management
Its all about Israel!
Great Quotes…
Eric Hoffer: “The Jews are a peculiar people: Things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. Other nations drive out thousands, even millions of people, and there is no refugee problem. Russia did it. Poland and Czechoslovakia did it.Turkey threw out a million Greeks and Algeria a million Frenchmen. Indonesia threw out heaven knows how many Chinese–and no one says a word about refugees. But in the case of Israel, the displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees. Everyone insists that Israel must take back every single Arab. Arnold Toynbee calls the displacement of the Arabs an atrocity greater than any committed by the Nazis. Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate peace terms. But when Israel is victorious it must sue for peace. Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in this world.”
Elie Wiesel: I marvel at the resilience of the Jewish people. Their best characteristic is their desire to remember. No other people has such an obsession with memory.
Benjamin Disraeli: “The view of Jerusalem is the history of the world; it is more, it is the history of earth and of heaven.”
Leo Tolstoy: “What is the Jew?…What kind of unique creature is this whom all the rulers of all the nations of the world have disgraced and crushed and expelled and destroyed; persecuted, burned and drowned, and who, despite their anger and their fury, continues to live and to flourish. What is this Jew whom they have never succeeded in enticing with all the enticements in the world, whose oppressors and persecutors only suggested that he deny (and disown) his religion and cast aside the faithfulness of his ancestors?! The Jew – is the symbol of eternity. … He is the one who for so long had guarded the prophetic message and transmitted it to all mankind. A people such as this can never disappear. The Jew is eternal. He is the embodiment of eternity.”
Winston S. Churchill: “Some people like the Jews, and some do not. But no thoughtful man can deny the fact that they are, beyond any question, the most formidable and most remarkable race which has appeared in the world.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe: “Energy is the basis of everything. Every Jew, no matter how insignificant, is engaged in some decisive and immediate pursuit of a goal… It is the most perpetual people of the earth…”
David Ben Gurion: “In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.”
John F. Kennedy: Israel was not created in order to disappear- Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success. It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom.
John Adams: “I will insist the Hebrews have [contributed] more to civilize men than any other nation. If I was an atheist and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations… They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this Earth. The Romans and their empire were but a bubble in comparison to the Jews.”
Mark Twain: “…If statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky way. properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and had done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it.
The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
Related articles
- Jews in Judaea (jewsdownunder.wordpress.com)
- Knesset to Speak Up for Rights of Jews Expelled from Arab Lands (israelnationalnews.com)
- Breiman: Both PLO and Iran are successors of the Nazis (ivarfjeld.com)
- Jews Around the World Celebrate First Night of Hannukah (voanews.com)
Gender Gaps
Christine Lagarde, Director of the IMF, said recently, “In the long race ahead, it makes no sense to simply eliminate half the contestants before the starting gun is sounded. Letting women participate more fully in economic life can yield enormous economic benefits.”
Its probably fair to say that in the developed west that women get a better deal in terms of equality in the workplace than probably anywhere else on the planet. That’s no to say there is absolute equality, there isn’t, but they do experience a much closer to the male experience than almost anywhere else. Of course Asia is probably the most desperate place to be a woman right now but the Middle East offers some hope.
The Middle East is a key region of interest because although increasing numbers of women are receiving a good standard of education, the region still lags behind on the core issue of economic equality. On a global scale, the latest figures from the World Economic Forum‘s Global Gender Gap Report show that although the gender gap in education is 93% closed, the gap in economic equality has closed by only 60%. A problem!
There is plainly a disconnect from the classroom to the workplace. Education will continue to be vitally important generally but it has to be questioned where the focus for women’s education is. What educational support do women need to prepare them for the world of business and work?
Perhaps the Middle East is swayed by overt sexual discrimination? This might be too simple an explanation but nonetheless probably forms part of the explanation. Women entrepreneurs seeking loan capital may have their ideas and suggestions dismissed on the basis of them being a woman rather than straight forward commercial measure of the likely hood of success of the business being proposed. Women’s enterprise then is choked-off at source! The net result is retarded economic growth with only 50% (at best that is) of economically active people partaking in forwarding the economy.
Youth is the key to forward growth and engagement economically. The youth of today shape the future of tomorrow. This despite the political and military challenges facing the region at the present time, youth hold the key.
