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."

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Staying home or going home means death, injury or suffering for the Palestinians, at the hands of Israel in Israeli controlled Gaza

"Israelis react the way they do due to years of dehumanisation of Palestinians. This is the basic tool they use to continue the occupation without having any moral doubts.
In recent years of the right wing government — the whole process of nationalistic and many times racist and anti-democratic legislation, a lot of violence against Muslims, Arabs and Leftists — Israel’s democracy is showing dangerous cracks. This should have worried many Israelis but unfortunately most of the Israelis are brainwashed by the one-sided media. Palestinian sacrifice is missing in the Israeli media.
— Gideon Levy


The Incredible cruelty and  brutality of Israel exposed



Standing for human liberty and justice and opposing the Israeli barbarism against the Palestinians



The World needs to know what Israel is doing to Gaza



“Israel is addicted to occupation” — Gideon Levy

Gideon Levy, veteran Israeli journalist and author of Punishment of Gaza, talks to TNS about the current round of violence

The News on Sunday (TNS): Why is Israel doing what it is doing?
Gideon Levy (GL): Israel wants to maintain the status quo — namely West Bank will be occupied, Gaza will be under siege and life in Israel will be peaceful. This is impossible. And life in Israel stopped being peaceful with the rockets falling into many cities and towns in Israel. And Israel found it suitable to react with massive bombing from the air and then from the ground operation. But those rockets did not fall from the sky for nothing because, you must know, the context – and, the context is that a few months ago Israel stopped the so-called peace talks with Mahmoud Abbas after kidnapping and murder of three young Israelis in the West Bank.

Israel declared war on Hamas in the West Bank. Israel arrested about 500 Hamas activists who had nothing to do with kidnapping and murder.

Israel stopped the salaries of about 40,000 employees in Gaza and Israel also declared that it is objecting to the unity government of Palestine. All this is the background to the present confrontation.

TNS: Who are the advisors that make-up such aggressive policies in the Israeli government, leading to extreme bloodshed which is disproportionate?
GL: This is not a question of certain advisors. This is the DNA of Israel. Israel has always over-reacted to resistance from Palestinians. And you have seen this one after the other – Operation Cast Lead, the First Lebanon War, the Second Lebanon War, the operations in Gaza and the fight against the Second Intifada. It has always been the same language of disproportionate aggression.

TNS: Was Israel waiting to start this operation?
GL: They were talking about another operation on Gaza for a long time, but I don’t think anyone had expected it or was interested in this confrontation. The belief that Israel can do all this and Hamas would not react was either unbelievable arrogance or blindness or both.

TNS: Where do you see this current assault on Gazans going?
GL: Apparently, there will be a ceasefire. But as long as Israel does not change its policy, a deep change, a substantive change, a basic change – namely to lift the siege from Gaza — nothing will change, and we can prepare ourselves for another confrontation in a few months, another year or two. As long as the problems are not really solved, nothing will change.

TNS: In your July 20 column for Haaretz, you wrote that the demands of Hamas for ceasefire were not bad and that Israel should talk to Hamas. What do you think Hamas really wants?
GL: Right now, Hamas wants lifting of the siege. And Hamas was on its way to the unity government. Maybe Hamas is not willing to talk to Israel directly. Surely, Israel is not willing to talk to Hamas. The fact is, would Israel support or would Israel be willing to negotiate with the unity government. It would put Hamas in a different place — because they would be directly or indirectly a partner in any kind of political process. But, instead, Israel chose to fight against the unity government and not let Mahmoud Abbas really negotiate over any kind of settlement. Therefore, I do not see this current government of Israel changing its policy.

TNS: How do people in Gaza look at Hamas? Would more people join Hamas as a result of the current Israeli operation?
GL: Most of the Palestinians are looking at Fatah, and Mahmoud Abbas who is trying to get to any kind of settlement with Israel through diplomacy. And they see he cannot reach anywhere, cannot achieve anything for Palestinians.
On the other hand, they see Hamas resisting — and, I must say, quite courageously. I am sure the national instinct would be more support to the Hamas.
As you know, people of Gaza are suffering again like a few people in the world suffer. Firstly, they want a ceasefire. So, the first option would be to end Israeli aggression and then time will show if Hamas would get any substantial achievement other than the ceasefire. Secondly, Hamas could go on running Gaza. I am sceptical this would be the case. I think people of Gaza would have to prepare for the next confrontation. There is no other way for them.

TNS: Is there any debate among Israeli parliament on what is happening?
GL: Right now there is no debate. Gaza is desperate. But, it does not make people any less devoted. We know from history that people who are desperate are more devoted to fight. What do they have to lose?

TNS: Does Israeli media raise any voice against the current operation in Gaza?

Israelis react the way they do due to years of dehumanisation of Palestinians. This is the basic tool they use to continue the occupation without having any moral doubts.

GL: Unfortunately, Haaretz is the only lighthouse in the Israeli media. TV, newspapers, radio and social networks are in a militaristic mode. And there is little tolerance to protest, opposition and resistance. The government or the security establishment does not dictate this. The media in Israel is quite free. Media is willing to please public and public is right wing.

TNS: Can you give us more context of why the Israeli society reacts the way it does to the plight of Gazans and Palestinians?
GL: Israelis react the way they do due to years of dehumanisation of Palestinians. This is the basic tool they use to continue the occupation without having any moral doubts.
In recent years of the right wing government — the whole process of nationalistic and many times racist and anti-democratic legislation, a lot of violence against Muslims, Arabs and Leftists — Israel’s democracy is showing dangerous cracks. This should have worried many Israelis but unfortunately most of the Israelis are brainwashed by the one-sided media. Palestinian sacrifice is missing in the Israeli media.

TNS: Why is there insensitivity among Israeli public towards the suffering Palestinians?
GL: There are two ways to get out of the trauma of persecution: one, become more sensitive to human rights and persecution; and two, as the late PM Golda Meir said that after the holocaust Jews have a right to do whatever they want. In many ways, Israelis share Meir’s sentiment, together with the feeling that Israelis are the chosen people. It is also based in understandable fears that Holocaust might happen again.
Also, Arabs and Muslims, who live in Israel are discriminated against and there has been a ugly campaign against them in recent years.

TNS: How do you look at the US intervention in the Israel-Palestine conflict?
GL: The US support for Israel makes Israelis believe that they have a right to do whatever they want. The people of the US need to question why their country supports Israel and if it serves their interest or even that of Israel’s. These questions are being raised slowly. The answers lie in the domestic politics of the US. Even Barrack Obama, whose heart is in the right place, is unable to alter the US domestic policy.

