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AddReply(307427,"re # 60 Larry, Thanks!","Rob","usa","05/15/08","I would have addressed the content, but I don\'t know where to begin.\n\nIts really quite simple, the US has a destiny and role to rule. this should be obvious to someone who studies history. Ya, American History is blood soaked (damn them Irish, rowdy bunch eh?)\n\nTo bad you misunderstood the racism comment huh? but I will cut you some slack due to your long, boring effort at a  US History dissertation. I damn near nodded off a couple times there.\n\nI sometimes forget that most people only use about three percent of their mellon capacity, My Bad. Are you most people Larry? Hmmm.\n\n");
AddReply(307292,"Thanks, Rob!!","Larry","TA","05/15/08","I don\'t think it\'s crap at all. \'Early America\' was incredibly violent, and was also quite divided. You can also see this in the Labor strikes of the early 20th century and how they were put down. The US has a lot of good things, but its founding history was quite bloody.\n\nI see by your totally juvenile headline, though, that addressing the content is not important to you.\n\nThanks, again, good luck with the FBI and your various civil disobedience schemes. Are you Mike, BTW? The super-macho renegade with the FBI visits and some of the claims about Judaism being utterly racist suggest you\'re either Mike or his cousin.");
AddReply(307254,"Holocaust Denial","Ralph Tankersley","Highland Hgts, Ky ","05/15/08","Hi Tamar,\n\nThank you for sharing your fathers story with us. It is vitality inportant in our world today, that the life stories of men like your father be heard by those who deny the holocaust. His courage in overcoming oppression and persecution should be a great inspiration to the youth of today.\n\nGod Bless,\nRalph Tankersley");
AddReply(306999,"Larry, what a load of crap buddy","Rob","usa","05/14/08","");
AddReply(306883,"It\'s Not Terribly Complicated","Larry","TA","05/14/08","White Europeans came to North America from different countries, with a desire for better economic and political conditions. They had given up on hopes of changing their own countries. They wanted to abandon their national identities, or they did, to create one based on personal freedom and individualism. It was a worthwhile and reckless idea that assume more faith in and value to the individual than their European cultures could give them. Some were dissidents, religious minorities, debtors, dreamers, dispossessed. They came to the New World and built, and expanded. They hired leaders who fit the time. Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, etc. Then along came the facilitators of expansion, those not afraid to commit near-genocide of the natives to achieve this: Jackson, Crockett, Bowie, Kit Carson, Fremont. Some were scoundrels and some had honor, but they were all ready to enforce Manifest Destiny and destroy the Indian tribes. Once the US was founded, with a character of rebellion - something that the Canadians did not develop to the same extent - then wildness prevailed. Both the upper classes like the New England Brahmins with their whaling and opium trade, and the lower classes, with their urge to push away, away from civilization were prepared to be utterly ruthless. In The West, Indians and Mexicans\' lives were near worthless. So were the lives of whites to whites. When researching about life in the California desert around the turn of the century - I was writing a story based on the life of Bill Keys, the Joshua Tree miner/\'baron\' - I read about one town in the Mojave where in 1906 25 fresh graves were seen in the town by a visitor. A mining town. All but one had died by knife or gunshot, and only recently. \n\nApparently this is what it takes to build a strong and powerful nation. It helps to destroy a lot, whether you have previous rights or not. \'Americans\' had no previous rights but destroyed at will before building. And even though the \'elites\' and the lower classes pretty much despised each other, and engaged in political warfare early on - including outlawing of the Masons\' Party - they all agreed on expansion and Manifest Destiny. Only later did America become effete. Even today Americans generally agree on using massive firepower against enemies, though fewer believe in America\'s right to wage war.\n\nIn Israel, a nation of battered immigrant and remnants tried to be just, even while hanging on by a thread, back when. The idea was never to \'win\', the idea was to survive, to hold the least amount of land necessary and inflict the least amount of damage on \'natives\', the majority of whom were not actually natives and immigrated because of the presence of British and the Zionists. \n\nIn the US, a nation was formed from a hodge-podge of all sorts of characters, with a system that promoted individual initiative and with a people THAT DID NOT CARE what others though. The British were trying to destroy the US right up through the Civil War, with aid to the south. Americans didn\'t care.\n\nThe US and Israel have very different backgrounds. That is why people here talk of a \'shtetl\' mentality. In Israel individuals take initiatives and do amazing things, but the nation has a terribly difficult time believing in itself. Jewish history is more curse than blessing.");
AddReply(306856,"Hi Steve (55)","Rob","usa","05/14/08","Thanks for bringing up some very good points Dude.\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican-American_War\n\nCan the Bush admin. honestly expect Israel to give land to a non-people, when we have had a history of just taking by force?, but on the other hand, the United States has been a blessing more or less to the rest of the world, Jewish included....\n\n\n");
AddReply(306649,"Velvel #51: Jackson is an American hero","Steve","Fla.","05/13/08","Andrew Jackson is an American hero and an icon.  Jackson dealt with America\'s \"savages.\"  Jackson was an expansionist.  He and other great American leaders believed it was America\'s destiny to overspread the continent.  George W. Bush inherited this legacy.  Bush understands expansion.  He lives in Crawford, Texas; land that was forcibly taken from Mexico.\n\nJackson saw Indian removal as the only way to solve this problem of two peoples vying for the same land.  The only difference is the Jews have been more patient and just with our savages than Jackson and the Americans were with theirs.  Unlike Jackson, I would be willing to compensate the Muslims equitably for their property; that is if they don\'t attempt to annihilate us first.  I believe removal is the only good option to solving this problem in Israel.\n\nPresident Andrew Jackson might offer a model of sorts for Israel in dealing with her problem.  If Americans celebrate the policies and the deeds of Andrew Jackson, why can\'t the Jews?");
