Tag Archives: OddBox

The Palestine Question

I have written about the Palestinian/Israeli situation for years…..I have even given my idea on a way from them to establish a separate state…..the protests by Palestinians have been going on for 20+ years although there has been friction between the two people since 1919 and the end of World War One. (more info about posts c an be learned using the “Search” feature)

A new round of all out disobedience has begun with Trump’s declaration on Jerusalem…..this situation opens up a whole new line of thought about the two states…..

What does Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel mean for the future of Palestine and the Palestinians, and what does it reveal about US policy? Al-Shabaka policy analysts examine these questions and recommend ways for Palestinian civil society and leaders to safeguard Palestinian rights in the face of such a setback.

Nur Arafeh argues that Trump’s announcement cements Israel’s apartheid regime and “Judaization” policies in Jerusalem, and calls for the PA to end coordination with Israel and nullify the Oslo Accords. Dana El Kurd makes the case that the US move creates two opposing legal frameworks for Jerusalem, one that follows international law and one that bends to Israeli interests. “[Trump’s declaration] sets a precedent for greater legal recognition in the future,” she writes. “Palestinians should consider new ways of resisting Israeli colonization.” Munir Nuseibah reasons that the development confirms the US as a biased mediator. “The only positive outcome is that it ends the illusion that the ‘peace process’ is legitimate,” he writes.

http://ift.tt/2qwOJh1

That was the opinions of analysts in the region……

Some in the West are saying that with Trump’s announcement that the idea of a one state solution was once again on the table….

Jerusalem was an Arab and Muslim city for close to 1300 years. Like other parts of Palestine, it was a harmonious mosaic. But, though there was always a Christian and Jewish presence — both of people and of monuments — it was predominantly a Muslim city.

This was violently disrupted twice: first in the year 1099, from which for a period of 88 years the city was occupied by the Crusaders, and then again in 1948 when the newly created Jewish State took the city and made Jerusalem its own. When the State of Israel took the western part of the city in 1948, in violation of a United Nations Resolution, it destroyed its Arab and Muslim character and then declared it as the capital city of the Jewish people.

http://ift.tt/2BbOauW

More on the one state solution……

Donald Trump’s rash declaration of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital does not, of course, deserve thanks. How could it, when it in effect amounts to American complicity in supporting Israeli war crimes of illegal occupation? But one inadvertent positive outcome from the US President’s blundering is that it renews the alternative concept of a One-State solution.

Ironically, Trump’s outrageous bias towards the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu slams a nail into the coffin of the Two-State solution.

The charade of Washington acting as a neutral broker between Israelis and Palestinians is finally dead and buried with Trump’s clumsy intervention.

http://ift.tt/2AR4MHb

Personally I say NO to the one state solution…..there has been a Palestine for over a thousand years and there should be for a thousand more.

The announcement by Trump gave the Saudis an opportunity to try and placate the Palestinians by proposing an alternative to Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine……

It was once a small rural village, noted for its fields of olive trees and spectacular views, overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem to the south-west and the Jordan Valley to the east.

But now Abu Dis is a name spoken by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a potential capital of a future Palestinian state, as reported in the New York Times on 3 December.

This small East Jerusalem suburb was flung into the spotlight a few days later by Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States would recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

http://ift.tt/2kLWqKl

Seriously?

Jerusalem has always been the capital of Palestine and will always be the capital…..why does the US kiss the ass of Israel at every turn?

This is a situation that can only be solved by the two people involved….not as oppressor and oppressed but as equals.

Why Puerto Rico’s death toll from Hurricane Maria is so much higher than officials thought

By Alexis R. Santos-Lozada
The Conversation

“If you don’t get away from those areas, you are going to die.” That phrase concluded Puerto Rico Secretary of Public Safety Héctor Pesquera’s press conference before Hurricane Maria.

Three months after the storm, he is one of the fiercest protectors of the official death count. As of Dec. 29, the Department of Public Safety had certified 64 deaths due to Hurricane Maria.

