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Moral clarity is nice if you are making a case about going to heaven but in a world full of self absorbed low downs bent on commercialism, feckless leaders and unchallenged bullies I am not sure it counts for much. (See 1 below.)
This is moral high ground for Muslims:
http://shoebat.com/2014/07/26/
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I pray Netanyahu will not get sucked in by those who call for Israel to end what they must continue doing -destroy Hamas!
Ironically, destroying Hamas is also something Egypt, Jordan and even the Saudis would like to see happen.
So what was Kerry doing kissing up to Qtar and building his own tunnel under Egypt's plan while undercutting Israel?
In rejecting Kerry, Obama and the U.N's advice, Netanyahu stays on the right track.
Gazans had an opportunity to build a beautiful seaside region but chose to elect thugs who launch rockets , used infrastructure concrete to build tunnels to invade their neighbor in furtherance of their desire to destroy Israel.
My unsolicited advice: Kerry stay home, Obama shut up, play golf, raise money and take a vacation. (See 2 and 2a below.)
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While the world continues to fall apart and Obama finds 'tranquility,' the prospects for the market could soon be challenged.
Why? Soon Chairman Yellin will end printing money, inflation is beginning to rise, interest rate increases are not likely to be far behind, consumers remain on the sideline and though employment is improving market valuations do not leave a lot of room for surprises.
I suspect the market has room to advance a bit more but the risks are rising as well. (See 3 below.)
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This direct from Israel from family of family. (See 4 below.)
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Dick
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1)
Israel holds moral high ground in Gaza
Author: Charles Krauthammer
“Here's the difference between us,” explains Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We're using missile defense to protect our civilians, and they're using their civilians to protect their missiles.”
Rarely does international politics present a moment of such moral clarity. Yet we routinely hear this Israel-Gaza fighting described as a morally equivalent “cycle of violence.” This is absurd. What possible interest can Israel have in cross-border fighting? Everyone knows Hamas set off this mini-war. And everyone knows the proudly self-declared raison d'etre of Hamas: the eradication of Israel and its Jews.
Apologists for Hamas attribute the blood lust to the Israeli occupation and blockade. Occupation? Does no one remember anything? It was less than 10 years ago that worldwide television showed the Israeli army pulling die-hard settlers off synagogue roofs in Gaza as Israel uprooted its settlements, expelled its citizens, withdrew its military and turned every inch of Gaza over to the Palestinians. There was not a soldier, not a settler, not a single Israeli left in Gaza.
And there was no blockade. On the contrary. Israel wanted this new Palestinian state to succeed. To help the Gaza economy, Israel gave the Palestinians its 3,000 greenhouses that had produced fruit and flowers for export. It opened border crossings and encouraged commerce.
The whole idea was to establish the model for two states living peacefully and productively side by side. No one seems to remember that, simultaneous with the Gaza withdrawal, Israel dismantled four smaller settlements in the northern West Bank as a clear signal of Israel's desire to leave the West Bank as well and thus achieve an amicable two-state solution.
This is not ancient history. This was nine years ago.
And how did the Gaza Palestinians react to being granted by the Israelis what no previous ruler, neither Egyptian, nor British, nor Turkish, had ever given them — an independent territory? First, they demolished the greenhouses. Then they elected Hamas. Then, instead of building a state with its attendant political and economic institutions, they spent the better part of a decade turning Gaza into a massive military base, brimming with terror weapons, to make ceaseless war on Israel.
Where are the roads and rail, the industry and infrastructure of the new Palestinian state? Nowhere. Instead, they built mile upon mile of underground tunnels to hide their weapons and, when the going gets tough, their military commanders. They spent millions importing and producing rockets, launchers, mortars, small arms, even drones. They deliberately placed them in schools, hospitals, mosques and private homes to better expose their own civilians. (Just Thursday, the United Nations announced that it found 20 rockets in a Gaza school.) And from which they fire rockets at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Why? The rockets can't even inflict serious damage, being almost uniformly intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system. Even West Bank leader Mahmoud Abbas has asked: “What are you trying to achieve by sending rockets?”
It makes no sense. Unless you understand, as Tuesday's Washington Post editorial explained, that the whole point is to draw Israeli counterfire.