TNS: Can Israel not defend itself without massacring Gazans?
GL: There are two ways of dealing with a drug addict: One, to give him more money; and two, force him to go into rehabilitation. Now, Israel is addicted to occupation and the US is supplying money, instead of sending it to a rehabilitation centre.

TNS: How do you look at Egypt’s role in the current situation?
GL: For Egypt to not open borders to homeless and injured is problematic. The current regime is known for its hatred of Hamas — because Hamas did or did not murder a few Egyptian soldiers and officers a few years ago. And General Sisi will never forget it. He treats Hamas like garbage. Therefore, his efforts to bring a ceasefire are not genuine. For him, Hamas is part of the Muslim Brotherhood, his most bitter enemy. This enables Israel to continue.

TNS: So, who would be a partner for peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict in the Middle East as Egypt cannot be trusted?
GL: Egypt cannot be trusted. But there is no other alternative, as Israel does not trust Turkey and Qatar. So I am afraid it would be Egypt. The ceasefire process would be on Egypt’s pace. Ultimately, Egypt together with the US will be the mediators, probably with Mahmoud Abbas.

TNS: Does the global protests in support of Gaza have any effect on Israeli perception of the operation?
GL: Israelis have convinced themselves that the world is against them. So, why would they bother? And, then, they have the US support. They think they have nothing to worry. And do not forget that the pro-Gaza protests are shown to the Israeli public via Israeli media, which makes everything look comfortable.

TNS: Why do you support the one-state solution?
GL: I preferred the two-state solution previously. Now, I do not think it is possible with half a million settlers. So, it is a choice between a democratic state and an apartheid state — and I do not see a third option.


The interview was conducted on July 22, 2014.

123 comments:

  1. The Palestinian people VOTED for the islamic nazi party called Hamas.

    They got what they wanted. A totalitarian, fascist ruling class that would put planning, logistics and all funds to one goal. MURDERING JEWS.

    900,000 TONS of concrete later, they have what they created.

    5000 tunnels, 40,000 rockets, all imbedded, with the population's FULL cooperation, inside and under, civilian homes, schools, hospitals and public institutions.

    The Gaza Strip, is ruled by Hamas, was not closed off to trade and population movement until the Hamas murdered hundreds of it's fellow palestinians (fatah) and decided that democracy was one vote one time forever.....

    Today? The Gaza Strip is a moslem brotherhood and Iran funded proxy military base for the destruction by any means possible of Israel.

    They people of Gaza? Maybe they should have an uprising against Hamas if they want a better future. But if they support Hamas, like they seem willing to be human shields and die for Hamas? Then they are getting the future they indeed wish.

    For 10 years Hamas has shelled Israeli civilians, to folks at this blog you really don't give a dam, that is understood, but learn this.

    You cannot murder Jews, or attempt to murder Jews without getting your ass kicked...

    Just as Deuce BLAMED the Jews of ww2 for being cowards and not men for not fighting back?

    We Deuce, we are fighting back and if your pals, the palestinians, are such cowards to use their kids as shields? They so be it...

    OWN it...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Israel is as much responsible for what the Palestinians have become as they are.

      Israel has no choice in the bed they have made and now lie in.

      OWN It...

      Delete
    2. The death toll of Arabs that call themselves "palestinians" after 19 days or so is about 1000 folks.

      about 2/3 are fighters/terrorists...

      Discount my calculation and say that 1/2 are innocents..

      that's about 500 innocents that have been killed in the war.


      Now let's look at the attention Deuce and company puts to them verses the other situations in world.

      180,000 men, women and children intentionally killed in Syria
      6,000 in iraq in 60 days
      in Hama? 10,000 slaughtered in syria
      iran/iraq war, over 1 million civilians killed
      USA drone strikes - 2,400
      pakistan? thousands
      lebanon? THOUSANDS.
      yemen, sudan? hundreds of thousands
      Congo?
      Nigeria?

      One focus on a self proclaimed population that supports a nazi like government...

      I wonder if we were fighting Germany during WW2 and we had the internet would deuce be reporting the death toll of german civilians the same way?

      Delete
    3. AshSun Jul 27, 08:56:00 AM EDT
      Israel is as much responsible for what the Palestinians have become as they are.
      Israel has no choice in the bed they have made and now lie in.
      OWN It...


      Ash, of course I disagree with your opinion, the good news? Arabs and moslems now live in your nation and will start doing what they do all over the world where you live...

      OWN it and ENJOY it..

      Delete
    4. The blowback in countries in the West such as Canada is amazingly small but traceable to the atrocious behavior of Israel against the Palestinians and the support of the US for Israel.

      Delete
    5. The blowback to the western world is not about Israel but about Islamic hatred of Jews.

      This predates the modern liberation of Israel.

      The "arabs of palestine" were plotting with Hitler to genocide them all before Israel even was liberated in 1948

      Moslems butchered Jews in Hebron in the 1920, not because of Israel but because that is what moslems do, butcher Jews.

      For centuries moslems in the arab world treated Jews (with one small exception in spain) as dirt, dhimmis, slaves and property.

      To say that it's israeli blow back for arabs to riot in france or canada screaming "death to the Jews"? misses the mark.

      anti-semitism pure and simple.

      this aint new, same arab/moslem shit different day..

      The importing of non-assimilating moslems to the Americas and Europe is having it's own cause and effect, even if Israel was destroyed tomorrow?

      islamic beheadings of the English, and "death to the Jew" chants would not cease.

      That is a FACT jack...

      Delete
    6. There is also a long history of Jews and arabs peacefully coexisting - doing business with one another and actually being friends.

      Delete
  2. Israelis react the way they do due to years of dehumanisation of Palestinians. This is the basic tool they use to continue the occupation without having any moral doubts.

    In recent years of the right wing government — the whole process of nationalistic and many times racist and anti-democratic legislation, a lot of violence against Muslims, Arabs and Leftists — Israel’s democracy is showing dangerous cracks. This should have worried many Israelis but unfortunately most of the Israelis are brainwashed by the one-sided media. Palestinian sacrifice is missing in the Israeli media.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I call bullshit.

      Unlike your friends the islamic nazis, Israel actually still provides food and fuel for a territory they are at war with.

      If you were to visit Israel you would see a nation, albeit not perfect, that is pluralistic and very free.

      The Islamic nazis of the Gaza Strip and the folks that support them maximize civilian deaths and aim to murder Jews on purpose and seek the destruction of Israel. Israel withdrew from the strip and only wanted peace.

      For that they got rockets.

      Your propaganda is weak but entertaining...

      As we speak the dehumanizing of JEWS is rampant in the moslem world, so much that Jews from all over the world are moving to Israel...