I am quite sure that each country will need a unique approach, cultural challenges presented by national identities possibly being the most difficult of challenges to overcome, but not insurmountable over time. My assumption is that the majority of countries of the Middle East will face many common challenges, possibly more so than any other region and this then may prove to be the deciding factory in regional success and therefore the model for the rest of the world to follow. Well we can hope I guess.
The exception to the Middle East rule is Israel with an economy broadly speaking similar to developed European and US economies. Although I’m not suggesting that Israel is not without economic issues to overcome, but they are much closer (and in some respects further on) than the close by European economies in respect to equality of opportunity.
Women in the workplace, women in business… it simply makes no sense to eliminate half the contestants before the starting gun is sounded. Letting women participate more fully in economic life will yield enormous economic benefits.
Related articles
- Women gain as gender gap narrows (updatednews.ca)
- Mind the gender gap: it’s shrinking (one.org)
- Gender gap narrows globally in 2013 – Report (ghanabusinessnews.com)
- UAE closing narrow gender gap (gulfnews.com)
- Canada ranks 20th on global gender inequality index as world gap narrows (business.financialpost.com)
- World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2013 (economicvoice.com)
- Global Gender Inequality Narrowed in 2013 – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
- Women gain as gender gap ‘narrows’ (bbc.co.uk)
- The Global Gender Gap Index. Do you know how big or small is this gap in your country? (keepitpureandsimple.wordpress.com)
- India ranked 101 in global gender gap report (thehindu.com)
Reaction to Racism
France it would appear from recent media reports seems to be developing a resurgence in Racism. French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira is to give an interview in the Left Leaning daily Liberation on Wednesday 20 Nov. 2013. In the article she will attack the rise of racism in France and the lack of the French political classes for not speaking out against racism.
Herself a victim, Anne-Sophie Leclere a candidate from the far-right posted on her Facebook page that she could be compared to a monkey and a 12-year old brandished a banana at her during a rally. Taubira said: “The reactions have not been sufficient….What’s most shocking to me is that there has been no strong, beautiful voice raised in alarm at the downward spiral of French society [when it comes to racism].”
The justice minister’s remarks come just one day after Harry Roselmack, France’s most prominent black newsreader, penned an opinion piece for another French newspaper, Le Monde, accusing France of harboring “deep-seated racism”. “Racist France is back,” he wrote.
The one-two punch from two of France’s most visible black personalities has shone a harsh spotlight on an issue that the theoretically “colour-blind” country, with its proud motto of “liberty, fraternity, equality”, has had some difficulty in tackling.
The problem is I suppose is that just like Britain Racism, Antisemitism and Anti-Muslim feeling and actions are on the rise and are all outlawed, but there is little respect for the law and its not enforced anything like sufficiently. There is no threat from the law so to speak. Racist speech has become more acceptable on the basis of ‘its deplorable but should be allowed as a matter of free expression’. This of course is the negative effect of supporting free speech, basically if the leaders are doing it then it must be okay for the public to openly express these odious opinions right? Well, NO actually it isn’t.
Then there’s the rise of the politically far-right parties across Europe. Media attention on these parties puts a sanitized face on their political propositions and provides a platform for their racist speech. The far-right is no-longer politically and morally seen as marginalized. The deafening silence offered in response allows, encourages even the far-right to go further, to claim to speak for the average man/woman, and the Left, how do they respond? They are intimidated and do not respond.
In her interview with Liberation, Taubira also accused the French political class, but particularly the National Front, of inciting racial resentment with their focus on the “threat” posed by immigration. “We need to stop making a daily soap opera out of immigration data,” she said. “How is immigration a problem? How is it endangering French society?” The same of course apply’s in Britain, the issues are the same.
Where the two nations differ (thankfully) is on classification. In France there are no classification on the census for racial origin. In France race statistics are illegal, to be French is sufficient. For me I find myself agreeing.
The honest conclusion has to be that the recent rise (lets hope its a spike) in racism is related to more multiculturalism, more mixing, more openness to the wider world. Over time my guess is that it will abate, but until that time comes we should not ignore its rise, to ignore it is to feed it. No, it must be challenged and we should implore our political representatives to challenge it on our behalf even more than we ourselves do. The very fabric of our societies are easily stained and could be permanently stained if we allow racism to go unchallenged.
