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The Kosher ‘Philosopher’
By Gilad Atzmon
Jews and philosophy have had a pretty troubled relationship. The collision between ‘the tribal’ and ‘the universal’ or, more accurately, between Athens and Jerusalem, is inevitable. The few great Jewish thinkers who transcended the tribal, such as Spinoza or Otto Weininger, have been harassed and labelled by the rabbis as ‘self haters’ and enemies of the Jews.
Some contemporary Zionist merchants insist upon wrapping their Judeo centrism in crypto philosophical arguments. Bernard-Henri Levy, for instance, advocates his Zionist warmongering using a pseudo ‘moralist’ terminology.
Today I came across a uniquely banal rant by Asa Kasher, a Jewish ‘philosopher’ at Tel Aviv University. Kasher, who also authored the ‘IDF ethical code,’ defended Israel’s military conduct in the recent Gaza campaign in an article published in the Jewish Review of Books.
Kasher wrote, “Hamas unscrupulously violates every norm in the book.” And I wonder, what book? I would like to find out, at a minimum, what ‘book’ grants the Jewish State the right to uproot an entire nation in the name of a Jewish homecoming? Is there a book that permits the Jews to turn a city into an open-air prison? Is there a book that legitimates reducing Gaza into a pile of rubble? I am afraid that the answer is affirmative. There is more than one such book. But these books aren’t exactly philosophical texts. These books are the prime Judaic texts. The Talmud and The Old Testament are suffocated by Goy hatred and stories of Jews and their God pouring their ‘wrath on the Goyim.’ Rabbinical Judaism has historically been very careful in the way it treated some of those vile and barbaric Judaic verses and teachings. But Israel and Zionism draw inspiration from those genocidal verses, and the outcome is evident in the shattered urban landscape of Gaza.
Saber Rattling Ahead of Resumed Ukraine Conflict
by Stephen Lendman
US-controlled NATO operates lawlessly. It's a killing machine. A monster threatening world peace and stability. Anders Fogh Rassmussen is gone.
Jens Stoltenberg replaced him. He did so seamlessly. He's an imperial tool.
A puppet serving US interests. His marching orders are clear. Instituting Washington's policy.
Serving Western monied interests. Benefitting war-profiteers. Like his predecessor and others before him, he's a convenient US stooge.
He wasted no time proving it. On Sunday, he said NATO will deploy forces wherever it wants. For any reason. Anywhere.
Apocalypse All the Time - Looming Slaughter at Kobane
Michael Collins
Turkish President Recep Erdogan, an outright criminal*, outlined three requirements before nearby Turkish troops intervene to stop ISIL's takeover of Kobane, Syria. Absent Turkish intervention, it is generally agreed that ISIL will conquer the Kurdish city and begin massacring civilians. The tragedy of Erdogan's three demands are that there is no way they can be met in the next few days, the estimated widow for Kobane's survival.
The United States is bombing ISIL fighters surrounding Kobane to little effect. There are no plans for U.S. troops to intervene.
Why would the U.S., Turkey, and the rest of NATO let this happen? Isn't ISIL the great Satan of world terrorism, the object of what is claimed to be a decades long encounter? Don't the Kurds have a long history of opposing U.S. enemies like Saddam Hussein and the successive Assad regimes in Syria? What sense does it make to have a war against terrorists when you sit by and let those terrorists slaughter innocent civilians?
Heading for Ground War in Syria and Iraq
by Stephen Lendman
Believe nothing Obama says. His policies are polar opposite duplicitous rhetoric. Big Lies repeat one after another.
His word isn't his bond. His pledge to avoid more Middle East ground war is meaningless. All signs suggest it's coming. More on this below.
William Blum knows how US imperial works as well as anyone. He documented it over six decades.
He explained how Washington toppled dozens of governments. Crushed countless popular movements.
Slaughtered millions of people in the process. Created unspeakable human misery.
US policies are "worse than you imagine," he says. "If you flip over the rock of American foreign policy (throughout) the past century, (here's) what crawls out:"
Corporate Welfare and the Minimum Wage
By Joslyn Stevens
The arguments against raising the minimum wage are bullshit. The majority of Americans including conservatives support an increase yet congress continues to drag its feet on doing right by the people they claim to serve. The conservative “pull-yourself up-by your-bootstraps” mentality has become an acceptable excuse to justify kicking people when they’re down. The greedy and elitist attitudes of CEO’s and bankers have created a culture of entitlement in this country in which stealing from others less powerful is the best way to get to the top regardless of the social cost.
