#United Jewish Welfare Fund

[eretzyisrael]

by Douglas Murray

By early 1948, when Israel was on the cusp of becoming a state, she was known for being a powerful orator—someone who could articulate clearly and plainly why Jewish self-determination was so important. But she was not well-known in America.

In January of that year, Meir, who was then the head of the Jewish Agency, traveled to the United States to raise money in preparation for Israel’s war of independence. (The Jews knew the UN might give them the green light, but the Arabs would not.)

She had not planned to go to Chicago, but while in New York City, her sister Clara persuaded her to go—to speak to the annual conference of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds.

Meir arrived in Chicago in the middle of a freezing cold winter “without a dime in her pocketbook even to take a taxi.” Wealthy and influential Jews in Chicago were not especially keen on meeting with her. As Henry Montor, the executive vice president of the United Jewish Appeal, a Zionist organization, recalled, Meir was, to his mind, “an impecunious, unimportant representative, a schnorrer—Yiddish for beggar or layabout.

Meir, for her part, was terrified. On the one hand, she knew that war in the Middle East was imminent, and she had no choice but to bring home money for much-needed weapons—or there wouldn’t be any Israel. On the other hand, she understood all too well that there was, among some upper-crust American Jews, a wariness of the idea of a Jewish state—a desire, often unstated, not to appear too Jewish.

In any event, Montor managed to carve out a little time for Meir to speak at the Council’s luncheon on January 25, 1948, at the Sheraton.

She later recalled: “I was terribly afraid of going to these people who didn’t know me from Adam. I admit I was shaking. I had no idea what was going to happen.”

But providence, or something like it, called her that day. And the effect was historic. The audience was on its feet immediately after she finished. Her goal had been to raise $25 million in America. She came away with $50 million—aid that would prove critical in the months ahead.

According to those present, Meir went to the stage with her hair severely parted, absolutely no makeup, and with no notes to speak from—her preferred habit. The pauses in her speech seem to have been as important as the words themselves. She seemed to be feeling the words, weighing up the words, and judging, by the second, their effect on her audience.

She spoke for some 35 minutes. 

Friends was the term she chose to address her audience. 

“The mufti and his people have declared war upon us,” she said. “We have no alternative but. . . to fight for our lives.” 

She told the audience about the thirty-five Jews who “fought to the very end” on the road to Kfar Etzion and of the last one killed. He had run out of ammunition but died with a stone in his hand, prepared to continue fighting.

And she paraphrased the famous words of Winston Churchill: “We will fight in the Negev and will fight in Galilee and will fight on the outskirts of Jerusalem until the very end.”

She added: “I want you to believe me when I say that I came on this special mission to the United States today not to save 700,000 Jews. During the last few years the Jewish people lost six million Jews, and it would be audacity on our part to worry the Jewish people throughout the world because a few hundred thousand more Jews were in danger. That is not the issue.”

The issue, she explained, “is that if these 700,000 Jews in Palestine can remain alive, then the Jewish people, as such, is alive and Jewish independence is assured. If these 700,000 people are killed off, then for many centuries, we are through with this dream of a Jewish people and a Jewish homeland.”

This was the spirit—the moral vision—that compelled Golda Meir, like so many Israelis after her, to do what other people thought could not be done. 

[bopinion]

2023 / 43

Aperçu of the Week:

"Whenever one shares the opinion of the majority, it is time to reflect."

(Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain)

Bad News of the Week:

Actually, one should be happy that the U.S. House of Representatives is able to act again after a weeks-long stalemate. But a single glance at the new Speaker of the House sends shivers down the spine of any Democratic-minded observer: for Mike Johnson (who?) can only be seen as a step backward. Quoting from the news magazine Der Spiegel:

"Johnson belongs to the religious right of his caucus. The lawyer and former radio host from Louisiana is among Trump's loyal supporters. He refused at the time to recognize Trump's defeat by Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Johnson is anti-abortion, opposes same-sex marriage and has rejected U.S. aid to Ukraine in the past." That little paragraph alone is enough to qualify Johnson as Bad News in every sense of the word. But then I took a look at his Wikipedia entry:

Johnson supported creationists. Wanted to eliminate support for refugees. Applied sodomy legislation to homosexuals. Voted against the minimum wage. Justified his legal work on "biblical values." Denied human impact on climate change. Wanted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Tried to block investigations into the storming of the Capitol. Wanted to make divorces much more difficult. Seeked to limit humanitarian aid to Palestinians. Held wind turbines to be harmful to health. Wanted to cut funding for Social Security. Said that "Trump has done nothing wrong." And, "The word of God is, of course, the ultimate source of all truth." I'll stop now, this frustrates me....

Good News of the Week:

The United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution. Which, in the face of the Gaza war, calls for nothing more than thinking of the welfare of innocent civilians. So ceasefire, respect for international law, access for humanitarian organizations, and so on. You can support that in principle with a clear conscience. What 120 nations have done. Unlike Israel and the U.S., which voted against, as expected.

Germany abstained, as did another 44 nations. With good reasons. Because the resolution was not balanced. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock gives a comprehensible reason: "Because the resolution does not clearly name Hamas terror, does not demand the release of all hostages clearly enough and does not affirm Israel's right to self-defense, we decided with many of our European partners not to vote for the resolution in the end."

Nevertheless, the outcry against Germany's abstention is much greater than the criticism of the approval of, for example, France, Norway or Switzerland. "How can Germany abstain from a UN resolution that has as its sole objective to delegitimize Israel's right to self-defense?". "The Federal Republic must stand by Israel's side without any ifs or buts". "There must be no false consideration for others in supporting Israel". And so on.

Excuse me? This reminds me very much of the strange automatism that anyone who is pro-Palestine is an anti-Semite. Which is not only factually wrong (Palestinians are also historically Semites), but also morally wrong. Why should I not be allowed to criticize individual decisions of the Israeli government, such as the settlement policy on the West Bank? Because other Germans before the existence of both the Federal Republic and the State of Israel, and long before my birth, have incurred immense guilt against the Jewish people?

I am aware of this. This has shaped me. And makes me a pacifist and human rights activist. I support the awareness of what happened. You have to learn from history. I have done that. Take a position accordingly and educate my children accordingly. But I am not personally to blame, nor do I have no right to free speech or expression because of it. Like many others, I took a stand against South Africa's apartheid in the early 1990s. Therefore, to hold all stateless Kurds liable for the actions of the PKK is, to me, short-sighted. Just as little as all stateless Palestinians for the actions of Hamas. Or all Germans for those of the Nazis. So it is Good News for me that the German diplomats in New York City did not reflexively vote pro-Israel. Instead, after careful consideration, they voted pro-human.

Personal happy moment of the week:

My Mac always shows me news from its system in the upper right corner. For example upcoming appointments. Last Thursday the following message popped up: "Day after tomorrow: Free". Yes, exactly. Because after 34 days of daily work (we have a lot of stress in the office right now) I not only have the weekend off. But five days up to and including All Saints' Day. It will almost feel like a vacation. And no matter what the weather is like, just the fact that the alarm doesn't ring in the morning will make me happy.

I couldn't care less...

...that there will be a new edition of the "Bavarian coalition" in Bavaria consisting of the conservative parties CSU / Christian Social Union and FW / Free Voters (Freie Wähler). In the freshly signed coalition agreement there is - unfortunately, but as expected - nothing new. Instead, it merely contains a sweeping "Keep it up, everything is actually good the way it is". That is not enough. At least not enough to meet the challenges of the future, which is already within reach. Climate protection, digitization, infrastructure, energy transition, debureaucratization, integration, industrial modernization, education boost, etc. These terms can all be found in the paper. But only as empty phrases. Without any vision. Or any concrete forward-looking plan. In the process, we are running out of time. Not good.

As I write this...

...I am thinking about Nagorno-Karabakh. Probably I am the only one, since the Gaza and Ukraine wars more than dominate the news coverage. Yet what is happening in the Armenian-majority enclave in Azerbaijan is frightening. With 100,000 people fleeing since Baku's brutal takeover a month ago, more than two-thirds of the population is on the run. Which is something relatively poor and small Armenia can barely manage. There are also tragedies happening that the world public does not notice.

Post Scriptum

Against wokeness like gender language, leaving NATO, strictly limiting migration, railing against the political establishment, no more sanctions against Russia, stoking fears of social decline, creating peace by banning arms exports, and so on. These are all positions of Sahra Wagenknecht, who wants to found a new left-wing party. And could just as well be from the right-wing AfD (Alternative für Deutschland / Alternative for Germany). So I understand that some expect Wagenknecht to not only pull votes from The Left, but also from the AfD. Or they could realize common ground.

There has been a dark chapter in the history of German politics before, when extremists from both fringes of the spectrum joined forces. That was in the early 1930s. Back then, the political mortal enemies National Socialists and Communists, united in their hatred of the Weimar system, ensured the downfall of the democratic republic. And we all know how that turned out.

[archivist-crow]

The Haunted Atlas

Hull-House - Chicago, Illinois

41°52′18″N / 87°38′51″W

A Chicago landmark, now a museum, which in 1913 was widely believed to house a living "Devil Baby." Hull-House is still included in some haunted tours of Chicago and is said by some to exude an uncomfortable atmosphere.

Hull-House was built in 1856 as the residence of Charles J. Hull. Located in what was then the southwestern suburbs of Chicago, the house became surrounded by factories and tenements that housed thousands of immigrants. In the late 1880s, the house became the United States first welfare center, founded by social workers Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. The center provided numerous services to the large numbers of immigrants who settled in the area. Hull-House was an oasis of comfort. It became so successful that a third floor was added. Eventually, 12 more buildings were added.

Addams had become interested in social work while traveling abroad in England. In the slums of Whitechapel, the setting of the famous Jack the Ripper murders, she went to work helping the poor and championing social reforms. When she returned home, she was fired with a zeal to do the same work in Chicago. She leased Hull-House and turned it into a settlement house for the poor, the abused and the homeless. She campaigned for funds among the wealthy women of the city.

Addams died in 1935. Her work has been continued by the Hull-House Association. Hull-House moved to new quarters in 1963, and the original house was preserved as a museum.