AddReply(306501,"Dan 42, thanks for the laugh buddy","Rob","usa","05/13/08","You are one entertaining fellow..");
AddReply(306461,"Steve (50)","sk","USA","05/13/08","Steve, I\'m not using Jefferson as a role model; I\'m just saying that he was a smart and worldy fellow who knew a lot about creating political systems.\n\n\"Perhaps you do not believe we are living in exceptional times. You do not see Israel in any historic / prophetic sense. Am I wrong?\"\n\nOh, I think we are living in exceptional times, all right.  Five years ago I would have said that I did not see Israel as having any significance beyond being generally a good thing.  Now I think more might be going on.");
AddReply(306429,"Yes steve # 47, and I agree....","Rob","usa","05/12/08","if I told you what I thought of the Bush admin.,the FBI would be here shortly to question me (again). \n\nBy all logic the anglos have as much right to north america as Judah has to the holy land. divine mandate my man, sound racist? talk to Hashem, His Torah could possibly be construed as the most racist literature in thr history of mankind, by some...... Thats Ok, I\'m brass plated ;-)");
AddReply(306420,"Steve:  A. Jackson... what a normal sane person!","Velvel","silver spring","05/12/08","If only we had used a similar policy!  And let the historians and the armchair liberals debate 30 years from now whether it was a kindness to oust the fakestinians to other Arab lands and pay them for their property.   Let them debate it 30 years from now.  Did we do them a favor by ensuring that we no longer have to kill them on a daily basis in gaza in response to their daily attacks, meanwhile making it safe for our own to live and settle our own land?  Would we rather expulsion than all-out warfare which will surely come?  Let the historians debate it.   After the fact.  Just like they debate every country\'s actions after the fact.  Because no one can stop anyone from doing anything.  In reality.");
AddReply(306368,"SK #49: I wouldn\'t use Jefferson as a role model","Steve","Fla.","05/12/08","Jefferson taught all men are created equal, while at the same time he was a slave-owner.  Jefferson is not my role model.  I\'m not sure any of America\'s founders (though very wise men) should be seen as role models for us.\n\nYou say your faith is minimal.  Neither am I an overly religious Jew.  I do however believe in the God of our fathers and I do believe that what we read in the Tanakh, in our prophets, this is God\'s word to us; today.  Thus I give great weight to the message contained in our prophets.  Perhaps you do not.  For me, reading the prophets is like reading the newspaper.  We are watching these predictions unfold before our very eyes; predictions of the children of Israel re-establishing ourselves in our land; predictions of the nations turning against Israel; seeking to divide God\'s land.  It\'s all in there.  It\'s all happening.\n\nCentral to my faith is that we are generally living in the days our forefathers looked forward to.  The re-establishment of Israel as a commonwealth is a central theme in our prophets.  What we see in Israel today is not what we will see in the future.  This is temporary.  We will not always have traitors governing the people of Israel.  There will be battles; battles for the soul of the nation.  This government will not endure.\n\nYou wrote: \"No, the outcome depends on Israelis behaving in a more reasonable and effective manner, as if Hashem were not even around. Stop waiting for miracles.\"\n\nI could not agree with you more, except not as if Hashem were not even around.  He is around.  Nothing we can do about that. \n\nI am not waiting around for miracles.  Clearly we are partners with God.  Moses did not sit around praying and waiting for miracles.  He prayed, true.  Joshua and his army fought our enemies.  This notion that all we need to do is to sit around praying to Hashem -- reciting Tehillim -- expecting miracles, is to me obscene; yet it is widely embraced, sadly by many of my fellow Jews.  This is not at all what our forefathers taught or wrote nor how they lived their lives.  They did not sit around waiting for miracles.\n\nWhen I say we are obligated to make Aliyah as soon as it is feasible, this is based on my faith or belief that we are living in exceptional times.\n\nYou say your faith is minimal.  Thus you and I cannot communicate on the same plane because you do not believe you are obligated to make Aliyah as a Jew.  Perhaps you do not believe we are living in exceptional times.  You do not see Israel in any historic / prophetic sense.   \n\nAm I wrong?");
AddReply(306335,"Steve (44)","sk","USA","05/12/08","\"First let me establish this. Are you a Jew?\"\n\nI am a secular Jew.\n\n\"If you are then you know we have obligations as Jews.\"\n\nI agree, though my faith is minimal.\n\n\"One of our obligations is to immigrate to Israel, God-willing, as soon as humanly possible; as circumstance permit.\"\n\nSorry, I disagree.  But even if I agreed, I could not accept walking into a system that prevented me from having any good effect.\n\n\"The cry for Aliyah comes from the heart and from the word of our ancient prophets.\"\n\nDisagree.  The cry for Aliyah from today\'s Israelis derives from their lack of an idea of how to improve things by themselves.  So, they latch onto the fantasy that aliyah will change things.  It also gives existing Israelis someone besides themselves to blame.\n\n\"This battle, like any battle, will not be won by politics alone nor by reformation of the political system. As with all battles, the outcome belongs to the Almighty . . .  I hope you are not preaching rebellion.\"\n\n\"A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.\"\n  - Jefferson\n\nNo, the outcome depends on Israelis behaving in a more reasonable and effective manner, as if Hashem were not even around.  Stop waiting for miracles.");
AddReply(306330,"Dan (43), this is pointless.","sk","USA","05/12/08","By every objective criterion, the US is much closer to an ideal democratic republic than is Israel.  Such enormous differences matter.\n\nOne can find hysterical charges from the American Left to support one\'s conspiracy theories just as one can find them from the Israeli Left about the poor Fakestinians.\n\nThe fact is that no president can \"trash the Consitution.\"  If he tries, he can be impeached & convicted.  And let me tell you, legislators will not permit themselves to become irrelevant.");
