Israel will not choose to attack Iran: Harun Yahya

Rebel Newsflash: Israel will not choose to attack Iran: Harun Yahya (plus 50 more items)

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• Israel will not choose to attack Iran: Harun Yahya
• Spy Satellites Used to Control American Citizens
• Segregated train cars - a celebration of diversity
• Peace talks are sure to fail, but what will be the consequences?
• Legislation for Greater Agribusiness Empowerment
• Lawsuit Challenges Obama Administration's Targeted Assassination Policy
• Israelis Plot to Infiltrate Wikipedia
• 'Bullied' but not surrendering
• Israel Threatening War with Lebanon
• The Dog Ate My Exit Timeline
• FBI: No Probable Cause Required For Surveillance
• Iraq: An End or an Escalation?
• Media Didn't Buy Story of Low Taliban Morale
• Why Muqtada Haunts the White House
• Pat Tillman, Tragic American Casualty
• Endless War, Humanitarian Crisis, and Perpetual Resistance: U.S. Foreign Policy in the 21st Century
• Two Men Held On Terrorism Precrime Charges as Anti-Muslim Hysteria Reaches Fevered Pitch
• Hasbara War for US attack on Iran
• Israel: In 2006, we played 'nice guys'
• Despite "All Clear," Mississippi Sound Tests Positive for Oil
• 'Jewish gene' theories make waves in Germany, go unnoticed in Israel
• Diana Buttu: direct talks bound to fail
• Letter to Cordoba Center on Behalf of a Former 'Slave'
• The Militarization of An Arab School in Israel
• Monday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 10 Wounded
• "Solidarity tastes different inside prison"
• Catch Criminals In Your State Virginia, Video
• The Elites Have Lost the Right to Rule
• The Texas Cowboy
• Senate Blocks BP Investigation
• Obama's Department of Justice Puts Out Master Patriot Hit-list
• "Once winter's over, the sun will shine"
• Art as resistance: "Against the Wall" reviewed
• Yale University and the Problem of Anti-Semitism – An Analysis
• Masterminds, Mosques and Mass Insanity: "War on Terrorism" Propaganda Ratcheted up Ahead of War Escalation
• Ramsey Muniz: Guilty of Being Latino and Activist in America
• Yale University's Pro-Israeli, Anti-Islamic Conference
• Jew Lists Now Available
• In Defense of the Kochtopus
• The Boycott Israel Movement Needs to Rethink Tactics
• Hamas, the I.R.A. and Us
• The Myth of Equality
• Direct Talks: Five Myths
• Jewish thinking is insanity
• Who's suppressing opposition rallies in Ramallah?
• Sunday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 18 Wounded
• Iraq's troubled young hearts
• Puppet theater
• Israel Today Is Tomorrow's South Africa
• Personal Reflections About Kairos Document
• The ADL has lost its way under Abe Foxman

Israel will not choose to attack Iran: Harun Yahya Posted: 31 Aug 2010 06:07 AM PDT Adnan Oktar, internationally known by his pen name Harun Yahya, is a Turkish public intellectual, writer and speaker. He is a proponent of Islamic creationism and anti-Zionism. He condemns Zionism and denounces Darwinism as the source of terrorism. He runs the Turkey-based Science Research Foundation and Foundation to Protect National Values. He has written numerous best-selling books including "The Atlas of Creation", "The Muslim Way of Speaking", "Allah's Miracles in the Quran" and "The Errors the American National Academy of Sciences". Yahya's books have been translated in more than 20 languages.

Spy Satellites Used to Control American Citizens Posted: 31 Aug 2010 03:02 AM PDT According to the CNN report below, the government will use satellites "sparingly" to spy on the American people. However, as Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com have reported at least since 2007, the government has used this technology consistently to prey into the affairs of the citizenry. Spy satellite technology — lasers, infrared, electromagnetic data and other technologies — is a primary component in the police state control and surveillance grid. The technology was not designed to protect us from foreign terrorists.

