Let's take this opportunity to wish all of you and your families a happy, healthy and successful 2014 in all of your endeavors.
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Jack
Kerry’s Task in
Israel
About
two weeks ago in his New York Times
column, Tom Friedman discussed the approach Secretary of State Kerry was taking
in his efforts to arrive at some sort of agreement between Israel and the
Palestinians. Basically, as is the case
in most negotiations, it came down to both parties having to give up something.
Kerry
senses that Israel would like to achieve three long term goals, which are (1)
remain a Jewish state, (2) remain a democracy and (3) have some sort of dominion
over the whole of historic Israel. Friedman contends that Kerry's approach is that the Israelis must be content with achieving only two of these three
goals.
If
Israel wants to control all of what was ancient Israel, or in current terms,
insist on a one-state solution incorporating the West Bank as part of Israel,
they can also choose to remain a democratic state. In doing so, however, Israel will lose its
Jewish identity because demographics will result in its Muslim citizens becoming a majority.
If,
on the other hand, Israel chooses to maintain a Jewish identity for the single
state, it will have to depart from democratic principals and treat its Palestinian
cititzens in a second-class manner.
This
is why Kerry, and do most Western observers, sees a two-state solution as the
logical solution, whereby Israel remains Jewish and democratic, but renounces
the idea of ever having dominion over all of what was ancient Israel (the West
Bank).
Kerry and Abbas talk
As
for the Palestinians, they can have their own state and with it, the kind of
economic assistance which would guarantee its viability, but only if they are
willing to give up their long-term claims to all of what is now the State of
Israel, any claim of a right of return for those who left Israel, and a
cessation of the promotion of hatred of Israel among their citizens and in
their schools. There would have to be
some kind of monitoring and limitation on the Palestinian state’s military
establishment and guarantees that it would not become a proxy for anti-Israel
designs of other states.
These compromises are all that it comes down to. To finish off the agreement, Israel will ultimately give up a small parcel in East Jerusalem so that the Palestinian state can have a capital there, and after a few years, abandon its West Bank watchtowers on the border with Jordan in favor of electronic monitoring.
Contiguous West Bank Israeli settlements would become part of Israel in exchange for Israeli territory elsewhere which would become part of the Palestinian state.
Borders will be adjusted so that the many existing Israeli settlements on the West Bank which are contiguous with Israel will be incorporated into Israel, but swapped for an equal amount of comparable territory to be made part of the new Palestinian state. This will be the most contentious part of the negotiations because some of the Israeli settlements on the West Bank are some distance from Israel proper and only connected to it by roadways.
As
for Gaza, control of which is not in the hands of the Palestinians with whom
Israel is negotiating, it would have to be dealt with separately, once the
Palestinian state is established.
Jack Lippman
Sid's Corner
Cakewalk
Sid Bolotin
The car drove up to the resident entrance at the rear of the complex in
Boynton Beach in southeast Florida. The driver approached the gate as if to
activate the sensor that would swing the barrier open, paused, and acted as if
he was reading the posted warning that the entrance was inactive after
midnight.
As he did so, the rear passenger door quietly opened, his black-clad
passenger slid out, softly closed the door, and rolled under the gate. As the
car retreated from the gate, the intruder, barely visible in the moonless
darkness, skulked over to hide by the shrubbery along the boulevard.
While Karen quieted her nerves, she mentally re-ran her assigned
operation. For a highly-trained black ops operative it would be a cake-walk.
The man she was to assassinate was living in this community under an assumed
identity. She did not know why he needed to be terminated, nor did she care. Orders
are orders. A lamppost’s dim light allowed her to check her watch and note that
it was 2:00 a.m. She’d be on target within fifteen minutes, just as he’d be
going onto his screened-in patio to watch television to alleviate his insomnia.
The car was to return in one hour.
The black, rubber ski mask completed her black ensemble of long-sleeved
tee-shirt, stretch-pants, and running shoes. The suppressed Glock 17 hung in its
holster under her left armpit. 
The surveillance team had provided the route to
his house on the lake, less than a mile away. Slipping on her night-vision
goggles, she crouched, and began scampering toward her victim.
The surveillance team had provided the route to
his house on the lake, less than a mile away. Slipping on her night-vision
goggles, she crouched, and began scampering toward her victim.
Karen arrived at the house and sidled through the narrow swale between
it and his neighbor’s, toward the lake’s shore in the rear. She dropped flat
just as her victim settled in front of the glowing screen. 
Using a commando crawl she inched her way along the damp grass, shielded by shrubbery, to get into position for a clean head shot.
Using a commando crawl she inched her way along the damp grass, shielded by shrubbery, to get into position for a clean head shot.
Suddenly something landed hard on her back, snarled in her ear, and began
biting the back of her head. Screaming as she reached backward, she felt
multiple stabbings along her back. As she rolled over trying to dislodge her
attacker, the glow from the TV lit up her attacker. Almost blinded by the blood
flowing from her scalp wounds, she howled, “A cat, a God damn big cat!”
Back at the Operations Center, the night-vision video from the drone at
18,000 feet shocked the mission controllers. The cake-walk had turned into a
disaster. They watched helplessly as Karen tried to dislodge the cat that had
locked its talons into her back and continued to maul their agent.
Trained agent that she was, Karen collected her wits, pulled her Glock,
placed the muzzle against the predator’s head behind her, and fired. The dead
cat fell away allowing Karen to begin sprinting back to the gate, shouting into
her headset for her driver to return immediately.
* * * * * *
Karen sat at the conference table for the fact-finding debriefing. She
had used the first-aid kit in the car to doctor her wounds. The worst were the
shallow scalp bites that had produced the copious flow of blood, and she still
wore a large gauze bandage. The target had been whisked away by his handlers;
which meant they’d have to penetrate his new identity and put out a new
termination directive. She just hoped that the next time, the surveillance team
included in their assessment the existence of a wild bobcat being on the loose
in a residential, retirement community.
Redistributing Wealth Through Taxation and Benefits
The previous posting included a piece on the growing income inequity between the haves and the have-nots in our society, as well as the increasing unlikelihood of succeeding generations having the ability to rise from the economic level of their parents. Redistribution of the nation's wealth through higher taxes to pay for increased government benefits was offered as a way of such wealth redistribution.
Reproduced from the Dec. 19 issue of BloombergBusinessweek is a chart showing how we are already accomplishing such wealth redistribution. Is this bad? Is this good? It's up to you to decide.
Reproduced from the Dec. 19 issue of BloombergBusinessweek is a chart showing how we are already accomplishing such wealth redistribution. Is this bad? Is this good? It's up to you to decide.
Redistributing Wealth in the U.S. Tax System
The
U.S. has a progressive tax system, which means the highest earners pay
the most in federal taxes. The lion’s share of entitlement benefits,
such as Social Security, goes to the lowest earners.
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