Forty Israeli women posed nude in support of a young female Egyptian blogger who drew criticism and threats for posting a naked photo of herself to protest against the limits of free speech in her country. The organizer of the Israeli event says she wanted to show support for women like Egyptian activist Aliaa Elmahdy, and show the world “a good reason to see the unique beauty of Israeli women.” “Regardless of whether they are Jewish, Arab, straight or Lesbian – because here, as of now, it doesn’t matter. … Let us show the doubters that our international discourse doesn’t depend on governments,” Or Tepler told YNet News. Tepler organized the event on Facebook. The participants were photographed holding a sign saying “Love without Limits,” and “Homage to Aliaa Elmahdi. Sisters in Israel.” Elmahdy has sparked controversy in the Middle East and global uproar after a friend posted a photo of her naked. The photo posted on Twitter with the hashtag #nudephotorevolutionary was viewed over a million times, while Elmahdy’s followers jumped from a few hundred to more than 14,000 by Saturday. CNN reports that the photo received global media coverage and provoked outrage in Egypt, a conservative Muslim country where most women wear the veil. Egyptian liberals fear that Elmahdy’s actions will hurt prospects in the parliamentary election this week. The 20-year-old Elmahdy explained to CNN why she allowed a friend to post the photo on Twitter: “I am not shy of being a woman in a society where women are nothing but sex objects harassed on a daily basis by men who know nothing about sex or the importance of a woman. The photo is an expression of my being and I see the human body as the best artistic representation of that. I took the photo myself using a timer on my personal camera.” Elmahdy was not a revolutionary in Tahir Square this past February, but said of the remnants of Murbarak’s National Democratic Party, “Where is the democracy and liberalism they preach to the world? They only feed what the public wants to hear for their political ambitions.” Tepler told Ynet in regards to her copycat protest, “I got the idea the day that the blogger’s photo was posted.” “It got on my nerves that she received a quarter of a million abusive comments and death threats,” said Tepler. “I felt that when a liberal, enlightened woman in Cairo cannot express herself and gets threats from her state, I should show solidarity.” Tepler says she was active in the social protest movement over the summer, made efforts to get in touch with Elmahdy, but was unsuccessful.
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Israeli Women Strip in Support of Nude Egyptian Blogger
Current Mayor of Chicago and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is set to stump for his old boss this Saturday night. In what will be his first national speech since being elected to Mayor this past February, excerpts of Emanuel’s speech for the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Dinner have been released in advance, showing the Mayor’s headstrong defense of the President whose first term policies Emanuel was largely behind implementing. Several excerpts from Emanuel’s speech: “The President did not make choices based on politics. He made them because of his principles. He did not make choices for the next election, he made them for the next generation.” “President Obama never tailored what he believed to the moment.” “In the next four years there will be more challenges and more crises that will determine the economic vitality of the middle class and the economic future of this country. Whose character, whose judgment, do you want in that office?” “Over the next four years, there will be a series of choices. It won’t be clear what the outcome will be. We will need leadership; we will need values as guideposts.” “To create true middle class security, we can’t just cut our way to prosperity. We must out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the world.” “President Obama believes in an America where hard work pays off, where responsibility is rewarded. He believes in an America where everyone, from Main Street to Wall Street, does their fair share. He believes in an America where we don’t have two rule books, one for those at the top, and another set for everyone else. President Obama believes in the idea that our country prospers when we’re all in it together.” The Jefferson-Jackson Dinner is the premier pre-caucus fundraiser for the Iowa Democratic Party. Rahm will be just be across town in Des Moines from six Republican challengers to Obama, speaking to social conservatives at the Family Leader Forum. Speaking on “an America where hard work pays off,” and Wall Street contributing their “fair share,” Emanuel appears to be harping on a populist message pushed by Obama in recent weeks to rally activist Democrats. The Chicago Tribune notes that Emanuel’s comments come after the Mayor has recently expressed frustration with Washington inaction and has repeatedly faced off in Chicago with unions that form the backbone of Democratic political activism. “I had the good fortune of being the president’s chief of staff, watching him up close, watching him exert the leadership that was necessary to stabilize a country that was spinning toward far-worse economic conditions than the ones he inherited if that wasn’t stopped and abated,” Emanuel told the Tribune before the speech. “And I think that’s a testament to character and I will address that from the unique role of having been both the chief of staff and now a chief executive.” Obama’s win in the 2008 Iowa Democratic Caucus legitimized his primary campaign and set him on course for the White House, as the Illinois Senator went on to carry the swing state in the general election. There has been a recent staff shake-up in the White House touching Emanuel’s new job, and old job. Bill Daley, son and brother to past Chicago Mayors, was demoted earlier this month from Emanuel’s former position as White House chief of staff. (H/T: Burns & Halberman POLITICO )
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Rahm Sticks Up for Barack: ‘President Obama Never Tailored What He Believed to the Moment’
Orwell’s model students at risk of cluelessness about the unique blessing that is America.
