Month: September 2014

Assuming you don’t live where you grew up, what combination of chance, luck, and planning led you to live where you do?

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is a very serious person.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on Thursday that if he became president he would repeal all previous executive orders.

“I think the first executive order that I would issue would be to repeal all previous executive orders,” he said, according to Breitbart News.

Isn’t that a great idea?

Repealing all executive orders has the potential to undo a large amount of policy. Executive orders, for example, ban assassinations by the United States and organize intelligence agencies under the Director of National Intelligence.

Hmm. Maybe it’s not such a great idea.

“Senator Paul’s statement was meant to emphasize this president’s overt and unconstitutional executive orders, it was not meant to be taken literally,” Paul spokesman Sergio Gor wrote in an email.

Alrighty then. Never mind.

I take it that this falls in the same category as serial plagiarism. It doesn’t matter if you said it or pretended to write it because it wasn’t intended to be taken seriously.

Aaron Blake thinks that Bill Maher’s audience made a mistake in targeting Rep. John Kline of Minnesota for defeat.

Comedian Bill Maher announced Friday night that he will personally target Republican Rep. John Kline (Minn.) for defeat in the November election — the culmination of his longstanding “Flip a District” contest in which the HBO host allowed his viewers to pick which Republican he would attempt to unseat.

If you look at it from the perspective of choosing a candidate who is ripe for defeat then John Kline was a poor choice. But, if you look at it from the perspective of choosing a candidate who is popular in his home district but really shouldn’t be, then Rep. John Kline was an outstanding choice. Kline faces state Rep. Mike Obermueller (DFL), who he defeated by eight points in 2012. Presumably Obermueller doesn’t oppose gay marriage, would support legislation to address climate change, and we know he hasn’t voted to repeal ObamaCare 54 times. John Kline has a reputation as a moderate but he votes with the teabaggers all the time. All the Democrats need is for his constituents to become aware of how radical his recent voting record really is and they toss him out in favor of Some Dude.

Hello again painting fans.

This week I will be starting a new painting.  This is another scene from Cape May, New Jersey.  The photo seen directly below shows an old bungalow a couple of blocks from the beach.  The painting will include the 2 Saabs seen at the curb.   I will be using my usual acrylics on a tiny 6 inch by 6 inch gallery-wrapped canvas.

I started with a grid and began to sketch the scene.  Note that the same grid is applied to the original photo.  In this way, I can place all the elements as they are seen in the original photo.  No paint yet but there will be plenty next week.

The current state of the painting is seen in the photo directly below.

I’ll have a more progress to show you next week.  See you then.

Earlier paintings in this series can be seen here.

Freedom of expression is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, unless of course one criticizes our best ally in the world … Israel.

Yale Chaplain Explains Resignation After Oped About Israel and Anti-Semitism

(TIME) – Yale University Episcopal chaplain Bruce Shipman says three sentences cost him his job.

In a short letter to the New York Times late August, Shipman responded to an op-ed by Deborah E. Lipstadt titled “Why Jews are Worried,” about rising anti-Semitism in Europe.

Some highlights of this hasbara rant in the New York Times:

“I am unpersuaded by those who try to dismiss what is happening as “just rhetoric.” It is language, after all, that’s at the heart of the ubiquitous slippage from anger at Israeli military action to hatred of Jews.

Nor am I comforted by the explanation that these actions are being taken by “disgruntled Muslim youth.” (By one estimate, 95 percent of anti-Semitic actions in France are committed by youths of Arab or African descent.) Many of these Muslims were born in Europe, and many of those who weren’t are the parents of a new generation of Europeans.

It’s true that this is not the anti-Semitism of the 1930s, which came from the right and was rooted in longstanding Christian views that demonized the Jews. Traditionally, Islam did not treat Jews this way. But in the past century a distinct strain of Muslim anti-Semitism has emerged. Built on a foundation of antipathy toward non-Muslims, it mixes Christian anti-Semitism — imported to the Middle East by European missionaries — and a more leftist, secular form of anti-Semitism. It is evident in political cartoons, editorials, television shows and newspaper articles.

…
Seventy years after the Holocaust, many Jews in Europe no longer feel safe. Hiring an armed guard to protect people coming for weekly prayer is not the action of a secure people. In too many cities worldwide, directions to the local synagogue conclude with, “You will recognize it by the police car in front of the building.” France has seen a sharp rise in the number of Jews who have decided to emigrate (though the figures are still fairly small).”

The op-ed is filled with Islamophobic ramnifications blaming all ills of Israel and the western world on the inevitable clash of civilizations. The author quite remarkable inverts cause and effect on the I-P issue.

Here’s what he [Shipman] wrote:

“Deborah E. Lipstadt makes far too little of the relationship between Israel’s policies in the West Bank and Gaza and growing anti-Semitism in Europe and beyond. The trend to which she alludes parallels the carnage in Gaza over the last five years, not to mention the perpetually stalled peace talks and the continuing occupation of the West Bank. As hope for a two-state solution fades and Palestinian casualties continue to mount, the best antidote to anti-Semitism would be for Israel’s patrons abroad to press the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for final-status resolution to the Palestinian question.”