      Just like in 1948 when the arabs of the middle east ethnically cleansed the Jews from the 899/900th of the middle east!

      Once again the arabs are creating a strong Israel.

      Delete
  3. There will be no going back from this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Correct the Hamas must be destroyed.

      the good news? the arab world with the exception of qatar is against the palestinians.

      There is no going back.

      The Palestinians have jumped the shark.

      Delete
  4. I am heartened by the voices of honest Jews finally being heard. It is a small step, but it is being taken. What is truly horrifying to me is what the US has become. That is why, I believe that US civil rights laws have to be enforced against those that support the individuals and countries that break those basic human rights with US money and support of US government agencies, specifically the Pentagon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why, we don't even enforce the Civil Rights Laws (vis a vis the voting rights act) in our own country.

      Delete
    2. I am heartened by the honest arab voices, including those of the PA that are calling the Hamas the ISIS of Palestine.

      Islamic nazis are being seen for what they are. Be they Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, ISIS or Moslem Brotherhood.

      The great news? Most of these groups are going after fellow moslems and others.

      Just wait til Russia gets attacked again, last time they were they killed 60,000 in Chechnya...

      Yep the Islamic world is dying and moving to a radical death cult. And Israel is just one TINY target of them...

      Delete
  5. The more brutal the Israeli oppression, the greater momentum and demand for change.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As compared to ANY other nation?

      israel is fighting with kid gloves.

      Now Assad? He's brutal, the Russians? Brutal, the Chinese? Brutal, ISIS verses Iran, brutal.

      Israel? pussies.

      you are just crying wolf.

      And the world KNOWS it...

      more people got butchered in one weekend in syria on purpose than 3 weeks of war in gaza.

      one standard or none, you pick

      Delete
    2. The Israelis fatal miscalculation might have been in Syria.

      Assad wasn't coming after them; ISIS might.

      With Hezbollah to the North, and Hamas to the South, and ISIS streaming in from Syria in their commandeered Russian Tanks, it could get damned ugly, fast.

      Delete
    3. you can post pics of dismembered babies but the fact that war is hell is known.

      you don't post pics of dismembered jews because Israel doesn't spread that type of bullshit out in the public.

      Delete
    4. Rufus IISun Jul 27, 09:18:00 AM EDT
      The Israelis fatal miscalculation might have been in Syria.
      Assad wasn't coming after them; ISIS might.
      With Hezbollah to the North, and Hamas to the South, and ISIS streaming in from Syria in their commandeered Russian Tanks, it could get damned ugly, fast.


      It is going to get damed ugly.
      But Assad was going after them for 63 years. It's just been the last 36 months that the calculus has changed.

      Delete
    5. But there is some interesting talk.

      Hezbollah is getting a serious blow back in lebanon for it's murdering of civilians in syria.

      Hezbollah (shia) is a proxy army for Iran (shia) and the majority of lebanese are not happy with the coupe that Hezbollah did to them 3 years ago, nor are they forgetting the "victory" that hezbollah caused in the 2006 war with israel.

      The entire sunni arab world (is pissed as all get out about hezbollah in syria) and Iran, hence the creation of ISIS.

      ISIS and Iran are on a collision course and with any luck at all they will both have at it.

      The shia of lebanon? will be expelled at a minimum if hezbollah starts another war with israel.

      Delete
  6. Read the interview of an honest Jew by the reporter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your labeling of what is "honest" is biased and specious.

      Delete
    2. Read the article: He is a Jew. He is honest. He is a human being with integrity and a brain.

      Delete
    3. Why? Because he spouts what you want to hear?

      Your labeling his as "honest" implies that anyone that disagrees with you is dishonest.

      If I posted columns and statements from arabs and moslems that support my POV and labeled the as "honest" you'd slam my comments.

      There is no debate, that within the Jewish world there is a tolerance of all sorts of points of view, even those that call Israel a mistake and those that call for it's dissolution. Sometimes these voices are even inside the government of Israel.

      Sadly that type of acceptable of counter points of view is not tolerated in the arab world. Typically when a courageous and HONEST arab speaks out about his or her support of Israel? They are either given death threats or in fact they are murdered.

      Hence there are very few HONEST Arab opinions expressed in the world.

      Delete
  7. Israel created the demand for a Hamas. Until Israel chenges her ways, there will always be a Hamas, another the same or worse. It is not difficult to create enemies. Israel cannot even hold friends. It is down to the US. Enforce existing US laws and Israel has to face reality.

    Rufus points out what should be obvious to Israel. ISIS is expanding rapidly. ISIS would not exist were it not for Israeli, US and Saudi support, the same three that will suffer the most when ISISI consolidates itself.

    Israel must change to survive. There will be an event that will awaken the American public to what has been done in its name. You can count on that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Israel prefers a-Qeada

      Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told the Jerusalem Post

      http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Oren-Jerusalem-has-wanted-Assad-ousted-since-the-outbreak-of-the-Syrian-civil-war-326328

      They may well get the preference.

      Delete
    2. You give Israel too much credit.

      The moslem brotherhood created the Islamist movement on one side and the Iranian revolution created the other.

      Israel is the little satan and America is the great satan.

      Wake up and pull your Israel obsessed head out...

      Delete
  8. Israel moves to pluralsim or Israel as a state collapses.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. israel is already there.

      But Israel doesn't have to take another nation's folks inside it's borders.

      gaza back to egypt and the west bank arabs on to jordan where they can depose the "king" and have their nation

      Delete
  9. The Palestinians need to take their case to US civil courts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It didn't work for the Cherokee. :)

      Delete
    2. The United States was not dependent upon a liberal electorate for its financial survival.
      The Unied States had its own resources, Israel does not.

      To conflate the NASI of Israel to Andy Jackson is silly.
      To conflate Bibi with Obama, even sillier.

      The polls are the most telling

      The Zionist regime in Occupied Palestine
      They are holding two pair
      Aces & Eights

      They're a ...

      Dead Man Walking

      Delete
    3. Yeah, let's see how those 10,000 rockets being fired at Israel do in court.

      Delete
    4. "To conflate the NASI of Israel to Andy Jackson is silly."

      The smiley face didn't tip you off that the remark might be a bit of sarcasm? :)

      Delete
    5. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    6. The "Blockade" trumps the rockets, "O"rdure.

      Delete
    7. The "O"ccupation of Palestine trumps the rockets

      Delete
    8. Jack, not under international law.

      Once again your a dipshit.

      Delete
  10. The United States' fatal miscalculation was that the Arabs would choose "democracy" over their Religion.

    An idiot bet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Evidently, for the Sunni, the choice between Mama's clit getting clipped, and being ruled by the Shia is a no-brainer.

