Books are a pain in the ass!

Michael Lumish

I keep buying books and giving them away. You know how it is.

One of my favorite books of all time is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Pirsig.

I originally read it in my teens, but at some point I was hanging with a buddy and said, "Hey man, you need to read this." And then I gave him my copy.

Then a little time goes by and I think, "I need a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"! So I buy it again, usually in the form of an abused old paperback. But then some time passes and I am hanging out with a different buddy and say, "Hey man, you need to read this."

I must have given away four copies of that book over the years to different people.

But it's not just that book.

It's also Catch-22, Slaughterhouse-Five, Stranger in a Strange Land, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and on and on.

Giving a friend a book that you love is like offering them a little bit of yourself.

It's a decent and human thing.

The Kurds in Syria

Sar Shalom

Elder makes the case more eloquently than I can of what Trump's announced betrayal of the Kurds portends for us. However, I would like to call attention to another angle of the situation. In covering Turkey's plans to exploit the pending vacuum that Trump's withdrawal would create, the media describes Turkey as "deeming" the Kurdish forces to be terrorists. That terminology is wrong. Turkey certainly calls the Kurdish forces terrorists. However, that does not mean that Turkey actually considers them to be terrorists as opposed to believing that the Kurds' proper place is under the boot of Turkish and Arab oppression. What it means is that Turkey considers that the possibility that the Kurdish forces are terrorists is the most plausible explanation that could gain sympathy for its planned action. (Sort of like the Waqf describing Al Aqsa as "under threat" because it is more sympathetic than saying that it is Islam's right to deny Jews their holy sites.) Accordingly, the language that should be used to describe Turkey's motives is the Turkey "calls" the Kurdish forces terrorists.

Addendum: Trump apparently trusts Erdogan's word that he will not liquidate the Kurds wholesale in Syria. Needless to say, the Kurds in Syria do not concur in this trust, but Trump let his actions show whose views would carry the day.

Similarly, Obama trusts Abbas' that word that if he got all the land that is "rightfully Palestinian," that he would end his claims against Israel and end all attempts to pursue more. Netanyahu is cynical about such trust and acted accordingly. Obama, while he had the power to do so, let his actions show whose views would carry the day.

The White Jew

Michael Lumish

When I was growing up to be a "white" person meant to be a person of European descent. This is no longer the case.

To be "white," today, means to be a "bad" person, particularly if you tend to be of the manly persuasion.

In contemporary political parlance, "whiteness" is a signifier of racism, oppression, colonialism, imperialism, privilege, sexism, Islamophobia, transphobia, capitalism, and, most particularly, racism.

The irony is delicious.

"Progressives" -- throughout politics and the academe and, even, corporate America -- consider "white" to be a category of ethnic guilt. In the name of "social justice" they are condemning innocent young kids, particularly boys, of some sort of original sin.

They are, in fact, damaging your children and most of you are A-OK with it.

In this way, the "progressive" movement is deeply religious and increasingly medieval. The movement used to be about open-mindedness. Today it is about hysterical dogma. Mario Savio would not recognize it.

It used to be about social libertarianism and freedom of expression. Today it is about ideological conformity and a Puritanical patrolling of the borders of acceptable thought.

What, therefore, is increasingly disturbing to many of us is this association of Ashkenazi Jews with "whiteness."

Throughout Euro and American history when "whiteness" was considered good, Jews were not considered "white." Now that "whiteness" is somehow considered bad, Jews are considered "white."

What is most important, in my opinion, is for those of us of Judean descent to not buy-in to this Euro and American nonsense.

We should not allow them to impose their own historical neuroses around race upon the Judean people, the historically oppressed Jews.

Open Thread Saturday

Doodad

Cause things were getting a little crowded on one particular thread.

The March Of Return Suicide Gig

Doodad

Another Friday, another dead Gazan protester, another outraged world community, upset that Jews won't let their country be invaded by bloodthirsty Gazans who just want to kill Jews. The March of Return, originally a planned 6 week protest, was co-opted by Hamas and now goes on every Friday. When I began looking at this, I was struck how almost every single Israeli news outlet framed the event as "mostly peaceful." This, despite the fact that someone almost always dies and dozens are injured while throwing firebombs, grenades and trying to invade Israel. They do no one a service by being PC and calling the riots mostly peaceful. They only encourage them and their cheerleaders around the world.

Incendiary kites are not peaceful. Grenades and firebombs are not peaceful. Invaders with knives are not peaceful. Wanting to invade another country is not peaceful. Yet the lie remains. Israel's use of deadly force has been condemned by the usual suspects:

Israel's use of deadly force was condemned on 13 June 2018 in a United Nations General Assembly resolution.^[44] Condemnation has also been levied by human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch,^[45] B'Tselem,^[46] and Amnesty International,^[47] and by United Nations officials.^[48][49] Kuwait has proposed two United Nations Security Council statements, which have been blocked by the United States, calling for an investigation into Israel's killing of Palestinian protesters.^[50] The Israeli government has praised Israeli troops for protecting the border fence.^[48] Media coverage of the events, and what has been termed the "PR battle", has been the object of analysis and controversy.^{[51][52][53][54]} In late February 2019, a United Nations Human Rights Council's independent commission found that of 489 cases of Palestinian deaths or injuries analysed only two were possibly justified as responses to danger by Israeli security forces, deeming the rest illegal, and concluded with a recommendation calling on Israel to examine whether war crimes or crimes against humanity had been committed, and if so, to bring those responsible to trial

The world community can't understand why evil Jews want to avoid being killed and replaced by peaceful Palestinians. Geeze, they went so quietly back in WW2.

How Will Impeachment Play Out For Democrats

Doodad