Good news! “In the October 2014 Heartland Monitor, just 38 percent of adults said they expected their finances to improve over the next year. That rose to 44 percent in the February 2015 poll, and inched up further to 47 percent in the latest survey. . . The share of adults expecting their finances to improve over the next year has increased 7 percentage points among whites, 10 points among nonwhites.” And before you start rolling your eyes as usual, please remember that if a Republican president achieved this kind of thing (which never happens, as we all know), his base would know how to promote and celebrate it and not yes-but it to death.
The owner of a “relentlessly gay” yard is asked to make it less gay by a “Christian” neighbor.
Idiots abound: “If the United States arms Ukraine—and announces that the policy is an explicit effort to kill more Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine—its impact on Russian public opinion is likely to be the opposite of what advocates say they intend. Indeed, it could transform the war there from a popular but essentially optional effort to help separatist forces and civilians in eastern Ukraine into a necessary conflict against a hostile American proxy.” Of course, Russians already believe that they are fighting against Americans in Ukraine and Putin has been telling them this for months. But hey, when did ignorance ever prevent any blabberer from blabing?
“We don’t need another president who merely holds the top spot among the pampered elites of Washington,” said Jeb Bush in his speech. Seriously, what makes a guy say something that opens him so wide for ridicule?
A weird author weirdly auto-censors.
And Quebec continues doing weird things. Of course, the province is bursting at the seams with money, so I guess its officials believe they can afford to engage in stupid nitpicking.
And our favorite brainiac Scott Walker has antagonized the UK’s David Cameron. This is the kind of blabby fool that some people see as our president. Seriously, people.
In the meanwhile, the UK is busily creating even more special snowflakes: “Homework could be abolished at one of Britain’s leading independent schools as part of reforms to stem an “epidemic” of teenage mental illness.”
Laura Kipnis is still defending herself from weird allegations by weird people.
Montreal city workers water shrubs while it rains. Who cares about the critical depletion of the planet’s aquifers when there is a bureaucratic quota to fulfill?
[Spanish] Kids who go to daycare before the age of 3, do significantly better in school.
“A majority of Germans (58 percent), French (53 percent) and Italians (51 percent) say their country should not use military force to defend a NATO ally if attacked by Russia, the survey found. At the same time, the survey found that 68 percent of Europeans were confident that the United States would come to their aid should the need arise.” I don’t even know what to say about this show of complete loserdom. Americans have spoiled Western Europeans rotten and it has got to stop.
Have you heard about bibliotherapy? It’s a cute, if probably quite useless, concept.
“We are told that sex — excuse me, that sex with cis men — is a scarce commodity that we must work very, very hard to earn.” Really??? Sex is hard to get for women? Where? In what society? Jeez, where do these bizarre people even come from? I can’t even imagine what it would look like for a woman to “work hard to earn sex.”
Mothers are all different: “A mother was unhappy with the $3 knit crop top her daughter purchased on Amazon, and put the garment on the family cat instead.” My mother actually forced me into a much, much, MUCH more revealing knit piece that you can see at the link causing me all kinds of trauma.
Clarissa's Blog 
The workers watering shrubs in the pouring rain really bothers me. Watering plants is a significant part of my workday, and if I know anything about it it’s that overwatering is just as dangerous to the plant as underwatering. That’s the first thing I was taught. Don’t die, little plants!
I also love the gymnast’s response to the insistence that she wear a burqa.
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It bothers me, too. Of course, it’s hard to avoid this sort of thing in Montreal where the weather changes from blistering heat to cold to rain several times within a single day, but this is an effort that has to be made.
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http://googleresearch.blogspot.ro/2015/06/inceptionism-going-deeper-into-neural.html The pictures might be of interest even to people not interested in machine learning.
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Dylann Roof, who shot 9 people in the church, has been arrested.
Pinckney’s cousin told NBC News that one of the survivors told her they had urged Roof to stop.
‘He just said: “I have to do it. You rape our women and you’re taking over our country. And you have to go”,’ Sylvia Johnson said.
[…]
In another photograph of Roof on Facebook, he is seen glaring at the camera while displaying the flag of apartheid-era South Africa on his jacket. He is also wearing another flag depicting that of white-rule Rhodesia, now called Zimbabwe.
[…]
Obama called the killings ‘senseless’ and said it again highlighted the need for gun control
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3129109/South-Carolina-church-shooter-captured.html
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From another article about the murderer. Point 2 is so weird, I thought having black friends would prevent one from killing black people because of their skin color.