Segregated train cars - a celebration of diversity Posted: 31 Aug 2010 02:30 AM PDT The recent proposal of separate-sex cars for Jerusalem's new light rail, received by some with negativity and resentment, could actually be a positive step towards a pluralist setting in Jerusalem. The suggestion, put forward by Maj. Gen. (res.) Yair Naveh, CEO of the CityPass consortium that operates Jerusalem's light rail system, was intended to cater for the needs of the large number of ultra-Orthodox Jews and Haredi passengers in Jerusalem. The addition of these "super-kosher" cars would allow the ultra-Orthodox community to travel freely while avoiding situations they find uncomfortable.

Peace talks are sure to fail, but what will be the consequences? Posted: 30 Aug 2010 11:52 PM PDT Netanyahu has recently scored a diplomatic victory, as many pundits have pointed out, because the U.S. administration has shifted pressure from Israel to the Palestinians, and pressured them into direct talks with Israel. He probably assumes that the talks will fail, because the Palestinians will walk out at some point, and then he will be justified in maintaining the status quo. But this victory is likely to be hollow.

Legislation for Greater Agribusiness Empowerment Posted: 30 Aug 2010 10:03 PM PDT On July 29, 2009, the House passed HR 2749: Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 "To amend the (1938 as amended) Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to improve the safety of food in the global market, and for other purposes."

Lawsuit Challenges Obama Administration's Targeted Assassination Policy Posted: 30 Aug 2010 10:02 PM PDT In February, then Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair acknowledged it saying CIA operatives and Special Forces death squads have been authorized to kill US citizens abroad, suspected of terrorist involvement. Disapproval came from an unlikely source, Hollywood tough guy Chuck Norris in an article titled, "Obama's US Assassination Program? 'A Shortlist of US Citizens Specfically Targeted for Killing?" saying: It's true, an "abandonment of our Constitution....based on nothing more than" suspicion of terrorist involvement. "That's right. No arrest. No Miranda rights. No due process. No trial. Just a bullet," bomb or slit throat, Washington's new approach along with torture as official policy - justice, American-style under Republicans and Democrats, Obama even more extreme than Bush, the rule of law defunct and defiled, the "land of the free" disgraced, the entire world unsafe.

Israelis Plot to Infiltrate Wikipedia Posted: 30 Aug 2010 08:32 PM PDT The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz tells us "For years now, Wikipedia has been a fierce battleground between the Israeli right and left. One key battle was over the entry for Bil'in and whether the weekly struggle at that village near the security fence should be described as violent. Another battle was over the description of the Ariel University Center. Was it 'the largest public college in Israel?' Or should an institution in Ariel not be considered as being in Israel? So a compromise was reached: 'the largest Israeli public college.' "

'Bullied' but not surrendering Posted: 30 Aug 2010 07:20 PM PDT The resumption of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) will allow Barack Obama to have his day presiding over the launch of another series of futile negotiations and, in providing an opportunity for Binyamin Netanyahu to assert his unwavering commitment to Israel's colonial policies, will earn the Israeli prime minister further bragging rights. But while the talks may serve immediate American and Israeli interests they will do nothing for the cause of peace.

Israel Threatening War with Lebanon Posted: 30 Aug 2010 06:54 PM PDT A recent article in the Jerusalem Post reports "The US warned Lebanon that if it did not prevent any recurrence of the border-fire incident that occurred earlier this month, the IDF would destroy the Lebanese Armed Forces within four hours…" The US envoy's assistant was referring to an Israeli plan for war. There's just one little problem: Not all wars go according to plan. The last Israel war on Lebanon was a costly disaster for Israel.

The Dog Ate My Exit Timeline Posted: 30 Aug 2010 06:00 PM PDT Those poor Iraqi kids. Who's going to keep them supplied with new soccer balls after we leave? Will the poor things have to go back to eating Iraqi food after all the Hershey bars run out? (Cue Sally Struthers). And what will happen to all those adorable puppies American G.I.s adopted as pets that get left behind? (Cue Sarah McLachlan.) The entire planet knows Obama's "fulfilled promise" to end the U.S. combat mission was an exercise in sleight-of-tongue Neo-speak, and all signs indicate that the December 2011 status of forces agreement (SOFA) deadline by which all U.S. troops are supposed to leave Iraq has already gone the way of the pay phone.