Related articles
- French weekly in racist probe after “monkey” cover (worldbulletin.net)
- France’s most prominent black politician disturbed by upswing in overt racism (rawstory.com)
- Prominent Blacks Sound Alarm on ‘Racist France’ (amren.com)
- France’s First Black Newscaster Says His Country Is Racist (clutchmagonline.com)
- UN intervenes as Taubira slurs continue (euronews.com)
- In France, Some Ask If Racism Is On The Rise (wnyc.org)
- Far-Right French Magazine Under Investigation After Racist Cover (amren.com)
- Roselmack denounces increase of racism in France (veronikalef.wordpress.com)
- Racist France is back, says country’s first black newsreader (telegraph.co.uk)
- Far-Right French Magazine Under Investigation After Racist Cover (huffingtonpost.com)
Live Together not Side-by-Side
In Britain today there’s a celebration which on the face of it is enormous fun, especially for children. Bonfire Night; a night when there’s a bonfire, fireworks and a communal gathering. What’s often (almost always) missed is the underlying reason for the ‘celebration’ – the conviction and death of a Roman Catholic (Guy Fawkes) for trying to overthrow the monarchy in 1604 by blowing-up Parliament.
The purpose of this post is not a lesson in English history but to point out the divisions in society.
400 years ago Roman Catholics were in the minority in England and were treated in most cases worse than the Protestant owned farm animals, so not even second class citizens. In fact even today it isn’t constitutionally possible for a Catholic to be the Monarch! Yup, that’s right 2013 and a Catholic cant sit on the crown thrown!
The point is that communities live side-by-side and not generally speaking together. The present day situation often revolves around immigrant communities, large and rapid in-fluxes of peoples who’s sole aim is a better life. The Protestant/Catholic question has largely been resolved, well in England any-way, Northern Ireland and Scotland may be peaceful places but I’m quite sure the tensions remain even today.
Its probably true to say that ‘birds of a feather, flock together’ and its to be expected that new immigrants will naturally coalesce into mini-communities centred on the familiarity with those from the home-land, and traditional customs. This is to be expected and initially at least accepted. However, the behavior of the native ‘do-gooders’ does seem to encourage difference, it encourages the whole-scale preservation of cultural practices from far away places. It might even be that these ‘do-gooders’ have a sense of neo-colonial social condescension flowing through their thoughts and ideas. Of course if this is the case then they are guilty of prejudice of an intellectual nature; I’m not sure which is more damaging the thug on the street practicing violence or the intellectual who constructs social barriers to progress.
The politically far-right has begun to take a-hold over some sections of society and intellectually they have been clever in claiming secularism for themselves. They use the cloak of secularism to hide their ‘hate talk’. Yet it is also true to say they pick their causes, they will often march shoulder to shoulder with religious fundamentalists against causes such as same sex marriage or gay rights. Non-the-less when it comes to some religions the message is in no way complex; The Jewish and Muslim faiths come-in for some very pointed accusations from the far-right.
The realities of every-day life in a multi-cultural society play into the hands of these people, communities living side-by-side in mistrust fueled by the hate speak of the far-right lead inevitably to these divisions being exploited for the benefit of hate. Cultural symbols become a metaphor for religious and cultural intolerance. Those of hate who hide in the Churches and Mosques openly accuse and attack those who do not practice as they do. The phobias become pervasive, leaching into everyday society, the press, the media and yes even into everyday conversation. Difference becomes a topic of conversation, it becomes a main event, a reason to hate, to mistrust, not to live together.
The issue really isn’t the head scarf or whatever symbol is chosen, its the definition imposed by those who might wear and use it as a justification of their personal being and by those who do not wear it and point to their own justifications for its removal. The head scarf, the golden crucifix, the yarmulke… these become the very things that generate hate, the ideas become something obscured.
The dominance of a Protestant culture remains in the British legal system and it could possibly be argued that strengthening of this could actually lead to greater harmony. Those with conflicting views would have a firm rule to live by and if they cannot may seek out less difficult places to dwell. The cultural gaps that have been allowed to develop are where those who hate have come to exist, to thrive, to push out from. The cultural gaps are often defended as the places that freedom exists but is this so? Well, yes actually, but its the freedom to practice hate that gives them a bad name.