In 1913, a strange rumor about a so-called Devil Baby hidden away inside Hull-House seemed to come from nowhere and gather great speed as it spread throughout the communities of immigrants. For about six weeks, throngs of women descended upon Hull-House demanding to see the Devil Baby. The perplexed and vexed Addams explained and reexplained that there was no basis to the rumor.

In interviewing women about the story and why they believed it, Addams discovered that it seemed to be based on fears of the plight of immigrant women, especially older women with Old World mores and superstitions that involved religious beliefs and the treatment of women.

The story had various ethnic versions. According to the Italian version, a young Italian woman defied her family and married an atheist. She became pregnant right away. A few months later, she hung a picture of the Virgin Mary on the wall. This angered her husband, who tore it down, ripped it up and swore he would rather have the Devil in the house. The couple was punished with the birth of a baby who looked like a miniature Satan, with horns, cloven feet, pointed ears, a tail and a scaly body. It could walk and talk and would run about the house threatening the father. It danced on church pews, laughed hideously and smoked cigars. Finally the father took it to Hull-House and beseeched Addams to take it in.

Other ethnic versions varied only in the sins that brought on the monstrous birth:

* An Irish girl failed to confess to her priest that prior to her marriage she had conducted an affair with
another man.

* A Jewish girl married a Gentile without her parents' permission. Her enraged father said he would rather have the Devil as a grandchild than have a Gentile for a son-in-law.

* A Jewish woman, who had several daughters, became pregnant. Her husband, desirous of a son, told her that he'd rather have her give birth to the Devil than to another girl.

* Two young Jewish women, one of them pregnant, attended a performance of the play Faust. The pregnant one looked too intensely at the stage devil.

* An Orthodox Jewish woman hid the truth about an illegitimate child, claiming that her second child, born in wedlock, was her first. Her third child was the Devil.

The visitors who came to Hull-House were convinced that Addams had taken in the Devil Baby and locked it away in the attic. Rumors circulated that discounts were being given to view the child. One man from Milwaukee called to say he wanted to organize a tour. Another woman, from the poorhouse, borrowed a dime to ride the trolley to Hull-House in hopes of seeing the monster, only to be crushed to hear the truth.

The rumor finally diminished. Addams wrote about the event in her book The Second Twenty Years at Hull-House, in which she theorized that the story had fired the imaginations of women who largely felt excluded from mainstream life in America. The Devil Baby was something they could grasp and understand. Seeing it would elevate their status.

The story has refused to die, however. It was rumored that the child remained locked in Hull-House until it died or that it was removed to a retreat in Waukegan, north of Chicago. Reports continue in present times that the Devil Baby still can be glimpsed in an attic window of Hull-House.

Other haunting phenomena have been reported. Addams's ghost is believed to haunt the premises, as well as the ghost of a woman who allegedly committed suicide in an upstairs room (no documents exist to substantiate the suicide). Individuals also have claimed to photograph ectoplasm and phantom monks inside the house.

The story of Hull-House was an inspiration for Ira Levin's 1967 novel Rosemary's Baby, in which a young wife is tricked into giving birth to the Devil's child.

Text from The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Third Edition by Rosemary Ellen Guiley (Checkmark Books - 2007)

[monsooninn]

Berakhot 12b: 11. "The Gild."

The Universe has unveiled its premiere weapon to us, the Hari and the Hara, "after all this time," the Torchon, "the one whose power absolves man of his suffering."

All of our lives we have waited for this being to aid us and now that He has shown Himself, your behavior is as atrocious as ever. He says Dakatlia to Nob, "I took care to lead you to November, the city of the priests."

11. From Dakatlia to Nob, the city of the priests.

November in Hebrew is called Chislev. The Christ is telling us He can do no more for us. We must harvest another kind of crop. We have gone too far to allow that jitterbugging dipshit Donald Trump and that piece of blubber Elise Stefanik to trouble this already sundered world.

"The name Chislev appears to have to do with the realization that the harvest is over and all agricultural activities have concluded. Since Israel was a mostly agricultural society, it factually lost its economic backbone when the agricultural machine came to a halt. Of course, folks had plenty to do also in wintertime, but one may imagine winter activities to mostly focus on local repairs or the fabrication of clothing and perhaps art.

The verb כסל (kasal) means to have no skeletal strength or engage in pareidolia (falsely recognizing images in random patterns, such as Mickey Mouse in a cloud). It describes muscle- and boneless body parts, or a "belief" in the systematic link between uncorrelated events. It typically describes stellar constellations, which are obviously as fantastic as useless.

Nouns כסל (kesel) and כסלה (kisla) mean stupidity or (misplaced) confidence. The former may also describe a body part, probably the loin or lower belly (or blubber butt). The feminine noun כסילות (kesilut) means stupidity.

Noun כסיל (kesil) means fool or dunce; someone who "sees" structure in uncorrelated events. This is also the word for stellar constellations in general, and more specific the constellation Orion."

The Number is 1782, יז‎חב, yazhab, "will gild."

All the Grace has drained out of my life and yours. I feel like the seasons never change, the weather is off, the mood is all wrong. Where has our gilded age gone?

The Gilded Age was a time of significant change for Jewish people in the United States, and Chabad is a Jewish religious philsophy: 

The Gilded Age:This period, from 1877 to 1917, was marked by a massive migration of Jews to the United States, primarily from Eastern Europe. The Jewish population in the country grew more than tenfold, and became concentrated in major cities, especially New York. The Gilded Age was a time of both success and anxiety for Jewish people, with antisemitism, internal divisions, and the high cost of assimilation. 

Chabad: Chabad Chassidism is a Jewish religious philosophy that teaches people to recognize the Creator through the application of Chochmah (wisdom), Binah (understanding), and Daat (knowledge). The initials of these three Hebrew words form the word "Chabad". Chabad operates in the wider world and caters to nonobservant Jews, unlike most Haredi groups, which are self-segregating. 

The problem with Gild is, it doesn't last, it ends before you know it. Just as one starts to feel the light, the sun becomes overcast. Gild is nostalgic, it is what might have been.

If a few men who are responsible for the general welfare will do their jobs the rest of us will be able to move on. The human race does not want to be troubled by people like Trump, JD Vance, Elon Musk , Marco Rubio, or that fuck Matt Gaetz. If the DOJ will simply obey the law, we shall all be free, we can address climate change and regime change and never look back with regret. To be able to live without regret is a great gift of God.

The government is not funded by the people in order to cause strife, stir up trouble, traffic in underage pussy, uproot people from their homes or proselytize religion. As with the nature of the Torch Himself, who is present in the natural world and in all enlightened activities engaged in by man, we are here to provide. What does not provide AKA "boneless body parts" are useless and must be left behind.

[jamesparkermedmen]

The Story of the United Services Organizations

The Story of the United Services Organizations Many philanthropic organizations in America are dedicated to the welfare of active duty service members and veterans of the United States military. One of the oldest and most highly rated of these organizations is the United Services Organizations (USO). The USO was established in 1941 as a collaboration between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and social reformer Marty Shotwell Ingraham, the first woman to receive the Medal for Merit award. Roosevelt discussed the importance of maintaining high military morale and providing service members with recreational opportunities. Ingraham developed the program in response, while President Roosevelt served as the organization's first honorary chairman. As part of the USO launch in 1941, the organization brought together several disparate agencies to better focus on military support during World War I. The six agencies that constituted initial USO programming were the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), the Salvation Army, the National Travelers Aid Association, the National Catholic Community Service, and the National Jewish Welfare Board. The USO maintained a unique relationship with the federal government from the beginning. Per President Roosevelt's request, the government would construct facilities for the USO. Still, USO would need to generate funds to host events and provide services designed to raise morale throughout the military. More importantly, the USO was an immediate success. From 1941 through 1947, the USO put on more than 400,000 camp shows. Some 7,000 volunteers during those years included Frank Sinatra, Humphrey Bogart, and Fred Astaire. Bob Hope was an early USO supporter and went on to host 48 USO Christmas shows overseas. As a result, Congress named hope the first and only honorary military veteran. The USO was active during the Vietnam War, opening more than 20 locations in Vietnam and Thailand. These clubs offered entertainment and other services to upwards of one million troops every month. During this period, the organization began to open smaller locations at airports, providing comfort and respite to troops stuck between flights. Following the Vietnam War's conclusion and the draft's suspension, some questioned whether the USO was still needed. A joint inquest into this subject conducted by the United Way of America and the Department of Defense determined that the USO was, in fact, a critical component of the US military. In 1987, any doubts about the relevance or longevity of the USO were put to rest when Congress officially recognized the organization as the main body "representing civilian concern for United States forces worldwide." Today, the USO is a Congress-chartered non-profit that operates independently of the federal government under the leadership of president and chief executive officer Dr. J.D. Crouch II. USO makes an annual government grant request of $20 million, though this figure represents just 10 percent of revenue and expenses. The organization has established more than 160 facilities around the globe, plus 10 mobile service providers in America and abroad. A few of the most notable USO services range from free access to the internet and email to family crisis counseling, which benefits nearly five million service members annually. That said, the USO is still in the business of raising morale through recreational activities. Marilyn Monroe, Robin Williams, and Chris Rock are just a few of the iconic American entertainers who have taken part in USO shows and tours.   via Blogger https://ift.tt/WumLtv4 March 30, 2023 at 05:57AM

[jewishmuseummd]

#DYK: February 13th is World Radio Day? 

From the JMM Collections: Postcard for United Jewish Appeal radio program “Homecoming, ’49” sent by the Jewish Welfare Fund of Baltimore. JMM 2017.68.12.8.

[sleepysera]

Aug 2 Headlines

WORLD NEWS

Turkey: Wildfires reach 6th day, 10k evacuated (AP)

"For the sixth straight day, Turkish firefighters battled Monday to control the blazes that are tearing through forests near Turkey’s beach destinations. Fed by strong winds and scorching temperatures, the fires that began Wednesday have left eight people dead."

Israel: Palestinians offered by top court a way out from evictions (BBC)

"It proposed the four families could stay in their homes in Sheikh Jarrah if they recognised the land was owned by a Jewish settlement company. Under the court's plan, the Palestinians - among dozens of families threatened with eviction - would remain as "protected tenants" who cannot be evicted for the foreseeable future so long as they pay rent to the Jewish organisation which owns the land - a status quo which existed up until the 1980s."

