Links for you. Science:
City Birds Adapt to a New Enemy: Cats
How much sequencing is needed for…?
The archaeologist, James Fallows, and Neandertals
At ASHG, Oxford Nanopore Execs Talk Non-Stop but Say Little (I’m not surprised)
The Most Spectacular Mutation in Recent Human History (nobody gets cranky like Larry Moran)
Other:
Interview with Stephanie Kelton (must-read)
One teen’s standardized testing horror story (and where it will lead)
An Easy Task for Congress: Save the Post Office
Citizen’s Arrest: The Case for Putting Jeffrey Loria Behind Bars
The Land of Milk and Honey Once More (the national press corps, for the most part, has completely missed the importance of the California elections)
Keep Black Friday on FRIDAY
The Iron Dome, Press Bias, and Israel’s Lack of Strategic Thinking
Why I love Michael Moore
Pat Down Expert: TSA Procedures Are “Like A Circus”
Notes From the Frontline: Well, Search Me!
BREAKING: Judge Issues Injunction Over Contraception Mandate (this is part of a larger effort by conservatives to destroy the ACA piecemeal. It’s also why Obama needs to appoint some non-Federalist Society approved judges now)
Romney Co-Chair: Voter ID Would Have Won Us Wisconsin (200,000 cases of fraud? Don’t think so…)
Enough of silence
A New Southern Strategy (I think the problem is that too many Democrats think only about national elections, instead of local and state elections. One would think the gerrymandering of 2010 would have cured them of that)
mikethemadbiologist
“Enough of silence”
Short articles don’t usually give me the trouble this one did. But after plodding though it, I had no idea at all WTH they were talking about! All I could get out of it was that BHO ought to try really, really hard to use his influence to get a cease-fire.
I went to the J Street site to look it over. More mealy-mouth mush, and in abundance! Lots of important keywords I tried in their site search engine turned up either zero results or ones which had no bearing on the situation over there.
So on to Google – what are others saying?
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/01/26/the-contradictions-of-j-street-because-zionism-doesn%E2%80%99t-stop/
“J Street has been a messy contradiction from the outset. It’s a contradiction because, in principle, it’s against Israeli expansionism past the ’67 armistice lines but it has no way of turning that principle into practice. It’s also a mess because that principle is completely unprincipled. It’s a mess because it wants Israel to be a democratic, Jewish state without recognizing the contradictions therein insofar as Israel has non-Jewish inhabitants. And it’s a mess because the reality of ongoing territorial maximalism and the destruction of Palestinian nationalism are undermining–or have undermined, depending on taste–the two-state solution [sic] it claims to support. ”
That was the way my own thinking had been heading – this ‘stuff’ wasn’t making any sense! But J Street isn’t a mom ‘n pop operation. It has a very large staff on the payroll, and seems to be rolling in money. So what’s the purpose?
Unlike what the Washington Post says, I don’t believe it’s an AIPAC Lite.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/14/AR2008041402647.html
No, I think J Street is a deeper and more devious operation. Israel has been behaving very, very badly for many years, and that’s a trend which continues on a downward spiral. Decent Jewish folks, and in particular American Jews, need a place to park their consciences. IMO somebody (the evil Soros?) has constructed a means for them to do so.
Consider the analogy of a cow magnet. It renders safe the odd bits of scrap iron which could damage the animal. J Street appears to me to be made for the same purpose – to ensnare people who are revolted by Israeli behavior. To give them a good feeling about objecting to the horrors, and to perhaps immobilize them from doing anything which might delay the greater cause of grabbing Palestinian Land and Water. Take a look at some J Street positions.
“J Street supports Israel”
“J Street opposes Iranian nuclear weapons”
“J Street funders are pro-Israel”
“J Street supports Israel’s right to self-defense”
“There is plenty of blame to go around”
“J Street U is both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian”
Just don’t look TOO closely at any of these. Like the “plenty of blame” business. If those darned sub-human Paleos wouldn’t resist when everything they have is being stolen, the entire problem would be diminished.
Because the right-wing settlers are breeding like flies, this sham operation won’t have to endure very long. Before too many years have passed there will be a “removal” operation that’ll sweep the non-Jewish scum into their proper place. Probably Jordan, but who knows. A modern “Trail of Tears” death march will be SO much more humane than simply exterminating the Palestinians. And I predict J Street will endorse the whole shebang, for they’re very strong on helping both sides.