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Olympic memorial for 1972 Israeli athletes at Trafalgar Square

Staff Report

As the opening ceremonies get underway in London for the 2012 Summer Olympics, around 400 people gathered in Trafalgar Square Friday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the brutal killing of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Games in Munich.
 
The event was organized by the British Israel Coalition and was “a response to the International Olympic Committee’s sustained refusal to include a minute of silence in the opening ceremony due to be held tonight,” according to a statement released by the group early Friday.

An international drive to hold a moment of silence during the opening ceremonies in honor of the slain Israelis was rebuffed by the IOC on numerous occasions, including Wednesday night when two widows of murdered Israeli team members from the 1972 Games met with IOC President Jacques Rogge.
 
“We wanted to do this because it was right to take a public stand,” Ari Soffer, Director of the British Israel Coalition, told The Algemeiner. “The majority were definitely British but there were quite a lot of people involved – Americans, Canadians, a Korean group.  They saw the event and expressed interest.”
 
The BIC is a grassroots movement, which Soffer describes as “a pluralistic group with a pro-Israel initiative.”
 
We’re a  “pan-political, pan-religious [group].  It’s not Jewish, it’s not Christian.  We have membership across the religious and political spectrum and our mission is to fight the delegitimization of Israel in the United Kingdom…and at the same time, basically be the British voice for Israel in a proactive way.”
 
Attendees inside Trafalgar Square recited the Jewish prayer, Kaddish, while the national anthems of Britain and Israel were performed as well. 

Six questions on statewide November ballot, with one initiative still circulating

Patrick B. McGuigan

At least six ballot measures will appear on the November 2012 statewide general election ballot in Oklahoma. In numeric order of those already qualified, there are State Questions 758, 759, 762, 764, 765 and 766.  Each proposal in this group came to the ballot through legislative action.
 
One citizen initiative to change the state constitution to allow sale of wine in grocery stores could still secure a spot on the November ballot. Two other petitions have been stricken – one by state Supreme Court edict, the other because activists did not gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

S.Q. 758 would amend the state constitution (Article 10) to limit ad valorem (real property) tax hikes to 3 percent of “fair cash value.”  The 3 percent limit would displace the current limit of 5 percent on annual hikes.
 
S.Q. 758 was sent to the general election ballot in 2011 after the Legislature approved House Joint Resolution 2011, sponsored by then-Senator Jim Reynolds and state Rep. David Dank, both Oklahoma City Republicans.
 
S.Q. 759 came to the ballot after the Legislature approved Senate Joint Resolution 759, co-sponsored by state Sen. Rob Johnson of Kingfisher and state Rep. Leslie Osborn of Tuttle.
 
In the final ballot title, crafted after review by Attorney General Scott Pruitt, states the measure “deals with three areas of government action.  These areas are employment, education and contracting.  In these areas, the measure does not allow affirmative action programs.  Affirmative action programs give preferred treatment based on race, color or gender. They also give preferred treatment based on ethnicity or national origin.  Discrimination on these bases is also not permitted. The measure permits affirmative action in three instances.  1. When gender is a bonafide qualification, it is allowed.  2.  Existing court orders and consent decrees that require preferred treatment will continue and can be followed.  3. Affirmative action is allowed when needed to keep or obtain federal funds.  The measure applies to the State and its agencies. It applies to counties, cities and towns.  It applies to school districts.  It applies to other State subdivisions.  The measure applies only to actions taken after its approval by the people.”
 
This question might become the most controversial of statewide proposals on this year’s ballot, as activist liberal groups have begun to organize against the proposition.
 
S.Q. 762 came to the ballot as result of legislative passage of Senate Joint Resolution 25, a measure that was part of the “Justice Reinvestment” drive led by House Speaker Kris Steele of Shawnee and state Sen. Josh Brecheen of Coalgate. This measure would remove the governor from pardon and parole decisions for nonviolent offenders, and make other changes to state law.
 
State Question 764 would allow creation of a “water infrastructure credit enhancement reserve fund” for bond issues in limited circumstances for “certain water resource and sewage treatment” programs. The proposal was part of the long-range water plans developed at the Legislature this year. Sponsors of House Joint Resolution 1085, the underlying legislation, were state Sen. Brian Crain of Tulsa and state Rep. Phil Richardson of Minco.
 
