Category Archives: Elsewhere

Elsewhere, gun control, gun grabbers, self defense

What the Right to Bear Arms is All About

August 20, 2015 Boris Karpa 12 Comments

One of the issues that repeats itself in practically any gun argument is the trope wherein the anti-gun party commences its argument by stating: “We are not here to take your hunting shotgun. We are here to ban some extremely dangerous firearm that is only useful for killing other people.” Many times the people who are trying to defend their gun rights are lured into attempting to argue that their firearm of choice is actually meant for sports, and not actually meant for combat or self-defense. The extent to which this line is bought by gun rights advocates is quite fearsome – I have had numerous discussions with European gun owners who told me they actually feared discussing the concept of armed self-defense in public for fear of reprisals from the government.

It is important to understand that in these cases, the antis are often not deliberately lying. They do not intend to abolish the ownership outright – and there is no European country where gun ownership has been totally abolished. Even in the United Kingdom, individuals can buy shotguns and rifles if they prostrate themselves before the state sufficiently. That said, the right to bear arms in those countries has been extinguished completely as a social institution. (While a right of course is innate, and cannot be abolished by government fiat, the practice of defensive gun ownership has been de-facto eradicated in most of Europe).

To be clear, what the anti-gunners oppose is not guns as such. They are not lying, in that sense. What they oppose is the notion of people owning weapons. To an anti-gunner, there is no legitimate application, in modern society, of private armed force. He intends to take it from you, either by outright banning the ownership of weapons, or by making it as bothersome and complicated as possible. Nobody believes, of course, that introducing ‘universal background checks’ will prevent criminals from buying guns – but it might reduce gun ownership by, say, 1%, just by making it as bothersome and irritating as possible. Nibble a bit there, a bit there, and eventually the amount of gun owners decreases – like that of smokers – until it becomes politically tenable to do anything to restrain their rights and freedoms.

At first it might appear – and millions of gun owners the world around believe this – that you can compromise with these people, after all not all of us personally own guns as weapons, if we but explain to them rationally that our guns are not weapons, we can preserve our hobby…

Every gun rights organization around the world that tried to have this as their driving strategy has been utterly crushed. The reason is simple: once you’ve accepted the narrative that the only legitimate reason to own firearms is to use them in the shooting sports, most people do not empathize with your desire to participate in shooting sports. When the average person – who does not have the shooting sports as their hobby – is offered the chance to choose between some gun control measure that is peddled as increasing the security of his children, and the right of some person he doesn’t know to engage in a strange hobby, he will only naturally choose his children’s security. (Obviously, in real life, these measures won’t make him safer, but he doesn’t have any way to know that).

Sadly, while the more advanced and knowledgeable segments of the RKBA movement have already understood this, there are still millions of people – especially outside the US – that haven’t quite grasped this concept. The lesson of the past few decades of gun rights activism is one that needs to be spread far and wide, beyond the core of the RKBA faithful.

The only meaningful strategy to defend the right to bear arms is to recognize what the Founding Fathers and the Framers of the Constitution have meant it as: a right to have weapons, implements of self-defense with which you will fight and kill people who intend to do you harm. Self-defense is a concern that all human beings share, and if you can poise an alternate narrative – telling the listener, in effect, that the right to bear arms is the mechanism by which you mean to enhance your own safety (a desire everyone shares), and that it arguably also enhances his safety, you will be able to forge a universalist argument.

The truth is, we support the right to bear arms – and we own various guns and other implements of combat – because we recognize that there is evil in the world, and because we hope we are prepared to face it with guns in hand. If we attempt to cede our opponents’ argument, to try and haggle with them based on the false notion that our firearms are not tools of self-defense, we will end up humiliated and vanquished – as gun rights advocates around the world have been.

Only digging in on the position of the truth – yes, I defend guns because guns are useful for killing criminals and tyrants – is going to be successful. Only the truth shall set you free.

Elsewhere, genocide, gun control, hatred of Jews, Jewish history, Political philosophy, Sellouts and traitors, spirit of rebellion

And Then…

August 14, 2015 Sheila Stokes

I recently attended a lecture on the fate of the Sephardic Jews during WWII. Most people are familiar with what happened with the Ashkenazi Jews, as it was mainly the European Jews caught up in the brunt of hitler’s maniacal extermination plan. But the Sephardic Jews certainly shared their fate, but their stories are less well known.