Belarus: Olympian given Polish visa after refusing 'forced' flight home (BBC)

"Krystina Timanovskaya, 24, is at the Polish embassy in Tokyo after spending the night secured in a hotel under protection from Japanese police. She said she was forcibly taken to the airport for criticising coaches, and voiced fears for her safety. Belarus says she was removed from the team because of her emotional state."

US NEWS

Florida: Gov DeSantis threatens to withhold funding over school mask mandates (CNN)

"Miami-Dade County Public Schools previously said it planned to revisit its mask-optional policy due to new guidelines issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week that recommended localities encourage all teachers, staff, students, and visitors in schools to wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Miami-Dade, the nation's fourth-largest school district, returns to school August 23. But DeSantis' order, signed Friday, threatens to withhold state funding if schools implement a mask mandate."

Afghanistan: US expands refugee program as Taliban violence rises (AP)

"The State Department said it is widening the scope of Afghans eligible for refugee status in United States to include current and former employees of U.S.-based news organizations, U.S.-based aid and development agencies and other relief groups that receive U.S. funding. Current and former employees of the U.S. government and the NATO military operation who don’t meet the criteria for a dedicated program for such workers are also covered."

Animal Rights: Bacon may disappear in California as pig rules take effect (AP)

"At the beginning of next year, California will begin enforcing an animal welfare proposition approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2018 that requires more space for breeding pigs, egg-laying chickens and veal calves. National veal and egg producers are optimistic they can meet the new standards, but only 4% of hog operations now comply with the new rules."

[papermoonloveslucy]

JACK BENNY

February 14, 1894

Jack Benny was born Benjamin Kublesky in Chicago, Illinois, on Valentine’s Day 1894. He had a successful vaudeville career, and an even greater career on radio with “The Jack Benny Program” which also became a successful television show. Benny was a Beverly Hills neighbor of Lucille Ball’s and the two were off-screen friends. 

His screen persona was known for being a penny-pincher and for (badly) playing the violin. His theme song was "Love in Bloom" by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin. He often used the phrase, "Now cut that out!"

Benny and Ball were first on the same bill in “Stars in the Eye”, a special marking the opening of Television City and including all the CBS stars.  Lucy and Benny did not share any screen time. 

On “Sunday Showcase: A Tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt on Her Diamond Jubilee” on October 11, 1959, Jack Benny, Lucille Ball and dozens of other stars turn out to pay homage to former first lady and humanitarian Eleanor Roosevelt. Arthur Godfrey hosted on NBC.  

On June 24, 1962, Benny and Ball were on hand to quickly wish Ed Sullivan a happy 14th anniversary on “The Ed Sullivan Show” (S14;E41). Lucille Ball enters riding atop an elephant!  

Another collaboration of the network headlines came in 1962 and 1963, when both “The Lucy Show” and “The Jack Benny Program” were on the CBS schedules. They launched the season with “Opening Night” TV specials. 

Benny appeared on “The Lucy Show” as Harry Tuttle (a Jack Benny doppelganger) in “Lucy and the Plumber” (TLS S3;E2), on September 28, 1964. 

On October 16, 1964, Benny and Ball played themselves in "Chrysler Presents a Bob Hope Comedy Special: Have Girls - Will Travel." The show was used by RCA to sell color televisions.

In return, Lucille appeared on “The Jack Benny Program” playing Mrs. Paul Revere, the woman behind the man.  It aired on October 2, 1964. 

He did a voice over cameo as himself in “Lucy With George Burns” (TLS S5;E1), first aired on September 12, 1966. 

The feature film A Guide For The Married Man (1967) had plenty of comic performers on the marquee, including Benny and Ball. 

That same year, Benny and Ball provided voice over for a documentary by the United Jewish Welfare Fund titled All About People. 

He played himself in “Lucy Gets Jack Benny’s Account” (TLS S6;E6), a stunt-filled episode that first aired on October 16, 1967.

On March 20, 1968, Lucille Ball appeared on “Jack Benny’s Carnival Nights” along with Johnny Carson and Ben Blue. Lucille played an exotic side-show attraction Luscious Lucille, a Woman on a Pier in a silent movie, and Agnes Kubelsky, Benny’s mother!

He played himself on “Here’s Lucy” three times, starting with the second episode, “Lucy Visits Jack Benny” (HL S1;E2) on September 30, 1968.  The action was set at Benny’s Palm Springs home, which he was renting out as a resort! 

Ball and Andy Griffith were the main guest stars on “The Tennessee Ernie Ford Special” on November 16, 1968. Benny made a quick pitch for his special “Jack Benny’s Bag” which followed, but did not feature Lucille Ball. 

On December 19, 1968, Ball and Benny joined other stars on “The Dean Martin Christmas Special” in cameo announcements about toys being sent to children’s hospitals. Each cameo was self-contained. 

On “Jack Benny’s Birthday Special” on February 17, 1969 (3 days after his 75th birthday) Lucille Ball appeared and did patter with Benny as well as played Lucille LaTour in an old West sketch. 

As “Jack Benny’s New Look” is nearly over, Lucille Ball walks by and says “How dare you do a show without me?” slaps Benny and exits! This walk-on cameo happened on December 3, 1969.

“Lucy and Jack Benny’s Biography” (HL S3;E11) on November 23, 1970, Benny dictates his memoirs to secretary Lucy, and the episodes come to life for viewers, with Lucy playing all the women in his life, including his wife Mary Livingstone, although Lucille Ball lip synchs to Livingstone’s actual voice!  

“Jack Benny’s 20th Anniversary Special” on  November 16, 1970, featured Lucille Ball playing the Benny’s maid Janet in a scene with Benny’s real-life wife Mary Livingstone.  Ball receives no screen credit but gets a verbal thank you from Benny at show’s conclusion. Lucy has three lines and 30 seconds of screen time!

Lucy, Benny, Bob Hope, Dean Martin, George Burns, and Red Skelton, all appeared in the patriotic TV special “John Wayne’s: Swing Out, Sweet Land” which aired on November 29, 1970.

Benny has a walk-on cameo at the end of “The Unemployment Follies” (HL S3;E22) on February 8, 1971 starring Carol Burnett, his second appearance on “Here’s Lucy”.   

In “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Jack Benny But Were Afraid to Ask” (March 10, 1971), Lucy plays a chorus girl seduced by movie star Benny. 

“The 23rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards” on May 9, 1971 featured Benny and Ball (who presented an award). 

His final appearance on “The Lucy Show” was in “Lucy and The Celebrities” (HL S4;E10), on November 15, 1971, had Benny playing himself and imitated by guest star Rich Little! 

The Friars Club celebrates Milton Berle’s 60 years in show business on December 4, 1973. Sammy Davis Jr. hosts with guests Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Jackie Gleason, Bob Hope, and others. 

The last public appearance of Jack Benny was roasting Lucille Ball on “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast for Lucille Ball” aired on February 7, 1975. Benny died weeks after the taping of this special. Dean Martin appeared in a special introduction dedicating the show to Benny’s memory.  

“Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.” ~ Jack Benny

Jack Benny succumbed to pancreatic cancer on December 26, 1974 at age 80 although he never admitted to being older than 39. He was survived by his wife Mary Livingstone, with whom he adopted a child, Joan. 

[eretzyisrael]

Normalization Could Create a Real “New Middle East”

The main thing you need to know about the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is that Iran, Turkey, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, IfNotNow, Jewish Voice for Peace, and other enemies of the Jewish state oppose it.

Opponents of the deal like to call it a “betrayal of the Palestinians.” It isn’t: rather, it’s a betrayal of the PLO and Hamas, organizations which are the worst thing to happen to Palestinian Arabs since the Nazi Mufti Amin al-Husseini.

Countries don’t have feelings and don’t form friendships. They have interests and form alliances in support of them. The PLO was created in 1964 by Nasser’s regime in order to promote Egyptian objectives, which were to conquer and annex as much as possible of the new state of Israel; later it came under the influence of the KGB, which employed it on behalf of Soviet interests in the region.

Neither Egypt, which forced Palestinian refugees into camps in 1948 (and to this day does not grant full Egyptian citizenship to Palestinians living in Egypt), nor the other Arab states and the Soviet Union, viewed Palestinian Arabs as anything other than a weapon to use against Israel, and the PLO, their creature, reflected this.

In 1982, the PLO was defeated by Israel and Maronite Christian forces in the First Lebanon War. But instead of being treated like the war criminals they were, the leadership of the PLO was allowed to flee under UN auspices to Tunisia. One would have thought that the PLO, removed from close contact with Palestinian Arabs, would lose influence and die out. But in 1987 there was a popular Palestinian uprising in the territories, the First Intifada, and PLO-connected groups managed to coopt and control it, brutally suppressing anti-PLO Palestinians as “collaborators.” The PLO made itself the de facto representative of the Palestinians in the territories.

And now Israel made one of her greatest mistakes since 1948, the Oslo Accords. Oslo created a “temporary” Palestinian Authority (PA) to govern the territories until a final status agreement could be made, which of course never happened. But the PA, in essence the PLO, still controls the parts of Judea and Samaria where most Palestinians live. In Gaza, the PLO was overthrown by a violent coup by Hamas in 2005.

Both the PA and Hamas function as dictatorships (the PA is supposed to be democratic, but hasn’t held an election since 2005). Both are supported by large amounts of foreign money via UNRWA and other sources. They are both massively corrupt; “connected” Palestinians live like kings, while most of the population lacks basic needs. Both maintain their maximalist demands against Israel, which have kept the conflict simmering with intermittent boiling over into large-scale violence – the Second Intifada and multiple Gaza conflicts. And both have created educational and media systems that teach their youth to hate Jews and Israelis enough that even children have become capable of murdering Jews at random in the streets.

The PLO and Hamas depend on the conflict as an excuse for their dictatorial control, and for much of their foreign money. It’s their reason for being. So there can be no “normalization” of relations between Palestinian Arabs and Jews on their watch. The conflict must go on. And this has been bolstered by almost universal Arab and Muslim solidarity – until today.

The peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan called for some degree of normalization, but these aspects have not been realized. The peace has been “cold” from the beginning. This isn’t an accident. Indeed the growth of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel expression in Egypt and Jordan – which sometimes bursts out in murderous incidents – ensures that there will not be normalization in the near future. Like the PLO, the leadership of these countries has been prepared to compromise to some extent to achieve the practical benefits of non-belligerence; but they have not rejected the destruction of Jewish sovereignty as an ultimate objective.

The negotiations with the UAE, on the other hand, at least at this point, seem to express a wholly different spirit, one in which actual normalization and not just non-belligerence seems to be the goal. Nothing could infuriate the Palestinian leadership more, since their unhappy subjects will see, for the first time, that the option of unending hostility is not the only choice. If other Arab nations join in as expected, it will be even more persuasive.

Naturally, the Iranian and Turkish regimes (correctly) see these developments as the creation of an economic and military alliance that opposes their geopolitical ambitions. But what about Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow, and similar Western leftist groups? How can we understand their opposition to what is, after all, a movement in the direction of reducing conflict, perhaps a movement that will ultimately lead to the long-desired end of the Israeli-Arab conflict?

It’s simple. They say they are concerned for the welfare of the Palestinian people, but that is not true, and never has been true. The welfare of the Palestinians would best be served by the replacement of the PLO and Hamas by less corrupt leaders that would favor normalization and closer cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis. There is no doubt that if instead of paying terrorists to murder Jews, Palestinian leaders worked together with Israelis to develop economic alternatives to the international dole, the lives of ordinary Palestinians would be greatly improved. I am sure that many Palestinians already think so, but are afraid to publicly say it in the face of PLO and Hamas repression.

IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace – and countless other such organizations – have as their objective the elimination of the Jewish state, not the welfare of Palestinians. For that reason, they support BDS, the PLO and Hamas. They are supported financially by anti-Israel sources (see here and here) like the massive Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Their opposition to normalization exposes them for what they are.

One doesn’t want to be too optimistic at this early stage. It can be noted that there will probably be a backlash from religiously conservative elements against Jewish sovereignty anywhere in the region. It can be argued that the apparent rapprochement between Israel and some Sunni Arab states is nothing more than a temporary alliance against Iran. But I don’t think so. I think there is beginning to be an understanding, at least on the part of some Arabs, that the continued demonization of Israel does not serve their long-term interests. And the possibilities for the future are breathtaking.

Abu Yehuda

[jomanuworld]

How the Specter of Communism is Ruling Our World | Eps.2 | CCP | China |...

UNFORTUNATELY, SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM WILL REMAIN  IN FORCE AND ALIVE IN OUR PLANET FOR A LONG TIME BECAUSE CORPORATE GREED AND INFLATION IS OUT OF CONTROL IN AMERICA AND THE FREE WORLD. STRUGGLING POOR PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD THINK THAT BY DESTROYING AND  REPLACING CAPITALISM THEIR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS WILL BE SOLVED BUT AS OF TODAY COMMUNISTS IN CUBA, KOREA, VIETNAM, RUSSIA, NICARAGUA, AND VENEZUELA REMAIN TRAPPED IN AN ECONOMIC STAGNATION AND NIGHTMARE. THE JEWISH COMMUNIST EXPERIMENT CREATED BY VLADIMIR LENIN (1917 - 1923) IN ORDER TO ABOLISH THE RUSSIAN MONARCHY HAS NOT SOLVED THEIR ECONOMIC PROBLEMS AND THE LEVEL OF POVERTY AND GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION REMAIN IN RUSSIA, CUBA, CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA IN ORDER TO CONTROL AND MANIPULATE THEIR RESPECTIVE GROWING POPULATION.

Former US Ambassador to Cuba, Earl T. Smith is interviewed and reveals the State Department's involvement in the violation of neutrality laws, supporting a known Communist with a documented history of violent criminal behavior, and committing high treason by deliberately aiding an enemy of the United States and concealing a clear and imminent threat to our national security. This conspiracy against the citizens of Cuba has cost thousands of lives, devastated families, and has left the dispossessed Cubans stateless and destitute. It is a deliberate case of economic and cultural genocide that merits investigation and restitution. He added "I am convinced that my experience as the United States Ambassador to Cuba was unusual in the sense that I lived through the Castro Communist Revolution, and I feel that I owe it to the American people to try to establish the fact that the Castro Communist Revolution need never have occurred. From this experience, I learned not only that our techniques of relations with Cuba were faulty but that the modus operandi for the determination of policy is not only inadequate but dangerous to the defense of our country"

SOCIALISTS, COMMUNISTS, AS WELL AS CAPITALISTS LEADERS HAVE CREATED ECONOMIC STAGNATION, UNEMPLOYMENT AND INFLATION AROUND THE WORLD IN ORDER TO CONTROL THE FLOW OF MIGRATION AS WELL AS CONSUMERS’ BUYING POWER AND AS A RESULT, AMERICA HAS BECOME THE ECONOMIC TARGET FOR PROSPERITY BUT NEW IMMIGRANTS COMING TO AMERICA DO NOT WANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT AMERICA'S CAPITALISM IS BROKEN WITH INFLATION, PERSONAL AND CORPORATE DEBTS, UNEMPLOYMENT, AND MORE  ILLEGAL CHAIN MIGRATION. ALL THESE ECONOMIC  AND SOCIAL OBSTACLES HAVE BEEN CREATED BY GOVERNMENTS ACROSS THE PLANET IN ORDER TO SLOW DOWN THE TOTAL GLOBAL POPULATION GROWTH BUT WE HUMAN TROGLODYTES KEEP  ON POPULATING THE PLANET AND REPRODUCING LIKE GUINEA PIGS. THE AMERICAN DEMOCRATS,  REPUBLICANS, AND  GREEDY CORPORATE AMERICA THINK THAT BY ASPHYXIATING AND STRANGULATING CONSUMERS WITH MORE INFLATED PRICES AND REDUCED WAGES THEY ARE GOING TO FIX THE ALREADY BROKEN, INFLATED AND DYSFUNCTIONAL US ECONOMY. 

UNFORTUNATELY, SOCIALISM, COMMUNISM, AND TERRORISM WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BE ERADICATED FROM THIS PLANET. THE DYSFUNCTIONAL GLOBAL ECONOMY CREATED AND MANIPULATED BY CAPITALISTS AND COMMUNISTS ALIKE IN  ORDER TO CREATE MORE REVENUE IN THE LAST 200 YEARS HAVE  BEEN BUILDING AND EXTRAPOLATING GLOBAL INFLATION PRESSURE IN ORDER TO CONTROL OVERPOPULATION ISSUES BUT HUMAN TROGLODYTES KEEP ON REPRODUCING AND SPREADING ALL OVER THE PLANET LIKE GUINEA PIGS AND WILD RATS.  KARL MARX SPOOKY SPIRIT STILL MEANDERING IN THIS PLANET AS WELL AS GREEDY CAPITALISTS WHO WILL CONTINUE FABRICATING LIES ABOUT THE GLOBAL ECONOMY STATUS AND USE INFLATION AS A BUSINESS TOOL TO KEEP ON INFLATING THE PRICES OF GOODS AND SERVICES IN ORDER TO GENERATE MORE REVENUE. NO WONDER SOME PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE MONEY TO PAY FOR SUPER INFLATED RENTALS AND CAN'T AFFORD HEALTH INSURANCE NOR OBAMACARE IN THE US.

 Anonymous2708 __4 years ago

“I am 35 years old. single, and working 3 jobs as I finish my doctoral degree.  I have done all of the things that they say you should do.  I have always worked hard. I have worked full time since I was 16.  I have spent my entire adult life getting an education.  It is the most frustrating thing in the world to know how different things were for my parents.  There is a major disconnect in America.   My parents' generation and older just don't understand that the country is a very different place economically.  The opportunities just aren't there.  To this day, I am still lectured by my parents for not having all that they had when they were my age.  I need to just work harder apparently.   To be honest, I find the future to be incredibly depressing if there is not a fundamental shift in the entire economic system of America.  The American Dream died decades ago.   Is there any reason to be optimistic anymore?  All we can do is hope for a political and economic revolution I guess.”

 The discovery is that the vast bulk of recent job growth has gone to immigrants, including illegal immigrants who have little power to ask for raises. Specifically, since the start of the 2007 Great Recession “the US has added 2.3 million “foreign-born” workers”, but only 727,000 “native-born.” (This is according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ own survey.) IT'S TIME TO STOP BOTH LEGAL AND ILLEGAL CHAIN MIGRATION!!!! NO MORE DACA, DAPA, CUBAN MIGRATION ACT, NACARA, AND EXECUTIVE AMNESTIES!!

YES, THE PRESIDENT SHOULD BAN ILLEGAL CHAIN MIGRATION IN ALL STATES AND CUTDOWN LEGAL CHAIN MIGRATION BY 90%. WORK VISAS SHOULD BE CUTDOWN BY 95%.  GREEN CARDS APPLICATIONS SHOULD ALSO BE REJECTED DUE TO HEAVY TRAFFIC CONGESTION AND LOCAL OVERPOPULATION ISSUES.

TO CONCLUDE, IMPORTING GOODS INTO THE US TO HELP OTHER COUNTRIES ECONOMIES IS NOT WORKING, INCLUDING MEXICO. THEY ARE DUMPING A LOT OF EXPENSIVE JUNK, POOR QUALITY BEEF INTO AMERICA AND  ON TOP OF THAT THEY WANT OPEN BORDER 24, 7, 365 DAYS TO CLEAN UP THEIR COUNTRY OF UNEMPLOYED CRIMINALS, PROSTITUTES, PIMPS AND LAZY BUMS CREATED BY THEIR OWN SOCIALIST AND STAGNATED ECONOMY. IT IS TIME TO BAN  ILLEGAL CHAIN MIGRATION TO AMERICA AND CUT LEGAL CHAIN MIGRATION BY 90%.