FBI: No Probable Cause Required For Surveillance Posted: 30 Aug 2010 06:00 PM PDT The bitter controversy over the building of a Muslim community center and mosque near the site of the terrorist attacks in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, is sparking new fears of government snooping on Islamic holy places –  which it now claims it can do without a warrant. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Asian Law Caucus (ALC), and the San Francisco Bay Guardian newspaper, are suing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in San Francisco over the agency's failure to respond to a five-month-old request for information on its investigation of Bay Area Muslim groups.

Iraq: An End or an Escalation? Posted: 30 Aug 2010 06:00 PM PDT Listen to Rep. Ron Paul deliver this speech here. Amid much fanfare last week, the last supposed "combat" troops left Iraq as the administration touted the beginning of the end of the Iraq War and a change in the role of the United States in that country. Considering the continued public frustration with the war effort and with the growing laundry list of broken promises, this was merely another one of the administration's operations in political maneuvering and semantics in order to convince an increasingly war-weary public that the Iraq War is at last ending. However, military officials confirm that we are committed to intervention in that country for years to come, and our operations have, in fact, changed minimally, if really at all. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Media Didn't Buy Story of Low Taliban Morale Posted: 30 Aug 2010 06:00 PM PDT In an effort to introduce a story of "progress" into media coverage, Gen. David Petraeus's command claimed last week that the Taliban is suffering from reduced morale in Marjah and elsewhere, despite evidence that the population of Marjah still believes the Taliban controls that district. But the news media ignored the command's handout on the story, which did not quote Petraeus.

Why Muqtada Haunts the White House Posted: 30 Aug 2010 06:00 PM PDT There will be plenty spirits of Iraq policy past, present and future crowding the dais tonight as the President announces a "successful" transition and "a promise kept" for the drawdown of American troops from Iraq. There's George W. and Dick Cheney and their ghoulish courtiers – Donald Rumsfeld and his number two Paul Wolfowitz, not to mention coalition provisional authority viceroy L. Paul Bremer and Douglas Feith, all who dragged the country into Iraq and then botched it irreparably.

Pat Tillman, Tragic American Casualty Posted: 30 Aug 2010 04:00 PM PDT The Tillman Story is a documentary about Pat Tillman, the NFL player who, following 9/11, turned down a $3.6 million Arizona Cardinals offer to enlist as a private in the U.S. Army, then died in Afghanistan in 2004. The film has elicited critical praise but not much media hype. Why not? As Afghanistan evolves into Mr. Obama's War, antiwar sentiment is at a low ebb among the press.

Endless War, Humanitarian Crisis, and Perpetual Resistance: U.S. Foreign Policy in the 21st Century Posted: 30 Aug 2010 01:53 PM PDT In 2009, the mainstream U.S. media reported with satisfaction that the Pakistani government had finally responded positively to the United States and NATO's demands[1] for an aggressive military policy aimed at depriving the resurgent Taliban of "safe havens" in Pakistan.[2] The subsequent offensive, featuring a Pakistani invasion of these areas and aerial assaults by the U.S. and its NATO allies, and has become just another unexceptional element of the open-ended military campaign formerly known as GWOT (the "Global War on Terror"), but which, under the Obama administration has continued without a name. It receives little attention from the mainstream media, which is focusing its limited attention on Afghanistan, to the exclusion of the other "hot wars" the U.S. is currently conducting in Iraq and Pakistan.

Two Men Held On Terrorism Precrime Charges as Anti-Muslim Hysteria Reaches Fevered Pitch Posted: 30 Aug 2010 01:38 PM PDT The arrest of two men in Amsterdam on "preparation of a terror attack" charges could not have come at a more opportune time. It appears the arrest of two men in Amsterdam on "preparation of a terror attack" charges is designed to coincide with the staged Ground Zero Mosque charade. Over the last couple weeks, the corporate media and neocon proponents of the forever war waged against Islam have stoked the flames of hatred.