The current situation is difficult and set to become even more difficult with further removal of barriers to migration. The far-right I’m sure will gain more favor over the coming year after the in-flux of Romanians & Bulgarians. It seems inconceivable that the bonds of kinship will be broken on arrival in Britain (or France or Italy or anywhere else for that matter) and I’m sure it will provide food for the far-right that these people fail to integrate with immediate effect. I’m sure that they will fall prey to the emphasis on skin-colour, on religious difference, on cultural practices but most importantly that they are just plain different.
In my mind, equality, emancipation and universalism should be the goals of society applied evenly to all, the immigrants, the far-right, the far-left and those in the centre. Assimilation should be the aim of all peoples, to live together not side-by-side.
Related articles
- U.S. Roman Catholic Church And Protestant Denominations Agree To Recognize Each Other’s Baptisms (aconservativeedge.wordpress.com)
- Obama Orders Priests Arrested If They Say Mass On Military Bases (politicalvelcraft.org)
- “How long must we sing this song”: From Belfast to Beirut (eyeontheeast.org)
- Do You Know What Day It Is? ~ Remember, Remember The 5th Of November – Million Mask March! (politicalvelcraft.org)
- N. Ireland: Army defuses explosive (edition.cnn.com)
- The Persistence of Memory: Northern Ireland’s Challenges in Overcoming “The Troubles” (dorieanna.wordpress.com)
- Why H is the most contentious letter in the alphabet (theguardian.com)
- Top 2 Candidates Vow to Make City Hall More Faith-Friendly (nytimes.com)
- Roamin’ Catholics (charleymckelvy.wordpress.com)
- Irish-speaking Norman proud to be an Orangeman (newsletter.co.uk)
Forgivness
Forgiveness does not justify another’s actions (against you).
The true benefactor of forgiveness is ourselves, do not make the mistake of assuming it is for the benefit of the offender, of the person we forgive.
By giving forgiveness you free yourself from the effects they have on you and your well being.
Related articles
- 10 Extraordinary Examples Of Forgiveness (listverse.com)
- The Freedom of Forgiveness (leaplikeafrog.com)
- Forgiveness (faithfoodandflowers.wordpress.com)
- The price of forgiveness is not your dignity.. (anelasticheart.wordpress.com)
- Should we always forgive? (theburdenofwings.com)
- Forgiveness. (buildyourconfidence100.wordpress.com)
- Forgiveness is For Giving To Yourself (bernijourney.wordpress.com)
- Relinquishment (deepesthinker.com)
- Forgiveness (gccbreathe.wordpress.com)
- The Process Of Forgiveness (inspirationalchristiansfortoday.com)
Power Games
In business you will come across and probably be the victim of those who are ruthlessly power hungry, I know I have and it ain’t pleasant I can assure you. To be honest the pursuit of power and only power in business (or more generally life as well) is not a an assured route to success; but those who practice the corporate power politics don’t know that and they will be relentless in their pursuit I promise you.
But you know the problem, you’ve got part way up the corporate greased pole only to find the further up you go the more power hungry your colleagues are. The conundrum of course is do you consolidate what you have achieved so far or do you carry on with the ever increasing risk being that you lose the lot. What ever you choose you will nonetheless have to deal with these power obsessed co-workers, so how to deal with them?
Do you ignore them, hope that they go away, that they will eventually recognize your contribution and and they’ll leave you alone? No, not a chance of that. Never be so naive as to think this will ever be the case. But should you instead go on the counter offensive? Do you turn brutal in your pursuit? Also No, you’ll need friends or at least allies along the way for the continuing journey. Instead you must remain calm under pressure, self assured of your abilities; after-all you haven’t been promoted to your position by being stupid have you? But you will have to be and remain at your best, there’s no time for an off-day believe me. And remember those who take aim at you, those who seek your power will eventually make a mistake, they will overreach themselves and you want to be prepared for the moment.
Nevertheless you may (will) be drawn into conflict at some point and I recommend:
- Competence in role is your defense: those most vulnerable when under attack are those who are either complacent or who don’t deliver top notch results. Say what you are going to do, do it in the time-frame agreed and in budget. Sounds simple but it isn’t.
