COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Fiction: Israel’s assertion that it is a strategic asset for the United States - Fact: U.S. suffers politically in the ME because of Israeli activities, including the building of illegal settlements in the West Bank

Why Israel Opposes a Final Nuclear Deal with Iran and What to Do About It

By Robert E. Hunter 


WASHINGTON, Nov 18 2014 (IPS) – Nov. 24 is the deadline for six world powers and Iran to reach a final deal over its nuclear programme. If there is no deal, then the talks are likely to be extended, not abandoned.
But as I learned from more than three decades’ work on Middle East issues, in and out of the U.S. government, success also depends on Israel no longer believing that it needs a regional enemy shared in common with the United States to ensure Washington’s commitment to its security.
Much is at stake in the negotiations with Iran in Vienna, notably the potential removal of the risk of war over its nuclear programme and the removal of any legitimate basis for Israel’s fear that it could become the target of an Iranian bomb.
Success could also begin Iran’s reintegration into the international community, ending its lengthy quarantine. If President Barack Obama and his national security officials get their way, including the Pentagon—hardly a group of softies—a comprehensive final accord would be a good deal for U.S. national security and, in the American analysis, for Israel’s security as well.
Yet more is at issue for Israel, and for the Persian Gulf Arab states led by Saudi Arabia. They want to keep Iran in purdah.
Indeed, since the Iranian Revolution ran out of steam outside its borders, the essential questions about the challenge Iran poses have been the following: Will it be able to compete for power and position in the region, and, how can Iran’s competition be dealt with?
The first response, led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is to decry whatever might be agreed to in the talks, no matter how objectively good the results would be for everyone’s security. He has the Saudis and other Arab states as silent partners.
Between them, the Israeli and oil lobbies command a lot of attention in the U.S. Congress, a large part of whose members would otherwise accept that President Obama’s standard for an agreement meets the tests of both U.S. security and the security of its partners in the Middle East.
But a large fraction of Congress is no more willing to take on these two potent lobbies than the National Rifle Association.
Netanyahu will also do all he can to prevent the relaxation of any of the sanctions imposed on Iran. But even if he and his U.S. supporters succeed on Capitol Hill, President Obama can on his own suspend some of those sanctions—though exactly how much is being debated.
The U.S. does not have the last word on sanctions, however. The moment there is a final agreement, the floodgates of economic trade and investment with Iran will open. Europeans, in particular, are lined up with their order books, like Americans in 1889 who awaited the starter’s pistol to begin the Oklahoma land rush.
In response, U.S. private industry will ride up Capitol Hill to demand the relaxation of U.S.-mandated sanctions. Meanwhile, the sighs of relief resounding throughout the world will begin changing the international political climate concerning Iran.
Yet America’s concerns will not cease. While the U.S. and Iran have similar interests in opposing the Islamic State (ISIS or IS), and in wanting to see Afghanistan free from reconquest by of the Taliban, they are still far apart on other matters, notably the Assad regime in Syria, as well as Hezbollah and Hamas.
President Obama will also have an immediate problem in reassuring Israel and Gulf Arab states that American commitments to their security are sincere. To be sure, absent an Iranian nuclear weapon, there is no real Iranian military threat and all the Western weapons pumped into the Persian Gulf are thus essentially useless.
Iran’s real challenges emanate from its dynamic domestic economy, a highly educated, entrepreneurial culture that is matched in the region only by Israelis and Palestinians, and a good deal of cultural appeal even beyond Shi’a communities.
Obama thus faces a special problem in reassuring Israel, a problem that goes back decades. When the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty was signed in 1979, the risks of a major Arab attack on Israel sank virtually to zero. So, too, did the risk of an Arab-Israeli conflict escalating to the level of a U.S.-Soviet confrontation. All at once, U.S. and Israeli strategic concerns were no longer obviously linked.
Thus as soon as Israel withdrew from the Sinai in May 1979, then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin started searching for an alternative basis for linking American and Israeli strategic interests.
For him and for many other Israelis, then and now, it is not enough that the American people are firmly committed to Israel’s security for what could be called “sentimental” reasons: bonds of history (especially memories of the Holocaust), culture, religion, and the values of Western democracy.
But such “sentiment” is the strongest motivation for all U.S. commitments, a far stronger glue than strategic calculations that can and often do change, a fact that could be testified to by the people of South Vietnam and Afghanistan.
Yet for Begin and others, there had to be at least a strong similarity of strategic interests. Thus, in a meeting with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance the day after Egypt retook possession of the Sinai, Begin complained that the US had cancelled its “strategic dialogue” with Israel. Vance tasked me, as the National Security Council staff representative on his travelling team, to find out “what the heck Begin is talking about.”
I phoned Washington and got the skinny: the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment had been conducting a low-level dialogue with some Israeli military officers. Proving to be of little value, it was stopped.
The reason for Begin’s outburst thus became clear: in the absence of the strategic tie with the United States that had been provided by the conflict with Egypt, Israel needed something else, in effect, a common enemy.
That’s why many Israeli political stakeholders were ambivalent about the George W. Bush administration’s ambitions to topple Iraq’s Saddam Hussein: with his overthrow, a potential though remote threat to Israel would be removed, but so would the perception of a common enemy. Since Saddam’s ousting, Iran has gained even more importance for Israel as a means of linking Jerusalem’s strategic perceptions with those of Washington.
By the same political logic, Israel has always asserted that it is a strategic asset for the United States. As part of recognising Israel’s psychological needs, no U.S. official ever publicly challenges that Israeli assertion regardless of what they think in private or however much damage the U.S. might suffer politically in the region because of Israeli activities, including the building of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
So what must Obama do in order to eliminate the risk of an Iranian nuclear weapon, while also reassuring Israel of US fealty? On one side, to be able to honour an agreement with Iran, Obama has to undercut Netanyahu’s efforts with Congress to prevent any sanctions relief.
On the other side, he could reassure Israel through the classic means of buttressing the flow of arms, including the anti-missile capabilities of the Iron Dome that were so useful to Israel during the recent fighting in Gaza.
Israel would want even closer strategic cooperation with the U.S., including consultations on the full range of U.S. thinking and planning on all relevant issues in the Middle East. Israel (at least Netanyahu) would also want any notion of further negotiations with the Palestinians, and the relaxation of economic pressures on Gaza, put into the deep freeze—where, in effect, they already are.
Israel has an inherent, sovereign right to defend itself and to make, for and by itself, calculations about what that means. (The country is not unified, however: a surprising number of former leaders of the Israeli military and security agencies have publicly differed with Netanyahu’s pessimistic assessments of the Iranian threat).
As Israel’s only real friend in the world, the United States continues to have an obligation, within reason, to reassure Israel about its security and safety.
For Obama, this reassurance to Israel is a price worth paying in the event of a deal, which would be at least one step in trying to build security and stability in an increasingly turbulent Middle East. But that can only happen if Israel refrains from obstructing Obama’s effort to make everyone, including Israel, more secure.
Robert E. Hunter, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, was director of Middle East Affairs on the National Security Council Staff in the Carter administration and in 2011-12 was director of Transatlantic Security Studies at the National Defense University. Read his work on IPS’s foreign policy blog, LobeLog.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, IPS-Inter Press Service.
Edited by Kitty Stapp
Licensed from Inter Press Service

105 comments:

  1. >>>>> the American people are firmly committed to Israel’s security for what could be called “sentimental” reasons: bonds of history (especially memories of the Holocaust), culture, religion, and the values of Western democracy<<<<<

    These are, after all, the things that really count.

