Oscar-nominated actor and director Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band perform in the Pentagon courtyard at the 4th Annual America Supports you concert as part of Military Appreciation Month, May 16, 2008. Defense Dept. photo by Tech. Sgt. Jerry Morrison

Breakfast in Israel, and an interview with the editor of the book: Why We Left Islam.

My phone rang twice before I answered it. The “Caller ID” said unknown.

The voice on the other end seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it. It sounded like a voice I had known my entire life, yet was somehow changed, distant, filled with new emotion.

Then it clicked in my brain. The person on the other end of the line was my mother — calling me from Israel just before her and dad go downstairs for breakfast.

Ten hours ahead, mom and dad were preparing for breakfast as I prepared for bed. Both voices were enthusiastic. Their trip to Israel is more than just a sight-seeing tour. As Christians, it is like going home. Mom described their first days in Jerusalem as emotional, spritual, and giving her a feeling of fullness.

Two weeks is the length of their tour. They are in Israel at the same time as President Bush, and informed me that Condi Rice is staying in the same hotel that they are. Mom recalled and told me about an amazing conversation with Jon Voight in the elevator of their hotel, and the powerful experience of praying at the wailing wall, with her hand pressed against it.

Mom and Dad also told me about meeting Israeli soldiers stationed near the Syrian border. Mom says she got a picture with one of the Israeli Defense Force troops, and will get it to me when she can.

In addition to their time in Israel, they are going to spend some time in the country of Jordan as well.

I have been many places, but Israel is not one I have visited yet. My mom urges me to go. She says, “I am unable to convey how wonderful it has been to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, to see the places He preached. You need to make this trip, Doug. You need to see Old Jerusalem before you see New Jerusalem in the near future. For a Christian, coming to Jerusalem is like coming home.”

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Joel Richardson is the editor of the book, Why We Left Islam. The controversial new book is the first in America to feature an image of Muhammad on the cover and tell nearly two dozen horror stories of former Muslims. Tonight, Joel Richardson was my guest on Political Pistachio Radio . . . Listen to the archive HERE.

The Right To Know (Ultrasounds and Abortion)

Abortion is hardly a cut and dry issue. Pro-Life advocates are motivated by the belief that human personhood begins at conception, thus, an abortion murders a baby. Some Pro-lifers accept termination of a pregnancy in special cases, others do not. Pro-Abortion activists more often than not believe that human life becomes a “person” some time after conception, though few agree on the exact moment. Some supporters of abortion will tell you that life begins when the embryo’s heart begins beating, or when the fetus begins to look human, or when the child becomes sentient, or it has half emerged from the mother’s body, or is born, or is severed from its mother and is able to function independently. Therefore, those who support legalized abortion believe a woman should have the choice to abort the pregnancy prior to that time the fetus becomes a person. There is no single pro-life position and no single pro-abortion position. In fact, the only thing the two groups may have in common is the desire to see a reduction in the number of abortions performed.

To achieve a reduction in the number of abortions, many pro-lifers promote supporting services for women in crisis pregnancies. In addition to this, many pro-lifers also seek legal restrictions on abortion access. The group that calls themselves pro-choice most often states that a reduction of abortions performed can be achieved by promoting better comprehensive birth control education in schools, to women who are sexually active, and greater access to contraceptives.

Lost in the debate between the “Right To Life” and the “Right To Choose” is “The Right To Know.” After all, both groups agree that better education and learning as much knowledge as is available regarding abortion can assist a woman in better determining what she wants to do when faced with this very significant decision.

Chris Slattery, founder of Expectant Mother Care (also known as EMC Frontline Pregnancy Centers), has provided a new opportunity for knowledge in this debate. He believes a woman must be armed with all of the knowledge available before choosing to abort a pregnancy, including seeing an ultrasound of their unborn babies.

Chris Slattery joins Political Pistachio Radio tonight to discuss this seldom talked about opportunity that most abortion clinics refuse to discuss. Abortion clinics would prefer not to show ultrasounds to expectant mothers who have decided to put their unborn child through the physically painful procedure of abortion, and themselves through the emotionally painful procedure. But why would abortion clinics wish not to give women this additional opportunity for knowledge? The reason is simple, because seeing the ultrasounds changes the minds of previously abortion-minded women. What loving mother could possibly look her baby in the eyes and go through with the procedure of abortion that will affect her for a lifetime?

Join us tonight at 10:00 Eastern, or catch the archive later. Listeners are urged to call in and participate! Visit Political Pistachio Radio tonight for this powerful guest.

[Little late getting this up]

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., May 13, 2008 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates saluted North American Aerospace Defense Command’s role as the guardian of North American skies at the organization’s 50th anniversary observance here last night.

NORAD, a U.S.-Canadian military organization, was established May 12, 1958, to defend North America from air and space threats.

“Both of our nations are dedicated to protecting North Americans from air attacks, and this institution remains a vital part of the defense of the continent,” Gates said during his address at NORAD’s Golden Jubilee Ball. (Continue reading…)

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One of the most God-awful events of World War II was the Bataan Death March which took place in the Philippines in 1942. 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war were captured by the Japanese and forcibly transferred to prison camps.

Our men and the other prisoners suffered brutal physical abuse. Beheadings, cut throats and shootings were the more common and merciful actions — compared to bayonet stabbings, rapes, guttings (disembowelments), rifle butt beatings and no food or water while kept continually marching for nearly a week in tropical heat.

Japanese trucks drove over anyone who fell. Riders in vehicles would casually stick out a rifle bayonet and cut a string of throats in the lines of men marching alongside the road.

No one knows for sure how many men died on that road to hell. Some historians estimate between six and eleven thousand men died at the hands of their Japanese captors.

Master Sgt. Frank Lovato, 87, was one of the lucky ones who survived. His son, 60-year-old Francisco Lovato, wrote a book about his father’s ordeal. It’s titled, appropriately – “Survivor: An American Soldier’s heartfelt story of intense fighting, surrender and survival from Bataan to Nagasaki”.

Tonight Francisco joins us to talk about his father’s ordeal and the 4-day trek he himself made last week to commemorate his father’s death march.

We get underway TONIGHT at 9p ET on my nightly radio program. Get to it here.

*****

Tonight’s show is going to be awesome! We’ve got nationally syndicated columnist and radio talk show host Armstrong Williams coming on in the first hour to talk politics and culture. He’s not shy about speaking his mind, and with Frank and Shane egging him on, expect to get a dose of pure passion!

In the second hour we’re interviewing Ellen R. Sheeley, author of the book ‘Reclaiming Honor in Jordan.’ She has spent years studying the curse of honor killings in Jordan, and tonight she’s going to talk about what inspires such depravity. Can it be stopped? What does it say about a culture that sees no shame in murder? Would democracy mean an end to honor killings, or increase them? Listen tonight to find answers!

Show starts at 6pm Pacific time, the call in number to join the conversation is (646) 652-4598

Richard of Hip Hop Republican, and Alfonzo, the guy in the Black and White on the Grey Matters join us at 11AM today.

Chat’s open at 10:45AM and the call-in number is 646 652-2639. Join us!