The "Land for Pieces" Scheme Exposed

History Refutes the Effectivenes of 'Land-for-peace'


'Love' in Hebrew, by Robert Indiana. This sculpture is at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Photo by Talmoryair.

Israel willingly gave up Gaza in a good faith move designed to move the Middle East closer to peace. A visit to the Southern Israel city of Sderot is an eye-opening illustration of just how effective land-for-peace really can be.

The residents of Sderot are mostly Russian Jews. They are not rich and lack the resources to move away from Sderot. Why would they want to leave? Gaza is now the launching point for hundreds of rockets that rain death and destruction on the city on an almost daily basis.

School children playing outside in Sderot have thirty seconds to find cover when the rockets are detected. Playgrounds may include large concrete pipes for them to run into.

Israel turned Gaza over to its residents with a well established agricultural economy. Large greenhouses provided work for Jews and Arabs alike. Today the greenhouses are largely destroyed -- and rockets are fired freely across the border.

The Land-for-peace Hoax [click to read] is explored further by Caroline B. Glick in Jewish World Review.

The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Yusuf Qaradawi, in 2009 "called for the Muslim world to complete Hitler's goal of eradicating the Jewish people." -- Caroline B. Glick. It would seem that those who would promise peace in international negotiations should carry the same message home with them.

What 'Wikileaks' Should Teach Us

Israel's Iran Policy Vindicated


US and Israel's flags together...

Guess What?, Israel's Neighbors are Concerned Too [click to read] by Joshua Mitnick in Jewish World Review.

"Wikileaks' release of the documents on Sunday has proved to be something of a public relations coup for Israel: on-the-record confirmation that its Arab neighbors are just as frightened as the Jewish state by a nuclear Iran. The cables confirmed previous anonymous reports that Israel has quiet partners in the region pushing the US to take bolder steps to stop what they consider an existential threat."

U.S. Iranian Policy Challenged

"When Obama decided on negotiating with Iran, he was doing exactly the opposite of what the American allies are thinking,'' says Shlomo Avineri, a political science professor at Hebrew University and a former director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. "Obama has made all of his friends nervous, and the Iranians are spitting in his face."

'Allahu Akbar and Pass the Ammunition'

Another Mysteriously Motivated Attack [click to read] by Mona Charen in Jewish World Review. [caution: truthful discussion of radical islam].

"If a Christian or a Jew suddenly becomes more devout, there is very little chance that he or she will become violent. Quite the contrary. By contrast, religious zeal among Muslims is often expressed with bombs and the blood of innocents. Thousands of imams worldwide preach violent jihad, Islamic schools instill contempt for other faiths, and terrorists actively recruit killers willing to commit massacres for Allah."


...as they should be.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume II, Issue XLI

An Antidote to the MSM's Islamophilia

The 'other' Weekly News Magazine [click to read] focuses this week on 'anti-government militias.' Funny how they can't seem to see how the government is growing increasingly anti-citizen. Consider how the body of law has grown as thousands of pages are regularly added to the legal code. A kid eating french fries on a subway train suddenly finds herself arrested for a criminal offense! You probably broke some law today before you had your first cup of coffee!

But don't worry. The next attack on America won't be from some 'anti-government militia,' but more likely will come from Ameriphobic Jihadists.

I used to chuckle in airport security lines as I waited behind Grandma and some blonde woman... then 'Jihad Jane' appeared. This blonde Philadelphia housewife was indeed a member of a radical group intenton doing violence to the USA! Closer to home, just outside of Lynchburg, Virginia, is the home of 'Muslims of America.'

They maintain a compound in Red House, Virginia and have been reported on by Gates of Vienna [click to read].

They aren't exactly practicioners of a 'religion of peace.'

In fact, they are but one example of this type of compound in the US. Even as the MSM tries to mainstream the 'Ground Zero Imam,' who is radical enough, they ignore the really dangerous groups setting up shop in out of the way places.



Health News You Can Use

Never Mix PMS and Dr. Pepper [click to read]. Yankee Phil has the details. Here is conclusive proof that the results can be dangerous! Watch the video closely to see for yourself.

Say Again?
Congress Shreds the Constitution, but Sign Bothers MSM


No doubt you've seen these trailers along the interstate. A concerned citizen put them there as Congress continued to ignore the Constitution and the will of the people. Still, the local newspaper finds an odd reason for its own concern. The sign might be in violation of local zoning laws.

Augusta County and Freedom of Speech [click to read].