However, estimates reported by CNN, The New York Times and others tell a very different story.

I was part of the team of demographers that developed the first independent estimates of excess deaths, with the objective of informing the public. Like the estimates published by those media outlets, our numbers contrasted significantly with the official figure. The most shocking results from our study suggest that deaths in September and October were 25 percent above the historical patterns – with about 1,085 added deaths following the hurricane.

Determining the number of excess deaths after a natural disaster is not only a mathematical exercise. Undercounting deaths reduces the attention to the crisis Puerto Ricans live day by day. It can also delay international recovery efforts and the approval of policies to help those who need it the most.

http://ift.tt/2CK8AMq

Causes of death

Our study compared preliminary data from the Department of Public Safety with historical patterns for the same months in the past decade. In other words, we compared the number of deaths in September and October last year with data from the same period of time in 2010 to 2016. This is how we concluded that there were 1,085 extra deaths, in excess of historical ranges.

So why are more than 1,000 deaths missing from the official count? My colleagues and I suspect it may come down to how deaths are recorded by government officials.

In Puerto Rico, deaths are recorded using international classifications. This system doesn’t capture all of the circumstances surrounding a death that happens following a natural disaster. The death may have been accelerated by some conditions – like difficulty communicating during the emergency.

Deaths associated with a particular natural disaster can be classified as direct or indirect deaths. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, direct deaths are those “directly attributable to the forces of the disaster or by the direct consequences of these forces, such as structural collapse, flying debris or radiation exposure.”

Destroyed communication satellite in Humacao, Puerto Rico. Dan Vineberg, CC BY

“Indirect deaths” may be associated with any unsafe or unhealthy conditions before, during and after the natural disaster.

For example, Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico’s power grid. So, someone whose life depended on a dialysis machine would no longer be able to use one. In official certificates, their death would be classified as kidney-related and not attributed to the hurricane – even though the death was accelerated by lack of resources required by the patient to stay alive.

The same would happen to someone whose life depended on respiratory aid. Their death would be classified as pulmonary-related.

Or, say a person feels chest pain and suspects a heart attack. Their immediate reaction might be to call 911. A working communications structure may be able to get help in time and save a life. But in the days following Hurricane Maria, only 25 percent of the cellphone towers were working. Communication was virtually impossible.

Under the international system, a death resulting from these circumstances would be classified as a result of a cardiovascular conditions, and would not be attributed to the hurricane either.

Revising the death count

In light of the mounting evidence, Governor of Puerto Rico Ricardo Rosselló has ordered a review of the causes of death for those who died after Hurricane Maria.

The review is a step in the right direction. But will the official count change? Probably not. As of today, the government is requiring families to visit the Department of Public Safety and to report if a death was related to Hurricane Maria. But merely revising the causes of death is not enough to determine whether that death was indirectly related to Hurricane Maria. Those in charge of the death count review will need to interview families and ask them about the conditions surrounding the tragedy.

Following the impact of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, the CDC published guidelines that state and territorial governments should follow to determine if a death is related or not to a specific event. Following these guidelines could provide the government of Puerto Rico with a more realistic death count. It remains to be seen if the new count will follow this protocol.

A broken power grid in Humacao, Puerto Rico.Dan Vineberg, CC BY

An accurate death count could be used to inform policies, supplement requests for aid in the national and international context and inform local governments as they prepare for future natural disasters that may impact Puerto Rico, particularly extreme weather events now that climate change is expected to worsen. Hurricane Maria was the first storm to destroy the power grid in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is six months away from the next hurricane season and experts predict it will be an active one.

Finally, minimized figures could weaken efforts to provide relief to communities affected by the hurricane at the local and international level. Given that Puerto Rico does not hold political power in Congress, and that the only representative does not vote, it’s crucial to convey the reality to all elected officials, so that their votes align with the necessities of those who are still in Puerto Rico.

