Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Semites Unite?

Bahraini king would ease return of Jews

By Ron Kampeas · November 11, 2008

NEW YORK (JTA) - The king of Bahrain said he would facilitate the return of Jewish expatriates through restored citizenship and land offers.

King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa met in New York Tuesday with about 50 Bahraini Jews who had immigrated to the United States, following on a similar meeting in London this summer.

The king said that all expatriate Bahrainis, whatever their religion, were welcome to return.

“It’s open, it’s your country,” he said in New York. He had reversed a law that banned dual citizenship and was ready to restore the citizenship of Bahrainis who had lost it in the interim, and to offer it to their children as well.

“The younger ones can’t remember much, but we want them to know,” he said of Bahraini heritage.

Returning Bahrainis would be eligible for land allocations, he said.

King Hamad is in New York to attend an interfaith conference cosponsored by Saudi Arabia and the United Nations. He has instituted reforms in recent years, including extending the vote to women. He recently named a Jewish woman, Houda Nonoo, ambassador to Washington.

In an interview, King Hamad told JTA that he did not expect his reforms to replicate throughout the region. “What we do in Bahrain is for sure for Bahrain, it’s not to be exported,” he said.

Bahrain has recorded a Jewish presence since the Talmudic era; it’s current community is descended from Iraqi Jewish merchants who settled in the late 9th century. Several dozen remain.

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Friday, November 07, 2008

International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten

Immigrant Men Are Forced to Marry, Too

Stories of Turkish girls forced into arranged marriages in Germany are well known. But hardly anyone talks about the men who are forced into marriage -- sometimes harassed, blackmailed or beaten. By Katrin Elger more...

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A Tale of Two Jews

My liberal friends have wrung their hands about Joe Lieberman. Now we haveanother orthodox Jew in governement as Obamas senior adviser. I suppose the right will make an issue this time.

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan: "Could Michael Goldfarb Have Been Wrong?

A reader writes:

Don't underestimate the impact Emanuel's background is having on some people. Within hours of announcing the pick, a friend of mine--a well-educated Jewish professional who voted for McCain because of concerns about Rev. Wright and Israel--emailed me, excited about the pick. My wife's grandfather--a Florida Jew who also voted McCain for the same reason--emailed me his Wikipedia page within minutes. Emanuel's a Modern Orthodox Jew, the son of an Irgun member, and volunteered as a civilian for the IDF during the first Gulf War. His Israel credentials are every bit as impeccable as Alan Dershowitz's. Obama just calmed thousands of Jewish voters who were anxious about Israel and Iran, and sent a message to the world that he won't be a pushover in the Middle East.

I wonder how many other 'anti-Semites' Obama will be filling his White House with."

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

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BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Boys make leap in Cuban ballet

Boys make leap in Cuban ballet

Cuba may be better known for its salsa, but it also boasts one of the world's finest ballet companies with no stigma attached to boys getting involved.

In Havana's top ballet school, a third of the dancers are male.

The BBC's Michael Voss looks at what gives ballet its mass appeal.

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A High Profile Board

"The Transition Economic Advisory Board will help guide the work of the Obama-Biden transition team in developing a strong set of policies to respond to the economic crisis. The Board includes:

· David Bonior (Member House of Representatives 1977-2003)

· Warren Buffett (Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway)-will participate via speakerphone

· Roel Campos (former SEC Commissioner)
Story continues below

· William Daley (Chairman of the Midwest, JP Morgan Chase; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Commerce, 1997-2000)

· William Donaldson (Former Chairman of the SEC 2003-2005)

· Roger Ferguson (President and CEO, TIAA-CREF and former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve)

· Jennifer Granholm (Governor, State of Michigan)

· Anne Mulcahy (Chairman and CEO, Xerox)

· Richard Parsons (Chairman of the Board, Time Warner)

· Penny Pritzker (CEO, Classic Residence by Hyatt)

· Robert Reich (University of California, Berkeley; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Labor, 1993-1997)

· Robert Rubin (Chairman and Director of the Executive Committee, Citigroup; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Treasury, 1995-1999)

· Eric Schmidt (Chairman and CEO, Google)

· Lawrence Summers (Harvard University; Managing Director, D.E. Shaw; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Treasury, 1999-2001)

· Laura Tyson (Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley; Former Chairman, National Economic Council, 1995-1996; Former Chairman, President's Council of Economic Advisors, 1993-1995)

· Antonio Villaraigosa (Mayor, City of Los Angeles)

· Paul Volcker (Former Chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve 1979-1987)

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Thursday, November 06, 2008

David Axelrod: Obama's Senior Adviser?

David Axelrod: Obama's Senior Adviser?: "The New Republic adds that Axelrod and Emanuel are close friends -- Axelrod even signed the ketubah at Emanuel's wedding. Rolling Stone quotes Emanuel saying that during the campaign, they spoke several times a day in a 'sounding board' capacity."

