Theodore's World

“The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone In the ranks of death you will find him; His father’s sword he hath girded on, And his wild harp slung behind him; “Land of Song!” said the warrior bard, “Tho’ all the world betrays thee, One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard, One faithful harp shall praise thee!” — Verse from the Minstrel Boy
THE MINSTREL BOY
by Thomas Moore
The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone
In the ranks of death you will find him;
His father’s sword he hath girded on,
And his wild harp slung behind him;”
Land of Song!” said the warrior bard,
“Tho’ all the world betrays thee,
One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,
One faithful harp shall praise thee!”
The Minstrel fell! But the foeman’s chain
Could not bring that proud soul under;
The harp he lov’d ne’er spoke again,
For he tore its chords asunder;
And said “No chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and brav’ry!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free,
They shall never sound in slavery!”
An emotionally stirring and inspirational song, The Minstrel Boy was written by Thomas Moore (1779-1852) who set it to the melody of The Moreen, and old Irish aire. It is believed by many that Moore composed the song as a memorial to several of his friends he had met while a student at Trinity College and who had participated in the 1798 rebellion of the United Irishmen. One died in prison, another was wounded, and a third captured and hung. The song originally consisted of two verses. Due to its popularity, the song was a favorite of the many Irishmen who fought during the U.S. Civil War, primarily on the Union side. It was at this time that a third verse was added by unknown authors:
The Minstrel Boy will return we pray
When we hear the news we all will cheer it,
The minstrel boy will return one day,
Torn perhaps in body, not in spirit.
Then may he play on his harp in peace,
In a world such as Heaven intended,
For all the bitterness of man must cease.

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This song plays over the closing credits of the 2001 movie ” Black Hawk Down”. It has appeared, in various recordings, in a surprising number of movies, including ‘The Informer’, ‘Untamed Heart’, ‘Gods & Generals’, ‘Gettysburg’, ‘The Departed’, ‘Rough Riders’, ‘The Man Who Would Be King’, as well as episodes of Star Trek:TNG and Star Trek:DS9.

Just What Did Obama Know About Wright’s Past Sermons?
abc news political blog
In his Friday night cable mea culpas on the incendiary comments made by his spiritual adviser Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., repeatedly said,

“I wasn’t in church during the time that these statement were made. I did not hear such incendiary language myself, personally. Either in conversations with him or when I was in the pew, he always preached the social gospel. … If I had heard them repeated, I would have quit. … If I thought that was the repeated tenor of the church, then I wouldn’t feel comfortable there.”

Obama told CNN that he “didn’t know about all these statements. I knew about one or two of these statements that had been made. One or two statements would not lead me to distance myself from either my church or my pastor. … If I had thought that was the tenor or tone on an ongoing basis, then yes, I don’t think it would have been reflective of my values.”

But according to a New York Times story from a year ago, the Obama campaign dis-invited Wright from delivering a public invocation at Obama’s candidacy announcement.

“Fifteen minutes before Shabbos I get a call from Barack,” Wright told the Times. “One of his members had talked him into uninviting me.”

In a phone call with Wright, Obama cited a Rolling Stone story, “The Radical Roots of Barack Obama,” (the name of which has curiously been changed on the RS website) and told him, according to Wright, “You can get kind of rough in the sermons, so what we’ve decided is that it’s best for you not to be out there in public.”

That story included the following passage:

“The Trinity United Church of Christ, the church that Barack Obama attends in Chicago, is at once vast and unprepossessing, a big structure a couple of blocks from the projects, in the long open sore of a ghetto on the city’s far South Side. The church is a leftover vision from the Sixties of what a black nationalist future might look like. There’s the testifying fervor of the black church, the Afrocentric Bible readings, even the odd dashiki. And there is the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, a sprawling, profane bear of a preacher, a kind of black ministerial institution, with his own radio shows and guest preaching gigs across the country. Wright takes the pulpit here one Sunday and solemnly, sonorously declares that he will recite 10 essential facts about the United States. ‘Fact number one: We’ve got more black men in prison than there are in college,’ he intones. ‘Fact number two: Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run!’ There is thumping applause; Wright has a cadence and power that make Obama sound like John Kerry. Now the reverend begins to preach. ‘We are deeply involved in the importing of drugs, the exporting of guns and the training of professional KILLERS. … We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God. … We conducted radiation experiments on our own people. … We care nothing about human life if the ends justify the means!” The crowd whoops and amens as Wright builds to his climax: ‘And. And. And! GAWD! Has GOT! To be SICK! OF THIS S***!'”