    That is why we should always support Israel.

    Culture counts.

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    1. The first book published in the Massachusetts Colony had its first 100 or so pages written in Hebrew. The Puritans came as close as any group to capturing a sense of oneness with Judaism in certain aspects. Indeed, they thought themselves the New Israel. Without doubt this attraction carried over into all their institutions.

      Puritanism and Puritans may be the most misunderstood religious and political movement in history. They forever changed and helped emancipate England. Even common Puritan tradesmen were well read and highly literate. The longest account of the English Civil War, 2000 plus pages, was written by a wood turner.

      Jonathan Edwards was/is one of Americas greatest philosophers when read in depth and recognizing his heritage and the times in which he thought, wrote, and preached.

      http://www.neh.gov/humanities/2014/novemberdecember/feature/jonathan-edwards-in-new-light-remembered-preaching-fire-and
      Jonathan Edwards in a New Light: Remembered for Preaching Fire and Brimstone, He Was Actually One of the Great Intellectuals of His Era.

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    2. When I say "New Israel", I am aware that Christians had practiced a bigoted and hateful form of "replacement theology" for nearly 1500 years. The Puritans tenderly looked to the Tanakh for guidance in life and law, applying these sincerely rather than hypocritically and basely.

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    3. It is hardly a shock that a zionist would be lauding the Puritans, however tentatively.

      John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts Bay, assumed that he could transfer the principles of nationhood found in ancient Israel to the Massachusetts Bay Company with no need for explanation. This led the Puritans to interpret Scripture in an ultimately pretentious way that gave their own state and society the exalted status of a New Israel. Old Testament law was directly, if not exclusively, incorporated into the legal systems of New England. The Massachusetts "Body of Liberties" of 1641 stated that "if any man after legal conviction shall have or worship any other god, but the lord god, he shall be put to death." Death was also prescribed for witchcraft, blasphemy, murder, sodomy, homosexuality, adultery, and kidnapping. Old Testament texts were copied directly into the New England law books. The most notorious cases of major miscarriage of justice in New England were the Salem witchcraft executions. (See: The Search for Christian America, pp. 34-35.)

      The Puritans viewed themselves as God's special people, replacing national Israel. Nowhere do the dangers of this assumption become more clear than in the Puritans' treatment of the native Americans. Since the Puritans considered themselves God's chosen people, they concluded that they had the right to take the land from the heathen Indians. The American Indians were the "new Canaanites" in America's "Promised Land." The fruit of Puritan theology was brutal. They saw their mission as convert these "Canaanites" to Christianity; failing that, it was acceptable to slaughter them in the name of Christ.

      For example, the Puritan massacres of the Pequot Indian tribe on May 26, 1637, and again on July 14, 1637, were deemed by the Puritans to be directed by God -- Captain John Mason declared, "God laughed his Enemies and the Enemies of his People to Scorn, making them as a fiery Oven ... Thus did the Lord judge among the Heathen, filling the Place with dead Bodies" (Segal and Stinenback, Puritans, Indians, and Manifest Destiny, pp. 111-112, 134-135). Converting the pagans for God was acceptable to the Puritans, but killing the pagans for the Lord was also acceptable!


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    4. It does have a familiar tone. Killing for the Lord, the loving god of the Christians and Jews.

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    5. Yes, there were the witch trials. How many died before the authorities regained their senses? Now, the Inquisition was something else.

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    6. Humans are imperfect, sad to say but "nothing is great or small save by comparison." You failed to reference the vast Puritan plantations stocked by the slave trade. Oh, that's right, it was the Puritans and their descendants who eventually banned the trade of black Africans. That single act probably saved several million souls.

      As to governance, read the Mayflower Compact.

      Native Americans were ill treated, common even today. If it is any consolation, during the time frame in question, the English Civil War raged, killing, comparatively, as many Englishmen as were killed in WWI.

      Humans are imperfect, sad to say. Some of us live with that and do the best we can to bring change, as did the Puritans. Others, like you, carp -- querulously, unreasonably, sophomorically.

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  2. I have been reading about 'Palestinian' radio and TV as it is these days. It is just like radio and newsprint was back when Martha Gellhorn wrote about it so long ago -

    One long scream of hate.

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    1. What good has it ever done them?

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    2. Bob,

      Israel must be made to suffer for having survived the Gazan onslaught with so few casualties. Some think that the lack of proportionality shows some sort of cosmic imbalance that must be righted. Consequently, they absolutely salivate at the thought of Jews brutally murdered, thinking that this will somehow make amends for the needless deaths in Gaza. And the deaths were needless, but that was not the fault of Israel; it was the fault of the savages reigning their and their ignorant supporters.

      Simply, don't show up at a gunfight carrying a knife and don't throw helpless women and children into the bullets' path.

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    3. I think your uber-victim dance card may be getting a little over punched.

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    4. No not Ăśber victim, but the anger that no matter what the savages throw at the Jews? They learned to fight back and minimize the effects the savages throw at them

      You see deuce? We learned.

      We accept that we are hated. We accept you don't LIKE us.

      But finally after ww2 we learned.

      NEVER AGAIN means just that.

      If you fuck with us? We will give you a funking that you will remember, for decades.

      The Palestinians are pissed, spent billions and billions on super cool tunnels and bunkers, billions on ammo dumps that would have made Hogan (of Hogan's Heroes) weep.

      They had those "terror tunnels" all set, handcuffs, drugs, burlap bags, duct tape kidnap kits all READY…

      and the Rockets and Missiles!!!!

      dozens of convoys, ships, and caravans smuggling in in pieces tens of thousands of pieces and parts for their victories planned murder of thousands of Jews…

      all gone POOF…

      I guess Allah just pissed down their throat again…

      LOL

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    5. Deuce ☂Thu Nov 20, 02:37:00 AM EST
      I think your uber-victim dance card may be getting a little over punched.


