BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

by Aaron Klein Jerusalem Bureau Chief World Net Daily Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas personally interceded to urge the release of the terrorist who in 1985 infamously led the hijacking of an Italian cruise ship and the murder of an American Jewish passenger, according to two diplomatic sources with direct knowledge of the release negotiations. The two sources were working to petition against the release of Youssef Magied al-Molqui, who led the hijacking of the Italian cruiser Achille Lauro. The sources claimed to WND they were made aware from Italian officials that Abbas personally asked Italy to release al-Molqui. A spokesman for the PA denied Abbas had any involvement with al-Molqui’s release. Al-Molqui was the leader of a cell from the Palestinian Liberation Front, which splintered from Abbas’ PLO. The PLO at the time was led by Yasser Arafat. U.S. and Israeli policy considers Abbas’ PA to be moderate. Al-Molqui was released yesterday from a prison in Palermo, Italy, having ser...

From the fabulous Kate Harding.Net: What’s interesting is that at first, it was really hard for me to know what to say. My first, reflexive thought was that I could just tell my own story! I mean, I’m thin and all. But I quickly shot that down. Talking about my experiences as a thin person, on a FA blog, would be an excellent demonstration of thin privilege, but it wouldn’t accomplish much else. Fat acceptance is fundamentally not ABOUT the thin experience. It’s really not about me, at all. In fact, that’s really what I should be talking about. But I’m going to take a minute to ward off as much of the anticipated defensiveness as I can right off the bat, even though I hate feeling like I’m placating the WATM-style whining (this time with Thin!). After all, it’s not like the FA community needs a lecture on thin privilege (HEY GUESS WHAT FATTIES I GET IT NOW CAN I HAVE A DOUGHNUT): this is really for thin people out there who haven’t really considered their own privilege. So, do some thi...

There's always the old story, the people who say it to you because they want something (money, sex) instead of saying what they really want. To use you. For me, as Annie Lennox sings in one of my favorite songs, there's " No More I Love Yous. Language is Leaving Me in Silence." No More I Love Yous - Annie Lennox There's only a few people who hear this from me or that I have heard it from in many many years: my children & my family. And I couldn't agree more with this post: The word ‘love’ is used in many different situations. The word is defined as an extreme affection towards someone or something; however this is not the case in which it is used by most. People tend to use the word just the same as any other. No actual meaning to it — it seems that whenever someone says ' I love you ’ they don’t actually mean it. The meaning I LOVE YOU has now shrunk to a simple I love you. It has lost its significance, its shnaz ! I hear young people saying it all t...

(repost from 2008) by Alan M. Dershowitz As Israel celebrates its [61st] birthday, the world should recognize the enormous gifts the Jewish state has given the world. Israel has exported more lifesaving medical technology to the far-flung corners of the earth than any nation of comparable size. It has done more to protect the environment, to promote literature, music, the arts and sciences, to spread agricultural advances and to fight terrorism within the rule of law. Israel has created a legal system that is the envy of the world, with a Supreme Court that is open to all with few, if any, restrictions on its jurisdiction. As America's most liberal Supreme Court Justice William Brennan observed when he visited Israel in 1988: "It may well be Israel, not the United States, that provides the best hope for building a jurisprudence that can protect civil liberties against the demands of national security. For it is Israel that has been facing real and serious threats to its securi...

First let me say I don't like being fat. Yes, I diet and yes, to the degree my disability (unrelated to my weight) allows me - I do exercise. A while back someone posted really malicious things about my weight, my character and even my disability online. Even throwing in a very twisted, backward and upside-down version of what really occurred between us. To wit (edited for foul language): You used the internet to track him down after 30 years, which wasn’t too hard because he’s a published writer. You got him to agree to meet up with you. When he did meet up with you, to his horror, he saw that his ex-girlfriend from college had ballooned into a 275 lb fat pig with poor hygiene and he didn’t want to bang you. He politely excused himself by saying he couldn’t do this to his wife. You then began stalking him and his family, driving by his house, sending letters to anyone with whom you thought you could slander his good name. His poor wife was left with no choice but to report you...

Michael D'Antuono seems to have backed out of unveiling his blasphemous portrait of Obama as a Christ figure. It would seem that D'Antuono may have failed to consider fully the ramifications of using sacred imagery as he did. Please contact him and thank him for canceling tomorrow's unveiling. His email address is thetruth@dantuonoarts.com . Here's the press release: PRNewswire -- Painter Michael D'Antuono has canceled the planned public unveiling of his latest work "The Truth" at NYC's Union Square Park on President Obama's 100th day in office due to overwhelming public outrage. The artist's decision was based in part on thousands of emails and phone calls; online blogs and other public commentary received in the first 48 hours following its release. The painting which was first made public on Friday depicts President Obama appearing much like Jesus Christ on the Cross; atop his head, a crown of thorns. Behind him, the dark veil being lifted ...

I say "KEEPING AMERICA SAFE!" A Staten Island man will spend nearly six years (69 months) in prison for selling a satellite TV package to New York customers that included the Hezbollah television channel Al Manar (pictured), which the feds call "a terrorist organization masquerading as a TV channel." In December, Javed Iqbal, who emigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan as a teenager, agreed to a plea deal to settle the case, which could have landed him in prison for up to 15 years. At yesterday's sentencing, he said he was "deeply sorry" for what he calls a mistake, and his lawyer tells the Times the channel was just one "narrow aspect" of a TV package that was "180 degrees from Islamic fundamentalism." But federal prosecutor Eric Snyder called Iqbal "Hezbollah’s man in New York City. He did all this to bring the Hezbollah operations to our shores, to allow Hezbollah to have their operations here in New York City. That’s a very da...