AddReply(306325,"Rob #46: Remini takes your side","Steve","Fla.","05/12/08","Esteemed historian, Robert V. Remini takes your side in this debate.   \n\nMy point is Rob, Americans have absolutely no right to lecture the Jews about the \"acquisition of territory by (means of defensive) war.\"  The North American continent was violently taken by means of aggressive war.  I\'m not saying God was not on the side of the White European colonialist.  All I am saying is George W. Bush is out of line lecturing Israel about illegally \"occupying\" Palestinian Muslim-Arab land.  He is out of line when he and Rice lecture the Jews about Palestinian \"humiliation.\"  Bush has a lot of nerve Rob!  Given the American experience, this little man has a lot of nerve.\n\nhttp://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Jackson-His-Indian-Wars/dp/0670910252\n\n\".....Robert Remini, the National Book Award-winning biographer of Jackson, here turns his attention to Jackson\'s relations with the Indian nations of the American South. Those relations, he writes, were tempered by the racism of the day, but, as both general and president, Jackson was also unusual in enforcing rights guaranteed to those nations by treaty, even in instances when he disagreed with the terms. Despite his sense of justice, Jackson kept to his conviction that \"Indians had to be shunted to one side or removed to make the land safe for white people to cultivate and settle,\" and during his tenure as president he pursued a policy of forced removal through which the Indian nations were relocated to the so-called Indian territories west of the Mississippi River, which in turn would be overrun only a few years later.\n\n\"Though critical of Jackson\'s policies and actions, Remini suggests that removal saved many of the eastern Indian nations from almost certain annihilation. That view, while capably argued, is controversial, and some scholars of American Indian history are sure to take issue with it. Still, this is a valuable addition to the historical literature, one of interest to general readers as well as Remini\'s fellow historians. --Gregory McNamee \n");
AddReply(306282,"C\'mon Steve 38, apples to apples..","Rob","usa","05/12/08","Jackson actually performed an act of mercy towards the natives. Imagine what the Scots/Irish settlers would have done to them had they not been marched west.\n\nBy all accounts, Europeans did little more than did the Israelites when they marched into the land of caanan. Emulation is the greatest form of flattery, yeah, we have had some very lousy leaders, and the current administration is an abomination for sure, But America is not just a freak of history, and we should do all we can to right the wrongs of the past, and strengthen and make a positive impact on our communities.");
AddReply(306280,"This discussion","Michelle","Vancouver","05/12/08","I\'ve been following this discussion with interest.  Although I\'m a reluctant armchair critic of what goes on in Israel (Israel is too precious and too threatened for us to pick on), I have to admit that every once in a while there are some very disturbing issues that come to the surface.\n\nOne of them is political repression.  What happens to those who dare to challenge the establishment?  \n\nWhat happens to politicians if they go against the leftist agenda?  The police will rummage through their closets until they find something to \"investigate\".\n\nHow many Yesha people are there in jail because they dared to defend themselves against the Arabs and leftists, while going against the unstated government policy of settler submission to Arab aggression?  \n\nHow many Jews are there in jail without charge?  \n\nHow many Yesha men don\'t raise their voices in protest for fear of being separated from their homes (during olive harvest, for example).\n\nHow many Jews all over Israel allow thievery and vandalism and rock throwing to go on because defending themselves would get them arrested and charged?\n\nWhat about curtailments to freedom of expression?  Arutz Sheva has its own difficult history of struggle to stay in business.\n\nYesterday I happened to see a photo essay about the Yemenite Jews on the Ynet website.\n\nhttp://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3541413,00.html\n\nIt didn\'t take long for talbacks to come in denouncing shameful acts by the then leftist government and elite that deprived many Yemenite refugees of their young children - and those children of their heritage.  And there have been other allegations in this regard.\n\nSo my point is that making aliyah is not a guarantee that Jews can make a difference to change the course of events.  Not with government intimidation and lack of basic guarantees such as freedom of expression and the right to defend themselves.\n\nAs far as the electoral process goes, it seems to be a sham.  The left and the Supreme Court manage to run the country no matter who\'s in power.\n\nFrom my armchair I don\'t know what the solution is.  Some revolutions have started with just a few.  Others, need a critical mass to change the mind of those in power.   \n\nI am filled with admiration for those heroes who dare to raise their voices, to protest, to resettle the land.  But they are so alone.  So far, only miracles have stopped the unthinkable from happening.");
AddReply(306222,"sk #41: Shall we shirk our obligations","Steve","Fla.","05/12/08","You wrote: \"I say again: political systems count. The cry for aliyah is a tacit admission that (1) the criers have no clue how to make things better, and (2) they have become brain dead.\"\n\nThe cry for Aliyah comes from the heart and from the word of our ancient prophets.  \n\nFirst let me establish this.  Are you a Jew?  If you are then you know we have obligations as Jews.  One of our obligations is to immigrate to Israel, God-willing, as soon as humanly possible; as circumstance permit.\n\nThis battle, like any battle, will not be won by politics alone nor by reformation of the political system.  As with all battles, the outcome belongs to the Almighty.  We as Jews (and, I might add Christians) must be obedient.  I submit to you, if you are obedient to God as a Jew, God will bless your efforts.\n\nI hope you are not preaching rebellion.");