- Confidence: only those who are confident in their own abilities to deliver can truly exercise power. That’s not to say that everyone who does deliver results will exercise power, just that you have got to deliver and be confident that you will before you can take power.
- No short-cuts (ever): Lance Armstrong, great athlete absolutely no doubt but the cheated, he took the drugs short-cut to win and then lost. He lost not a small bit though, he lost BIG on the world stage. In these cases its not the wins no matter how many that will be remembered, it’ll be the betrayal of trust. In business think of Jeff Skilling in charge of ENRON – an example of cheating on a monumental scale.
- The war zone becomes too dangerous: if your company has become a hunting ground for the power hungry, a power-at-any-cost environment then perhaps you should consider a new venue for your talents. When companies deteriorate to this level its often a sign that either the company is in crisis or about to fall into one!
- Could you be the next entrepreneur?: you’re talented, you know you are. So why continue with the red dot of a power obsessed co-worker permanently fixed on your back? You’d be making a mistake if you thought the power struggle will go away by being a start-up but you will have the rewards, all (or at least most) of them. Leaving the organisational power struggles behind might just turn out to be a better use of your time and energy.
Power, personal power, power in the work-place; this is complicated for sure. You’ll never achieve with out it but it can equally be your ruin if not used with finesse. So if you find yourself in a place that encourages the ruthless to show disrespect, the insecure to take credit, or the savagely ambitious to take the joy and meaning out of work, seize the only power that really matters: control over your attitudes, your values and the quality of the work that you do.
Related articles
- Personal Power Tuesday (fromthedeskofmardrag.wordpress.com)
- If You Were Chief Boss Of The World Are You Gonna Be Really Happy (criminologyjust.blogspot.com)
- Forbes Named Putin Most Powerful Person in World (02varvara.wordpress.com)
- Enron whistleblower Sherron Watkins speaks at Georgia Regents University (chronicle.augusta.com)
- I Am Power Hungry (harrisonwilder.com)
- Are You Giving Away Your Personal Power? (lifehack.org)
- Paradox in Human Form (ifhappinesscanlastforever.com)
How should a person be judged?
How should a person be judged? By what s/he is or what s/he could be?
If the person is you; you are judging yourself then it is the person you are that is the measure to use. If you wake one morning, look in the mirror and decide that actually you have been lazy, you could have done better, that you have in some way messed-up some lately but you know deep down that you could have done better then judge what you have done, what you are and not what you could have been, could have done. By this point your potential is wasted and you know its wasted.
By asking yourself what you have become, what you have done you will eventually look at your talents and the resources you have to hand and you should know if in some way you’ve fallen short that you have wasted the talents and resources granted to you. By wasting them like a muscle that’s not exercised they will wither and rot over time so that your potential will diminish.
If on the other hand the person is not you that you judge then in this case you must judge on the basis of their potential, what they could be, what they could achieve. You have no way of knowing, no certainty, no way of understanding the things and circumstances that prevent them from reaching their potential. So when you meet someone who is a real mess, don’t look upon them with scorn initially, you should see the person they could be and judge on that basis.
All you have to remember is that the greater the persons potential the further they have to fall. People may be tempted by things that will addict them and these addictions may be greater than anything we could possibly know ourselves or be able to resist but you do not know the extent of the persons will, the extent to which they can exercise control over their lives and you cannot possibly be in a position to judge this. The lesson is that we all have demons; our own we know, for others we can only guess.
The products and deeds we make and do are of our own and not others. Judge yourself on this basis. The products and deeds of others alert us to their achievements so far but we know there is more, much more is possible, its just not known or certain.
Related articles
- God never judges me (trinhhathu229.wordpress.com)
- How would I evaluate a person? (ksquareblog.wordpress.com)
- Judge Me (smartstunningsearching.wordpress.com)
- Disciplinary Charges Filed Against “Messiah” Judge (volokh.com)
- Family first? (bellemorgen.wordpress.com)
- Hooked on Heroin: Beating addiction (wbng.com)
- Casting the First Stone (michaelcupo40.wordpress.com)
- Judges Withdraw from Trial of Muslim Brotherhood Members in Egypt (voanews.com)
- Kana’s verdict ‘best present’ for Anene (iol.co.za)
How to deal with Anger
Do not be easy to anger…
Anger is one of those feelings that should be condemned under normal circumstances, it makes a person tend toward irrationality; things said or done in anger will normally be regretted later. They tend to be destructive both for the person who has caused the anger and for the person who is angry. It is said that someone who gets angry is like one who worships idols. Anger can cause a person to lose their wisdom, or a person destined for greatness to forfeit their future.