      The victims were the innocent pushed into harms way. You could be their spokesman.

      If Jews are victims now, it is by choice. As Lebanon and Gaza proved, we can reduce our adversaries to rats sifting through rubble.

      If the Gazans collect 1/10 of the aid promised, I will be surprised. As the past proves, talk is cheap. Gaza will be left in its misery, further aggravated by Egyptian squeezing.

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    6. Hamas just blew up 15 or so Fatah leaders homes in the gaza strip…

      Egypt just doubled the new buffer zone between egypt and gaza on the rafah border…

      Hundreds of gazans homes being bull dozed by egypt…

      Hamas killing scores of egyptians in the sinai last week and having mortar exchanges exchanges with them..

      All going well

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    7. As I recall, 800 homes are being razed and >10,000 residents displaced. While the decision has not yet been taken, the original 500 meter buffer zone may be increased to 1000 meters, causing vastly greater misery. Strangely, our crusader for Palestinians is quiet on this score. Maybe if Egypt would contract with an Israeli firm to supply bulldozers, he would come alive to the "evil".

      :-)

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  3. Brad Pitt in 'Fury' didn't fight right to the very end to secure The Crossroads from jerry just to have our foreign policy turned in favor of a bunch of Nazi loving moslems !

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  4. When Israel gets the civil war it is itching for, it will quickly find it not quite what they planned. The ethnic cleansing, land theft and demographic changes will take their toll. Israel will attempt to complete the ethnic cleansing that has been Israeli policy since 1947. Will they get away with it? Who knows? Will Isis shift focus and join the fray? Will the Russians respond to predictable US compliance with the religious fanatics in Israel?

    I wouldn’t be too filled with Judaic bravado on this one. The Odds that it won’t happen? Slim to none.

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    1. Civil war?

      No the savages at the gates are attacking…

      Nothing civil about it…

      Once again, the arabs are about to screw up big time…

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  5. Obama’s immigration plan is also bad news for the demographic support of Israel, The US hard core Christian conservatives nut jobs are declining and there is no indication that the newly minted US citizens will be voting to support an ethnically cleansing Israel. Israel’s sympathy bank has a declining depositor base. Demographics in the US, Europe and Israel itself are heading in the wrong direction of support for zionism.

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    1. Actually the overwhelming majority of spanish illegals?

      Are pro-israel, pro-jesus and yes anti-abortion and PRO church.

      They don't want their kids to get pregnant, have abortions, have single mother families…. Traditional values the lot…

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    2. The US public will remain in Israel's corner for many years to come. While I believe that American Jews will eventually suffer persecution, neither you nor I will live to see that day.

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  6. I just hope that the US doesn’t have to clean up their mess.

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  7. SHANGHAI, November 20. /TASS/. Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu will pay an official visit to Pakistan on Thursday.

    Russian Deputy Defense Ministry
    © ITAR-TASS/Sergei Karpov

    It will be the first visit by Russia’s defence minister to that country after the collapse of the former Soviet Union. The latest such visit took place as far back as 1969, when USSR Defence Minister Andrei Grechko made a trip to that country.

    While in Islamabad, Shoigu will have talks with his Pakistani counterpart Khawadja Asif, Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, who accompanies Shoigu on the current visit, told journalists.

    “It is expected that the Russian defence minister will be received by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,” Konashenkov said, adding that Shoigu’s talks would center round topical issues of regional security and measures to invigorate defence and military technical cooperation between the two countries.

    “The two defence ministers plan to sign an agreement on military cooperation,” the spokesman said.

    A source in the Russian delegation said that the agreement will have a framework nature and will serve as a legal basis for closer cooperation between the two countries’ defence ministries.

    In May 2014, Khawadja Asif took part in the third conference on international security in Moscow. On the sidelines of the conference, he met with his Russian counterpart. The two ministers then agreed that constructive cooperation between their countries was needed on the regional level.

    Back then, Shoigu pointed to the topicality of Afghanistan-related subjects. He also called for further efforts to stabilize the situation in the region. “Naturally, we are interested in you, as the closest neighbours and people involved in Afghanistan-related processes,” Shoigu said.
    The Russian defence minister was on an official visit to China from November 17 through 19.

    NATURALLY”

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  8. MOSCOW, November 19. /TASS/. Solution to the decade-old crisis over Iran’s nuclear program could promote stability in the Middle East region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

    Russia’s initiatives to resolve the issue on the principles of a phased approach and reciprocity have “gained broad international recognition” and provide the basis for the approaches that are currently being discussed during the talks between Tehran and P5+1 group, Lavrov said.
    “The progress in this direction could have a positive effect on the situation in the Middle East and contribute to success of the efforts which are made to create a zone in the Middle East that would be free of weapons of mass destruction,” Lavrov said.

    Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Tuesday that Iran and the P5+1 group (five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) are “in half step” from solving Tehran’s nuclear problem.
    Western nations suspect Iran of using its nuclear research for developing atomic weapons while Iran insists its nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes only.

    {...}

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    1. {...}

      Iran’s accession to SCO

      The likely admission of India and Pakistan to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will not diminish the role of Russia and China in that organization, while the idea of Iran’s accession to the SCO that may follow the settlement of the Iranian nuclear program is getting ever more crucial, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the State Duma on Wednesday.

      “I don’t think that the admission of these countries to the SCO will dilute or lower the role of Russia and China to any extent,” he said. “One should feel no fear to have fundamental, responsible, major, growing partners.”
      Lavrov believes that on the contrary the focus should be on consolidating the positions of those countries that do not represent the historic West, which has traditionally dominated in world politics, of the countries that rely not on bloc discipline, but on their national interests, just like Russia.”

      Besides, “with the settlement of the Iranian nuclear program the question of Teheran’s SCO membership will become very crucial, too.
      Lavrov stressed Russia’s interest in lending dynamics to the SCO activities along all tracks and in enhancing the effectiveness of its anti-terrorist and anti-drug potential.”

      “The priorities of our foreign policy work next year will be connected with Russia’s presidency of the SCO and BRICS,” he said. “We shall host the summits of these organizations in Ufa next summer.”
      Lavrov believes that the role of BRICS in world affairs is getting ever more significant.
      “The establishment of a new development bank with an authorized capital of 100 billion dollars and an as big virtual pool of currency reserves is expected to maintain the stability of the international currency and financial system,” Lavrov believes. “The importance is growing of coordinated positions by the BRICS countries in the international scene, which was confirmed at the G20 summit in Australia. In particular, that was seen in discussions of the reform of the international currency and financial system and of issues concerning the political situation in the world.