Alexis R. Santos-Lozada is assistant teaching professor in Sociology and Director of Applied Demography at Pennsylvania State University.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

How to switch to Vivaldi in under 5 minutes

Looking for a browser that will not only feel personal but will also make you efficient online? Say hello to Vivaldi.

Moving to a new browser can be quick, easy and fun. Especially if you’re moving from a boring default option to fast, flexible and feature-rich Vivaldi. Follow these simple steps to switch to Vivaldi in as little as five minutes.

1. Download and install Vivaldi

First things first, go to vivaldi.com and download Vivaldi. The Vivaldi browser runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. Vivaldi also has builds for Linux based ARM devices, including Raspberry Pi.

To get the installation process started, run the Vivaldi installer.

2. Make it yours

Follow the step-by-step instructions to get started.

  • Pick a Theme. First, you’ll be asked to choose one of the predefined themes. Light, Subtle and Redmond are relatively neutral, while other themes are darker and richer in colors.

Selecting a theme in Vivaldi

  • Position your tabs. Choose where you want your tab bar to be – top, left, right or bottom. Yes, you read this right, all these options are possible and the choice is yours.

Tab positioning in Vivaldi

  • Choose a Start Page background. The next step will ask you to choose one of the default backgrounds for your Start Page – the first page you will see when you open a new page or tab.

Selecting a background picture in Vivaldi

3. Import Bookmarks and Settings

Go to Menu > File and select “Import Bookmarks and Settings” from the drop-down menu. You will see a pop-up window with a list of browsers to import from, as well as a list of settings you can move from another browser to Vivaldi, such as Bookmarks, Passwords, History and so on. Select the items you want to move to Vivaldi and click “Start Import”.

Importing settings and bookmarks to Vivaldi

4. Set up your Start Page

Start Pages in Vivaldi are dashboards with easy access to your favorite websites, bookmarks and history. At the core of Vivaldi’s Start Page are Speed Dials – bookmarked links shown as thumbnails.

Vivaldi comes with a set of carefully selected bookmarks, which you will see on your Start Page when you first load the browser. You can edit these, as well as add your favorite websites as Speed Dials or Speed Dial Folders.

You can also personalize the look and feel of your Start Page by uploading a new background and customizing the Speed Dial thumbnails.

To upload a new background, go to Settings > Start Page > Custom.

Choosing custom Start Page background for Vivaldi

To change a Speed Dial thumbnail, right-click on the existing one and choose “Select Custom Thumbnail” from the drop-down menu.

Adding a custom thumbnail in Vivaldi

5. Add Web Panels

You can easily add any website you like to Vivaldi’s Web Panels and access it without the need to constantly switch between tabs.

Web Panels are part of Vivaldi’s Side Panel, which opens to the side of your browser and gives you quick access to bookmarks, downloads, a “tree-style” access to tabs, notes and browsing history.

To add a Web Panel, click on the ‘+’ icon in your Side Panel. Vivaldi will automatically fill in the URL of the website you have currently open, however, you can always type in whichever URL you like.

Screenshot of adding a Web Panel to Vivaldi

Here are some of the popular examples of using Web Panels:

  • News websites
  • Social media (you’d be surprised how convenient it is to quickly check your Twitter feed or post to Instagram from your desktop!)
  • Messenger apps
  • Video and audio streaming services

6. Explore the user interface and features

Vivaldi offers more features than any other modern browser. To get the most out of your new browser, keep exploring!

Some of the highlight features include:

7. Set Vivaldi as your default browser

If you’re happy with your new setup and want to make Vivaldi your default browser, go to Settings > Startup and select the “Default Browser” option. Browse like never before!

THE NEW YEAR AND BEING 80

Me with grandkids on my birthday

Me with grandkids on my birthday

(I’m not old, I’m perennial)

It’s the last day of 2017 and I’ve been 80 for 10 days. Here’s what’s bad about being 80:

I can’t run

I can’t ski

It’s hard handwriting thank-you letters which is the polite way to do it

(osteoarthritis is responsible for all the above)

Here’s what’s good about being 80:

People are solicitous, asking if I want to sit.

