Obama and the Turks

BODYGUARDS OF OBAMA AND ERDOGAN BRAWL IN NEW YORK

23.09.2009
Bodyguards of US President Barack Obama and Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan started a dispute over Premiers'
security issue, which escalated into a brawl.

As Cumhuriyet Turkish newspaper reported, the dispute started over
bodyguards' disagreement on necessary security measures. Premiers'
bodyguards were not provided with radio communication. As a result,
Erdogan had to cancel his address at "G20 and its influence on global
issues" summit, organized by Bill Clinton and return to Sheraton
Plaza hotel.

Erdogan himself interfered in the fight, while one of US bodyguards
pushed him out of the scramble.

Christians Tombs vandalized in Istanbul

Christian tombs desecrated in an historic Istanbul cemetery.
September 22 2009

About 90 tombstones are broken. Incidents of this nature are not rate in the city but the local press failed to report it. Only recently and through a movie, have young Turks begun to learn about past anti-Christian pogroms. Ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew visits the cemetery in question.

Istanbul (AsiaNews) A Christian cemetery was desecrated in Istanbul. Unknown person or persons broke 90 tombstones that bore the sign of the cross and the name of the deceased. The incident occurred a few days ago in the historic cemetery of Valukli near the ancient Valukli Monastery, the only monastery dedicated to Our Lady still open in Istanbul, located outside the ancient walls of Theodosius, and which five non-resident nuns care for.

Istanbuls Christian cemeteries have been desecrated on a number of occasions in the past 20 years. The latest outrage brought back memories of the tragic events of September 1955 when churches, cemeteries and properties owned by Istanbuls Orthodox community were desecrated and destroyed in a pogrom. Eventually dubbed the September pogrom, the event was the brainchild of Turkeys political-bureaucratic-military establishment, known here as Derin Devlet or deep state.

The pogrom has remained engraved in the memories of Istanbuls Christians who at that moment realised that their survival in the city would be difficult, if not impossible.

Young Turks have learnt about such tragic episodes only recently, when Guz Sancisi, a movie by young Turkish woman director Tomris Giritlioglu, was screened in local theatres to great review and box office success.

It is also important to keep in mind that Christian cemeteries are very large and serve as a reminder of the small Christian presence in this country.

Given Istanbuls huge urban development, Christian cemeteries have become surrounded by human habitation and are coveted by developers.

A law adopted in the 1930s transferred title to cemeteries to municipalities; hitherto, they had belonged to religious foundations

Outraged and grieved by what happened, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (pictured) went to see the desecrated cemetery, asking why such acts continue to strike Christian graveyards.

Despite the seriousness of the incident, the local press did not report it.

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=16387&size=A

Wizards

"Wizards" by Jack Dann and gardner Dozois

These two gentlemen have comiled a colletion of short stories about wizards and and other people who do magic. They have collected at the time it was writen nver before published writing samples fro the likes o Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix, Jane Yolen ,Eoin Colfer and others. The stories are very enterntaining and enjoyable to read.

Stories have such plots as a boy who is raised in a graveyard does a favor for a witch. While out of the graveyard he gets in trouble and the dead witch helps him out. In Holly and Iron two sisters who are related to the Normans and British kings rebel against Norman rule of Britain. One sister dies in battle and the other goes seraching for vengeance. The ending is quite a surprise. SOme of the stores take place in a fantasy world while others occur in different versions of Historical reality. Some stories take place in modern times.

A good idea for this book is to take note of the authors you like best and explore their work further,

"SnowCrash" by Neal Stephenson

"SnowCrash" by Neal Stephenson

The story is set in futuristic Los Angeles. The Central government is falling apart and shrinking. Various franchises are taking over and private city states each with their own laws are popping up every where. Security is handled by private armies like the Mafia, Enforces and the Crips. Hiro Protagonist the main character is both a hacker and driver for a Mafia owned pizza company. He crashes the car and meets Y.T. a skateboarding kourier who get around by harpooning fast moving cars with a suction harpoon. After Hiro crashes his car she delivers the Pizza for him. After that they form a partnership. Hiro as a hacker gets money for information that he sells to the CIC . Kouriers get all sorts of information. The Metaverse is like a virtual world in cyberspace where Avatars meet up and chat. It is in the Black Sun owned by his friend Da5id that Hiro gets wind of something called "Snow Crash" a sort of cyber drug. He declines the first offer and later on learns about it from an ex girlfriend who was married to Da5id for a while. Hackers and programmers like him have to beware it will infect their brain. Someone is out to get all the programmers. Da5id is not so lucky he gets dosed and ends up totally brain dead. While in the Black Sun a Japanese swordsman tries to take down Hiro but fails. Snow crassh is written in an Ancient Sumerian language that easily enter the brainstructure. Once uttered it give the En or person who controls the namshub access and control over the person;s mind. THe person behind all this is L.Bob Rife he owns the Pearly Gates Church and he is spreading the virus. The Mafia, Y.T. and Hiro team up to stop the spread off the virus. Along thee way Y.T gets kidnapped and ends up on board the Enterprise, an old Navy cruiser purchased by L.Bob Rife, which is his base of operations. Juanita manages to infiltrate the ship which proves crucial in the final battle. Hiro board the ship with the aid of the mafia in order to rescue Y.T and Juanita. Raven is a super strong Villain and Aleut from Alska with a grudge against America. He is an expert assassin who is Hiro's toughest nemesis. Hiro is also an expert swords man.