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    2. In case you forgot:

      The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was set up on June 15, 2001. It includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan have the observer status. The member-countries conduct regular joint anti-terrorist exercises. The Peace Mission drills are the major maneuvres on the SCO space.

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    3. Economic growth is impossible without security

      Another issue of utmost importance that the Russian Prime Minister talked about during the meeting in Naypyidaw was regional security. He mentioned the increase of terrorist threats, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the regional conflicts. According to Medvedev, by the time of the next year’s summit in Malaysia, “a consolidated concept of the future regional security system based on the initiatives of Russia, China, India and Indonesia could be prepared.” Russia has already submitted a related draft action plan.

      According to the head of the Centre for Military Forecasting Anatoly Tsyganok, a regional security system may include three main vectors. “The first one is the creation of defense centres. Russia had previously offered NATO to create regional defence centres (in Europe and in the US), but it has never been realized. In Russia, such a centre could be established in the Far East (Khabarovsk, Vladivostok).”

      According to Tsyganok, China and India, which possess missile defence systems, also have the possibility to create such centres. “The second, and very vital vector, is fighting piracy,” he said. The third important issue that requires consolidated efforts is struggling against jihadists in the Middle East.

      NOTE: Iran is deeply involved against Isis. The Gulf States, Saudi Arabia and Israel were not. The US needs to get its priorities straight in the ME. Support for Israeli security is one thing, supporting Israeli reckless and bad behavior is another. Just another example of the incredible liability the comes to the US for its absurd subsequence to Israeli actions.

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  9. On Nov. 13, the Journal’s op-ed page was given over to Mark Dubowitz and Reuel Marc Gerecht of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Assuming nuclear talks with Iran conclude unsuccessfully by the Nov. 24 deadline, they write, we have four options.

    Two involve continued or tougher sanctions. The other two are a preemptive war featuring U.S. air and missile strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, or a U.S. attack to bring down Bashar Assad’s regime.

    “Taking Mr. Assad down would let Tehran know that America’s withdrawal from the Middle East and President Obama’s dreams of an entente with Iran are over.”

    It would surely do that.

    But taking down the Syrian regime could also lead to a slaughter of Christians and Alawites, an al Qaida-ISIS takeover in Damascus, war with Iran, and attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and across the Middle East.

    Which raises a question: What is this FDD?

    Answer: A War Party think tank that in 2011, according to Philip Weiss of Mondoweiss website and Eli Clifton of Salon, took in $19 million from five rabidly pro-Israel givers.

    Home Depot’s Bernard Marcus gave $10.7 million, hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer $3.6 million. Sheldon Adelson, the Vegas-Macau casino kingpin, chipped in $1.5 million.

    Last week, Adelson and media mogul Haim Saban spoke of plans to dump hundreds of millions into the presidential campaigns of 2016.

    What does the pair want from our next president? According to the Washington Post’s Phil Rucker and Tom Hamburger, action on Iran:

    “Saban said that fundamentalist Iranians represent a real threat. If necessary to defend Israel, and as a last resort, he added, ‘I would bomb the living daylights out of the sons of bitches.’”

    Echoed the 81-year-old Adelson, “I would not just talk. I would take action.”

    {...}

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  10. {...}

    Last year, at Yeshiva University, Adelson, who pumped $150 million into the 2012 campaign, said the U.S. should fire a nuclear missile into the Iranian desert as a warning to end their nuclear program, or the next atom bomb would be dropped on Teheran.

    This billionaires boys club wants to buy U.S. foreign policy and a U.S. war on Iran. And the propagandists of FDD are paid to produce that war, in which they will not be doing the fighting and dying.

    Back to the Journal. On Nov. 15, its lead editorial declared that the great “question before President Obama and Europe is how to stop the Napoleon of the Kremlin.”

    Putin is Napoleon? Has the Journal lost it?

    Vladimir Putin is 62. By age 40, Napoleon’s empire encompassed nearly all of Europe. France had swallowed Belgium, Holland, parts of Germany and the Italian coast to Rome. The Emperor had alliances with Austria, Russia, Denmark, Sweden and a truncated Prussia.

    Virtually all the resources, industries and populations of Continental Europe were at the service of the French Empire.

    Putin has reacquired Crimea, which belonged to Russia before the United States was a nation, and is about the size of Vermont.

    Napoleon made it to Moscow. Does the Journal think Putin will make it to Paris, as Czar Alexander I did, or to Berlin, as Stalin did?

    The Journal hails the Senate Foreign Relations Committee 18-0 vote to arm the Ukrainians, and urges Congress to do the same.

    And what would be the result of U.S. heavy weapons arriving in Kiev?

    Would Putin recoil in shock and awe and scurry out of Crimea?

    Probably not, as the Journal itself concedes, “In 15 years running Russia, Mr. Putin has never stood down.”

    And if Putin, seeing U.S. weapons arriving in Kiev, sent in the Russian army to annex Luhansk and Donetsk, took Mariupol on the Black Sea coast, established a land bridge to Crimea, and then offered to negotiate, what would Kiev do?

    Even with U.S. weapons Ukraine cannot defeat Russia.

    What would we do? Accept defeat? Send U.S. advisers or troops into Ukraine? Launch strikes on Russian forces? Blockade Crimea? Are we really prepared for war with Russia, over Donetsk?

    Since Nov. 4, the Journal and its neocon allies have been cawing for U.S. troops to fight ISIL in Iraq and Syria, for U.S. air strikes on Assad’s regime, for bombing Iran, and for arming Ukraine to fight the Russians in a war that Kiev would surely lose.

    Was this what America voted for on Nov. 4?

    Is this what the Grand Old Party has on offer — endless war?

    Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of the new book “The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority.”

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  11. Deuce ☂Thu Nov 20, 02:33:00 AM EST
    Obama’s immigration plan is also bad news for the demographic support of Israel, The US hard core Christian conservatives nut jobs are declining and there is no indication that the newly minted US citizens will be voting to support an ethnically cleansing Israel.
    \


    Since there are more arabs today that live inside Israel as citizens than existed in the entire region in 1948 it seems, once again, you are distorting, libeling and down right lying....

    And if you look at the population of arabs in gaza and the west bank? Their number have skyrocketed as well since the Jewish state was founded.

    All in all? There has never been as many arabs living "from the river to the sea" in all of history as there is today....

    Thanks Israel.

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  12. Another fine example of bullshit:

    Deuce ☂Thu Nov 20, 02:24:00 AM EST
    When Israel gets the civil war it is itching for, it will quickly find it not quite what they planned. The ethnic cleansing, land theft and demographic changes will take their toll. Israel will attempt to complete the ethnic cleansing that has been Israeli policy since 1947.



    I see you have completely lost your mind.

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    1. He needs to read current pending legislation before the Knesset.