Much of this came to light when US military forces invaded Iraq. On 6^th May 2003 when US forces entered the military intelligence HQ of Saddam Hussein (as opposed to barak hussein). They found papers, prayer books, documents, office correspondence, and Hebrew calendars in about 4 feet of water. Astonishing! For more than one reason. It survived and is being preserved and restored and two, it shows the presence of a thriving Jewish community that existed in Iraq. Apparently the late Hussein, well, and the still living barak hussein wished to destroy any evidence of Jewish existence. I know, big yawn, what’s new. But some of the info the lecturer covered was very interesting. So, I’ll just give you a short report.

I suppose you could call the holocaust hitler’s muslim outreach pogrom, er, program. The Mufti of Jerusalem and hitler were buddies and allies in their desire to exterminate all Jewish life from planet earth. In 1941 Iraq had their pogrom. And while Achmadinajakerchooo denies the holocaust, he apparently doesn’t know his countries history. No, I mean he doesn’t know Iranian history. During the holocaust he denies, Iran was a safe way station for Jews going to the future Israel. He doesn’t know of the decency of “The Children of Tehran”. Apparently while Achmadinajakerchoo is brainless enough denying the holocaust, he is equally adept at exposing his ignorance of his own country. He thinks it has 57 stat…oops sorry, wrong dude.

The Island of Corfu. There Jews were craftsman and there was a small Jewish community. The mayor was a vicious anti-Semite and all but about 200 of the Jews were rounded up and shipped to Auschwitz. To get there, they had to go through 9 different countries, with 9 different currencies, and yet they were shipped. The 200 that did escape were sheltered by the local population of Corfu. The Greek Jews did not fare well at all in the concentration camps. They didn’t speak Yiddish, or German, Polish or any other language except Ladino. Therefore, where the other Jews in the camp could pass on life saving tips and tricks the Greek Jews were unable to understand the others, or to communicate with them.

In Salonika (Thessaloniki) the Jews were rounded up to be sent to Auschwitz. The community paid 2 billion drachmas for their freedom. And yet 50,000 were sent to Auschwitz, their Synagogues destroyed and cemeteries desecrated. Only 1,950 of them survived. Many of the Jews from Salonika were forced into being Sonderkommandos. I didn’t learn this in the lecture, but found it interesting. On 7 October 1944, the Sonderkommandos from Salonika joined with other Greek Jews in an uprising. They stormed the crematoria, killed 20 guards, fire-bombed the building and destroyed it before they were massacred by the Germans. Before they met their end they sang a song of the Greek Partisans and the Greek National anthem.

The Greek Jews that could escape being rounded up often joined up with the Greek Resistance and fought back.

I didn’t learn this in the lecture either, but I like it. When Mayor Carrer of Zakynthos was told by the Germans to give over the names of the 275 Jewish inhabitants of Zakynthos, the Metropolitan Bishop of Zakynthos turned over to the Germans a list of names. Two names. His and the Mayors. The island of Zakynthos then hid every single member of the Island’s Jewish population.

It was in Yugoslavia that the Germans developed their mobile execution chambers. They used moving trucks into which special flooring was put in. They then had the exhaust hoses fed to the inside of the truck. The special flooring was to deal with the body’s actions at time of death. It made it easier for the nazis to hose the trucks out.

Bulgaria. Bulgaria is interesting. Now while old Abe Foxman of the ADL is happy to laud Bulgaria for their courageous saving of the Bulgarian Jews, this article goes into even more detail than our lecture did about what a truly mixed bag the “saving” was. No, Bulgaria didn’t want to deport their Jews. Yes, there was a massive eruption from the writers, lawyers and other professionals when the nazis wanted to begin deportation of Bulgaria’s Jews. But this was after they had plenty of blood on their hands. They were fine with containing them in ghettos and seizing their property, making them wear a star and mark their homes with a star making them easy targets for thugs. In addition to which 20,000 were deported. Not to a concentration camp of course, you understand and all. They were transported to about 3 different cities, for 3 weeks. THEN they were deported to Treblinka. In the end, Archbishop Roncalli wrote to King Boris and told him if he did this his place in heaven would be denied. He wasn’t going, no way, no how. That apparently did it. Afterwards Archbishop Roncalli wrote King Boris III and told him his place in heaven was assured.

North Africa, the King of Monaco flat refused to deport the Jews of Monaco. In fact the Jews were better off living in Monaco than they were Vichy France. In case you don’t know how “helpful” Vichy France was to the Jews.