This was more than a year ago.
So … what did Obama know then and what did he just all of a sudden learn?

Wild Thing’s comment……..
If I were to discuss this with a leftie that wants to make excuses for Obama about this preacher of his, I would keep repeating two words to the person. Two key words……. 20 Years!!!

….Thank you Mark for sending this article to me.

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….A friend of mine, her name is Siobhan lives in Kerry, Ireland. She made this for me for today’s St.Patrick’s Day post.

….Some Irish jokes from Lynn, thank you Lynn.
Irish Coffee
An elderly Irish woman goes to the doctor and asks his help to revive her husband’s sex drive …
“What about trying Viagra?” asks the doctor.
“Not a chance,” says Mrs. Murphy. “He won’t even take an aspirin for a headache.”
“No problem.” replies the doctor. “Drop it into his coffee, he won’t even taste it. Try it and then call me in a week to let me know how it worked out.”
A week later, Mrs. Murphy calls the doctor and he inquired as to how things went. “Oh, faith and bejaysus and begorrah it was terrible, just terrible, doctor.”
“What happened?” asks the doctor.
“Well, I did as you advised and slipped it in his coffee. The effect was immediate. He jumped straight up, with a gleam in his eye and with his pants bulging fiercely!!! He swept the cutlery off the table, at the same time ripping my clothes off and then proceeded to make wild, mad, passionate love to me on the tabletop! It was terrible!”
“What was terrible?” said the doctor. “Was the sex not good?”
“Oh no, doctor, the sex was the best I’ve had in 25 years, but I’ll never be able to show me face in Starbucks again.”

Two Irishmen, Patrick Murphy and Shawn O’Brian grew up together and were lifelong friends. But alas, Patrick developed cancer, and was dying. While on his deathbed, Patrick called to his buddy, Shawn, “O’Brian, come ‘ere. I ‘ave a request for ye.” Shawn walked to his friend’s bedside and kneels.
“Shawny ole boy, we’ve been friends all our lives, and now I’m leaving ‘ere. I ‘ave one last request fir ye to do.”
O’Brian burst into tears, “Anything Patrick, anything ye wish. It’s done.”
“Well, under me bed is a box containing a bottle of the finest whiskey in all of Ireland. Bottled the year I was born it was. After I die, and they plant me in the ground, I want you to pour that fine whiskey over me grave so it might soak into me bones and I’ll be able to enjoy it for all eternity.”
O’Brian was overcome by the beauty and in the true Irish spirit of his friend’s request, he asked, “Aye, tis a fine thing you ask of me, and I will pour the whiskey. But, might I strain it through me kidneys first?”

Two Irishmen, Patrick & Michael, were adrift in a lifeboat following a dramatic escape from a burning freighter. While rummaging through the boat’s provisions, Patrick stumbled across an old lamp. Secretly hoping that a genie would appear, he rubbed the lamp vigorously To the amazement of Patrick, a genie came forth. This particular genie, however, stated that he could only deliver one wish, not the standard three. Without giving much thought to the matter, Patrick blurted out, “Make the entire ocean into Guinness Beer!” The genie clapped his hands with a deafening crash, and immediately the entire sea turned into the finest brew ever sampled by mortals. Simultaneously, the genie vanished. Only the gentle lapping of Guinness on the hull broke the stillness as the two men considered their circumstances. Michael looked disgustedly at Patrick whose wish had been granted. After a long, tension-filled moment, he spoke: “Nice going Patrick! Now we’re going to have to pee in the boat!

McQuillan walked into a bar and ordered martini after martini, each time removing the olives and placing them in a jar. When the jar was filled with olives and all the drinks consumed, the Irishman started to leave.
“S’cuse me,” said a customer, who was puzzled over what McQuillan had done. “What was that all about?”
“Nothing,” said the Irishman, “my wife just sent me out for a jar of olives.”
A Texan walks into a pub in Ireland and clears his voice to the crowd of drinkers. He says, “I hear you Irish are a bunch of hard drinkers. I’ll give $500 American dollars to anybody in here who can drink 10 pints of Guinness back-to-back.”
The room is quiet, and no one takes up the Texan’s offer. One man even leaves.
Thirty minutes later the same gentleman who left shows back up and taps the Texan on the shoulder. “Is your bet still good?” asks the Irishman.
The Texan says yes and asks the bartender to line up 10 pints of Guinness. Immediately the Irishman tears into all 10 of the pint glasses, drinking them all back-to-back.
The other pub patrons cheer as the Texan sits in amazement. The Texan gives the Irishman the $500 and says, “If ya don’t mind me askin’, where did you go for that 30 minutes you were gone?”
The Irishman replies, “Oh… I had to go to the pub down the street to see if I could do it first.”