They open bottles for me and let me go first.

I don’t get groped or harassed

I can fall back on “Well, I’m old,” to justify mistakes

My strong muscles which have always been there have suddenly become a remarkable anomaly to people who hug me

I’m viewed as an elder (even though I feel like a newbie)

I can look back over 8 decades and hence can remember:

When song birds and empty spaces were plentiful

When there were only 2 billion people in the world and consequently less stress, clean air and water, way less traffic, more opportunity to pull yourself up by your bootstraps

When it was safe for a kid to play alone, outside, in the street or the forest

All the challenges and tradegies that I survived (hence, I know I can again)

How to make lemons into lemonade & not sweat the small stuff

Also,

I’m less scared of embracing uncertainty

I’ve had time to learn to forgive and the time to reflect and learn from my experiences

I know what I need so I can jettison what is unnecessary

I’m less susceptible to stress (“This too shall pass”)

I no longer hold grudges (with the exception of Henry Kissinger and Dick Cheney both of whom I still believe should be tried for crimes against humanity)

I’ve learned to be more tolerant and patient

I have less ego stake in outcomes

I know there are many things that I will never do or do again and it doesn’t matter (start a new business, go to Myanmar, drive a Ferrari, learn to sail, get married, etc)

So, for me, there’s way more positives than negatives about being smack dab in the midst of oldness. But then, I have my health.

One more thing: There has never been a time in my 80 years when I have felt what I’m feeling today: utter terror that our country is being taken into a possible dictatorship, with a KGB-type intelligence/surveillence; that poor people, people of color, formerly well-paid blue collar working people, will never again be able to afford good schooling, a home, health care, freedom from violence and stress and that too many won’t even know it’s happening because they aren’t getting true news/facts.

2017 showed us—at least those of us who are still able and willing to access truthful news—that the threats to our democracy and to our environment are far worse than any of us dared imagine. The seeds of fascism are all around us.

So my plea to those who follow me on social media is to harness every ounce of your abilities, imagination and courage to do all that you can, in collaboration with others, to stop the destruction of Democracy and civil society. Join others in non-violent efforts not just to resist but to transform the social and political landscape. I am doing it by working with groups on the ground in various parts of the country who go door to door, finding out what people are worried about and helping them understand why those now in power do not intend to help them. Quite the opposite. There are so many people and organizations out there working to educate potential voters and to build long-term people’s movements with the aim of establishing a vibrant, democratic civil society. We must make it possible for single mothers to earn a living wage and have access to affordable child care; do away with mass incarceration and the privatization of prisons; sexual harassment and violence against women must end; former unionized workers must be retrained for the new economy and given jobs not promises; student debt must be forgiven and schools must be improved for all young people; our public lands must be protected and all forms of extraction halted; racism must be made a shameful (and acknowledged) part of our past. There is so much to be done and all of it is possible if all of us can muster the will and determination to fight back against what’s happening.

Greed and selfishness are not the pillars of a stable society so let’s be fierce in this New Year.

Court Rules California High School Athlete Can’t Be Forced to Stand for Anthem

Compulsary

Compulsory Anthem PolicyWhen a  football player at San Pasqual Valley High School near El Centro kneeled during the game’s national anthem, his school district ordered the high school student to stand rather than protest racial injustice and police shootings of unarmed people of color.

In a victory for that high school student and for all advocates of non-violent political speech inspired by the kneeling football quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Glendale-based law firm Bush Gottlieb persuaded a federal court to enjoin the school district from banning kneeling during high school games.

In a victory for that high school student and for all advocates of non-violent political speech inspired by the kneeling football quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Glendale-based law firm Bush Gottlieb persuaded a federal court to enjoin the school district from banning kneeling during high school games.

The Court in holding that the policy likely violated the First Amendment, noted that “schools may regulate students’ speech in some limited circumstances”, but declared that “public school students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” The Court ruled that students “cannot be punished merely for expressing their personal views on the school premises – whether in the cafeteria, or on the playing field, or on the campus during the authorized hours.”