The media had no problem with This Sign [click to read]!

A Double Standard for Free Speech

In the Politically Correct World, Islam Can Do No Wrong

Mark Steyn [click to read] in Jewish World Review.

"So just to clarify the ground rules, if you insult Christ, the media report the issue as freedom of expression: A healthy society has to have bold, brave, transgressive artists willing to question and challenge our assumptions, etc. But, if it’s Mohammed, the issue is no longer freedom of expression but the need for "respect" and "sensitivity" toward Islam, and all those bold brave transgressive artists don’t have a thing to say about it." -- Mark Steyn

Who's the Bigot Again, Ms. Pelosi?

It Cant be Feisal Abdul Rauf, Can it?

Nat Hentoff [click to read] in Jewish World Review makes a clear and concise presentation of the facts surrounding the Ground Zero Mosque and its controversial imam. I guess Ms. Pelosi will be investigating him now.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume II, Issue XXXIV

The 'other' Weekly News Magazine [click to read] asks the question: "Is America Islamophobic?" in reference to the flack being generated by the Ground Zero Mosque [THYME's editorial directive says we have to call it that].

Well, let's not forget who started this war [yes, THYME's editorial directive says we have to call it a war -- this is a tough place to work for the politically correct]. The pay is pretty lousy too.

The attacks on America are documented on our cover starting with the seizure of the US Embassy in 1979. We're not going back as far as the Barbary Pirates. Our Marines whipped them a long time ago. Our point is this is a long standing hostility and its story has many chapters.

Could it be that to understand this conflict, journalists need to be looking for the source of its ignition?

Be Sure to Thank These Guys...

Lynn Has the Details [click to read]. They're fighting this WAR to keep us safe.

9-11 Hard Hat Pledge

These Construction Workers [click to read] won't lift a finger to build the Ground Zero Mosque. I'm with them. I sure wouldn't do renderings for this project at its present proposed location. Does this mean Speaker Pelosi will now be investigating construction workers? ht/No Sheeples Here

Update: 'Ameriphopia'

Notes on the Word [click to read] from American Thinker.

"I've just Googled "Ameriphobia" and, indeed, some 634 uses come up. A tiny number, but the word has been used -- just not popularized. Now might be the time!" -- American Thinker

We cannot claim the word originated here at THYME, but we'd love to help promote its usage.

More People are Wondering These Days

Is Mubarack Hussein Obama a Muslim?


"Give me a child until the age of seven and I will give you the man." -- Jesuit Saying.

Maybe it was the creepy extended bow to the Saudi King, or the way he seems all to willing to throw Netanyahu under the bus but when I came across an article by Victor Mordecai asking the question "Is Obama a Muslim?" I took notice.

His Kenyan Father and his Stepfathers were clearly Muslims and his early education was in that tradition. To observant Muslims in the Middle East that qualifies him. Still, to ask the question invites the label "lunatic fringe" for reasons that have largely been manufactured out of Political Correctness.

Mr. Mordecai's wife monitors Arabic radio broadcasts and has documented the following:

Saudi Radio in the months before Obama's election stated: "We will have a Muslim in the White House."

Lybia's Quaddafi said of Obama after his election: "Our man in the White house."

One station stated that Obama would first deal with the Shi'ite of Iran who "threaten all Sunni Muslims" then deal with the "fanatic" new government of Israel under Netanyahu.

Conventional wisdom has it that Obama's education in Muslim schools until age 11 are in the past, just as his association with Jeremiah Wright. Unfortunately Wright's church, with its James Cone inspired Black Liberation Theology is more Marxist in its core philosophy and Christian in the use of language and symolism. If Barack Obama is a Christian there is not a lot of evidence to convict him of it.

Fringe thoughts? Perhaps, but when you have a President who is uncomfortable with 'Victory' in Afganistan [although he seeks it outright for his domestic policies], drags his feet on supporting his troops and bows at the waist to the Saudi King, is the question really all that unreasonable?

Update: From Obama to Osama with Love [click to read] perspective from 'Gates of Vienna.'

Update: David Limbaugh has These Thoughts [click to read].

Ground Zero Mosque is More than a Mistake

The Voices that Really Matter in this Debate


ht/SWAC Girl

Extreme Irony... You Can Build a Mosque, not a Church

Phil has This Report [click to read] on the plight of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which stood in the shadow of the World Trade Center.

Update: AP's PC Memo:

It is a good thing that I write for THYME and not for Associated Press. Apparently I've broken AP Rules [click to read] twice in as many days.

