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Star of David

Kahanism is now Israel's mainstream

Candles Image Rabbi
© Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty ImagesCandles burn with the image of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane at his grave near Jerusalem.
Rabbi Meir Kahane is considered something of a prophet by the Israeli right-wing. He openly advocated expelling all Palestinians from historic Palestine between the river and the sea - what he called "the Land of Israel". He wrote in his 1981 manifesto:
"The Jews and Arabs of the Land of Israel ultimately cannot coexist. There is only one path for us to take: the immediate transfer of Arabs from Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel."
Although liberal Israeli elites still view Kahane as a fanatic extremist, the reality is that Kahanism has today gone mainstream in Israel.

The latest sign of that came last week, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brokered a merger agreement between two far-right parties in next month's general election, to form the "Religious Zionism" list.

Former Transport Minister Bezalel Smotrich united with fanatical Kahanist settler and lawyer Itamar Ben-Gvir of the "Jewish Power" party. In return, Netanyahu offered Smotrich a vote-sharing agreement and chairs on the judicial appointments committee. Netanyahu wanted to avoid the right-wing vote being split too much, which would have damaged his chances of forming a ruling coalition.

Smotrich recently called for Israel to wipe the Palestinian village of Khan Al-Ahmar off the map, in revenge for the International Criminal Court's ruling that it can investigate Israel for war crimes. "What matters is not what the Gentiles will say but what the Jews will do," he said, quoting an infamous phrase attributed to Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion (who, incidentally, was supposedly on the "left").

Comment: As Kahanism rises up within the government for the world to see, there can be no doubt as to the psychopathy pervading Israel's thoughts, actions and intent.


Family

Biden's DHS to release 25.6K migrants into Texas, California communities

Migrants in line
© Paul Ratje/Agence France-Presse/AFP/Getty Images
President Joe Biden's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is planning to release about 25,600 migrants, who have been in Mexico, into American communities in Texas and California, Breitbart News has learned.

After Biden ended the "Remain in Mexico" policy โ€” which drastically reduced asylum fraud by keeping migrants in Mexico while they await their asylum hearings in the United States โ€” DHS announced that it would begin processing the 25,600 migrants in the program on February 19.

Ultimately, the migrants will enter the U.S. interior. Internal communications Breitbart News has reviewed reveal that DHS plans to release the migrants in San Diego, California; El Paso, Texas; and Brownsville, Texas โ€” locations the Biden administration refused to divulge to the Associated Press when asked.

In San Diego, DHS plans to process and release about 300 migrants a day within two weeks of February 19. The same will be done in El Paso, the internal communications reveal. In Brownsville, DHS will process and release no more than 100 migrants a day.

Comment: On one hand, we get what we didn't vote for. On the other...(there is no other).


Vader

Unvaccinated citizens' names should be DISCLOSED, new proposal by Israeli PM suggests amid slowdown in immunization campaign

covid vaccination
© Ammar Awad / Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed a law that would allow the names of people who have not taken the vaccine to be sent to local authorities. The idea has raised concerns over possible privacy violations.

The PM said that the proposed "quick legislation" would allow local authorities to "receive data" on those who have not been vaccinated yet. The aim is to "encourage them to be vaccinated and save lives," Netanyahu explained at a cabinet meeting on Sunday.

According to the Haaretz newspaper, the idea was approved by the country's coronavirus cabinet and by the National Security Council. After some additional work it will be presented before Israel's parliament.

Network

Kremlin 'interested' in conversation with Elon Musk, after SpaceX founder invites Putin for chat

spacex
© Getty Images / Kevork DjansezianFILE PHOTO.
On Sunday afternoon, a tweet from billionaire Elon Musk inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to an online conversation went viral. Now, the Kremlin has responded - and it is interested.

Speaking to the press, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov revealed that Putin might be open to the idea.

"First, we need to understand what it'll be. You know that President Putin does not use social networks, and does not personally run the accounts," Peskov said on Monday. "In general, it is a very interesting proposal, but we need to first understand what he means, what is proposed."

