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20 hours ago
Monday, 25 May 2009
Israel Matzav: Obama seeks to divide Jerusalem
Obama seeks to divide Jerusalem
On Thursday night, Binyamin Netanyahu vowed that Jerusalem would never again be divided. On Sunday, the Obama administration responded. "Jerusalem is a final status issue. Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to resolve its status during negotiations. We will support their efforts to reach agreements on all final status issues," a State Department spokesman said when asked to respond to Netanyahu's proclamation that Jerusalem would always remain under Israeli sovereignty
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Israel Matzav: Obama seeks to divide Jerusalem
TOP TEN JEAN GREY COVERS OF ALL TIME
Top Ten Jean Grey Covers of all time
October 29, 2008 · Filed Under Comic Book Covers, Top Ten Lists
10. X-men Forever # 3
Jean relives important key moments in her life while at the same time re-bonding with the Phoenix force. The cover depicts Jean in her Revolution era costume, which was extremely short lived and forgotten by most fans. Prior to this costume, Jean had been wearing her traditional green Phoenix costume and calling herself Phoenix.
9. Uncanny X-men #281
The Jim Lee era at its finest. The X-men were divided into two teams: Blue and Gold team. On this cover, the Gold team is showcased at its most iconic pose. Also in this issue: Jean is seemingly killed by Sentinels but survives by transferring her mind into the body of Emma Frost. Looks like tension had been brewing for quite sometime pre-Morrison era.
8. Fantastic Four # 286
Jean seemingly returns from the dead after being replaced by the Phoenix force. Discovered by the Avengers, she soon re-joins the original X-men in the government sponsored team, X-Factor. However, her reunion with Scott is short lived after she discovered he married Madelyne Pryor and had a son with her.
7. Uncanny X-men #135
Although not the most iconic Dark Phoenix cover, the issue began Jean’s descent into total darkness after being manipulated by Mastermind. Jean would go on as being the biggest threat the X-men had ever faced and their greatest loss.
6. New X-men #128
A gorgeous rendition of Jean harnessing the power of the Phoenix during New X-men. Throughout the series, the force had been growing with in Jean to a point where she had become limitless. Although Dark Phoenix was no longer a threat, it was clear the Phoenix had come to disinfect the enemy Sublime and save the future.
5. Uncanny X-men #136
What could only be truly described as the final stand. The X-men fight for Jean’s life but eventually lose. In a desperate attempt to save the universe and preserve her humanity, the Phoenix commits suicide on the moon. Originally, writer Chris Claremont had intended for Jean to stay dead as a result of her actions against the D’Bari system. However, when the original X-men were brought back in X-Factor, the editors wanted Jean to be with her former team mates but found it impossible to bring her back after all the sins Phoenix had committed. Hence, the explanation of Jean being replaced by the Phoenix force was given to wipe her slate clean.
4. X-men #30
Jean and Scott finally marry. One guest had not attended the wedding: Wolverine. Wonder what would have happen if she had married Wolverine instead of Scott?
3. Uncanny X-men #101
The singular most important event to ever happen to Jean. In order to save the X-men, Jean pilots a space shuttle through a radiation storm in outer space and bonds with the Phoenix. The end result is the foundation on which Jean’s character was built upon. This issue is possibly the most important Jean story ever told.
2. Phoenix Endsong #1
After the events of Planet X, Jean is resurrected by the Phoenix force. Although the X-men had expected her eventual return, they fear that it is Dark Phoenix and not Jean who returned. In the end, it was Jean and she regained full control of the force and returned to the White Hot Room, presumably to return to our plane of existence once all her pieces are found.
1. Uncanny X-men #136
This is the cover everyone thinks about when you say the Dark Phoenix saga. On the cover, there is a distraught Cyclops holding a seemingly dead Jean as he cries out in pain. This one was for the history books, and remains firmly pressed up against our hearts. No other Jean covered has inspired such intensity and pain.
Here is a gallery of all the titles
taken from: Jean-Grey (http://www.jean-grey.com/)
WHAT DOES IT MEAN "NO COMMON GROUND"?
What Does he Mean "No Common Ground"?
Jeffrey Goldberg reviews Benny Morris' new book One State Two States.
