like niggers [sic], most jews [sic] are always thinking about the fact they are jewish [sic]. The other issue is that they network. If we could somehow turn every jew [sic] blue for 24 hours, I think there would be a mass awakening, because people would be able to see plainly what is going on.

I do not pretend to understand why jews [sic] do what they do. They are enigma [sic].

Yes indeedy. That pesky Jewish identity…..must erase that pesky Jewish identity. Got news you piece of pond scum fish excrement, others have tried, others will try, others are trying now. Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League is not the answer. The old sticks and stones thing. Armed Synagogues, armed Churches now we are talking answers. There is one higher and greater that I believe will have something to say about erasing the Jewish identity.

Thank you Y.B. Love this one!

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Coffee and Conversation with Moshe Feiglin

Our readers are already familiar with this former member of the Israeli Knesset. He was mentioned in columns on 25 January 2015 and 7 January 2015. But for our readers to really get a flavor of what he thinks about gun control in Israel, someone needed to talk to him. I’m mean, really.

And so I did. In an effort to bring our TZP readers good investigation, I went to Israel. Ok, perhaps that’s baloney. I went because I love it and a really patient kind friend invited me to stay with her in her apartment. But as long as I was there….with a little help from a friend I landed a interview with Mr. Feiglin.

Didn’t quite go as I had hoped for a face to face interview, but when you’re only there for a few days and there is a huge list of things to do and see, you take what you can get. Yes, there was a phone interview, yes it took place in a coffee shop. In the Jerusalem bus station at the coffee shop. These babies are all over Israel, and I can do a column on my favorite coffee places in Israel if it become necessary, because man am I a happy camper over there. Along with, well, never mind, I’m digressing. So the interview took place in a coffee shop with a napkin stuck in my left ear to cut out the background noise. It was the best work around I could come up with since I was dealing with a narrow window of time.

Mr. Feiglin is very gracious. I had called his cell the day before to see about an interview. I interrupted him in a meeting. My Hebrew is good enough to apologize and ask when would be a good time I could call him. He gave me a time. I called from the bus en route to Jerusalem. Short version, I got the interview but it ended up taking place on the phone. I can roll with it.

Why do so many Israeli politicians not see that armed citizens would help with safety and security of all citizens? For example the attacks at Har Nof and bus stops? Note: for those not aware there have been several attacks where peaceful Palestinians “lost control” of their vehicles and said vehicles wound up plowing down citizens standing at bus stops and have killed some of them. And other instances where the huge knife they had hidden jumped into their hands and began to plunge itself into innocent bystanders.

His reply made my heart beat faster, probably will yours too, if you think like me. He began to explain that it has to do with the concept of freedom. That to give away freedom is a huge mistake. That disarming citizens can lead to tyranny and power grabs. That the more you centralize power the more vulnerable citizens are. He explained that every time there is a wave of violence that many politicians begin to call for increased gun control. At one time there were 300,000 Israelis that were licensed to carry weapons, today there are only 150,000 and politicians are trying to decrease that number.

Why would Israeli politicians want a disarming populace?

He replied that it is the basic concepts that they do not understand. Basic concepts such as freedom and life. Basic concepts of rights. I caught my jaw before it hit the table when he basically said that G-d gives rights, not politicians. I told him I had heard a Rabbi say that you could live by G-d’s law or die by man’s. He said that was exactly correct. He went on to explain that in the Knesset that a politician had stated that there were 13 case of licensed concealed carry holders shooting someone. I’m guessing he had a notion that statement was coming because when it did he refuted it by adding the information that of the 13, 12 of the cases were shootings by guards that had been hired by companies and schools. They were not using privately owned guns, but ones supplied by their company. What hit me on this one was apparently Israelis like their children and are willing to pursue even politically incorrect solutions to keeping them safe. As opposed to…oh well, you get the idea. He went on to state that with gangs and robbers the ceiling of security would be much better with more people carrying. Apparently the laws do not seem to stop Bedouins and Arabs from carrying weapons. My thought is they seem to use them with appalling frequency.

One thing that is different in Israel than America is the soldiers riding the buses and trains. Of course soldiers in America ride buses and trains. But in Israel they do so with their automatic weapons. And it’s a non-issue. In America politicians would have you believe that to allow a weapon on a bus or train is to invite mayhem. That those weapons will be breaking free of restraining hands and begin to fire at random, innocent targets. Israelis suffer under no such misconception. I felt just fine and dandy standing or sitting on those buses and trains. Should a terrorist be on the bus there would be something way different than disarmed victims to deal with.