AddReply(306114,"SK, is the President supposed to trash the constitution ?","Dan ","Jerusalem","05/12/08","I would  be  the last to claim that Israel is a democracy, but you are in denial about Bush\'s trashing of the US constitution.  Oh yes, it\'s only for the terrorists, not for us, but a directive applied against a terrorist can also be used against political dissidents.\n\n\"Bush makes power grab\"\nhttp://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55824\n\n\"...when the president determines a national emergency has occurred, the president can declare to the office of the presidency powers usually assumed by dictators to direct any and all government and business activities until the emergency is declared over. \"\n\n\"...Ironically, the directive sees no contradiction in the assumption of dictatorial powers by the president with the goal of maintaining constitutional continuity through an emergency. \"\n\nQuotes from the constitution which show that presidential directives are unconstitutional:\n “[a]ll legislative Powers” the Constitution “grant[s] shall be vested in * * * Congress”, not to any degree or for any purpose in the President (Article I, Section 1). And in particular, Congress alone is entitled “[t]o make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution” not only its own powers, but also “all other Powers vested by th[e] Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof”, including the powers of the President (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18). \n\n");
AddReply(306087,"sk to bitya","Velvel","silver spring","05/12/08","sk said:  \"Finally, the American government wanted the settlers to win. Your government wants the Indians to win! That\'s a big difference.\"\n\nBINGO.  There were not American government officials or European settlers enabling Indians to scalp more Europeans or encouraging them to take back land from the Europeans.  The American leaders fought for Americans, not Indians.  They were normal.   They were downright usurpers and stole half the continent from natives with no justification (unlike Jews), but in doing so, they were normal people, not suicidal.");
AddReply(306079,"Steve Fla (35), I believe the error is yours.","sk","USA","05/12/08","\"I read the Talkbacks on the big news sites in Israel. America is filled with Jewish activists who are willing to fight for our land; you can see it in these Talkbacks. If just a portion of these Jews immigrated to Israel, it would constitute a powerful presence.\"\n\nIn your eloquent demonstration of American interest group politics, you do not see that the Israeli political system is radically different from the American one.  Not only would the same interest group actions not have the same effect, but the same actions would probably not even occur.\n\nMuch of the impact of interest groups on social issues is focused on the media and on House districts.  Israel\'s media are not free, speech is not free, and Israel has no geographical legislative districts whatsoever.\n\nSteve, do you think that every eventual suburbanite (settler) landed brainless in Israel from the US or Western Europe?  Most were probably not very sophisticated politically, but they had examples of proper political action in their home countries.  But see how easily they have been neutered?  How their ideologies are counterproductive, their thoughts stifled, their ability to engage in collective action hampered, and their devotion to the state only increased?\n\nI say again:  political systems count.  The cry for aliyah is a tacit admission that (1) the criers have no clue how to make things better, and (2) they have become braindead.");
AddReply(306058,"You are blessed","sue brown","Lubbock, Tx.","05/12/08","   Now I know where you got your smile and  determination.l \n  Keep it going!");
AddReply(306043,"settlers in the USA","JH","Israel","05/12/08","I guess that you could call American Jews and all other non-Native Americans \"settlers\", since they came there from other places. And they certainly had no right to take all the land from the Indians who were there first. So for the same reason, the Land of Israel belongs to us Jews who were here before the so-called \"Palestinians\".");
AddReply(306005,"Bitya #34: White \"settlers?\"","Steve","Fla.","05/11/08","Why put the word settlers in quotes?  White Europeans were indeed settlers, greedy land-grabbers, interlopers, ethnic cleansers and squatters on Native American lands.  America\'s forebears make the Jews look like saints by comparison.\n\nAmerica\'s founders were certain this continent was given these White squatters by divine destiny; Manifest Destiny.  How much more does Israel belong to the Jews?  Funny thing, I can\'t find this notion that God gave White Europeans the north American continent anywhere in the prophets.  It was taken by sheer force of conquest.  Did you notice the preamble Americans put into UN resolution 242: \"The inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war.\"  What chutzpah!\n\nSpeaking of saints, in comparison to the \'Palestinian\' Muslim Arab squatters in Israel, Native Americans were saints by comparison.\n\nDid you know for instance, Georgia\'s Cherokee Indians were civilized, used advance farming practices, they had a newspaper (Cherokee Phoenix), adopted their own constitution, etc.?  Still Georgia\'s greedy Whites coveted their land.  \n\nPresident Andrew Jackson shepherded through Congress the 1830 Indian Removal Act.  Thousands of civilized tribes were forcibly removed west of Mississippi River.  Ever heard of the Trail of Tears.\n\nThousands died in these forced marches.   Now this was because American settlers coveted Native American land.\n\nCan you imagine the audacity?  George W. Bush -- his Crawford, Texas ranch is on land stolen from Mexico -- and he lectures the Jews about \"occupation\" and settlements.\n\nBush himself is a settler.  He is an illegal occupier.");
AddReply(305965,"Bitya (34)","sk","USA","05/11/08","\"Also, remember that even the United States of America had many severe problems for many generations such as white \"settlers\" being attacked and scalped by the Indians, slavery ...\"\n\nYou\'re making my point for me, Bitya.  Yes, the Indians were a problem, and we Americans slaughtered them, appropriately.  The Americans who created settlements really were settlers.  They had armed camps.\n\nAlso, I am not saying you should leave Israel, and I know others I tend to agree with aren\'t saying this either.  What I am saying is that your tactics (and strategy) need to change.\n\nFinally, the American government wanted the settlers to win.  Your government wants the Indians to win!  That\'s a big difference.");