Apparently the thesis of Morris' new book, surprise surprise, is that peace can't be made with the Palestinians, because there's no common ground on which to place such an agreement. You'll remember that 20 years ago Morris was one of the most interesting and creative people in Israel's Left camp, the founder of the "New Historians" club which he also named, and the person who more than any single other individual, forced Israelis to accept that they indeed had forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of their homes in 1948 (though without a preconcieved plan, and probably half of the refugees left of their own accord earlier in the war, thereby showing the Israelis the feasability of the idea).
Then, in the second half of 2000, the Palestinians forced a dismayed Morris to re-evaluate his understanding of their current positions, and ever since he has been implacable in saying what he learned.
Lots of us went through the same process; what makes Morris unusual is that he's far better informed than most of us, on the one hand, and he apparently has the propensity to be something of an extremist, on the other, irrespctive of the political camp he's in. I know some others like him, people who until 2000 were far to my left, and since 2001 or so have moved significantly to my right; all the while as hundreds of thousands of us moved from left-of-center to right-of-center and then back to center. Extremists will be extremists; centrists will be centrists.
Goldberg is American, not Israeli, though he's unusually well informed, and he aprreciates Morris' scholarship but can't accept his conclusions. Yet not because he can refute them: he simply can't accept them. Apparently, he and Morris don't share enough common ground.
Apparently the thesis of Morris' new book, surprise surprise, is that peace can't be made with the Palestinians, because there's no common ground on which to place such an agreement. You'll remember that 20 years ago Morris was one of the most interesting and creative people in Israel's Left camp, the founder of the "New Historians" club which he also named, and the person who more than any single other individual, forced Israelis to accept that they indeed had forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of their homes in 1948 (though without a preconcieved plan, and probably half of the refugees left of their own accord earlier in the war, thereby showing the Israelis the feasability of the idea).
Then, in the second half of 2000, the Palestinians forced a dismayed Morris to re-evaluate his understanding of their current positions, and ever since he has been implacable in saying what he learned.
Lots of us went through the same process; what makes Morris unusual is that he's far better informed than most of us, on the one hand, and he apparently has the propensity to be something of an extremist, on the other, irrespctive of the political camp he's in. I know some others like him, people who until 2000 were far to my left, and since 2001 or so have moved significantly to my right; all the while as hundreds of thousands of us moved from left-of-center to right-of-center and then back to center. Extremists will be extremists; centrists will be centrists.
Goldberg is American, not Israeli, though he's unusually well informed, and he aprreciates Morris' scholarship but can't accept his conclusions. Yet not because he can refute them: he simply can't accept them. Apparently, he and Morris don't share enough common ground.
taken from:Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations (http://yaacovlozowick.blogspot.com/)
LINCOLN: MENTAL ILLNESS AND GREATNESS
Lincoln: Mental Illness and Greatness
The article behind this link is not new; it's been online for almost four years. I came across it only recently, however. Joshua Wolf Shenk writes about Abraham Lincoln's life-long confrontation with clinical depression, a malady he overcame not by ending it, but by channelling it towards acts of great significance.
Many popular philosophies propose that suffering can be beaten simply, quickly,
and clearly. Popular biographies often express the same view. Many writers,
faced with the unhappiness of a heroic figure, make sure to find some crucible
in which that bad feeling is melted into something new. "Biographies tend
conventionally to be structured as crisis-and-recovery narratives," the critic
Louis Menand writes, "in which the subject undergoes a period of disillusionment
or adversity, and then has a 'breakthrough' or arrives at a 'turning point'
before going on to achieve whatever sort of greatness obtains." Lincoln's
melancholy doesn't lend itself to such a narrative. No point exists after which
the melancholy dissolved—not in January of 1841; not during his middle age; and
not at his political resurgence, beginning in 1854. Whatever greatness Lincoln
achieved cannot be explained as a triumph over personal suffering. Rather, it
must be accounted an outgrowth of the same system that produced that suffering.
This is a story not of transformation but of integration. Lincoln didn't do
great work because he solved the problem of his melancholy; the problem of his
melancholy was all the more fuel for the fire of his great work.