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

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The First Ladfy

From The Times

November 7, 2008

My No 1 job as First Lady is to be First Mom

Michelle Obama

.... times are tough. Parents are working harder than ever to raise their kids, pay bills, help out their parents and keep up with the rising cost of living. Caring for their families is their greatest joy - but it's harder to make ends meet.

We've talked to mothers whose salaries can't cover the cost of groceries - but if they take a second job, they can't afford childcare. More than 22 million working women don't have paid sick days. Millions of women are doing the same jobs as men but they're earning less.

...............The struggles of America's families aren't new to Barack. He was raised by a single mom who put herself through school and built a career that she loved while still finding time to read to him each morning. So, he knows how heroic America's parents can be. That's why he is committed to restoring the middle class, cutting taxes for 95 per cent of all working Americans, establishing pay equity for women, and expanding family leave. He also knows that when our military goes to war, their families go with them. He's a strong advocate for predictable deployments and better healthcare - including mental health - for returning service people.

............. Now that the election is won, I'll keep working to find solutions that make a real difference in people's lives.And occasionally, when our daughters insist, we'll host sleepovers, too.

Michelle Obama: a new type of First Lady

Michelle Obama wrote this article shortly before the election. It first appeared in US News & World Report and has been updated with permission. Distributed by Tribune Media Services

More Obamania

Saudi king seeks sense of Obama policy on U.S. trip... China urges Obama to respect free trade...

Comedians sharpen claws for Obama presidency...

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Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Openly gay Jewish candidate makes history with Colorado win - Haaretz - Israel News

Openly gay Jewish candidate makes history with Colorado win - Haaretz - Israel News: "Openly gay Jewish candidate makes history with Colorado win
By Haaretz Service
Tags: Israel news

Jared Schutz Polis, 33, made history on Tuesday by being the first openly gay non-incumbent male elected to the United States Congress.

Polis, a Jew and a Democrat, will represent Colorado's 2nd District.

Another Jewish candidate to join Congress for the first time was John Adler, a Democrat who won an open seat in Trenton, New Jersey, after Republican Jim Saxton, who held the seat for 20 years, retired this year.
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All six Jewish freshmen in the U.S. House of Representatives will return to Washington in January, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported Wednesday."

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

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Palin Once Greeted McCain Staff Wearing Only A Towel

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family--clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

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"Exit polls: 78% of Jews voted for Obama

Jews 2% of vote, 70% worried about terrorism in US; record no. of Jews in Congress."

Delhi

Kuwait

Obama's former school in Jakarta, IndonesiaJerusalem.

Afghanistan

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Obama and the Republicans

Obama and the Republicans

Let me offer some thoughts about Republicans who I think would be good members of the Obama administration.

1. Schwarznegger ...

HEW, HUD, Interior but the big surprise might be Energy. Why energy? A lot of nutty promises were made during the election about how e can deal with this ongoing crisis. Words I hear all end in "project .. as in Manhattan Project or Apollo Project. However, there is also a lot of nonsense here. Apollo and Manhattan were engineering efforts, implementations of established science. Many of the dream projects are really still basic science, a process that will not pay off in the short term. Those that are largely engineering ... wind, tides, and clean coal may or may be be achievable but will take more than one term. Even expanded drilling is a dumb idea for many reasons but if done will not yield oil for four or more years.

Green jobs are likely a myth. We need to develop the technology before we get the jobs.

Ethanol is a loser fo the US economy! There are much better ways to subsidize our farmers.

Pork as the new energy source. Many of the enrgy projects, besides ethanol, are tainted with pork. Will we restart the Collider Project? Build a wind farm for TB Pickens?

Yucca Mountain, the ONLY true nuclear repository in the US, is an even bigger issue because it entails not only the newly red Nevada but the trains carrying the offenisive material across all of our states.

Alaska, Palin is a real piece of work and she may turn the siloly ideas about drill baby drill into a right wing mantra.

So, this Department is largely political. Schwarrznegger has the presence and the intelligence to lead such an effort while, as someone NOT eligible for the Presidency, the ability to do this in a bipartisan way.

2. McCain

Hopefully, McCain will stay in and retire form Senate. He could be President Obama's best Republican ally.

3. Luger

State, Attorney General

4. Gates

Defence

5. Collins

Not sure but she is mentioned a lot. Like McCain, she may be best in the Senate as an ally i9n a new coalition of the center.

6. Lindsey Graham

Again, like McCain, he may be best in the Senate as an ally i9n a new coalition of the center.

7. Colin Powell

Powell remains a very important chess piece. He says he doe snot want to be back in government but he is, after all, a good soldier. However, as a soldier, Powell can not take a demotion .. e.g. to UN ambassador. He could serve as National Security Advisor or special ambassador to some focus of interest.

One idea would be to upgrade the nearly defunct Organization of American States with Powell as amabassador. This has not yet been discussed, but a renewed OAS with Brazil and Mexico as real partners would be wonderful step toward a real new world order with America part of a series of regional alliances.

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Skeptical Brotha and ALJAZEERA

I am headed to my poll location now to work. Share your thoughts with me as history is being made.