The 21-year-old Columbia-area man–who friends describe as a frequent abuser of prescription drugs–was arrested twice this year, Lexington County court records reveal, on charges of trespassing and drug possession.
And some friends said they did not know him to be racist.
‘I never thought he’d do something like this,’ said high school friend Antonio Metze, 19. ‘He had black friends.’
[…]
Many of Roof’s older Facebook friends are black, as well.
Meanwhile, Roof’s friend Christon Scriven, who is black, told the New York Daily News that his friend had told them his plans to for a mass killing.
‘He flat out told us he was going to do this stuff,’ said Scriven. But, he said, ‘He’s weird. You don’t know when to take him seriously and when not to.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3129887/Dylann-Roof-21-suspected-murdering-nine-race-hate-church-crime-got-gun-birthday-arrested-twice-year-drug-trespassing-charges.html
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One of the most vicious anti-Semites I’ve ever known was married to a Jewish woman. So I’m not surprised that this murderer will roll out the “some of my best friends” defense.
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\ One of the most vicious anti-Semites I’ve ever known was married to a Jewish woman.
Why has she married him? And how could he marry her?
\ So I’m not surprised that this murderer will roll out the “some of my best friends” defense.
It’s not about what he’ll say, and what people who knew him say, what investigation shows.
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May be, he became so anti-semitic as a result of marrying her?
Meanwhile, while Obama talks about the need for gun control:
Charleston newspaper sparks outrage after printing a gun store advertisement over today’s church shooting headline
The Charleston Post and Courier apologized after an advertisement for a ‘Ladies’ Night’ at ATP Gun Shop and Range was put on the front page
Below the advert a headline for the shooting read ‘Church attack kills 9’
Paper called it ‘a deeply regrettable coincidence’ on its Facebook page
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3130158/Charleston-Post-Courier-prints-gun-store-advertisement-today-s-church-shooting-headline.html
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Several hours ago:
25-year-old Lod resident Danny Gonen was killed by gunfire at point-blank range near the settlement of Dolev in the West Bank … He had been traveling with a friend when a Palestinian supposedly signaled for their car to stop as if to ask for help. He then pulled out a hand gun and fired at Gonen at point-blank range. The second Israeli was also wounded, but was expected to be released from the hospital soon.
…
Initial investigations into the incident indicated that those responsible acted alone without backing from any organizations.
…
Israel saw a wave of so-called “lone wolf” attacks last year by Palestinians using guns, knives and vehicles in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the West Bank. Police say it’s difficult to stop such attacks because assailants act on their own, without working through established militant groups.
The violence has largely tapered off, but two attacks last month wounded several Israelis, including two paramilitary police officers.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4670424,00.html
Both kind of funny and disgusting:
Regev: Israeli artists are ungrateful, hypocritical
Culture minister lashes out against actor Oded Kotler and rocker Shalom Hanoch, says she didn’t want Culture Ministry at all.
[…]
Minister Miri Regev never wanted the Culture and Sport Ministry – she wanted the Welfare Ministry.
“I knew the cultural world was ungrateful, I don’t feel like working for ungrateful people,” she says in an interview with AT magazine for its July issue. “Tight-ass, hypocritical and ungrateful, and I don’t feel like working for them.”
“Why welfare? Because these are people who really know how to appreciate. ‘Thanks, Miri. My darling, thank you.’ There is no appreciation in the cultural world. And I’m saying, come on, I’ll move mountains… but what am I going to work for? Ungrateful, think they know everything. Annoying, some of them. Hypocritical. But I’m going to work for them. I guess that’s a lesson, working for people who don’t love me.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Regev, is happy with her performance so far. “He spoke to me about how he’s pleased with the fact we are setting red lines. That this government is not apologetic like past governments,” she says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4670326,00.html
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This week Uri wrote on the subject why “One-State Solution” is impossible (which we all know already, I suppose), but previously he wrote about BDS:
http://www.avnery-news.co.il/english/
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Students who fly abroad to undergo hasbara and public diplomacy lessons
A new initiative currently underway, takes students who are meant to fly abroad on different delegations, and requires them to undergo a minimum of 10 hours of public diplomacy training. The effort is meant to combat the de-legitimization of Israel abroad.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4670378,00.html
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Oh Lordy. Poor kids.
