Another good use of American taxpayer's money...

[Jolie Rouge]

Team Obama and the Democrats will give nearly a billion dollar stimulus to Gaza??

Gee, do you think any of this will end up in the hands of Hamas terrorists? Can anyone find the thread were it discusses the medicines and supplies sent by Isreal into Gaza that were stolen by Hamas ? The medicine bottles that were turned into homemade grenades by the Hamas terrorists with the Isreali pharmacy labels still visiable ?? :?:

US Pledges $1B Stimulus Package... For Gaza


http://www.mererhetoric.com/images/hed/obama09.jpg

Actually that's an exaggeration. It's only a little more than $900 million: http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11275477.html


The United States plans to pledge more than $900 million to help rebuild Gaza after Israel's offensive against Hamas and strengthen the Palestinian Authority, a U.S. official said on Monday. The money will be channeled through UN and other bodies and will not be distributed via the militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to make the announcement next week at a Gaza donors conference in Egypt.

The March 2 donors conference in Sharm el-Sheikh resort aims to raise humanitarian and rebuilding funds for Gaza after Israel's offensive against Hamas at the end of last year. About 1,300 Palestinians were killed during the campaign, according to Gaza officials, as were 13 Israelis.

Old Reuters boilerplate: "About 1,300 Palestinians were killed during the campaign, about two-thirds of which were civilians..."

New Reuters boilerplate: "About 1,300 Palestinians were killed during the campaign, according to Gaza officials..."

And people say that there's no upshot to thoroughly debunking the credulous pro-Hamas propaganda published by Western media outlets. Look how much more straightforward and honest they're being!

Anyway, one billion US dollars are going to UNRWA for infrastructure. I would point out that this is effectively a backdoor subsidy for Hamas since normally they'd have to spend some of their money being effective civil administrators. This way they can use all their resources for weapons and war-fighting. But since the money is going to UNRWA it's actually a direct subsidy for Hamas.

References:
* 'U.S. plans to pledge $900 million for Gaza' [Ha'aretz] http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1066381.html

* Gaza Body Count: Were We Duped? [TIME]
http://mideast.blogs.time.com/2009/02/18/gaza-body-count-were-we-duped/

* Obligatory Post About Kerry Being Shocked Shocked That UNRWA Works For Hamas [MR] http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11275475.html

Admittedly, the foreign policy acumen of Congressional Democrats tends toward the less than impressive. But even they know that UNRWA is a de facto Hamas outlet. The way I know they know is because they said as much a few days ago. So come on:


U.S. officials are furious with the United Nations for its role in Hamas' attempt to enlist U.S. Sen John Kerry to transfer a letter from the Palestinian militant group to President Obama during Kerry's trip to the Middle East, an official source told FOX News. The incident also has raised security concerns over how much Hamas knew about Kerry's travel plans. Kerry turned the letter over to the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem on Friday, saying he was unaware that it was from Hamas until hearing about the letter in media reports, including on the BBC. He told FOX News on Saturday that he will not be visiting Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal during his trip to Syria on Saturday. He is scheduled to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad. U.S. officials in Jerusalem are outraged at the United Nations Relief and Works agency for apparently handing the letter off to Kerry.

Here's CAMERA's new roundup of the open collaboration between Hamas and UNRWA. It's not exactly the Middle East's best kept secret. UNRWA officials brazenly spin anti-Israel lies for Hamas. They openly provide funds for Hamas. They unblinkingly inflate casualty figures for Hamas. But that they would pass on a letter from Hamas to a US Senator touring the Gaza Strip with leading anti-Israel Democrat Keith Ellison - that's unthinkable.

So, to sum up: come on.





* UN: "Clerical Error" Made Us Mistakenly Think Israel Bombed UNRWA School. Opps... http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11275433.html

* UN Imposes Collective Punishment On Gaza Population In Response To Hamas Crimes, Suspends Humanitarian Shipments
http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11275434.html


* Congress: Hey, Has Anyone Heard About This "We Fund UNRWA And UNRWA Funds Hamas" Rumor? http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11275445.html

[Jolie Rouge]

UN: "Clerical Error" Made Us Mistakenly Think Israel Bombed UNRWA School. http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11275433.html


Ooppsie...