Within hours of the letter’s publication, Shipman says, people on and off campus began calling for his ouster. Two weeks later, he resigned. Why this happened–and what’s at stake–depends on who you ask.

Shipman has a long history of sympathy for the plight of Palestinians. As a teenager, he lived in Egypt while his father worked for World Health Organization and was there when Israel invaded during the 1956 Suez War. “Among my friends were Palestinian refugees and their children who were my age, so I heard their stories of dispossession and loss, people who had lost their homes and their farms and cut off from their land living in Jaffa and in the area which is now known as Israel,” he says.

Continued below the fold …

No, Prof. Lipstadt: It Is Israel’s Actions That Produced Spike In Anti-Semitism

I keep reading outraged comments from Jewish organizations and media condemning those (like me) who believe and say that the Gaza war is resulting in a spike in anti-Semitism. (They agree that incidents of anti-Semitism are increasing but reject the idea that it has anything to do with Israeli actions.)

…
In my own community of Washington, D.C., almost every synagogue is adorned with a big permanent sign that features an Israeli flag and the words: “We Stand With Israel In Its Struggle For Peace and Security.”  No mosques in this area proclaim their one-ness with Palestine, understanding as the synagogues choose not to that houses of worship are for prayer not politics. (If a mosque in this area did announce its solidarity with Palestine on a sign out front, the Jewish organizations here would go ballistic and the sign would not last a week.)

Over and over again Jewish organizations insist that those of Jewish faith “stand as one” with the State of Israel. In fact, those who question that bond are themselves criticized as “anti-Israel,” “self-hating Jews,” or worse.

Is it then any wonder that those who don’t quite grasp the nuances of Jewish identity react negatively when Israel behaves terribly, as it is doing right now? This does not excuse repulsive and violent instances of anti-Semitism which, like hate crimes against any group, must be condemned and, where possible, prosecuted.

But it’s a lie to say that Israel’s behavior does not affect attitudes toward both Israelis and Jews.

Today Binyamin Netanyahu is perhaps the most reviled leader of any country in the world and Israel, as a country, isn’t doing much better. Jews in diaspora are themselves feeling the ugliness growing.

If, however, none of this had anything to do with Israel’s behavior, the level of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel feelings would be constant, unaffected by the horrors in Gaza. To accept the logic of the various Jewish organizations (like the ADL) requires believing that the hate is always out there, unattached to anything except the anti-Semite’s psychosis.

If that was true, then why was it that apparently both anti-Semitism and anti-Israel fervor dropped dramatically during the period that Yitzhak Rabin was prime minister of Israel and was pursuing peace with the Palestinians.

The “world” may hate Netanyahu but it revered Rabin. Poll after poll showed that he was admired throughout the world, approaching levels achieved by Nelson Mandela. When he was murdered more foreign leaders (including Muslim and Arab leaders) gathered in Israel for his funeral than had gathered for any such event since President Kennedy’s funeral in 1963. And Jews benefited from the high regard in which Rabin was held.  

All “Stand With Israel” guns came out blazing …

Yale’s Episcopal chaplain resigns amid anti-Semitic controversy | Virtue Online|

THE BACKLASH

That same day (Aug. 26) the headline in the Washington Post read, “Episcopal chaplain at Yale: Jews are to blame for anti-Semitism for not making peace with genocidal enemy.”

“Speaking of moral obtuseness (or how “Palestine makes you dumb [WSJ – Brett Stephens],”) I reprint for you in full Rev. Shipman’s letter …”

“Next on Rev. Shipman’s bucket list: blaming women who dress provocatively for rape, blaming blacks for racism because of high crime rates, and blaming gays for homophobia for being ‘flamboyant,'” blasts the Post’s David Bernstein in The Volokh Conspiracy blog at the Post.

“If Rev. Shipman had made analogous comments about any other ‘ism,’ he’d be out of a job,” noted Bernstein who is the George Mason University Foundation Professor at the George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Virginia. “And if it were any group but Jews, their student organization would be occupying his office and demanding it.”

The Chabad of Yale (a Jewish student center) was quick to respond to Shipman’s New York Times letter. “Reverend Bruce Shipman’s justification of anti-Semitism by blaming it on Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza is frankly quite disturbing. His argument attempts to justify racism and hate of innocent people, in Israel and around the world. One can and should study the Israeli policies regarding human rights, and the honest student will realize the painstaking efforts undertaken by Israel to protect innocent civilians. Hamas, ISIS and other radical groups make it their mission to torture, rape and kill as many civilians as possible. Yet, no moral person however, would attempt to justify blatant global anti-Moslem hatred in light of these atrocities,” writes Rabbi Shua Rosenstein at the Chabad at Yale University. “I call upon Bruce Shipman to retract and apologize for his unfortunate and misguided assertion. Instead of excusing bias and hatred against others, he should use his position to promote dialogue, understanding, and tolerance.”

HRW interview  Kenneth Roth  on Nieuwsuur on Dutch TV

○ ISISophobia or “The Mooslims Are Coming”

I’m writing for the Washington Monthly again this weekend, so I will save this for tomorrow when I will do a fuller treatment of it.

