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Tag: Obama

  • Analysts Where Art Thou: A sad look at media

     

    This is not the first time in history that jihadi armies destroyed by their own funders. Analysts!! Think! Look into conquest of Arabia at the beginning of the 20th century.

    It is amazing how enthralled analysts become with trees when paid not to look at forests.

    Analysts are so enthralled with all the jet toys Gulfies are throwing at ISIS they forgot to ask who financed such extremism to begin with.

    I am just amazed and appalled at the lack of questions being asked about the coalition and I for one want to do anything to protect Syrians in any way possible from ISIS. And I understand what Obama is doing, but if we do not name the problem with the Gulf, we cannot escape this insanity.

    Obama

     

    (Photo: Los Angeles Times)

    …

  • Reflecting on “Dancing”

     

    I wrote this during the Gaza war. I think the theme of dance is very important, post-quantum physics way to understand the complex interaction of enemies, how they build on each other, and what it must teach us in reverse. I am amazed at how much of a dance enemies have, how much they depend on each other’s worst behaviors. We know this scientifically but it is hard to internalize as a definition of fluid reality. All our debates are as if enemies are fixed entities not evolving with each other. We warriors for peace still do not know how to really counteract that. We have tried the arts, we have tried tourism, we have tried commerce, but the dance of death is more frightening and compelling to the masses. Why did the young generation succeed in the 1960’s to create a real alternative that attracted the masses, but …

  • THE BOSTON EFFECT AND THE AGE OF OBAMA

     

    Some observers have claimed that terror won the day in Boston because it managed to shut down an entire modern city of the United States. This is a misreading of the entire episode from beginning to end, and a misreading of the age and legacy of President Barack Obama. Let me digress from Boston to what I am calling the Age of Obama and then return to the Boston terror episode.

    Although President Obama has proven to be weak in confronting the worst corruptions of the war on terror, such as Guantanamo, and a slew of illiberal laws in place, the fact is that from the beginning of his aspiration to the presidency he made it clear that war reduction was his priority, and he has followed through on that in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    The most important shift he has made, however, from the Age of Bush is to replace …

  • For Rising China, Taoist And Confucianist Wisdom Should Inspire Positive Global Leadership

    President Obama has signaled in recent days that he will be confronting China much more on its global policies. But China is on the rise as the premier economic global power, even as America is on the decline, and it remains to be seen what kind of confrontation could be effective. Will China’s rise actually be good news for the world? This will depend on how China rises, and it will be wise to challenge China on its humanitarian impact every bit as much as on its economic impact globally. Let’s look at one example.

    Burma has one of the worst governments in the world, a place where citizens live in terror. The military junta seized power when Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won 392 of the 492 seats in Parliament. It does not fully control the Hill Country on the west and east sides of the country, inhabited by …

  • Clinton Opens New Round of Mideast Peace Talks

    From Fox Five News today.  See the film clip.

    via Clinton Opens New Round of Mideast Peace Talks

    WASHINGTON – Marc Gopin from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University joined us with more.

    Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton formally opened the first direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in nearly two years on Thursday, imploring the parties to ignore the long history of failed negotiations and make needed compromises to forge an agreement.

    At a ceremony in the State Department’s ornate Benjamin Franklin room, Clinton said the Obama administration was committed to forging a settlement in a year’s time. But, she stressed that the heavy lifting must be done by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

    “We will be an active and sustained partner,” she said. “But we cannot and we will not impose a solution. Only you …

  • Op-Ed Columnist – The Billionaires Bankrolling the Tea Party – NYTimes.com

    The money trail is always critical to know coming trends in ‘popular’ American movements. This is an excellent article tracing what is happening now, and also its old American pedigree.

    I would also add that the tens of thousands on the Mall were all white, the smears of President Obama are all about him being black. The anti-mosque rallies, also financed by the same people, are also against people of color.

    We have entered yet another cycle of American white racism. This time, post-1960’s, it is necessarily less direct. After all, at least for now, the ugliest expressions of white racism are all officially illegal. And so we march on with American cycles of libertarian hatreds that occasionally well up.

    We have entered the age of Ku Klux Klan-lite.

    Op-Ed Columnist – The Billionaires Bankrolling the Tea Party – NYTimes.com.…

  • “Proximity talks”: an element in a change strategy.

    this article points out a systemic-perspective suggesting the "proximity talks" as a tactical move through which Israeli, Palestinian and American leadership can work within one strategy to reduce the power of the radical elements in their society. While many question the content-value of the "Proximity talks," many neglect the power structure it creates as an opportunity to put pressure on the radical elements within these societies and open the gate to agreement between Israel and Palestine. The concern should be the drift of the moderate elements in these societies toward radical reaction that will block opportunity for change. The inner conflicts within Israel and Palestine are blocking the progress and need to be contained for the establishment of a Palestinian state in near future.

  • Of Bankers and Social Change in America

    In front of the Uptown theater in Washington, DC, I played one of three bankers that Michael Moore drags in to see his new film, Capitalism: A Love Story. He dragged us down to the front row and put us in front of the huge adoring crowd. It was great fun! Thanks to the ever creative David Vyorst, my film maker and partner for arranging this!

    Michael spoke after this devastating and entertaining film. His heart is genuine. His assault on capitalism is more systematic than I believe in. I truly believe the evils of this civilization are due as much to a betrayal of Adam Smith as to the evils of private enterprise. And Michael often points in the film to the far greater fairness in Germany and other countries that, in my mind, combine the values that Adam Smith advocated, and are hardly socialist countries in …

  • U.S. Pressure on Arab States Grows, But It Misses Where Hope Lies

    U.S. Pressure on Arab States Grows
    By Kim Ghattas

    The Obama administration has been frustrated by the lack of movement on all sides but has reportedly been particularly disappointed by how little Arab countries have been willing to do or even promise.

    Wary from past experience of negotiating with the Israelis, the official Arab position has been one of “show us the goods, then we will talk”.

    Link to BBC Article.

    This just about sums about what I have seen and heard in the region. No one is in the mood for more talk of rapprochement with Israel. With the United States, definitely. There is still a hope that the United States will provide the leadership to move governments in the region toward a new direction of engagement with their people. But the war on Gaza was far more of a watershed than anyone understands in Western capitals, especially in …

  • We Are Going to Keep Telling the Truth ‘Til It Stops Working

    I continue to be haunted, almost fixated on President Obama’s simple words about the joke around the White House.  It is in my opinion, a stunning formula for presidentially-led social change. After four decades of watching American presidents, supposedly the most powerful agents of change in the Arab/Israeli conflict, fail to make any change. Now Obama is coming along at a good time for change, in that so much of the world knows that Israel must change, including most American Jews, finally, finally. But he could be still failing miserably at this. No, it really is his genius. The fact is the most passionate president on peace and justice for Palestinians is Jimmy Carter, but he is not believed at all by most Jews or trusted. Why? Because he has a nasty habit of saying in public things that are so overly optimistic about seasoned enemies and militant groups with …

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