Are you kidding me?

http://www.mererhetoric.com/images/hed/unrwa01.jpg


A clerical error led the UN to falsely accuse Israel of shelling one of its Gaza schools in the Jabalya refugee camp during Operation Cast Lead, the international organization admitted this week. For close to a month, the UN accused the Israel of hitting the educational compound ran by its Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which was sheltering more than 1,300 Gazans as the IDF battled Hamas in the camp on January 6. The strike made international headlines and was one of the many incidents of civilian deaths that led nongovernmental organization and international politicians to call for Israelis to be charged with war crimes for the 22-day military offensive.

The attack - and the hysterical media and diplomatic feeding frenzy that followed - was supposed to become Cast Lead's Qana. Israel came under enormous pressure to declare a "temporary ceasefire" - the kind of temporary ceasefire that raises the costs of reengaging the enemy, making it a de facto long-term ceasefire. You can file this stunt along with the Lebanon II "massacre" where 40 dead civilians suddenly became a single casualty.

But you can't fault UNRWA for trying. It's not like their credibility is going to be damaged just because they lied. Truth doesn't really matter when demonizing Israel. People like Obama family friend Rashid Khalidi have been openly fabricating material for decades without any consequences to their reputations:


Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies, has been caught in a lie. Khalidi concluded a January 8, 2009, op-ed that appeared in the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune with the following quote ascribed to former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon: "The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people.". The problem is Ya'alon never made this statement and both publications have since had to excise it from the op-ed and issue corrections... The distorted version of Ya'alon's words has since become a staple of anti-Israel rhetoric, leading Khalidi to employ it on more than one occasion.

Before the current op-ed, Khalidi used the quote in a May 22, 2003, column in The Nation, as well as in his 2005 book Resurrecting Empire.

So I think it's unfair to suggest - as some people have been implying - that UNRWA lied for Hamas because the two organizations keep each other in business. They do keep each other in business, of course. But that's not the point.

UNRWA would lie for Hamas even if they didn't have any financial incentive. Because why not?

http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11275433.html



* Hamas: We Will Murder Jewish Children All Over The World

I think he just misspoke though. He obviously meant just the Zionist ones:


Zahar directed his message to Hamas' troops, and promised them victory over the IDF. "We must be patient until we are victorious, Allah will help us," he said. Hundreds of Hamas terrorists have been killed since the "Cast Lead" operation began last week, including 100 since the start of Israel's ground operation, and several of the group's senior leaders have been assassinated. Dozens have been taken prisoner as well.

The Hamas leader called to murder Israelis and Jews worldwide, including children. "The Israelis have sentenced their children to death... They have legitimized the killing of their people all over the world," he said. Hamas' platform calls for all Jews to convert to Islam or be killed, based on an Islamic saying (Hadith), and the group has not refrained from targeting children in the past. Hamas will destroy synagogues and Jewish schools as well, Zahar said, just as Israel destroyed mosques in Gaza. Israel bombed several mosques used to store rockets and ammunition.

When that happens, of course, billions of people will shake their heads and tsk tsk about the cycle of violence. The part where Hamas's mosques and schools are packed with explosives - in distinction to the synagogues and Jewish schools that aren't - that won't really come up. It's probably not a relevant distinction anyway.

For what it's worth Hamas is actually doing pretty badly and may be on the verge of a complete meltdown:


As the IDF operation in the Gaza Strip entered its 10th day, Hamas has begun sending conflicting messages regarding its intentions. These contradictory messages, Palestinian political analysts said, reflected the state of confusion in Hamas and raised questions as to who was calling the shots in the Gaza Strip. While some Hamas leaders have been openly signaling their readiness to accept a new cease-fire, others are still calling for pursuing the fight against Israel "until victory." What is clear is that Hamas is now desperate for a lull in the fighting. But it is also eager to score some kind of a "military victory" before a cease-fire is reached.

The vast majority of Israeli casualties have been through the two separate friendly fire incidents that happened in the last 24 hours. Those are tragic deaths and they are in every way heroic battlefield deaths. But they weren't caused directly by the Hamas war machine so they're not a reason to believe that the IDF can't dismantle Hamas's army piece by piece - given enough time.