Regular readers will of course recognize why I especially appreciated this vigniette:
Elizabeth Keckley, Mary Lincoln's dressmaker, once told of watching the
president drag himself into the room where she was fitting the First Lady. "His
step was slow and heavy, and his face sad," Keckley recalled. "Like a tired
child he threw himself upon a sofa, and shaded his eyes with his hands. He was a
complete picture of dejection." He had just returned from the War Department, he
said, where the news was "dark, dark everywhere." Lincoln then took a small
Bible from a stand near the sofa and began to read. "A quarter of an hour
passed," Keckley remembered, "and on glancing at the sofa the face of the
president seemed more cheerful. The dejected look was gone; in fact, the
countenance was lighted up with new resolution and hope." Wanting to see what he
was reading, Keckley pretended she had dropped something and went behind where
Lincoln was sitting so that she could look over his shoulder. It was the Book of
Job.taken from:Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations (http://yaacovlozowick.blogspot.com/)
Israel Matzav: Israel to reopen Gaza crossings?
Israel to reopen Gaza crossings?
The Israeli cabinet will discuss on Sunday whether to reopen the Gaza crossings at the request of - you guessed it - the Obama administration. Israel Matzav: Israel to reopen Gaza crossings?Following heavy U.S. pressure to permanently open the crossings to the Gaza Strip for food, medications and other goods, the security cabinet will convene Sunday in Jerusalem to discuss the issue.
During his visit to Washington D.C. last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. President Barack Obama that Israel is not interested "in taking any action that could strengthen the Hamas regime in Gaza."Read All at :
Israel Matzav: Obama trying to renege on Bush commitments to Israel
Obama trying to renege on Bush commitments to Israel
The Obama administration has been pushing the government of Binyamin Netanyahu to abide by the 2003 'road map' to which the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agreed - subject to 14 reservations that were never addressed by the Bush administration. The Obama administration has also pressed Israel to abide by the 'Annapolis process' even though that process failed dismally and even though it was never adopted by Israel's cabinet at the time (Olmert-Livni-Barack government), let alone by its Knesset. But President Obama is unwilling to abide by President Bush's written commitment to Israel in 2004 that Israel would be allowed to keep the large 'settlement blocs' in any 'final status' agreement with the 'Palestinians.' He's not willing to abide by President Bush's agreement with Israel that it could continue to build in those 'settlement blocs' so long as it does not subsidize housing there. And he has now sicked his court Jews on Israel to try make it so (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).Read All at :
Israel Matzav: Obama trying to renege on Bush commitments to Israel
Israel Matzav: Israel to Obama: Buzz off
Israel to Obama: Buzz off
If Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe ("Boogie") Yaalon (pictured at top left with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu) can be presumed to speak on behalf of Israel's government, that government gave American President Barack Hussein Obama a Bronx cheer on Israel's Channel 2 on Saturday night. Israel Matzav: Israel to Obama: Buzz off"Settlements are not the reason that the peace process is failing, they were never an obstacle, not at any stage," Ya'alon told Channel 2 News. "Even when Israel pulled out of [Palestinian] territory, the terror continued. Even when we uprooted [Jewish] communities, we got 'Hamastan.' That is why I propose that we think about it - not in slogans and not with decrees."
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Israel Matzav: Hezbullah did Syria's dirty work?
Hezbullah did Syria's dirty work?
The German daily Der Spiegel is reporting that new evidence indicates that Hezbullah was behind the 2005 murder of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and not Syria as previously believed (Hat Tip: Little Green Footballs). Israel Matzav: Hezbullah did Syria's dirty work?SPIEGEL has learned from sources close to the tribunal and verified by examining internal documents, that the Hariri case is about to take a sensational turn. Intensive investigations in Lebanon are all pointing to a new conclusion: that it was not the Syrians, but instead special forces of the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah ("Party of God") that planned and executed the diabolical attack. Tribunal chief prosecutor Bellemare and his judges apparently want to hold back this information, of which they been aware for about a month. What are they afraid of?
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Israel Matzav: Quid pro quo
Quid pro quo
Shavua tov, a good week to everyone.This past week, the Russian government canceled a sale of MiG 31 fighter jets (pictured) to Syria. Tonight, we have word on the quid pro quo for that cancellation. Israel Aircraft Industries, which is what is known as a 'government company' in Israel, has agreed to expedite the delivery of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) that were ordered by the Russians in April so that delivery can begin by the end of this year.
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Israel Matzav: Quid pro quo
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