Arkady's Thoughts

This is a story that the good folks over at the PatriotRoom are covering. Tthe gist of the story is as such; Iran's ship was stopped (by US/Egyptians) and it turns out that they are secretly smuggling about 60 tons of weaponry to Hamas . We are talking long ranged missiles, anti-tank weaponry, mines, machine guns, the whole lot. I bet they would find some explosive rigged camels if they search the ship thoroughly enough. Iran can send food, medicine, aid and clothing to the Palestinians, instead they choose to send war materiel. Where is the international pressure? Where? Where are the protesters who go and march in the streets bashing Israel at any opportunity? Why does Gaza need even 1 ton of weapons, let alone 60? Humanity is flipped on its head and it is frustrating. Lastly, Obama has to act on this. Currently the ship is in US/Egyptian control, but in order for them to act in any meaningful way there must be an order from the top. I await extremely strict and damaging rules/...

Below is a list of commonly repeated myths coming largely from the Arab/anti-Israeli camp that need to be clarified. People are often prone to make snap judgments based on limited information, limited knowledge or worse, skewed and ignorant generalizations. This list is by no means complete, but is something I personally encountered. Still, it is important to recognize just how much information is being pumped by the Arab media and ultimately ends up flowing into the minds of Europeans and Americans. While many Arabs believe that Jews still drink the blood of boys on Passover ( blood libel ) and Mein Kampf is a best seller in muslim countries, there is no excuse for why the western world should be subjected to ignorance. The four myths are: 1) Israel is an illegal occupier 2) Muslims and Jews got along beautifully before Israel was formed 3) Ashkenazi Jews are not real Jews and therefore have no claim to Israel 4) Zionists are preventing Palestinians from seeking their own state 1) Is...

The Internet is a beautiful thing, most will argue that it is probably the most substantial technological advancement humanity has experienced since the automobile. The ability to communicate and disseminate information at such rapid rates has made our society more aware, more educated and regrettably more paranoid. I am talking about the emergence of conspiracy theories that seem to dominate our political landscape now more than ever. I have pondered much on the reasoning behind this rapid development and attribute the Internet as the catalyst. Still, the propensity for a human being to lean towards a conspiracy is still somewhat of a mystery to me and something I would like to explore. My first stipulation is that human nature since the beginning of time has gravitated towards explanations of events that are of a certain magnitude and significance. Ever since early man discovered the wrath of mother nature and without any scientific explanation was forced to turn to religion as the...

In a surprise turn of events, the immensly unqualified Caroline Kennedy withdraws for personal reasons slightly before we learn that she is mired in tax issues. In her place, Kirsten Gillibrand gets the nod for the Senate Seat. Why is she good for Republicans? Well, it appears at first glance that Kirsten Gillibrand is to Democrats as John McCain is to Republicans, if you catch my drifts. Some of the notable positions include: Strong opposition to gun control Wants to extend Bush tax cuts Against the bailout(s) Against granting illegal immigrants licenses in New York Against repealing Don't ask Don't tell Finally, a break for the 'good guys', because Kennedy would seriously have been an utter abomination to the entire concept of US Senator. Being over 35 and an avid lover of poetry may be as experienced as our new president, but it should not be a precedent for the US Senate damn it!

Below is a video showing what is going on in Britain right now. The interesting portion is the discussion of what political correctness is doing to the citizens of Britain. There is basically reverse discrimination of anyone who attempts to complain or criticize the activities of Muslims. There are many radical elements in the UK right now, arguably they have a much more serious condition there than we have here in America. Yet the local Brits are the ones being beaten back by their own government. The purpose of Islam is to spread, according to their religion, a true follower - that is the most pure form of Islam, is the form that ultimately takes over whatever government is in place now and constituted their own political laws. It happens to be called Sharia law. While many muslim immigrants to Britain moved out of muslim nations to avoid persecution, the trend is undeniably heading in the wrong direction. Watch for yourself:

Headline story , Obama freezes salaries on white house staff that make over 100k. This would include top positions, like chief of staff and press secretary, once said and done this should affect roughly one hundred people. Further he plans to introduce stricter regulations for lobbyists. As a conservative, I find this move to be surprising, unexpected and welcomed. Albeit, there is one very important question that we do not know. How long is this freeze for? One year? Two? Term? Because in order for this to make any real impact, it has to be longer than one yet. Otherwise this is just a distraction gimmick. One of the primary reasons for wanting a small government is that running a big government is expensive and often simply unnecessary . In order for the government to achieve it's desires, it must use manpower to do so and that requires money - namely, your money. Beyond the corruption that occurs with overgrown governments, some of the jobs pay extremely well. Not only are ...

Originally posted: 1/20/09 It is easy to forget how things were just a short one year ago, let alone 4 years ago. Promises are forgotten, statistics become fuzzy. Introducing, Obama Watch!! This is a collection of economic vitals and a list of key campaign promises designed to fix our ailing nation. This will be updated on a per-need basis to reflect the most up to date tracking. All data is as of January 20th, 2009 EOD unless stated otherwise. I also recognize the difficult of campaign promises because unlike the data below, they are typically just words. I will track only those that we can measure. Finally, there other sites that are tracking Obama's performance like ( Politifact ), but the list is excessive and includes things like whether or not the family get a puppy. I would prefer instead to focus on more important issues. Economy Inflation : .1% ( Annual measurement for 2008 ) Note: 2007 Inflation rate: 2.8 Unemployment : 7.2% GDP : .52 ( Estimate IMF ) P...