Hasbara War for US attack on Iran Posted: 30 Aug 2010 12:47 PM PDT "In Blood and fire Judea fell, in Blood and fire shall Judia rise," early Zionist anthem. 31 years ago – Israel Lobby used to project Iran as an "examplary moderate Muslim country" along with Turkey. Then something unexpected happened. The Iranian public rose against the US-Israeli puppet King Reza Shah in 1979, and declared Iran an 'Islamic Republic'. Both the US and Israel were declared 'enemies' of the Iranian people by the Iranian people. That ended the over three decades of Israel-Iran love affairs.

Israel: In 2006, we played 'nice guys' Posted: 30 Aug 2010 12:33 PM PDT On April 18, 2010 – I posted an article, titled US Embassy in Lebanon: an Israeli Espionage Network. Now, according to Israeli daily YNet (August 27, 2010) that Frederick Hof, a senior adviser to US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell, has threatened Lebanese Army Christian commander Jean Kahwajim that should his soldiers kill another Israeli Lt. Col. Dov Harari in a border clash – Israel Occupation Force (IOF) would annihiliate Lebanese army to its last soldier within four hours. During 34-day Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Lebanese army did not take part for two reasons; first Lebanon doesn't have a regular army but security force, second Lebanese government knew that Hizbullah fighters can defeat the IOF soldiers – which they did.

Despite "All Clear," Mississippi Sound Tests Positive for Oil Posted: 30 Aug 2010 11:24 AM PDT

'Jewish gene' theories make waves in Germany, go unnoticed in Israel Posted: 30 Aug 2010 10:46 AM PDT Yesterday's Hebrew edition of Haaretz reported a remark by a German politician that sparked a political and public furor. The foreign and defense ministers, among others, sharply criticized the remark made by Thilo Sarrazin, a member of the German Social Democratic party and a board member of the German central bank.

Diana Buttu: direct talks bound to fail Posted: 30 Aug 2010 10:25 AM PDT As US officials arrived in Jerusalem last week to meet with Palestinian Authority and Israeli government officials, Nora Barrows-Friedman interviewed Ramallah-based lawyer and former PLO advisor Diana Buttu about this week's US-brokered direct talks between the two parties for The Electronic Intifada.

Letter to Cordoba Center on Behalf of a Former 'Slave' Posted: 30 Aug 2010 10:00 AM PDT The three century old remains of 20,000 African men, women, children former slaves were discovered after the clean up of the World Trade Center's collapse. Between twenty and thirty percent of all stolen Africans brought to America as slaves were Muslim. A Letter on behalf of Cordova Center by one such "slave"

The Militarization of An Arab School in Israel Posted: 30 Aug 2010 08:46 AM PDT The families of the Arab-Druze students at the ONLY high school in the Beit Jann village in Israel will start their fight on Wednesday Sept. 1 2010 "a battle" against the militarization of their school and children by the Israeli Education Ministry. The inhabitants of Beit Jann suffer under harsh discrimination in the civil rights, social, economical, and financial development of their town when compared to the jewish squatter colonies, towns and cities which were established nearby on the land of Arab since 1948. Beit Jann is a Druze village on Mt. Meron, in northern Israel. At 940 meters above sea level. Beit Jann is one of the highest inhabited locations in the country. In 2007, the population was 10,300.

Monday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 10 Wounded Posted: 30 Aug 2010 08:38 AM PDT At least eight Iraqis were killed and 10 more were wounded in light violence as Iraq prepares for the official end of U.S. military operations. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad to officiate at handover ceremonies. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Iraq to preside over ceremonies marking the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the beginning of Operation New Dawn, the new name for American involvement in Iraq. Biden also made a point of asking Iraqi leaders to break their deadlock over selecting the next government. Gen. Ray Odierno, meanwhile, expressed worry that the deadlock could last more than a couple months and create a demand for a new election. Should that occur, the highly politicized nature of this census could force the postponement of the national census, which is scheduled for October.