YES, THE TIME WILL COME WHEN CIVILIZATION WILL NO LONGER BE PAYING ATTENTION TO SOCIALISTS NOR COMMUNISTS OUTCRIES BUT IN THE MEANTIME GREEDY CAPITALISTS WILL CONTINUE INFLATING THE PRICES OF GOODS AND SERVICES TO COPE WITH MORE PERSONAL AND CORPORATE DEBTS AND ULTIMATELY MORE REVENUE  AND ONLY THEN WE WILL EXPERIENCE OUR NEW AND IMPROVED UNIVERSAL RELIGION CALLED "ANARCHISM."  THE WORLD WILL BECOME SO OVERPOPULATED, FRAGMENTED, AND BROKEN THAT THE NEW GENERATION OF HUMAN TROGLODYTES WILL END UP LIKE IN CHARLTON HESTON MOVIE, SOYLENT GREEN. YES, LIVING IN AN OVERPOPULATED WORLD WITH NO LAND AVAILABLE FOR FARMING AND THE ENTIRE ANIMAL POPULATION DESTROYED OR CONSUMED BY HUMANS ACTING AS PLANET EARTH GODS. A SOCIALIST - ANARCHIST CRUEL WORLD. YES, WE WILL EAT EACH OTHER FOR BREAKFAST, LUNCH, AND DINNER WORSE THAN IN THE BIBLE STORIES. NO COWS, NO CHOCOLATE, NO MILK, NO MORE CREAMY ESPRESSO, NO MEAT, CONTROLLED WATER SUPPLY, A 4 OZ JAR OF STRAWBERRY JAM WILL COST $150.00 (IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY) BUT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO EAT SOYLENT GREEN CRACKERS MADE OUT OF PROCESSED HUMAN CADAVERS. AND FINALLY,  LIKE IN ALL SOCIALISTS AND COMMUNISTS COUNTRIES, THE SOYLENT GREEN CRACKERS WILL BE RATIONALIZED LIKE IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION AND OTHER COMMUNISTS COUNTRIES. AMEN!!!

ONLY TIME WILL TELL! THE ONLY THING THAT GOVERNMENTS WILL HAVE TO DO IS TO SLOW DOWN THE OVERPOPULATION PROBLEMS,  BAN ILLEGAL CHAIN MIGRATION AROUND THE PLANET AND CUT DOWN THE LEGAL CHAIN MIGRATION BUSINESS BY 90%.

BIRTH CONTROL, AS WELL AS POPULATION CONTROL, WILL ALSO BECOME A POLITICAL ISSUE IN THE U.S  WERE THOUSANDS OF LIBERATED WOMEN ARE USING SEX AS AN ECONOMIC TOOL TO OBTAIN LEGAL STATUS, WELFARE, AND FREE MONEY.  U.S AUTOMATIC BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP SHOULD BE BANNED ASAP IN ORDER TO HALT THE POPULATION GROWTH.

IT’S TIME TO SAY NO TO MORE FUNDS FOR ILLEGALS!!! USING FEDERAL TAX MONEY TO BRING IN MORE ILLEGALS IS ILLEGAL WHILE UNEMPLOYMENT AND WAGES DEPRECIATION FOR AMERICANS ARE UNDERMINING  THE LABOR AND WELFARE SYSTEM DESIGNED AND CREATED FOR US CITIZENS IN DISTRESS NOT ILLEGALS.

Make no mistake...this is all calculated, by design, to “collapse the system”. To overwhelm the border with utter chaos, and then come in and present “immigration reform” as the only solution.

It is classic Cloward-Piven, and it will only get worse unless the Congress, or Southwestern states, put a stop to it.

Time to stop the chain migration game into the US. No more DACA, NACARA, VISAS TO WORK, DREAMERS, DAPA, MATERNITY TOURISM, ILLEGALS, and THE CUBAN MIGRATION ACT because wages depreciation/stagnation and both Republicans and Democrats, as well as Corporate America, are Manipulating the laws to push out American Workers in order to create jobs for Illegals and new refugees. THE OBAMA'S ECONOMIC RECOVERY IS JUST AN ILLUSION. THE ONLY ECONOMIC RECOVERY FORECAST FOR THE FUTURE IS INFLATION, INFLATION, AND MORE INFLATED PRICES OF GOODS AND SERVICES IN ORDER TO GENERATE MORE REVENUE.

I DO NOT LIKE OBAMACARE NOR TRUMPCARE. YOU POLITICIANS CAN NOT  INCORPORATE ILLEGALS AND NEW POOR REFUGEES IN THIS INSURANCE PACKAGE. OBAMA-TRUMPCARE SHOULD BE FOR AMERICANS CITIZENS AND UNEMPLOYED US CITIZENS. FLORIDA AND THE US SHOULD STOP THE MASSIVE CHAIN MIGRATION GAME BECAUSE  ILLEGAL FEMALES WILL CONTINUE BRINGING THEIR BABIES TO OBTAIN FREE MEDICAID. I AM NOT GOING TO PAY FOR ANCHOR BABIES  HEALTH INSURANCE. THIS IS A GOOD TIME FOR YOU POLITICIANS TO  PUT AN END TO  ILLEGAL AND LEGAL CHAIN MIGRATION BECAUSE FLORIDA'S BUSINESSES ARE HIRING AND FIRING FLORIDIANS IN ORDER TO CREATE AN ILLUSION OF FRESH JOBS CREATION. OBAMA-TRUMPCARE IS A FEDERAL STICK UP DESIGNED BY  HEALTH INSURANCE UNDERWRITERS TO GENERATE MORE REVENUE. INFLATION, INFLATION, AND MORE INFLATED PRICES OF GOODS AND SERVICES IN THE NAME OF PROFITS.

CONSEQUENTLY, THE GRANDIOSE, ENIGMATIC AND UNIVERSAL QUESTION REMAINS IN FORCE. ARE WE, THE HUMAN TROGLODYTES SPECIMEN POPPETS OF GODS OR WE REALLY PRETENDING TO BE GODS’ OF PLANET EARTH BY EXTERMINATING THE ANIMAL KINGDOM AND FAUNA IN ORDER TO MAKE MORE MONEY IN REAL ESTATE?  IT’S TIME FOR AMERICA TO BAN ILLEGAL CHAIN MIGRATION, CUT LEGAL CHAIN MIGRATION  BY 90%, AND HALT THE ISSUING OF  GREEN CARDS IN ALL STATES BECAUSE AMERICA IS SICK AND BROKEN WITH UNEMPLOYMENT,  MASSIVE CHAIN MIGRATION FROM SOCIALIST AND COMMUNIST COUNTRIES, CORPORATE AND PERSONAL DEBTS, TRAFFIC CONGESTION, WAGES DEPRECIATION,  AND OVERPOPULATED STATES. 

CAPITALISTS, SOCIALISTS, AND COMMUNISTS WILL NEVER FIX/CORRECT  THEMSELVES BECAUSE THERE ARE TOO PREOCCUPIED IN CONDENSATING AND CONTROLLING MORE POWER/WEALTH IN ORDER TO GENERATE MORE REVENUE AND PROFITS WITH POOR/LESS EDUCATED  SOCIALISTS AND CAPITALISTS.  IT IS HAPPENING NOW IN AMERICA, WITH THE REPLACEMENT OF AMERICAN WORKERS WITH MORE ILLEGALS NATIONAL EXPERIMENT FOR  CHEAPER LABOR COST WITH NO BENEFITS PACKAGE AND MORE INFLATION TO STRANGLE THE MONEY SICK US ECONOMY. A NEW FORM OF SOPHISTICATED SLAVERY IN ORDER TO KEEP THE GLOBAL POPULATION SUBJUGATED  UNDER MORE INFLATION, INFLATION AND MORE INFLATED PRICES OF GOODS AND SERVICES IN ORDER TO ASPHYXIATE THE NEVER ENDING GLOBAL DEMAND FOR MORE MONEY CONTROL IN ORDER TO CREATE MORE POVERTY AND SLAVERY. THE SOYLENT GREEN EFFECT IS BUILDING UP AROUND THE PLANET BUT BLINDED GREEDY CAPITALISTS, AS WELL AS SLAVES SOCIALISTS, ARE TOO BUSY MAKING MORE MONEY TO COPE WITH MORE INFLATION. THE COLLAPSE OF PLANET EARTH ECOSYSTEM WILL BRING DOWN THE HUMAN TROGLODYTE SPECIMEN TO THEIR KNEES AND TO A TOTAL COLLAPSE OF CIVILIZATION IF WE DO NOT STOP REPRODUCING AND POPULATING/INFECTING PLANET EARTH LIKE WILD GUINEA PIGS/RATS PLAGUE.

 ”WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND!!!

“Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out!”

[jewish-privilege]

...Twice in the last year, armed American men have walked into synagogues and started shooting with the explicit intention of killing as many Jews as possible. And in both cases, the influence of the Christian identity movement in shaping their paranoid hatred was clear in the materials they shared on social media and the testimonies they left behind. As the tentacles of this peculiarly American racist-religious hybrid ideology are spreading, an examination of its historical roots and paranoid theology is overdue.

Christian identity grows out of a mystical form of Protestantism with roots in British religious movements of the 19th century. It reemerged in its American form in the mid-20th century led by people like California preacher and former Ku Klux Klan organizer Wesley Swift, who held that white “Caucasians,” not “Asiatic” Jews, were in fact the true descendants of the 10 tribes of Israel. Christian identity commanded a small, but dedicated following at its height in the 1950s. Swift was able to draw audiences in the thousands and drew from the same religious zeal in the greater Los Angeles area that had made radio preacher Aimee Semple McPherson one of the most popular ministers in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s and gave rise to such unorthodox spiritual movements as theosophy and Scientology.

Since its emergence in America, Christian identity theology has been tied to dozens of white nationalist terrorist attacks over the past 50 years, including the 1968 bombing of a synagogue in Meridian, Mississippi, and the murder of Jewish radio personality Alan Berg in Denver in 1984. And most recently it shaped the delusional thinking of the killer who murdered 11 congregants at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, and the 19-year-old killer he inspired who walked into a Chabad in Poway, California, six months to the day after the Pittsburgh attack, and murdered 60-year-old Lori Gilbert-Kaye. Clearly, the ideology of Christian identity is a key conduit for violent anti-Semitism in America but the problem is larger than one extremist faction.

