[Link: www.mymodernmet.com...]

[Link: firstread.msnbc.msn.com...]

Sorry, Mitt. When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. It just looks like you are trying to have it both ways - the attack ads will run, and you get to look honourable.

I think of it this way: when you butter your bread on both sides, it always falls butter-side up. Unfortunately, it also always lands butter-side down; you're not fooling anyone who wasn't already going to vote for you no matter what.

[Link: www.huffingtonpost.com...]

20 years House & Senate, 6 years AIPAC (2 as unpaid volunteer),4 years State Department, 9 years Israel Policy Forum, 3 years Media Matters For America

Translation: "I'm a Jew with some Liberal credentials, so I get to say whatever the hell I want, objective truth and context be damned!"

I do hope Rosenberg is able to make a fair living off his writing and punditry. It is so objective and even-handed:

It's no secret why Israel's gifts from the U.S. are immune. The Israel lobby uses its power to direct campaign contributions to ensure that no Member of Congress, or president for that matter, ever dares suggests that Israel take a hit as Americans do.

Israel Lobby! Everybody, run and hide!

Rosenberg is clearly a foreign policy genius:

You have to wonder why Israel, at least for propaganda purposes, does not offer to accept a cut given that so many Americans are hurting so badly.

Hmm. I have a guess: Hamas, Hizbullah, Iran.

And the evil Jooz are pulling all the strings:

Anyone who doubts that the lobby keeps the money flowing to Israel through the selective use of campaign contributions should read this transcript. It is from 1992 and it comes from a tape in which the president of AIPAC explains to a potential donor (who is secretly recording the conversation) how AIPAC buys members of Congress -- and more

Lobbyists trying to influence Congress! It's a Jewish plot!

But it's ok, Rosenberg is a caring humanitarian:

I have a weakness for systems that defend civilians anywhere against missile attacks, including Palestinians who are defenseless against Israeli attacks.

If by "defenseless" you mean "provoke by launching rockets and mortars at civilians", then we are in complete agreement!

Thankfully, some of the country's greatest minds are asking probing, relevant questions:

In Thursday's Washington Post, Walter Pincus asks why "the United States put[s] Israel's budget problems aheads of its own."

It's alright to channel Luap Nor if you have a Jewish last name.

And then, the dire, surprise ending:

Are we the biggest suckers on earth or is it just the irresistible clout of the lobby. Read this transcript and you'll have your answer. Would you want to be the legislator who objects to this arrangement?

Let's reiterate: The US government acts in obvious disregard of its own interests because of the Israeli Lobby and AIPAC. Jews have bags of money, plus Jedi mind control and obviously US legislators are helpless in the face of that combination.

The term "Asshat" was coined for this weak-minded imbecile. I should imagine even the voices in his head are disappointed.

[Link: www.cbsnews.com...]

There are a total of about 130 charter schools like Harmony in 26 states. Together they form the largest collection of charter schools in the country. Here's what's curious: they're founded and run by immigrant businessmen and academics from Turkey. Why are they building public schools here?

I had previously not read anything about Fethullah Gulen, or the Harmony Charter School network. The schools have a 36 campus presence in Texas, where the schools, run by charter school operator Cosmos Foundation, attracted a reported $100 million in taxpayer funds, according to a report published last year by the New York Times.

It does trouble me on its face that a foundation with religious ties is running schools at taxpayer expense. A look at the model curriculum provided on the Harmony Texas website indicates that no religious studies are included overtly. A subject titled "Character Education" drew my attention; however, it appears to be a classroom-based social skills program designed by Committee for Children, a legitimate not-for-profit focusing on issues including bullying.

The Harmony Schools are generally high-performing, with a focus on science that is a reflection of Fethullah Gulen's teaching of building "schools, not mosques". His Hizmet movement has no overt Islamist bent and appears focused on promoting interfaith and inter-cultural opportunities. The schools do not appear to promote any particular faith or cultural platform.

But the question remains as to whether it is appropriate for a foreign-based religious organization to establish schools funded by taxes. The Times report of last year notes that

While educating schoolchildren across Texas, the group has also nurtured a close-knit network of businesses and organizations run by Turkish immigrants. The businesses include not just big contractors like TDM but also a growing assemblage of smaller vendors selling school lunches, uniforms, after-school programs, Web design, teacher training and even special education assessments.

It appears as though Cosmos is fostering a holistic approach to educational, social and economic support of a specific group. There is no evidence that tax money is directly upstreamed to the Cosmos Foundation and in any way inappropriately redirected. However, as the Times points out, the Foundation's structure and activities raises questions as to whether public money is being used to benefit Gulen followers by giving them business and employment, and through financial arrangements with local foundations which directly "promote Gulen teachings and Turkish culture."

According to Eurasianet, the 30-odd Gulen schools in the greater Istanbul area are run in close accordance with the public school curriculum, while similarly emphasizing high achievement. The objective is stated as aiming to usher in a "golden age" of educated Muslims. I happen to think that is a very admirable objective, indeed, and one that could contribute greatly to regional stability and peace.