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    2. There will be no "civil war". The vast majority of Arab-Israelis would not change places with there brothers for all the tea in China. They have it made and know it.

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    3. Deuce and others like him cannot face the reality that the true enemy of the arab people are their leaders and not Israel or the Jews

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    4. If you view Israel as occupying the land between the river and the sea the notion of a civil war isn't so far fetched.

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    6. WiO, you are notorious for your selective viewing of things. If the borders of Israel were to expand to the River and the Sea then there would be a lot of new citizens of Israel because there are a lot of folk that live in that area. I know you have wet dreams of expelling all those Arabs so that Jews can occupy that area but fortunately, I believe, the majority of Israelis aren't as sick as you. The new Israelis, those Palestinians and Arabs you hate so much, would then reside within Israel's borders and the hatred may continue. That is where a civil war notion is not far fetched as Israelis would be fighting Israelis.

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    7. "Civil war" has a cachet absent from "barbarous terrorism" and "gruesome murder". Doubtless, it will become the new meme.

      I am becoming more convinced that only a single state solution will bring peace in the long-term. It seems that more Israelis are coming to this conclusion as well.

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    8. One problem with a single state solution is the desire to have Israel defined as a Jewish state.

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    9. AshThu Nov 20, 12:02:00 PM EST
      WiO, you are notorious for your selective viewing of things. If the borders of Israel were to expand to the River and the Sea then there would be a lot of new citizens of Israel because there are a lot of folk that live in that area.

      I never have advocated an Israel with the borders from the "river to the sea"

      Delete
    10. Ash : I know you have wet dreams of expelling all those Arabs so that Jews can occupy that area but fortunately,



      I have a wet dream to expel the violent savages of Gaza into the Sinai and IF the Palestinians that live on the west bank become that? Then expel them to Jordan

      However the reason I would advocate expelling them would be their own violence and war making. Not as the goal of "occupying" the lands.

      Motivation is key…

      I advocated way back when I thought it was possible, an arab state for palestinians that could live in peace with Israel.

      I am now of the opinion that I was wrong. The people that call themselves "palestinians"? are incapable of running a modern, pluralistic nation.

      They JUST as capable as ISIS or ISIL, or anyone one of a dozen murderous dictatorships to run a nation that way.

      Delete
    11. ash and his "fiction" says:
      That is where a civil war notion is not far fetched as Israelis would be fighting Israelis.

      As we speak right now, there are 1.2 million arab citizens of the state of israel. The overwhelming majority are thrilled at not becoming part of a "palestine". there is no "civil war" between Israelis of Jew and Arab nationality predicted.

      Now their are arabs that live in Jerusalem and the west bank that are looking for war.

      And with luck? They will get a bullet to the head.

      :)

      Delete
    12. AshThu Nov 20, 12:21:00 PM EST
      One problem with a single state solution is the desire to have Israel defined as a Jewish state.

      One problem with having 22 arab moslem nation is the desire to have them defined as the absence of Jews

      Delete
    13. Deuce and others like him cannot face the reality that the true enemy of the arab people are their leaders and not Israel or the Jews

      that has a universal ring of truth that applies to more than the Arabs.

      Delete
    14. maybe but at this moment in history, the arab peoples are singularly the most screwed by their leaders than any others on the planet (with the exception of north korea)

      Delete
  13. Here is a fact.

    The current issues concerning Israel and settlements? the Temple Mount? Are all a smoke screen.

    The Issue is simple.

    The Arabs, who control 899/900th do not accept Israel as a Jewish State and that the JEW has no rights to live there.

    Period.

    For 1500 years the Arabs had the upper hand. Murdering, raping, looting, taxing and subjugating the Jews of the middle east at their whim.

    Now things have changed and the Arabs cannot murder a Jew without the Jews fighting back. And the Arabs just don't cotton to uppity Jews.

    Jews, according to the Arabs, should KNOW they are inferior and be thankful that the Arabs allow them to exist at all.

    The fight, as pointed out by the recent chopping of arms off and shooting of 4 Rabbis while in prayer at a non-zionist Synagogue in PRE-green line West Jerusalem and the subsequent cartoons showing the brave Palestinians killing "jews" (not-israelis) in assorted PA, Hamas, Jordanian press is against the JEW not just Israel.

    No compromise, no land exchange, no refugee acceptance will suffice.

    The arabs want Jew blood...

    They have always wanted Jew blood.

    They had pogroms in the 1920's before the modern state was created.

    There is only one solution. Israel must be strong, have strong borders and destroy anyone that tries to destroy it....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I saw a cartoon last evening wherein the rabbis were armed...obscene...cowards and liars...

      Delete
    2. I can't wait for one of these assholes to show up at an event where Americans (who carry) are…

      Delete
    3. AshThu Nov 20, 12:21:00 PM EST
      One problem with a single state solution is the desire to have Israel defined as a Jewish state.

      If Israel incorporated Judea and Samaria, Israel would have a Jewish majority into the foreseeable future, given current fertility rates. As is now the case in Israel, Arabs desiring citizenship would be granted Israeli citizenship. As is now the case in Israel, members of the Knesset would be chosen by majority vote from electoral districts. Given the fractious nature of Israeli politics, Arabs could form powerful coalitions and would most certainly be a force with which to be reckoned.

      In 1967-1970, Jordan revoked the Jordanian citizenship of hundreds of thousands of its former "West Bank" subjects and tens of thousands of Transjordanians. They got away with this because Jordanians are not Jews and Arabs only matter if they a) have oil or b) have a dispute with Jews. Jordan might be convinced to take back into the fold its children of Judea and Samaria who reject Israeli citizenship.

      Delete
    4. The initial problem, I think, would be the initial status of the residents of Judea and Sumaria. It would be problematic if they weren't considered Israelis.

      Delete
    5. Let's let hamas and fatah fight it out 1st

      see how many left alive...

      then we can figure it out..

      Delete
    6. So, you are happy with the status quo then?

      Delete
  14. drip, drip, drip

    “Spanish MPs have urged their government to recognise the Palestinian state.
    The a non-binding resolution presented by the socialists won the backing of all the political groups of the lower house, and would only ask for recognition when the Palestinians and Israel negotiate a solution to their long-running conflict.

    “The Spanish Parliament unanimously believe that the recognition of the Palestinian state is the best contribution we can make to achieve peace.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually this is a good thing.

      the moment "Palestine" is a nation?

      ALL REFUGEES will have to be resettled into that state…

      Delete
  15. ... inflation, there's no stickin' inflation ...

    Iron ore prices extend their historic decline, approaching $70/dry ton in a retreat to the lowest level in more than five years, as analysts rule out any Chinese restocking that typically supports prices towards the end of each year.