Another ballot measure with significant policy implications is S.Q. 765, the revision to fundamental state law that would repeal the constitutional Human Services Commission and create legislative authority to provide a new, reformed framework for the agency (click here for background).  State Sen. Greg Treat of Oklahoma City joined with Speaker Steele in pressing for this proposal.
 
After several years of work that began when current-Secretary of State Glenn Coffee (click here for background) was Senate President Pro Temp, S.Q. 766 comes to the ballot. It would exempt “all intangible personal property from property tax.  No person, family or business would pay a tax on intangible property.  The change would apply to all tax years beginning on and after January 1, 2013.” This measure resulted from the collaboration of state Sen. Mike Mazzei of Tulsa and state Rep. Dank of Oklahoma City.
 
The one citizen ballot initiative that could still make the November ballot will, if sufficient signatures are gathered, be designated S.Q. 763. The measure “Would permit counties with more than 50,000 residents to have the option of holding an election that would allow the sale of wine in grocery stores.” In a pre-circulation review of the initiative, the state Supreme Court determined it was “sufficient” on June 28.
 
Activists supporting the idea have until September to gather enough names to gain ballot status for the proposal.
 
A “personhood” ballot initiative was “ordered void on its face and stricken” by the state High Court this spring.
 
Another initiative crafted by departing state Sen. Jim Wilson, a Tahlequah Democrat, would have created new standards for legislative and congressional redistricting, but initiative petition gatherers did not get enough valid names to gain ballot status. Wilson has pressed the idea after an earlier lawsuit against the current state Senate districts was slapped down.

About the Author: McGuigan is author of “The Politics of Direct Democracy: Case Studies in Popular Decision Making” (1985).  He is long a contributor for Tulsa Today and has served as Capital Editor over several years. For complete information on state ballot questions nationwide this year, visit ballotpedia.com and click on “ballot measures.” 

Feinstein: National Security Leaks Coming from White House ‘Ranks’

Staff Report

Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Monday said the White House appears to be responsible for leaking classified national security information.
 
‘‘I think the White House has to understand that some of this is coming from their ranks,’’ Feinstein said at a World Affairs Council forum, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Republicans, such as Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), have accused the Obama administration of leaking national security information to win votes. Specifically, McCain mentioned the computer virus program that disabled some of Iran’s nuclear facilities — and other sensitive national security matters.

The uproar intensified when the The New York Times ran a story titled, “Obama order sped up wave of cyberattacks against Iran.” The Times has also published stories on Obama’s “kill lists” with sources that were all affiliated with the Obama administration. TheTimes has denied that the Obama administration leaked information to them.
 
Democrat Pat Caddell has pointed the finger at National Security Adviser Tom Donilon as the primary leaker of sensitive national security information. 

Click here for more from BreitBart.com.

Romney on offense

Staff Report

Yesterday Mitt Romney spoke at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) National Convention in Reno, Nevada and BreitBart has posted some amazing quotes with analysis writing:  For one of the first times in the campaign … Romney came out swinging. And he hit the mark.

He went right at Obama from the outset:
 
[H]as the American economy recovered?
 
Has our ability to shape world events been enhanced, or diminished?

Have we gained greater confidence among our allies, and greater respect from our adversaries?

And, perhaps most importantly, has the most severe security threat facing America and our friends, a nuclear-armed Iran, become more or less likely?

These clear measures are the ultimate tests of American leadership.  And, by these standards, we haven’t seen much in the President’s first term that inspires confidence in a second.

These are the questions upon which Romney can realistically stake his re-election bid. And Romney didn’t stop there. He delivered body-shot after body-shot:
 
The President’s policies have made it harder to recover from the deepest recession in seventy years … exposed the military to cuts that no one can justify … compromised our national-security secrets … and in dealings with other nations, given trust where it is not earned, insult where it is not deserved, and apology where it is not due.
 
And he posed the contrast between his own vision of American exceptionalism and Obama’s, largely by focusing on the concept that this must be an “American Century”:
 
Like a watchman in the night, we must remain at our post – and keep guard of the freedom that defines and ennobles us, and our friends.  In an American Century, we have the strongest economy and the strongest military in the world.  In an American Century, we secure peace through our strength.  And if by absolute necessity we must employ it, we must wield our strength with resolve.  In an American Century, we lead the free world and the free world leads the entire world.
 