Obama's Economy
by Stephen Lendman
Obama disgraces the office he holds. He exceeds the worst of his predecessors.
His imperial foreign policy risks global war. His domestic anti-populist one transformed the world's richest economy into a house of cards. Thirdworldized. A dystopian backwater.
So-called recovery is fake. It’s illusory. It doesn't exist. Protracted Main Street Depression conditions affect growing millions.
Things go from bad to worse. Human suffering is real. Pathetically little is done to help.
Neoliberal harshness is official policy. Force-fed austerity reflects it. Social injustice is rife.
Obama demands it. Bipartisan complicity supports it. Ordinary people are increasingly on their own out of luck.
Bankers top the pecking order. Profits are privatized. Losses are socialized. Grand theft is rife. Politicians are complicit with corporate crooks.
Hong Kong Protests: Now The Hard Part, Kick Out The US, Build National Consensus
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers
When protests in Hong Kong exploded, knowledgeable people looked for US involvement. It was not hard to find. The overt intrusion of the US is available in budgets, documents and websites; the covert involvement has not yet been uncovered but is no doubt there. What does US involvement mean for the credibility of the protest movement and the future of Hong Kong? How should Hong Kong activists respond?
The issues raised by the protests, lack of democracy and an unfair economy, are very real. But so are the concerns of Beijing for economic growth and continuing to lift people out of poverty, something China has done remarkably well. Those who seek to transform governance and create a more equal economy now have a more challenging task than protests, they must build national consensus on their issues in Hong Kong and in China’s leadership. The Chinese People's Daily quoted a Chinese-American author who wrote the Occupy Central leadership, Yin Haoliu, said: “Democracy is a step-by-step process that cannot be approached in haste, otherwise it will bring about troubles.” How quickly those steps advance depends, in part, on how well the democracy movement organizes.
Illusory Ceasefire in Ukraine
by Stephen Lendman
Conflict continues. Peace is a convenient illusion. Fascists don't wage wars to quit.
Washington manipulates events destructively. It uses its installed stooge government to solidify unchallenged control over Ukraine.
Straightaway after assuming power, oligarch president Petro Poroshenko said:
"The first steps that we will take at the beginning of our presidential term should be focused on stopping the war, to put an end to this chaos and bring peace to a united Ukraine."
Days later he promised to crush "pro-Russian separatist war being waged against our country."
"We will end this terror," he said. "The anti-terrorist operation has finally just truly begun." Washington offers support, encouragement and military aid.
Washington's Bloated Defense Budget
by Stephen Lendman
Washington Post editors want America's bloated defense budget increased. So do some of its contributors. More on this below.
America's business is war. Without end. Ravaging, destroying and pillaging one nation after another.
Doing it for wealth, power and dominance. While vital homeland needs go begging. At a time America's only enemies are ones it invents.
Annual congressional national defense authorizations are the tip of the iceberg. America's defense spending constitutes a black hole of waste, fraud and abuse. More on this below.
It's military Keynesianism on steroids. With all categories included, America spends as much or more on militarism, wars and related areas than the rest of the world combined.
Over $1.5 trillion annually goes for so-called defense. Doing so makes the world safe for war profiteers. They never had it better.
Enormous sums get tossed around mindlessly. Government watchdogs identify hundreds of billions of potential savings from unneeded weapons, defective ones, no-bid excess, overpayments, and outright fraud.
Joe Biden's Rhetorical Ineptness
by Stephen Lendman
His intellect is sorely lacking. His Senate years were notably unimpressive. He's skilled at putting his foot in his mouth. He reinvents history.
On October 2, his comments riled nations allied with Washington's Middle East wars. More on them below.
His remarks often draw criticism. They do so for good reason. "No one doubts that I mean what I say," he explained. "The problem is I sometimes say all that I mean."
One observer said his "mouth out-runs his brain" at times. At a March 2010 Obamacare signing ceremony, he whispered in Obama's ear: "This is a big f..king deal."
He did loud enough to be heard on air. He's not the first political leader known for earthy language.
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