Tuesday, February 8, 2011

1. Egypt - continues to dominate the news. The demonstrations continue, the pro-Mubarak side has emerged (why they are "pro" is a good question), Mubarak himself seems to be hanging on, there are some signs of "normality" - banks open etc., and everyone has an opinion about the Muslim Brotherhood.

And whatever you think of Henry Kissinger, I think he makes a very good point to Charlie Rose:




3. Multiculturalism - gets a failing grade in the UK, as apparently it did in Germany - British PM says multiculturalism has failed, Muslims must integrate into British society - Jihad Watch. See also - Works and Days » The Middle East and the Multicultural Nightmare - what will be said soon in North America?


4. Devious - Sorry, but I do not believe that this can be taken at face value - Palestinians want Church of the Nativity recognized as UN heritage site. And on a related note - Dutch FM: Recognition of Palestinian state does no good

5. The Great Communicator - President Reagan would have turned 100 years old on February 6. 2011. The date prompted a variety of articles about his place in history. Here are a few to ponder:



9. Emptying The Vault - various links on various topics I have saved but never posted for whatever reason:

11. Super Bowl Sunday I - The Super Bowl was Sunday. In my view the "good guys" won - after overcoming all kinds of injuries not just during the regular season, but in the game itself. When the game was really on the line in the fourth quarter - especially on that late 3rd down and 10 when Aaron Rodgers fired a 31 yard strike to Greg Jennings - Green Bay came through, and Pittsburgh didn't.

Green Bay is the prototypical old school NFL team - the only one, I believe, that is community owned. Pittsburgh is a similar team, and while it is not community owned, I believe that the Rooney Family has owned it for a very long time (with 6 Super Bowl victories to show for it).


Here is a story about the AFL that came to rival the old established NFL, resulting eventually in a merger and the creation of the Super Bowl played between the winners of the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The Other League - by Marc Tracy Tablet Magazine - A New Read on Jewish Life - and yeah, there were Jews involved.

12. Super Bowl Sunday II - I hate the hype, I hate the way that almost every performer who sings the national anthem has to turn it into some sort of personal signature song (PS - memo to Christine Aguilera - easy on the lipstick, girlfriend), and I hate the half-time show.


I always hope for a well-played game that is close to the end and is decided by the players, not the officials. Oh, I sometimes, I love the commercials - like these ones from Sunday:






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Thursday, February 3, 2011

Obviously, Egypt is still the major story, so a lot of this posting will focus on events there and their effect in the region and beyond. The situation is so fluid that no one really knows for sure what the new Egyptian reality will be - so there are millions of opinions flying all over the place - so one has to exercise caution in trying to speak too authoritatively. In any event, here are some of the latest developments from various perspectives:

1. The Empire Strikes Back - This was bound to happen:

4. The Impact On The United States - Reminiscent of the "Who Lost China?" question in political debate in the US in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the question of the second decade of the millennium may now become "Who Lost Egypt?":
5. This Seemed Odd - Hamas worried upheaval in Arab world will spill into Gaza - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News - but doesn't Hamas (or their supporters) claim to be a democracy? See item 13 below.

6. Looking Back - what does history tell us about what to expect to take hold in Egypt?
7. Looking Ahead: what do the experts think will take hold in Egypt?

9. "I Told You So" - Commentary » Blog Archive » Go Read Kirkpatrick. Again. and the piece by the Jeane Kirkpatrick, late US Ambassador to the United Nations referred to in the link - Dictatorships & Double Standards


11. The Impact Of Social Networking - I posted about this recently (item 3 from last Thursday's edition) - here is an update on the role of social media in all of this - Egyptian protests, Twitter, and Facebook: How do social media tools enable revolutions? - By Jesse Lichtenstein - Slate Magazine.

12. The Muslim Brotherhood - maybe I am an alarmist, but the possibility of the Muslim Brotherhood having any influence on the reins of power in Egypt scares the daylights out of me. Apparently, others agree (the ones who don't are referred to in the following links):

13. Liberalism In Egypt - I have been saying this in my own way for a long time, but I do not think that one can say it better and more succinctly than this - Commentary » Blog Archive » Egypt Needs Liberalism - and it should be required reading for all the apologists for Hamas who jump up and down and say that Hamas was elected in a free and fair election:
"If Egyptians elect the Muslim Brotherhood in a free and fair election, and the Muslim Brotherhood then rigs or even cancels every election that follows, Egypt will not be in any way shape or form a democracy. It will be a dictatorship that happened to have an election."
14. Advice From An Unlikely Source - A word of advice from Northern Ireland

15. Seymour Hersh - I have never been a fan of this prominent American journalist and author - Seymour Hersh’s Twisted World of Paranoia


16. I Hope He Has To Spend Millions On Lawyers - Jimmy Carter being sued for alleged falsehoods


17. (Ir)responsible Journalism - The Real 'Palestine Papers' Scandal - WSJ.com

18. One Of My Favorite Israeli Songs - performed by Arlo Guthrie, son of the famous Woody Guthrie, in a rather tongue in cheek manner like his "Alice's Restaurant" song.