"Solidarity tastes different inside prison" Posted: 30 Aug 2010 08:02 AM PDT My trail is still somehow stuck. The system is structurally and politically Shabak-oriented, not justice-oriented. My human dignity, basic human rights and constitutional rights are suffering from basic violations. I still have no permit to meet my lawyers without being recorded. The ruling of the three judges is to justify the decision of the attorney general of Israel and the Shabak to ban free meeting with my lawyers in prison. The judges insist that such a meeting should be done through the glass separation wall and through a telephone in order to ensure recording of the whole conversation.

Catch Criminals In Your State Virginia, Video Posted: 30 Aug 2010 06:22 AM PDT In September 2009, Kevin Smith, the Deputy District Attorney of US judge in California sentenced Alex Castro to 25 years in jail for killing the dog of his girlfriend, who was 10 years old in 2007. Other Americans were also jailed for animal cruelty in 2010: one of them sentenced for burning a cat and the other for filming her during the burning. In my story below I am calling the attention of my readers, especially the Americans, to the story of Aviv Reshef and his wife Zila, two war criminals who perpetrated uncounted war crimes against, not dogs or cats, but who murdered hundreds of civilians, among them children in the age of 9 and 10, who looted the property of the weakest poor families in my homeland Hebron, in Ramallah, Gaza and in many other towns and villages in the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank.

The Elites Have Lost the Right to Rule Posted: 30 Aug 2010 06:13 AM PDT Let me take you back to the fall of 1999.  I was a senior in college without a clue what I wanted to do with my life.  Wall Street was in a boom and seemed exciting.  I had always loved the financial markets since I had first discovered them years earlier; however, I wasn't convinced this was the profession I wanted.  I had majored in Economics at school for practical purposes but I found almost all of the courses to be extraordinarily uninspiring with the exception of a few like Corporate Finance and the Economic History of China.  It was the general micro and macro economics courses that I found the most painful to sit through.  I wasn't alone in this assessment.  Many of my close friends were Economics majors as well and we all felt the same way (I later found out this was because we were being indoctrinated in voodoo Keynesian economics) .  So even with the Economics degree I wasn't sure that I wanted to pursue a career in finance given the fact that I found myself more interested in subjects such as English , History and Philosophy.  Nevertheless, the firms were hiring, I had the degree and it would allow me to move back to New York City without living at home.

The Texas Cowboy Posted: 30 Aug 2010 05:41 AM PDT A young cowboy from Texas goes off to college. Half way through the semester, he has foolishly squandered all his money. He calls home. "Dad," he says, "You won't believe what modern education is developing! They actually have a program here in Austin that will teach our dog, Ol' Blue how to talk!"

Senate Blocks BP Investigation Posted: 30 Aug 2010 03:37 AM PDT Damn Rustics. It seems they think it is doable to investigate a transnational oil corporation owned by the Square Mile London financial district, the House of Windsor, the Club of the Isles, and last but not least the Lord of Mann, known to you commoners as Queen Elizabeth II, England's Lord Proprietor. The Merry Old Monarchs have come a long way since Queen Victoria acquired Jardine Matheson Holdings, the company responsible for addicting millions of Chinese to opium.

Obama's Department of Justice Puts Out Master Patriot Hit-list Posted: 30 Aug 2010 03:07 AM PDT The Department of Justice has fired a salvo in the war against patriotic Americans supporting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The DOJ has issued Investigating Terrorism and Criminal Extremism –Terms and Concepts, a 120-page propaganda addendum described as "a glossary designed primarily as a tool for criminal justice professionals to enhance their understanding of words relating to extremist terminology, phrases, activities, symbols, organizations, and selected names that they may encounter while conducting criminal investigations or prosecutions of members of extremist organizations." The glossary describes the word "constitutionalist" as a "generic term for members of the 'patriot' movement. It is now often used to refer to members of the sovereign citizen or common law court movement. Sometimes the word 'constitutionalist' is also used."