“We are pleased with this outcome”, said Katie Traverso, a Bush Gottlieb attorney who argued for Plaintiff in court. “Students like our client who conscientiously carry their values and ideals with them, cannot be silenced or directed on what to say or not say by their school in this manner. We look forward to the District’s acceptance of this ruling, and toward an amicable final resolution to the litigation.”

The student football player, a Native American identified in the lawsuit as “V.A.” to maintain his privacy, had kneeled without incident during the national anthem at a San Pasqual home game, in protest of racial injustice in America. The school district, reacting to a later incident in which a Mayer, Arizona high school student group hurled racial epithets at San Pasqual students after a second football game in which V.A. kneeled, issued a directive ordering its students to stand during the playing of the anthem, and prohibiting them from kneeling or engaging in any protest.

After the School District rejected informal requests to rescind its Compulsory Anthem Policy (“CAP”), the student, represented by the Glendale, California law firm of Bush Gottlieb, sued for violation of V.A.’s constitutional right to free speech in the federal District Court for the Southern District of California, on December 8, and the Court issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the enforcement of the CAP on December 12.

Marcy WinogradOn December 21, after consideration of the District’s written and oral arguments, and those of Plaintiff’s attorneys, the District Court issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the District from restricting students from kneeling or sitting during the playing or singing of the National Anthem, and from requiring any action from students during that time.

Marcy Winograd
(wife of Ira “Buddy” Gottlieb, one of the lawyers who persuaded the court).

The post Court Rules California High School Athlete Can’t Be Forced to Stand for Anthem appeared first on LA Progressive.

todayinhistory: May 29th 1953: Hillary and Norgay reach Everest…

tumblr_o800y0iWDZ1r65o3qo1_500.jpg

tumblr_o800y0iWDZ1r65o3qo2_500.jpg

tumblr_o800y0iWDZ1r65o3qo3_500.jpg

todayinhistory:

May 29th 1953: Hillary and Norgay reach Everest summit

On
this day in 1953, Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the
first people to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain: Mount
Everest. Many previous attempts to scale the peak had failed, but New
Zealander Hillary and Nepalese Norgay reached the top (29,028 feet) at
11.30am local time on May 29th 1953. Norgay later revealed that Hillary
had been the first to step onto the summit. The pair spent only 15
minutes taking pictures at the summit before they began their descent.
Norgay left chocolates in the snow as an offering and Hillary left a
cross that he had been given by John Hunt, leader of the expedition.
News of their success reached London on the morning of Queen Elizabeth
II’s coronation on June 2nd, and upon arrival in Kathmandu, Hillary and
Hunt discovered they had been knighted.

Friday Finds: An Excerpt from Dunya Mikhail’s Forthcoming ‘The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq’

Max Weiss translated this excerpt of Dunya Mikhail’s The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq, which is forthcoming next spring:

The book is dedicated to Abdullah Shrem, who worked, between 2014 and 2016, with smugglers to rescue dozens of fellow Yazidis from ISIS captivity in Syria and Iraq.

The excerpt in World Literature Today opens:

Twenty years after leaving Iraq on a one-way ticket, I returned to my country today, on May 27, 2016, not so much to visit the living as to visit the dead.

We, the people of Baghdad, used to refer to the north as a “resort”—it was our only tourist destination when travel was forbidden during the 1980s on account of the Iran-Iraq War. But this isn’t tourism today. We came to visit the mass graves, perhaps to bury our feelings, too, and to get rid of their weight upon our souls—or perhaps because they needed us, they needed us so much and yet we didn’t go! Or because we’re alive, and we can, quite simply, visit the dead.

But the one survivor I most wanted to see was Abdullah.