Tunisia had local concentration camps, but they were not death camps.

In Algeria the Jews led a unsuccessful resistance to the Germans, but luckily, the Americans were in the neighborhood for Operation Torch.

The Italians were fine with persecuting the Jews, but in GENERAL, it didn’t want to kill them.

In certain countries, the price paid was the entire country, the impact of WWII on Sephardic culture was severe.

These were people that were just going along, having a nice life. Living with their families, loving, raising children, going to Synagogues, doing their jobs, practicing their professions. Their communities had been there often for hundreds of years living with their neighbors. And everything was fine.

Everything was fine, until one day. And then it wasn’t.

defense of others, duty, Elsewhere, genocide, gun control, hatred of Jews, Jewish history, Media, mindset, resistance, Schools and campuses, spirit of rebellion

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

August 5, 2015 Sheila Stokes 3 Comments

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 1^st 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.

So who are YOUR heroes, and why?

Elsewhere, genocide, guns, hatred of Jews, hoplophobia, Israel, Media, Political philosophy, Sellouts and traitors

Let’s Make A Deal

July 23, 2015 Sheila Stokes 4 Comments

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 16^th of July this year the Israeli Sanhedrin called barry to appear in front of the court on the 9^th 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.

Elsewhere, genocide, gun control, hatred of Jews, Israel, Jewish history, mindset, Politics, self defense, spirit of rebellion

HaHaganah Museum

July 13, 2015 Sheila Stokes 1 Comment

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 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!

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 indeed! That is a real Davidka!

On May 26^th 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.

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.

authoritarian swine, Elsewhere, gun control, hoplophobia, Israel, Politics

Coffee and Conversation with Moshe Feiglin

June 11, 2015 Sheila Stokes

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

Elsewhere, gun control, hatred of Jews, Israel, mindset, Politics

One of These Things May Be Like The Other

May 26, 2015 Sheila Stokes 3 Comments

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

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.

defense of others, Elsewhere, gun control, gun grabbers, hatred of Jews, hoplophobia, Jewish history, mindset, Sellouts and traitors

The Disconnect

April 7, 2015 Sheila Stokes 4 Comments

Hollyweird movie giant Harvey Weinstein was recently in the news because he called for Jews to:

“We’re gonna have to get as organized as the mafia,”“We better stand up and kick these guys in the ass,” “We just can’t take it anymore [from] these crazy bastards.”“It’s like, here we go again, we’re right back where we were [before the Holocaust]. And the lessons of the past are we better stand up and kick these guys in the ass.”

GREAT idea Harv! Really, kudos! Excellent plan. That attitude is certainly needed as the following video demonstrates. It was filmed a couple of weeks ago on March 22^nd. A group of 20 people attempted to storm a Synagogue in London. The worshipers were using chairs, a mop and makeshift wooden clubs fashioned out of furniture pieces to repel their attackers. Perhaps it was a honest mistake, I’m sure “Synagogue” is often mistaken for “Fight Club”. Not sure of the frequency the cry “Kill the Jews” being heard in a fight club, but I don’t frequent fight clubs. Nor am I sure of the statistics on prayer books ripped up in a fight club. Perhaps I need to get out more?

The Jerusalem Post quoted a member of the synagogue who said he heard the men shouting “we will kill you” as they assaulted worshipers and ripped prayer books.

But circumstances have improved. This year those under attack are using chair parts and mops and brooms. Last year in a Jerusalem seminary when students were attacked by a group of peaceful Palestinians throwing rocks at the students during the supper the weapons at hand were chairs, boiling water and the prime defensive weapons appears to have been a pot of cholent, the traditional meat stew. So I guess we should be thankful for small favors, right?

Why the snarky attitude? Because Mr. Tough Weinstein who calls for Jews to fight back condemns them to having cholent as their primary weapon. You see, Mr. Weinstein doesn’t believe Jews or anyone else should be armed and be given a fair chance to defend themselves or their family from the peaceful elements of their area who hurl rocks at them.

“I never want to have a gun,” Weinstein told Stern. “I don’t think we need guns in this country, and I hate it, and I think the NRA is a disaster area.”

Stern asked Weinstein what he would use to defend his family if he were living during the Holocaust, considering both he and Weinstein are Jewish.

Weinstein said there was a justification for using a gun “when you’re marching a half of a million people into Auschwitz.”

Reality apparently escapes Mr. Weinstein. The disconnect between his obamaunicorn stew ideology and the reality of what happens to people who are left at the mercy of those who have none.