      Wolfowitz didn't see that one coming, I'll bet you.

      Delete
    2. Let's be frank, islam is not democratic.

      LOL

      Delete
    3. That was the public bet, the one on the table, rufus.
      The storyline for "Public Consumption"

      But the side bet, paid off.

      The "Plan" has played out as expected.
      Turmoil - factionalization and segmentation of the region.

      The "Yinon Plan" in action.

      Funny, I am not the only one who sees it. The folks in Lebanon, they have eyes that see, ears that hear, too.

      ISIS: A DECEPTIVE TOOL OF US-ISRAEL FOR “THE NEW MIDDLE EAST
      The Yinon Plan and the role of the ISIS


      http://www.thedailystar.net/the-yinon-plan-and-the-role-of-the-isis-31469

      Delete
    4. The present ISIS lightning war in Iraq is the creation of an illusion to initiate the fulfillment of a pre-planned agenda of the West in close alliance with Israel to redraw the map of the entire region as the “New Middle East.” This is the Yinon Plan at work, which aims at the balkanisation of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region into smaller and weaker entities or states in order to ensure the dominant position of Israel in the region and the control of its oil, gas and water resources by the US-Israel nexus. In the process of balkanisation, the facets of ethnicity, religion and race from within the region are engaged for destruction, causing alarm for the UN and international military intervention to “protect innocent civilians,” thus paving the way for the ultimate achievement of the designed goals of creating the “New Middle East.”

      The chaos, destruction and devastation caused by the ISIS in its process of establishing the Sunni Islamic Caliphate in Iraqi and Syrian territories is the realisation of the intended policy of the US and the West to change public perception that the “War on Terror” was never a war waged by the West against Islam but a “war within Islam” along religious, ethnic and sectarian lines in the Islamic world. The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham's Sunni Caliphate project coincides with a longstanding US agenda to carve up both Iraq and Syria into three separate territories: A Sunni Islamist Caliphate, an Arab Shiia Republic, and a Republic of Kurdistan.

      The division of Iraq into three separate entities had also been strongly advocated by US Vice-President Joe Biden. Biden's heritage and an analysis of his electoral constituents will help understand better his support for the fragmentation of Iraq under the Yinon Plan.

      Delete
    5. That's the problem with "religion." It's all about dehumanizing "the other."

      Delete
    6. Yep the middle east and it's conspiracy tales...

      The Jews planned it all...

      Just like we planned your wife to leave you and for you to be such a loser in life...

      All part of the PLAN

      Delete
    7. When you're "the only one" that sees something, Rat, you might want to check out the old cheaters.

      Eisenhower: War is surprise you every time.

      Delete
    8. What ISIS was meant to be, and what ISIS is becoming, might not be the same thing.

      It's an uncertain, and dangerous thing to "Let loose the Dogs of War."

      The key word being "loose."

      Delete
    9. "War Will surprise you every time."

      Delete
    10. “Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter.

      The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events. ”
      ― Winston Churchill

      Delete
    11. Rufus IISun Jul 27, 09:58:00 AM EDT
      Neither is Zionism.

      Rufus, really?

      I guess you are just knee jerking a response. But Israel actually has a fully functioning democracy. There are dozens of political parties from the left, right and center, there are commies and arabs, jews and atheist.

      But don't let truth stop you from making smart assed stupid, ignorant remarks that make you feel good..

      "Rufus IISun Jul 27, 09:58:00 AM EDT
      Neither is Zionism."

      Go learn and don't be so stupid.

      Delete
  11. Deuce your premature writing off of Israel is sad. Yet it's getting comical.

    You JUST don't have a clue about israel.

    The west bank and Gaza have no wish to join Israel in a secular nation.

    The arabs that call themselves "palestinians" want one thing. The destruction of the Jews and Israel. period.

    Now the "arabs" of Israel? They wouldn't leave Israel and join their so called "brothers" if you paid them.

    The arabs of the west bank and gaza are members of different clans, they are all arabs, but they are not "kissing cousins".

    The real solution? is the reunification of the arabs of gaza with the arabs of the sinai. Egypt needs to take back and be responsible for the gaza strip as it was from the end of the ottoman empire til they lost it when they used it as a base for attacks against Israel.

    The arabs of the west bank? They can stay and if Israel annexes the entire west bank? Then they can become citizens of the jewish state. Of course, those that seek it physical destruction will not be welcomed. They can move.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In the bunker, in Berlin, as the Soviet Army was surrounding the city, "O"rdure's cousin, Adolph, was sure his "Secret Weapons" would save the day.

      Until they didn't

      He was holding ...
      Aces & Eights

      Known throughout the United States as ...

      The Dead Man's Hand

      Delete
    2. The above "Jack Hawkins" rant is exactly why no one gives him any credibility.

      Off topic, no point to be made, just blather.

      Delete
    3. Not just blather - not really. Hitler, nor Tojo, ever had a chance. They were holding a dead hand before the betting had even started.

      They didn't have the Demographics, the Geography, or the Economy for what they were trying to do.

      And, I fear, neither does Israel.

      Delete
    4. Not looking for you to tell us that Jack is 'credible" "O"rdure.

      And your continued responses give lie to your post.
      You continue to respond to the 'incredible', and as long as you do, Jack Hawkins know he is hitting the target.
      He will continue to fire for effect, as long as you do respond.

      When the responses stop, then Jack will change tactics.
      Because that is when he will know that he is off the target.

      “He would rather be attacked than unnoticed.
      For the worst thing you can do is to be silent as to his works.”

      ― Samuel Johnson

      It is really entertaining, to watch you, "O"rdure, you really are a ...
      "Puppet on a String"

      Just as the regime in Israel is a ...

      Dead Man Walking

      Delete
    5. The truth is, though, you are drawn to respond ...
      You cannot help yourself.

      Like a moth to a flame ...
      You are consistently incinerated.

      But you keep coming back.

      “He was nothing but a conduit, after all, and there isn't a culvert in the world that remembers the water flowed through it once the rain has stopped.”
      ― Stephen King

      Delete

    6. Indeed, "O"rdure, it is your very responses that give Jack Hawkins credibility, don't you realize that?

      They do seem to grow 'em stupid, in Israel, don't they.
      The proof is right here, in our own little "O"rdure

      Delete
    7. Rufus

      call me the cousin of Hitler?

      "O"rdure's cousin, Adolph,


      that is blather.