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Monday, January 31, 2011

1. Egypt - No pun intended given (the Biblical) Joseph's dreams about cattle, but Holy Cow!! - can anyone keep up with what is going on in Egypt - RubinReports: Egypt's Revolution: A Simple Guide.


I remember the 1979-1980 events in Iran quite clearly, and the situation unfolding in Egypt reminds me of those days in many ways. While it is fascinating to watch history unfold, I am extremely concerned about where things will lead - especially and obviously as it relates to Israel.

I do not want to overburden you with millions of links, and things are developing so quickly that it is hard to keep abreast of the latest developments, but there is a lot of very interesting reading out there if you have the time. And this is a HUGE story. I have tried to pick through what I have seen and give you what I think are the most relevant from my perspective:
The theme I am pursuing here is not to argue for the status quo or defend the repression and corruption inherent in the Mubarak regime. My concerns, stated more specifically, are (a) if the regime falls, who and what will replace it, (b) if the regime does not fall, what will Mubarak (or the Egyptian military and political elites) have to do to remain in power, and (c) what impact will (a) or (b) have on Israel?

So as to the first question - what happens if the regime falls? The unanimous sentiment is that the Muslim Brotherhood, which seems to be the only organized opposition group in Egypt, will be the eventual power broker, even if it does so through some front man like Mohammed el-Baradei (The Rosett Report » Egypt: Please, Not ElBaradei and Column One: The pragmatic fantasy).

Who/what is the Muslim Brotherhood? Take your choice:

Here's my short answer - the guys who assassinated Anwar Sadat and spawned people like Muhammad al-Zawahiri - the second in command (and some say, the real brains) of al-Qaeda. It was founded in 1928 by Hassan al Banna, a devotee of Adolf Hitler (speaking of things that did not end well). Its motto is "Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope." It has been the particular target of repression by Egyptian authorities on and off throughout its existence, and it is illegal under Egyptian law to belong to the organization.

If you want to see its official English language web site, go here - but be prepared for what in my view is a very slick site that makes the Brotherhood look like a combination of Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Albert Schweitzer and Nelson Mandela - and personally I do not believe any of it.

I believe that while its methods may differ from other jihad movements, the ultimate goal is the same. In my limited knowledge of Russian history, it perhaps can be compared in some manner to the difference between Stalin's approach to communism and that of Trotsky - and we all know how that ended - both for Trotsky and the world.

In any event, I sincerely doubt that the Muslim Brotherhood can in any manner be considered moderate, or, as I heard today from an Egyptian-Canadian professor being interviewed on radio, that it has renounced violence as a means of achieving its goals (I guess she missed this little tidbit - Muslim Brotherhood leader: Prepare for war with Israel - Jihad Watch).


But I am sure that will not stop the usual suspects in the West from supporting it - Ron Radosh » The New American Fans of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and RubinReports: Muslim Brotherhood Declares Jihad on America; America Declares Muslim Brotherhood is Moderate!. Or simply look at the rally held in Toronto. And can anyone seriously doubt that what the Brotherhood thinks of Israel and Jews?


As to the third question - see:
with no doubt a lot more to come in the near future.

Finally, here is a series of links about America's vital role in this whole situation:
2. Domino Theory - though the Southeast Asian Domino Theory has been called one of the really bad ideas of all time (Where Do Bad Ideas Come From? - By Stephen M. Walt | Foreign Policy - note - this is one of the co-authors of the terrible book "The Israel Lobby") - after Tunisia and Egypt, one can only wonder about Jordan - What about Jordan? and Jordanian protesters demand political reforms | Reuters.





5. More On The Pali-Papers - another whole story - would you really trust something from the Palestinian Authority and leaked through al-Jazeera. Not me.












15. Interesting Stuff - All from Tablet Magazine:
16. Why I Do This Blog - aptly summarized in this article - Our responsibility for the Jewish future - I'm just trying to do my little bit.

17. An Eye For An Eye - one of the most famous (and likely misunderstood) quotes from the Jewish Bible was read this past weekend in synagogue as part of Torah portion Mishpatim - namely:
"Exodus 21:22-25 - If men shall fight and they collide with a pregnant woman and she miscarries, but there will be no fatality, he shall surely be punished as the husband of the woman shall cause to be assessed against him, and he shall pay it by order of judges. But if there shall be a fatality, then you shall award a life for a life; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot; a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise."

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