There are those who suffer from a “short fuse”, a lack of patience. These people are often found to be easily irritated, to blow-up over small things, their anger is a chronic condition. Everybody gets angry from time to time, this is natural of course, but those who suffer chronic anger are limited in their potential.
Dealing with Anger and angry people is a challenge unquestionably, but the results of efforts to avoid anger and situations that bring about anger can be well rewarded. Life outlooks and relationships can have much greater fulfillment.
So how to deal with anger?
A simple recommendation is to get the angry person to wait.
The traits of anger and pride are linked and the first step in dealing with both is to wait. Don’t express the anger or pride verbally, in this way emotions will not gain momentum building to regretful actions. This is not a new idea, as a boy I was told by my teachers to “count to 10” and “take a deep breath” both of which are forms of waiting, of finding something to stop immediate action providing a space for calmness, consideration and reflection.
Another recommendation is to ask yourself who might be watching?
Some will undoubted choose someone close to them as as the person by which they might measure themselves and others might choose a being such as G-d. Either way the question to ask yourself is simple; Would I do or say the things I’m contemplating if this person were here with me and would I be comfortable with them watching, would they agree with my proposed actions and saying? Of course if the answer to these questions is yes, then go on, be angry, get it off your chest, vent. Although if the answer is no, which often it will be then you need a different course.
Remember the consequences of your actions.
This is a very practical and easy bit of advice to follow, if fact it would be difficult not to remember, especially if you had done something terrible. If you hurt a persons feeling, even out of anger you should consider apologizing in person and ask for forgiveness for hurting their feelings. The purpose of this advice is to ready a person to apologize which is not an easy thing to do and will weaken the tendency to anger.
Finally remember who’s in charge.
Though the person who is harming you, or cursing you or harming your wealth it is you that is in charge of how you respond. The other person is free-willed but so are you, you are the master of your actions and if you try you are the master of your emotions. Making this concept a part of your being, who you are, the way you think is the work of a life-time.
I give you this advice and wish you well with not being angry.
Related articles
- Anger (socioculturalangle.com)
- Dealing with anger (duckduckgrayduck.com)
- Using Anger as Your Ally (pqcinternational.wordpress.com)
- Turning Anger Into Progress (ataleoftwocs.com)
- Anger is a Choice (davidkravitzcoaching.wordpress.com)
- Can anyone teach how to express Anger?? (drpriyankamehta.wordpress.com)
- It Pisses Me Off To Be Pissed Off (mamatattoo.com)
- Anger and Forgiveness… (behindthemaskofabuse.com)
- How To Communicate With Irrational And Angry People (lifehack.org)
- Manage Your Anger Effectively (jaredkligerman.com)
Peace Deal?
Last night I was waiting for my good friend to come round to my house, we were playing backgammon (for fun, not money) and turned the TV on. As I like watching the news so much I turned to Aljazeera News who give a different perspective from the home-grown news channels; BBC, ITV & Sky. I was soon captivated by a speech from John Kerry US Secretary of State talking about the on-going Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
I was born and brought-up in the UK and have spent the majority of my adult life in the UK so have an interest in how the UK is viewed from beyond our borders. I also travel independently as much as possible.
I very quickly became captivated by the speech which seemed to be laden with hope! Good, I thought.
13 meetings so far, including three in the last 4-days, so the pace of negotiation is picking-up some urgency. Kerry even praised the Arab League for showing remarkable commitment. Kerry rounded-off his short speech by saying “The Israeli and Palestinian people both have leaders who absolutely understand what is at stake and they have taken risks to bring both parties to the table.”
Next up was Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah. He chose to speak in Arabic with English translation provided, no problem he should be comfortable with what and how he is speaking. His very first point – flag flying, specifically Israeli flag flying! Right, so not optimistic now then. He pledged $150m as debt relief for the PA, expressed concern about the Gaza Strip being isolated, and the need for food in Gaza.