      Delete
  12. An old foreign correspondent friend of mine, once based in Jerusalem, has turned to blogging. As the story he used to cover flared up once more, he wrote: “This conflict is the political equivalent of LSD – distorting the senses of all those who come into contact with it, and sending them crazy.” He was speaking chiefly of those who debate the issue from afar: the passions that are stirred, the bitterness and loathing that spew forth, especially online, of a kind rarely glimpsed when faraway wars are discussed. While an acid trip usually comes in lurid colours, here it induces a tendency to monochrome: one side is pure good, the other pure evil – with not a shade of grey in sight.

    But the LSD effect also seems to afflict the participants in the conflict. They too can act crazy, taking steps that harm not only their enemy but themselves. Again and again, their actions are self-defeating.

    Start with Israel – and not with the politicians and generals, but ordinary Israelis. Right now they are filled with the burning sense that the world does not understand them, and even hates them. They know Israel is being projected on the world’s TV screens and front pages as a callous, brutal monster, pounding the Gaza strip with artillery fire that hits schools, hospitals and civilian homes. They know what it looks like – but they desperately want the world to see what they see.

    In their eyes, they are only doing what any country – or person, for that matter – would do in the same position. They ask what exactly would Britain do if enemy rockets were landing on our towns and villages. Would we shrug our shoulders, keep calm and carry on – or would we hit back?

    But it’s not the rockets that frighten them most. Israelis focus more on the hidden tunnels dug under the Gaza border, apparently designed to allow Hamas militants to emerge above ground and mount raids on Israeli border villages and kibbutzim, killing or snatching as many civilians as they can. Israel’s Iron Dome technology can zap incoming rockets from the sky, but what protection is there against a man emerging from a tunnel in the dark determined to kill you? The fact that tranquillisers and handcuffs were reportedly found in those tunnels, ready to subdue Israeli captives, only leaves Israelis more terrified.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is why they wanted their government to hit back hard: remember, it was the discovery of the tunnels that prompted the ground offensive. Some Israelis see the terrible images of Palestinian suffering – children losing their limbs, their lives or their parents – and they want the world to see it as they do: that Hamas shares in the blame for those cruel deaths, because it does so little to protect its civilians.

      You might discount the argument that Hamas fights its war from civilian areas (replying that it’s hardly going to locate itself in open ground, wearing a target on its back). But the UN itself has condemned Hamas for stashing rockets in a UN school. And in the quiet years, when Hamas finally got hold of long-demanded concrete, it used it not to build bomb shelters for ordinary Gazans, but those tunnels to attack Israel, and bunkers for the organisation’s top brass.

      I know that every one of those points can be challenged. The point is not that they represent unarguable truth but that they come close to how many – not all – Israelis feel. They believe they face in Hamas an enemy that is both explicitly committed – by charter – to Israel’s eradication, and cavalier about the safety of the Palestinian people it rules. They fear Hamas, its tunnels and its rockets, and they want security.

      But here is where the madness kicks in. Israelis want security, yet their government’s actions will give it no security. On the contrary, they are utterly self-defeating.

      Delete
    2. That’s true on the baldest possible measure. More Israelis have died in the operation to tackle the Hamas threat than have died from the Hamas threat, at least over the past five years. Put another way, to address the risk that hypothetical Israeli soldiers might be kidnapped, 33 actual Israeli soldiers have died. Never before have international airlines suspended flights into Israel’s national airport. But they did this week, a move that struck a neuralgic spot in the Israeli psyche: if disaster struck, there’d be no escape. (That’s long been true of Gaza, of course.)

      Before the current round of violence, the West Bank had been relatively quiet for years. Friday saw a “day of rage,” with several Palestinians killed and talk of a third intifada. An operation designed to make Israel more secure has made it much less.

      If that is true now – with the prospect of an uprising encompassing not just the West Bank but some of the 1.7 million Palestinian citizens of Israel as well – it’s truer still in the future. For every one of those Gazan children – their lives broken by pain and bloodshed three times in the past six years – will surely grow up with a heart hardened against Israel, some of them bent on revenge. In trying to crush today’s enemy, Israel has reared the enemy of tomorrow.

      Security requires more than walls and tanks. It requires alliances and support. Yet every day Israel is seen to be battering Gaza, its reservoir of world sympathy drops a little lower. And that is to reckon without the impact of this violence on Israel’s own moral fibre.

      After 47 years of occupation and even more years of conflict, the constant demonisation of the enemy is having a corrosive effect: witness the “Sderot cinema”, the Israelis gathering in lawn chairs on a border hilltop to munch popcorn and watch missiles rain down on Gaza. No nation can regard itself as secure when its ethical moorings come loose.

      Delete
    3. The only real security is political, not military. It comes through negotiation, not artillery fire. In the years of quiet this should have been the Israeli goal. Instead, every opening was obstructed, every opportunity spurned.

      And the tendency to self-harm is not confined to Israel. Hamas may have reasserted itself by this conflict, renewing its image as the champion of Palestinian resistance. But it’s come at a terrible price. After an escalation that was as much Hamas’s choice as Israel’s, 800 Palestinians are now dead, 5,400 are injured and tens of thousands have been displaced. For those Palestinians yearning for a state that will include the West Bank, that goal has been rendered even more remote: what, Israelis ask, if the West Bank becomes another Gaza, within even closer firing range of Ben Gurion airport?

      This is the perverse landscape in which both Israelis and Palestinians find themselves. They are led by men who hear their fear and fury – and whose every action digs both peoples deeper into despair.

      That about explains it.

      Delete
    4. Deuce ☂Sun Jul 27, 11:33:00 AM EDT
      The only real security is political, not military. It comes through negotiation, not artillery fire. In the years of quiet this should have been the Israeli goal. Instead, every opening was obstructed, every opportunity spurned.

      Hamas is committed to the destruction of the Jewish people and Israel as a nation. They are Islamic Nazis. By your logic America should just held negotiations with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan?

      Delete


  13. “That there are men in all countries who get their living by war, and by keeping up the quarrels of nations, is as shocking as it is true; but when those who are concerned in the government of a country, make it their study to sow discord and cultivate predjudices between nations, it becomes the more unpardonable.”

    ― Thomas Paine, Rights of Man

    ReplyDelete
  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Hey !
      allen, "O"rdure, Robert Peterson !

      Here you go fellas!

      HTML 4 for Dummies

      ISBN-10: 0764589172
      ISBN-13: 9780764589171
      Author(s): Ed Tittel, Mary Burmeister, Mary C. Burmeister
      Description: * Now features a full-color, six-panel tear-out Cheat Sheet that's packed with information-an HTML command and syntax reference, a chart of Web-safe colors, and an alphabetical listing of CSS elements * Despite new Web-authoring technologies, HTML More...
      List price: $24.99
      Buy it from: $0.69


      Really guys ...
      You know you NEED it, just to stay in the game.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. It is very funny that the trio that disparages the other contributors the most, by calling them morons, stupid, idiots, insane, crazy and the like, are the same three that cannot cope with HTML coding.