Ground Zero Mosque is More than a Mistake

This 'Outreach' is Really a Call to Surrender

Star Parker has This Clear Analysis [click to read].

Feisel Abdul Rauf says that he wants to 'improve' America's relations with the Muslim world. Unfortunately that translates something like: "agree with us or die."

"The website for the project, the Cordoba Initiative, advertises itself as "Improving Muslim-West Relations", and "steering the world back to the course of mutual recognition and respect and away from heightened tensions." But if Feisel Abdul Rauf is primarily motivated to "reduce heightened tensions," why would he do something as obviously provocative as building a Mosque and Islamic Center a few feet away from 9/11 Ground Zero? " -- Star Parker.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume II, Issue XXXI

Speaking about the Unspeakable

The 'other' Weekly News Magazine [click to read] got it right this week. The cover features a beautiful Afghan woman. You look into her lovely eyes and suddenly recoil in horror... her nose has been hacked off! Punishment for fleeing her husband's abusive family. The photographer has crafted the image well, lighting her in such a manner as to draw you in to her story before confronting you with the harsh reality of her situation.

Upon seeing this, I almost decided it was time to end THYME, then I realized that citizen journalists need to stay in the game when it gets tough.

An old Dragnet episode came to mind. The episode had Friday and his partner confront the abusive murder of a child. Friday's partner, you may recall, was the picture of a doting Father.

Harry Morgan has to go off and vomit after seeing the crime scene; Then the two detectives prosecute the crime! Sense must follow sensitivity. We cannot let the bad people win. Closing your eyes and wishing it were not true won't work here. Radical Islam is at the door... and it seeks to savage our women!

We cannot give up our instinctive protection of our wives and daughters. Counting them as equals before G-d requires supressing the brute force of our baser instincts which would default to overpower and enslave them.

If being a woman in Afghanistan is bad, being a Jew or Christian is worse. The persecution of our fellow believers for 'blasphemy' is horrible. Followers of the 'religion of peace' beat a man sensless for this 'crime.' They mutilated this poor saint so badly that he is unable to use his hands and arms. His family must assist him in everybasic function of life. Sadly, if you follow reports of persecution, this type of story repeats itself again and again.

Yet the 'politically correct' among us see nothing wrong with having a mosque with a shariah compliant 'party place' overlooking Ground Zero in New York. I agree with whoever stated that this would be fine at some time that a Synagogue or Christian church could be freely built anywhere in the Muslim world. Hopefully TIME is waking up to the fact that these people desire no less than to put Western society under their opressive law... or destroy it.

That is why THYME's cover this week depicts the mutilation of Liberty. She is one lady we must protect at all costs.

NASA's New Mission to the Dark Side?

White House Denies Ordering 'Muslim Outreach'


Bridge detail and Moon, Washington DC.

It all started when NASA chief Charles Bolden started granting interviews to Al Jazeera, stating that the President had charged NASA with a new mission: to make make Muslims feel better about their culture and history.

"Before I became the NASA administrator, he charged me with three things," Bolden said. "One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science and math and engineering."

Now Robert Gibbs is out there denying the whole thing. Still, it sounds just like the kind of thing you would expect from this White House... and the two interviews with Al Jazeera seem so... premeditated. Michelle Malkin launched a contest to redesign the NASA logo to better represent the space agency's new mission and the entrys were really funny. I don't think you can backpedal out of this, Mr. Gibbs, it is too much in character with your boss' way of doing things.

NASA, you may recall, was begun as an 'outreach' to the former Soviet Union. After Sputnik, the United States knew that being left behind in space exploration was not an option. The Russians got the first satellite in orbit in 1957 and followed with the first man, Yuri Gagarin. Taking the high ground in space exploration was clearly in our national interest and President Kennedy laid down the famous challenge to put a man on the Moon in a decade. The rest is history. The Apollo program, accomplished not by the military, but by a civilian agency, inspired the world. It told the world that America was here and strong without rattling a single sabre.

In fact, the brilliance of NASA was that it created an invitation for the nations of the world to come together and explore space peacefully. The International Space Station is the fruit of this 'outreach.'

Now it could be suggested that Nasa should craft its 'outreach' to the star and crescent in the same way that it crafted its 'outreach' to the hammer and sickle... with a clear statement that America intends to hold the high ground.

This Photo Says It All

Protest of Planned Mosque at Ground Zero


How about some 'tolerance' from the Muslim world first?