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I was going to say this is just like the USSR but that would not be true. When I traveled abroad from the USSR at the age of 14, we had a brainwashing session about the need to represent our country well that lasted about 10 minutes. There was nothing like 10 hours of ideological conditioning before the trip.
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\ I was going to say this is just like the USSR but that would not be true.
Have you read the article to be sure the comparison is fine? It has details on what those lessons entail.
It’s presented as something good and necessary, but made me feel very uncomfortable.
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Yes, I read it. And it makes me uncomfortable , too. Not only is this a way of using children for political purposes but also this is creating feelings of anxiety and confrontation with a hostile world. And we all know how I feel about this sort of thing.
Imagine a father who gives his daughter a 10 hour talk on sexual assault and body integrity before she goes to a party. I see very little difference between the two things.
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I will just leave this here.
http://jpohl.blogspot.com/2015/06/a-very-strong-russian-challenge-to.html
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Правнучка Хрущева о диктаторах, неудаче “Новороссии” и том, зачем Путину Донбасс
Зачем россиянам диктаторы, а Путину война
http://apostrophe.com.ua/article/politics/2015-06-18/pravnuchka-hruscheva-o-diktatorah-neudache-novorossii-i-tom-zachem-putinu-donbass/1857
And Part 2:
“Новороссия” не удалась, Путин подавился Украиной,— правнучка Хрущева
Почему провалилась “Новороссия”, и кто на Западе может разговаривать с Путиным
http://apostrophe.com.ua/article/politics/2015-06-20/novorossiya-ne-udalas-putin-podavilsya-ukrainoy—pravnuchka-hruscheva/1863
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Two attacks in two days:
Early Sunday, a Palestinian assailant stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli policeman in Jerusalem’s Old City. The policeman shot the attacker, critically wounding him, before collapsing and being rushed to a hospital.
…
On Friday, a Palestinian shot an Israeli hiker to death in the West Bank.
…
Ahead of meeting with French FM Fabius, in the region to propose peace initiative, prime minister says:
“The way to reach an agreement is only through negotiations and we will fiercely reject attempts to impose international dictates,” he told his weekly cabinet meeting.
…
“They are trying to shunt us toward indefensible borders, ignoring what will happen on the other side,” Netanyahu said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4670845,00.html
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How stupid can one be?
Israeli interior minister’s wife tweets racist joke about Obama, causing furor
Judy Nir Mozes Shalom quickly deleted her tweet comparing U.S. president to ‘weak black coffee,’ but not before raising a flurry of Twitter derision.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.662316
And again:
Israeli Arab MK to join Gaza-bound flotilla
Politicians attack and defend MK Dr. Basel Ghattas after he tells Ynet he plans to join pro-Palestinian flotilla currently making its way to Gaza.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4671045,00.html
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“Causing furor?” Only a very lazy person hasn’t discussed Obama ‘ s foreign policy as weak.
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\ “Causing furor?” Only a very lazy person hasn’t discussed Obama ‘ s foreign policy as weak.
She wrote:
“Do u know what Obama Coffee is? Black and weak.”
I suppose, by “Obama Coffee” is meant a brand name, like Nestle Coffee. Saying the word “Black” made the joke racist and everybody furious. It is hard for me to judge how racist from 1 to 10 the joke is, but politician’s wife should be more careful.
Thought about your students being afraid to say the word “black.” Some probably are afraid to give offense accidentally.
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I’m still not getting it. This reminds me of a friend back in Ukraine who was horrified by the phrase “My father is Jewish” and asked me to mind my vocabulary.
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I don’t understand why we bring wounded Syrians, it’s not explained in press, but the situation on Golan Heights is heating up:
Wounded Syrian killed when Druze lynch mob attacks IDF ambulance
For second time in 24 hours, Druze in northern Israel pelt ambulance with stones; two IDF soldiers lightly hurt in attack, one of the Syrian wounded killed.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4671371,00.html
Those are our minorities. Arabs who often do terrorist acts and this:
\ Members of the Druze community criticized the IDF for failing to learn from a similar incident early Monday morning and chose to once again go through Druze villages with the military ambulance without taking the proper security measures.
See? Don’t travel near Druze villages in your own country. And, of course, not near Arab villages either, especially if you aren’t in a military vehicle and wish to stay alive afterwards.
I haven’t heard yet about Jews attacking ambulances with Palestinian terrorists. Fortunately.