"Once winter's over, the sun will shine" Posted: 30 Aug 2010 03:04 AM PDT When Israel's construction of the wall began in their village May 2008, the people of the occupied West Bank town of Nilin embarked on a campaign of unarmed grassroots resistance against the theft of their land. They have followed a philosophy of direct action, cutting through the electronic fence and razor wire on an almost weekly basis until Israel added 20-foot-high concrete slabs to the barrier, which protesters managed to topple. The people of Nilin have paid a high price for their struggle for their rights -- five villagers were killed in the first year of protest -- and they have shown no signs of stopping. Jody McIntyre interviewed Mohammed Amireh, a leader of the Nilin Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements for The Electronic Intifada.

Art as resistance: "Against the Wall" reviewed Posted: 30 Aug 2010 02:07 AM PDT The relationship between art and politics has always been ambiguous and contested. For many people, "art is above politics," overlooking that art is embedded in the social world and at the mercy of those (publishers, promoters, galleries, etc.) whose mediation between artist and public is in the fullest sense political. Artists may trust to the innate power of their work to transcend its exploitation as propaganda. Or they may offer it precisely for such purposes (agit-prop). Or they may seek to withhold it by participation in a campaign of cultural boycott, a tactic being increasingly deployed against the Israeli state.

Yale University and the Problem of Anti-Semitism – An Analysis Posted: 30 Aug 2010 01:05 AM PDT Between the 23rd and the 25th of August, Yale University held a conference on Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity." It was sponsored by the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism. Therefore, this was a university event and not one brought in from the outside to use Yale facilities. On the surface there is nothing wrong with this. Anti-Semitism is an age old form of racism and it calls for ongoing academic study. The problem is that this particular conference approached the subject from the ideologically driven position of radical Zionism. In other words, many of the assumptions upon which the conference was built were unfortunately tainted with bias. Indeed, in at least one instance (a panel on the "self-hating" Jew), one might suggest that the event was itself promoting a particularly virulent form of anti-Semitism. Very odd indeed.

Masterminds, Mosques and Mass Insanity: "War on Terrorism" Propaganda Ratcheted up Ahead of War Escalation Posted: 30 Aug 2010 12:20 AM PDT Exemplified by the furor over the so-called "Ground Zero mosque" in New York, and rumors of a new Al-Qaeda "mastermind", 9/11 "war on terrorism" propaganda has been ramped up to deafening levels by various political factions. Nearly a decade since Bush/Cheney's 9/11 false flag deception, a fearful, self-destructive American mass public remains fully brainwashed by "war on terrorism"  deception— ignorant of history, and militantly oblivious to facts.

Ramsey Muniz: Guilty of Being Latino and Activist in America Posted: 29 Aug 2010 10:04 PM PDT An earlier article explained America's longstanding political repression agenda. Ramiro (Ramsey) Muniz is one of the victims, imprisoned for life without parole on a bogus drug charge. Now age 67, he's been incarcerated nearly 17 years, earlier at Leavenworth, KS federal prison, the country's largest maximum security one, more recently at the US Medical Center, Springfield, MO recovering from life threatening complications from surgery.

Yale University's Pro-Israeli, Anti-Islamic Conference Posted: 29 Aug 2010 09:48 PM PDT On August 25, Yale University ended a three day global anti-Semitism "crisis" conference promoting the notion that Israeli criticism is "anti-Semitic," no matter how justified. Boola boola, for shame, mighty Yale displaying the same type anti-Islamic hatred virulent throughout America, raging daily in headlines over the proposed New York City Islamic cultural center, falsely called a mosque, but does it matter?