For now, I just want to note that every member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence who is complaining about stonewalling from CIA director John Brennan has a ‘D’ after their name.

What are their names? Chairwomen Diane Feinstein, Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan (also the Armed Services chairman), Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado (who renewed his call for Brennan’s resignation), and Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. None of the Republican senators gives a shit that a Democratic president’s Director of Central Intelligence is refusing to tell them who ordered their staff’s computers to be hacked. None of them seem to care that their staffers were wrongly accused of a crime by the CIA. They don’t stick up for their staff. They wanted to deny them health benefits.

Meanwhile, the Democrats (at least, some of them) are fighting their own administration tooth and nail over both this issue and over how much to redact their report on torture. When did Republicans ever do anything like that during the Bush administration?

Minnesota Viking, and star NFL running back, Adrian Peterson has been arrested in Texas for whooping his then 4 year old son with a switch. When questioned about it, Peterson admitted what he had done and even showed the police what kind of switch he had used, but he asserted that it was a normal spanking and not abusive.

Peterson’s personal life reads like a laundry list of tragedy.

Peterson has a half-brother named Jaylon Brown who currently plays football at Klein Oak High School in Texas as its running back. Another half-brother was murdered the night before Peterson participated in the NFL Combine. Additionally, when Peterson was a teenager, his father was sentenced to ten years in prison for laundering drug money…

…Peterson’s two-year-old son died on October 11, 2013 at a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, hospital due to injuries sustained during an alleged assault by Joseph Robert Patterson, the boyfriend of the child’s mother. Peterson had only learned about his son a few weeks prior to his death, and had never met him.

Peterson is a Christian. Peterson has spoken about his faith in his life saying, “Jesus Christ means the world to me. I’ve been through so many different situations through my childhood and now my adulthood…God just helped me get through them and made me stronger at a young age. [Through] all the adversity and hard times I’ve been through, God has always been present. I’ve always prayed to Him and asked Him to give me the strength to endure and to help others and to better understand whatever situation I deal with in my personal life. And He has always showed up! It brings hope and peace of mind knowing that God gave His only begotten Son for us.” Peterson also spoke of his faith in relation to his injury of a torn ACL and MCL by saying “…‘This is a blessing in disguise. I’ll come back stronger and better than I was before.’ What flashed in my mind was, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,’…”

Peterson was indicted by a Montgomery County, Texas, grand jury on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child on September 12, 2014.

In light of the NFL’s present image problems stemming from the Ray Rice controversy, I don’t think you can expect to see Peterson back on a football field very soon, if ever. I wish he had more common sense than to beat his four year old with a stick. He’s overcome a lot in his life and accomplished a lot. But what he did is just not acceptable.

I usually keep the two worlds my writing inhabits separate, but on occasion the political world intrudes upon the literary one, and I can make myself heard better in poetry than in ten thousands words of prose. – Steven

Sonnet in a time of drones

Rage in your hearts, my friends, but not your minds
for the anger you feel may not be sound.
Nor does your hatred, earned or just, align
with barriers in place upon the ground.

You wave that bloody rag. We understand
the grief by which revenge is justified.
But tears that fall as salted waves on sand
obscure clear sight, and terrors from us hide.

Look up and see the vultures overhead
circle and circle round the killing fields.
They wait to feast on those you would make dead
but death’s an investment with paltry yields

except for vermin, scavengers and flies
who do not care where bombs fall from the skies.

It has often struck me as odd and fascinating that there seems to be more tolerance of dissent and debate over Israel’s policies in Israel than there is in the U.S. Congress. It’s especially striking that this is the case even in wartime, or in the immediate aftermath of war.

Unit 8200 is the Israeli military’s central intelligence gathering body and is often likened to the US National Security Agency (NSA).

The protest letter signed by the [forty-three past and present reservists]…of the unit was sent to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and armed forces chiefs.

The newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted the letter as saying that unlike in other countries there was “no oversight on methods of intelligence or tracking, and the use of intelligence information against the Palestinians, regardless of whether they are connected to violence or not”.

“We refuse to take part in actions against Palestinians and refuse to continue serving as a tool for deepening military rule in the Occupied Territories,” the letter added.

“Intelligence allows ongoing control over millions of people, thorough and intrusive monitoring and invasion into most aspects of life. All of this does not allow for normal living, fuels more violence and puts off any end to the conflict.”

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Here at home, it’s hard to imagine that degree of dissent coming from our intelligence community. Although I do have to give credit to those officials who threatened to resign when the NSA warrantless surveillance scandal first broke. And we certainly don’t see our elected officials agreeing with Israelis who refuse to participate in military rule in the Occupied Territories.

Here, we just don’t debate these things.

Here’s a Q & A from the Toronto Star that was written after it was known that Mayor Rob Ford has some kind of abdominal tumor and before it was announced that he is dropping his bid for reelection. If you’re curious, you can use that Q & A to figure what it means that Rob Ford has quit and his brother Doug has replaced him on the ballot.

It seems that Doug has never been as popular as his brother, so he is no lock to take over for his brother when he leaves office in December.

Regardless of what happens, hopefully there be less drunken use of crack cocaine involved.