Granma International, English Edition: "Rahm Emanuel
WHAT a strange surname! It appears Spanish, easy to pronounce, but it’s not. Never in my life have I heard or read about any student or compatriot with that name, among tens of thousands. Where does it come from? I wondered. Over and over, the name came to mind of the brilliant German thinker, Immanuel Kant, who together with Aristotle and Plato, formed a trio of philosophers that have most influenced human thinking. Doubtless he was not very far, as I discovered later, from the philosophy of the man closest to the current president of the United States, Barack Obama."
Strange, rambling essay by Fidel. By the way, he uses it to falsely claim that Rahm once joined the Israeli army. Has the old rebel entered dotage?
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As the global economic crisis deepens, tempers around the world are getting shorter. French and British trade unions are organizing strikes, Putin is sending troops on to the streets and Beijing is trying to buy itself calm. By SPIEGEL Staff more...
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Politics, Political News - Politico.com: "The 100-day sprint
Obama warns GOP he's no pushover
By JONATHAN MARTIN | 2/10/09 4:19 AM"
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As for yesterday's comic interlude, we had Netanyahu's joint appearance with the national orphan, Yitzhak Rabin's son Yuval. In a stumbling speech, Rabin announced that Netanyahu had "promised" to form a unity government. He then muttered under his breath that he himself intended to vote Labor. But that did not matter: Netanyahu had already gotten the picture he wanted.
What Rabin's parents would have thought of their son's performance is better left to the imagination |
 |
| Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef voting in Jerusalem on election day Tuesday. (Jini) |
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My Way News - Huge study boosts disappointment on multivitamins: "CHICAGO (AP) - The largest study ever of multivitamin use in older women found the pills did nothing to prevent common cancers or heart disease. The eight-year study in 161,808 postmenopausal women echoes recent disappointing vitamin studies in men.
Millions of Americans spend billions of dollars on vitamins to boost their health. Research has focused on cancer and heart disease in particular because of evidence that diets full of vitamin-rich foods may protect against those illnesses. But that evidence doesn't necessarily mean pills are a good substitute.
The study's lead author, researcher Marian Neuhouser of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, offered this advice: 'Get nutrients from food. Whole foods are better than dietary supplements,' Neuhouser said."
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My Way News - Stimulus bill narrowly survives Senate test vote: "The Senate proposed $450 million for NASA for exploration, for example, $50 million less than the House. It also eliminated the House's call for money to combat a potential flu pandemic.
On the other hand, the Senate bill calls for several billion more in spending for research at the National Institutes of Health, the result of an amendment backed last week by Specter."
Why is NASA part of this other than pork? Does NASA increase US competitiveness?
NIH clearly does and the CDC is badly underfunded in case of a flu epidemic.
This thing is chaotic. Instead of stimulus bill, it is turning into an omnibus. Barney Frank said it best .. " the people elected "us" because they want this sort of spending." BULLSHIT. Worse, the Demicans may lose big time in 2010 because of this sort of inanity.
The bill ought to be clearly designated for immediate needs ..
..unemployment benefits, COBRE
..funds to be sure States do not lay off teachers and cops.
..long term investments that can be spent now AND benefit productivity are also wise ..NIH is great because it does get spent quickly and does have long term bennies too. Other examples ... Mass Transit, highway repairs, scholarships, ....
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Meg Whitman To Run for Governor of California at BettyConfidential.com: "Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is barred from running for a third term in 2010 by term limits. He served more than half of former Governor Gray Davis' term after Davis was recalled in 2003, which counts as a full term under the term-limit law. There has been some recent discussion by California legislators about changing the law.
Whitman, a moderate, who could fund her own campaign, is considered potentially a strong candidate. But she has rivals. Another anticipated GOP gubernatorial candidate, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, is also a billionaire from Silicon Valley. But Whitman, like Poizner, could face a difficult Republican primary against a conservative candidate, such as State Senator Tom McClintock."
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Israel set for final campaign day
Analysts are predicting a close race between Mr Netanyahu and Ms Livni
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’Turkey pushed into international isolation’: "Criticizing Israel and projecting a pro-Hamas stance is pushing Turkey into isolation in the international arena, Turkey’s former ambassador to Washington said in an interview with daily Milliyet published yesterday.
Stating that defending the Palestinian people and defending Hamas was not the same thing, Loğoğlu said being closer to Hamas would mean losing the role of mediator between Hamas and Fatah. 'If Turkey was able to preserve its previous distance to Hamas and El Fetih it would be better for everyone. But right now Turkey is situated right next to Hamas and against Israel and Fatah,' he noted."
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Marijuana use may increase the risk of developing testicular cancer, in particular a more aggressive form of the disease, according to a U.S. study published on Monday.
............
The risk appeared to be highest among men who had reported smoking marijuana for at least 10 years, used it more than once a week or started using it before age 18, the researchers wrote in the journal Cancer.
Stephen Schwartz* of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, one of the researchers, said the study was the first to explore marijuana's possible association with testicular cancer.
*Lee .. this is not SJ.
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Popular Science: "With all due respect to Snackwells, not all chocolate cookies taste the same. The human tongue, the stomach and the soul can tell the difference between a fat-free and a fat-filled snack. Sadly, so can the human waistline. But what if instead of eating less fatty food that taste so dang yummy, your body just absorbed less of the freaking fat? That’s the claim being made by Satisfit, a nutritional additive being developed not for a 3 am infomercial, but by the food and nutrition department of Dow. Hungry for more?"
.
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Jordan Keen on Cooperation With Microsoft: King: "AMMAN, May 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Jordanian King Abdullah Bin Hussein on
Monday said his kingdom was keen on cooperation with Microsoft, the
leading computer software company from the United States, to
develop the information technology (IT), e-government and
computerization of education.
He made the pledge in a meeting with Emrie Berkin, visiting
deputy director for Middle East, Europe and Africa of Microsoft,
Jordan's official Petra news agency reported."
