Are you or have you ever been a supporter of Israel?

The IRS is looking into a group that calls itself Z Street, which was created to counter J Street. For those of you goyum not familiar with Jewish lobbying groups, J Street is the liberal jewish organization that has a less than stellar record of supporting Israel. Well, to counter this Z Street was created. It is a pro-Israel lobbying group. Not in that they are lobbying at the behest of Israel, just simply that they are pretty openly pro-Israel and would like Americans and our politicians to be so as well.

Well the IRS has sent a letter which asked:

“Does your organization support the existence of the land of Israel?” IRS agent Tracy Dornette wrote the organization, according to this week’s court filing, as part of its consideration of the organizations application for tax exempt status. “Describe your organization’s religious belief system toward the land of Israel.

Fair enough right? There are rules and guidelines to being tax exempt in America and it is the IRS's duty to make sure groups comply with those guidelines. However, it is Z Street's claim that I find disturbing.

Z Street claims that a different IRS agent reviewing its application for tax exempt status said the agency is “carefully scrutinizing organizations that are in any way connected with Israel” and that “a special unit” is determining whether its activities “contradict the Administration’s public policies.”

Z Street could be lying. It would probably be in their interest to do so. However, I find myself growing cynical with this administration, especially on its policies toward Israel.

What do you think? Am I too cynical, or do you also believe that the Obama administration would use the IRS to target lobbying groups who counter the Administration's foreign policy?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:13 AM | Comments (67)
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Is Your New Neighbor A Squatter? Now California law allows an individual to acquire title to a property if they've fenced it, openly occupied it without permission and paid property taxes continuously for five years under a provision called adverse possession. However, to qualify for adverse possession, one would have to show good faith and I don't think that's the issue here. Is this just the tip of the iceberg for all those sitting, foreclosed homes and what should be done about it?

Heh. Even e-How has posted a guide on How to squat in Abandoned Property.

Update: Does this count towards politicians claiming higher home ownership?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:54 AM | Comments (70)
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Maggie Thatcher gets quoted a lot these days: "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." And even as the current administration tries to deny that reality, Europe is confronting it head-on:

Credit default swaps (CDS) measuring risk on German, French and Dutch bonds have surged over recent days, rising significantly above the levels of non-EMU states in Scandinavia.
"Germany cannot keep paying for bail-outs without going bankrupt itself," said Professor Wilhelm Hankel, of Frankfurt University. "This is frightening people. You cannot find a bank safe deposit box in Germany because every single one has already been taken and stuffed with gold and silver. It is like an underground Switzerland within our borders. People have terrible memories of 1948 and 1923 when they lost their savings."

Recognize that Germany is the most fiscally sound country in the EU -- if Germany gets shaky, all bets are off.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:49 AM | Comments (26)
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Sarah Palin's Thanksgiving Day Message

My fellow Americans in all 57 states, the time has changed for come. With our country founded more than 20 centuries ago, we have much to celebrate – from the FBI’s 100 days to the reforms that bring greater inefficiencies to our health care system. We know that countries like Europe are willing to stand with us in our fight to halt the rise of privacy, and Israel is a strong friend of Israel’s. And let’s face it, everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma and they end up taking up a hospital bed. It costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early, and they got some treatment, and ah, a breathalyzer, or an inhalator. I mean, not a breathalyzer, ah, I don’t know what the term is in Austrian for that…

Despite my occassional criticism of her this why I love Sarah. Let the press beat up on you a little then stuff it back in their faces.

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What would Thanksgiving be without a litany of disasters? There's something about the holidays – a particular alignment of the stars, perhaps – that makes them especially prone to oversights and errors in planning, preparation, execution, and presentation.

Here at Casa de Cthulhu, the gf and I are having a traditional meal – roast turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, spiced carrots, pumpkin pie. Our original target time for the feast was 4:00....which is now less than an hour away. True to form, we've already run into some difficulties.... more...

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EditorÂ’s Note - This article was prepared by Acton Wrightway III and originally appeared in AOSHQ's Quarterly Duodenum Digest on January 13, 2010.

Mr. Wrightway has been traveling extensively the past several months and has been difficult to reach. We were able to talk with him briefly last week concerning the production status of the Simulcast Overlay System (SOS). Mr. Wrightway is quite pleased with the results of the pilot program and test market feed-back and believes the SOS will be available in the near term.

However, the marketing timeline for the system has been greatly reduced on account Mr. Obama will likely lose re-election. Despite the changes in the system’s marketing timeline, Mr. Wrightway is ever the optimist and is already working on a new venture – a board game that allows players to keep track of upcoming indictments of Team Obama. The working title of the game is, ‘Obama Democrata Indictorama.’

We have been told the game pieces number in the hundreds and that there is even a special Bill Clinton, ‘Is what it Is’ Joker card. No release date has been set but the President has been given a prototype in advance. When asked if he thought such a game would be awkward for the president, Mr. Wrightway noted the president is a mock-up specialist with an aptitude for games.

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Posted by: Open Blogger at 12:20 PM | Comments (41)
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Most of us are surrounded by friends and family this day. But for so many American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, this is another day separated from those they love. Let's take a moment and remember to give thanks to them for all they do.

The Army has long tried to make sure that troops deployed to war have at least a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving.

Sometimes, it doesn't work out as well as we might all like...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:21 AM | Comments (26)
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I was literally shocked when watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade when lo and behold, there is our fearless ewok, Ace, right there on the screen! Way to spread the Thanksgiving Cheer!

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Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:28 AM | Comments (192)
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Just a reminder to get your picks in in the Moron Pick 'Em leagues at least 5 min prior to kickoff.

Today's games are:
12:30 EST Patriots vs Lions on CBS (Bellicheat win easy)
16:15 EST Saints vs Cowboys on FOX (Cowgirls lose easy)
20:20 EST Bengals vs Jets on NFL CH (Bungles should just go on strike)

Sorry DiT, gotta do it. The greatest Thanksgiving Day football play, evah. Now with bonus bonehead Super Bowl play.

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Posted by: Open Blogger at 06:50 AM | Comments (68)
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