AddReply(305963,"Dan (33), you have some serious gaps in your knowledge.","sk","USA","05/11/08","We all have them, but ideally we do not write in the areas of our gaps.\n\nThese unsubstantiated claims, if they are true at all, at most show that the realtionship between Congress and the Executive shows ongoing checks and balances.  The branches are SUPPOSED to fight.\n\nAnyway, have you heard of context?  We are talking about Muslim terrorists or probable terrorists.\n\nFinally, America\'s system is a \"democratic republic\" by design; it does not follow that there can be no improper political activity.  Israel, however, is not a democratic republic, unfortunately, and things that would be illegal or improper in the US are legal in Israel.  For example, the lack of a First Amendment in Israel means that Nadia Matar could be arrested for likening Bassi to the Judenrat.  Protesters can be, and were, gathered up for \"incitement\" when they opposed the Disengagement.\n\nPlease learn the difference.");
AddReply(305911,"SK #32: I believe you are in error","Steve","Fla.","05/11/08","I\'ll tell you why.  I have been to Israel three times.  I fully intend to make Israel my permanent home, HaShem willing.\n\nI know a little about politics and how it works.  For several years I was a precinct committeeman here in our Republican Executive Committee.  My late father was our party chairman, state committeeman, chairman of the state rules committee, etc.\n\nAs a politically conservative Jew, I had to choose my allies.  There was no question.  I allied with pro-life, conservative Christians.  Many of these fine people stood in peaceful protest in front our abortion clinic (mill); some were sidewalk counselors for mothers that might be re-directed to our crisis pregnacy center next door which like Israel\'s EFRAT provides support for women.  I firmly believe in peaceful protest.  I got the president and vice president of Marion County Right to Life on our Executive Committee.  \n\nThese people became a force to be reckoned with on the Committee even though we had many pro-abortion Republicans.  It did not matter that we did not hold the majority and neither does it matter in Israel.  Tamar and other Jews need help.  \n\nI read the Talkbacks on the big news sites in Israel.  America is filled with Jewish activists who are willing to fight for our land; you can see it in these Talkbacks.  If just a portion of these Jews immigrated to Israel, it would constitute a powerful presence.\n\nFrom here I have supported groups in Israel that believe in activism and protest.  Groups like Women In Green.  I supported the Friends of Gush Katif but there wasn\'t enough resistance or willingness to resist Sharon\'s edict.  I hope we learned something from that debacle.\n\nAnyway, when I move to Israel, there will not be any question who will be my allies.  It will be these wonderful Jews that are living in faith and obedience to the divine mandate to settle our ancient land; all of it.  These are the people who are on the front lines of the battle.  They need our physical help.");
AddReply(305876,"I love Israel!","Bitya L.","Yesha","05/11/08","I am so tired of several talkbackers on this blog and other blogs who never have anything good to say about Israel. I made aliyah many years ago and love this country very, very much. Sure we have problems here but that doesn\'t mean that we should leave. When one has a child with severe problems, one doesn\'t abandon him, one helps him. When you love a country, you don\'t abandon it. You stay and help improve things. (Don\'t get me wrong---I don\'t mean to compare a country with a child!!) Also, remember that even the United States of America had many severe problems for many generations such as white \"settlers\" being attacked and scalped by the Indians, slavery, the Civil War where brother fought against brother, etc, etc. Even today, not everyone there loves everyone else, and many, many politicians there are corrupt, too. It doesn\'t make it right of course, but no place in the world is problem free. Even in peaceful Switzerland, there is a very high suicide rate--so evidently people are not always happy there either!");
AddReply(305851,"Is America still a democracy ?","Dan","Jerusalem","05/11/08","\"Government in Secret\" by Sen. Russ Feingold\n\nhttp://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-feingold8-2008may08,0,2076668.story\n\n\"... Perhaps the most notorious example is the recently released 2003 Justice Department memorandum on torture written by John Yoo. The memorandum was, for a nine-month period in 2003, the law that the administration followed when it came to matters of torture. And that law was essentially a declaration that the administration could ignore the laws passed by Congress. \"\n\n\"...The memos on torture policy that have been released or leaked hint at a much bigger body of law about which we know virtually nothing. The Yoo memo was filled with references to other Justice Department memos that have yet to see the light of day, on subjects including the government\'s ability to detain U.S. citizens without congressional authorization and the government\'s ability to bypass the 4th Amendment in domestic military operations. \"\n\n\n\n");
AddReply(305846,"Tamar (31)","sk","USA","05/11/08","Regarding TBs, in fairness, all I know is that someone deleted them.  I have no reason to doubt your word.\n\nNote that you have not addressed this time--or any other time, when I have gotten through--the substance of what I have said.  What you did was typical:  you deflected it by the ASSUMPTION that presence in Israel magically confers knowledge of the Israeli political system and the ASSUMPTION that physical absence from Israel means that I can know little about what\'s going on.  I suppose, then, that Gibbon could know nothing about the Roman Empire either.\n\nYou also indicate (are you still being \"kind\") that you do not respect my opinion.  Well, at least you are being honest.\n\nThe fact, as I have said many times elsewhere, is that the average citizen knows very little about the politics of his own country, though he typically thinks he knows plenty.  It would be easy for me to know much more than the average Israeli about Israeli politics.  \n\nThe situation isn\'t at all like a coach outside a stadium.  Maybe it is like a general sitting in Tampa and watching every detail of a military action occuring in Iraq, and directing much of what is occurring.  Except, of course, that I am no general.\n\nYou\'re losing the Yesha game, Tamar, and this is largely because you are imprisoned by some silly and self-defeating ideas and prejudices.  The first silly idea is that aliyah will make any difference to the outcome in Yesha.");