.
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U.S. Senator Warns of Terror Attacks by Groups Other Than Al Qaeda: "'Our enemy is not al Qaeda alone,' Senator Bob Graham, the U.S.
Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, told NBC's 'Today' show. '
We don't want to just be focused on al Qaeda in Afghanistan.'
'There are several international terrorist groups which have
abilities, in some cases greater abilities than al Qaeda, and a
similar desire to attack the United States,' he said.
Graham particularly mentioned Lebanon's Hizbollah and Egypt's
Islamic Jihad, saying the two groups have the capability and
desire to attack the United States.
The Democrat from Florida also said another terrorist attack onthe U.S. was almost certain."
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HA Seattle: "FWIW … my dream system:
1. We should have two taxes .. one income and one of wealth.
2. Everyone should pay some tax, but the percentage should increase as income rises above levels needed to maintain basic needs, a middle class existance, and different levels above that. Set asides for savinf should exist but should be flat.
3. Social security, basic medical care, basic education should be paid by the government and should come out of the general tax. (No FICA)
2. Wealth should be taxed in a manner that reflects its productivity.
3. Universal needs for healthcare and education should be borne by the government. This includes k-12. Above that, the government should have scholarships based on need and ability. Univeral education should nto incur debt.
4. Bonding should be replaced by a current investment accounts, supported from the general fund. It idiotic to use binds for highway maintenance. BTW, the current misuse of the social security trust is an example of how this cold be done if the funds were from the general tax.
5. The dollar should cease being the world currency and we should have a national bank that directly controls the money supply.
…all said in ignorance of economics but out of a lack of conviction that economists know what the fuck they are doing."
Here is the beginning of my post.
And here is the rest of it.
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HorsesAss.Org » Blog Archive » Bankuporking: "I would not blame just the Repricans and the Fauxies.
Pelosi, Frank et al. seem not to understand the need to show discipline.
While BHO come on the tube and talks about tough decisions and hard times, the proclaimed liberals utterly fail to offer a consistent argument for their hodge podge of offerings. … or they say, the miscellany reflects political reality. The latter might work IF the Repricans and not shown a unified front. Instead it appears that in order to do good, Demos had to acquiesce to a smorgasbord.
Can Democrats show discipline?"
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NigerianNews::Nigerian News Portal; Unbridled and UnAfraid: "From Yusuf Alli, ManagingEditor, Northern Operation
Fresh facts emerged yesterday that President Yar’Adua decision to go on a two-week leave was partly to avoid being part of the election of Libyan President, Col. Muammar Ghadafi, as the Chairman of the African Union, AU.
Ghadafi was elected as the 53rd AU chairman on Monday. Some African leaders are uncomfortable with his choice.
It was learnt that President Yar’Adua was one of those opposed to the choice of Ghadafi because of the radical profile of the Libyan President and his ambitious United States of Africa project.
Highly-placed sources confided in our correspondent yesterday that Yar’Adua decided to go on vacation 'as a clever way of avoiding the African Union summit having learnt that Ghadafi was going to be elected chairman.
According to one of the sources, the Ethiopian Visa for the President and that of his aides had been processed before the change of mind by Yar’Adua."
http://www.nigeriannews.com/
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I don't know about you, but this image-which apparently was uploaded to Facebook-scares me. Maybe it is because I always thought that I was a robot when I was a kid, in the early 80s.
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Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide: "Broadband Cut Entirely From Stimulus Bill: Republicans Hate the Internets
Those jokers down in Washington finally compromised on the economic stimulus bill, with the Republican minority succeeding in cutting out huge swathes of spending. Among the casualties is the $2 billion for universal broadband. More »"
Here is the beginning of my post.
And here is the rest of it.
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Shepard Fairey Arrested In Boston: "BOSTON — A street artist famous for his red, white and blue 'Hope' posters of President Obama has been arrested on warrants accusing him of tagging property with graffiti, police said Saturday.
Shepard Fairey, 38, was arrested Friday night on his way to the Institute of Contemporary Art for a kickoff event for his first solo exhibition, called 'Supply and Demand.'
Two warrants were issued for Fairey on Jan. 24 after police determined he'd tagged property in two locations with graffiti based on the Andre the Giant street art campaign from his early career, police Officer James Kenneally said Saturday."
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Ecstasy? It's horse play, says drug adviser - Times Online: "The professor said equasy - short for equine addiction syndrome - caused more than 100 deaths a year. ...........He writes: “The point was to get people to understand that drug harm can be equal to harms in other parts of life. There is not much difference between horse rising and ecstasy.”"
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Times Online | News and Views from The Times and Sunday Times: "Cameron to send his children to state school
Conservative leader David Cameron
The Conservative Party leader said: 'It's crazy that we should pay lots of money for private schools. We all pay our taxes'"
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BBC NEWS | Technology | Job cuts ground Flight Simulator: "The future of Microsoft's long running Flight Simulator series has been cast into doubt, after the software maker US laid-off the entire development team."
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The Hindu : Front Page News : Saturday, February 07, 2009: "Bar sought on bailed out firms hiring H-1B visa holders
Washington: An amendment seeking to bar U.S. companies, which receive federal bailout money, from hiring H-1B visa holders has been introduced in the Senate, a move likely to impact Indian IT professionals if it is approved. The ..."
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ISRAELI ELECTIONS
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister 10 years ago, is preparing to celebrate a comeback when Israelis go to the polls on Feb. 10. His personality is as polarizing as ever but his right-wing Likud party represents the new consensus following the recent Gaza war. By Christoph Schult more...