Obama's victory was celebrated around the world, and not just by Americans [AFP]

Barack Obama: [To] all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world - our stories are singular but our destiny is shared. A new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

Al Jazeera ....from PLO

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, congratulated Obama and urged him to speed up efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

"President Abbas congratulates US president-elect Barack Obama in his name and in the name of the Palestinian people and hopes he will speed up efforts to achieve peace, particularly since a resolution of the Palestinian problem and the Israeli-Arab conflict is key to world peace," Nabil Abu Rudeina, Abbas's spokesman, said.

"President Abbas hopes the new administration will continue to make the peace efforts one of its top priorities."

Al Jazeera ....from Hamas

Meanwhile, Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, urged Obama to learn from the "mistakes" of previous US administrations in dealing with the Muslim and Arab worlds.

"He must learn from the mistakes of the previous administrations, including that of Bush which has destroyed Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine," said Fawzi Barhum, a Hamas spokesman.

"He must improve US ties with the rest of the world rather than wave the big American stick.

"We want him to support the Palestinian cause or at least not to be biased towards the Israeli occupation. We have no problem establishing normal relations with the United States to explain our just cause."

Ahmed Youssef, a Hamas senior political member, hailed the vote as historic.

"We [Hamas] do believe that if America's political equilibrium is to be restored, this political election should be the turning point.

We hope that Obama will address the Palestinian issue in a fair and honest way. The Palestinian question is the mother of all issues in the region – it concerns 1.5 billion Muslims all over the world.

"During the political campaign in the US, people used a lot of rhetoric … Obama said a lot of things to please the Jewish community, looking for their votes and money. We understand that. But all that rhetoric will be changed because looking at the list of Obama's advisers, I believe that they have a better understanding of the conflict in the region."

Al Jazeera ....from Mandela

Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black leader, also congratualted Obama, saying that Obama's election as US president showed that anybody could dream to change the world.

"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place," Mandela wrote in a letter to Obama.

The 90-year-old Mandela applauded Obama's commitment to support global peace and said he trusted that combatting poverty and disease would become the mission of Obama's presidency.

"We wish you strength and fortitude in the challenging days and years that lie ahead," said Mandela.

"We are sure you will ultimately achieve your dream [of] making the United States of America a full partner in a community of nations committed to peace and prosperity for all."

from Suleyman, Hong Kong

The support and content to Barack Obama shows the quantity of the reaction to the current mischievious administration and the power behind. I hope Obama can change not only the one who sits on the president's chair in the Oval Office but also those who define how to sit there. Otherwise, he will be lost among many promises he might have given, especially to the ones who he is urged to satisfy! He faces great challenges though, he needs to restore the true respect and fairness to Muslims!

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A New World Order?

"Peres to join Saudi King on interfaith panel for first time
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Shimon Peres, interfaith

President Shimon Peres has been invited to take part in a United Nations interfaith conference initiated by Saudi King Abdullah in Washington next week.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is expected to accompany Peres to the conference, which will mark the first time Peres will participate in a panel alongside the Saudi ruler.

In addition to Peres and Abdullah, the panel will include Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Jordanian King Abdullah, the king of Bahrain, the emir of Kuwait, the prime minister of Qatar, the prime minister of Yemen and the president of Pakistan.
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The President's Residence issued a statement Tuesday saying 'Peres and Livni plan to hold a round of political meetings with senior officials from the Arab world on the sidelines of the conference.'

A Palestinian man selling mugs featuring pictures of U.S. president-elect Barack Obama and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza Sunday. (AP)

Peres was planning to invite a rabbi, a Muslim Kadi and a Christian priest to join his delegation to the conference, 'to show that Israel is a country that allows freedom of worship to all believers.'

The conference is part of Abdullah's initiative to promote interfaith dialogue, joined by religious representatives from the Jewish, Christian,"

And the view from Spiegel.

It was the night of grand sentiments. America reverberated with Democratic passion. Even John McCain, the defeated Republican contender, called him "my president." It was the strong departure of a weak candidate.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama: The Bush doctrine was scrapped last night.

AFP

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama: The Bush doctrine was scrapped last night.

Barack Obama wasn't elected as 44th president of the United States because of his political platforms. Hillary Clinton was more precise, John Edwards more aggressive, McCain more experienced. But none of them hit the Obama tone, the tone of our age.

His base note is conciliatory, his overtone is exalted and the harmony is finely balanced. If anyone out there still doubted that the American dream was alive, he called out to his supporters in Chicago, "tonight is your answer."

"At this defining moment," he declared, "change is coming to America."

Obama's tone embraces people, it doesn't exclude them. It's a tone of political romanticism. It doesn't solve problems, but it lessens the pain. Where Bush stoked fear, Obama spreads calm.

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Haaretz Daily Newspaper Israel, Israeli News Source

Haaretz Daily Newspaper Israel, Israeli News Source: "Arab commentators want to be able to admire America again
Pundits in Arab world hopeful Obama victory will put an end to 'white man's monopoly on the White House'."

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.