Saturday,
September 13, 2025
“The ability of
any US president to fundamentally change or control the behaviour of other
major powers is frequently overestimated. Yet by posing as a sort of uncrowned
global monarch and grand arbiter of war and peace, Trump perpetuates fantasies
of US hegemony, omnipotence and divine right. Intoxicated by such ego-inflating
delusions, he pledged before taking office to swiftly end the Ukraine and Gaza
conflicts. Perhaps, in his vanity and hubris, he truly believed he could.
Eight months
on, the exact opposite is happening. Both crises are expanding and escalating.
The bubble has burst, his bluff has been called, the emperor has no clothes –
and there is no denying that Trump, by alternately appeasing, excusing and
encouraging the two foremost villains of these twin tragedies, is greatly to
blame.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/14/donald-trump-russia-israel-vladimir-putin-benjamin-netanyahu?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
.
. .
He is never
wrong, is he? President Trump said on Friday that the “radical left” was
responsible for much of the political violence in the country. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-doubles-blaming-radical-left-after-vow-after/story?id=125509965
Sunday,
September 14, 2025
A headline on
an op-ed today reads “Was the Two-State Solution Always Doomed?” I take it in
the present tense. Is the two-state solution doomed? Unequivocally Yes, I
believe.
In 2024, there
were 529,450 Jewish residents on the West Bank. https://apnews.com/article/israel-settlers-palestinians-gaza-west-bank-23d2f0ce608b4900995ee7a36f152a95
The precise
number of Arabs/Palestinians is harder to identify, but 3 million is
a reasonable estimate. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Palestine
Let’s start
with the assumption that a Palestine state would encompass the present West
Bank, the area bordered by Jordan and the Dead Sea to the east and by
israel to the south, west, and north, excluding Gaza as a practical matter.
Would more than half a million Jews accept citizenship in an Arab-dominated
state? Would an Arab majority be comfortable with a large Jewish minority,
especially in proximity to Israel? No is the obvious answer to both
questions.
Carve out
Jewish enclaves on the West Bank? The result would resemble Swiss cheese if not
contiguous or a crushing mass if joined. Move the Jews back to Israel? “In
terms of settlers’ personal reasons for living in the West Bank, one-third of
Jews in the West Bank are motivated by religious ideology, while the rest were
drawn to the region by the potential to improve their quality of life.” https://israelpolicyforum.org/west-bank-settlements-explained/
In simple
terms, Israeli real estate within its borders is very expensive. “Israel ranked
most expensive place to buy a home in European housing survey.” https://share.google/DPpXWrDHHsEK9ehuz
“As home
ownership inside the State of Israel climbs out of reach, Israelis flock to
West Bank settlements — and receive generous government support.” https://www.timesofisrael.com/is-the-government-using-the-housing-crisis-to-drive-the-settlement-movement/
Forgetting for
a moment the strategic value of fragmenting the Palestinian/Arab population,
Israel is apparently willing to endure the financial and political burden of
occupation to avoid or at least limit a housing crisis at home. Intragroup
harmony is more important to the current Israeli regime than intergroup
harmony.
.
. .
Meanwhile, “Israelis
are paying widespread tribute to Charlie Kirk, renaming streets and painting
murals in honor of the American conservative activist assassinated this week in
Utah.” https://share.google/FiFlZfebIkaxDNTq2
You know, the
guy that said, "The number one funding mechanism of radical, open
border, neoliberal, quasi-Marxist policies, cultural institutions, and
nonprofits . . . [is] Jewish donors.” https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013084
Folks in Harlem
have the good sense to not even consider such a travesty. They don’t forget
that Kirk said that Black women like television presenter Joy Reid; former
first lady Michelle Obama; former Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from
Texas; and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson did "not have the
brain processing power to be taken seriously." https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/charlie-kirk-black-women/
Wednesday,
September 17, 2025
Thursday,
September 18, 2025
As a retired
New York State employee and an alte kocker, I have pretty good
medical insurance coverage. For better or worse, in the last couple of years,
I’ve given it quite a workout. Today, I picked up a new blood pressure
medication to deal with a renewed surge resulting from reading the newspaper
too carefully. My co-pay was $.02.
. .
.
The memory of
the late Charlie Kirk has drawn very positive comments from some Jews,
crediting his strong support of Bibi Netanyahu and his policies. This put him
in a unique position as a pro-Israel antisemite. It’s characteristic of
Christian Nationalists who won’t forgive us for killing Christ while unable to
tolerate towel heads.
Friday,
September 19, 2025
Avast,
matey. Paul Hecht, Thespian Emeritus, reminds us that today is Talk Like a
Pirate Day. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Talk_Like_a_Pirate_Day
. . .
Onward to 5786.
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