This produces dead Palestinians for international television. Which is why Hamas perversely urges its own people not to seek safety when Israel drops leaflets warning of an imminent attack.
To deliberately wage war so that your own people can be telegenically killed is indeed moral and tactical insanity. But it rests on a very rational premise: Given the Orwellian state of the world's treatment of Israel (see: the U.N.'s grotesque Human Rights Council), fueled by a mix of classic anti-Semitism, near-total historical ignorance and reflexive sympathy for the ostensible Third World underdog, these eruptions featuring Palestinian casualties ultimately undermine support for Israel's legitimacy and right to self-defense.
In a world of such Kafkaesque ethical inversions, the depravity of Hamas begins to make sense. This is a world in which the Munich massacre is a movie and the murder of Klinghoffer is an opera — both deeply sympathetic to the killers. This is a world in which the U.N. ignores humanity's worst war criminals while incessantly condemning Israel, a state warred upon for 66 years that nonetheless goes to extraordinary lengths to avoid harming the very innocents its enemies use as shields.
It is to the Israelis' credit that amid all this madness they haven't lost their moral scruples. Or their nerve. Those outside the region have the minimum obligation, therefore, to expose the madness and speak the truth. Rarely has it been so blindingly clear.
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2)
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Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the nation in a televised press conference Monday night, saying that
Israel must be prepared for a long mission in Gaza, as the operation would not be over until all the terror tunnels are destroyed. "There is no war more just than this one," he said. "We will not end the operation in Gaza without neutralizing the terror tunnels." Shortly before Netanyahu's speech, an infiltration attempt by Hamas terrorists was foiled by the IDF. Five terrorists were killed trying to enter Kibbutz Nahal Oz near the Gaza border. At least four Israelis were killed and several others injured in a separate incident Monday in which a mortar shell hit the Eshkol region. "Hamas is a cruel enemy, not only to us, but to their own citizens," Netanyahu continued. "They have rejected numerous cease-fires. We are prepared for an extended operation." Earlier on Monday Netanyahu slammed a UN Security Council statement calling for an immediate humanitarian cease- fire in Gaza, saying during a phone conversation with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the statement addresses the needs of a murderous terrorist organization, but not those of Israel. Israel accepted a UN request for a humanitarian cease-fire three times, he said, while Hamas violated each one. Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, speaking after Netanyahu, echoed the premier, saying Israel will not hesitate to expand its actions against Hamas in a manner that will harm the terror organization. He stressed that Israel would not compromise the security of its citizens. "We won't be deterred from fighting for our home and citizens," he said in a press conference. Ya'alon vowed that quiet would be returned to the citizens of Israel, although he noted that the military's campaign in Gaza could be prolonged. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz wrapped up the conference, saying the IDF was making "excellent" progress in its operations in Gaza, which he said would continue for as long as needed. Gantz said the IDF was taking all possible measures not to cause civilian casualties in Gaza, but reiterated Israel's warning for Palestinian civilians to distance themselves from the areas where Hamas is operating. Turning to the Israeli front, the IDF chief called for public support to remain strong. "I have no doubt we can succeed," he stressed. 2a) Emerson to Kerry-Obama: Its Terrorism, Stupid
by Steven Emerson
Secretary of State John Kerry's push for a ceasefire in Gaza last week was so flawed it managed to unite Israel's fractious political leadership in opposition while simultaneously being lambasted by the Palestinian Authority.
The proposal called for negotiations on Hamas demands, including opening border crossings into Gaza
and relaxed boating restrictions off the Gaza coast. In addition, its language reportedly upgraded Hamas
– a designated terrorist organization – to an equal plane with Israel. Then, President Obamacalled Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday to make "clear the strategic imperative of instituting an immediate
,unconditional humanitarian ceasefire that ends hostilities now and leads to a permanent cessation of
hostilities based on the November 2012 ceasefire agreement."
In other words, Obama demanded that Israel institute an immediate unilateral ceasefire even while
Hamas continues its terrorist operations against Israel. True to form, Hamas escalated its attacks on
Monday.