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The Kool-Aid’s a Staple in U.S. Schools, Warns Marybeth Hicks
Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) — President Obama has repeatedly pledged that American military members will not be on the ground in Libya. Despite this promise, for the second time the government is admitting having personnel on the ground. Fox News has more about this former pledge: From the East Room of the White House on March 18, [Obama] said: “The United States is not going to deploy ground troops into Libya.” Several days later at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., he said: “I said that America’s role would be limited, that we would not put ground troops into Libya, that we would focus our unique capabilities on the front end of the operation and that we would transfer responsibility to our allies and partners. Tonight, we are fulfilling that pledge.” But, alas, the circumstances and the decisions surrounding them have changed. The Pentagon says it has four troops in the war-torn nation. Spokesman Capt. John Kirby confirmed that there are troops working there to assist in the rebuilding of the U.S. Embassy. According to Fox News , these unidentified individuals are working with the State Department’s chief of mission to determine how best to reopen the embassy. The building, located in Tripoli, was badly damaged during the ongoing battle between Muammar Qaddafi’s forces and the citizens who have become known as the “rebels.” On Monday, Kirby said the four include two who specialize in disposing of explosives. He says the four are not there in any offensive or defensive military capacity, but strictly to help the State Department. The first time that there was an admission of troops being sent for on-the-ground work was back in March when Marines rescued an Air Force pilot who had ejected over eastern Libya:
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Pentagon Admits Limited Military Personnel Now On the Ground in Libya
It’s been an interesting year when it comes to Biblical relics. Back in March, The Blaze covered a filmmaker’s claim that two nails from Jesus’ burial were recovered in the High Priest Caiaphas’ supposed tomb. Now, an ancient burial box that was uncovered by antiquities looters may provide useful insight into Caiaphas’ life, potentially leading to more robust information about Jesus Christ’s death. Before continuing, it would probably be prudent to discuss the High Priest’s significance. In the Bible, Caiaphas is written about as the key figure who organized the plot to kill Jesus Christ, thus discoveries surrounding him are certainly noteworthy. Apparently, this unique find contains a mysterious inscription that could provide details about the home of Caiaphas’ family. LiveScience.com’s Jennifer Welsch has more : The burial box, also called an ossuary, was discovered in 1990, but the inscription was just recently verified as legitimate (and not the result of forgers trying to increase an artifact’s value) by Yuval Goren of Tel Aviv University and Boaz Zissu of Bar Ilan University. The box is made of limestone, is covered in decorative rosettes and has an inscription. According to Fox News , the Israel Antiquities Authority confiscated the box from looters and then passed it along to Goren, who has been leading the efforts to authenticate it over the past few years. Unfortunately, because it made its rounds in the illegal ossuary trade, researchers aren’t able to trace the exact area where it was discovered. That being said, they believe it to have potentially originated in the Valley of Elah, located in the southwest of Jerusalem. Interestingly, the inscription names the deceased within the context of three generations. Aside from showcasing these names, it provides a potential residence. The inscription reads: “Miriam daughter of Yeshua son of Caiaphus, priest of Maaziah from Beth Imri.” Welsch further explains what these words may mean: The Maaziah refers to a clan that was one of 24 orders of high priests during the second temple period , Goren said. While there are some records of the Caiaphus family in Talmudic sources (the central texts of Judaism) that detail their lives after they spread into the Galilee in A.D. 70, the reference to Beit Imri gives new insight into the family’s location prior to their migration. While Beit Imri may refer to yet another priestly order, researchers seem to believe that it is most likely a geographic location (most likely Caiaphus’ family’s village). As was the case with the nails, some may be skeptical of this finding, but Goren claims that there is no doubt that “the inscription is authentic.” According to researchers, the ossuary spent thousands of years in the ground; the microbes, algae and lichen that appear on it cannot be replicated or forged. If this information checks out, researchers may be able to better triangulate information surrounding Jesus’ death. This, according to some, may simply be one more piece of the historical puzzle. (h/t LiveScience.com )
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Will a 2,000-Year-Old Burial Box Provide Fresh Insight on Jesus’ Death?