      What is even more hilarious, is that two of the three claim to be genetically superior humans.
      But there is no proof of that, indeed what we see is that the duo is less intelligent, fully unable to cope with the modern world. They cannot handle the "Code".

      Which the contributors they disparage deal with daily.

      Har dee har har.

      Delete
    4. The response continues to validate the credibility of Jack Hawkins

      Thanks for your support

      Stay the Course !


      .

      Delete
    5. Validated in your own, limited mind.

      Delete
  15. Yawning is a mostly involuntary process and is usually triggered by sleepiness or fatigue.
    It is a very natural response to being tired.


    Better get back to bed, then, allen

    ReplyDelete
  16. Tide is turning,

    MSNBC is blaming hamas for all the violence and breaking multiple ceasefires.

    Also blaming Hamas for not accepting Israel right to be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If Israel does not have Brian L. Roberts on it's side, it has no one.

      Delete
  17. Also blaming Hamas for not accepting Israel right to be.

    A right to be what exacltly in relationship to the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank?

    ReplyDelete
  18. I will try again. This is the article that so offended our host. (I did stick his name in the final sentence. I don't do that now) --

    July 27, 2014
    Don't let the truth get in the way of your reporting
    By Carol Brown

    Like rockets from Gaza that shoot at Israel 24/7, ignorant media reports on the war just keep coming. It leaves one breathless trying to keep up with the barrage of sheer stupidity, at best. Blatant Jew-hatred at worst.

    The Washington Free Beacon reports on a Sean Hannity interview with Charles Krauthammer:

    Columnist Charles Krauthammer condemned what he called “rank ignorance” among U.S. media outlets that have harshly covered Israel as the Jewish state has battled the terrorist group Hamas this month.

    No kidding. Except it’s not just U.S. media outlets. It’s media the world over.

    An AFP piece on Saturday that popped up on the Yahoo news feed ends with the following:

    The conflict in Gaza, which erupted on July 8 when Israel launched a vast aerial campaign and followed that with a ground offensive, has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, 40 Israeli soldiers and three civilians inside Israel.

    So Hamas continues to wage war against Israel. And the media continue to do so, too. In this case, the AFP places the blame on Israel for initiating the violence. It does not seem to occur to anyone at the AFP that this conflict did not begin with Israel’s actions. It began with Hamas. And their rockets. And their terror tunnels. And their Charter. And their pledge to destroy Israel and kill every last Jew.

    But, hey. Those are just small details, right? There is no room for truth if it impedes the smooth functioning of the propaganda machine that runs day and night, churning out libelous garbage.

    Bonjour? Truth to liars, over. Hello? Hello? Can you read me? Over.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      One partisan voice complaining about other partisan voices. The feed she complains about gives the who, what, when, and where of the start of the most recent 'conflict in Gaza'. Straight news reporting. However, what Carol Brown is looking for is commentary, more specifically commentary she agrees with.

      If you want to look at root cause, IMO, the conflict started with the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and the PA and Israel's refusal to let it stand. That is commentary.

      If you want to go even further back, both sides can find examples of the other sides actions that they can use to support their case. Much of that is history.

      .

      Delete
  19. If all these disputes give you a headache, don't take Tylenol.

    According to the doctor's panel on Fox, a placebo works as well, and is cheaper.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I think the IS is at its high water mark right about now. Internal divisions are developing, they will be fighting the Iraqi Shia for the foreseeable future, the Kurds as well...

    Syria is all broken up, Libya as well, Iraq.......yet Israel hangs together through it all. The rumors of its demise are greatly exaggerated.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hamas’ evil lurks beneath the surface

    By Michael Goodwin

    July 27, 2014 | 3:26am
    Modal Trigger
    Hamas’ evil lurks beneath the surface
    A Palestinian news assistant working with foreign media points to his family's house which was destroyed by Israeli strikes in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip. Photo: AP


    As casualties mount and calls  for a cease-fire grow, the war  in Gaza is probably close to  quitting time. But nobody should be foolish enough to think that silencing the guns will mean a return to the pre-war status quo.

    For Israel, a business-as-usual approach is no longer possible. The barrage of Hamas rockets cannot be tolerated again because the weapons’ increased range puts the entire population in harm’s way.

    But something else also happened in the last two weeks, and the shock waves are just starting to roll through Israeli society. The discovery of Hamas’ vast tunnel system, which would have allowed thousands of terrorists to cross under the border and emerge inside the Jewish state to carry out surprise attacks, was a wake-up call that is certain to lead to a harder national line against the Palestinians.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already declared that the threat caused by the tunnels means Israel cannot accept a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank.

    “If we were to pull out of Judea and Samaria, like they tell us to,” he said in speech four days after the war began, “there’d be a possibility of thousands of tunnels” being dug to attack Israel.

    Noting that the West Bank is 20 times the size of Gaza, he said his country would never “create ­another 20 Gazas.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Veteran Israeli journalist David Horovitz, writing in the Times of Israel, said the speech “spells the end” to any notion the prime minister would ever agree to the kind of free Palestinian state that President Obama and most of Europe, along with the Palestinians, demand.

      “This is not merely demanding a demilitarized Palestine,” Horovitz wrote of the speech. “It is insisting upon ongoing Israeli security oversight inside and at the borders of the West Bank.”

      A widely discussed corollary is that Israel might not pull completely out of Gaza, as it did in 2005 and after subsequent invasions. What it will do isn’t clear, but it is determined not to allow Hamas to ­replenish its weapons stockpile and provoke another war.

      Coming as Islamic radicals gain strength and territory in Syria, Iraq and large parts of North Africa, the revelation that Israel was close to a catastrophe has been deeply unsettling. The prospect of an underground invasion causing mass casualties was not taken seriously before.

      It would be too much to credit Hamas with a strategy of using rocket fire as a diversion from its aim of massing underground, but, in truth, Israelis were better prepared to shoot down rockets in the sky than to expect Hamas fighters to emerge from beneath their feet. Military leaders openly concede they did not appreciate how many tunnels there were — scores have been found — and how extensively they penetrated into Israel.

      Indeed, it was only after a successful attack from a shaft that Netanyahu ordered the ground invasion. Much of the work of Israeli soldiers in Gaza, and most of their casualties, have been linked to locating, searching and destroying the underground network.

      These were no simple holes in the ground. Most had entrances hidden in Gaza buildings and were up to 90 feet deep, while some ran for more than a mile under the border. Some had electricity and telephones and storage areas for weapons and supplies. The largest were, effectively, forward terrorist bases inside Israel.

