The Baumgarten Report

Bergman

In the years since 9/11, the U.S. war on terror has focused on al-Qaeda, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Coverage of Iran has been devoted almost exclusively to its nuclear ambitions. Yet, as Ronen Bergman’s groundbreaking reporting in his new book, The Secret War With Iran, shows, for 30 years, Iran has been the world’s leading sponsor of global terror and stands as the most formidable sponsor of terror in the world today. Bergman will be my guest on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com tomorrow, Wednesday September 17.

Bergman, one of Israel’s top investigative reporters, gained unprecedented access to extra-ordinary sources from top to bottom in the Mossad and intelligence agencies around the world. Based on over 10 years of research and more than three hundred exclusive interviews with key intelligence figures, he reveals that Iranian terrorist masterminds have crisscrossed the globe, conducting bombings and assassinations with impunity — even renting apartments and planning bombing attacks in New York City.

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Murdered sisters

Honor killings.

We hear about them in the Middle East. But they don’t happen in places like the United States. Or do they?

The deaths of two girls in Texas, allegedly at the hands of their own father, may indeed have been a case of honor killings.

That, at least, is the contention of their great-aunt, Gail Gartrell, who will be my guest tomorrow (Tuesday) on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com.

Police are searching for the father of 16-year-old Amina and 18-year-old Sarah Yaser Said, who were murdered in January.

Gartrell maintains that the father, 50-year-old Yaser Abdel Said, who was born in Egypt, had been abusing the girls. And that their deaths were the result of a terrible Middle East custom that migrated with him to the United States.

And she believes some children of other parents from the Middle East are in danger of suffering the same fate.

To talk to Gartrell at 5 PM New York time tomorrow CLICK HERE. There is no charge.

Paltalk is the largest multimedia interactive program on the Internet with more than 4 million unique users.

News Talk Online is also syndicated by CRN Digital Talk Radio to an additional 12 million households.

Get Paltalk programming updates by subscribing to our Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/paltalk. The Twitter feed also appears on this blog.

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Houston damage

Today’s News Talk Online on Paltalk.com focused on the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, with reports from Paltalkers directly from the affected area, and the political disaster facing Barack Obama as he slips in the polls.

Concern was expressed for those still missing in the wake of Ike, especially people in Galveston whose homes were literally swept away. Following News Talk Online, the last two hours of the fund raising effort for the American Red Cross Disaster Service were completed on Paltalk. Thanks go out to those who kept the room open and the donations flowing for four days straight.

There then followed heated discussion about the stalling of Obama’s campaign ever since the announcement of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate. There seems to be a feeling among many Republicans that it’s sexist to attack Palin and that Obama is personally responsible for the imprudent comments that were made about certain choices the Palin family is making. To repeat, and for the record, discourse over the decisions made by Palin’s daughter are off limits on News Talk Online. It’s a private family issue and not germane to the political debate.

But that doesn’t mean debate over Palin’s qualifications, record and vision should be sidestepped. These are all legitimate avenues of pursuit.

That being said, the obsession with Sarah Palin needs to stop. Voters should, of course, vet the vice-presidential candidates. But it lately seems that Obama is running against Palin, not McCain. It’s time to refocus the campaign on the men who lead their respective tickets.

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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oneeighteen/2861403044/

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