“Peace be upon you,” he said formally, smiling. I had expected him to be dressed in white Yazidi clothes, not a modern outfit. We had agreed to visit the temple of Lalish together because, as the sacred Yazidi texts say, “The earth wasn’t satisfied with its condition until Lalish was revealed; only then did the plants grow, and did the earth become beautiful.”

I asked him if he was busy that day with a rescue operation. He said that he was.

“May I come with you?” I asked.

“Are you sure you want to do that? You have a US passport. It would be risky.”

“I’d like to witness the process firsthand.”

“Ok, but memorize my phone number, in case you need to be rescued.”

I laughed and said, “Okay, I’m ready.”

“You actually believed me? Not today. Besides, I wouldn’t take you with me to Syria—let’s go to Lalish instead.”

We drove almost forty miles, along winding roads to the east of Dohuk, toward Sheikhan. The temple looked small from the outside, but as soon as we entered, it opened up to infinity. We walked in barefoot like the others did, because “there should be no barrier between the foot of the entrant and the temple’s floor.” Our feet touched stones that were over four thousand years old; another world opened up right before our eyes, in the depths of the mountain, somewhere between myth and reality. The narrow pass, surrounded by three mountains, gradually opened wider, revealing all that it had, like the generosity of its people, but sometimes it also closed in on itself, like the Yazidi religion.

Keep reading at World Literature Today.

whatareyoureallyafraidof: orb-is-horse: slipperygal: jaspersboy…

tumblr_oh7du4M2k01qc6ysdo1_500.png

whatareyoureallyafraidof:

orb-is-horse:

slipperygal:

jaspersboy:

jaspersboy:

  1. Trump is angry at NBC News for using this photo of him, so please don’t use this enhanced, enlarged version of it for anything.
  2. Trump Reportedly Discusses “Reset” and Unflattering Double Chin Photos During Media Meeting

tumblr_inline_ojs9xdqXd51qbgx7q_540.png

I will never share these.

Pass these around to make sure everyone knows which ones not to pass around

tumblr_inline_p1n6jiPhYg1rtzoh3_540.jpg

Face Of Protest

I have written a lot about the situation with Palestine in the past…..with good reason….when I was working in the Middle East I had an associate that was Palestinian, Rafiq, and when I was doing research on the West Bank I was summoned by the Israeli authorities for questioning….I ignored the summons and was told I was to be arrested….Rafiq’s family hide me until I could get away across the border to Jordan.  I owe the family.

I am sure that most Americans are aware of the protest going on in the Occupied Territories simply because Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel…a lame ass move.

There have been many arrests some have been children…like this brave young lady…Ahed al-Tamimi…..

Ahed Tamimi was just 14 when she rose to international prominence through the release of a video and a series of photos capturing her desperate attempts to save her 11-year-old brother, Mohammad, from the grips of an Israeli soldier in 2015.

Many Israelis threatened me on social media after the video was released, demanding that I be detained or even killed,” 16-year-old Ahed told Al Jazeera from her family’s home in the village of Nabi Saleh, where the distinct, red-tiled roofs of illegal Israeli settlement housing dot the adjacent hilltop. “The harassment handcuffed my life. I was scared to even go outside or visit my friends.”

http://ift.tt/2vDYcFy

Hers is not a unique story….sadly it is all too familiar….

Fawzi al-Junaidi, 16, will be taken for sentencing in Israel’s military court on Monday, after being held for more than a week in Israeli detention.

Junaidi was detained during clashes that erupted in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on Dec. 7, the day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

His arrest has gone viral……

Then IDF had to go a killed a wheel chair bound Palestinian protester and his death has gone viral…..

One of the men killed was Ibrahim Abu Thuraya, a wheel chair-bound 29-year-old who was a regular presence during Palestinian protests against Israel. Thuraya has spoken to the media regularly in recent years, and claimed he had lost both his legs in a 2008 Israeli missile strike in Gaza.

http://ift.tt/2CdEfWf

The IDF had an investigation and found no one guilty for the shot….(does that sound at all familiar?)….these Palestinians are becoming the face of civil disobedience against Israel….