Into a Belfast pub comes Paddy Murphy, looking like he’d just been run over
by a train.
His arm is in a sling, his nose is broken, his face is cut and bruised and
he’s walking with a limp ” What happened to you?” asks Sean, the bartender.
” Jamie O’Conner and me had a fight,” says Paddy.
“That little shit, O’Conner,” says Sean, “He couldn’t do that to you, he
must have had something in his hand.”
” That he did,” says Paddy, “a shovel is what he had, and a terrible
lickin’ he gave me with it.”
“Well,” says Sean, “you should have defended yourself, didn’t you have
something in your hand?”
That I did,” said Paddy.
“Mrs. O’Conner’s breast, and a thing of beauty it was, but useless in a
fight.”

An Irishman who had a little too much to drink is driving home from the city one night and, of course, his car is weaving violently all over the road.
A cop pulls him over.
“So,” says the cop to the driver, where have ya been?”
“Why, I’ve been to the pub of course,” slurs the drunk.
” Well,” says the cop, “it looks like you’ve had quite a few to drink this evening.”
“I did all right,” the drunk says with a smile.
“Did you know,” says the cop, standing straight and folding his arms across his chest, “that a few intersections back, your wife fell out of your car?”
“Oh, thank heavens,” sighs the drunk. “For a minute there, I thought I’d gone deaf.”

I hope you all have a fun St. Patrick’s Day. And to those that are Irish thank you for the music, the humor and the hearts uplifting others in your joy. A toast to William F.Buckley, he was Irish and will be missed.
God bless our Troops and their families. We are all in our thoughts today as everyday.
~ Wild Thing

Here are a couple of songs for today:

Celtic Woman – Danny Boy

This is a perfect rebel song……
luke kelly Rising Of The Moon

The Dubliners – Molly Malone

This is the fight from the movie “The Quiet Man “

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John Adams mini series Website
A miniseries on the life of John Adams and the first 50 years of the United States.
When Hollywood’s movie-makers and docu-dramatists get their hands on American history, accuracy, reality and truth often are tortured beyond recognition. It is by all accounts a high-quality, historically accurate and meticulously faithful adaptation of super-historian David McCullough’s blockbuster 2001 book of the same name.
The seven-part, nine-hour mini-series “John Adams.” Co-executive produced by Tom Hanks, starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney as John and Abigail Adams, it is by all accounts a high-quality, historically accurate and meticulously faithful adaptation of super-historian David McCullough’s blockbuster 2001 book of the same name. McCullough, whose 2005 best-seller “1776” is also in development by HBO, is a two-time winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
As most of you know I am always off of the computer in the evenings so I can spend time with Nick. Then I come back on late to do posts for the next day and reply to comments of the day if I have not done so yet.
Last night Nick told me about a mini-series that might be worth checking out. They aired the first two hours of John Adams and will repeat last nights shows the restof this week. Then air a a chapter each Sunday night till the 7 chapters have been aired.
I have to tell you it was one of the best things I have seen in a very long time. There was no re-writing of history, no lies about what happened. It left both Nick and I with tears in our eyes at the courage, determination and conviction of John Adams, George Washington and others.
If you have HBO it is well worth watching. McCullough’s “John Adams” and “1776” are two of the best books on the American Revolution that I have ever read. And this series did not let me down.
None were cardboard cutouts. All had virtues as well as warts, but what they accomplished, both individually and collectively was amazing. McCullough manages to capture the people and the times.
Interesting note on this. McCullough initially set out to do a book on Jefferson but in the course of his research naturally came across much correspondence from Adams and realized he really didn’t know much about the man. McCullough switched topics and spent nearly a decade reading every letter written to, from, or about Adams in that time. In the end, he abandoned the Jefferson book because he found Adams to be the more interesting of the two men.

(Center) Army Gen. David Petraeus, commanding general, Multi-National Forces-Iraq, reenlists Spec. Marcus Cleary, Pfc. Brandon Tiago, Sgt. Douglas Wagner, Spec. Matthew L. Phillips, Spec. Ryan Werts, and Spec. Demetris Gilbert from 1st Battalion, 23th Infantry Regiment at FOB Warhorse. A total of eight “Tomahawk” Soldiers from Fort Lewis, WA cite the oath of re-enlistment to continue to serve their country.