If we do not have the strength or vision to lead, then other powers will take our place, pulling history in a very different direction.  A just and peaceful world depends on a strong and confident America. I pledge to you that if I become commander-in-chief, the United States of America will fulfill its duty, and its destiny.
 
Romney had especially harsh words for Obama’s planned military cuts:
 
Today, we are just months away from an arbitrary, across-the-board budget reduction that would saddle the military with a trillion dollars in cuts, severely shrink our force structure, and impair our ability to meet and deter threats.  Don’t bother trying to find a serious military rationale behind any of this, unless that rationale is wishful thinking. Strategy is not driving President Obama’s massive defense cuts.  In fact, his own Secretary of Defense warned that these reductions would be “devastating.”  And he is right.
 
And Romney ripped Obama for his administration’s national security leaks, which Romney said “betrays our national interest … compromises our men and women in the field … demands a full and prompt investigation by a special counsel, with explanation and consequence … The time for stonewalling is over.”
 
Where President Obama offered nothing but platitudes in his speech to VFW yesterday, Romney laid out a point-by-point attack on Obama’s foreign policy. He started with the “sudden abandonment of friends in Poland and the Czech Republic”; he moved on to Obama’s kowtowing to Russia; he slammed Obama for pooh-poohing Hugo Chavez’s team effort with Hezbollah.

He deconstructed Obama’s attacks on Israel:
 
President Obama is fond of lecturing Israel’s leaders. He was even caught by a microphone deriding them. He has undermined their position, which was tough enough as it was.  And even at the United Nations, to the enthusiastic applause of Israel’s enemies, he spoke as if our closest ally in the Middle East was the problem.
 
The people of Israel deserve better than what they have received from the leader of the free world.  And the chorus of accusations, threats, and insults at the United Nations should never again include the voice of the President of the United States.
 
His comprehensive assault on the Obama record included the usual litany of Obama abuses: the Middle East Islamist Spring, the rising danger of Iran, the bending over backwards for Chinese dictatorship. And he ended with this brutal takedown:
 
This is very simple: if you do not want America to be the strongest nation on earth, I am not your President.  You have that President today.

Click here for more from BreitBart.com.

Navy SEAL on lessons learned from Aurora

Brandon Webb

As I continue to read about the terrible tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, I can’t help but think there’s some lessons from my time as a Navy SEAL that I can pass on to the average citizen. So here goes…

Don’t Make Yourself an Easy Target
 
When at sporting events, concerts, and the movies, choose seats that give you a tactical advantage always.  What do I mean? Choose seats that allow good and east vantage points and a hasty exit point.  Always stack the odds in your favor. It’s the reason I still combat park (back in to a space) and sit with my back to the wall when I’m eating.
 
Active Shooter Scenario Advice
 
Take cover and not concealment.  Concealment hides, cover hides AND protects.  It’s the difference between hiding behind a movie seat or a concrete wall.
 
Don’t lie there with your eyes closed and get shot. Think and move.  A good decision executed quickly is better than a great one never executed. Violence of action, as we call it in the Spec Ops community, will often change the odds in your favor.
 
For close quarter combat drills we’d draw a gun with someone over 20 feet away running at us.  In most cases you can be on someone before they can draw and take a shot.  I’m not advocating running straight at someone but if you have the tactical advantage (jam, re-loading, distraction or the shooter isn’t paying attention) then take the shooter down or get the hell out of there.  Deal with the situation with your eyes wide open.
 
In Aurora, the shooter was severely weighted down with armor and his helmet would have also limited his vision. You can use all this to your advantage.
 
Flashlight anyone?  I have one for daily carry and take it everywhere with me.  It’s become another extension of me and has diffused at least two potentially violent confrontations in a non-lethal way. I recommend 200+ lumens.
 
How to use it in this situation?
 
I would have pulled my high lumens pocket flashlight and blinded this guy. The high powered beam would have taken away his vision for 3-4 seconds, which is an eternity and enough time to flight or fight. There’s also no shame in surviving and getting you and your loved ones out of harm – especially little ones. Be a Hero to your kids and family for surviving, nobody can expect more of you than that. Like we say in Survival Escape Evasion Resistance (SERE) school, “Survive with Honor.”

To read more click here.