Okay I think maybe he just overlooked Hamas, or that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas stated emphatically that no Israeli settlers or border forces would be allowed to remain in a future Palestinian state. “In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli – civilian or soldier – on our lands,” Abbas told the Egyptian press.
Its a funny term he used, the term “final resolution,” which sounds so disturbingly familiar. It brought to mind two other familiar terms from the same era, Judenfrei (“free of Jews”) and Judenrein (“clean of Jews”), the Nazi terms designating an area “cleansed” of Jewish presence. Judenfrei referred to “freeing” an area of all its Jewish dwellers by deportation, while Judenrein had the stronger connotation that any trace of Jewish blood had been removed as an impurity.
Anyway not long after the speech my friend turned-up and we played backgammon. He beat me 5-0, I’ve won our last three encounters by a single game and probably because he is a generous teacher; I’ve been playing for less than a year so far but its a very enjoyable game nonetheless.
But then I got to work this morning to see news of Arabs in East Jerusalem flying the Nazi Swastika over a village, and not for the first time either. The message is clear, their primary interest is in destroying Israel. The Arab/Muslim love affair with jihad, a cult of murder, torture, and death, finds its apotheosis in the Nazi party. So, even as much of the Arab world publicly denies, or at least down-plays the Holocaust, behind closed doors they celebrate and draw inspiration from the German genocide of the Jews.
It would seem then to my less informed mind that flag flying might actually be a good starting point after all. The road to Peace is going to be long and difficult I guess. To my way of thinking Israel accepts Arabs within its borders, as a predominately Jewish State it allows Arabs to sit in the Government (Knesset). As a model for the Mid-East you probably couldn’t go too far wrong in adopting the Israeli example for all Theocracy/Proto-Democracies regardless of the Ideology at the heart of the State.
However, on a somber note I think that the best that Israel can hope for in the short-medium term is that they can manage the various perpetually unstable IslamoNazi factions both within and without its borders.
Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/abbas-palestinian-state-will-be-judenrein/2013/07/30/
Related articles
- Love of the Land: The guarantor that peace is not in the offing (calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com)
- Time Magazine Lies About Oslo and Slanders Jews (algemeiner.com)
- This Ongoing War: 21-Oct-13: Incredibly, maddeningly, convicted terrorists are about to be freed again (thisongoingwar.blogspot.com)
- Doc’s Talk: Muslim Russia? (docstalk.blogspot.com)
- Qatar to ease Palestinian debt, peace talks intensify: Kerry (dailystar.com.lb)
- Kerry: The Peace Talks Are Intensifying (israelnationalnews.com)
- No compromise on Jerusalem as Palestinian capital: Abbas (worldbulletin.net)
- Abbas: Reports are wrong – peace talks not at a dead end (timesofisrael.com)
- Haniyeh: There’s No ‘Palestine’ Without Gaza (israelnationalnews.com)
- Doc’s Talk: Arab Judge Bans Israeli Mosque Ad that Offends Muslims (docstalk.blogspot.com)
US Debt Crisis Oct. 2013
After a shade more than 2 weeks (16 days to be precise) the US debt crisis appears to be coming to a close, well for now at least. America came within a whisper of default on its national debt because the Republicans and the Democrats couldnt see eye-to-eye on a solution.
On Wednesday 15 Oct. 2013 the Democratic leader Harry Reid said that Senate leaders had found an agreement, with non-essential government services to be reopened; but only until a new deadline of January 15, 2014. America’s borrowing authority will be increased until February 07, 2014. Reid said: “The compromise we reached will provide our economy with the stability it desperately needs.”
Yet to outside observers, the past three weeks have been totally baffling; a perplexing cocktail of Tea Party, Ted Cruz, Obamacare and debt.
So how and why did the Washington Administration came so close to pushing the world back into financial chaos.
- From the beginning, what was the Default? The US government nearly defaulted on its debt because the two main parties (yes there are only two choices and neither of them are particularly attractive from my European perspective), the Republicans and the Democrats struggled to reach a deal to increase the country’s debt limit (of course this simply means they are allowing themselves to borrow even more, as if the debt isn’t already at eye-watering levels!).
- What does that mean? The debt limit set is the total allowable $ value of government borrowing. The limit, set by Congress is usually issued in the form of treasury bonds and securities. If the debt limit isn’t increased, then America can’t honor its debts to foreign countries. We all get to pay for America’s spending!