Petraeus: New Prez Pushing Ill-Advised Withdrawal Could Replace Me
Newsbusters
David Petraeus was diplomatic in his language and careful to honor the primacy of civilian authority over the military. But the commanding general of multi-lateral forces in Iraq has left little doubt that if a new president wanted to withdraw from Iraq faster than would reflect Petraeus’s considered military opinion, his family would be happy to have him home.
ABC’s Bill Weir interviewed the Gen. Petraeus as part of a Good Morning America special today marking the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq. The opening segment focused almost exclusively on the costs of the war. Some producer had apparently calculated that the war has cost 19 times the annual budget of Los Angeles. Who knew? But a subsequent segment did highlight some of the progress that has been made, notably in terms of former insurgents now come over to the multi-lateral side. Then came the Petraeus interview, which ended with this exchange.
BILL WEIR: You serve at the pleasure of the president. If our new president, a year from now, says general, I want out of here in a year. What do you say? Is that even feasible?
PETRAEUS: Well I think you have to look at what the conditions on the ground are at that time, obviously, and then offer your best professional military advice. And we always have the option of allowing them to pick someone else for his or her best professional military advice. As I told congress back in the confirmation process in January of 2007, that if at any time someone wanted someone else’s best professional military advice, I’d be happy to allow that to happen. I am also coming up on three-and-a-half years in Iraq on top of a year in Bosnia, so my family would be, would not be disappointed I don’t think if, you know, Dad were to come home —
WEIR: Sure.
PETRAEUS: For awhile.
VIDEO AT WEBSITE

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Wild Thing’s comment……..
Gen. Petraeus is a class act! God bless this fine man!

Obama’s church accuses media of character assassination
Politico
CHICAGO
The church attended by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) fought back Sunday against mounting criticism of its pastor, accusing the media of character assassination and “crucifixion.”
Otis Moss II, the current pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, used his pulpit to defend his congregation and its past minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., from a wave of controversy stemming from inflammatory statements made by Wright.

“We have listened and watched as the wonderful work of our church has been vilified this week,” he told about 3,000 congregants on Palm Sunday morning. “This week should be special for us because I guess we know a little something about crucifixion.”

The church also released a statement that began: “Nearly three weeks before the 40th commemorative anniversary of the murder of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.’s character is being assassinated in the public sphere because he has preached a social gospel on behalf of oppressed women, children and men in America and around the globe.”

Trinity, an 8,000-member church on the South Side of Chicago, came under intense scrutiny over the past week for statements made by Wright that harshly criticized American society as racist and blamed U.S. leaders for the Sept. 11 attacks.
Moss delivered a fiery sermon Sunday, defending the African-American church’s right to speak out about social issues. He stressed Trinity’s work in its still-impoverished community, mentioning the church’s scholarship programs, drug counseling, SAT prep classes, and missions to Africa.

“Our very sanity is connected to the church. If it hadn’t been for the church we would have lost our minds in the insanity of racism,” he said, in a sermon titled, “Why the Black Church Won’t Shut Up.”

Although Moss never mentioned Obama explicitly, he alluded to his most famous parishioner in a prayer asking God to “do something amazing in this country” and “break down walls that are centuries old.”
Neither Wright or Obama were present Sunday.
Moss’s sermon also echoed the inclusiveness theme that runs though Obama’s stump speeches, highlighting how the church welcomes worshipers of every color, creed, and sexual orientation.
In the statement released to reporters, Moss said called criticism of Wright and the church an “attack on the legacy of the African American Church which led and continues to lead the fight for human rights in America and around the world.”
Obama’s relationship with his church has been a long-running hot button issue for his campaign. But new tapes that circulated of Wright last week reignited a firestorm of criticism.

“God bless America? No. God (expletive) America!” preaches Wright in one particularly fiery sermon circulated in news reports last week.

In a Friday column posted on The Huffington Post, Obama both rejected and condemned Wright’s statements.

“The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation,” wrote Obama.

On Friday, Wright also stepped down from Obama’s African-American Religious Leadership Committee. The 66-year-old pastor is currently in the process of retiring from his position as head pastor of the church.
Obama first distanced himself from Wright early last year, when he withdrew an invitation for the pastor to deliver a public prayer at his announcement for the Democratic nomination.
But in his commentary, Obama made clear his strong ties to his congregation.
Wright built the church from a small flock of less than 100, to a strong pillar of African-American Chicago. The church preaches an Afro-centric theology, describing itself as “Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian.”
Their black heritage is seen throughout the sanctuary. Painted glass windows depict famous scenes from black history, like the founding of the NAACP, and church officials wear bright African print tunics and robes.
In Wright’s farewell sermon, early last month, he did not mention Obama by name but alluded to his biography and stump speech slogan.

