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Tikkun Rabbi Michael Lerner: Uri Avnery & MJ Rosenberg on Israel’s Latest Mishugas

04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Peace Intelligence
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Michael Lerner
Michael Lerner

Editor's Note: It's hard to know the right reaction to Israel's latest craziness (mishugas)—its attempts to block Obama's deal with Iran to stop the potential militarization of Iran's nuclear capacity. Israel is trying to block the deal by using its American allies to push the Senate to vote on new sanctions against Iran now, instead of allowing the process toward a possible accommodation to be explored. Israel's goal is transparent: create conditions that Iran cannot accept, then argue that this proves Iran is really after the militarization of its nuclear capacities, then attack Iran with U.S. backing, and then use Iran's military response as proof that it was seeking nuclear capacity to attack Israel. Should one respond with sadness (see MJ Rosenberg’s article below) or with outrage?

Below I am also sharing a piece in which Israeli peace movement (Gush Shalom) leader Uri Avnery shows the craziness of Netanyahu's latest attempt to block an agreement with the Palestinians, this time by demanding that the Palestinians recognize Israel not just as a state the way all other parties recognize Israel, but as a JEWISH state (presumably meaning its right to discriminate against non-Jews or something of the sort).

Israel: The Dream Dies by MJ Rosenberg

Bibi & Libie by Uri Avnery

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Paul Craig Roberts — No Jobs — Just Lies

Commerce, Corruption, Government
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Paul Craig Roberts
Paul Craig Roberts

No Jobs For Americans — Just Lies About the Unemployment Rate

The alleged recovery took a direct hit from Friday’s payroll jobs report. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy created 74,000 net new jobs in December.

Wholesale and retail trade accounted for 70,700 of these jobs or 95.5%. It is likely that the December wholesale and retail hires were temporary for the Christmas shopping season, which doesn’t seem to have been very exuberant, especially in light of Macy’s decision to close five stores and lay off 2,500 employees. It is a good bet that these December hires have already been laid off.

A job gain of 74,000, even if it is real, is about half of what is needed to keep the unemployment rate even with population growth. Yet the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the unemployment rate fell from 7.0% to 6.7%. Clearly, this decline in unemployment was not caused by the reported 74,000 jobs gain. The unemployment rate fell, because Americans unable to find jobs ceased looking for employment and, thereby, ceased to be counted as unemployed.

In America the unemployment rate is a deception just like everything else. The rate of American unemployment fell, because people can’t find jobs. The fewer the jobs, the lower the unemployment rate.

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4th Media: Noam Chomsky: AMERICAN Politics Has Descended into MADness, Pure Savagery

Civil Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Idiocy
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4th media croppedNoam Chomsky: AMERICAN Politics Has Descended into MADness, Pure Savagery

Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky

Author and activist Noam Chomsky said that the congressional controversy over extending unemployment benefits is evidence that American politics has descended into madness.

 

“The refusal to provide very minimal living standards to people who are caught in this monstrosity — that’s just pure savagery,” Chomsky said during an interview with HuffPost Live. “There’s no other word for it.”

 

Chomsky is a leading American intellectual known at first for his academic work in the field of linguistics. He has since become an influential activist and progressive political thinker.

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SchwartzReport: Truths…

Cultural Intelligence
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Stephan A. Schwartz
Stephan A. Schwartz

One of the social developments arising from the Iraq and Afghanistan debacles is the militarization of America's police departments. Almost every week I read about SWAT teams armed with cast off military hardware breaking into homes all too often killing innocents. It isn't just the weaponry it is also the attitude that such weaponry engenders in police many of whom already have authority issues. Here is one of maybe 15 stories I have read in the last month. Few in the mainstream media are covering this, but I think it is a major social trend with a long string of negative consequences.

The Absurdly Dangerous Militarization of America’s Police
JIM HIGHTOWER – Salon/AlterNet (U.S.)

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Review (Guest): Goliath – Life and Loathing in Greater Israel

5 Star, Corruption, Country/Regional, Culture, Research, Justice (Failure, Reform), Nature, Diet, Memetics, Design, Peace, Poverty, & Middle Class, Power (Pathologies & Utilization)
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Amazon Page
Amazon Page

Max Blumenthal

5.0 out of 5 stars When tribalism trumps democracy, January 10, 2014

Herbert L. Calhoun

In the Middle East, another war of biblical proportions is taking place. It is the war between Judaism and democracy. This book tells us that the most famous outcome in the bible, the tale of David slaying Goliath, is now being reversed. This time around, David (Israeli democracy), loses, and loses badly to the Middle East's new conservative run, nuclear-armed Goliath of Israeli neocolonialism, tribalism and racism.

Whatever else this book does, it forces us to face straight up, one of our worse hidden fears about that besieged little middle eastern nation: Right before our eyes, little brother Israel, has become the 21st Century's first full-bred racist and fascist state. But how is it that in our life time, the collective guilt and heart-felt dreams for a Jewish homeland come true — one free of the evils of the kind of racism and anti-Semitism imposed on European Jewry by Adolph Hitler, has now been turned completely on its head?

This author tells us that it is happening because Israeli's demographic and racist fears about neighboring Arabs has metastasized into wanton crimes and embarrassing politically motivated violence against the Palestinians and other Arabs under Israel's occupation. The Israeli predilection for violence, coupled with justifications rooted in visceral racial fears, is systematically turning Israel into a modern-day race-based dystopia.

Continue reading “Review (Guest): Goliath – Life and Loathing in Greater Israel”