But there was a gigantic explosion at a UN school in Gaza this morning. The IDF says it wasn't them yet Reuters has been running with the headline "Up to 40 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school" for hours. So the international community may step up and save Hamas yet.

http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11275337.html


Media Fauxtography Now In Full Swing

http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11275324.html

[Jolie Rouge]

Obama family friend ... Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies ...a PLO spokesman in the 1980s.



Turns Out, Obama And Khalidi Are "Family Friends, Neighbors"

Next thing you know we'll discover that he palled around with terrorists: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1043689.html


"Obama was my colleague at the University of Chicago, a family friend, neighbor and my district representative in the Illinois State Senate," says Khalidi. "Since I moved to New York in 2003 and he moved to Washington a year later, we've had much less opportunity to remain in contact." In April, The Los Angeles Times reported that, at the farewell party at an Arab-American community center, Obama noted that they had shared frequent dinners and interesting conversations, adding, "I'm hoping that, for many years to come, we continue that conversation - a conversation that is necessary not just around Mona and Rashid's dinner table," but around "this entire world." The article further related that Obama said he hoped to give the Palestinians hope with a new American policy in the Middle East. Another one of the guests reportedly likened the settlers in the territories to Osama bin Laden, asserting that both are "blinded by ideology."

I guess it's beside the point to note that only one side's ideology calls for the establishment of a global Islamic caliphate. Anyway, here's a worshipful picture of Obama sitting naked on a unicorn. No I have no idea what it's supposed to symbolize. But I'm sure it's very deep and has to do with how he has declared himself the very definition of change and is not at all blinded by ideology. Tools.


http://www.mererhetoric.com/archives/11275153.html



But you can't fault UNRWA for trying. It's not like their credibility is going to be damaged just because they lied. Truth doesn't really matter when demonizing Israel. People like Obama family friend Rashid Khalidi have been openly fabricating material for decades without any consequences to their reputations...

Rashid Khalidi Gets Caught in a Lie
by Cinnamon Stillwell
Thu, 5 Feb 2009

Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies, has been caught in a lie. Khalidi concluded a January 8, 2009, op-ed that appeared in the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune with the following quote ascribed to former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon:


The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people.

The problem is Ya'alon never made this statement and both publications have since had to excise it from the op-ed and issue corrections. Here's the New York Times:


An Op-Ed article on Jan. 8, on misperceptions of Gaza, included an unverified quotation. A former Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff, Moshe Yaalon, was quoted as saying in 2002 that "the Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people." This quotation, while cited widely, does not appear in the Israeli newspaper interview to which it is usually attributed. Its original source has not been found, and thus it should not have appeared in the article.

The bogus quote originated with a 2002 Haaretz interview in which Ya'alon, when asked to define victory, responded:


I defined it from the beginning of the confrontation: the very deep internalization by the Palestinians that terrorism and violence will not defeat us, will not make us fold. If that deep internalization does not exist at the end of the confrontation, we will have a strategic problem with an existential threat to Israel. If that [lesson] is not burned into the Palestinian and Arab consciousness, there will be no end to their demands of us.

The distorted version of Ya'alon's words has since become a staple of anti-Israel rhetoric, leading Khalidi to employ it on more than one occasion. Before the current op-ed, Khalidi used the quote in a May 22, 2003, column in The Nation, as well as in his 2005 book Resurrecting Empire.

Khalidi spouted propaganda as a PLO spokesman in the 1980s. It's inexcusable that, as a Columbia professor, he hasn't changed his tactics.

http://www.campus-watch.org/blog/2009/02/rashid-khalidi-gets-caught-in-a-lie.html



Anyway, here's a worshipful picture of Obama sitting naked on a unicorn.

http://rightwingsparkle.blogspot.com/2008/12/and-you-thought-obama-and-unicorn-thing.html

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IS7McnQJ1Co/STrYsxmAUiI/AAAAAAAABDo/AmwpILUCAF8/s1600-h/obama-unicorn-300x450.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IS7McnQJ1Co/STrYsxmAUiI/AAAAAAAABDo/AmwpILUCAF8/s1600-h/obama-unicorn-300x450.jpg

And you thought Obama and the unicorn thing was a joke.