“But, if you use your mind, instead of a lost statistic in a hate-filled universe, you just may end up a law student at Harvard University. In fact, if you use your mind, you might end up as the editor of the Harvard Law Review. If you use your mind, instead of [being] a statistic destined for the poor house, you just may end up a statesman destined for the … Yes, we can!” he told cheering congregants.

On Sunday, business went on mostly as usual at Trinity. The 150-person choir rocked, 10 babies were blessed, and congregants prayed.
But Moss was well aware that he was hosting some guests. At least a dozen reporters sat in the pews, taking notes on the services. Moss asked them to be respectful and his congregants not to grant any interviews.
“Some people, looking for their 20 minutes of fame,” Moss teased his flock, “No interviews.”
Here is the full text of the statement, with the headline, “AN ATTACK ON OUR SENIOR PASTOR AND THE HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCH”:

Chicago, Ill. (March 15, 2008) — “Nearly three weeks before the 40th commemorative anniversary of the murder of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.’s character is being assassinated in the public sphere because he has preached a social gospel on behalf of oppressed women, children and men in America and around the globe.
“Dr. Wright has preached 207,792 minutes on Sunday for the past 36 years at Trinity United Church of Christ. This does not include weekday worship services, revivals and preaching engagements across America and around the globe, to ecumenical and interfaith communities. It is an indictment on Dr. Wright’s ministerial legacy to present his global ministry within a 15- or 30-second sound bite,” said the Reverend Otis Moss III, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ.
During the 36-year pastorate of Dr. Wright, Trinity United Church of Christ has grown from 87 to 8,000 members. It is the largest congregation in the United Church of Christ (UCC) denomination.
“It saddens me to see news stories reporting such a caricature of a congregation that has been such a blessing to the UCC’s Wider Church mission,” said the Rev. John H. Thomas, UCC general minister and president, in a released statement. “ … It’s time for us to say ‘No’ to these attacks and declare that we will not allow anyone to undermine or destroy the ministries of any of our congregations in order to serve their own narrow political or ideological ends.”
Trinity United Church of Christ’s ministry is inclusive and global. The following ministries have been developed under Dr. Wright’s ministerial tutelage for social justice: assisted living facilities for senior citizens, day care for children, pastoral care and counseling, health care, ministries for persons living with HIV/AIDS, hospice training, prison ministry, scholarships for thousands of students to attend historically black colleges, youth ministries, tutorial and computer programs, a church library, domestic violence programs and scholarships and fellowships for women and men attending seminary.
Moss added, “The African American Church was born out of the crucible of slavery and the legacy of prophetic African American preachers since slavery has been and continues to heal broken marginalized victims of social and economic injustices. This is an attack on the legacy of the African American Church which led and continues to lead the fight for human rights in America and around the world.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached the Christian tenet, “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Before Dr. King was murdered on April 4, 1968, he preached, “The 11 o’clock hour is the most segregated hour in America.” Forty years later, the African American Church community continues to face bomb threats, death threats, and their ministers’ characters are assassinated because they teach and preach prophetic social concerns for social justice. Sunday is still the most segregated hour in America.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Moss delivered a fiery sermon Sunday, defending the African-American church’s right to speak out about social issues.”
No one is saying you can’t speak out on social issues. Its the America is racist, the white man caused 9-11, hate America, hate white people etc. that is disgusting.
Sorry but playing the victim card will not fly.

Chris Dodd is defending Obama on Fox saying “guilt by association is un-American.”
Chris Dodd, Obama has rejected these statements, we don’t need to dwell on it, we need to move on.
And then Dodd went on and is defending Obama on Fox saying “guilt by association is un-American.

Sen Bradley says the pastor is no big deal, he is retiring anyway.Let’s move on.

Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y, Obama has made his statements about this and it is time ito move on.

Nancy Pelosi : It is time to move on.

