"Mida k'neged Mida"

6 Shevat 5772

Or "what goes around comes around."

I was looking at Drudge and came across this story:

U.S. Drones Patrolling Its Skies Provoke Outrage in Iraq

BAGHDAD — A month after the last American troops left Iraq, the State Department is operating a small fleet of surveillance drones here to help protect the United States Embassy and consulates, as well as American personnel. Some senior Iraqi officials expressed outrage at the program, saying the unarmed aircraft are an affront to Iraqi sovereignty.

The program was described by the department’s diplomatic security branch in a little-noticed section of its most recent annual report and outlined in broad terms in a two-page online prospectus for companies that might bid on a contract to manage the program. It foreshadows a possible expansion of unmanned drone operations into the diplomatic arm of the American government; until now they have been mainly the province of the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency.

American contractors say they have been told that the State Department is considering to field unarmed surveillance drones in the future in a handful of other potentially “high-threat” countries,....

When you are the only "superpower," you can do whatever you want. You don't have to respect anyone else's "rights," cuz, really now, if they don't like it, what are they realistically gonna do about it?

Then I saw this headline story over at INN:

US Fears for Lives of Citizens Locked in Egypt
The US worries of the fate of its citizens barred by the Cairo regime from leaving Egypt, which has criticized their lobbying activities.
...At least 10 American citizens were employed by three US-based firms that lobbied the American government on behalf of Egypt but which abruptly canceled their contracts with Egypt last Friday, following deteriorating relations with the regime in Cairo. It had criticized the lobbyists for having defended the government of Hosni Mubarak in its first raids on protesters last year.

One of the lobbyists who cannot get out of Egypt is Sam LaHood, the son of President Barack Obama’s Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood. The three lobbying firms are run by former Congressmen and a powerful lobby group with close ties to the Obama administration.

Like a bull in a china shop, the US runs all over the world sticking its nose into everyone else's business instead of tending to its own. And then they express surprise at why they receive a less than enthusiastic welcome.

It's an evangelistic nation that is so convinced of the righteousness of its own philosophy, it is trying to force it on the rest of the world. They are busy as little bees trying to spread their empty cultural "values." There's an oxymoron for you.

And speaking of bees, I'll let them illustrate the point:

The Honey You Should Never Buy - It May Be Tainted with Lead and Antibiotics

...As usual, at the core of the problem is big industry, which is blinded by greed and enabled by a corrupt governmental system that permits the profit-driven sacrifice of our environment. Unfortunately, this motivation reflects an extreme shortsightedness about the long-term survival of the human race, as well as of our planet. Not only are commercial agricultural practices harming honeybee colonies, but your own health is being compromised by deceptive marketing practices about the "honey" you buy, some of which isn't really honey at all, despite what it says on the label.

This is the result of unrestrained capitalism. Everyone and everything is mowed down in the drive for the Almighty Dollar. "Use it up and throw it away" - there's a "value" for you. But, it gets worse...

..Pure, natural, unfiltered raw honey has an abundance of medicinal and nutritional uses.... [But] more than 75 percent of the honey on American supermarket shelves may be ultra-processed—to the point that all inherent medicinal properties are completely gone—and then smuggled into the country by the barrel drum. Nearly all of this fake honey is made in China. Some of these brokers will even create bogus country of origin papers. All 60 jars of "honey" tested by FSN came back negative for pollen (including Sue Bee and Winnie the Pooh brands), which is a clear sign of ultra-processing.

...Millions of pounds of honey that have been banned by the European Union are being smuggled into the U.S. from China. Much of this honey is tainted with illegal antibiotics, including chloramphenicol, which can cause DNA damage and cancer, and heavy metals like lead. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that any product that's been ultra-filtered and no longer contains pollen IS NOT honey.

(Hat tip to Rav Yehuda for the bee story)

"Mida k'neged mida" the "honey" that Americans are consuming is as empty of real "value" as their empty culture and political process that they insist on foisting upon the rest of the world.

In his work The Mitzvah Candle, the Maharal wrote:

...The fourth empire [Rome, whose successor is America today] ...is not symbolized by an animal whose sign of cleanliness is hidden, for on the contrary, the split hoofs of the swine are openly revealed. This indicates that the relationship that this empire has with the Holy One, is not more than surface deep. That is, it pretentiously flaunts sings of purity, while truthfully, on the inside, it is not pure. Pretending to be pure is the closest it comes to the Holy One and to truth - by displaying their hoofs which externally and superficially indicate purity, while this is not really so.

...the fourth empire was a universal synthesis, alone equivalent to the others. ...Because of its universality, this empire is motivated to be everything, not allowing anyone else to co-exist along with it.

...The fourth empire...because it considers itself everything (a characteristic that derives from its universality) desires that no one else should exist. It therefore destroys all others, and is occupied with destruction only. Thus, this beast [in Daniel's vision, ch. 7] had teeth of iron, a destructive material.... Indeed, the basic trait of this empire was destructiveness, as it burned and destroyed the Temple of our God, an unparalleled act of destruction. The first empire also destroyed the Temple. However, there is a difference; it did so only to dominate Yisrael, the destruction not being an end in itself. For this empire desired elevation above all others.... However, the fourth empire - where Yisrael was already in their hands; ...was intent on destruction and the slight rebellion merely provided the excuse.

Its destructiveness derives from the non-existence that cleaves to it, since the fourth empire is the end and finish of the world empires; their deterioration and ruuin. The fourth empire is associated with void, and he who is associated with nothingness and void has the power to transmit it to another. Thus, the fourth empire derives the capacity to destroy and demolish all that is.

...non-existence does not cleave to the original empires, for they each draw an additional empire after themselves. Complete void and non-existence adheres only to the fourth empire; instead of leading to another empire, it leads to void.

So, is there any good news in all of this? I thought you'd never ask. The Maharal continues...

...Void, however, is what leads to existential renewal, as is well-known, and therefore, the vacuum and non-existence created by this empire will lead to the re-existence of Yisrael. The fourth empire is therefore called a swine - Hazer, for it will return - TaHazor, royal power to Yisrael. That is to say, the non-existence which adheres to the fourth empire will bring existence to the kingdom of Yisrael.

As the L-rd told the Prophet Yirmiyahu, ch. 29.11-14...

For I know the thoughts that I think about you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. And you shall call Me and go and pray to Me, and I will hearken to you. And you will seek Me and find Me for you will seek Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will return your captivity and gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will return you to the place whence I exiled you.