Jew Lists Now Available Posted: 29 Aug 2010 08:38 PM PDT Here's something I meant to get around to a long time ago, but never did.  If you will look at the navigation above the featured articles area on the home page, you will see a new addition called "Jew Lists".  In this section are a number of lists of jews in high places to use both as a reference, and a resource for those who need it, but also to make SN a little more comprehensive in showing just how pervasive the jew problem is. The lists are not the be all-end all of jew lists, but they are quite comprehensive, and took a LOT of work to put together.  The good news is, they are still under construction, and more will be added to them as time goes by.  Even more good news is that YOU, the reader, can have names added to, or removed from the list (should there be any errors) if you feel something needs to be there that isn't.  All you have to do is send me an email, with the proper information, and I will add what is necessary.  Be sure to search the lists before doing so, as I would hate to add duplicates of things already there.

In Defense of the Kochtopus Posted: 29 Aug 2010 06:00 PM PDT Suddenly, the "Kochtopus" is in the news – a subject about which I have first hand knowledge. That's because, for a year and a half or so in the late 1970′s, I was part of it: part of the "family" of organizations funded by Charles and David Koch, two of the richest men in America. I wrote about this period at length in my 2000 biography of Murray Rothbard, An Enemy of the State, and thought I would never return to the subject again. Alas, history has caught up with the "Kochtopus," as we used to call it with some bitterness mixed with affection, and today the Koch empire is the object of the Left's vexatious attention, with the Kochs billed as "the billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama," as Jane Mayer put it in a widely-cited piece in the New Yorker magazine.

The Boycott Israel Movement Needs to Rethink Tactics Posted: 29 Aug 2010 06:00 PM PDT Channel 10, one of Israel's three TV channels, aired a report this week that surely frightened a lot of viewers. Its title was "Who Is Organizing the Worldwide Hatred of Israel Movement?" and its subject was the dozens of groups in various countries which are conducting a vigorous propaganda campaign for the Palestinians and against Israel. The activists interviewed, both male and female, young and old – quite a number of them Jews – demonstrate at supermarkets against the products of the settlements and/or of Israel in general, organize mass meetings, make speeches, mobilize trade unions, file lawsuits against Israeli politicians and generals.

Hamas, the I.R.A. and Us Posted: 29 Aug 2010 05:09 PM PDT GEORGE J. MITCHELL, the United States Middle East envoy, tried to counter low expectations for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations by harking back to his experience as a mediator in Northern Ireland. At an Aug. 20 news conference with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, announcing the talks that will begin this week, Mr. Mitchell reminded journalists that during difficult negotiations in Northern Ireland, "We had about 700 days of failure and one day of success" — the day in 1998 that the Belfast Agreement instituting power-sharing between pro-British unionists and Irish nationalists was signed.

The Myth of Equality Posted: 29 Aug 2010 04:00 PM PDT In 21st century America, institutional racism and sexism remain great twin evils to be eradicated on our long journey to the wonderful world where, at last, all are equal. What are we to make, then, of a profession that rewards workers with fame and fortune, yet discriminates ruthlessly against women; an institution where Hispanics and Asians, 20 percent of the U.S. population, are neither sought after nor widely seen.

Direct Talks: Five Myths Posted: 29 Aug 2010 03:46 PM PDT Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said recently that Abbas was too weak to stand up to Israel and negotiate a just deal at the talks in Washington. "If the talks succeed they will succeed to Israeli standards and liquidate the Palestinian cause. They'll give us parts of 1967 lands. They'll draw the borders as they want and they'll confiscate our sovereignty," said Meshaal Direct talks between Palestinians and Israelis are scheduled to commence in Washington on September 2, a decade after the last real final-status talks, and nearly two years after the last direct talks. Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu will come face to face for dinner and talks in Washington as guests of President Obama after 18 months of shuttle diplomacy and indirect "proximity talks" headed by Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell.

Jewish thinking is insanity Posted: 29 Aug 2010 03:18 PM PDT The Jew big bankers are the enemies of all Gentiles. The Jewish way of thinking is the cause of our present moral and ethical bankruptcy Jewish materialism and existentialism are the enemy of spiritual reasoning and objectivism.

