Two Cents Plain

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

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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.

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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

Jimmy Kimmel got it right about MAGA’s seizure of the unfortunate death of Charlie Kirk as their Reichstag Fire moment.  https://nypost.com/2025/09/17/entertainment/abc-pulls-jimmy-kimmel-live-indefinitely-after-charlie-kirk-comments/

 

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.

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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

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Onward to 5786.