Dan Lacey, is the artist of “The Barack Obama Victory Unicorn." He sold these to the crowd outside the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul Minnesota at the convention apparently. I suppose if one is riding a unicorn, being naked is imperative.

Here is the site for the artist : http://faithmouse.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-victory-unicorn.html

I am sure the Obama had no control in this and I hope that he is as crepped out as I am.... but it does show how some people view BO :skeered:

[gmyers]

With all thats going on in this country why in the world would he give money to Gaza. Everyone knows where it will end up. In the hands of the terrorists. I guess its another example of if you do wrong you'll be rewarded. I guess they need money to buy more missiles to shoot.

[Jolie Rouge]

Does it bother anyone else that we are going to send $900 MILLION to GAZA ... when there was NOTHING for the people here at home who are still putting things together after Katrina, and Rita, and Ike, and Gustav, and the midwestern floods and KY ice storms and CA wildfires and .... well you get the idea ... GAZA ?????

I mean ... things are just sooo peachy-keen for all of us ... right ?

I believe that "Charity begins at home"

I hear that there is a new turn of phrase ... there is a "Bull Market" and a "Bear Market" and now .... a "Barry Market" ....



Major stock market indexes fall to 1997 levels
Tim Paradis, Ap Business Writer
Mon Feb 23, 6:31 pm ET

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L6pDyjqqsvY/SaMM6ZIk_8I/AAAAAAAAaNg/A_peDxEWyso/s1600-h/barry+market2.JPG

NEW YORK – Wall Street has turned the clock back to 1997. Investors unable to extinguish their worries about a recession that has no end in sight dumped stocks again Monday. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 251 points to its lowest close since May 7, 1997, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index logged its lowest finish since April 11, 1997. It's as if the decade's dot-com surge, collapse and subsequent recovery never occurred.

The Dow is just over 100 points from 7,000. Both indexes have lost about half their value since hitting record highs in October 2007.

"People left and right are throwing in the towel," said Keith Springer, president of Capital Financial Advisory Services.

Investors pounded most financial stocks even as government agencies led by the Treasury Department said they would launch a revamped bank rescue program this week. The plan includes the option of increasing government ownership in financial institutions without having to pour more taxpayer money into them.

Although the government has said it doesn't want to nationalize banks, many investors are clearly still concerned that this could be a possibility as banks continue to suffer severe losses because of the recession. They're also worried that banks' losses will keep escalating as the recession sends more borrowers into default.

"The biggest thing I see here is the incredible pessimism," Springer said. "The government is doing a lousy job of alleviating fears."

The Treasury and other agencies issued a statement after The Wall Street Journal reported Citigroup is in talks for the government to boost its stake in the bank to as much as 40 percent. Analysts said the market, which initially rose on the statement, wanted more details of the government's plans.

"It's only a very partial picture of what we may get," said Quincy Krosby, chief investment strategist at The Hartford. "This proverbial lack of clarity is damaging market psychology."

Meanwhile, technology stocks fell after The Journal reported that Yahoo Inc.'s new chief executive plans to reorganize the company. But the selling came across the market as pessimism about the recession and its toll on companies deepened.

"There's no where to hide anymore," said Jim Herrick, director of equity trading at Baird & Co.

The market's decline extends massive losses from last week when the major stock indexes tumbled more than 6 percent. While falling to their 1997 levels, the major indexes plunged through the lows they reached in late November, at the height of the credit crisis.

"There's no main driver of the down day," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. "There's just so much skepticism in the overall market and (the question is) is the government doing proper things to get us out of this problem. Obviously the stock market is voting no."

The Dow dropped 250.89, or 3.41 percent, to 7,114.78. It last closed this low on May 7, 1997 when it finished at 7,085.65. The Dow hasn't traded below the 7,000 mark since October 1997. The index is down 14 percent over the past 10 sessions.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 26.72, or 3.47 percent, to 743.33. It was the lowest close since April 11, 1997, when it ended at 737.65.