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NigerianNews::Nigerian News Portal; Unbridled and UnAfraid: "Epidemic Corruption in our Educational Systems and the Future of Nigeria (IV)
by Dr. Yushau Balarabe
I have narrated in the last three articles some corrupt practices in our educational system. With these practices so rampant, it is noted that our educational system is now playing a negative role. Rather than training our children to become good citizen of this country, the training is now towards inculcating bad behaviors to them. The main message I am trying to pass on to all is that these bad behaviors that our students are learning in our schools will certainly have a very serious ramification to their behavior after school. NigerianNews Guest Column | (I) (II) (III)"
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International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten: "THE WORLD FROM BERLIN
'Merkel Had to React'
Chancellor Angela Merkel's unprecedented demand that Pope Benedict XVI clarify the church's position on the Holocaust is still reverberating on Thursday, more...
* Losing Touch: A German Pope Disgraces the Catholic Church
* German Jewish Leader: 'What Benedict Did Is Unforgivable'
German authorities have come under renewed pressure to track down surviving Nazi war criminals after the discovery this week that a notorious concentration camp doctor lived out his days in Cairo and died a free man.
Aribert Heim, known as "Doctor Death" for the appalling experiments he performed on concentration camp prisoners, was revealed this week to have spent his last decades living as a convert to Islam under the name Tarek Hussein Farid in a run-down Cairo hotel.
According to his son Ruediger, Heim died of cancer in August 1992.
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Former Chief of Staff to Obama: Put Your Jacket On - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com: "“The Oval Office symbolizes…the Constitution, the hopes and dreams, and I’m going to say democracy. And when you have a dress code in the Supreme Court and a dress code on the floor of the Senate, floor of the House, I think it’s appropriate to have an expectation that there will be a dress code that respects the office of the President.”
Mr. Card went on to add that, while he would not criticize Mr. Obama for his appearance, “I do expect him to send the message that people who are going to be in the Oval Office should treat the office with the respect that it has earned over history.”
As the Times’ Sheryl Gay Stolberg reported last week, Mr. Obama and Mr. Bush have, among other distinctions, drastically different views on White House dress codes."
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on Goldy ...
Do devout democrats have special underwear?
Goldy knows a lot more about politics than I do, but he is wrong an one issue. We Goldyites who diss McD do not do so just becaue McD does a poor job of serving pork on the District platter. Our opposition comes from a lack of belief that McD is effective in Congress.
Pork is a tricky term. Pork can include support for interest groups that have nothing special to do with this District. Support for teachers salaries, immigrants' rights, the interstate highway system, environment, Pell grants ... are these pork? This District has large communities with such "specia" interests ... education, research, intellectual property, fishing, US:Canada ties, etc etc.
If McD even knows about these issues he is hardly visible.Goldy has his own "pork" commitments. He cares deeply about mass transit and public education. Good issues that include real needs for funding. Where is McD on these issues?
As our Congressman McD should show leadership on local matters as well. Where is he on the Mayor's urbanization issues or the systematic disassembly of our schools or the Viaduct .. or anything where his opinion matters? For that matter, where is McD on the impending death of the PI? Our Congressman reminds me mor of the talking head Ted Baxter from the Mary Tyler Moore show than a he does of own of the partisans in the West Wing.
I think I understand the sources for Goldy's support for McD. Goldy is an old world politician. Do devout democrats like Mormons have special underwear? If so, I suspect Goldy's is verwell worn. This guy loves caucuses, party politics, the show on TV, and the drama of the political scene. That drama also appeals to Goldy, the writer and dramatist.
What I would like to know is whether Goldy's accolades to McD for SCHIP are at all deserved. How much of the final passage is owed to McD's leadership?
Maybe the key to understanding Goldy's support for Jim McD is Goldy's love of drama. We may all be actors in a Goldy run reality show, sort of a Seattle Cheers. Has anyone looked to see if there are hidden cameras recording the action at DL?
Am I character in Goldy's drama too?
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JoanieSorry but I tend to side with the Polisi-flubbed-it crowd on this. Barack also deserves some blame for the porkish flavor of the house bill..
I see two problem with the house bill.
1. Obama made a critical, Clinton-like, argument that these dollars were to be investments rather than expenditures. Unfortunately, much of the House bill is spent on current needs ... assuring that teachers are not fired, extending COBRE, extending unemployment, and decreasing, for ashort time the social security tax. These all make sense but they are tradtitional safety net measures not investments.
A truly silly example was the effort by Peolosi to reform Bush era law on birth control. This actually cost little or nothing BUT it looked like special interest legislation and any argument that this was a high priority of insuring future productivity was contrived.
Bottom line, Pelosi hurt the effort by making the investment idea look like an excuse to do what had to be done anyway.
2. The bill provides very little finding that can be recognized as investments. Almost no money is set for R&D, reforms of the investment tax credit are missing, there is nothing identifiable as VC, etc.
In part this is the result of a concatenation of two incompatible ideas .. investment and emergency. Look here in the PNW. We can almost hear the creaping rust in our transportation system. Boeing may end up leaving simply because they can not move anything from Everett to the Columbia, the UW is teetering on a leveraged edge not appropriate for a state school, our college level facilities are shrinking, etc. BUT, very little of this can be fixed by spending any amount of money over the next 24 months.
What I believe BHO needs to do is to educate the public as to the need for investment and separate that need form the serious but short term needs of a failed Bush economy. The investment part should not be a teo year package. To work it needs to be a long term plan that actually does improve our infrastructure and doers give the private sector the long term vision to reinvest in US.
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Moscow News - World - For the Obamas, going out just got tougher: "As a state senator, Obama once taped an episode of a local restaurant review show in 2001. He praised the peach cobbler at Dixie Kitchen and Bait Shop, and warned against filling up on the corn cake appetizers.
'I've learned from past mistakes,' he said. 'I've got to be cautious.'
Obama's episode of 'Check, Please!' never aired at the time. Released just before the inauguration, it's now a YouTube sensation."
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Mrs. Obama thanks Education Department - Yahoo! News: "Some observers had not expected Mrs. Obama to be so publicly active so soon in her husband's presidency.