...The manifesto left behind by the Poway shooter reads like a hybrid of classical Christian anti-Semitism and contemporary white nationalism. He alternated within paragraphs—sometimes within sentences—from charging the Jews with responsibility for the death of Jesus and the early Christian saints to declaring that Jews “[fund] politicians and organizations who use mass immigration to displace the European race.” The document is riddled with contradictions and is inarticulate even by white nationalist manifesto standards, as it moves between citing the Gospels and the killer’s love of Frédéric Chopin with explosive hatred toward Jews. But what it does evince clearly is a grounding in a form of anti-Semitism that’s equally in debt to older Christian traditions and more modern secular variants centered on race and soil. The document and the murderous violence it accompanied show that on the fringes of the white nationalist right, disparate and even seemingly incompatible traditions of anti-Semitism can co-exist and merge into new hybrid forms.

The belief that Jews hope to flood America with immigrants and dramatically transform American society was commonplace in the 1930s and 1940s. Far-right crackpots like the Rev. Gerald L.K. Smith, William Dudley Pelley, and Elizabeth Dilling frequently made such claims. But so too did more “respectable” members of the right. Merwin K. Hart, the head of the National Economic Council, who maintained an extensive Rolodex of prominent industrialists who backed his organization, frequently wrote in his newsletter of the “alien” influences in the Roosevelt administration—personified by Jewish Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter—and his fierce opposition to admitting Jewish refugees into the United States. Hart even called for refugee visas to be restricted after the Anschluss in 1938, warning that the number of illegal Jewish immigrants was skyrocketing.

The broader concern of Hart and his allies in the “respectable” wing of anti-Semitism—liberal journalist Carey McWilliams called them the “armchair anti-Semites” of the right—was that liberal and socialist Jews were ultimately behind the hated New Deal and the corresponding transformations in American society. These armchair anti-Semites believed that admitting Holocaust survivors into the United States after World War II would be the first step in dismantling the Immigration Act of 1924 to preserve the racial character of America. American Jews, many of whom supported easing immigration restrictions broadly, were the bogeyman of the nativist right, and since right-wing nativists also often subscribed to Judeo-Bolshevik conspiracy theories, opposing immigration was a way to strike a blow against communism as well as Judaism and preserve the white Christian character of the United States.

The influence of classical Christian anti-Semitism, radical Christian identity anti-Semitism, and conservative nativism can be seen in our own time in the beliefs of the men who entered synagogues for the purpose of killing Jews. The Poway shooter cites Bible, chapter and verse, invokes a beleaguered white European civilization, and rails against “cultural Marxism,” which he blames on the Jews. But the depths of these sentiments transcend one shooter. After all, the sitting president of the United States is closely allied to the Christian right, warns of hordes of illegal immigrants swarming the U.S. border, and employed a staffer on his National Security Council who warned of the influence of “cultural Marxists.” And while the Pittsburgh and Poway shooters both condemned Donald Trump as a puppet of Jewish interests, their condemnations do not negate the continuities between their belief systems.

In 1946, at the same time as Wesley Swift preached his gospel of hate in Southern California, Fortune magazine found in a national poll that anti-Semitism correlated with a variety of beliefs then common on the right—extreme anti-communism, isolationism, hostility to organized labor, and opposition to the New Deal welfare state. Swift’s closest political ally was none other than Gerald L.K. Smith, one of the most prominent anti-Semitic activists in the country, who loudly proclaimed his opposition to the moderates and “internationalists” who controlled both political parties. Smith was never a mainstream figure—he won less than 2,000 votes in his third-party 1944 bid for the presidency—but Smith, Swift, and the Christian identity movement represented the radical edge of the right in the 1940s and 1950s. And while the Christian identity movement today remains small, its ideas continue to exert an outsize impact on the American right.

[uwmarchives]

#Stationery Saturday: Veteran’s Day

Tomorrow, November 11, 2018, marks the 100th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War I.

For this weeks #stationery Saturday we are showing the letter from the Thomas Somers Letters, 1917-1918. Somers was writing to his mother when he learned that the peace treaty had been signed. We aren’t sure who or when the date and passage about the peace treaty were highlighted in this letter. Here is a transcription of part of the letter

Dear Mother:-

         Have not had a letter from you for a few days, but expect one tomorrow, lets hope so anyway and lets hope it will find you in the best of health.

         I got the box of candy & cookies and tooth [paste]? and believe me they sure tasted fine. It arrived in good shape.

         Well Mother it is all over, thank God, so lets hope we meet soon. There sure was some noise last Monday morning when we heard of Peace being signed about 200 O’Clock in the morning our Band got out and we all marched up & down the Camp.

         I do not know how long it will be before we will get home but hope it will be soon. I have been quite busy lately with our Captain examining men and what do you suppose he asked me today. He asked me how I would like to go with him as his Private Secretary as he expected to be transferred. I told him I liked to go with him but the circumstances at home were such that I was more needed at home, and he said he thought it would be better for me to stay in this [camp]? as he thought I would get home sooner if I remained here. If I went with him he thinks I would not be home for [around]? a year and so he said he would sooner have me stay here, and I said I thought it would be the better thing. It sure would be a pleasure to go with him as you will not find another man like him in many a day.

Thomas Somers was drafted near the close of World War I. For training, he was sent to Camp Greenleaf, a medical officer training camp in Georgia. He remained there working as a clerk during his time of service.

The stationery used for the first page of his letter features the United War Work Campaign. This was a campaign to solicit funds for the charities that worked supporting the war effort including the Salvation Army, the Jewish Welfare Board, the Y.W.C.A., and the American Library Association. Yesterday, for #Flashback Friday we featured a booklet from the local war fund campaign during the week of November 11, 2018, to November 20, 2018.

See our other Stationery Saturday posts

In the United States, tomorrow, November 11th, is Veterans Day and we honor those who have served in the United States Armed Forces.

[historicity-was-already-taken]

Fierce Historical Ladies post: Vladka Meed

Part 6: The Labor Camps

Part 1: The Ghetto • Part 2: The Aryans • Part 3: Vladka, on the Wall, with Dynamite • Part 4: Uprising • Part 5: Aftermath

After the Uprising, the Jewish Coordinating Committee turned its efforts to providing aid and attending to the welfare of ZOB survivors, Jews in hiding inside and outside of Warsaw, and Jews interned in forced labor camps.1

Vladka once more undertook dangerous and harrowing missions in support of these efforts, traveling across the city smuggling false identification documents to underground Jews, posing as a smuggler to bring relief to Jews in hiding outside of the city, and working to set up covert aid networks in the labor camps. 

Vladka on one of her missions, 1944. Image courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Still struggling with feelings of hopelessness in the aftermath of the destruction of the Ghetto, Vladka often turned to Benjamin Miedzyrzecki—her Coordinating Committee comrade—for strength. His "words of comfort," she wrote, "dispelled my despair more than once…It was only thanks to him that I did not break down."

Benjamin Miedzyrzecki on the “Aryan” side, 1943. Both images courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

One of the missions she undertook in this period was the reinstatement of Coordinating Committee contact with a group of twenty-three survivors of the Czestochowa Ghetto Uprising hidden in the town of Koniecpol.2 

To begin, she boarded a train—sans travel permits—to Koniecpol. With her, she carried a smuggler’s sack full of “merchandise,” and letters and paper money from the Coordinating Committee concealed beneath her belt. Over the course of fifteen hours of travel, she’d had to dodge Nazi inspections, and bribe several Polish officers to make them forget that she was traveling without permits.

After arriving in Koniecpol, Vladka walked to the group’s hideout. Their landlady—an elderly Gentile woman—led Vladka to a dark barn where thirteen young Jews lay hidden beneath piles of old straw stored on the tiny hayloft; the other ten Czestochowa Jews were dispersed across two other hiding places.

The group was in desperate need of blankets, medicine, food, and money. When Vladka reached them, they were overjoyed to learn that their comrades in Warsaw had not forgotten them. She spoke to them one by one, noting their needs, distributing the money and letters, and taking down the information of those in need of false documents. “Don’t forget about us!” they called out as she left.

Vladka returned to Koniecpol twice a month with money and supplies. Later that year the Coordinating Committee experienced problems receiving their funds from overseas. Without money, Vladka could not travel, and she lost track of the Czestochowa group. When the Committee resolved its pipelines issue, Vladka returned to Koniecpol to find that the group's landlady had evicted them when they ran out of money.

Once out of their hiding place, the group was almost immediately subject to harassment at the hands of the Polish police and hostile members of Polish partisan groups. They retreated deep into the woods, and when Vladka found them, they resembled “living skeletons, bags of bones who could hardly stand.” Luckily, Vladka, newly arrived Committee funds in hand, quickly located new hiding places for the group, and secured documentation from the Armja Krajowa stating that the Koniecpol group was officially under their protection. She remained in contact with the group through the end of the war.

Three Jewish partisans in Wyszkow forest near Warsaw, 1944. Image courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Meanwhile, across Poland, the Nazis were slowly working pockets of isolated Jews to their deaths in forced labor camps. It was Vladka’s mission to infiltrate these camps and set up covert aid networks.3

One major labor camp was in Czestochowa; it held approximately 10,000 Jews.4 Vladka traveled to Czestochowa by train and walked to one of the factories known to exploit Jewish labor. Trusting her instincts, Vladka stopped a few workers as they passed, asking them to deliver a note to a party inside the factory in exchange for money. Eventually, an elderly Polish worker took her up on the offer. Three days later, he returned with a response.

In it, the Jews of Czestochowa wrote that they could hardly believe that Warsaw had not forgotten them. It was signed 'Jacek'—the code-name of a young Zionist working in the factory. Jacek included in the response the address of a contact: Jan Brust, a Polish factory worker who could serve as a liaison between the Coordinating Committee and the Czestochowa Jews. Vladka easily established contact with Brust, and went back to Warsaw. A few days later, she returned to Czestochowa with letters and money. Jan Brust smuggled them into the factory, and then collected responses and other communications for Vladka on his way out.

Vladka visited Brust every few weeks with money and letters. Through Brust, she also smuggled medicine, food, and illegal publications into the labor camp.5 Her skill at covert operations was so great that many of the aid recipients never even knew that the supplies were coming from outside the camp. Vladka maintained this aid network until the Red Army liberated the city in January 1945.