Perhaps the illustrious Mr. Weinstein can provide copious amounts of his obamaunicorn stew to the next Synagogue to be attacked prior to the attack, to hurl at their assailants?

Then again perhaps Mr. Weinstein has a reason for keeping people that may be physically smaller and weaker defenseless?

A 22-year-old woman has filed a police report against Harvey Weinstein, claiming he groped her at the Tribeca Film Center in New York on Friday, and Weinstein was questioned by the police on Saturday. The matter is still under investigation, and no charges have been filed.

Perhaps he can treat her to a bowl of obamaunicorn stew as well.

Elsewhere, gun control, Israel, mindset, Politics, resistance, self defense, Voting

No Calls for Knife Control?

January 25, 2015 Sheila Stokes 10 Comments

On 21 January a man armed with a 8 inch knife managed to perpetrate a horrific attack. Twelve people were wounded in the attack, of which three who were in serious condition, four in moderate condition and five who sustained light injuries. Another seven people were treated for shock.

The terrorist says he learned how to conduct these types of attacks from the internet. It seems there are helpful manuals online in video form. Videos translated by Palestinian Media watch found

video focusing on Hamas founder Ahmad Yassin and portrays young children as continuing the slain Islamist sheikh’s legacy. Children are portrayed wearing uniforms, holding rifles and participating in military training. The children are shown marching and carrying out mock attacks on their “enemies,” and are exhorted to “carry the knife” and “carry machine guns” to attack Israel.Other videos show the specific techniques needed to slash someone’s throat or stab them in the side, what spot to aim for in order to kill someone, etc.

Oh, goody. Reminds me of what Golda Mier said

Peace will come to the Middle East when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us.

That day has not yet come.

The bus driver recounted what happened ON the bus

“I had no choice, I had to save the passengers,” Biton stated, from his hospital bed in Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital. “He stabbed me while driving and went to the middle of the bus and began to stab passengers.””Then he began to rock the bus from side to side, so that people standing on the street will notice that there is a problem,” Biton added.Biton said that he purposely directed Matrouk toward him so that he could enable passengers to escape while they could. “I had no choice but to bring him to me,” Biton stated. “I hit the brakes so that he flew like a bird [up front] to my seat.””I jumped out of my chair, grabbed his left hand, and started to spray him with tear gas,” he continued. “I gave him a punch and he punched me back. Because I was losing a lot of blood, there was a pool of [my] blood next to me and I slipped in it.” Meanwhile, passengers had wrenched open the bus doors and fled – but it was not enough to stop Matrouk, who left the bus and began walking toward Yitzhak Sadeh street in the heart of the city. But despite his injuries, Biton “left the bus and started chasing him,”

Next we hear from a armed security officer who works for the enforcement administration for foreign workers as an intelligence coordinator.

“When I realized I was on the scene of a terror attack, I tried to neutralize him (the Arab terrorist) due to the fact that I was armed.””I saw people running. I asked ‘who is the terrorist?,’ because I had trouble identifying him,” said the man. “And then I saw a youth, dressed in jeans and holding in his hand a knife with a 20 centimeter (nearly 8 inches) blade, trying to stab passersby around him.”Despite being armed and faced with an attacking terrorist, the man was unable to act due to the surrounding passersby.”I tried to shoot him but had trouble doing so because there were passersby around him and I feared harming innocents. I shot in the air, I tried to warn the passersby, and shouted ‘terrorist,’ but it didn’t help,” he said.”In front of my eyes he stabbed an elderly man who was there. Afterwards he continued on to a young girl who was in shock. I shot in the air again trying to snap her out of it – but I didn’t succeed. In front of my eyes he raised the knife and stabbed her until she collapsed,” related the man.

The terrorist continued his stabbing spree as he headed up the street, you can see people running to get away from him.

In the meantime Hamass condemed the violence and called for “War”, to come and sing “Why Can’t We Be Friends” of course. Just kiddin’. Hamass called the attacks a “Worthy Response”.

So far methods used to try to thwart the attacker have been tear gas, armed security but they couldn’t shoot the terrorist due to by-standers. He did fire in the air, and try to warn passersby. We also saw people running away to try to escape being attacked. Security cameras, like the ones countries like Britain and the U.S. tell us are such a great crime deterrent. None of it worked.

So, what did finally stop him?