'It really does surprise me because I had gotten the opposite impression from those statements about being first mom-in-chief,' said Myra Gutin, a first lady historian and professor at Rider University in New Jersey.
Mrs. Obama said Monday's visit to the Department of Education would be the first of many to government departments and agencies in the coming weeks and months 'to say 'hello,' to learn, to listen, to take info back where possible.'
A visit to the Department of Energy was planned for Wednesday."
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Mrs. Obama thanks Education Department - Yahoo! News: "In thanking the workers, she told them: 'I am a product of your work.'
'I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the public schools that nurtured me and helped me along,' said Mrs. Obama, a Chicago native who attended its public schools as a child. Her two daughters attend private school in Washington, as they did in Chicago."
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Call for pope to step down over Holocaust denier: "Attacks on Pope Benedict XVI's decision to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust denier escalated Monday, with one theologian calling on him to step down as the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Criticism following the pope's January 24 announcement has been particularly cutting in Germany, where denying the Holocaust is a crime punishable with a jail sentence.
'If the pope wants to do some good for the Church, he should leave his job,' eminent liberal Catholic theologian Hermann Haering told the German daily Tageszeitung."
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NigerianNews::Nigerian News Portal; Unbridled and UnAfraid: "Dr. Thomas Fingar, the Chairman of the National Intelligence Council (NIC), recently presented and discussed his report titled the “Global Trends 2025” and among many other things, has predicted a bleak future for Nigeria if certain identified indicators were not addressed before 2025. Although, Dr. Fingar was at pains to explain that the purpose of the 120-page report was not to make concrete predictions, but rather to “stimulate strategic thinking about how trends will evolve in the future… And the goal is to provide an opportunity, as people begin to settle into jobs, to think about their own areas of responsibility in a broader, global context.” , I have made extracts that relates to Nigeria, even when these have not been specifically addressed or mentioned. These have been done to highlight the fallacy or otherwise, of this report and to examine if any of the matters it raised should be of concern to our leaders, Nigerians and if these are even relevant to us as a nation."
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NigerianNews::Nigerian News Portal; Unbridled and UnAfraid: "Obama’s bumpy ride to the White House
by Tunde Adenodi.
< font> November 20, 2008
Let us allow our imagination to run wild for only a fleeting moment: Suppose Barack Obama won the presidential election hands down like he just did and suppose the incumbent, the lame-duck US President George W. Bush announced with an unsigned statement that he was annulling the election because of fear of “judicial anarchy”, what reaction do you expect from Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar or Sani Abacha, were he to be alive? What would Obasanjo say? Or Buhari? Or all the anti-democracy leaders who have led us to the cul-de-sac we have found ourselves in since independence? Can you imagine the stress the US would have to go through? Can anyone imagine the stress the whole democratic world would have to go through? NigerianNews Special< font>"
Here is the beginning of my post.
And here is the rest of it.
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Granma International, English Edition: "Reflections of Fidel
Deciphering the thinking
of the new president
of the United States
IT isn’t too difficult. After his inauguration, Barack Obama stated that the return of the territory occupied by the Guantánamo Naval Base to its legitimate owner had to be carefully considered, in the first place, in terms of whether it would affect the defense capacity of the United States in the most minimal way
...
It is the mode of sharing in the genocide of Palestinians into which our friend Obama has fallen. He is offering similar sweeteners to Russia, China, Europe, Latin America and the rest of the world, after the United States converted Israel into an important nuclear power that annually absorbs a significant part of the exports of the empire’s prosperous military industry, with which it is threatening, with extreme violence, the population of all countries of Muslim faith.."
Here is the beginning of my post.
And here is the rest of it.
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Jerusalem Post | Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World: "Official: Aliya from Turkey to double
Jewish Agency says rates low despite antisemitism; Venezuela's chief rabbi questions local Jews' future."
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Jerusalem Post | Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World: "Chavez condemns attack on synagogue
In televised speech, Venezuelan president suggests his political foes are responsible for vandalism."
I am shocked, shocked.
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Yes we can: Schools, streets renamed for Barack Obama: "Yes we can: Schools, streets renamed for Barack Obama"
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DRUDGE REPORT 2009®: "Quake Jolts Seattle Area..."
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Washington endorses Beijing’s move to patrol Gulf of AdenIt is part of global effort to tackle piracy, says Admiral Willard
Maybe Obama is Sane?
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Moscow News - News - In Brief - Russia’s next-generation warplane scheduled for maiden flight in 2009: "Another Russian warship may join anti-piracy mission off Somalia
17:25 28/01/2009 |Russia's Admiral Levchenko destroyer will patrol the Somali coast after taking part in joint Russia-Indian naval drills in the Arabian Sea in early February, a Navy source said on Wednesday."
.
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Apparently Russia is standing DOWN its oplan to place missiles in Kalingrad after Obama has told them we will scale back plans for W's magic missile shield.
Is Obama Sane?
Chandrayaan II to be launched on GSLVBangalore: Chandrayaan II will be launched on a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) as opposed to the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle used to launch Chandrayaan I, Madhavan Nair, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation ...
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Haaretz Daily Newspaper Israel, Israeli News Source: "Who puts up a mezuzah in space? A Jewish astronaut
Dr. Garrett Reisman, a New Jersey native, is the first Jew to have lived in the International Space Station."
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Rush Limbaugh: "I Think Obama Wants Me To Fail": "'I think Obama wants me to fail,' Limbaugh said. 'President Obama, by telling you and the elected Republicans in Washington to not listen to me because I am not how things get done in Washington, he has said that he wants me to fail."
Napoleon?.
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FiveThirtyEight.com: Politics Done Right: "Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, issued the following statement today on plans to introduce an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to end appointments to the Senate by state governors and require special elections in the event of a Senate seat vacancy."