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Wild Thing’s comment………
When Obama and his wife repearly heard someone that agreed with them and saying it from the pulpit and they did! Then my feeling is that it gave Michelle Obama even more nerve when she made her comment about “for the first time in her life being proud of being an American.”
This association with Wright is not a casual thing. It is not getting an endorsement from a guy that you’ve had no real history with. It’s twenty years of close association and mutual support. It is bad.
LOOK AT THIS VIDEO:
He praises his preacher and also warns of “Quite Riot among Blacks”.
In June of 2007, Obama attended the 93rd annual Hampton University Ministers’ Conference and it was videotaped. In the first minutes of the video, Obama had this to say:

“I’ve got to give a special shout-out to my pastor, the guy who puts up with me, counsels me, listens to my wife complain about me. He’s a friend, and a great leader. Please everybody give an extraordinary welcome to my pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Jr. …Where he at? -There he is! That’s him right there!”

Repeatedly, he referred to the riots that erupted in Los Angeles after a jury acquitted four police officers of assault charges in the 1991 beating of Rodney King, a black motorist, after a high speed chase. Fifty-five people died and 2,000 were injured in several days of riots in the city’s black neighborhoods.

“Those ‘quiet riots’ that take place every day are born from the same place as the fires and the destruction and the police decked out in riot gear and the deaths,” Obama said. “They happen when a sense of disconnect settles in and hope dissipates. Despair takes hold and young people all across this country look at the way the world is and believe that things are never going to get any better.”

He argued that once a hurricane hits or a jury renders a not guilty verdict, “the frustration is there for all to see.”

Wal-Mart Tweaks Store for Arab-Americans
Wal-Mart Does Homework to Lure Middle Eastern Shoppers in Detroit-Area Store
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP)
Faten Saad knew she wasn’t in a typical Wal-Mart when she saw an end-of-the-aisle display featuring Mamool.
Boxes of the date-filled, whole wheat cookie from the Middle East welcomed the 21-year-old Lebanon native into the international aisle of the new Wal-Mart store in this Detroit suburb known as the capital of Arab America. Aisle 3, which also features Eastern European and Hispanic food, represents many of the 550 items geared toward Arab-American shoppers in the store that opened last week.
It might be statistically tiny in a store with more than 150,000 items, but it’s symbolically huge for the world’s largest retailer as it seeks to change from a cost-is-everything monolith to one that customizes its stores to meet neighborhood needs.
Managers say they seek peace with the neighborhood’s merchants — and vow not to undercut them on Middle Eastern specialties. But some experts and observers say Wal-Mart’s well-planned launch in Dearborn is bound to shake up the buying and selling in a community that has long supported its own. Southeastern Michigan is home to an estimated 300,000 people who trace their roots to the Middle East.

“I have not heard of anything this tailored. It’s inspiring to me as a shareholder,” said Patricia Edwards, portfolio manager and retail analyst in the Seattle office of San Francisco-based investment manager Wentworth, Hauser & Violich, which has 537,000 shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. stock.

The Dearborn store also sells Arabic music and plans to offer Muslim greeting cards. But the modifications go beyond merchandise: It has 35 employees who speak Arabic — noted in Arabic script on their badges. The store also has hired a local Arab-American educator to teach the staff cultural sensitivity.

It’s clear as soon as shoppers walk in that this isn’t a typical Wal-Mart. Inside the grocery entrance are 22 produce tables filled with squash, beans and cucumbers common in Middle Eastern dishes. The section also features grains and vegetables popular among blacks and Hispanics, two other demographics with sizable populations living nearby.

“It’s like a farmers’ market,” said Bill Bartell, the store manager who developed the international aisle with Tut’s International Export & Import Co., the Dearborn-based distributor that handles the sourcing for many of the store’s Middle-Eastern items.

“Because we did all this due diligence prior to moving into this area, we came to realize our clients really kind of liked this atmosphere, and they liked the variety that we can give them.”

More than a year of studying the market and meeting with community groups was put to the test last fall, when Bartell and a Tut’s executive began to work on what would become aisle 3. They set up an 80-foot-long counter in an empty warehouse and hauled out products — date-filled cookies, grape leaves, vacuum-packed olives, chick peas and a 97-ounce jar of olive oil imported from the Middle East. The men spent two weeks working on a way to present a new line of products.
As he recalled their effort, a few women in hijabs — traditional Muslim head scarves — inspected produce. One spoke in Arabic to Mohamad Atwi, the developmental store manager.
Bartell said the store aims to offer convenience — not a comprehensive selection of specialty products.

“It’s very important that we have the variety of the Muslim, Hispanic items, local items, at a comparable price,” he said. “If you go over to Warren (Avenue) where there’s other … small retailers, they have a variety that goes on and on and on.”