A mortar attack on the community of Eshkol near the Gaza border killed four Israeli civilians and wounded
nine others, five of whom were in critical condition. At the same time, a squad of heavily-armed Hamas
terrorists emerged from a tunnel near Kibbutz Nahal Oz in an attempt to carry out a mass murder attack
.The Israeli military killed one terrorist and is searching for the others.
The U.S. response? In addition to more demands that Israel stop trying to root out the Hamas terror
infrastructure in Gaza, administration officials Monday expressed anger that the Israelis would leak details of the proposed ceasefire and criticize Kerry.
This overlooks an important fact – Kerry's proposal also angered the Palestinian Authority – with a senior
official telling London-based Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that "Kerry wanted to create a
framework that would be an alternative to the Egyptian initiative and to our concept regarding it, in order
to please Qatar and Turkey." The move would strengthen the Muslim Brotherhood's stature, the PA
official said, "because the Americans think – and will be proven wrong – that that moderate political Islam
represented by the Muslim Brotherhood can combat radical Islam..."
In their haste to bring about an end to the hostilities, U.S. officials have lost perspective about the conflict
and how to prevent the next flare-up. Israel has acknowledged that the depth and sophistication of the
Hamas tunnel network greatly surpassed previous assessments. Reports indicate that Hamas was
planning to use the tunnels to wage a massive attack involving 200 terrorists against communities
neighboring Gaza during the Jewish high holiday Rosh Hashanah.
Yet U.S. officials continue to pressure Israel has accepted five ceasefires. All of them were broken by
Hamas.
Reports out of Israel say Kerry's proposal did nothing to help identify and dismantle Hamas tunnels or
strip it of its remaining rocket arsenal. Israel's security cabinet quickly and unanimously rejected it.
Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, considered the most dovish in the cabinet, blasted the proposal as
"completely unacceptable" and one that "would strengthen extremists in the region."
While its specifics have attracted scant attention in American media, it left Israeli commentators
dumbstruck. The result "is clearly a major crisis in Israel-US ties at a time when Israel finds itself in the
midst of a complex and costly war," Times of Israel editor David Horovitz wrote Sunday in a commentary
headlined "John Kerry: The betrayal."
An unnamed senior U.S. official briefed Israeli reporters Sunday night, claiming the proposal is being
misrepresented. "There was no Kerry plan," the official said. "There was a concept based on the
Egyptian cease-fire plans that Israel had signed off on."
No one else in the arena seems to agree. The proposal was based on Kerry's consultations with Qatar
and Turkey – Hamas' two leading patrons – a move which angered Palestinian Authority officials and
other Arab states for empowering a terrorist group and excluding them.
"Those who want Qatar or Turkey to represent them should leave and go live there," PA President
Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group said in a statement that Jerusalem Post reporter Khaled Abu Toameh
wrote was "directed against Hamas."
Kerry's disastrous idea, giving Hamas a clear diplomatic win at a time it had nothing to show but
devastation for a fight it started, drew perverse praise.
"It takes a certain artistry to irritate and annoy not only the Israeli left and the Israeli right at the same
time, but also both Jerusalem and Ramallah," the Jerusalem Post's Herb Keinon noted wryly.
"This provided Hamas with a badly needed tailwind," Keinon wrote. "Sure, they were getting clobbered,
their human shields were dying, but they were getting what they wanted. The world was talking to them,
recognizing their standing in Gaza, presenting their demands. Why stop, things were going their way.
And, indeed, they didn't stop, and violated three different cease fires Saturday night and Sunday,
including one that they themselves declared."
As I noted previously, it was under the terms of the 2012 ceasefire Obama and Kerry are pushing to
restore that Hamas diverted money meant to improve life for people in Gaza to building its tunnel network
and built an arsenal of 10,000 rockets – each one earmarked for firing on Israeli civilians.
If there are suggestions for a better way for Israel to unearth the tunnels and to stop the rocket fire
emanating from crammed neighborhoods surrounded by civilians, by all means, offer them up.
It's safe to assume that, in the course of invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq, American forces killed many
more civilians than the last three Gaza conflicts combined. It's a product of war. The difference is there
were not network cameras poised to show the carnage from a drone strike or other inadvertent killing.