Thanks to FIGHTING FATIGUE.ORG for my mention in the Disability Blog Carnival. Fighting Fatigue and CFIDS Blog Carnival " The Fighting Fatigue Blog Carnival will focus on chronic illnesses such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Interstitial Cystitis and related chronic illnesses and health issues. " To check out this blog and links to all the great blogs aboutliving with a chronic illness - CLICK HERE. Thanks Sandy! PLEASE CLICK HERE TO JBLOG ME

Amen! From LES FEMMES: Open Letter to artist Michael D'Antuono: I recently saw a picture of your painting of Barack Obama titled The Truth depicting him in a crown of thorns with his arms outstretched like Christ crucified. I would like to humbly suggest that you have the wrong person in a crown of thorns. It should be the American people who have been misled and lied to about what Barack Obama truly represents. In the spirit of transparency, I suggest you develop several companion pieces to accompany it. CLICK HERE TO SEE "THE TRUTH" First, paint a group of unborn babies of varying ages wearing the crowns since Obama favors the expansion of their murder by abortion. Be sure to include a little one who survived abortion and was deliberately killed by neglect since Obama voted four times to deny their protection. Don't forget to include Kathleen Sibelius and abortionist George Tiller in the background screaming, "Crucify them!" along with groups from Planned...

by Michael Sigman "I'm the greatest man in the world." -- Will Ferrell's goofball character in the basketball spoof "Semi Pro," upon incorrectly concluding that the team he owns will be joining the NBA According to myth, Narcissus became the first narcissist when he stared deeply into a reflecting pool and fell in love with the image of the gorgeous man he beheld. By the time he realized that the object of his affections was himself, it was too late. Even the attractive, ardent Echo, parroting her idol's every syllable, couldn't pierce Narcissus's self-involvement. By getting a line on the narcissists in our lives, we can mitigate the suffering they precipitate. The first step is to recognize them -- especially those with "narcissistic personality disorder," defined in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as, "A pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and ...

by Steven Stosn y The proliferation of blogs and emails may be partially responsible for the increase in anger of recent years. We can learn a lot about the emotions that motivate many blogs and emails, as well as reactions to them, from, believe it or not, a few observations of animals. Anger, for instance, is the fight part of the primitive fight/flight/freeze response common to all mammals. It functions primarily to protect self and juvenile offspring from harm. Activation of the fight/flight/freeze response requires a dual perception of threat and vulnerability. Animals respond to lesser threats with greater anger, fear, or submission (freeze) when they are wounded, starving, sick, or recently traumatized. The activation of fight over flight/freeze is determined by the annihilation potential of the threat. A raccoon will ferociously fight a rat to defend her newborn pups but not a cougar. Thus more anger is observed in powerful animals, which tend to be predatory. Powerful animals...

Bea Arthur was one of the reasons I became an actor. While I was in college, a couple people used to call me "Maude" because of my height, dry sense of humor and deep voice. (I am actually about 1.5 inches taller than Bea Arthur). I always admired Arthur and fellow actress Nancy Marchand - who turned their height and voice into assets for their careers. And both who played feminist-types when it wasn't terribly fashionable to do so. Arthur's acerbic wit and flawless timing is something that is unreplaceable. Arthur was born the same year as my own mother and still remained a class act to the end. Bea - where you are now - I hope you are still knocking 'em out! From UPPITYWOMAN: Bea was a successful stage and Broadway actress long before she entered the world of TV sitcoms at age 50. Among her awards were an Emmy for Maude and a Tony for her stage performance with Angela Lansbury in Mame. She also played “Bea Vecchio” in the movie Lovers and Other Strangers ....

Chill, People! It Was Just a Campaign Promise! by SusanUnPC Lyn just e-mailed me to ask if anyone is tracking the number of campaign promises that Obama has broken. Do you know of such a list? I realize it would be rather long, and difficult to keep up. But one would hope. Here’s one of the latest, via Lyn, and from Political Punch blog at ABC News in “ Despite Campaign Pledge, President Obama Refuses to Use Word ‘Genocide’ When Describing Slaughter of Armenians “: Despite a campaign promise that he would boldly use the word “genocide” as president when describing the Ottoman Empire’s slaughter of up to 1.5 million Armenians in the early part of the last century, President Obama deliberately avoided use of that word in his statement today on Armenian Remembrance Day. “We’re profoundly disappointed,” Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, told ABC News. “All the more so because his statements on this in his record before he became president...

First - I believe Global Warming is real. WHY? Because I love to garden. And that puts me in direct contact with plants, growth cycles, the soil - and I can see FOR MYSELF what is happening because of changes in the weather. Second, I have talked a lot on this blog that I am obese. I recently learned that I have to have major surgery at the end of May for the removal of PCOS related growths that I have had for a number of years which have caused my belly to distend and make me appear fatter than I am. So there ARE reasons other than being a food addict for being fat. Third, all this fat-hatred , the 'better dead than fat' attitude of society and the centerfold syndrome that most males suffer from disgusts me. What ever happened to seeing a person as a PERSON? Not a body, or parts, or pictures, or words on a screen - a HUMAN BEING. To me, seeing someone as an object makes the beholder THE PROBLEM - not the person being judged and criticized. OBESITY, CAUSE OF GLOBAL W...