      It is not lost on Israelis that the tunnels were reinforced with steel and concrete. The supposed shortage of building materials in Gaza, routinely denounced as cruel by ­Israel’s critics, did not stop Hamas from diverting tens of thousands of tons into preparation for war.

      That material could have been used to build houses, hospitals or schools. The tunnels even could have served as bomb shelters to protect Gaza’s civilians from Israeli bombs.

      Instead, a determination to kill Jews took precedence over every ­aspect of life in Gaza. That included Hamas leaders urging and sometimes forcing civilians to stay in the line of fire, turning them into human shields to protect rockets and ­ammunition dumps. Nothing better illustrates the Hamas culture of ­hatred and death.

      And now that nihilism, endorsed by Gazans who elected Hamas as their government, has destroyed any chance of a sovereign Palestinian state in the near future.

      Naturally, much of the world will use a new Israeli hard line to accuse it of genocide and apartheid, blah blah blah. But the facts are clear: Once again, the Palestinians have only themselves to blame.

      http://nypost.com/2014/07/27/hamas-evil-lurks-beneath-the-surface/

      Delete
    2. .

      Veteran Israeli journalist David Horovitz, writing in the Times of Israel, said the speech “spells the end” to any notion the prime minister would ever agree to the kind of free Palestinian state that President Obama and most of Europe, along with the Palestinians, demand.

      “This is not merely demanding a demilitarized Palestine,” Horovitz wrote of the speech. “It is insisting upon ongoing Israeli security oversight inside and at the borders of the West Bank.”


      The author tries to give the impression that Netanyahu's speech was brought on by Israel's discovery of the extent of the Hamas tunnel system. But anyone who has watched the youtube video of Bibi in 2001 where he bragged about how single-handed he destroyed the Oslo Accords by weasel-wording security concerns knows there was never a chance for a two-state solution under him.

      .

      Delete
  22. Another view -

    Why You Should Blame Iran For The Gaza Conflict

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/26/why-you-should-blame-iran-for-the-gaza-conflict.html

    ReplyDelete
  23. .

    What is "Occupation"Sun Jul 27, 09:54:00 AM EDT

    israel is already there.

    But Israel doesn't have to take another nation's folks inside it's borders.

    gaza back to egypt and the west bank arabs on to jordan where they can depose the "king" and have their nation



    Telling.

    Gaza in toto to Egypt.

    West Bank population to Jordon but not the West Bank.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. jeez, Quirk, he's offering them ALL of Jordan.

      " to jordan where they can depose the "king" and have their nation"

      If I were a real estate agent I'd advise my client to take that deal.

      No wonder you still sell trinkets for a living.


      Delete
    2. Typical of an "O"rdure, offering what is not his, to others.

      That is the entirety of the rationalization of the Zionists, taking what is not theirs and utilizing it for their own use.

      When Israel had the chance to return Gaza to Egypt, they refused.
      The Zionists kept it and and now, it is still theirs. The people there and the land, both.

      Delete
    3. Jack HawkinsFri Jul 18, 12:36:00 AM EDT

      I mean, you are an Israeli, and there is nothing worse than that.

      In all the world, the Arabs of Israel are the scum.

      Now if you were a European, well thatd be different, but Israelis are all Arabs, Semites.
      Scum of the Earth

      ;-)

      Have a nightmare tonight and a shitty tomorrow,
      QuirkFri Jul 18, 01:13:00 AM EDT

      .

      And the voice of the rat is heard in the land.

      And the world once again cringes.

      Delete
    4. Dang that Israel, winning all those defensive wars.

      Delete
    5. rat has been practicing his quenelle gesture lately.

      Delete
    6. Quirk,

      I am suggesting Gaza be RETURNED to Egypt

      And as for the situation in the West Bank?

      IF it is conquered by Israel? Then the people can make a choice.

      Stay and be loyal citizens of the Jewish State of Israel OR move to Jordan, where 2/3's of the mandate for palestine was 1st created and 90% of the population is Palestinian

      Delete
    7. Look at iraq.

      It is crumbling and populations are being exchanged based on ethnic divides.

      It happened after WW2 with the poles germans and others, why not happen to the arabs of the west bank, JOIN the arabs of the east bank?

      Delete
    8. Gaza belongs to the people there
      It is part of Israel

      Those people are Israelis - like it or not

      They deserve to be treated like Israelis - equal protection and rights under the law, same standards for ALL the people of Israel, regardless of their creed.

      Or admit that Israel is an Apartheid Nation

      Delete

    9. Admit that the people of Gaza have been imprisoned without trial - life sentences for crimes they did not commit.

      Delete
    10. :)

      What total nonsense.

      That is why it is so wonderful to have you around.

      There's always some wonderfully stupid statement to chuckle over.

      Some Israelis - those Gazans - since their Charter calls for pushing Israel into the sea, I guess they should all go to beach and walk into the surf.........


      Bwabwabwabwahahahahahardeharhar

      What nitwittery

      Delete


    11. _
      /

      This symbol represents the quenelle gesture.

      Moslems use it in Paris, France.

      An upside down Nazi salute.

      Delete
  24. Barry and The Dreamers

    http://www.americanthinker.com/cartoons/

    ReplyDelete
  25. BREAKING NEWS!!!

    ISRAELI POLICE: "THE 3 DEAD ISRAELIS WERE NOT KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS"


    After three weeks of Israel’s bloody war on Gaza mainly under the pretext of alleged abduction of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas, the Israeli police have acknowledged that the kidnappers were not acting under the orders of the resistance movement.

    In a Friday interview with the state-run BBC, Israeli Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld ruled out any links between the men responsible for the murdering of the three teenagers and Hamas, saying they are part of a “lone cell.”

    ReplyDelete

  26. It Turns Out Hamas Didn’t Kidnap and Kill the 3 Israeli Teens After All

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not mince words.
    "Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay,"
    he said, initiating a campaign that eventually escalated into the present conflict in the region.

    But now, officials admit the kidnappings were not Hamas's handiwork after all.



    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/07/hamas-didnt-kidnap-the-israeli-teens-after-all.html

    ReplyDelete

  27. Hamas not complicit in teens’ kidnap: Israeli police
    (The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

    BEIRUT: The Israeli Police Foreign Press Spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, appears to have falsified the Israeli government’s claim that Hamas was responsible for the killing of three Israeli settler teens in June, by saying responsibility lies with a lone cell that operated without the complicity of Hamas’ leadership.

    The kidnapping and subsequent killing of three Israeli settler teens last month is considered to be a flashpoint for the escalated violence in Gaza -- that as of day 19 of the conflict has left 926 Palestinians, mostly civilians, dead.