But let's not pretend that this conflict can be resolved by giving Hamas what it wants. Its officials may talk
about economic suffering among Palestinians in Gaza. But if the past month has proven anything, it is
that the Hamas leadership cares more about creating Israeli suffering than alleviating the pain and
devastation its actions have brought upon the Palestinians. The millions of dollars diverted to building
tunnels, to importing or manufacturing rockets, could have done wonders to create infrastructure and
jobs in Gaza. And none of that activity would have generated Israeli military strikes. But those facts
seem to be lost on the mainstream media which Hamas has handily manipulated to show images of
Palestinian casualties rather than show the civilian hiding places—like schools, hospitals, mosques,
kindergartens, UN centers—where Hamas has brazenly stored weapons and from where it has also
thousands of launched rockets and missiles at Israel.
Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal made clear what Hamas ultimately desires during an interview
with CBS' Charlie Rose that was aired on "Face the Nation" Sunday. Rose tried to pin Meshaal down on
Hamas' willingness to accept a two-state solution and coexist peacefully next to a Jewish state.
"Do you want to recognize Israel as a Jewish state?" Rose asked.
"No," Meshaal said. After a long pause, he added, "I said I do not want to live with a state of occupiers."
To Hamas, as its charter makes clear, all of Israel is occupied Palestinian land. There can be no peace
until Hamas either gives up on its founding principle to destroy Israel or until it is removed from power
and influence.
Pushing a ceasefire that accentuates Hamas demands could not be more counterproductive.
Kerry may be feeling some of the sting from all the criticism. In new remarks Monday, he emphasized the
need to disarm Hamas.
But he has lost tremendous credibility with those elements who stand opposed to Hamas and its
benefactors in Qatar and Turkey. "Jerusalem," writes Horovitz, "now regards him as duplicitous and
dangerous."
If he really cares about generating a lasting peace, his next, best move might be resignation. As for
President Obama, he might start to educate himself about Hamas' horrific murderous actions and agenda
before approving a plan that allows this al-Qaida clone to resurrect itself after being seriously wounded by defensive Israeli actions.
Steven Emerson is executive director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT)
(www.investigativeproject.org), an international counter terrorist institute focusing on the
worldwide threat of radical Islam. He is also the author of six books on terrorism and national
security, and producer of two documentaries on terrorism, the latest being an expose of the
covert Muslim Brotherhood infrastructure in the US entitled, "Jihad in America: the Grand Deception"(www.granddeception.com) available at Amazon.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3)MarketWatch's Farrell: Yellen Just Doesn't Get it, Much Like Greenspan Current Fed Chair Janet Yellen has a lot in common with former Chairman Alan Greenspan, and that's not a good thing, says MarketWatch columnist Paul Farrell.
"Sometime after the Great Crash of 2016, Yellen will be testifying before Congress, just like Greenspan was
forced to do in 2008," he writes.
That crash will be a "direct result of Federal Reserve policy failures," Farrell says. "She will be forced to
explain why the Great Crash of 2016 was a clone of the bank credit crash of 2008 and the 2000 excesses."
Yellen will have to make a damning admission, "that she is a clone of Alan Greenspan," he writes.
"Simply focus your laser on the one admission Greenspan made to Congress in 2008, eight words that explain
why Greenspan’s bizarre capitalism failed and why it will happen again and again under Yellen. 'I really didn’t get it until very late.'"
Others are critical of Yellen's accommodative stance as well.
Her recent comments signal the Fed won't raise interest rates to fight bubbles in financial markets, and that's a
mistake, says Jeremy Grantham, founder of money manager GMO.
“She will not use interest rates to head off or curtail any asset bubbles encouraged by the extremely low rates
that might appear," he writes in the firm's quarterly commentary.
"History is clear: very low rates absolutely will encourage extreme speculation. But Yellen will, as Greenspan
and Bernanke before her, attempt to limit only the damage any breaking bubbles might cause."
The Fed has kept its federal funds rate target at a record low of zero to 0.25 percent since December 2008.
And its balance sheet has ballooned to a record $4.4 trillion, thanks to quantitative easing.
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4)Chaverim,
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