It’s always easy to sniff out new Democratic talking points — like good liberal foot soldiers, they repeat their assigned memes nearly word-for-word. This week’s left hook: tea partiers are like terrorists . Writing for Politico , William Yeomans describes the tea party’s “terrorist tactics”: It has become commonplace to call the tea party faction in the House “hostage takers.” But they have now become full-blown terrorists. They have joined the villains of American history who have been sufficiently craven to inflict massive harm on innocent victims to achieve their political goals . A strong America has always stood firm in the face of terrorism. That tradition is in jeopardy, as Congress and President Barack Obama careen toward an uncertain outcome in the tea party- manufactured debt crisis. TIME ‘s Joe Klein: The Republicans have been willing to concede nothing. Their stand means higher interest rates, fewer jobs created and more destroyed, a general weakening of this country’s standing in the world. Osama bin Laden, if he were still alive, could not have come up with a more clever strategy for strangling our nation. Former Obama car czar Steve Rattner appearing this morning on MSNBC’s Morning Joe: You know, the problem with this is it’s like a form of economic terrorism . I imagine these Tea Party guys are like strapped with dynamite, standing in the middle of Times Square at rush hour and saying, ‘either you do it my way, or we’re going to blow you up, ourselves up, and the whole country up with us.’ So you tell me how those kinds of standoffs end. Former green jobs czar Van Jones is careful not to use the term “terrorist,” but the connotation is clear: Any faction in America that would put a gun to the head of 310 million people and say ‘If you don’t do it our way, we will blow your dreams away, we will blow a hole in the American economy’, that is un-American. New York Times columnist Thomas Freidman: [The tea party movement] is so lacking in any aspiration for American greatness, so dominated by the narrowest visions for our country and so ignorant of the fact that it was not tax cuts that made America great but our unique public-private partnerships across the generations. If sane Republicans do not stand up to this Hezbollah faction in their midst, the Tea Party will take the G.O.P. on a suicide mission. Seriously? vs. In the left’s eyes, apparently we’re all terrorists now.
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New liberal talking point: tea partiers = terrorists?
I came across this unique video this afternoon and was immediately in awe of how technology like YouTube lets me virtually enjoy such a dangerous pastime without having the guts to actually live it. Enjoy: h/t PBH2
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Living vicariously through YouTube
In most cities and towns, following the traffic rules is pretty simple. Pedestrians walk when the signs tell them to and they stop and go when driving as directed by easy-to-comprehend light signals. But, in New York City, some people don’t listen to the rules and they ignore the regulations. The result? Commuter chaos. New York is, no doubt, known for its zany cab drivers, horrendous traffic and overcrowded streets. But, with pedestrians, delivery trucks, taxis, bike riders, motorcyclists, and the like all competing for the same road space, just how dangerous is it, say, to cross the road? We’ll let you see for yourself in this unique video that shows just one of NYC’s busy streets: With so much going on, it’s tough for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers, alike, to always abide by those good old rules that are so simple to follow in less densely-populated areas. Take, for instance, Casey Neistat, a NYC-based filmmaker who was recently ticketed $50 by the New York Police Department for not cycling in the bike lane. Naturally, Neistat took to his camera to film the entire debacle for entertainment’s sake. In the short film, he explains why it’s not always safe (or even possible) to ride in the bike lane. Watch as he hilariously illustrates how various hurdles (cones, people — even police cars) can be dangerous barriers for bicyclists: Lesson: When you commute in New York City, regardless of the transportation mode you use, you may be taking your life into your own hands.
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Two Nutty Vids Show Just How Dangerous It Is to Bike in NYC
Sigh . I just love the early days of the election season, when the negative campaign machine is still on standby and candidates put out bright, hope-filled messages that give you a real pride in our unique democratic process and provide a 30-second reminder how truly blessed we are to live in the United States of America. Take it all in and savor the flavor while it lasts, folks.
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First Romney Ad: Anything is possible in America