Comment: It's quite telling that Musk has ventured outside of the US, particularly in light of recent events:


Guinness

Czech parliament ends COVID emergency - UPDATE: Not so fast!

czech republic charles bridge
The Czech government has lost a parliamentary vote to extend a state of emergency, likely leading to the end of shop closures and curfews from next week and eliminating its main tool against a raging coronavirus pandemic.

MPs rejected the pleas of Prime Minister Andrej Babis to extend the powers beyond February 14 despite his warnings of a healthcare collapse as infections spread.

Babis's minority government said it would be unable to extend nationwide limits on movement, including a night-time curfew and public gathering ban, and the closure of retail stores and services.

Comment: It will be interesting to see how international pressure starts to be exerted on the Czech Republic to coerce them into locking down again. No countries are allowed to escape, regardless of what the people want.

See also: UPDATE (Feb. 15): That didn't last long.
The Czech government on Sunday re-declared a state of emergency for next two weeks to tackle the coronavirus pandemic in one of the European Union's hardest-hit nations.

The decision comes in defiance of the lower house of Parliament, which has refused the minority government's request to extend the powerful tool that gives the Cabinet the extra powers needed to impose nationwide restrictions and limit people's travel and rights.



Dollar

The consequences of moving from industrial to financial capitalism

Saks store
© Anthony Quintano/CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia CommonsHigh-ended retailer Saks Fifth Avenue added private security, fencing and barbed wire ahead of a Black Lives Matter protest in New York, June 7. 2020.
Pepe Escobar in conversation with Michael Hudson at the Henry George School of Social Science.

Michael Hudson: Well, I'm honored to be here on the same show with Pepe and discuss our mutual concern. And I think you have to frame the whole issue that China is thriving, and the West has reached the end of the whole 75-year expansion it had since 1945.

So, there was an illusion that America is de-industrializing because of competition from China. And the reality is there is no way that America can re-industrialize and regain its export markets with the way that it's organized today, financialized and privatized and if China didn't exist. You'd still have the Rust Belt rusting out. You'd still have American industry not being able to compete abroad simply because the cost structure is so high in the United States.

The wealth is no longer made here by industrializing. It's made financially, mainly by making capital gains. Rising prices for real estate or for stocks and for bonds. In the last nine months, since the coronavirus came here, the top 1 percent of the U.S. economy grew by $1 trillion. It's been a windfall for the 1 percent. The stock market is way up, the bond market is up, the real estate market is up while the rest of the economy is going down. Despite the tariffs that Trump put on, Chinese imports, trade with China is going up because we're just not producing materials.


Comment: An excellent and enlightening discussion!


USA

Trump remains dominant force in GOP following acquittal

Trump
© Saul Loeb/Getty ImagesFormer US President Donald Trump
The Republican Party still belongs to Donald Trump.

After the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol last month, the GOP considered purging the norm-shattering former president. But in the end, only seven of 50 Senate Republicans voted to convict Trump in his historic second impeachment trial on Saturday.

For Trump's loyalists, the acquittal offers a vindication of sorts and a fresh connection to the former president's fiery base. By most objective measures, Trump's grasp on the GOP and its future remains airtight.

Gallup reported last month, Trump's approval among self-described Republicans stood at 82%. And more recently, Monmouth University found 72% of Republicans continue to believe Trump's claims President Joe Biden won the November election only because of widespread voter fraud.

Newspaper

Copyright spat: Google to pay $76m to French news publishers

French tabloids
© Eric Gaillard/ReutersFrench Tabloids/News
Alphabet Inc's Google has agreed to pay $76m over three years to a group of French news publishers to end a more than year-long copyright spat, documents seen by Reuters news agency show, a deal one news publishers' lobby deemed unfair.

The two documents, seen by Reuters and disclosed publicly for the first time, include a framework agreement that stipulates Google is ready to pay $22m annually in total to a group of 121 national and local French news publications after signing individual licensing agreements with each of them.