When the indexes were last at these levels, they were in their ascendancy, climbing amid the dot-com boom. But 1997 was also the year that saw stock prices later plunge amid a growing financial crisis in Asia. Far away from Wall Street, it was the year that the U.S. first heard the name Monica Lewinsky, whose relationship with President Bill Clinton led to his impeachment and trial. And it was the year that the world was stunned by the death of Britain's Princess Diana, on Aug. 31.

On Monday, the S&P 500 did close above its Nov. 21 trading low of 741.02. But the 14-month recession has decimated the major indexes: The Dow is down 49.8 percent from its record highs of October 2007, while the S&P 500 index is down 52.5 percent.

Detrick warned that a move below the S&P's Nov. 21 low could set off "violent selling" as even more confidence drains from the market.

The technology-laden Nasdaq composite index dropped 53.51, or 3.71 percent, to 1,387.72.

Investors looking for a bottom also dumped smaller stocks. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 16.38 or 3.99 percent, to 394.58.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than 6 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 6.35 billion shares compared with heavy volume of 8.12 billion shares on Friday.

Morgan Smith, investment counselor for Burns Advisory Group, said investors are now pushing out their expectations for a recovery in the industry until after this year.

"Everyone is trying to grasp at some type of bottom," Smith said. "The market is just trying to figure out if it has priced in a worst-case scenario."

Among tech stocks, Hewlett-Packard Co. fell $1.96, or 6.3 percent, to $29.28, and Intel Corp. dove 70 cents, or 5.5 percent, to $12.08.

Other big losers included General Electric Co., which dropped to a 14-year low of $8.80, but ended down 53 cents, or 5.7 percent, at $8.85. Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. tumbled 48 cents, or 7.6 percent, to $5.81.

Some financial stocks managed to gain, including Citigroup, which rose 19 cents, or 9.7 percent, to $2.14, and Bank of America Corp., which gained 12 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $3.91.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 2.76 percent from 2.79 percent late Friday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.29 percent from 0.26 percent Friday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Light, sweet crude fell $1.59 to settle at $38.44 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.99 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.95 percent, and France's CAC-40 slipped 0.82 percent. Earlier, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.54 percent.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090223/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street;_ylt=AmeTwp6FGuJLvF.pTNAsjQas0NUE;_ylu =X3oDMTFpOGRxamZzBHBvcwMyNQRzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX21vc 3RfcG9wdWxhcgRzbGsDbWFqb3JzdG9ja21h___

On the Net:

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com


Also, the Rasmussen consumer index dropped to record lows today as well.

The Patriot Room reported:



The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures consumer confidence on a daily basis, fell two points on Monday to 55.5. That’s the lowest level of confidence ever recorded in the seven-year history of the Consumer Index, and the fourth time a new low has been set this month.

The Rasmussen Investor Index fell nearly four points on Monday to 56.9, also a record low. For the Investor Index, the previous low had been established in mid-December.

But, don't worry... Joe Biden was just put in the role of stimulus czar.

Everything will be fine.


:goodnight:

[gmyers]

Yes it does. I wish this country would focus its energy here and help get things better again for everybody.

[anothersta]

900 mil? That means 30.00 of that was mine. I'd like a refund, please.

Maybe BHO wants Hamas to be able to buy better bombs to kill us all with?

[hblueeyes]

Hamas IS the government.

Me

[janelle]

Cutting our military down and buiding theirs up. Closing GETMO and sending them on their way. Ya get the feeling things are turned on their head?

[SurferGirl]

Can we impeach BO yet?

It's ironic how we are dished for being angry.
We have every right to be angry about this.

[SurferGirl]

A little food for thought.

obama wants to cut defense spending
he wants to close Gitmo
he wants to take away 2nd amendment rights or tax them
now he wants to send our money over there to support terrorists
Gaza doesn't need to be rebuilt, they need to remember the consequences of bombing inocent Israelis.
why should we trust him

[Diana777]

yet another example of how our government continues to screw the american people.
Whatever happened to take care of your own first?

Also WHERE IS ALL OF THE MONEY COMING FROM? Are we borrowing YET AGAIN from CHINA? Man they are already laughing on the way to the bank!