AddReply(305842,"SK, you are, as usual, making assumptions...","tamaryonah","","05/11/08","SK, you are, as usual, making assumptions...and I am being kind choosing that word.\n\nI have NEVER deleted any of your talk-backs. You are making assumptions from way across the sea.  Perhaps this is why you also are unable to access the situation here in Israel, being so far, far, far away.  It is like a man trying to coach a game from outside of the stadium.  He cannot possibly know what is going on in the arena and he cannot succeed in telling the players how to play while sitting outside with only the sports section and a transistor radio as his guide.  \n\nSo you can make noise and shake your fists and scream all you want, but you cannot seriously expect to gain the respect of the ball club or lead them to victory when you don\'t even care to don a uniform, enter the fray or even just buy a ticket.\n\nYour Jewish sister,\ntamar\n");
AddReply(305783,"Tamar, you like to delete my TBs, but listen up.","sk","USA","05/11/08","\"It is not the \'present\' government (who can be voted out - especially if more Jews came) that we celebrate, it is the idea that G-d granted us this miracle of having the means to do wonderful things and bring in the redemption.\"\n\nYou fail to understand that \"the present government\" can be voted out, but its replacement will be no better.  That this is true shows what a mess you Israelis have made of things, and you STILL don\'t understand that ONLY concrete reform can make a difference.  What you and your countrymen have done with Israel is appalling.  You also, STILL, don\'t realize that more Jews from America will not solve your problem one bit.  After all, you, Tamar, are completely confused, as are, apparently, the rest of the American olim.  You are pawns of a political system, and you do not even know it.\n\nThere are several ways to effect change, but they do not involve crying out to Hashem, having 8 children, or living in the suburbs.");
AddReply(305629,"A Beautiful family, then and now, truth.","Joseph A. Cleary","Sand Springs,","05/09/08","Dear Tamar:\nI got it fixed and am back, I feel blind and deaf with out your channel or station, Truth.\nYou have a beautiful family, then and now, sorry but I grow ever stronger.\nShabbat Shalom, Yosef// ");
AddReply(305606,"Tamar: Re: Celebrating","Steve","Fla.","05/09/08","Call me a fuddy duddy or a stick in the mud or what have you.  I do not think this is a good time to celebrate.\n\nWe are living in an evil day, not unlike evil days in our past. But worse than the past.   I believe there will come a time to laugh, a time for joy and for dancing but this is not the time.  \n\nThe prophet \"did not sit in the circle of merrymakers.\"   He did not exult.  Because God\'s hand was upon him, he sat alone.  \n\nThis is the kind of day we live in.  God\'s hand is upon us.  I do not see good things prior to our redemption --the redemption of the earth -- but bad things; evil things and suffering.  Evil, quite unlike anything we\'ve seen till now, will come upon this earth.\n\nKing Solomon wrote: It is better to go to a house of mourning than to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man.   And the living takes it to heart.\n\nNow is not a good time to celebrate.  I would not recommend joining any celebration; especially Jews.");
AddReply(305536,"The IAF Pilots","Steve","NY","05/09/08","I think that when the pilots said we can only rely on ourselves, that they didn\'t mean there wasn\'t a G-d. Most people don\'t wear their religion on their sleeves, so they won\'t say \"We can only rely on our Father in Heaven\".  I have heard many religious Jews state that we can only rely on ourselves, and I think that they meant that we cannot rely on the Nations of the World anymore, not that they didn\'t believe in G-d.  I don\'t think that they or the air force pilots meant it in any atheistic way.");
AddReply(305514,"To Chana # 1 and all,","tamaryonah","","05/09/08","May we all merit to celebrate the 61st year HERE in Israel next year!\n\nI cannot tell you how beautiful it was to see the air force jets fly low right over my home.  We and the kids stood outside looking up as they flew over.\n\nI cannot tell you how beautiful the ceremony was on the eve of the celebrations where the podiums were all marked with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, broadcast all over, reminding us of our Biblical  past.\n\nIt should be that we take this challenge and great responsibility that G-d has given us and use it to bring the redemption speedily.  In the meantime, with all the \'dirty politics\' going on everywhere in the world, we already here in Israel will revel in the goodness of the Land , and immerse ourselves in the blessings of all the goodness here.  it truly is a blessing living here, seeing the mountains and valleys that our forefathers walked, and seeing and hearing Hebrew everwhere and building Jewish life back here.  Oh, but that our ancestors who yearned to return  could have had this privilege that we are blessed with.");
AddReply(305510,"Mike,  Dearest Mike.","tamaryonah","","05/09/08","you need to understand that we here in Israel, when we choose to celebrate, are not celebrating the people who happen to be leading the country at this time, rather we are celebrating the miracle that G-d did for us in the 1948, as well as \'67 and all those war in between and after.  \n\nWe are celebrating the fact (and miracle) that G-d has let us come back again and that we can now call the shots:  where we can absorb Jews from all over the world, and there is no British quota, and no closed gates.  Where we can direct government funds to build synagogues, Jewish schools, and bring Jews to Israel from the four corners of the earth.\n\nWe celebrated independence in 1948 when we had Ben Gurion even though many did not like him, and we celebrated in 1993 when we had Rabin and many didn\'t like him, and we celebrate today, even though most of the country can\'t stand Olmert.  \n\nIt is not the \'present\' government (who can be voted out - especially if more Jews came) that we celebrate, it is the idea that G-d granted us this miracle of having the means to do wonderful things and bring in the redemption.  It is up to the Jewish people what we do with this gift.  Do we ignore it, do we castigate it and turn people against it, or do we recognize the miracle and take it by the horns and mold it to what it should be?  G-d has put this gift on your plate, for you to partake in.  Will you reject it because it is not \'perfect\' or will you cherish this miraculous gift and  accept the challenge?");
