Community Matters

(Community Matters) what the internet does to the brain – NPR

Hat Tip: Stephen Yelenosky

(Community Matters) I’m sure there’s no connection between his ownership interest in Moody’s credit rating nor in Goldman Sach; nevertheless, his recent defending of them and the revelations that he holds over $60B in derivatives (ie, financial instruments of mass destruction) don’t enhance his well groomed image

Buffett Defends How Rating Agencies Are Paid

(Community Matters) David Grossman is a leading Israeli scholar, author, former journalist and peace activist. Steven and I had breakfast with him in Jerusalem a couple of years ago.  I’m hoping to reconnect with him while there with Steve Adler & Diane Land next week.

(This situation breaks my heart. The soldiers – no one can fault them for defending themselves; the passengers who attacked them with knives & lead pipes deserve no compassion. As to the politicians & military leadership who sent these soldiers into harms way and who risked Israel’s remaining political goodwill, they are incompetent)

His editorial in the UK Guardian:

The Gaza flotilla attack shows how far Israel has declined

The closure of Gaza is the consequence of a clumsy, calcified policy, which resorts by default to the use of massive force. No explanation can justify or whitewash the crime that was committed, and no excuse can explain away the stupid actions of the government and the army. Israel did not send its soldiers to kill civilians in cold blood; this is the last thing it wanted. Yet, a small Turkish organisation, fanatical in its religious views and radically hostile to Israel, recruited to its cause several hundred seekers of peace and justice, and managed to lure Israel into a trap, because it knew how Israel would react, knew how Israel is destined and compelled, like a puppet on a string, to react the way it did.

How insecure, confused and panicky a country must be, to act as Israel acted! With a combination of excessive military force, and a fatal failure to anticipate the intensity of the reaction of those aboard the ship, it killed and wounded civilians, and did so – as if it were a band of pirates – outside its territorial waters. This assessment does not imply agreement with the motives, overt or hidden, and often malicious, of some participants in the Gaza flotilla. Not all its people are peace-loving humanitarians, and the declarations of some of them regarding the destruction of the state of Israel are criminal. But these facts are simply not relevant at the moment: such opinions do not deserve the death penalty.

Continue reading →

(Community Matters) Lilly Archuletta is having a hard week; wish I was there to be of help/comfort/just get drunk together.

(Community Matters) I would have bought something there last week if I’d seen this earlier

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(Community Matters)

The Independent

Daniel Gordis

Haaretz (an Israeli daily)

and here

(Community Matters) Steven and I have moved from London to the country, staying at a “spa & resort” which is a mix between John Cleese’s Fawlty Towers and Lakeside Inn Resort in White Lake, MI.

(Community Matters) NYTimes: Deadly Israeli Raid on Aid Flotilla Draws Condemnation

I am not a foe throwing stones at Israel; I am a friend saying this is bad, very bad for the people of Israel (and for America’s strategic interest in the region). It’s not the tipping point, but it is one more stone in the scales that risk tipping American public opinion against our important, strategic friend.  I have written much about how Israel’s support among Senators and Congressmen appears disproportionate to their grassroots support among the American electorate.  I fear there could come a time when politicians have to flee from supporting the special relationship we have with Israel if public opinion suddenly and decisively shifts.

The handling of this raid appears incompetent and overly aggressive.  Though, I await hearing from outside experts how else the flotilla could have been stopped.

I was already expecting my week in Israel to include serious & lively political discussions – will be guests of Israelis in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa as well as touring the West Bank (Bethlehem, Hebron and Beit Jala) with Palestinian activists.

(Community Matters) Thank you to all our vets & those currently serving!

(Community Matters) London Assurance at the Olivier Theatre at National Theatre – a restoration comedy, the English version of a French farce.  The audience roared.  Loved it

(Community Matters) Tonight we had drinks with a gay couple introduced by a new friends in Rome. Turns out, they are good friends with our friends in Chicago/Marfa AND one of them and I graduated in the same class from A&M. He recognized me and was also in student government.

(Community Matters) Nike’s ad hottest on web right now, breaking web record. Features Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Dider Drogba

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