The Urban Grind

Unfortunately, America learned nothing from 9/11. Thanks to the ineptness and political correctness of our government bureaucrats, we have four dead Americans, and over a hundred people wounded. And now we learn that Russia repeatedly warned the FBI (and CIA according to CNN last night) about the older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The incompetent FBI interviewed him but found nothing. And his name was entered into some databases.

Sources said Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s details were entered into TIDE, a database maintained by the National Counterterrorism Center, because the FBI spoke to him in 2011 while investigating a Russian tip-off that he had become a follower of radical Islamists.

The FBI found nothing to suggest he was an active threat, but all the same placed his name on the ‘Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment’ list. The FBI has not said what it did find about Tsarnaev.

But the database, which holds more than half a million names, is only a repository of information on people who U.S. authorities see as known, suspected or potential terrorists from around the world.

Because of its huge size, U.S. investigators do not routinely monitor everyone registered there, said U.S. officials familiar with the database.

Now just out of curiosity, why are people listed in terrorist databases even allowed to be in America in the first place? Why are the snivel-rights of these people, many of who detest America, more important than the safety and well being of lawful productive American citizens? Is it more important for government bureaucrats to have a job entering names while they pretend to keep Americans safe? Or is it still because we don’t want to be seen as “mean” and racist?

After being put in the TIDE system, his name was entered in another database, this one maintained by the Homeland Security Department’s Customs and Border Protection bureau which is used to screen people crossing U.S. land borders and entering at airports or by sea.
Tsarnaev was flagged on that database when he left the United States for Russia in January 2012 but no alarm was raised, presumably because the FBI had not identified him as a threat after the interview.

When he returned from Russia six months later, he had already been automatically downgraded in the border database because there was no new information that required him to continue to get extra attention. So he did not get secondary inspection on his re-entry at New York’s JFK Airport. It was unclear exactly what the procedure was for such a downgrade.

Via RonL from Facebook

Happy Hanukkah. It isn’t about presents, latkes, or driedles, or chocolate:

“2:17 Then answered the king’s officers, and said to Mattathias on this wise, Thou art a ruler, and an honourable and great man in this city, and strengthened with sons and brethren:

2:18 Now therefore come thou first, and fulfil the king’s commandment, like as all the heathen have done, yea, and the men of Juda also, and such as remain at Jerusalem: so shalt thou and thy house be in the number of the king’s friends, and thou and thy children shall be honoured with silver and gold, and many rewards.
2:19 Then Mattathias answered and spake with a loud voice, Though all the nations that are under the king’s dominion obey him, and fall away every one from the religion of their fathers, and give consent to his commandments:

2:20 Yet will I and my sons and my brethren walk in the covenant of our fathers.

2:21 God forbid that we should forsake the law and the ordinances.

2:22 We will not hearken to the king’s words, to go from our religion, either on the right hand, or the left.

2:23 Now when he had left speaking these words, there came one of the Jews in the sight of all to sacrifice on the altar which was at Modin, according to the king’s commandment.

2:24 Which thing when Mattathias saw, he was inflamed with zeal, and his reins trembled, neither could he forbear to shew his anger according to judgment: wherefore he ran, and slew him upon the
altar.

2:25 Also the king’s commissioner, who compelled men to sacrifice, he killed at that time, and the altar he pulled down.
2:26 Thus dealt he zealously for the law of God like as Phinees did unto Zambri the son of Salom.

2:27 And Mattathias cried throughout the city with a loud voice, saying, Whosoever is zealous of the law, and maintaineth the covenant, let him follow me.

2:28 So he and his sons fled into the mountains, and left all all that ever they had in the city.

First Book of Maccabees, Chapter 2.

This is a video about the Unetaneh Tokef, which is recited by Jews on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Personally, I’ve always found this poem to be frightening, since the author describes so many ways a person can get killed. Here is the graphic part.

All mankind will pass before You like members of the flock. Like a shepherd pasturing his flock, making sheep pass under his staff, so shall You cause to pass, count, calculate, and consider the soul of all the living; and You shall apportion the fixed needs of all Your creatures and inscribe their verdict.