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I hope that proponents of I-1000, faculty interested in the moral role of the UW in our community, as well as UW medical and nursing staff will attend this important discussion.UW, Department of Bioethics & Humanities:
"Brown Bag series:
I-1000: The Washington Death
with Dignity Act
Patricia Kuszler, MD, JD
Charles I. Stone Professor of Law
UW School of Law
Steve Milam, JD
Affiliate Assistant Professor
Bioethics and Humanities
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
11:30-12:30 p.m.
Plaza Cafe Conference Rooms A & B"
While I personally believe each of us has the right to choose death, the wording of I-1000 raises ethical issues that must be addressed in a practical way. These issues range from possible legal impact on current practices that permit palliative therapies intended to minimize suffering. Such therapies, for example use of morphine, may hasten death but are not covered by the DWD . Does the law now require a second consultation and psychological evaluation for these procedures as well?
I also have concerns for possible conflicts of interest associated with the much lower costs of care if a patient does choose suicide. Oregon has had one, relatively minor episode, where an HMO informed patients that money could be saved by choosing death. Will this sort of thing increase as demands on Washington's heath care system become more onerous? Can we assure that finacial conerns are NOT a motivating factor in this difficult decision?
Similarly, the Oregon version of this law must be disappointing to I-1000 advocates since it is little used. I suspect that the major obstacles imposed by I-1000, especially need for a record, inclusion of a second physician, and possible requirement for a psychological exam may be daunting to many. Reasons for this need to be discussed if we at the UW are to try and see that the option is made available freely to those who want to choose to end their lives rather than endure expensive and painful terminal care.
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The worst economic turmoil since the Great Depression is not a natural phenomenon but a man-made disaster in which we all played a part. In the second part of a week-long series looking behind the slump, Guardian City editor Julia Finch picks out the individuals who have led us into the current crisis
)
Geir Haarde, Icelandic prime ministerMervyn King, governor of the Bank of EnglandJohn Tiner, FSA chief executive, 2003-07Dick Fuld, Lehman Brothers chief executive
The American public
... and six more who saw it coming
Andrew LahdeJohn Paulson, hedge fund bossProfessor Nouriel RoubiniWarren Buffett, billionaire investorGeorge Soros, speculatorStephen Eismann, hedge fund managerMeredith Whitney, Oppenheimer Securities
Kathleen Corbet, former CEO, Standard & Poor's
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International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten: "The High Price of Clean, Cheap Ethanol
Brazil hopes to supply drivers worldwide with the fuel of the future -- cheap ethanol derived from sugarcane. It is considered an effective antidote to climate change, but hundreds of thousands of Brazilian plantation workers harvest the cane at slave wages. By Clemens Höges more..."
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International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten: "'German Banks Are on the Edge of the Abyss'
The German government is desperately trying to find a way to save the country's ailing banking sector. Can a so-called 'bad bank' solve the problem by taking over toxic assets? German commentators aren't convinced, but they are certain that something needs to be done. more..."
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In the Gaza Strip people are returning home -- or to the rubble that was once their home. Many are blaming Hamas for the destruction because the militants hid among civilians and attracted Israeli fire. Yet no one dares to speak out openly.
By Ulrike Putz in Beit Lahia,
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Setting sail for the Salish Sea: "Retired Western Washington University professor Bert Webber, a marine ecologist, has (argued) that the inland sea of which Puget Sound is a part needs to be recognized (as the)
Salish Sea. "
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The Texas Observer Blog: "Barbara Cargill, board member from The Woodlands, altered the standards for the state’s new Earth and Space Science class. The most eye-catching change requires students to question the fossil record. Cargill, part of the board’s solid seven-member Christian right faction, tacked on a phrase that requires students to “assess the arguments for and against universal common descent in light of fossil evidence.”"
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Olsen is one of several Bushites who have gone turtle, that is redefined themselves as civil service, to entrench themselves and their ideas into the obama government.Late Update: An NSF spokeswoman confirms that Olsen has reinstatement rights as a member of the Senior Executive Service, or SES. This could mean that civil-service rules preclude anyone in the Obama administration from acting on the matter. We'll keep you posted."
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Politicker WA | Washington Politics News, Reaction, and Analysis: "How many state boards and commissions should the state keep?
A few lawmakers are starting to look seriously at that question. Gov. Chris Gregoire questioned the need for something like half of the 470-plus boards in her inaugural address last week."
Yes .....
and then lets get rid of the huge number of elected offices in Wastate that would be better served by career employees. We have a Lt. Gov with NO job description, a State Superintendent of Education who runs a staff that spends $$ w/o educating kids, an elected satte auditor ... hell we ought to have elections for Ferry Captain!
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Hatred of slavery drove Darwin ideas, book says | Lifestyle | Reuters: "By Mike Collett-White
LONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - A new book on Charles Darwin says a passionate hatred of slavery was fundamental to his theory of evolution, which challenged the assumption held by many at the time that blacks and whites were separate species.
'Darwin's Sacred Cause' is among the first of dozens of works about the 19th century scientist to appear in 2009, the bicentenary of his birth and 150th anniversary of the publication of his groundbreaking 'On the Origin of Species'.
Its authors, Adrian Desmond and James Moore, also expect it to be one of the most controversial, because it explores what they call Darwin's humanitarianism and challenges the notion that his conclusions were the result of pure scientific pursuit. 'There's got to be reasons why he came to common descent images of evolution when there was no precedent for that in the zoological science of his day,' Desmond told Reuters. 'It comes out of anti-slavery."
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granma.cu - Cuba consolidated as Caribbean destination: "Cuba consolidated as Caribbean destination
• The island is hoping to receive in excess of 2.34 million tourists this year
• FOR the fifth consecutive year, Cuba has already surpassed the two-million foreign visitors mark for this year, announced the Ministry of Tourism in a statement in which it highlighted the fact that on this particular occasion, the important target was reached on November 14, much earlier than in previous years."