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WikiLeaks Saudi cable says Iran shipped nuclear equipment to Sudan
According to leaked Saudi document, the Islamic Republic transferred advanced hardware to African Muslim nation in 2012, months before a strike on a Sudanese munitions factory that was blamed on Israel.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4671989,00.html
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“Крым нужен России на случай похолодания”: блоггер-доцент собрал коллекцию перлов на ЕГЭ по обществознанию
http://newsru.com/russia/22jun2015/ege.html
I loved:
“Пенсионерам чисто физически трудно драться с властью, хотя возможно они принесли что-то и припрятали с войны. Так что я не советовал бы президенту с ними связываться”.
“Женщины должны зарабатывать столько, чтобы им еще и на себя оставалось”.
“Пьянство это зло. Наркомания это зло. А чтение это конечно добро, хотя от него тоже болит голова. Я когда дочитал “Войну и мир”, думал, что меня отвезут в больницу”.
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The Psychology of an Ethnic Fraud: Behind Rachel Dolezal’s Invented Persecution
What went on in the mind Rachel Dolezal? A case from two decades ago with striking parallels could give us the answers, and tell us how she might react in the coming weeks.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/13/the-psychology-of-an-ethnic-fraud-behind-rachel-dolezal-s-invented-persecution.html
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“Why would a person co-opt a position of marginalization and victimization in such a highly visible, risky, and outrageous way? What type of brokenness, misguidedness, illness, or malice inside a person would lead them them to do such a thing?”
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Regarding recent protests of Ethiopian Jews and accusations of racism some of them make, the following study supports my opinion that their position (worse jobs) is temporary and is the result of immigrating from third world country, without education or knowledge how to live in a modern society.
As for “Gaps in education are narrowing, but are far from disappearing” – well, children are influenced by their parents and if the latter don’t see education as a priority, it’s going to influence kids as well. I know that there are good programs at (some, at least) schools especially for Ethiopian Jews (not for other immigrants like I was) to help them graduate with high school diploma. Unlike Blacks in USA, I believe Ethiopian Jews will fully integrate after a few generarions.
Study: Long road ahead for Ethiopian Israelis’ equality
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4672775,00.html
Look for instance at:
\ Thirty six percent of Israelis of Ethiopian origin who came to Israel at an older age completed high school, while the rate among those who were educated in Israel is around 90 percent – similar to the general Jewish population.
AND
\ Around half of women and 17 percent of men among employed Ethiopian immigrants who moved to Israel after the age of 12 work in cleaning and cooking … Among Ethiopian immigrants who were educated in Israel, the rate of employment in cleaning jobs is similar to the general Jewish population – 3.9 percent.
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If the representatives of an Israeli organization back in Kharkiv had such a negative response to me because I didn’t look “Jewish enough”, I can only imagine how they treat black Jews. I was practically a child, and if you can treat a child this way – and for what? Racial purity? Then there are not that many lines left to cross.
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\ If the representatives of an Israeli organization back in Kharkiv had such a negative response to me because I didn’t look “Jewish enough”
Mainstream Israeli view seems to be that Ethiopian Jews are Jewish more than enough, that they are more Zionist and preserving Jewish tradition than many FSU immigrants of the 90ies. The following bits of history are well-known:
” Ethiopian Jews are very religious and messianic. They regard their rescue and arrival in Israel as the very fulfillment of their redemptive vision. Their primary identity is Jewish, not Ethiopian or African. ”
AND (from another place)
“On November 22, 1984, an aerial operation began in order to free ‘Beta Israel’ Jews who had fled Ethiopia and were residing in refugee camps in Sudan. Years before the operation, thousands of Ethiopian Jews walked for miles in order to reach the Sudanese border. Many tragically died along the way, however, those who completed the arduous journey arrived at temporary camps, where they waited until they could be transported to Israel on navy ships and Israeli airplanes.”
https://www.idfblog.com/about-the-idf/history-of-the-idf/1984-1991-airlift-of-ethiopian-jewish-community/
Walked for miles and died along the way, see? Brings to mind the Jewish Exodus from Egypt.
Ethiopian Jews and Russian Jews are two different issues, and having a non-Jewish mother is a wholly different third issue. I think you were treated this way because of the latter, to be honest. Not because of one or another nose.