At the Super Greenland Market, which Wal-Mart studied to come up with its new store, customers can find one whole side of an aisle with more than 20 different varieties of chick peas and fava beans.

“We have vendors that extend from here to the end of the planet,” said Jamal Koussan, owner of Super Greenland. “We import directly. That puts us at a big advantage.”

He said Wal-Mart doesn’t concern him, but he is watching it. He tracked his store’s sales on Wal-Mart’s opening day and saw no dip.

“I’m not saying they will have no effect on our business but nothing that will threaten us, that will threaten our existence or threaten our bottom line,” he said.

Still, the lure of everything under one roof could prove stronger than product depth for some who frequent Middle Eastern shops.
Saad, the college student who emigrated from Lebanon in 1990, marveled while shopping at Wal-Mart and plans to return.

“I don’t think I would come all the way here just to get those things, but I’d pick them up on the way if I was already here doing my shopping,” she said.

Warren David, a public relations and marketing specialist focusing on Arab-American and Islamic markets, called Wal-Mart’s arrival bittersweet. He’s happy for the steps it’s taken, but “at the same time I can’t help but think it’s going to have some kind of impact on the local business community.”

The Dearborn Wal-Mart is part of a two-year-old corporate effort to help sales by tailoring stores to local demographics, said spokeswoman Amy Wyatt-Moore at Wal-Mart’s Bentonville, Ark., headquarters. It targeted six groups: Hispanics, blacks, empty-nesters/boomers, affluent, suburban and rural shoppers.
Dearborn’s store is designed to reflect its neighborhood, not serve as a national template for Arab-American shoppers, she said.

“We realize there are more than those six broad demographic groups around the country. In some places the result will be a unique store,” Wyatt-Moore said.

Edwards, the analyst, says the Dearborn store is a good move for a company that historically has been better at the science, rather than the art, of retail.

“Wal-Mart is a little kinder and gentler than they were 10 years ago. They are fierce competitors … but I don’t think they’re trying to do a scorched earth policy,” she said.

“The trick for these local merchants is … they’re going to have to change how they operate in the face of this changing competition.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
So what will it be, Suicide Belts On Aisle 3? When Islamic Jihadists start beheading American citizens on our own soil, odds are the terrorists will do it with Chinese knives purchased at Wall Mart.

Diners have sweet surprise for soldier, girlfriend
The Seattle Times
When Chris Yanez wanted to take his girlfriend out for a special dinner to celebrate their one-year anniversary, he chose the venerable restaurant Canlis, perched high above Lake Union.
Yanez, a soldier returning from Iraq, knew the dinner would be pricey. What he didn’t expect is that it would be free. And he also didn’t expect that when he walked out, the place would be in tears.
Before going to dinner Wednesday night, Yanez, a reservist who spent a year in Iraq as a machine-gunner, put on his green dress Army uniform, the one he was proud to wear. With his girlfriend, Liz Coleman, on his arm, he walked into Canlis, where owner Mark Canlis found the couple a special table with a panoramic view of the lake and the city.
“I was a captain in the Air Force, so I have a soft spot there,” Canlis said.
A few minutes later, a man at a nearby table — who wanted to remain anonymous — walked up to the restaurant owner. “I was noticing the young soldier and saw them looking at the menu,” he told Canlis. “I know he was looking at prices and I know this is a special thing, so I would like to take care of part of their bill.”
Then another family, the Greenbergs, said they, too, wanted to help pay for the meal. By the end of the night several patrons had, unknown to Yanez, offered to pay for the young couple’s meal. With Canlis also sharing the costs, the $150 bill evaporated.
Yanez and Coleman were sharing a peach-cobbler dessert when Canlis walked up with a piece of molten chocolate lava cake.
“There’s folks in this restaurant who don’t think you should have to share a dessert,” Canlis told the couple. “And they don’t think you should pay the bill.”
Coleman burst into in tears. Tana Greenberg, whose family helped pay the bill, said she, like several other patrons, was wiping her eyes.
“This brought out the patriotism in all of us,” she said. “It was just the right thing to do. We’re sending our kids over there and they’re dying to uphold our beliefs. We just said this couple should not have to buy their meals. It was showing our belief in the uniform and what it stands for.”
Yanez, 20, a student from Renton, said he was stunned by the gesture.
“I knew Canlis was expensive, but this is a one-of-a-kind restaurant and this was a special occasion,” he said. “It was the greatest thing ever. It makes me feel like people appreciate the troops and they care about people in the community. I was in shock and my girlfriend started to cry. It was really emotional.”
Canlis said his grandfather, who spent 39 years in the Marines, once told him that he should never let a soldier in uniform into his restaurant without being taken care of.
He said it’s not the first time in recent months that returning troops have been honored at Canlis. Several months ago a man came in with his wife to treat her to a special dinner to make up for the two years he had spent in Iraq. The entire Canlis crew decided to pay the bill.
“That’s what makes it fun for us,” Canlis said, “being able to take care of people in a special way.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
I love stories like this sooooo much! People like this are why America has a chance to survive the left and the enemy within. God bless Christopher Yanez and his girlfrieind and all those that support our troops.