Congregation then chazzan [in some congregations this is recited only by the chazzan]:

On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed how many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who will live and who will die; who will die at his predestined time and who before his time; who by water and who by fire, who by sword, who by beast, who by famine, who by thirst, who by storm, who by plague, who by strangulation, and who by stoning. Who will rest and who will wander, who will live in harmony and who will be harried, who will enjoy tranquillity and who will suffer, who will be impoverished and who will be enriched, who will be degraded and who will be exalted.

Congregation aloud, then chazzan:

But REPENTANCE, PRAYER and CHARITY

Remove the Evil of the Decree!

Here’s to a sweet, happy New Year.

That’s what one pastor in Texas is advising married couples in his church to do.

Mr. Young, known simply as Ed to his parishioners, and his wife, both 47, have been married for 26 years and have four children, including twins. They have firsthand experience with some of the barriers to an intimate sex life in marriage, including careers, exhaustion, outside commitments, and “kids,” a word that Mr. Young told church members stands for “keeping intimacy at a distance successfully.”

But if you make the time to have sex, it will bring you closer to your spouse and to God, he has said. You will perform better at work, leave a loving legacy for your children to follow and may even prevent an extramarital affair.

I agree with him. I think Dr. Laura would agree too. In marriage, your spouse is your priority. “Outside commitments” to relatives and friends should not come before your spouse.

Now, since I’m Jewish, I thought I’d quickly fill you in on Judaism’s view of sex in marriage.

Sex is permissible only within the context of a marriage. In Judaism, sex is not merely a way of experiencing physical pleasure. It is an act of immense significance, which requires commitment and responsibility. The requirement of marriage before sex ensures that sense of commitment and responsibility. Jewish law also forbids sexual contact short of intercourse outside of the context of marriage, recognizing that such contact will inevitably lead to intercourse.

The primary purpose of sex is to reinforce the loving marital bond between husband and wife. The first and foremost purpose of marriage is companionship, and sexual relations play an important role. Procreation is also a reason for sex, but it is not the only reason. Sex between husband and wife is permitted (even recommended) at times when conception is impossible, such as when the woman is pregnant, after menopause, or when the woman is using a permissible form of contraception.

Now here’s the interesting part.

Nevertheless, Judaism does not ignore the physical component of sexuality. The need for physical compatibility between husband and wife is recognized in Jewish law. A Jewish couple must meet at least once before the marriage, and if either prospective spouse finds the other physically repulsive, the marriage is forbidden.

{snip}

Sex is the woman’s right, not the man’s. A man has a duty to give his wife sex regularly and to ensure that sex is pleasurable for her. He is also obligated to watch for signs that his wife wants sex, and to offer it to her without her asking for it. The woman’s right to sexual intercourse is referred to as onah, and it is one of a wife’s three basic rights (the others are food and clothing), which a husband may not reduce. The Talmud specifies both the quantity and quality of sex that a man must give his wife. It specifies the frequency of sexual obligation based on the husband’s occupation, although this obligation can be modified in the ketubah (marriage contract). A man may not take a vow to abstain from sex for an extended period of time, and may not take a journey for an extended period of time, because that would deprive his wife of sexual relations. In addition, a husband’s consistent refusal to engage in sexual relations is grounds for compelling a man to divorce his wife, even if the couple has already fulfilled the halakhic obligation to procreate.

Although sex is the woman’s right, she does not have absolute discretion to withhold it from her husband. A woman may not withhold sex from her husband as a form of punishment, and if she does, the husband may divorce her without paying the substantial divorce settlement provided for in the ketubah.

Senator Obama stuck his foot in his mouth the first time, when he went on about bitter voters in Pennsylvania. But his explanation didn’t seem to do him any good.

“Lately there has been a little typical sort of political flare-up because I said something that everybody knows is true,” Mr. Obama said, “which is that there are a whole bunch of folks in small towns in Pennsylvania, in towns right here in Indiana, in my hometown in Illinois, who are bitter.”

“So I said, well, you know when you’re bitter, you turn to what you can count on,” he added. “So people, they vote about guns, or they take comfort from their faith and their family and their community.”

Sorry Obama, religion and gun right are what made this country. Americans don’t vote about guns because they’re unemployed, or because they had a bad day. They vote about guns because they want to be able to protect themselves and their families, and because of a little thing called the Second Amendment!

Now in terms of religion, can we start calling Obama bitter for attending that Trinity United Church of Christ for twenty years?