The military center of Radom, however, posed more of a challenge. The Jews of Radom, ghettoized beginning in 1941, lived in wooden barracks on the outskirts of town.6 Every day armed guards escorted groups of Jews from the barracks to their work assignments, typically at either the print shop or the munitions plant. Vladka had no contacts in Radom, and there were too many Nazis in town for Vladka to be able to simply recruit a messenger from outside a factory. This time, she would have to make direct contact with the Jewish workers. 

When Vladka arrived in Radom, money and letters concealed on her person, she walked straight to the printing plant. Finding it closed and its entrance guarded, she began to walk the perimeter of the factory. Finally, she located some Jews.

To her luck, the guard on duty was neither a German nor a Ukrainian, but a member of the Jewish police.7 Vladka hurried over to him and asked for a woman named “Meltzer.” When he returned with the woman in question, Vladka whispered to her that she had letters and money from Warsaw. Tears sprang into the young woman’s eyes as she realized the meaning of Vladka’s words: the Jews of Radom were no longer alone.

Meltzer ran to fetch her husband and his brother, and the four of them discussed the organization of a clandestine relief pipeline. Vladka gave the Meltzers the money and letters from the Coordinating Committee, and they wrote a letter back to the Committee stating the community’s needs.

Vladka returned to Warsaw with their letter, and the next time she traveled to Radom she brought 50,000 zlotys, illegal literature, and more letters from the Coordinating Committee with her. That day, there were no Jewish guards on duty. So, Vladka hid her contraband, hitched a smile onto her face, and approached one of the Ukrainian guards to ask permission to buy something from the Jews.8 Though initially brusque, the guard quickly thawed, becoming increasingly chatty and, apparently, into it.

The guard allowed her to approach the fence. She asked the nearby Jews for someone with the surname "Meltzer." The guard joined her, loudly inquiring as to whether anyone had any shoes to sell. When Meltzer appeared, Vladka sent another Jew over to distract the guard. When his back was turned, Vladka slipped Meltzer the contraband. He hid it beneath his prison clothes, and promptly vanished. As he disappeared, another Jew approached with a pair of shoes for sale. Vladka tried them on, continuing her cheerful flirtation with the guard. When his attention was called away, one of the Meltzers slipped Vladka a letter. With this, her mission was complete.

As she left, the guard stopped her to ask if she wanted to hang out later that night. She said yes, but obvs she ghosted. The network she set up with the Meltzers supported the Jews of Radom through the end of the war.

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1 To support these activities, the Coordinating Committee received money from the Polish government-in-exile in London and contacts abroad. These parties sent them American dollars through the Polish underground and Gentile allies in Warsaw, and the Committee then converted the dollars into zlotys on the black market. 2 The Czestochowa Ghetto too staged an Uprising, this one on June 27, 1943. The Nazis put it down after four days. Two-thousand died in and from the fighting. The Nazis sent 3900 to labor camps, 1200 to death camps, and shot 400. 3 Slave labor was a large part of the German war economy, and Nazi use of Polish Jewry as slave labor began almost immediately following the occupation of Poland. Though at first, Jewish labor gangs marched to and from work assignments, by 1943 the Germans set up camps specifically for Jewish laborers, generally on the sites of liquidated ghettos, or in barracks set up near major factories and industrial plants. Living and working conditions in the overcrowded camps were harsh, dangerous, and filthy. Jewish laborers were treated in line with the Nazi policy/ideology that Jews, and therefore Jewish workers, were expendable non-humans to be treated in accordance with the goals of the Final Solution; even as the Germans realized that Jewish labor was essential to the war economy. 4 Approximately 28,500 Jews lived in Czestochowa before the War. The Germans established the Czestochowa Ghetto between April and August 1941. At its height, the ghetto contained close to 40,000 people between its walls, comprising both residents of the city and Jews from surrounding areas. The Nazis liquidated the ghetto from September through October 1942, leaving behind some 5,000 male laborers and their families, all deemed capable of work. These laborers lived in a camp built on the remains of the ghetto. They worked in ironworks, ammunitions, textile factories, and a variety of smaller factories and workshops. In late 1944, early 1945, the Germans “evacuated” the Jews to Buchenwald and Ravensbruck ahead of the Soviet lines. 5 Unfortunately, a German guard caught Brust in the act of smuggling, and Brust sustained a fatal wound. Vladka located a new Gentile contact, named Mendzec, who continued to smuggle letters and supplies to the Jews of Czestochowa. 6 The Nazis set up two ghettos in Radom between March and April 1941: the 27,000 person “Main Ghetto” in the city, and the 5,000 person “Small Ghetto” in a nearby suburb. The Nazis liquidated the ghettos between February and August 1942. By the end of August, 2,000 Jews remained in Radom. The Small Ghetto then functioned as a labor camp. In November 1943, the Nazis transferred the surviving workers into 20 shacks, holding a total of 2,450 men and 400 women. The Nazis deported most of them to Auschwitz in June, 1944, and only a few hundred of the Jews from Radom survived the war. 7 The Jewish Police were a Thing that I can’t properly address within the confines of this post. 8 By this point in the war, it was known that a wide variety of clothing items could be cheaply purchased from Jews. It was illegal, and one of the few remaining means by which Jews could make money.

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Mapping quest edges past 20% of global ocean floor (BBC) The quest to compile the definitive map of Earth’s ocean floor has edged a little nearer to completion. Modern measurements of the depth and shape of the seabed now encompass 20.6% of the total area under water. It’s only a small increase from last year (19%); but like everyone else, the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project has had cope with a pandemic. The extra 1.6% is an expanse of ocean bottom that equated to about half the size of the United States. The achievement to date still leaves, of course, four-fifths of Earth’s oceans without a contemporary depth sounding.

Watchdog: Nursing home deaths up 32% in 2020 amid pandemic (AP) Deaths among Medicare patients in nursing homes soared by 32% last year, with two devastating spikes eight months apart, a government watchdog reported Tuesday in the most comprehensive look yet at the ravages of COVID-19 among its most vulnerable victims. The report from the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services found that about 4 in 10 Medicare recipients in nursing homes had or likely had COVID-19 in 2020, and that deaths overall jumped by 169,291 from the previous year, before the coronavirus appeared. “We knew this was going to be bad, but I don’t think even those of us who work in this area thought it was going to be this bad,” said Harvard health policy professor David Grabowski, a nationally recognized expert on long-term care, who reviewed the report for The Associated Press. “This was not individuals who were going to die anyway,” Grabowski added. “We are talking about a really big number of excess deaths.”

Brazil passes half a million COVID-19 deaths, experts warn of worse ahead (Reuters) Brazil’s death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 500,000 on Saturday as experts warn that the world’s second-deadliest outbreak may worsen. Only 11% of Brazilians have been fully vaccinated and epidemiologists warn that, with winter arriving in the southern hemisphere and new variants of the coronavirus circulating, deaths will continue to mount even if immunizations gain steam. Brazil has registered 500,800 deaths from 17,883,750 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to Health Ministry data on Saturday, the worst official death toll outside the United States.

Spanish prime minister says Catalan separatists convicted of sedition will be pardoned (Washington Post) Calling it a “huge step toward reconciliation,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his cabinet on Tuesday will approve pardons for nine separatists from Catalonia who were convicted of sedition for their role in a 2017 independence bid. The decision, opposed by a slight majority of Spaniards as well as the country’s Supreme Court, will mark the biggest political shift from the central government toward Catalonia since the chaotic referendum on independence four years ago. The move is aimed at defusing tensions in what has become Spain’s greatest political crisis since the transition to democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. For some Catalans, the nine jailed leaders have become an emotional symbol for what they say is a right denied by Madrid to choose their region’s destiny. But it is unclear how dramatically the pardons will change the dynamic. Some pro-independence figures in Catalonia say the only proper peace offering is full amnesty—which would strike the crimes from the record, something that the pardons will not do.

Berlin expands bike lanes as COVID cycling boom continues (Reuters) Berlin is making permanent the extra bike lanes it added during coronavirus lockdowns as it seeks to support the cycling boom that started in the pandemic. The German capital has marked about 25 km (15 miles) of extra "pop-up" bike lanes since COVID-19 hit in 2020 as commuters switched to cycling to avoid crowded public transport. Other European cities—like Paris and London—have also been adding bike paths. The German Cyclists Association (ADFC) says bike traffic rose by 25% in Berlin due to the temporary lanes and the pandemic.

Russians’ return boosts Turkish tourism prospects (Reuters) Thousands of Russian tourists began arriving in Turkey on Tuesday, boosting hopes for its tourism sector after a two-month suspension in flights imposed by Moscow due to concerns about a surge in COVID-19 cases in April. Turkey’s tourism prospects have been revived by a sharp fall in daily coronavirus cases to around 5,000 from a peak of more than 60,000 two months ago, as well as an acceleration in vaccinations to more than 1 million a day. The first plane arrived in Antalya from Moscow around dawn, carrying 132 passengers. Some 12,000 Russians were expected to arrive on 44 planes in the Mediterranean tourist hub of Antalya on Tuesday, state-owned Anadolu news agency said.

Iran president-elect takes hard line, refuses to meet Biden (AP) Iran’s president-elect staked out a hard-line position Monday in his first remarks since his landslide election victory, rejecting the possibility of meeting with President Joe Biden or negotiating Tehran’s ballistic missile program and support of regional militias. The comments by Ebrahim Raisi offered a blunt preview of how Iran might deal with the wider world in the next four years as it enters a new stage in negotiations to resurrect its now-tattered 2015 nuclear deal with global powers.

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Apple Daily could shut under government pressure (Washington Post) In the 26 years since its founding, Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper has been unrestrained in its criticism of the Chinese Communist Party and unwavering in its support for the pro-democracy movement. It has survived multiple raids, boycott campaigns and the arrest of its founder, Jimmy Lai, under the draconian new national security law. But now with its assets frozen by the Hong Kong government, the Chinese-language Apple Daily could cease operations as soon as Friday. The news outlet is unable to pay staff members or vendors and will be forced to close if the government declines to release its funds—shuttering the territory’s largest independent newspaper. “It is more than surreal to see,” said Ed Chin, a hedge fund manager and longtime Apple Daily columnist. “These so-called executors of the national security law—they have lost it. They are destroying the autonomy of Hong Kong.” The fate of Apple Daily and its chief editor, top executives and founder Jimmy Lai—all either detained or arrested under the national security law and facing life in prison—are emblematic of the staggering changes underway in Hong Kong. Freedoms guaranteed in Hong Kong’s Basic Law, including freedom of speech and the press, have become secondary to Beijing’s will as it re-engineers the once-autonomous territory and uses the new law to force subservience.