Demonstrators face off outside Tacoma mall
King5.com
TACOMA, Wash.
About 150 people — those opposed to the Iraq War and those supporting it — gathered noisily outside a Tacoma Mall office building on Saturday.
A group known as World Can’t Wait had organized an anti-war protest to mark the coming fifth anniversary of the Iraq War. But long before their protest was scheduled to begin, counter-protesters arrived.
The counter-protesters surrounded an office building that houses military recruiting offices, which anti-war protesters had said they planned to “shut down.” They shouted “God bless our troops” and waved American flags.
As the two groups faced off, dozens of police officers, including some in full SWAT gear, served as a buffer zone. They formed a human line to divide the groups.
But there were no arrests or injuries.

The demonstrators shouted insults at each other and each side attempted to out-yell the other side.

“They don’t appreciate our soldiers and what they do for our freedom,” said Cheryl Ames.

“I am on this side because I do not agree with the way the war started,” said Tommie CeBrun.

Protesters held up photos of Iraq detainees tortured at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghad. They also laid out 281 pairs of shoes on the sidewalk in front of the building, including 81 pairs of combat boots that carried tags bearing the name of a U.S. military member killed in Iraq who listed Washington as his or her home state.
The protesters said the 200 pairs of shoes represented the 200-to-1 ratio of the Iraqi-to-American death rate. But the act was met with a volley of insults.
Warnings for military families to avoid the mall had been circulating for days, since some recent protests, including one at the Port of Olympia, have seen increased violence.
Meghan Tellez and her children planned to avoid the mall. Her husband is in the Navy Reserve.

“I love that mall, but I don’t want my children around that,” she said.

From KOMO TV
Dozens of police officers, including some in full SWAT gear, served as a buffer zone separating the two sides.
The protest targeted the office building because of U.S. military recruiting stations located in it and because of its proximity to Fort Lewis, wihch has sent thousands of troops to fight in Iraq.
Protesters held anti-war signs and banners, while counter-protesters waved American flags.
Shelley Weber, a counter-protester who supports the military, wasn’t persuaded.
“We’re not going to put up with this (anti-war protest),” she said. “We see what they’re doing around the nation in recruiters’ offices down in Berkeley, New York and elsewhere. It’s a disgrace to our military.”
There is a VIDEO HERE YOU CAN WATCH

And this was from a one of the comments sent in about what happened in Tacoma:

” I was with the Support the Troops people today. What a pathetic turnout the anti-military protesters had. They at best had 50 people, all college age punks, probably from Evergreen State Col the most liberal campus on the west coast. The Support the Troops side had at least 3 or 4 times their number, including about 25-30 of the coolest leather clad bikers I ever saw.
At The mall it was business as usual, full of shoppers stimulating the economy with their hard earned dollars. If the protesters goal was to interrupt commerce, they failed miserably. They also failed to shut down the recruiting office. The office they were in front of was closed anyway. The Army recruiter around the corner of the building was open for business, and even gave out donuts and coffee for the Support the Troops people. And for the military being ordered to stay away? No Way! There were many many young men walking around with military haircuts, many of who walked over and thanked us for what we were doing, several even staying with us. Many more of their families honked as they drove by our line of flags. And the Police did a fantastic job keeping the ant-war goons confined to a small area near the recruiting station, making sure they could not block access to the opened office or cross onto Mall property.
My message the anti-military punks is this: Tacoma is a Military town, and damn proud of them. Go protest some place else you losers.
Be sure to watch the King5 video on the link. The news did a fair job, except when they said there was no real difference between the two groups – That was BS. Few of them looked like normal decent people. Many went for the anarchist look, with scarves over their faces and black hooded sweater shirts, that sort of thing.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
I wish I could fly acorss our country and go to every pro troops rally there is. It would be impossible for many reasons but in my heart I sure would love to show support by being there.
It is so wonderful how so many showed up to show support for our military.