People often wonder why Jews are so liberal. I know I certainly do, considering I’m Jewish and right wing. But perhaps the question that needs asking is why Episcopalians (who are much more numerous than Jews in the U.S.) are so liberal. After all, this is a group that has been ordaining homosexual priests. Also, I posted a few weeks ago about a female priest converted to Islam, and who now considers herself “both a Christian and a Muslim.

So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that they are now taking on former porn star “Rod Fontana” to their priesthood.

For Mr. Boyer, his path completes a circle. He grew up in a conservative Southern Baptist community in South Carolina, where he was baptized and pursued a penchant for preaching as a teenager. He studied history and religion at Southern Wesleyan University, but dropped out to join the Army and serve in Vietnam, where he was wounded.

Back home, he became a police officer and was offered a job in New York City in 1975, he said. But before he could start, the city went to the verge of bankruptcy and Mr. Boyer found himself unemployed. At that crucial moment an actor friend confided that he was making a living by appearing in pornographic films, and offered to get him involved.

{snip}

He liked the easy money, the sex, the camaraderie. He would not get rich performing in pornography, but he made a steady living.
Then, in the 1980s, he re-enlisted in the Army, he said, and served about a decade on active duty in what he called military intelligence.

{snip}

After the Army, Mr. Boyer returned to pornography, where he became known as “the colonel” for his military bearing. He had a reputation for sexual adventurousness. “Rod was one of the kinkiest guys I ever met,” said Urbano Martin, a director who has made many films with him. “I find it hard to believe he’s going to give this up. Rod is very addicted to the sex part of it.”

Asked about this, Mr. Boyer acknowledged, “When it comes to sexual acts, I’ll do anything.” But in recent years, he said, “my view of morality in this business has changed.”

In case any of you are curious, here’s a list of his film credits.

What do you all think?

Hat tip: El Cabong

I don’t understand how it’s possible, but one Episcopalian priest also considers herself Muslim.

Well I’d like to see her try and go live in some Muslim country and see how far her masters degree and PhD would take her:

The oldest of three girls, Redding grew up in Pennsylvania in a high-achieving, intellectual family. Her father was one of the lawyers who argued the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case that desegregated the nation’s public schools. Her mother was in the first class of Fulbright scholars.

Though her parents weren’t particularly religious, they had her baptized and sent her to an Episcopal Sunday school. She has always sensed that God existed and God loved her, even when things got bleak — which they did.

{snip}

Despite those difficulties, she graduated from Brown University, earned master’s degrees from two seminaries and received her Ph.D. in New Testament from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She felt called to the priesthood and was ordained in 1984.

Yesterday, I posted about how CAIR was trying to have Dennis Prager removed from the governing board of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, for his opposition to Keith Ellison taking his oath of office on a Koran.

Well it turns out that the whiney Anti Defamation League is also condemning Prager.

Last week, the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group, called Prager’s opinions “flat-out wrong,” as well as “intolerant, misinformed and downright un-American.”

“If Prager were merely a blogger and radio talk-show host trying to be relevant and provocative, these views might not merit a response. But as a newly appointed member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, Prager and his views must be held to a higher standard,” the group said.

Anyway, Dennis Prager has responded to his critics on the left.

This part of his response was the best:

Why wouldn’t Ellison bring a Bible along with the Quran? That he chose not to is the narcissism of multiculturalism that I referred to: The individual’s culture trumps the national culture.

Typical of liberals. Only cultures that they think are important (excluding Judaism and Christianity upon which Western civilization was built) should be honored.

It’s almost that time of year again. Right after Thanksgiving, the Christmas displays will go up, and Christmas songs will be playing almost everywhere. It’s also at this time of year that that the Left (courtesy of the ACLU) will get more vocal about Christmas displays in public locations.

Blogger Bookworm, in his column on The American Thinker believes that the left’s attack on Christmas displays reflects their undemocratic impulse to suppress any information with which they disagree. He believes this impulse also explains why they are so hostile to military recruiters in high schools and college campuses. It makes sense to me in that the Left believes that America is responsible for all the ills of the world. But that’s the subject of a whole other post.

In a way, Bookworm is right. But I don’t believe that suppression of information is all there is to it. The left is hostile to the Judeo-Christian values that made America great because they are antithetical to the Left’s “religion.”