Btw, those representatives in Kharkiv would themselves be seen as “Russians” by born-in-Israel (цабар – с ударением на первом слоге) Jews. 🙂 They “don’t create the weather” in Israel. Because you’ve seen only them (among Jews connected to Israel in some way), they loom large in your mind, but if you ever visit Israel – some wrong impressions will be corrected.
Were they Israelis at all or somebody who has always lived in FSU? Either way, it was the classic case of “Нет хуже господина, чем бывший раб”. They have always been ashamed of their nationality and noses, so got special perverse pleasure from finally (!) getting the opportunity to police yours.
Also, I found that:
” According to a 2009 study, 90% of Ethiopian-Israelis – 93% of men and 85% of women, are married to other Ethiopian-Israelis. ”
However, you have to take into account that most of them are
“the descendants and the immigrants who came to Israel during – “Operation Moses” (1984) and “Operation Solomon” (1991)”
From 1991 to 2009 only a few years have passed. Even first generation of born-in-Israel Ethiopian Jews isn’t getting married yet. Usually, the 1st generation may yet preserve something, influenced by their parents, but the 2nd generation is wholly Israeli. Considering the brief amount of time, the % of intermarriage are sky-high. Look:
[Article from 2009] ” Interracial Marriage Higher In Israel Than US, Report Finds
…
According to a study published in the U.S. two years ago, 6 percent of black people who married, married a white person, as opposed to 10 percent in Israel. “
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“Because you’ve seen only them (among Jews connected to Israel in some way), they loom large in your mind, but if you ever visit Israel – some wrong impressions will be corrected.”
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\ Remember, my grandfather lived in Israel for years, and it was not good for him.
In which city has he lived, if it’s not a secret?
Many old immigrants have difficulties adjusting: they don’t know language and don’t understand Israeli culture, old friends and relatives are in another country, etc. I am sure many old immigrants find America not good for them too, which doesn’t mean America or Israel aren’t good.
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קִרְיַת מוֹצְקִין (Kiryat Motzkin.)
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I read comments and agreed that
“This is a bit disingenuous. The situations in Israel and the US are so different, given the complete control over marriage on the part of religious authorities in Israel and the fact that Israel is stratified by religion more than race makes the comparison silly. The real comparison would be between American black/white marriages and Israeli Jew/Christian or Muslim Arab ones.”
So I googled and found an interesting article on Jew\non-Jew marriage in Israel:
Why interfaith marriage is on the rise in Israel – and why it’s a problem
As many as one in 10 Israeli marriages are interfaith, with the non-Jewish partner often subjected to second-class treatment by the state.
…
Hebrew University demographer Sergio DellaPergola, cited in the 2008 Knesset report, reported a lower rate, of one in 20
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/shavuot/.premium-1.596678
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“Why interfaith marriage is on the rise in Israel – and why it’s a problem”
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Shoah memorial in Kiev defaced with swastikas
Nazi symbols found on monument in for victims murdered in Babi Yar massacre; local Jews say anti-Semitism on the rise.
…
Norman voiced his concern that awareness of this part of the Holocaust was not strong enough. “There is no Jewish child who does not now about Auschwitz, Treblinka, or Sobibor, and there is hardly anyone who knows that in Kiev tens of thousands of Jews, if not hundreds of thousands, were murdered.
“There is almost no awareness in the Israeli discourse. There is forgetfulness about the Holocaust of Ukrainian Jews and the mass murder sites like Babi Yar.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4672805,00.html
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It’s funny how they never report things like a medal for the contribution to Ukrainian culture being awarded to a Jew last month. It’s very tendentious reporting.
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Really interesting post by Kenan Malik – “battles over ancient bones and modern identities”
https://kenanmalik.wordpress.com/2015/06/24/battles-over-ancient-bones-and-modern-identities/#comments
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The Jerusalem Municipality has decided to consult the city’s rabbis before approving any Christian event that may include missionary activity.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4672753,00.html
“Proselytizing is legal in the country and missionaries of all religious groups are allowed to proselytize all citizens; however, a 1977 law prohibits any person from offering material benefits as an inducement to conversion. It was also illegal to convert persons under 18 years of age unless one parent were an adherent of the religious group seeking to convert the minor. Despite the legality of proselytism, the government has taken a number of steps that encouraged the perception that proselytizing is against government policy. For example, the MOI has detained individuals suspected of being “missionaries,” and required of such persons bail and a pledge to abstain from missionary activity, in addition to refusing them entry into the country. It maintained denunciations of such activity from antimissionary groups like Yad L’Achim in its border control databases. The MOI has also cited proselytism as a reason to deny student, work, and religious visa extensions, as well as to deny permanent residency petitions. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) promised the Knesset in 1986 to refrain from all proselytism voluntarily in conjunction with receiving a building permit for its Jerusalem Center following protests from the Orthodox community.”