SWAC Girl [click to read] and Phil [click to read] have more.

By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them

A Prophet is Always Known Through His True Disciples



Yesterday was 'Draw Muhammad Day' and the challenge was to illustrate this bit of wisdom in a way that dealt with the simple truth that if you want to know a spiritual leader, look at his disciples.

This is a universally applicable [and painful] exercise, especially when you apply it to your own traditions. Certainly evil has been done in the name of Christianity as well. The German Socialists, while their philosophy was clearly not Biblical, where adept at using the language of believers while engaging in ethnic cleansing. Still, you had the Righteous Gentiles in the midst of this... regular people like the Dutch watchmaker who's Christian faith drove them to hide their Jewish neighbors in their homes. They risked their lives to do this and shared the same horrible fate as those they protected.

People of the Book gave us the law and compassion. They worked [and still do] to end slavery, provide for more compassionate treatment for the mentally ill and the poor. Alvin Schmidt [click to read] documents this in his book: Under the Influence.

Indeed it would be fair to say: "Study the history" to gain a real understanding of any spiritual leader one would desire to follow.

Michelle Malkin Has More [click to read].

I Take Back Everything I Ever Said About TSA!

With Today's News I Have New Understanding...


'Jihad Jane,' AKA Colleen LaRose.

Yes, I admit it, I used to chuckle at airports when I was escorted to the wand screening area. After hours on an airplane with a day's beard growth and no access to a razor, I might look sort of terrifying. Inevitably though I would find myself waiting behind 1. A blonde lady and 2. Grandma! I laughed at the extremes of 'politically correct' screening. But I was wrong!

Colleen LaRose looks like an ordinary housewife from the suburbs of Philadelphia. Perhaps she's the descendent of some Continental Army soldier who didn't get paid, but her conversion to Islam and involvement in recruiting Jihadists has her neighbors wondering. I honestly don't see what Islam holds that is so enticing to women, especially AMERICAN women! I guess the veil is more liberating than equality feminism after all.

She was working under orders from militants to go to Sweden and kill a Swedish artist who depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a dog. I guess I'd better not put his face on a groundhog, huh? Still, we live in a world where free nations are repeatedly cast as oppressors and oppressive nations are cast as the victims. Waterboarding, in that world, is more terrible than Saddam Hussein's sons throwing their enemies alive into a plastic shredder.

I guess repeating a lie long enough makes it believable. Ms. LaRose believed it.

A Real Campaign Against Abuses

Middle East Apartheid Education Week

How About Looking at the Worst First [click to read]. Alan M. Dershowitz in Jewish World Review. It's 'Bash Israel Week' on college campuses across the nation. How about looking at the MOST oppressive in the Middle East first?

"The current "Israel Apartheid Week" on universities around the world, by focusing only on the imperfections of the Middle East's sole democracy, is carefully designed to cover up far more serious problems of real apartheid in Arab and Muslim nations. The question is why do so many students identify with regimes that denigrate women, gays, non-Muslims, dissenters, environmentalists and human rights advocates, while demonizing a democratic regime that grants equal rights to women (the chief justice and speaker of the Parliament of Israel are women), gays (there are openly gay generals in the Israeli Army), non-Jews (Muslims and Christians serve in high positions in Israel) and dissenters, (virtually all Israelis dissent about something). Israel has the best environmental record in the Middle East, it exports more life saving medical technology than any country in the region and it has sacrificed more for peace than any country in the Middle East. Yet on many college campuses democratic, egalitarian Israel is a pariah, while sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, terrorist Hamas is a champion. There is something very wrong with this picture."

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume II, Issue IX

Reluctantly The Administration Acknowledges
A Life and Death Struggle

I was listening to Bill Bennett when I heard him give as a sign of hope the observation that the POTUS was becoming more clear in defining the war we face with Islamists. There is, according to Bennett, a 'learning curve' where the President seems to be acknowledging the magnitute of the struggle. He seems to be stepping away from the 'man caused disaster' rhetoric ever so slightly, fearful perhaps that an attack on his watch would render his administration a 'man caused disaster' in the minds of the American people. It's too slow in coming, but welcome nonetheless.

A Little History:

A Terrorist War Obama Denied [click to read] by Charles Krauthammer

Obama Ponders Outreach to Elements of Taliban [click to read]

Obama, War Cabinet Meet after Taliban Capture [click to read]

The System Failed, Slay the Messenger

Kurt Westergaard and Others Who Criticize Radical
Islam are On Their Own...