Harmony Texas, in response to the 60 Minutes report, published a short rebuttal statement , in which it makes the point that religion is not taught "in any form". I cannot think of any prima facie reason to assume that public funding of the schools is a problem. Education is important, and schools are a sensitive topic. Given the large investment of public money and that the Cosmos Foundation is requesting the issuance of tax exempt Education Revenue Bonds, and considering the religious ties of the organizational structure of which Harmony is a part, heightened awareness by public officials is certainly warranted. In the interest of promoting high-achieving educational models, what works for Harmony should, in fact, be emulated by public schools. I hope that the 60 Minutes report and subsequent news articles are not followed by the hysterical anti-Muslim shrieks of dismay from the usual suspects.

[Link: www.youthtoday.org...]

Approximately one third of the proposed cuts are directed at "categorical eligibility" restrictions that could leave as many as two million people per year ineligible for SNAP benefits. The proposed bill would also eliminate more than 250,000 children from automatic enrollment in the Free School Lunch and Breakfast Program. Their benefits could vanish as early as this year if the budget is passed.

The House plan (passed 218-199) is an attempt to avoid scheduled defense spending cuts which became necessary after the so-called supercommittee's failure blatantly partisan GOP stonewalling last year to come up with a bipartisan deficit reduction plan. A guns and butter debate that will hit home for millions.

[Link: news.discovery.com...]

Picking one company now also means that the individuals aren't carrying the risk in developing their systems. With full NASA funding, the taxpayers are the stakeholders, and its easier to spend money when it's not yours. But it could turn out differently. It could be that the individuals behind these commercial ventures have the tenacity and moral fiber to stick with the goals of on schedule low cost launch systems that don't compromise safety even when they aren't financially responsible.

If the bill is passed, it's likely SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft will be the commercial system of choice, selected before the demonstration flight this month. It's really putting the cart before the horse. It's possible that SpaceX's founder Elon Musk's enthusiasm and goals of contributing to humanity's future in space -- he's tweeted that "Making large scale rocket propulsion landing work well is a critical step towards a fully reusable Mars transport system... which is the critical breakthrough needed for life to become multiplanetary" -- will break the cycle of a single contractor leading budget overruns and slipping schedules.

It's a shame, really. Allowing commercial enterprises to bear the financial risk of the next phase of space travel would free up NASA resources to focus on things private industry can not yet make profitable. Scientific endeavours, far- and deep space probes, early stage research... all with long-term benefits that now are being forfeited to old-fashioned political thinking.

[Link: learning.blogs.nytimes.com...]

An infant born amid the thunder of hostile artillery and invading troops; brought into the world in the aftermath of unimaginable slaughter. And you expect the adult Israel to behave as if everything is OK when she is threatened?

[Link: articles.orlandosentinel.com...]

Those counseling Israeli submission, resignation or just endless patience can no longer dismiss Israel's tough stance as the work of irredeemable right-wingers. Not with a government now representing 78 percent of the country

The Orlando Sentinel article does not go quite far enough. An (apparently) monolithic, insuperable unity government majority in the Knesset does not only serve notice to Iran. In one fell swoop, Netanyahu has cemented over any cracks in Israel's international diplomatic facade. There will be no more meetings between American or EU officials and Israeli opposition ministers - there is no more opposition with any level of legitimate claim to the title. No more weak points where diplomatic leverage can be applied, no divide et impera tactics where you get to choose your Knesset dance partner. The message is clear, and is directed toward Washington, Paris and Brussels as much as it is towards Tehran, Cairo or Djidda: You want to talk to Israel, you talk to Bibi. Or don't bother picking up the phone.

This move by Netanyahu does not automatically put Israel on a war footing. It does, however, shorten the road he needs to take to do so. It also sends the message that Israelis across the political spectrum are tired of being pushed around by Turkey, the UN, the anti-Israel media.

[Link: www.cliffordmay.org...]

After World War II, the British left Palestine, which was to be partitioned into two independent nations. One would have a Jewish majority, the other a Muslim majority. About 750,000 Muslims left the territories that became Israel. A similar number of Jews left Arab/Muslim lands. Today, not one of the Jews remains a refugee. But there are still Palestinian refugees -- indeed, their number has mushroomed to almost 5 million. How is that possible? Through two mechanisms. First of all, a refugee, by definition, lives on foreign soil, but for Palestinians the definition has been changed, so that a displaced Palestinian on Palestinian soil also receives refugee status. Second, the international organization responsible for resettling refugees, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), was cut out from the start. A new organization was set up exclusively for Palestinians: the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

In 1950, UNRWA defined a refugee as someone who had "lost his home and his means of livelihood" during the war launched by Arab/Muslim countries in response to Israel's declaration of independent statehood. Fifteen years later, UNRWA decided -- against objections from the United States -- to include as refugees the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of those who left Israel. And in 1982, UNRWA further extended eligibility to all subsequent generations of descendants -- forever.

Some clear talk about UNWRA and the artificial inflation of Palestinian "refugee" numbers. A UN agency working hand in glove with a hostile people to destroy a sovereign nation.