AddReply(305482,"Thank you","Elena","Melbourne","05/09/08","Great post, Tamar, and Happy Birthday Israel, may G-d love and protect you and your people now and ever.");
AddReply(305461,"For all those who refuse to understand...","Mike","Vienna, VA","05/09/08","...why Vienna Mike discourages aliyah until those who are already in Israel take action:\n\nDid you celebrate the Israeli independence day?  Did you attend the celebrations in Yesha?  These wonderful people who are about to be made refugees are celebrating the state that plans to make them all refugees!  They will still be celbrating when that same State imports millions of Moslems to murder them in pogroms!  How do you think these people would react to someone who raises the flag of Medinat Yehudah?\n\nUntil THAT changes, aliyah will remains a form of suicide.");
AddReply(305417,"THE BEST OF THE BEST","KARENJOHNSON","SHREVEPORT","05/08/08","RIGHT INTO THE DANGER ZONE.\nNOBODY DOES IT BETTER.\nISRAEL BABY YOUR THE BEST..");
AddReply(305416,"Ok mr Vienna smarty pants....","Rob","usa","05/08/08","But you forgot to explain the mini black helo\'s, the reverse engineering of alien techno taking place at the area 51 facilty, and the Kennedy assassination, I wanna hear about the grassy knoll dammit!");
AddReply(305359,"To #18: Repeat after me...","Mike","Vienna, VA","05/08/08","I will stop being in denial like the Jews of Germany.\n\nI will not expect miracles while I sit on my duff.  I will work to merit miracles by taking positive actions against the enemies of my people.\n\nI will stop insulting those in the Diaspora who are working hard to awaken me from my slumber.  Instead, I will awake, repent and act in a positive fashion to eliminate the Israeli occupation of Medinat Yehudah and bring the first flowering of redemption.\n\nI will not face the court of Hashem with the knowledge that I did nothing to defend my people and instead spent my time luring Jews into a deathtrap and depending on miracles.");
AddReply(305308,"Hashem ","yonason","Brooklyn","05/08/08","I did not like it that the general said we can only rely on ourselves. He should have said we can only reply on hashem. This is a mistake that was made in 1967 after the six day war. It led to the disaster of the yom Kippur war. If we had said betach bhasem instead of betach bzahal, the geulah would have come");
AddReply(305303,"Mike # 14 - Repeat after me,,,","avee","jerusalem","05/08/08","Repeat after me...\n\n\"I will not be in denial like those in Europe.\"\n\n\"I will not expect a \'perfect\' Israel like a child, before I fulfil my mitzvah.\"\n\n\"I will not ask others to do what I should also be doing myself.\" \n\n\"I will humble myself, and find out that I won\'t be laughed at, and hear \"I told you so\", instead I will be surprised that I will be accepted into the bosom of my people with joy.\"\n\n\"I do not want to face the beit din shel L\'malla with the accusation that I stopped Jewish families from making aliyah to Israel.\"\n");
AddReply(305284,"# Velvel","Lynn R","NM USA","05/08/08","I have to agree with you on that video clip, though well done, I too was \"disheartened\" when the general said we can only rely on ourselves.   Also, why doesn\'t 60 minutes take a camera into Sderdot? (sp?).  Why does that always get swept under the rug?  Then I am reminded of what our tour guide would say to me,  \"Lynn, we don\'t ask such questions.\" And he always said it with a smile, and I had to smile back.  \n\nIf the truth could actually get out there, but would they listen?");
AddReply(305253,"Long Live the Stubborn Jew","Al Collins","Lamesa, Tx","05/08/08","#3\nGreat post, I\'m not a Jew, but I feel like I am, or I wish I was.  If the world doesn\'t see how the Jewish people love everyone then they are all living under a rock! Peace for Jerusalem! The music was great too, couldn\'t understand the words, but I\'m sure they\'re uplifting. Thanks for letting me post. Thanks Tamar\n");
AddReply(305205,"mazzeltov!","harriet","netherlands","05/08/08","I can\'t help but feeling proud. Your father, tamar,  is a true hero. Here someone from Europe really wants to say: Dear Dr. Peter, dear Abe and Marilyn, it is so wonderful that you are still alive after all that happened.\nSeeing the video of the IAF I can\'t help but feeling thankful for you and all the others.For everything that has been established, for the fact you are now able to defend your country  with so much dedication,equipment and technology. Mazzeltov on your 60th anniversary to you all from the Netherlands and G-d bless.");
AddReply(305135,"To #10: Denial is so MUCH fun, isn\'t it?","Mike","Vienna, VA","05/07/08","Seen any schuls demolished by the IDF lately?\n");
AddReply(305007,"very impressive","Batya","eye of storm","05/07/08","chag sameach");
AddReply(304951,"Am Yisroeyl Chai","Steve","FayettevilleNC","05/07/08","I have written a 60th birthday Op Ed piece for our local paper.  I hope that they publish it.  It praises Israel\'s accomplishments.  Oh yes, Yerushalayim Echad Am Chai as well.  Yesha Am Chai!");
AddReply(304915,"60 years in 60 seconds -video","Steve","NY","05/07/08","http://www.aish.com/movies/60Years.asp");
AddReply(304888,"Mike would have been one of those Jews on the train to Auschwitz","avee","jerusalem","05/07/08","Mike would have been one of those Jews on the train to Auschwitz still in denial screaming \"Arbeit macht frei\" -work shall set you free, still insisting that escape to Palestine was suicide because the British wouldn\'t let Jews have guns there yet let the Arabs slaughter us.\n\nmike, there is little hope for you.  Unless you humble yourself, you will die screaming your ramblings while you see your good \'ole goyish america on fire, riots in the streets (take your pick of either Blacks, Muslims, Latinos, or  white-trash burning down your town) and you are wondering where the police and law enforcement are to protect your home, property and rights. \n\nwake up now buddy, or you will wake up later to a nightmare that you invited in.  it happened in Crown Heights, it will happen again only much wider and much worse.  Just wait until the stock market crashes,  banks throw people out of their homes and gasoline and food become too expensive.  I wouldn\'t want to be there when that happens. Our prophets didn\'t foretell any great future or safety net for the Exile.  They did for the Land of Israel. We see daily the miracles that the Almighty does for His children here where almost every missile misses its target or where Jews left the building moments before a rocket hit where there could have been a catastrophe.  Yes, we are getting spanked here, but it is better to be spanked by the Almighty than it is to be at the mercy of the Goyim.  Humble yourself before it is too late.");