Who's suppressing opposition rallies in Ramallah? Posted: 29 Aug 2010 11:36 AM PDT The organizers could sense something was wrong about half an hour before the conference began last Wednesday morning. About 60 people had been invited to what was termed a "national conference" (as opposed to a "popular" one, open to all ). But the hall in the Protestant Club in downtown Ramallah began to fill with hundreds of young men of similar appearance - well-developed muscles, civilian clothes and stern facial expressions. Some held what appeared to be rolled-up posters. They did not exactly look like senior PLO activists who oppose direct negotiations under American and Israeli pressure.

Sunday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 18 Wounded Posted: 29 Aug 2010 07:17 AM PDT Although the country is expecting an increase in violence this week, so far it has been relatively quiet. Today, at least seven Iraqis were killed and 18 more were wounded in light violence. Other news from Iraq dealt with formation of the new government, the aftermath of the drawdown and the huge waste of resources on the part of the United States. Iraqiya spokesman Ahmad al-Dileimi today accused the Maliki government of serving foreign powers and asked neighboring countries to send peacekeeping troops. During the statement, he also criticized the Obama administration on several points, including the misleading "withdrawal." Meanwhile, several State of Law party members are threatening to align themselves with Iraqiya over Prime Minister's Nouri al-Maliki's insistence that he return as premier. This could help Ayad Allawi become the next prime minister.

Iraq's troubled young hearts Posted: 28 Aug 2010 08:47 PM PDT In the August heat, the waiting room of the Sulaimany Centre for Heart Disease was packed with worried parents. Some had been waiting for this day for months. Others just showed up. They had heard on TV that for 11 days an international team would be fixing children's hearts for free. They dressed their sick children in suits and taffeta dresses and came, prepared to beg. In Iraqi Kurdistan, an estimated 4,000 children are waiting for heart surgeries. Decades of malnutrition, intra-family marriage and, many believe, the remnants of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons deformed their hearts at birth. The deformities are exquisitely complex - a challenge for even the best pediatric surgeons. But Kurdistan has none.

Puppet theater Posted: 28 Aug 2010 09:56 AM PDT The decision by our theater establishment to stage dramas in the new culture auditorium in the settlement of Ariel presents the performing public with a real test, the likes of which it has probably never seen. The challenge now facing our theater world has huge importance. The decision of the weeks ahead will refashion all our theater professionals. After years of theater that staged prudent commercial dramas alongside quite a few courageous political plays confronting deep moral questions, our actors now face the drama of their lives.

Israel Today Is Tomorrow's South Africa Posted: 28 Aug 2010 01:00 AM PDT The mind boggling events in the Middle East are unfolding at a faster rate than the speeding bullet. To better comprehend such events, one must critically view and analyze every political behavior concerning peace or war in the Middle East. The United States, the Quartet and the European Union 'EU' have decided that the Palestinians and the Israelis must hold direct talks on September 2, 2010 and within one year, should conclude their discussion with the proposed Two-State solution, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and harmony.

Personal Reflections About Kairos Document Posted: 28 Aug 2010 12:36 AM PDT Palestinian Christian leaders have issued the timely Kairos Palestine Document  calling on Churches around the world "to say a word of truth and to take a position of truth with regard to Israel's occupation of Palestinian land."  (www.kairospalestine.ps) My most personal thoughts about the Kairos Document  is that it immediately reflects  the continued steadfastness witness of the Christian community in the land of the Mother Church. It gives our Christian voice a spiritual and psychological renewal to have finalized such a document promoting peace, justice and reconciliation.

The ADL has lost its way under Abe Foxman Posted: 26 Aug 2010 10:40 AM PDT Abe Foxman, the National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, is probably very sorry by now that he waded in to the quagmire of controversy over the construction of the Cordoba House mosque near Ground Zero in New York. This isn't the first time that the League, one of the most powerful Jewish organizations in the world, has been tainted by scandal under Foxman's 23-year stewardship, but it doesn't seem that any of the previous uproars have so fundamentally brought into question the role of the ADL, which was founded in 1913 "to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all," and today bills itself as the United State's "premier civil rights/human relations agency."

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