    At the time Israeli authorities placed the blame squarely on Hamas, with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu saying "They were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by animals in human form. Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay."

    Friday however, there appeared to be break in the official line when BBC journalist Jon Donnison tweeted a series of statements he attributed to the Israeli Police Foreign Press Spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld.

    “Israeli police MickeyRosenfeld tells me men who killed 3 Israeli teens def[initely] lone cell"



    http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Jul-26/265229-hamas-not-complicit-in-teens-kidnap-israeli-police.ashx#axzz38hI3UvQf

    ReplyDelete
  28. Replies
    1. It doesn't matter.

      This matters:

      https://www.google.com/search?q=Dateline+of+Hamas+rocket+attacks+on+Israel&client=firefox-a&hs=eHW&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=pljVU77QCMqxiwLy2oDoCw&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=911&bih=405

      Delete
    2. Nice display of rocket attacks on Israel, in graphics, over the years that even a rat ought to be able to comprehend.

      Delete
  29. Colorado may have a Republican Senator come November. Udall is only up by 1 point, and Obama is weighing heavily.

    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2014/senate/co/colorado_senate_gardner_vs_udall-3845.html

    Montana is lost for the Democrats.

    ReplyDelete
  30. This is how the article begins -

    Britain's economy is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. And finally, six years later, it's an economy that's bigger than it was before the Great Recession.

    Now, on the one hand, there's nothing puzzling about Britain's slow-motion recovery. It had a big boom, a big bust, and big austerity. Given all this, we would have expected it to take awhile for GDP to get back to its pre-crisis level. But this has been a lot longer than awhile. It's been the worst recovery on record, worse even than Britain's lost decade following its disastrous return to the gold standard in the 1920s. You can see just how bad it's been in the chart below from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

    You have a nice chart, and the article continues

    But here's the weird part: even though Britain's GDP has been stuck in a historic slump, its job market hasn't. In fact, it's been doing quite well. As you can see in the chart below from Chris Giles, Britain now has more full-time, more part-time, and more self-employed workers than it did in 2008. That's not what a weak recovery looks like.

    Another nice chart on employment, then we get down into the interesting, often not thought about, money shot

    It's been a tale of two recoveries, and it's not clear how to reconcile them. That's because there's usually a strong relationship—what economists call Okun's Law—between GDP and jobs. So either Britain's GDP numbers have systematically understated the size of its economy, or its workers have become less productive.

    Now, the latter isn't as far-fetched as it sounds. A drop in productivity doesn't mean Britain's workers woke up one morning and forgot how to make as much stuff as before. Rather, it means that high-productivity sectors like finance and oil drilling are shrinking, and low-productivity sectors like self-employment are growing.

    Washington Post

    ReplyDelete
  31. ISTANBUL –

    The world renowned U.S. intellectual Noam Chomsky said that Turkey is the only country who explicitly opposes Israel's atrocious operations in Gaza and continuous U.S. support of Israel has created anti-Americanism in Muslims around the world. “Turkey is the only country that has explicitly displayed its stern attitude toward Israel and has opposed Israel’s oppression of Palestine," Chomsky told state-run Anadolu Agency.


    He reiterated that the world expected too much from the "international community," accentuating that there was no such thing as the international community and that ordinary people are deceived in believing it exists.

    Chomsky condemned the world, including the U.S and the U.N., emphasizing that they had elided the fact that Israel was committing a crime in Palestine and instead, were supporting Israel's strikes. He added that the Arab world was divided and powerless to have any impact at all. "Today, the world only acts in accordance with its national- interest. The U.S. supports Israel in accordance with its strategic interests in the region. In addition, the U.N doesn't really care about what is happening in Gaza. The Arab world is deeply divided and is powerless," said Chomsky. "The U.S is openly supporting Israel's actions militarily, diplomatically, ideologically, thus, is clearly a part of the killing of Palestinians. The U.S. should be accountable for the shed of Palestinian blood," Chomsky said.

    He also said that the actions of the U.S. betrayed Muslims for yet another time, and that the U.S.' hypocritical behavior would lead to the faith of the Muslim world in the U.S. to deteriorate even further. "I don't know how the U.S. will ever be able to say it is interested in developing a dialogue with the Muslim world again, after this betrayal. This really is hypocrisy,"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great source.

      Chomsky is renowned around the world as being crazy.

      http://tbschemer.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/noam-chomsky-is-insane/

      Among many another article.

      Delete
    2. Chomsky was an apologist for the Khmer Rouge.

      He should shut up already.

      Delete
  32. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/07/27/Report-Hamas-Used-Child-Labor-to-Build-Tunnels-Hundreds-Died
    REPORT: HAMAS USED CHILD LABOR TO BUILD TERROR TUNNELS; HUNDREDS KILLED

    "At least 160 children have been killed in the tunnels, according to Hamas officials" (emphasis added)."

    "That report--confirmed by Hamas itself--emerged in 2012, not from the Israeli government, but the sympathetic Journal of Palestine Studies, in an article that otherwise celebrated the secret tunnel system as a symbol of Palestinian resistance to the Israeli "siege" of the Gaza Strip."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's tough growing up in Gaza. In you survive being worked to death in the tunnels, you may end up being fitted for a suicide vest.

      Delete
    2. All the children in Gaza should be place under the care of Child Protective Services in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

      Delete
    3. Yes, but the family is well paid. There is no shortage of Palestinian children to martyr.

      Delete
  33. http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.607433
    European Jews face rising tide of anti-Semitism in Gaza operation's wake
    Two leading German newspapers led their Friday editions with calls for an end to hatred against Jews.

    Now, that’s irony.

    I do not think anti-Semitism is rising; Gaza has given the closet fascists the excuse to come out. Furthermore, Paris is often the scene of riots arson by Muslims.

    Expect more; the overwhelming majority of Israelis support continued IDF action in Gaza.

    http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/07/23/high-israeli-support-for-gaza-incursion-survey-shows/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Writing my niece, I asked about demonstrations in Dresden. When I receive a reply I will report.

      Delete
    2. As nearly as I can tell, such demos consist of Moslems, neo-Nazis, and extreme leftists, a motley crew.

      Delete
  34. http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-army-destroys-13-more-gaza-tunnels-093712884.html
    Egypt army destroys 13 more Gaza tunnels

    ReplyDelete
  35. http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2014/07/27/Israeli-Peace-Rally-Cut-Short-by-Hamas-Rockets
    Israeli Peace Rally Cut Short by Hamas Rockets

    "There is nothing more to say, either about the brutality of Hamas or the idiocy of the Israeli far-left."

    ReplyDelete