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Moscow News - Local - The ghosts of Lenin abound: "The shiny domes of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour could have been the shiny dome of Vladimir Ilyich himself, but for an accident of geology. The riverside site was earmarked for the flagship Palace of the Soviets, to be crowned with a gargantuan 100m statue of the man himself. Artists impressions suggest a King Kong-like figure poised to swat passing aircraft from atop a beefed-up MGU. Sadly, too much water meant the soil couldn't support such an ambitious plan and the site eventually became a swimming pool instead. The cathedral, destroyed in 1936, was rebuilt in the 1990s."
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President Obama's first call 'was to President Abbas' - Times Online: "In a flurry of telephone calls from the Oval Office, he reached out to leaders in the region and vowed to engage immediately in pursuit of a permanent Arab-Israeli settlement.
The spokesman for President Abbas revealed that Mr Obama had told the Palestinian leader that their conversation was his first with a foreign statesman since taking office. Mr Obama also spoke to President Mubarak of Egypt, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, and King Abdullah of Jordan."
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Italy's Jews: Pope Benedict negating 50 years of interfaith progress - Haaretz - Israel News: "Italy's Jews: Pope Benedict negating 50 years of interfaith progress
By The Associated Press
Tags: israel news, vatican
Italy's rabbis said Tuesday they were pulling out of the Italian Catholic Church's annual celebration of Judaism, saying recent decisions by Pope Benedict XVI were negating 50 years of interfaith progress.
The chief rabbi of Venice, Elia Enrico Richetti, cited the pope's decision to restore a prayer deemed offensive to Jews in Easter Week services of the old Latin Mass.
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North Korea claims to have weaponized plutonium - CNN.com: "BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Senior North Korean officials say the communist regime has 'weaponized' its stockpile of plutonium, according to a U.S. scholar, in a move suggesting that North Korea may have significantly hardened its stance on nuclear negotiations."
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International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten: "MIDEAST CRISIS
Syria's Assad Makes Overtures to Obama
Syrian President Bashar Assad says he's prepared to work with US President-elect Barack Obama. 'The new American government must be prepared to engage in a serious peace process. We are prepared for any form of cooperation,' Assad told SPIEGEL in an interview. But he has a few conditions. more..."
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Over 400 years after the death of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, scientists in Prague are preparing to exhume his body. Was Europe's most renowned scholar poisoned with mercury? A Danish scholar claims to have decoded the murderer's diary.
By Matthias Schulz
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Today is the birthday of Barack Obama’s “rock,” Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama. Mrs. O is 45 today. If you could wish the beautiful, vibrant, dynamic, sophisticated and accomplished First Lady Happy Birthday in person, what would you say to the sistah whose sacrifices gave us the first Black President?
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Just to be fair ...
1. Is Aetheism INTRINSICALLY good?
Nahhh ... Lenin killed an awaful lot of folks unjustly, remember the Kulaks? Then there was Pol Pot, the older Mao and .. our current Dear Leader of North Korea.
Bottom live, religion or its absence do ntoseem to have a lto of affect on human capacity to do evil.
2. Jews in MUSLIM lands.
The idea that things were better for us in Muslim lands is very exaggerated.
Muhamud made the first step toward the future when he killedf or enslaved all the Jews of medina for their refusal to side with him. From then on Islam has had an awful opinion of Jews. The worst of this was the blood libel, a piece of gore that began in Turkey.
True, Jews were also honored citizens under the Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad and in Spain until the early part of the last millennium when Berber fundies invaded el Andalus. BUT .. we were also prominent in Germany before Hitler. The Arms minister who masterminded what became Hitler's re-armament was a Jew!
It seems to me that anti-semitism and, therefore the need to reestablish Israel, was pretty much endemic in both of the religions that inherited their traditions from Rome ... Roman/Greek Catholicism and Islam. Even in the New World, until the US War of Independence, we were not given equal rights or were even burned to death in Hispanic lands.
The only places we have thrived, until now, have been in India, China and the USA. The first two markedly outside of the Roman Heritage and the last .. well another reason I am a proud American and NOT a Christian.
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Kezia Obama, Obama's Stepmother, Travels To DC, Launches Bingo Game (PHOTOS)
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 | Barack Obama's stepmother Kezia Obama shows her Kenyan passport, as she is escorted through London's Heathrow Airport on her way to Washington Thursday. |  | |
See photos and video of Barack Obama's step-grandmother, Sarah Obama, who has also traveled to DC.
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Ianugural cake design/
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Istrael appears ready to declare a cease file in Gaza. Tuesday, BHO becomes POTOS.
Time for Change!
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"The best mindset for these last few days of the shrub era is to imagine it as the final act of the movie.
Even Bush’s critics will have to admit that as theatre, his performance may rank with Burton’s performance in Hamlet or .. perhaps more aptly … Olivier in Macbeth.
The pathos of failure, the small man behind the opulent podium, the ghost of Obama and his Dad wafting overhead, all play off the the self delusion to remind me of both Aeschylus and Willie Lohman.
Yet this is not merely a modern version of Sophocles. The playwrite has offered us a touch of comedy too with the funny accent and image of the failed counter hero retiring to a faux white house in Dallas.
Compare this great performance with Frank Langella’s work in Frost/Nixon! Bush’s portrayal of the shrub has more veracity and complexity than scowly Frank’s effort to be Nixon. Where the Langella movie leave us with tis denouement neatly tied off, The Bush performance leaves us with wonder about the life to follow. Will his wife leave him? Will he let his physical appearance go as he returns to drink? An image of a post movie sequel, perhaps located in a dingy New Orleans brothel, with Bush confessing to his for-the-night companion is too precious not to imagine.
Can an Oscar be in the future?"