    The price is now at a level at which all but the three biggest low-cost producers - Rio Tinto (RIO -2.4%), BHP Billiton (BHP -3%) and Fortescue (OTCPK:FSUMF -8.8%) - are either generating losses or are struggling to break even.

    Steel stocks also are getting whacked: SCHN -5.4%, X -4%, PKX -3%, AKS -3%, CMC -2.7%, STLD -2.5%, NUE -1.6%, MT -1.3%.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Nikkei Stock Average posted its biggest one-day drop since August after Q3 GDP data showed that Japan had slipped into recession. Following a severe contraction in Q2, GDP fell at an annualized 1.6% pace in the July-September quarter, setting the stage for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to delay an unpopular sales tax hike and call a snap election.

      The Nikkei, which previously surged to seven-year highs following the BOJ’s stimulus measures, closed down 3% at 16,973.80 on the news.

      Delete
    2. "Six years on from the financial crash that brought the world to its knees, red warning lights are once again flashing on the dashboard of the global economy,"

      David Cameron writes in a Guardian op-ed.

      "As I met world leaders at the G20...the problems were plain to see. The eurozone is teetering on the brink of a possible third recession. Emerging markets...are now slowing down...while the epidemic of Ebola, conflict in the Middle East and Russia’s illegal actions in Ukraine are all adding a dangerous backdrop of instability and uncertainty."

      Delete
  16. Former Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia on Thursday announced that he's forming a presidential exploratory committee, becoming the first prominent Democrat to make a formal foray into the 2016 contest.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Obesity is now a threat to the world economy to rival war and terrorism, according to a new report published Thursday.
    Taking together the costs of healthcare, of lost productivity and other spending needed to mitigate its impact ...

    ReplyDelete
  18. SodaStream's (NASDAQ:SODA) test program with PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) brand SodaCaps began this month in Orlando and Tampa area retail locations. The picture below depicts the partner products on the shelf of an Orlando, Florida Bed Bath and Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) store location.

    There are 5 variations of PepsiCo brand beverage products and new SodaStream/PepsiCo tear-shaped, ½ liter bottles for sale at the retailer.

    For the test program, PepsiCo is offering Pepsi, Pepsi Vanilla and Wild Cherry, Sierra Mist Caffeine Free, Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash Caffeine Free and Sierra Mist Peach Caffeine Free flavors. Each package comes with four SodaCaps and makes four ½ liter bottles of beverage. Each package costs $3.49. The simple math equates to, including carbonation, $4.00 for two liters of Pepsi beverage. The new ½ liter bottles are only $4.99 for a package of two and labeled as Pepsi Homemade, just like the SodaCap packages.

    For those without consumer goods and beverage industry background, you're probably thinking that the price for these Pepsi SodaCaps is quite high. You would be right in thinking that.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Israel eases gun control rules after Jerusalem terror attack
    The new guidelines will add Jerusalem and 41 other cities, towns and local councils to the list of areas in Israel considered “high-risk”.

    Jack is right, there is a civil war brewing in Occupied Palestine, from the mountains to the sea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. so the coward of the blog has to talk to himself and agree with himself once again…

      LOL

      What a loser

      Delete
    2. ... step in dog shit and you smell like dog shit ...

      Delete
  20. Mosul's Chief Haidcutter dead from "hellfire up the ass" disease.

    Virgins, meet Hamdoon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Correction: It is Radwan Taleb al-Hamdouni.

      Hamdoon has nothing to do with the Haidcutters.

      Delete
  21. Philly Fed an insane 40.8.

    LEI (leading economic indicators) up 0.9, following 0.8 last month.

    ReplyDelete
  22. How to get rick quick category -

    November 20, 2014
    Report: Putin robbed Crimean banks, won't give money back to ordinary people
    By Rick Moran

    This is an incredible report from Reuters that reveals the financial chaos initiated by Russia in Crimea following Putin's land-grab.

    Apparently, Ukraine banks are having to write off billions in loans because ordinary Crimeans are unable to access their checking and savings accounts, so they can't repay their debts.

    The reason? Those accounts were drained by Russia following the takeover.

    "They are not returning the money," complained Margarita Pobudilova, a 77-year-old retired factory worker who for months has been unable to access more than $3,000 of her life savings.

    Ten months after Russia invaded this Black Sea peninsula and seized it from Ukraine, the financial fallout is still being felt. Thousands of ordinary citizens have little or no access to their funds. Losses for Ukrainian banks continue to mount as billions of dollars worth of loans they issued in Crimea go unpaid. Lawyers for the banks are preparing legal actions against Russia, which confiscated many of the banks' buildings, equipment and cash.

    Meanwhile, Crimea has been thrust into a kind of technological time warp: Most ATMs no longer accept non-Russian bank cards; foreign credit cards can't be used to buy things. Most non-local mobile phones can't receive a signal. And even if they could, calling other Crimeans is complicated: Most of the peninsula's residents recently had to get new mobile phone numbers because Ukrainian services were cut off.

    The banking and phone chaos are another front in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

    In Crimea, which has been part of Ukraine for 60 years, Russia has basically blown up the existing banking system, forcing Ukrainian banks to close, banning the Ukrainian currency and replacing the region's retail banking network almost overnight. The resulting economic turmoil has shuttered some businesses and complicated life for thousands, forcing people to deal with a Kafkaesque bureaucracy to try to get their money returned.

    For all the havoc Russian President Vladimir Putin's conquest has caused, many living here don't blame him for their hardship. In interviews, residents accused Ukrainian banks and the government in Kiev of stealing their money. That distrust indicates – at least for now – a victory for Russia in the propaganda war and suggests that Kiev's chances of regaining the peninsula soon are slim.

    People believe what they want to believe, so it's not surprising that Putin can get away with bank robbery and Crimeans will thank him for it. But it's further proof that Putin runs a criminal gang more akin to a Cosa Nostra family than a modern government.

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/11/report_putin_robbed_crimean_banks__wont_give_money_back_to_ordinary_people.html

    ReplyDelete
  23. Rape racism in America must be condemned -

    November 20, 2014
    White skin privilege liberal Bill Clinton can rape but not black conservative Bill Cosby
    By Ethel C. Fenig

    As allegations of past rapes by conservative black comedian against actresses, models and others continue pouring out so do the repercussions.

    NBC and Netflix have dropped plans to develop a new situation comedy with the (once?) beloved late 1980s sitcom star "who was one of the biggest prime-time comedy stars in the history of NBC" while Netflix has "postponed" airing a comedy special, already filmed, featuring Cosby. David Letterman canceled a scheduled Cosby appearance on his show and even black talk show hostess Queen Latifah nixed his showing up as the old charges of previous rapes began to surface.