According to police, a team from the Israel Prisons Service’s elite Nachshon unit happened to be driving behind the bus when the attack took place. The officers got off the car and gave chase to the terrorist, shot him in the leg and arrested him.

Apparently he had a different response to pain when it was his, rather than that he inflicted.

All this has prompted one of my favorites, MK Moshe Feiglin to call for citizens to be allowed to carry weapons. Some of my favorite quotes

“If two armed and trained citizens had been on the bus yesterday in Tel Aviv, the terror attack would have ended in a completely different way – or it wouldn’t have happened at all,”
“So if weapons-bearing citizens help to secure the public domain, shouldn’t the State encourage responsible citizens to practice shooting and carry weapons? Why does it do just the opposite?
The answer is that the State of Israel is not increasing our liberties; it is reducing them. Dictatorship confiscate citizens’ weapons. ‘The State alone will take care of all your security needs’.In the past, there were 300,000 citizens licensed to bear weapons in Israel. That number has now been cut in half. As a member of the Knesset Interior Committee, I was able to stop the trend. But we have to understand: Without liberty, we will not enjoy security,”

WOW, he’s a politician, and he gets it. The same principles apply the world over. But the response of the elected Representatives will determine the direction the country goes. Will there continue to be attacks by terrorists that fear little chance of citizens stopping them, or will they begin to fear attacking a “Sheepdog” nation, knowing their chance of success small and if they fail they will be buried in Uncle Buck’s pig farm?

We must become resolved that we will not tolerate Politicians who do not represent us and hold their feet to the fire. We must demand that groups that are paid membership dues represent us, or we find another group to belong to. The situation has become so serious we can’t afford to be anything less than fully resolved to fight this battle.

HERE is how it SHOULD work.

I love this one from Chuck Norris’s Code of Silence, but beware, it has some naughty words.

Yeah, that’s how it should work!

defense of others, Elsewhere, Israel, mindset, Politics, self defense

Resolve

January 20, 2015 Sheila Stokes 1 Comment

Some of what I’ve learned about leadership I learned from my horse. His name is Captain Bob, I usually call him Captain, or Seren, which is Captain in Hebrew. I got a really, really good deal on him. And not long after I got him home I found out why I got a really, really good deal on him. He weighs in at around 1,300 lbs and stands a bit over 16 hands. Good size lad. Handsome too, did I mention very handsome? Well, he is. I do not weigh 1,300 lbs (usually) and am a fair bit shorter, but I want to be at least a Colonel, and preferably a General in his eyes. I want to be the leader of the team. And this is where resolve comes in. For me to allow my idea to become his idea and get us to do what I want as a team, I need to be resolved. I need to see the situation clearly for what it is. Ok, a hoof flying at your head is not hard to interpret. Think 15 year old with a bad attitude flipping you off. He’s better now. But don’t call it “youthful exuberance”. It is not. By the same token when I point my finger and he walks into a trailer nonchalantly that means something big too. But you need to speak and understand “equine” to know what it means.

I have sat back and watched the horror in France known as the Charlie Hebdo massacre, followed by the Hyper Cacher murders. The whole world was outraged? Hardly. In fact in some parts of the world their “sorrow” was expressed by a parade. For the killers.

So, lets look at a few world leaders.

Let’s start with Bibi and his response to the atrocities in France.

At the Grande Synagogue in Paris Bibi Netanyahu is inundated with shouts of “Bibi! Bibi!” and shouts of “help us!” in Hebrew. No word if anyone was hollering for a “free Bibi-phone” and my Hebrew isn’t that good yet. Well actually, it is and they didn’t.

France didn’t show itself in the best light shall we say during the visit. First the Prime Minister of Israel was not invited to attend the solidarity march for world leaders. Perhaps France hasn’t noticed there is a country of Israel? After Bibi said he was coming, France then invited Mahmud Abbas. While French President Francois Hollande was chilly to Bibi, he seemed all BFFs (yes, I did mean that) with Abbas. Both Abbas and Hollande left the Synagogue when Bibi got up to speak.

But France doesn’t only fail in manners, it fails in organization and security. For some strange reason, the bus that was to take Bibi and his security detail to the march was running quite late.

His response as he is made to wait for bus? He and his detail remain alert, and just do what they gotta do. Although, when Bibi got on the phone I did kind of wonder if he was calling in a air strike on Hollande’s house.

Then we get to the march itself. According to Arutz Sheva

At first, he finds himself in the second row of heads of state – either on purpose or for some other reason. He then apparently decides to move into the first row – and does so by approaching the president of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, from behind, introducing himself and simultaneously sliding into place next to him.