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Will Ferrell Promises His Bush On Broadway Will Surprise: "In this Feb. 26, 2008 file photo, Will Ferrell, from the new movie 'Semi-Pro,' appears on the NBC 'Today' program in New York. Ferrell said to the Television Critics meeting Friday Jan. 9, 2009 that audiences should expect the unexpected from his upcoming one-man Broadway show and HBO special about President George W. Bush. Executive producer Adam McKay and Ferrell spoke to the Television Critics meeting in the Los Angeles area by satellite from New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — Will Ferrell says audiences should expect the unexpected from his upcoming one-man Broadway show and HBO special about President George W. Bush."
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There are some underlying issues with he current debate among the
UW faculty about
whether the football program pays its own way.
A large part of the
concern reflects our
commitment to serving the needs of minority kids in Washington State. . There is a wide spread belief in the minority community that the
UW is only interested in kids if they have talents on the athletic field. This concern is reinforced by the very large percentage, I have read that it may be 50%, of the AA students on campus supported by athletic scholarships.
None of this says
athletic achievement should not be considered a criterion for admission. For example, athletic admissions to Harvard College end up in the top academic ranks of the school. However, this record at Harvard reflects their belief that high school athletic success is a good measure of drive to achieve in other spheres. Moreover, a real commitment by the
UW to these kids would assume that once admitted, a kid's scholarships does not depend on his athletic performance.
This is a long simmering issue. Last year, I served on a a faculty committee concerned with minority students. The
Athletics Department made it very clear that they work hard to see that the
athletes get degrees. However, we were unimpressed with expectations of football players other than gradation. Many of these kids seem to enroll in programs whose main purpose is graduation rather than a college education. Moreover, we were told clearly that academic criteria, beyond meeting minimal; standards, were NOT important in awarding athletic scholarships.
My final worry is that the over emphasis on these professional programs comes at the expense of opportunities for students who do meet our academic criteria to compete at the college sports level.
My main issue, however, is less with reforming the program than with assuring the voters that a healthy"
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Le Monde diplomatique - English edition | January 2009: "Must read
Islamic India
by Wendy Kristianasen
There is growing Islamophobia in India as the BJP’s systematic policy of hate, and terrorism, claimed in the name of Islam, converge. Meanwhile Muslims’ traditional ally, Congress, in power for four years, has done little to address their poverty and disadvantage. So how will they vote in this spring’s national elections? A week after the Mumbai attacks, the Congress party, which heads the (...)"
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Haaretz Daily Newspaper Israel, Israeli News Source: "Sarkozy: Halt to arms smuggling is key to Gaza cease-fire
French President, Germany's Merkel say ready to do whatever needed to end fighting in coastal territory"
All else aside, the image of a devout Jew, restricted by our ethics codes, and innocent children on the hamas side, is terribly painful.
I honestly believe there is an opening here, an opening for someone to come into this as the adult. Hamas is not going to defeate Israel in ten or twenty years. As glorious as they may see their ideology, another generation of this will scar Palestianians forever. The same is true for Jews.
Neither Hmas nor Israel has any real power IF the world would just stand up to both parties and set terms for an equitable peace.
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"'Man is harder than iron, stronger than stone and more fragile than a rose.' Turkish Proverb"
t.
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Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post: "WorldSarkozy: Israel, Palestinians Accept Plan To End The Fighting"
Want to bet on Hamas' response?
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Lord who is the creator of all children, hear our prayer this accursed day. God whom we call Blessed, turn your face to these, the children of Gaza, that they may know your blessings, and your shelter, that they may know light and warmth, where there is now only blackness and smoke, and a cold which cuts and clenches the skin.
WarsawAlmighty who makes exceptions, which we call miracles, make an exception of the children of Gaza. Shield them from us and from their own. Spare them. Heal them. Let them stand in safety. Deliver them from hunger and horror and fury and grief. Deliver them from us, and from their own.
Restore to them their stolen childhoods, their birthright, which is a taste of heaven.
Remind us, O Lord, of the child Ishmael, who is the father of all the children of Gaza. How the child Ishmael was without water and left for dead in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba, so robbed of all hope, that his own mother could not bear to watch his life drain away.
Be that Lord, the God of our kinsman Ishmael, who heard his cry and sent His angel to comfort his mother Hagar.
Be that Lord, who was with Ishmael that day, and all the days after. Be that God, the All-Merciful, who opened Hagar's eyes that day, and showed her the well of water, that she could give the boy Ishmael to drink, and save his life.
Allah, whose name we call Elohim, who gives life, who knows the value and the fragility of every life, send these children your angels. Save them, the children of this place, Gaza the most beautiful, and Gaza the damned.
In this day, when the trepidation and rage and mourning that is called war, seizes our hearts and patches them in scars, we call to you, the Lord whose name is Peace:
Bless these children, and keep them from harm.
Turn Your face toward them, O Lord. Show them, as if for the first time, light and kindness, and overwhelming graciousness.
Look up at them, O Lord. Let them see your face.
And, as if for the first time, grant them peace.
_____________With thanks to Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman of Kol HaNeshama, Jerusalem.
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Cubans pin hopes on Obama
Many islanders expect better relationship with U.S. under new president
Dario Lopez-mills / AP
A woman uses a public phone, right, as men walk down a street in Havana, Cuba, on Tuesday.
RAÚL AT CELEBRATION OF THE REVOLUTION’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY
- Fidel congratulates the Cuban people
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Ben Smith's Blog: Photographing the president - Politico.com: "Obama just chose a White House photographer, Pete Souza, an experienced photojournalist who will be a not insignificant part of the imagemaking apparatus.
He's already published a volume of Obama photography, above, and some examples of his style, some intimate, some iconic, are on his
website."
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Haaretz Daily Newspaper Israel, Israeli News Source: "Turkey wants international monitors to ensure Gaza truce
Cairo demands Hamas accept immediate cease-fire; Hamas sends delegation to Egypt for talks. 18:05 Haaretz.com TV"
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Eric Margolis
|
|
|  | | Gaza is one of the world's most densely populated places [GALLO/GETTY] |
There are two completely different versions of what is currently happening in Gaza.