Bruce Bawer in City Journal [click to read]. Western [liberal] Civilization seems determined to ignore this very clearly defined threat to its very existence.

“Will Europe manage to set its foot down strongly enough . . . that there will be no doubt that the continent never will give up its founding values? Or will the commentariat and political elite continue to give way, inch by inch . . . ?” -- Hege Storhaug [click to read].

Death of a Theory by Rich Lowry [click to read] in National Review. ht/Mike

Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan is Ft. Hood Gunman

11 Killed and 31 Injured as Psychiatrist Opens Fire



Fort Hood is where my nephew was stationed between his tours in Iraq. All of our prayers are with the families of Fort Hood's soldiers and personel tonight. This is a terrible act and we must do everything in our power to see that it never happens again.

Can we please stop being politically correct and just admit that there may be something to this jihad thing. Can we just honestly recognize the existence of people who despise us and want to do us harm? Can we be honest about what their belief system promotes in the way of violence?

I realize it's complicated. In World War II we interred Japanese Americans while my Father, the son of German immigrants designed aircraft for the war effort. We simply need to come to grips with the very real threat that exists in the Muslim community here. It's OK to want to know what a Muslim believes and how it leads him to live. That's an honest question to ask me as a Christian as well. If you live according to what you say you believe, what does that look like?

But don't tell me that it's a 'religion of peace' when many of its followers are not peaceful. A man may call himself a Christian but ignore the command to love his neighbor. Most don't and Christianity is very explicit about it, even going so far as to to teach charity towards one's enemies. There are peace loving Muslims who despise the violence. There are many who see 'kill the infidel' in the Quoran and live by it. How can we know what a man believes in his heart? Perhaps a direct approach is the best.

We can no longer afford to avoid asking the hard question: "What do you believe and how does that affect the way you live?" We cannot pretend that faith doesn't matter. We cannot pretend that it is no more significant that a person's shoe size. We need to come to terms with the extent to which it shapes a life.

It's not something that, whatever it is, is good in moderation but not in excess. It is a person's fundamental beliefs and we should recognize that there are beliefs that lead to nobleness in character and action and others, a very different set of beliefs, that lead to the most despicable crimes of mankind. Specific teachings that call for specific results fill our cherished texts. We need to recognize the differences with all the wisdom we can muster.

Michelle Malkin Has More [click to read].

Update: There were 14 Killed at Ft. Hood, Not 13

Michelle Malkin Has More [click to read].

Christian Persecution in America

Fathima Rifqa Bary's Plea Rings Through History

Here is the Story [click to read] of a young woman from a Muslim home who became a follower of Jesus. It is of interest for a number of reasons.

First of all, I found the story on Jewish World Review, not a denominational mission magazine, or even a Voice of the Martyrs publication. Binyamin L. Jolkovsky is not exactly an Evangelical. He IS one of the most honest, straight shooting voices in the information industry today and his intgtrity deserves an honest listening.

Second, the story is timeless. It has never been safe or easy for truth seekers in this world. Truth has a way of unsettling the Status Quo and truth lived out is... dangerous. In places like China there is a growing population of believers and like Christians in the old Roman Empire, they are perceived as a real threat by the people who maintain the Status Quo. Fathima's plea is one we would hear many times over if we could but visit the far corners of the Earth. Voice of the Martyrs and other organizations do a good job of telling their story but to publish such an interview would be sealing someone's death certificate so many such pleas go unheard.

Third, this is the story of a young girl in America. This is the land that wrote religious freedom into the First Amendment of its Constitution. Yet a byproduct of our so-called 'tolerance' has become the turning of a blind eye to 'honor killings' that happen in the Muslim community. These 'honor killings' are well documented old news in the land of Fathima's ancestry but they are becoming a part of life for American Muslims now.

Listen to her story. She speaks for many who cannot.

Parting Thought:

It is interesting to note that many who hold to a worldview that espouses secret abortion as a 'right' for children and do not consider it a crime to push secularist thought in elementary schools have in this case so suddenly discovered 'parents' rights.


Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park.

The Speech He Actually Gave...

Some Thoughtful Analysis

Obama's Arabian Dreams [click to read] by Caroline B. Glick in Jewish World Review.

"Unfortunately, for a speech billed as an exercise in truth telling, Obama's address fell short. Far from reflecting hard truths, Obama's speech reflected political convenience."

The Settlements Myth [click to read] by Charles Krauthammer in Jewish World Review.