Which led to my next question. Are soldiers allowed to carry concealed when they are off duty? I mean, they are the same trustworthy person they were in uniform as they are out of it.

To my somewhat surprise, they are not. He explained there is quite a chain of command question that comes into play when someone is going to discharge a weapon. The to use or not to use. Unfortunately by the time they get clearance it can be a bit late. I suggested perhaps it might be something to consider as if they were carrying the next peaceful Palestinian that aimed his car for a group that appeared to be plain civilians standing at a bus station. The budding terrorist might find quite a surprise when about 3 of the group turned out to be off duty soldiers that were carrying concealed.

While I was there a group of Ethiopians decided they would shut down Menachem Begin highway in Tel Aviv due to accusations of “racisim”. I told him about the riots of Ferguson and Baltimore where the Governor and Mayor chose not to protect the property of shop owners and lives of the Fire fighters and Police. Could Israelis defend their property and life?

Mr. Feiglin pulled back the lens even more than that. He replied that the entire world is losing the concept of freedom in the name of Democracy. He said Israel is losing it, and the younger generation will not know what they have lost. That they will not have a familiarity with what freedom really is to know they need to regain it. He is hoping that the upcoming generation of young Israelis can begin to turn this around and that Israel will come back from this. Our country? He wasn’t so hopeful. He said it may or may not come back. But he didn’t sound very optimistic. I told him that was compliments of our biased media and current educational system. He didn’t disagree.

I asked if the next time I came, would be all right to contact him for another interview. He said of course it would. And I intend to. Perhaps the next one will be the face to face interview.

The Coffee Shop Jerusalem Bus Station
The Coffee Shop
Jerusalem Bus Station
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One of These Things May Be Like The Other

I listened to a radio broadcast a few weeks ago that pointed out that the things that happen in Israel are then reflected in America. The first example the radio host gave was the amount of residents displaced from Gush Katif due to pressure exerted by the US and the U.N. was proportional to the amount of residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina just a week later. I admit it, I was ignorant of the connection.

 

The next example the radio host discussed was a recent Molotov cocktail attack and what the streets have looked like during the intifadas. How the US is pressuring Israel to accept a two state solution, which will give them indefensible borders. He then talked about turning on the TV and seeing Baltimore burning. He said it looked like the streets in parts of Israel during the intifadas.

 

So if America is a reflection of what takes place in Israel and the two are tied together, what might we be expecting? What things do we hold near and dear that we may see affected as they have been in Israel.

 

Is religious freedom in America under attack? This video was shot on Har Habayit, the Temple Mount. The holiest site in Judaism, it is in Israel, the Jewish state. But, Jews are not allowed to pray there. Moshe Dyan handed it back over to the Jordanians about 15 minutes after Israel regained control of it in the Six Day War. All faiths were to have been allowed equal access to pray. But that’s not what has happened. Muslims harass the Jewish and Christian visitors to the site. If they feel someone is praying the wafq (who also decides if you get to go up or not) has the Israeli police throw you out, and they will. The Israeli police discriminate against the Jewish and Christians that come to Har Habayit, against the Muslims? Naw, not so much. The courts have declared Jews and Christians are allowed to pray there, but as you can see, it’s not happening. To be fair, I wouldn’t want their job, but they aren’t exactly being fair either.

Would you be willing to walk through this to go to pray at your house of worship?

 

 

This is taking place inside of Israel, and the government is not standing up for the people. In fact the government is making it harder. The harpies that are screaming at the visitors are paid by Hamas, this is how they earn their living. They show up, steal stuff off the Temple Mount, protest the Jews and Christians and get paid by Hamas. Is that our tax dollars by chance? Well, what do we have? Oh, as it turns out the protestors in Ferguson Missouri that rioted were paid also! Or, not paid, so they are protesting not getting paid to protest. Any guesses as to the chances some of the rioters in Baltimore that were given room to steal and destroy were paid imports?

 

Could you ever envision a time within American borders when your free speech is threatened by someone who disagrees with it? Naw, that won’t happen here, not within our borders. Just because it’s already affected free speech for our neighbors to the north, Canada.

Police officer responding during the Garland Texas attack
Police officer responding during the Garland Texas attack

 

Here’s a helpful little video that talks about the borders and the importance. I like it cause it has cool 3D maps.