Excellent story, I found this book very entertaining. The references to Ancient Sumerian mythology and Kabballah are very mind opening. I have found that now I have a bunch of addition material to research. This is a five star book.

The Engagement....Palestinians with Jewish Roots

To everyone participating in the long discussion: Our targets do not include slandering Islam or verbally (deninitely not otherwise) attacking its followers. We are against ignorance, extremism and corruption that are responsible for the current conflict in our country.

Christine; In Kaballah we learn that the deeds of the people on earth are a sign for those acting from above. What we are doing now is concentrating on lobbying arround politicians to let them realize that there is no other way. That our direction is a win win while the other diections are lose lose.

But we are seeing more and more supporters and more testifying about their Jewish roots almost every day. We are seeing small but somewhat astonoshing miracles here and there, like meeting a cousin of Wahid last Friday whose mother's family owned the house in Deir Yassin where you can see today 2 Stars of David, as appear on our web site. Like Wahid meeting a neighbour he knows for many years whose last name is Judeh, admitting only now that they are Jews. Like sheik Ja'abri from Hebron refusing to admit that his clan is of a Jewish origin, in order not to lose his leadership and last week hearing from an old Bedouin in Mazarib, that in 1968 he heard on the radio the previous sheik Ja'abari telling to Moshe Dayan that they are of a Jewish origin. That Bedouin who is now in pension from the IDF told me that they are insulted if we call them Palestinians. All these coincidences are not accidents, are not random. They show the additional support that we have.

As to the protests: While these had some success on our borders, the PA sent many buses to collect demonstartors. Most of the busses returned empty, and the few that did not, brought few children whishing to have a free trip in a day of a nice weather.

I also heard, but was not able to verify it yet, that one of the candidates for presidency in Egypt, who is not too favoured by the Muslim Brootherhood, said yesterday in El-Manar, Hizballah TV, that soon the Palestinians of Judea & Samaria will become Jews. It may be a fasle alarm, some misunderstanding, but may be it is true that he said it.

Dennis, we are progressing to publish more videos to show Palestinians testifying about their Jewish origins and religious Jewish symbols found in Paletinian locations. If there is anything you can help in this direction, let me know please.

Carter On the Right of Middle Eastern Jews

Carter enemy of peace

Ben-Dror Yemini

Like many "peace activists", the former president engages in revilement against Israel, which feeds Palestinian rejectionism




Are peace activists the enemies of peace? The fascinating case of Jimmy Carter requires a special look. Carter recently visited Israel – one of many visits – this time in the framework of a special delegation of "Elders" – the world's tribal elders. There is no doubt that this group – one of whose founders is Nelson Mandela – has good intentions, and maybe ability. They have considerable gravitas. But the main question is – what are they doing with their moral weight?



Immediately upon his return to the US, Carter published an article in the prestigious Washington Post. An invective against the State of Israel. Invective cannot rest on foundations of truth. It needs lies. Carter tells a few, for example, about the Hanoun family, "recently evicted from their home of 65 years." Really? In fact, the entire compound belongs to Jews, who were expelled from Jerusalem in the framework of the War of Independence. There is no argument about the Jewish ownership, which dates back to 1875. A Star of David is still to be found on one of the old stone structures at the site. The Hanoun family, by contrast, did not reach the place 65 years ago. If Carter would have checked, he would discover that this is a family of refugees from Haifa (Haifa's Arabs, by the way, were not expelled. They left voluntarily). They were moved into the structure, along with another family, in 1956, by the Jordanian authorities. The owners of the property sought to exercise their proprietary rights. There is not a word about this in Carter's article.



And indeed, there are thousands of tenants, in Carter's state, in Atlanta, who were evicted from their homes because they could not make their mortgage payments. The rights of the Smith family, which was thrown onto the street in Atlanta, are much more established than the rights of the Hanoun family. But Carter is not looking for justice. He is looking for invective. And therefore, he presents his readers with a partial picture, replete with erroneous details, and conceals the fact that the eviction was carried out only after lengthy judicial proceedings, in which the proprietary rights were held up to detailed scrutiny. It is worthwhile to be precise. The Israeli court granted the families living in the compound the status of protected tenants. Moreover, some of the evicted families had the option of generous compensation even though they had no proprietary rights. But the families rejected every offered settlement and every legal defense, due to political pressure, and also received a political visit from Carter and his friends. Nobody offered compensation to the Smith family in Atlanta and Carter did not visit them.