In the Israeli and North American press version, Hamas - 'Islamic terrorists' backed by Iran - have in an unprovoked attack fired deadly rockets on innocent Israel with the intent of destroying the Jewish state.................
The firing of the feeble, home-made al-Qassam rockets by Palestinians is both useless and counter-productive.
It damages their image as an oppressed people and gives right-wing Israeli extremists a perfect reason to launch more attacks on the Arabs and refuse to discuss peace.
.........................
 | | Seventy per cent of Palestinian children suffer from psychological trauma [GALLO/GETTY] | While firing rockets at civilians is a crime so, too, is the Israeli blockade of Gaza, which is an egregious violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions.
According to the UN, most of Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinian refugees subsist near the edge of hunger. Seventy per cent of Palestinian children in Gaza suffer from severe malnutrition and psychological trauma.
Medical facilities are critically short of doctors, personnel, equipment, and drugs. Gaza has quite literally become a human garbage dump for all the Arabs that Israel does not want.
.........................Call it a prison riot, writ large.
...............
Israel's elections are only six weeks away, and Likud was leading until the air raids on Gaza began. Kadima and Labour are now up in the polls.
..................
A fait accompli
The Israeli offensive into Gaza now looks likely to short-circuit any plans Obama might have had to press Israel into withdrawing to its pre-1967 borders and sharing Jerusalem. This has pleased Israel's supporters in North America who have been cheering the war in Gaza and have been backing away from their earlier tentative support for a land-for-peace deal.
As he concludes forming his cabinet, his Middle East team looks like it may be top-heavy with friends of Israel's Labour party.
...................
Arab deal killed
Israel's Gaza offensive is also likely to torpedo the current Saudi-sponsored peace plan, which had been backed by all members of the Arab League. The plan, now likely defunct, had called for Israel to withdraw to its 1967 borders and share Jerusalem in exchange for full recognition and normalised relations with the Muslim world. Arab governments will now be unable to sell the deal as they face a storm of criticism from their own people over their powerlessness to help the Palestinians of Gaza. .................
Israel's security establishment is committed to preventing the creation of a viable Palestinian state, and refuses to negotiate with Hamas. Unable to kill all of Hamas' men, Israel is slowly destroying Gaza's infrastructure around them, as it did to Yasser Arafat's PLO. ............
Though the torment of Gaza is seen across the horrified Muslim world as a modern version of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising by Jews against the Nazis during World War Two, Western governments still appear bent on taking no action.
...........................
Hamas refuses to recognise Israel as long as Israel refuses to recognise Hamas and the rights of millions of homeless Palestinian refugees.
..................
Eric S. Margolis is an author, syndicated foreign affairs columnist, broadcaster, and veteran war correspondent. His latest book is American Raj: America and the Muslim world.
The views expressed by the author are not necessarily those of Al Jazeera.
I posted these excerpts to try and get some balance but I disagree with the author's pessimism. The Iraq war has changed the balance of power in the micro-environment around Israel. There is no strategic combination of Arab forces that can prevent Gaza from being occupied, at a terrible price to the Palestinians. However, Israel knows it can not make such an occupation long term. They will withdraw, as they did in Lebanon but this time the withdrawal will differ in two ways. First, there will be the appearance of victory. That appearance is important for Israel's politics and to provide That One with the opportunity he needs to move fro peace through strength.
The trick I see is to let beneficent Arab states enter this fray as liberators of Gaza without doing so with tanks and bombs. Clinton will negotiate a peace force, perhaps under the UN flag but I hope under the banner of the Arab states. These Arabs will be able to pose, with justice, as the force that contained Israel while also providing a meaningful replacement for Hamas. This would serve MANY interests:
Egypt ... The government is threatened by the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, as an arm of that movement, is a huge danger to Egypt's governing oligarchy. An Egyptian force, under an Islamic flag of peace, could be seen as heroic. Jordan .. Jordan needs a stable economy tied to Israel's economy. Israel needs a way to close the West Bank settlements but has to do it in a way that can be seen as coming from strength.
Finally, this may provide a unique opportunity for some new participants in the Middle East. China , India and Europe all need peace in the Indian Ocean. They could all play a role in an economic effort built on a pacified Gaza.
Call me an optimist.
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Wait, WTF, Pope Ratzi Smokes Cigarettes?
In this
Wall Street Journal boring article about how Europeans sure love cigarettes yadda yadda, we were intrigued by this paragraph calling
Nazi Pope Joe “the Plumber” Ratzinger a known smoker! Is this some hilarious
WSJ New Year’s joke? Because there is no evidence we can locate, outside of some obviously
photoshopped images of Ratzi in a
cloud of cancer, to suggest our crappiest pope indulges in this particular variety of sucking on cylindrical objects.
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Talking Points Memo | Breaking News and Analysis: "International Force in Gaza?
Interesting article by McClatchy's Warren Strobel on the possibility of an international force in Gaza as the basis of a new ceasefire. Part of the equation might be having Fatah reassume control not over Gaza itself but over the border crossings into Gaza."
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The enemy is inside the gates - Journal: "Westerners Welcome Harems
I see this as a casualty of the war gays have waged on the definition of marriage Westerners have had for centuries. The Muslims, of course, want their definition of marriage to be included as well, which leads to polgynous marriages in which an aloof father produces many sons who take out their anger at their distant father on everyone else. Osama bin Laden is one of Sheikh bin Laden's 70 or so sons, and his jihad, I suspect, is due in no small part to daddy issues."
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Discovery: Oldest Temple Known | Verum Serum: "The elaborate temple at Gobelki Tepe in southeastern Turkey, near the Syrian border, is staggeringly ancient: 11,500 years old, from a time just before humans learned to farm grains and domesticate animals."
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