AddReply(304887,"tamar you have a heroic family","Velvel","silver spring","05/07/08","kol hakavod. ");
AddReply(304886,"My complaints:  The general and the common pilot","Velvel","silver spring","05/07/08","I wish the general would have done a kiddush Hashem by saying \"we can only rely on\" Hashem! rather than just \'ourselves.\'  \n\nAnd I am surprised that the pilot lets the reporter get away with calling him a killer.  Not a very strong reaction was it?  \n\nTo paraphrase:  \'You don\'t look or sound like a killer but that\'s basically what you are.\'  \n\n\"Well, I don\'t see myself as a killer.\"\n\nOy.  Also not sure why they need such expensive missiles considering Hamas shoots 50 dollar ones.  Why waste all that money?  To be precise??????  Other than that a great video.\n\nDestroying Saddam\'s nuke facility = A LIGHT UNTO THE NATIONS.  May we do it again to all other muslim nuke sites.");
AddReply(304885,"Descendants","SJ","Israel","05/07/08","I know an old woman who is the only one from her family who survived the Holocaust. She remained religious and now has a very large family here in Israel. She told me that every child, grandchild, and great-grandchild of hers is her own personal victory over Hitler (yimach shemo). He, of course, left no descendants, while she has many, many of them.");
AddReply(304872,"Just watched the video of the \"concentration camp\"","Mike","Vienna, VA","05/07/08","The paranoid commentary by the idiot civillian is quite funny.  Your \"concentration camp\" is a rapid deployment railhead for the National Guard and Reserve.  The one they filmed just got a massive upgrade so it could handle deploying entire divisions at a time, if necessary.  The concrete floors are there to support 70 ton Abrams tanks and other heavy vehicles.  The heated building with the blocked windows is probably a command facility suitable for processing ultra-top-secret-slit-own-throat-before-reading military plans.  There is probably a big maintenance area for the various intel weenie top-secret techno gizmos in there, too.  As you might imagine, folks in the intel business don\'t like windows.  Windows can be looked through.  The wire points inward because idiot privates tend to decide at the last moment that they don\'t want to go to war after all.  Also, it\'s more fun to catch thieves AFTER they have stolen gear in their possession and can\'t climb out.  Makes prosecution MUCH easier.  And the tall radio tower makes an AWFUL guard tower.  It\'s too tall, the climb is all exposed, it\'s a pain.  The \"evil black helicopter\" is a National Guard OH-58 Kiowa on a training flight.  They fly over the facility a lot because...  ...You guessed it!  There is probably a National Guard airfield nearby!  Truly, I had a great time laughing.  You should post this kind of stuff more often!\n\nThese facilities are maintained and periodically improved all over the country because the Army is NOT stupid (well, kind of) and there are contingency plans for every scenario under the sun, including plans for total mobilization drafting every able-bodied male.  These facilities are a great cash cow for state governments.  When the Army decides that it doesn\'t want one anymore, the governors and senators often pull strings to not only keep them open but also renovate them.\n\nBut you are welcome to indulge in wishful thinking about a Holocaust in America instead of paying attention to Israel\'s effort to murder you!");
AddReply(304863,"Useless prattle and useless weapons!","Mike","Vienna, VA","05/07/08","What use are weapons that will never be used because the amoral scum will never use them?  What use is an air force that obeys the orders of Israel\'s government?  What use is an air force that refuses to defend the Jews of the Holy Land?  A single pilot taking off for a training mission with a few thousand pounds of ordnance could have put an end to the Oslo traitors long ago.  After all, they all periodically gather in a single building.  But not one has!\n\nThe Jews of the Holy Land do not fight.  They sit limply by while their weapons rust away in their closets.  In the meantime, the Second Holocaust is coming nearer every day.  \n\nWhat amazes any real Jew who watches the video is the complete amorality and lack of proper Jewish values exhibited by the Israeli pilots.");
AddReply(304861,"Keep fighting and keep faith","RSdaCat","ay least my heart is there","05/07/08","not in that order, of course.  But both are so important for everyperson to remember.  Only those who have the opportunity and mandate (through the mitzvot) to be a more perfected human, could appreciate the blessing of being allowed to be at least that.\n\nIsrael, is the only homeland.  And as long as her people fight for her, their struggle shall be assisted by her own Creator, the ONE who said that she and her people are HIS!  I really know of no arguements that will stand against Him successfully.\n\nShalom");
AddReply(304848,"Thank G-d I am a Jew","AZ","Canada","05/07/08","Watch this and you will be proud!!! \n\n\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeVvMJdvEX8 \n\n");
AddReply(304783,"Happy 60th to Israel!","Fangyu","Cerritos, CA","05/07/08","Tamar,\n\nIsrael\'s 60th Independence Day for Year 5768 5 lyar is on Shabbat.  Happy 60th to Israel and have a good Shabbat! ");
AddReply(304777,"Thank you, Tamar","Chana ","Palm City, FL","05/07/08","The blog about your father was fascinating!  I don\'t remember hearing it before.  The picture of your family is WONDERFUL!  I wish I could frame it.  I seldom look at 60 Minutes, but I\'m grateful to have seen this piece about the IAF.  Makes one shiver.  May G-d bless those courageous fellows and keep Israel -- the Holy Land safe forever.  Thanks also to a beloved friend who alerted me to your blog.");

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