The criticism of eviction of the Hanoun family could be justified. Even if the eviction was legally justified – there is room for political criticism. And on the condition that if Carter seeks to deny the Jews' proprietary rights – he should also make it clear that the Palestinians have no right to claim abandoned property. In practice, the property that was expropriated and confiscated from Jews in Arab countries, as a result of legislation, pressure, persecution, flight and expulsion – is worth more than the property that was expropriated and confiscated from the Palestinians as a result of flight and expulsion. But there is a difference. The Palestinians underwent the experience of flight and expulsion following the declaration of a war of annihilation against the Jewish State, which had barely arisen. The Jews in Arab countries underwent a similar experience – of flight, expulsion and property expropriation – even though they had not declared war on the Arab countries. If so, whose rights are greater?



Has Carter ever told the Palestinians this basic truth? The answer is well known. Like other "peace activists", he treat the Arabs in general, and the Palestinians in particular, like retarded children. They must not be told the truth. They must not be told that if there are rights – then both the Jews and the Arabs have them. And if not – then neither the Jews nor the Arabs have them. He does not tell them that during the 1940's, tens of millions of people underwent the harsh experience of population exchanges, and there is no reason why only the Palestinians should have "the right of return." He does not tell them that more Jews fled, and were expelled from, Arab countries than Palestinians who were expelled from or fled Israel.



It is possible and permissible to criticize Israel over the settlements. Occasionally, this criticism is justified. But Carter, like thousands of other "peace activists", does not advance peace. Their demonization of Israel strengthens those who reject peace. Abu Mazen's position appeared in the same newspaper, the Washington Post, on May 29. He insists on demands the sole significance of which is opposition to the existence of the State of Israel. He agrees, of course, officially, to a two-state solution but on the condition that one of them be a Palestinian state and that the second one also be a Palestinian state, following the implementation of the right of return. He admits that he received an amazing compromise offer from Olmert that included the evacuation of 97% of the territories but he rejected it outright because he insisted that masses of Palestinians flood the State of Israel.



Did Carter issue a condemnation of Abu Mazen? The answer is well known. Carter published an article condemning Israel, one of many. Instead of offering fair criticism, Carter has become part of the incitement enterprise against the State of Israel. Carter is capable of much more. He has succeeded in making achievements in other areas. For some reason, when he touches the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he loses his fairness and his balance. He does not contribute to the advancement of peace. On the contrary. This is Carter's contribution to strengthening Palestinian refusal and to pushing the chances of peace further away."





Ben-Dror Yemini

Biblical Archaelogy

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251804529782&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Human Rights Watch

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251804521698&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Let My people Go!

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1194419829128&pagename=JPost%2FPage%2FVideoPlayer&videoId=1251804519731

Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner

The setting of the story is a post apocalyptic world twenty five years after the Faeries and Humans and have gone to war. Modern appliances no longer work. People have returned to old farming and hunting techniques. The nature of the world has changed since the faeries released magic into the world. Tree attack people and animals with their roots. Some people are cursed with magic ability. Those who do have magic ability have clear hair and clear eyes. The main character had a sister named Rebbecca who was born with the cursed magic. Her father sets leaves her out in the wilderness for the Faeries to claim or for her to die. The main character goes out to visit her to see if the Faeries really come she sees a bright light but catches no sight of the baby. Days later her mother disappears. The main Characters has a mean father who beats her for coming home late. She has a friend named Matthew and his grandmother is named Kate. The main character goes to her in ordder to get healed from the grievous welts inflicted by her father. It is there that the main character starts having visions of her mother. THe main character leaves Franklin in order to find her mother. A loyal friend named Matthew and he cat named, Tallow set off with her on her quest. Along the way they are attacked by wild dogs and trees. They are rescued by Karin and taken to Wash ville. There they are healed by Allie and Caleb. After getting healed they set off for the arches that lead into faerie world. Matthew who can turn into a wolf and the main character are joined by allie. During the journey the main character discovers that Matthew and her mother knew about other magical people but kept it hidden from the town folk. She also disccovers that Caleb knew her mother from before the war. In the end the main character rescues her mother and things start going back to normal again.

The View From Nebo by Amy Dockser Marcus

Archaeological finds are changing the stories that we have read inside of the bible. Things are not always what they seem. It is a work that is not entirely true and it is a work that is not entirely false. Some things can be proven while others are not so easily proven. Moses the great prophet of Israel was buried on top of Mount Nebo. He died before he was allowed to enter the promised land. It was his punishment for losing his teemper and hitting a stone which produced water. He was supposed to be able to see from Beer Sheba to the Dan. Of coursee from the Peaks of Nebo such wide area is not visible. Turns out that Nebo was burial place for many people. Many Dolmen were found which would mean that Moses was not the only one to use it. The Byzantine later built a Church and Monastery over it. It is currently in use as a religious sight for a Catholic Order of monks.