 

 

Perhaps one of these things really is a lot like the other. But really good investigative jounalists would check it out for themselves.

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Mother’s Day Musings

Mothers, most of us had or have one. There are some politicians that I’ve wondered if they weren’t perhaps hatched out of a dodo egg, but that’s another discussion for another day.

 

I just want to say thank you, thank you to the Mothers that actually love their children. Up front disclaimer, all my children have either 4 legs and fur, or 2 legs and feathers. And I love them all. And as challenging as it can be to be a Mother to them, I understand from those that have children with skin and two legs, they are even harder to raise. Ok, I won’t dispute that, but will take your word.

 

When I was growing up, I was one of the very lucky kids. By that I mean I didn’t really grow up needing to be afraid. I didn’t have dreams of monsters under the bed or the killer clowns breaking in. Why didn’t I? Because I knew that my Dad had a revolver in the underwear draw and a shotgun in the closet. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if my Dad didn’t drop them with a punch, he had the means and motive to use defensive tools to sort the issue. Now, while I view my Dad as a combination of Roy Rogers and John Wayne, I knew that when it came to his children, our safety was not a negotiable issue. I would like to think a lot of Dads are protective of their families.

 

So why do I consider myself so blessed? Because not only was my Dad willing and able to take care of us kids, so was my Mom. My little 5’4” Mom was a tough little farm girl. Not a lot fazed her when it came to taking care of her kid’s safety. Mom was a good Southern Baptist, and she was all about turn the other cheek, peacemaking and treating your neighbor as you would want to be treated. But there was no doubt in my mind she would look out for her brood.

 

“Mom, what would happen if someone broke in one day?”

 

“Sheila, your Dad will handle it, don’t worry”.

 

“But Mom, what if Dad’s not home?”

 

“Then I’ll handle it.”

 

By then I was about as tall and big as my Mom, which isn’t saying much. Sorry Mom.

 

“Um, how Mom?”

 

“I’ll shoot them.”

 

“Um, Mom, do you know HOW to shoot?”

 

Actually as it turns out, my Mom is a crack shot. Growing up on a farm, hunting squirrels or anything else she needed to, with not a lot of ammo to spare makes one a very good markswoman.

 

My respect for my Mother grew that day. I knew she loved us enough that she would do whatever she needed to in the effort to protect us, and she wouldn’t hesitate. I’m a blessed woman.

I knew that rather than fight and die to protect us, she would most likely fight and live to raise us herself.

 

I think about the pressures facing responsible Mothers these days. You have people like Shannon Watts who make a habit of telling Mothers their children don’t matter. She is supported financially by people like gazillionaire Mickey Bloomberg who I’m sure has a staff of security people armed with massive tasers and pepper spray to keep their families safe. He can afford them. We couldn’t.

 

Hollyweird celebs like Rosie O’Donnell, Melissa Joan Hart, Prince and a cadre of others who have private security telling us little people we will be safer if we are defenseless.

 

Pediatricians asking parents if they own guns, and yes, this happened to a friend of mine.

 

Then you have the mainstream media presenting biased stories against firearms, and for some bizarre reason people still watch stuff like CNN and MSLSD.

So to all the Mothers that stand against the pressures that would keep them from being prepared and able to protect their children, I applaud you. It has always been a sense of horror to me that I am more prepared and willing to defend a flock of chickens from a coon, possum or fox than some Mothers are to protect their children. More than one predator has met his eternal reward measured in shot. I figure I bought the critters, 2 and 4 legged, they had no choice where they wound up, I took on responsibility for them. Part of that responsibility is food, water, shelter, companionship, education and safety. Then I hear women with children (not sure they should be called Moms) say they are scared of guns, they don’t want them in their house or anywhere around their children. If there was a threat they would just call the police. While I am more than willing to admit perhaps I’m being too judgmental, an occasional failing, I can’t help but think if you didn’t want them, why did you have them? You have a smoke detector, a fire extinguisher, the pediatrician and Domino’s Pizza on speed dial, but one of the most urgent situations you could ever face you are willing to wait till someone can get there to help you. And you assume help will always be able to get there on time do you? Wow. Awesome.

So on this Mother’s Day, thanks Mom, I applaud you, and your “True Grit”. One of the highest compliments in our family, True Grit. And she has it.

Hero Moms
Hero Moms
Happy Mothers Day
Happy Mothers Day
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