Australia’s runaway mouse plague targets prisons, forcing mass evacuation (Washington Post) Hundreds of prisoners at Wellington Correctional Center in Australia’s New South Wales state are being forced to move out of the facility as officials scramble to repair the damage caused by mice chomping through cables, scurrying across ceiling panels and embedding in the building’s walls. Corrective Services New South Wales Commissioner Peter Severin confirmed that “vital remediation work” needed to be carried out at the jail, which is located about four hours from Sydney, along with a thorough clean and review of the prison’s infrastructure. An estimated 420 male and female prisoners will be relocated over the next 10 days, along with at least 200 staff members. Pest control services have been summoned to remove the dead creatures from the walls, which authorities say is sending a potent stench into the air. Australia has a mouse problem. A plague, in fact. A mass invasion occurs every decade or so, wreaking havoc across communities and destroying the crops and stock of farmers who are worried about what the future holds for their livelihoods.

In times of crises, Lebanon's old must fend for themselves (AP) Tiny and bowed by age, Marie Orfali makes the trip five times a week from her Beirut apartment to the local church, a charity and a nearby soup kitchen to fetch a cooked meal for her and her 84-year-old husband, Raymond. Their only support—Raymond’s $15,000 one-time end-of-service payment from when he retired more than 20 years ago—long ago ran dry. They have since depended on charity to cover almost everything: rent, cleaning supplies, pain killers and food for their white dog Snoopy. But charity covers less and less as Lebanon’s currency collapses. The cash they get from a benefactor and the church every month, once amounting to $400, is now barely worth $40. The 76-year-old Marie broke down in tears when asked how she’s doing. With virtually no national welfare system, Lebanon’s elderly are left to fend for themselves amid their country’s economic turmoil. In their prime years, they survived 15 years of civil war that started in 1975 and bouts of instability. Now, in their old age, many have been thrown into poverty by one of the world’s worst financial crises in the past 150 years. Lebanon has the greatest number of elderly in the Middle East—10% of the population of 6 million is over 65.

Palestinians, settlers clash in tense Jerusalem neighborhood (AP) Palestinians and Jewish settlers hurled stones, chairs and fireworks at each other overnight in a tense Jerusalem neighborhood where settler groups are trying to evict several Palestinian families, officials said Tuesday. The threatened evictions fueled protests and clashes in the runup to last month’s 11-day Gaza war and pose a test for Israel’s new governing coalition, which includes three pro-settler parties but is hoping to sideline the Palestinian issue to avoid internal divisions. The Red Crescent emergency service said its crews treated 20 Palestinians, including 16 suffering from pepper spray and tear gas and others wounded by rubber-coated bullets. Two other people were wounded, including an elderly man who was hit in the head, it said. The eruption of violence is the latest friction in Sheikh Jarrah, where weeks of unrest captured international attention ahead of the 11-day Israel-Hamas war last month. The cease-fire took effect on May 21, but the long-running campaign by Jewish settlers to evict dozens of Palestinian families continues.

They disappeared after encounters with Nigeria’s security forces (Washington Post) Her last sighting of her son was in a photo on social media. His eyes were shut. His face was covered in blood. He was dead. Now Ndifreke Ibanga is tormented by a recurring nightmare: her 26-year-old weeping. Victor’s soul will not rest, she worries, until his body is found. Victor is one of the hundreds of civilians who rights groups say are killed or disappear each year after encounters with Nigerian security forces—and one of more than a dozen still missing after a demonstration against police brutality in the city of Lagos in October. Some vanish after being taken into custody; others, like Victor, are presumed dead after public confrontations with police or soldiers. The families of victims are haunted by a singular question: What happened to their bodies? Local rights groups and international watchdogs have long accused Nigerian forces of carrying out extrajudicial killings and disappearing the corpses. Many are never found. But some are. Interviews with family members and friends of Nigerians who disappeared in similar circumstances shed light on a gruesome pattern: As a result of intense search efforts, or happenstance, or both, the bodies of their loved ones turned up at mortuaries and anatomy labs, nameless and without an easy explanation of how they arrived—or how they died.

[unstimmigeharmonie]

Mandatsgebiet Palästina, Ende 1947. Der UN-Teilungsplan ist beschlossen, doch die politische Realität sieht anders aus. Kein Land der Welt würde diesen gegen die arabischen Länder durchsetzen wollen, Weltgemeinschaft - und prominent: die USA - halten sich zurück und unterbinden Waffen- und Geldtransfer. (Denn das ist Neutralität à la UN: Wir schauen zu, wie mehrere Staaten die Holocaust-Überlebenden überfallen.) Der Yishuv ahnt, dass es bald nicht mehr nur arabische Banden sind, die pogromartig zuschlagen, sondern die Panzer rollen werden. David Ben-Gurion, hier noch Vorsitzender der Jewish Agency, wusste, dass es statt Waffenschmuggel anderer Maßnahmen bedarf und fand - Stalins zionistischer Periode sei Dank - mit der Tschechoslowakei einen Partner. Doch: Wie sollte man die Waffen bezahlen? Das Geld konnte nur von Juden aus der Diaspora – aus Amerika – kommen. In dem Wissen, dass man Ben-Gurion vor Ort brauchte, erklärte sich Golda Meir - hier noch Golda Meyerson und Vorsitzende der politischen Abteilung der Jewish Agency - bereit, diese Aufgabe zu übernehmen. Unter dem Eindruck des gerade passierten Gemetzels Hunderter arabischer Dorfbewohner an 35 Haganah-Männern, das keiner von ihnen überlebte, reiste sie zu ihrer ersten Station: Chicago. Dort sprach sie am 25.1.1948 vor dem Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, der ihr kurzfristig Redezeit einräumte. 35 Minuten. Keine Notizen.

“Merely with our ten fingers and merely with spirit and sacrifice, we cannot carry on this battle, and the only hinterland that we have is you. The Mufti has the Arab states—not all so enthusiastic about helping him but states with government budgets. The Egyptian government can vote a budget to aid our antagonists. The Syrian government can do the same. We have no government. But we have millions of Jews in the Diaspora, and exactly as we have faith in our youngsters in Palestine I have faith in Jews in the United States; I believe that they will realize the peril of our situation and will do what they have to do. [...] I am not exaggerating when I say that the Yishuv in Palestine will fight in the Negev and will fight in Galilee and will fight on the outskirts of Jerusalem until the very end. You cannot decide whether we should fight or not. We will. The Jewish community in Palestine will raise no white flag for the Mufti. That decision is taken. Nobody can change it. You can only decide one thing: whether we shall be victorious in this fight or whether the Mufti will be victorious. That decision American Jews can make. It has to be made quickly within hours, within days. And I beg of you—don’t be too late. Don’t be bitterly sorry three months from now for what you failed to do today. The time is now.“ (Link)

Sie reiste weiter durch die USA und kehrte am 19.3.1948 nach Palästina zurück. Sie hatte nicht die benötigten 25 Mio. Dollar dabei - sondern 50 Mio.

Ben-Gurion sagte damals über die spätere Ministerpräsidentin Israels:  „Eines Tages, wenn die Geschichte geschrieben werden wird, wird man sagen, dass es da eine jüdische Frau gab, die das Geld gefunden hat, das die Gründung des Staates möglich machte.“

[papermoonloveslucy]

RIP CAROL CHANNING

1921 - 2019

Carol Channing and Lucille Ball were both known for playing leading roles in Jerry Herman musicals: Channing in Hello Dolly and Lucy in Mame (1974).  Lucille came backstage to meet Carol Channing during her run as Dolly.  

There was probably a time that Lucy flirted with the idea of playing Dolly on stage or screen, but the 1969 film version would go to Barbra Streisand and Channing would continue to revive the stage show through the years. 

At the height of Carol Channing’s Broadway success with Hello Dolly Lucille Ball produced an episode of “The Lucy Show” in which Lucy Carmichael goes undercover as Carol Channing! It also starred Broadway star Jack Cassidy (She Loves Me). 

Naturally, Lucy wears the red dress that is so associated with Channing’s Dolly.  

And imitates Channing’s unique voice. 

Ball even performs the show’s title song, with lyrics altered to fit the episode’s plot. 

In July 1965, just before filming this episode, Lucille Ball and Carol Channing were both mystery guests on “What’s My Line?” They did not share the same stage.  

Ginger Rogers (a friend and co-star of Ball’s) was also a mystery guest (sharing a chair with Channing) to announce that she was taking over the role of Dolly on Broadway from Carol. 

In 1966, Desi Arnaz produced a sitcom pilot for Carol Channing where she delivered Lucille Ball-style comedy. 

Although Lucy was not involved in the series, her “I Love Lucy” writers were. 

Sadly, "The Carol Channing Show” was not picked up for series.  

In 1967, Lucille Ball and Carol Channing were two of ten celebrity narrators of a documentary short titled “All About People” produced by the United Jewish Welfare Fund.   

In 1985, Lucille Ball, Lucie Arnaz, and Carol Channing performed with 97 other celebrities in “Night of 100 Stars 2″ on ABC. The event was taped at Radio City Music Hall.

Friends! In 1987, Lucille Ball and Carol Channing came to a book signing to support their mutual friend Betty White.

Lucille Ball and Carol Channing finally came face to face on the same stage during Lucille Ball week on “Password Plus” in November 1988, just months before Lucille’s death. It would be Ball’s last game show appearance. 

In 2000, Carol Channing journeyed to Jamestown to make a special appearance at Lucy-Desi Days in Lucy’s hometown.  

In 2016, Lucie Arnaz performed at Channing’s 95th birthday party in Palm Springs, California, where Channing lived. 

“More down to earth than any star I ever met, and I’ve met a few.” ~ Lucie Arnaz about Carol Channing