Bibi, as a leader, shows resolve. He passes. He is doing what he needs to do to represent his country, and her people.

Abbas, now Abbas. Interestingly, Abbas took heat at home for going, according to Arutz Sheva

Mahmoud a-Zahar, a top Hamas terrorist in Gaza, slammed Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas for participating in the anti-terror rally in Paris Sunday. A-Zahar called Abbas “hypocritical” for participating in the event.
“The participation of Abbas in this event is part of the hypocrisy and political acrobatics that Abbas commonly participates in,” a-Zahar said. “Abbas wants to show that he can fight terror, but he does not even know the meaning of terror.”

And that’s coming from a terrorist. It’s not that Abbas is enlightened or wants to sing Kumbaya, Abbas is a holocaust denier who did not condemn the attack on the Hyper Cacher Kosher Grocery. He’s not standing for anything firm, he’s being a Politician. He does not show resolve.

Abbas=Fail.

I think we’ve already kind of covered France’s Hollande. He has been unwilling to keep a entire segment of his population safe from another segment of his population because it might offend their tender sensibilities.. as my Uncle would have said. I would say hurt their little feelings. As he and French law keeps law abiding subjects disarmed this is even more critical. So what to do when you know the leader of your country will not keep you and your kin folk safe?

This one is better than words. BETAR!!! You’ll enjoy this one.

Yeah, Hollande=fail.

So, now we come to barry. It seems the White House didn’t realize the march was going to be a big deal. I mean, after all, barry did say “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.” in a speech to the U.N. He just didn’t specify that the future wouldn’t belong to them because they would be, well, dead. Seems barry didn’t know about the march, according to aides, they didn’t mention it to him since it wasn’t a big deal. I guess if he had known it was a big photo op, he would have gone. That’s how it works when you don’t have an actual sense of right and wrong. So what to do, what to do?

Well, let’s see. You could announce on January 11^th that barry will host a “Summit on Countering Violent Extremism“, since he’s not in Paris for the march. That will show you are a serious world leader. Mind you, not a summit on violent Islamic Extremism. He seems to sort of avoid saying that. Hmm, needs more cowbell, so what else can you do? Ahhh, cowbell, yes, that’s the clue. Send John Kerry with James Taylor to France. To sing “You’ve Got a Friend”. It sends all of France a “big hug”. Seriously.

We have to wake up and call this what it is – not generic ‘terror,’ but Islamic terror that is hitting us with full force.”~~Naftali Bennett

To have resolve, you have to KNOW what you are facing, you have to ADMIT what you are facing. Until you do there is no way to work out actual solutions. You will not solve a hoof flying at you by giggling and saying “oh, he’s just exuberant, isn’t he cute?”.

Barry doesn’t have the first clue about resolve, well, perhaps when it comes to “fundamentally transforming…”. But to protecting America’s citizens? Protecting America’s Constitution by not selling it out the the U.N.?

Barry=Fail.

Now this is just sad, you want to know what RESOLVE looks like?

In case you want to help, anonymous is going after the Twitter accounts.

— OpCharlieHebdo (@OpCharlieHebdo) January 9, 2015

Do you want to help us ? Find terrorists twitter profiles, report them. #No2IS #JeSuisCharlie #OpCharlieHebdo #CharlieHebdo #StopDonkyLovers

A conversation a week or so ago about terrorism got me to thinking about resolve. The opinion was expressed that rather than the Israeli military flying exercise mission, each flight will try to find a terrorist camp. Rather than not bombing missile launching sites because it is a school, they will be bombed. The world is never going to “love” Israel, and trading land for peace isn’t working, being sensitive to world opinion isn’t working as evidenced by the number of wars since her birth. That resolve is needed, resolve to do what is necessary to keep her people safe and stop the cycle of war> win> give away> be attacked.

As I face paths in life, forks in the road, I find that it seems “resolve” really does play a huge role in how a path is chosen. If I (and I can only speak for myself) lack the resolve to see a battle for what it is, call it what it is, take stock of assets and liabilities, and make a plan then what realistic chance of success is there? I think this pretty much applies to leaders of groups, politics, nations and their leaders. If they lack the resolve to see the battle through, we all pay the price.

And if that resolve is not there? Don’t be surprised when you see that hoof come flying at your head for the 53^rd time, in a week. Or another Boston bombing, or beheading, or, or, or.

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