—A 2010 US State Department report on religious freedom in Israel
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“For example, the MOI has detained individuals suspected of being “missionaries,” and required of such persons bail and a pledge to abstain from missionary activity, in addition to refusing them entry into the country. It maintained denunciations of such activity from antimissionary groups like Yad L’Achim in its border control databases. The MOI has also cited proselytism as a reason to deny student, work, and religious visa extensions, as well as to deny permanent residency petitions.”
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\ Good!
???
I am against Christian proselytizing in Israel myself, but I thought you would be angry that the state of Israel prohibits (in practice) proselytizing to Jews, unless the proselytizing people are of Jewish faith. Haredi Jews are perfectly free to target me, there are many organizations to bring Jews closer to Judaism. Tanakh lessons are mandatory if one wishes to get a high school diploma, and religious members of Knesset (the legislature of Israel) talk how students in secular schools should study more about Jewish tradition. For instance, other religious books except Tanakh.
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I hate these missionary types. In the region where I live, I meet crowds of them and they all make a horrible impression. Unctuous, self-righteous, self-involved, condescending and usually extremely angry (and not in a productive, warm and fuzzy way like I am).
“Tanakh lessons are mandatory if one wishes to get a high school diploma, and religious members of Knesset (the legislature of Israel) talk how students in secular schools should study more about Jewish tradition.”
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Explosions, decapitation, IS flag at French factory in terror attack
At least one body found decapitated, two wounded, Islamist flag left behind at gas factory; man known to police reportedly arrested.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4673054,00.html
Why is it France all the time? Charlie Hebdo, now this. Why not Germany or England, for instance?
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The French colonial record in Algeria. The French killed about a million Algerians out of seven million in the 1950s and then in the next few decades took in millions of their relatives as labor mmigrants they did not allow to assimilate. Imagine if Nazi Germany had not been defeated completely, but merely forced to give up Poland and other occupied countries. Then imagine that over a million Jewish survivors of the Holocaust migrated to Germany to work, but were prevented from assimilating and still subjected to discrimination and generally impoverished. Might not there be some resentment? Might not Jewish terrorists like Lehi and Irgun target Germans and not the British in such a case? That is basically the scenerio that exists in France.
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The UK had the horrible subway terror acts, remember? And Germany ‘ s Muslims are from Turkey which is as secular as one can find in the Muslim world. The Turkish quarter in Berlin is the most welcoming place ever (for a woman who looks and acts like me). The “little Beirut” in London, though, is a very uncomfortable place.
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Little Beirut? Do you mean Edgeware road near Hyde Park? When I lived in London from 2001-2004 it was a perfectly welcoming place. I used to go there to eat Arabic food and smoke shisha. There was also one good and by London standards very cheap Persian eatery on the street amongst the myriad Arab places.
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You are a man, though. 🙂 Of course, you wouldn’t even notice the discomfort I’m speaking about. 🙂 If you have a friend who is a blond, plump, big – chested woman, ask her how she feels there. 🙂
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I looked at the comments on Hebrew news site and many express schadenfreude, partly because of France’s pressure to restart peace talks:
// “Everything points to inertia, but we believe that this inertia is deadly,” said a senior French diplomat. “We can no longer isolate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the regional context.”
If the conflict remains unresolved, the diplomat added, radical groups such as Islamic State will make the Palestinian cause their own. //
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4670428,00.html
I think ISIS would want to kill all Jews regardless of Palestinian-Israeli relations. Look how they treat minorities: kill men and sell women as slaves.
I am 100% sure that creating a Palestinian state tomorrow would lead to Hamas taking power in the first couple of months and then battling the remains of Fatah and ISIS. Wouldn’t be surprised with ISIS taking over sooner or later either: terrorism against Israel would continue, economic situation would remain horrible, millions of Palestinians would be forced to ‘return’ by Arab countries where they reside in refugee camps till this day. Palestinians would lose faith in Hamas and turn to something more extreme.