The biblical figure of Abraham is not so easily proven. In fact it cannot be proven. Many scholars don't show much interest in this person or period. However, scholars have proven that cultural practices are consistent with timing of the narrative and that there was migration to Canaan during the supposed time of the patriarchs. Originally Abraham was not connected with the City of Hebron. That is believed to be added in during the Time of David in order to boost the cities importance. Hebron is a small Satellite city of Jerusalem were the people are insular and prone to fanaticism. It never really had a strong economy. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are a bit easier to prove. Numeira and Bab edh Dhara correspond. One city was completely abandoned along with a cemetery in use since the Bronze age. It showed what village life was like at that time. Numeira showed sing s of catastrophe it was covered in ash which meant volcanic activity. People blocked themselves in and things were preserved like grapes thanks to the ash. An area in Tel Dan has a city that was built using clay molding techniques from Mesopotamia . It fell apart due to extensive amounts of rain. This showed evidence of a migration in Canaan from Mesopotamia.

Proof that Exodus occurred is difficult as well. In Egypt there were workers and there were slaves . Slaves were of all ethnicities. Slaves were the ones who built the cities for Ramses. Workers were in charge of building the Pyramids. Workers were fed by local village folk, they received proper medical care and were given housing. They took spare material and built themselves burial chamber modeled after those of the Pharaoh's there was a classification system for regular worker and the foremen. Those with more status got better treatment. There is no extra biblical reference to any of the events of the Exodus. There is no mention of Moses either save for something written about him by an Egyptian priest called Manetho. It says that he was a renegade priest who has a follower of Lepers. He set off with them for the desert. Rameses himself many Egyptians feel is oft maligned. He was according to Egyptian documents a much loved ruler who was very wise and compassionate. No one is sure which of sons was the first born to die because he had so many of them. He later retreated into religious life and let his sons handle the running off his kingdom. Hence they may have been the Pharoah written about in Exodus. The Sinai desert was not a barrier to Canaan rather it was a bridge. Pottery finds indicate a mixture of Egyptian styles and Canaanite Styles. Often times the two groups met in the region in order to trade. Some scholars believe that there was not one Exodus but possibly several or none.

The origin of the Israelites is shrouded in mystery, many scholar believe that they were originally Canaanites. The Israelite had the same building style, religious holidays and even worshiped some of the same Gods that that the Canaanites worshiped. It is believed that the Israelites started their communities in the Hills and slowly moved down. There is no proof for the lightning victories of Joshua. The Canaanites are also believed to bee the ones who built the water tunnel from the spring into the walled City of Jerusalem. The Canaanites had a high degree of Culture regardless of what the Bible says.
The search for David and Salomon remains elusive. There is no proof that either existed. Excavations have failed to turn up any signs of Salomon's building activity. In fact during the time of David Jerusalem was relatively small. Due to maybe famine the cities population was in a decline. Many building like Hazor which are attributed to Salomon may have been built by Northern Israelites during the divided Monarchy. Whether there was ever a united monarchy is questionable. Hazor many Archaeologist are finding out was built by King Ahab and his son Omri . Ahab was a powerful king one who was to be respected. THE Kingdom of Issrael was shown to begin about 100 years earlier then it's southern neighbor Judea . Judea was too poor to maintain a building program that kept pace with Northern Israel. When the Babylonians came there was proof that they decimated Jerusalem inordr to quell any resistance AND the Elite were sent to Babylon where they live quite well. The rest of the Judeans were allowed to remain and till the land. In fact the Babylonians brought wealth and prosperity to the area.

Many may believe from reading the Bible that Israelites were at odds with the Ammonites. It was believed that the Ammonites were destroyed by the Babylonians. Fact is that they survived several centuries after words thank to underground cave cities, openness to foreigner and strong tribal organization. They helped Judean renegade against Babylon after they assassinated the Gedalia , the governor appointed by the Babylonians. The Edomites were not always enemies either in fact their copper mining and smelting brought them riches especially when the Assyrians were running the show. They did trade inside Judean Negev and set up religious center there as well. This surprised many people.

The Persian period under which the Israelite returned is mostly over looked. Yet many changes were a result of Persian policy. Judea renamed Yehud was fortified to withstand Egyptian rebellion. The bible itself was rewritten several times and Ezra ws not the final editor. There was also a rift between the Judeans who were left behind the strict fanatics returning from Babylon . In the final chapter the book covers the causes for the Jewish revolt against the Roman along with how the Elite cooperated with the Roman.