    As of now, scheduled sold out Cosby performances this week are still on at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas and Melbourne, Florida as are those in Las Vegas next week and other venues.

    Meanwhile, accused white liberal rapist, former President Bill Clinton, has no such problems. He still dominates Democratic politics, commanding an average $195,000 per speech imparting his wisdom and insights while past allegations of rape and groping and using his power and charm to seduce women ignored--or secretly admired.

    The Clinton Foundation hauls in millions, supporting Bill and wife, stand-by-your-man, former New York State senator, former Secretary of State and potential presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, daughter Chelsea and hundreds of hangers on, in style. Women of all backgrounds, especially feminists, flock to his speeches as he tells them what they want to hear.

    Clinton's alleged victims haven't fared so well. Paula Jones was dismissed as "trailer trash" by Clinton, defending himself against her claims of rape which he later settled for $850,000. Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broaddrrick were scorned and mocked by Clintonistas after going public with their claims. Gennifer Flowers, charmed by Clinton in exchange for sex and talk of marriage, was mocked as silly; someone who couldn't even spell her first name correctly. Mention Monica Lewinsky, the 22 year old starry eyed intern in the Clinton White House, Clinton charmee, and (sometimes nervous) laughter erupts. Except from the victim herself. No complaints from liberal women about the degrading treatment of their "sisters."

    So the lesson seems to be liberal white male skin has its privileges; conservative black male skin is condemned any which way.

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/11/white_skin_privilege_liberal_bill_clinton_can_rape_but_not_black_conservative_bill_cosby.html

    ReplyDelete
  24. Landrieu down by 11 in latest poll.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LA SENATE POLL: Cassidy 56%, Landrieu 41%... Developing..............drudge

      15 points in latest, latest poll.................

      Delete
  25. Our good, true, most excellent friends the Turks, a NATO member, are major enablers of ISIS. ISIS ships oil out through Turkey and weapons are shipped into ISIS from Turkey. ISIS beheads pretty much any westerner they can get their hands on......

    Meanwhile NATO warplanes bomb around the edges............

    Perhaps it is past time to invite the Turks to leave NATO and invite the Israelis into NATO.

    ReplyDelete
  26. And then there's this article about fem PC run amok -

    November 20, 2014
    New York to launch taxpayer-funded 'shame campaign' against guys who sit wrong
    By Drew Belsky

    Tell a woman to keep her legs closed, and you get a Slut Walk marching through your town. Tell a man to keep his legs closed, and you're now a feminist hero in New York.

    Yesterday, TIME Magazine published an article bemoaning some men's tendency to sit in subway cars with their legs spread out. "It's like they have an imaginary sumo wrestlers sitting on the floor in front of them," Brian Moylan complains. "The problem with leg spreaders is that they are breaking the social contract that we need to abide by to survive in New York City."

    When a liberal brings up "the social contract," reach for your wallet. In this particular iteration, residents of New York get to pay their government to "Target Seat-Hogging Jerks With New PSAs."

    "[S]pace-hogging," says Margaret Elby at Brooklyn Magazine, "is one of those invisible trappings of privilege." On Twitter, feminist Guardian columnist Jessica Valenti (of free tampons fame) can't wait for the "shaming campaign" to begin.

    So calling out a style of dress that makes you uncomfortable unacceptably denigrates a woman's "presentation," but government programs to "shame" men who sit a certain way are A-OK. Slut-shaming: bad. Sit-shaming: good.

    This is an example of how feminists and other liberals conspire to make even the most harmless human interactions mind-bogglingly state-managed. "Affirmative consent" laws make it impossible for men and women to so much as touch each other without the looming threat of a witch hunt. Cosmopolitan peddles loneliness, emptiness, and suspicion so hard that its columnists are exhorting their readers to pay men to be friends with them. And now, the same women who wouldn't be caught dead sitting next to these men, regardless of their stance, are cheering for the government to step in where a simple "excuse me" would suffice.

    Keep in mind that no one is complaining about the "gendering" of this campaign. New York's MTA is perfectly comfortable targeting men exclusively for a behavior possible from members of both genders. Men and women are exactly the same, in other words, except when feminists need them not to be in order to fuel the outrage train.

    Sit-shaming. Another stellar example of feminist priorities.

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/11/shame_campaign_sit_wrong.html

    I'm so glad I live far away from subways.......

    ReplyDelete
  27. Amnesty - The Emperor Obama to speak tonight -



    White House didn't request coverage from English-speaking networks................drudge


    But will he speak in Spanish?

    ReplyDelete
  28. Obama’s Amnesty Will Add As Many Foreign Workers As New Jobs Since 2009
    10:37 AM 11/20/2014
    Neil Munro
    White House Correspondent

    President Barack Obama’s unilateral amnesty will quickly add as many foreign workers to the nation’s legal labor force as the total number of new jobs created by his economy since 2009.

    The plans, expected to be announced late Nov. 20, will distribute five million work permits to illegal immigrants, and also create a new inflow of foreign college graduates for prestigious salaried jobs, according to press reports.

    Obama has already provided or promised almost one million extra work permits to foreigners, while his economy has only added six million jobs since 2009.

    Under the president’s new amnesty plan, “up to four million undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for at least five years can apply. … An additional one million people will get protection from deportation through other parts of the president’s plan,” according to a Nov. 19 report in The New York Times.

    The five million total was attributed to “people briefed on his plans,” the Times reports.

    The five million work permits will add to Obama’s prior giveaways, which have provided work permits to almost one million foreigners.

    Since 2009, the U.S. economy has added only six million jobs, according to the International Monetary Fund.

    The total number of jobs rose from 139,894,000 in 2009, to 145,871,000 in 2014, according to the IMF. That’s an increase of 5,977,000 jobs in five years.

    Obama’s administration claims it has helped create 10 million jobs. If so, he is giving out one work permit for every two jobs created since his inauguration.

    Not all the five million illegal immigrants who get permits will work, and many are already working under fake names or for cash. However, their new work permits will allow them to compete for jobs now held or sought by blue-collar Americans, including the many African-Americans and Latinos who voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012.

    Polls show that the public is hostile to the amnesty plan and want Obama to work with Congress on immigration.

    Currently, less than one percent of the nation’s population of 12 million illegal immigrants are repatriated each year. Obama’s policy will likely shrink the repatriations, while providing millions with work permits.

    Obama’s total of six million extra work permits does not include the normal inflow of legal immigrants.