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I agree that seeing ISIS as reactive is a huge mistake. ISIS is responding to internal needs of its members. There are hundreds of people from Russia fighting on ISIS side. The idea that they give a damn about Palestine is bizarre.
However, I don’t see Palestine going in the direction of ISIS. I’m just not seeing it.
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France’s interior minister calls for end to Uber — and rioting by taxi drivers
…
France’s interior minister, in a bid to halt a day of sometimes violent protests by taxi drivers angered by Uber’s low-cost UberPop service, said Thursday that the app-based business must be shut down. He said orders would be given to seize vehicles.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/frances-interior-minister-calls-for-end-to-uber–and-rioting-by-taxi-drivers/2015/06/25/9f863408-1b78-11e5-ab92-c75ae6ab94b5_story.html
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The agony of the nation-state continues. ..
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The US Supreme Court declared Friday that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the country, in a culmination of two decades of litigation over marriage, and gay rights generally.
Gay and lesbian couples already could marry in 36 states and the District of Columbia. The court’s 5-4 ruling means the remaining 14 states, in the South and Midwest, will have to stop enforcing their bans on same-sex marriage.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4673124,00.html
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No freedom of expression for Israeli anthropologists?
Op-ed: Is it illegitimate for Israeli academics to believe that Gaza’s problems stem from Hamas’ jihadist ideology? Should they be threatened with a boycott if they fail to adopt ‘the right stance’?
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4672720,00.html
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It’s not legitimate for academics to believe, period. We are not in the business of peddling belief. We are in the business of knowing. Just observe how much the article talks of beliefs and opinions. But that’s not how scholarship works.
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\ We are not in the business of peddling belief. We are in the business of knowing.
OK, but there are disagreements in academia too. The writer used the word “believe,” but one can use “think that the truth is…” instead. Are academics in the business of boycotting people who know differently from them? I wanted to ask what you think about the behavior of The American and Israel Anthropological Associations, not about the writer’s choice of words.
And, imo, when we talk about political stances, belief plays a significant role. Academics are people too, even if they are anthropologists. And they are also capable of making mistakes and thinking they know something that in reality is untrue.
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Those people are too in the business of knowing, yet they make mistakes. I don’t think they understand the situation worse than academics:
How IDF Intelligence failed to predict ‘Hamastan’ in Gaza following Israeli pullot
A year before the evacuation, the Southern Command warned of ‘Hamastan in Gaza,’ but Army Intelligence was quick to dismiss it, while the Shin Bet estimated Hamas was interested in calm; those who did try to alert of the dangers of leaving Gaza were pushed aside, while the rest toed the line.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4673208,00.html
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Found an interesting article about the community of Syrian Jews in Brooklyn:
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Op-ed: Is the strange French initiative to impose a Security Council resolution on a Palestinian state some kind of secret payment to the Gulf emirate, which has turned France into its playground?
A thick book titled “Une France sous influence: Quand le Qatar fait de notre pays son terrain de jeu” (A France under influence: How Qatar turned out country into its playground”) exposed last year the very personal relations between the French and Qatari regimes during these two presidents’ terms, and asserted that since 2007, France has in fact become a satellite of Qatar, which has bought it and its discretion.
…
In an attempt to save its sinking economy, France provided its foreign policy as a guarantee to an Arab dictatorship in the Persian Gulf, which is the most hostile Arab state towards Israel and one of the supporters of terror in Syria and Iraq. Qatar invests some $50 billion in France, and the book exposes how it funded Sarkozy’s personal divorce settlement with his wife Cecilia, at a total of €3 billion, when he chose to marry Carla Bruni.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4672839,00.html
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An unusually good post for a Russian blog – “Исторически сложившееся отношение к еде и гендерная кулинарная несправедливость”
http://www.livejournal.com/magazine/793320.html
I too thought that women should eat less because they need fewer calories, without thinking much about the matter. I think she is wrong in that sentence so:
\ Реальные потребности в калориях у женщин и мужчин одинаковой средней активности различаются, но всего лишь на 250 ккал (2250 и 2500 ккал), что соответствует 57 г сыра.
Usually people need less calories than 2000 per day, right?
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This depends a lot on individual metabolism which can be extremely different even within the same family. Mine is very slow, for instance.
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Women’s lobby against Chris Brown’s Israel show
Israel Women’s Network protests arrival of American hip hop artist who was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend Rihanna six years ago; Facebook page calls on Israeli audience to boycott concert.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4673526,00.html
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