The second document is a settlement agreement under which Google agrees to pay $10m to the same group of publishers in exchange for their commitment to end all present and future potential litigation tied to copyright claims over the duration of the three-year agreement.

Google declined to comment. The tech firm and the publishers announced that they had reached an agreement last month, but financial terms were not disclosed.

Comment: If you control the hive, you control the message.


X

'The American people should not be putting up with this': Trump attorney unloads on CBS reporter in stunning interview

Michael van der Veen
© Senate Television via APTrump impeachment trial Attorney Michael van der Veen
Trump attorney Michael van der Veen unloaded on CBS News anchor Lana Zak in a tense interview following his client Donald Trump's acquittal at the Senate impeachment trial on Saturday.

The interview's contentious exchange led to the attorney airing one of the most remarkable cases of media criticism captured on mainstream television.

The interview turned fractious during Zak's question about the "doctored" evidence that the House impeachment managers presented at the impeachment trial.


Colosseum

Doublethink: Trump acquitted, but Biden still says 'substance of the charge' is undisputed

joe biden
© Win McNamee/Getty ImagesGrandpa Earpiece lives in a different reality
President Joe Biden issued a statement in response to former President Donald Trump's acquittal Saturday by claiming that the "substance" of the charge against him is "not in dispute."

Describing the recent turmoil as a "sad chapter in our history" that has "reminded us that democracy is fragile," Biden admonished Americans to be "ever vigilant" against violent extremism that would threaten their institutions.

Comment: RINOs try to salvage their reputations:
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Donald Trump "practically and morally responsible" for his supporters' deadly attack on the Capitol, only moments after voting to acquit the Republican former president on an impeachment charge of inciting the melee.

The top Senate Republican explained the unexpected turnabout at the end of a five-day impeachment trial, by declaring it unconstitutional to convict Trump of misconduct now that the former president has left office and become a private citizen.

"Senator Mitch McConnell just went to the floor essentially to say that we made our case on the facts," said Representative Jamie Raskin, who had led the nine House Democrats who prosecuted Trump before the Senate.

McConnell was not the only Republican to castigate Trump for his behavior after voting for acquittal.

"The question I must answer is not whether President Trump said and did things that were reckless and encouraged the mob. I believe that happened," Senator Rob Portman in a statement.

"My decision was based on my reading of the Constitution," the Ohio Republican added. "I believe the Framers understood that convicting a former president and disqualifying him or her from running again pulls people further apart."

Senator Chuck Grassley, the Senate's most senior Republican, described Trump's language in a fiery speech to supporters just before the Capitol assault as "extreme, aggressive and irresponsible."

But he said the Senate had no jurisdiction to hold a trial, agreed with Trump's legal team that the former president deserved more "due process" and said the prosecution had not made their case.
Vodka Nan was so incensed by the result, she crashed McConnell's press conference to say so:

RT highlights The Turtle's attempt to play both sides of the aisle. It's not going well:
US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, normally a savvy political operator, managed to infuriate Republicans and Democrats of all stripes by both acquitting and excoriating former president Donald Trump over the Capitol riot.

"Impeachment was never meant to be the final forum for American justice," said McConnell, who voted against conviction because he didn't believe the Senate had the constitutional jurisdiction to convict a president who had already left office. McConnell added, "He didn't get away with anything yet. We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one."

If McConnell was trying to thread a political needle through warring factions, he apparently missed the mark as both sides bashed him for "trying to have it both ways." Democrats said it was absurd for McConnell to vote against conviction on a "technicality" when it was the senator himself, then majority leader, who allegedly blocked the impeachment trial from behind held before Trump left office.




McConnell also failed to win any friends in his own party. "If only McConnell was so righteous as the Democrats trampled Trump and the Republicans while pushing Russia collusion bulls**t for three years or while Dems incited 10 months of violence, arson and rioting," Donald Trump Jr. said.



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