    Each year, the nation accepts one million new immigrants, or roughly five million since 2009. That total includes roughly 3.5 million working-age immigrants, which is slightly less than the number of Americans — 4.3 million — who turn 18 each year..............

    http://dailycaller.com/2014/11/20/obamas-amnesty-will-add-as-many-foreign-workers-as-new-jobs-since-2009/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chart Book: The Legacy of the Great Recession
      Updated November 13, 2014


      The Share of the Population with a Job Fell to Levels Not Seen Since the Mid-1980s

      Employment - Population Ratio

      The sharp rise in the unemployment rate and discouragement over the prospects of finding a job caused a decline in the percentage of the population in the labor force (those either working or looking for work). As a result of rising unemployment and declining labor force participation, the percentage of the population with a job fell sharply in the recession and has remained depressed in the recovery. The labor force participation rate has recently touched levels last seen in 1978 and the percentage of the population with a job has been stuck near levels last seen in the early 1980s.

      Delete
  29. AshThu Nov 20, 11:03:00 AM EST
    If you view Israel as occupying the land between the river and the sea the notion of a civil war isn't so far fetched.

    Since you are a Canadian, you have the luxury of distance to feed illusion. Were you an Arab-Israeli faced with the prospect of falling into the clutches of Fatah-Hamas via civil war, I think survival might have a chance of trumping your political agenda and you would regretfully choose to remain in Israel, whatever its boundaries. Ash, you might not noticed, but I have, there is no long queue begging to leave Israel for Yasser World.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If Israel's borders extended from the River to the Sea there would be numerous factions fighting it out just as they are now fighting it out but it would be a civil war simply because they would all be within the borders of 'Israel'. Fatah would probably fight with Hamas and the Jews would be fighting the with both of them. Maybe Fatah and Hamas (there are also other factions) would unite to fight the Jews. That would be a civil war. Maybe, they could all find a way to figure it out civically but the problem of the Jewish nature of the state would still exist. WiO's wet dream of ethnically cleansing the land between the River and the Sea is, hopefully, simply a non-starter.

      Delete
    2. It will not be Israel that will do that ash...

      It will be the arabs driving one another out...

      Just like Assad has done in syria.

      At last count? 11 million homeless..

      Fatah and Hamas will be fighting again for control real soon...

      it will cause a stampede of folks to run...

      Just hope they don't come a knocking on Israel's door..

      Delete
    3. ash and his fiction again: If Israel's borders extended from the River to the Sea there would be numerous factions fighting it out just as they are now fighting it out but it would be a civil war simply because they would all be within the borders of 'Israel'.

      But Israel's border do not extent from the river to the sea.

      Deal in reality..

      Not wet dreams...

      ash continues: Maybe Fatah and Hamas (there are also other factions) would unite to fight the Jews.

      Maybe the Queen would have balls?

      Ash and his projections: WiO's wet dream of ethnically cleansing the land between the River and the Sea is, hopefully, simply a non-starter.

      It's a fantasy... not a goal.

      But as we sit here arguing, arabs and moslems are killing each other from one end of the planet to the other...

      play silly games? win silly prizes...

      I also have a wet dream of being thin, rich and young...




      Delete
  30. Noble Ash of good heart has always lived in liberal lululand as long as I've known him.

    He really can't be blamed.

    It was his upbringing........

    ReplyDelete
  31. Dr. Huxtable has, at last count, some 16, or is it 18, accusers.

    Even granting a small percentage of these may be phonies in it for the possible money, still that is a lot of accusers. And some offended may be remaining quiet.

    Maybe they could all file a class action suit?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Or author a multiple authored tell all book..............

      Delete
  32. My experience in Latin America was that if they could not find a job, they would make a job.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Under Modi, Israel and India forge deeper business ties

    India is steadily catching up with China as it buys more Israeli defense and cyber-security technology, an area where China is limited since the United States frowns on Israel dealing too freely with Beijing in defense matters.

    ReplyDelete
  34. He added: "There will need to be some considerable further flexibility shown by the Iranian negotiators over the next four or five days if we are going to get to that deal."

    Britain 'not optimistic' on Iran nuclear talks

    ReplyDelete
  35. Israeli leaders decry mayor's Arab ban

    The bigot has gotten his fifteen minutes of fame. Now, he has Livni in his face -- think of the world's most irritating Jewish mother.

    Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, leader of the centrist HaTnuah party, told public radio the order was "not only ugly but illegal."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "think of the world's most irritating Jewish mother"

      :) heh

      Delete
    2. Think Babs, Sandra Bernhard, and Roseanne Barr in combination. There is a reason that psychoanalysis is the domain of Jews.
      :-)

      My relationships with Jewish women, other than my mother, were excellent until we got out of bed...Let me rephrase...

      Delete
  36. Casinos and Gaming
    Wynn Resorts being investigated for possible money laundering violations: DJ
    Everett Rosenfeld | @Ev_Rosenfeld

    Wynn Resorts is under investigation for potential money-laundering law violations, according to a new report from Dow Jones.

    Quoting individuals familiar with the matter, Dow Jones reported that Manhattan and Las Vegas U.S. Attorney's offices are investigating the company in conjunction with the Internal Revenue Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

    The company, which is run by casino mogul Steve Wynn, saw stock dropped more than 2 percent after the story came out.

    Read More Steve Wynn dogged by pullback in China

    "We are not aware of any criminal investigation of the company and no agency has notified the company that it is under any investigation," a Wynn spokesman told CNBC. "The fact that information is requested from us by a governmental agency in no way implies the accusation of any wrongdoing by the company."

    The Nevada U.S. Attorney's Office told CNBC that it is not able to confirm or deny any investigation into Wynn Resorts, citing Department of Justice policy.

    According to the report, Wynn Resorts is the third major Las Vegas casino firm to come under money-laundering investigation recently.

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/10001165


    High rollers and taxes, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Ban sees Jews wanting to visit the Temple Mount in the same light as the butchers of four rabbis and a police officer. There is something sick in this man's thought process.

    UN's Ban calls Netanyahu, Abbas, urging leaders to take stand against extremists

    ReplyDelete
  38. After absolutely refusing to work with the UN's investigation of the Third Gaza War, Netanyahu has done a 180 degree turn; Israel will cooperate.

    The man is a jellyfish. Can a jellyfish also be a buffoon?

    ReplyDelete
  39. You can watch Obama tear up the Constitution on Fox News live on line in an hour.

    He will put up a big neon sign on the Rio Grande that says "Amnesty For Everybody"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All these new folks ought to be put on the Cherokee Reservation, which has always been an exclusive apartheid enclave in the United States.......

      This needs to change.

      ;)

      Delete
    2. Fox is saying that instead of using the term 'executive order' the Emperor may use the term 'executive memo'..........

      Delete
    3. ho ho !

      They will all be able to compete with American workers for scarce jobs.

      It's what you get when you elect an Indonesia educated moslem as President.

      Delete