- And why is that so bad? The US $ is the world’s reserve currency (travel almost anywhere and you can get by with US $). If the US can’t pay its debts, the stock markets would react swiftly and badly, plunging the US and the rest of the world back into recession (as if we ever really got out of recession in the first place).
- So why didn’t they just raise it without all the argument? This deal was so difficult to reach because the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, was facing massive pressure from within his own party not to compromise with the Democrats. Amounting to, it would seem a ‘screw the economy’ attitude to get what they wanted or to those of us with a little more maturity, plain childishness!
- Right then, got that bit; but what did it all have to do with Obamacare? The Affordable Care Act, was passed into law in 2010 (that’s by both Democrats and Republicans), but is despised by the Republican Party, who see it as a violation of free market principles and an expansion of the state, a bit too socialist for them. It’s also President Obama’s signature achievement, making it a high value target for his opponents.
- And the Government Shut-down? The shutdown came about because Congress couldn’t (wouldn’t) agree on a debt budget for the country. The Republicans tried to tie the dismantling of Obamacare to the passing of a national debt budget deal. When the Democrats refused to cave-in on the healthcare law, the government closed. The Republicans then tried the same hostage taking tactic over the debt ceiling. Same result.
- Go on then explain why they threatened the debt ceiling? Breaching the debt ceiling would be a catastrophe; the US came to the brink of default because a small group of Tea Party-backed politicians (the lunatic-right) who just didn’t care if the government defaulted on its debts. They despise the Democratic government and they despise Obama even more. Had the US have defaulted, it would have happened on Obama’s watch, which would have been a victory of sorts for the Republicans after their failure to dismantle Obamacare. But screw the world!
- Right so we know why, now who? Led by Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, this extreme right-wing (wrong-wing) of the Republican Party amounts to only 18% of the elected GOP, however it is hugely powerful thanks to the support of the Tea Party, who have threatened to challenge any Republican who voted in favor of a compromise with the Democrats.
- Okay, this takes money, where from? The Tea Party was able to threaten established GOP politicians because they have a lot of financial backing from wealthy businessmen such as the Koch Brothers. So any Republican politician that compromised would face a well-funded opposition campaign the next time voters went to the polls. Its all really about self interest.
- Got that, what do they stand for though? Even the Koch brothers didn’t want the US to default on its debt, that’s just bad for business. Meaning something else was driving the Tea Party; IDEOLOGY. The Tea Party came to prominence in 2008 after the global financial meltdown and the subsequent bailouts. They wanted less government regulation, less national debt and more fiscal responsibility! Not particularly bad when you say it like that but hang on just a second…
- Just tell me about the reality please? …2008 also saw the election of Barack Obama, the country’s first Black President (some people call him The Kenyan and some believe him to be Muslim, not that either is a bad thing as such but in some peoples eyes either one or both statements if true would be seen as a PR disaster). The Tea Party didn’t like this as they saw it representing a shift away from their view of “traditional America” (traditional America = Christian Right-Wing; the KKK is probably a good example of a Christian Right-Wing organisation in America). As such, they set about challenging everything Obama did, even if that meant bringing the US and the world to the brink of financial disaster. Great idea.
So, the Americans have pulled-back but honestly is anybody fooled? This situation is set for a repeat January/February next year. In short; situation normal, round two set for after Christmas!
Ye-Haaa welcome to the wild west!
Related articles
- House, Senate vote to reopen government, avoid debt crisis (kansascity.com)
- Petition Calls For Arresting And Charging Tea Party Republicans With Sedition (PETITION) (addictinginfo.org)
- Government shutdown has ended (fox43.com)
- US debt ceiling crisis – Barack Obama has won the shutdown. His prize is a lame duck presidency (blogs.telegraph.co.uk)
- Senate approves bill to reopen government, avoid default on debt (kdvr.com)
- Legislation passed by Senate to end shutdown now awaits House vote (wtvr.com)
- Boehner’s Struggle Within Own Party Wounds House Leader – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
- Dems dare GOP to provoke another hostage crisis during 2014 elections (washingtonpost.com)
- Senate to vote on shutdown plan within the hour (cltv.com)
- SHUTDOWN VOTE: Senate Passes Deal (whotv.com)
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