Former Israeli defense minister calls Netanyahu a fearmonger who hypes threats – The Washington Post

On By peanutgallerynhIn Middle East,Leave a comment

Yaalon charged that Netanyahu and his top ministers exaggerate the threats Israelis face — from Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran — to distract the people from what he called the real challenges facing Israel.

“At this time and in the foreseeable future, there is not an existential threat to Israel,” the former defense minister said. “Israel is the strongest state in the region and there is an enormous gap between it and every country and organization around it. Therefore, it is appropriate for the leadership in Israel to stop scaring the citizens and to stop telling them that we are on the verge of a second Holocaust.”

“…It is a mistaken approach to think that if we fill citizens with fear, it will make them forget the corruption, the social gaps, the high cost of living and other challenges at the doorstep of the leadership,” he said.

“…The leadership of Israel in 2016 is busy with inflaming passions and causing fear between Jews and Arabs, between right and left and between different ethnic groups in order to survive in power and earn another month or year.”

Former Israeli defense minister calls Netanyahu a fearmonger who hypes threats – The Washington Post

hmmm

Moshe Yaalon to Challenge Netanyahu 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Middle East,Leave a comment

Israel’s newly resigned defense minister said Thursday he will challenge Benjamin Netanyahu in the country’s next election, accusing the Israeli prime minister of scaring the public with exaggerated security threats and allowing a “radical minority” to take over the government.

“What I am truly worried about are not the weapon trucks traveling from Syria to Lebanon, nor Iran’s attempts to terrorize us. Israel can handle these threats,” Yaalon added. “What I am worried about are the cracks in Israeli society, and the breaking down of fundamental values.”

Ex-Israeli Defense Chief to Challenge Netanyahu – The New York Times

hmmmm

F train straphangers stand up to man harassing two Muslim women

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

A group of F train riders stopped a man from harassing two women in hijabs the morning after the Orlando shooting.

“After some back and forth, one man said, “This is New York City. The most diverse place in the world. And in New York, we protect our own and we don’t give a fuck what anyone looks like or who they love, or any of those things. It’s time for you to leave these women alone, Sir.”

F train straphangers stand up to man harassing two Muslim women – NY Daily News

cool.

 

George Takei: How the LGBT Community Can Lead America to a Sane Gun Policy

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

Now this latest and most deadly attack has targeted a group that has spent the last few decades learning how to organize, fight for, and protect its rights. Perhaps, then, the next chapter of LGBT history might not be just about the struggle to gain equality for ourselves, but also how we might help lead this country towards a collective right to participate and live free of fear and terror, and ultimately toward a common-sense, permanent ban on weapons designed for mass slaughter.

Like it or not, this history and this obligation have been thrust upon us, and we must now rise to its challenge. For if there is one group in this country with more will, more experience, and more tenacity than the NRA, it is the LGBT community.

George Takei: How the LGBT Community Can Lead America to a Sane Gun Policy

hmmm

The NRA has blocked gun violence research for 20 years. It’s time to end its stranglehold. 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

The Orlando massacre reminds us that there’s an enormous amount we don’t know about gun violence — what causes it, what its consequences are for surviving families, how to stop it. You can blame our ignorance on the National Rifle Assn. – and on the federal officials the NRA has intimidated away from this crucial field of public health for 20 years.

The NRA has blocked gun violence research for 20 years. It’s time to end its stranglehold. – LA Times

Amen.

Sen. Mitch McConnell Says He Wants To ‘Deny Terrorists Guns’ After Blocking Bill That Would Have Done So

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that “nobody wants terrorists to have firearms” after a blistering attack from Democrats on Congress’s inaction to pass legislation.

Sen. Mitch McConnell Says He Wants To ‘Deny Terrorists Guns’ After Blocking Bill That Would Have Done So

Spineless, hypocritical asswipe.

Does Bernie Sanders want to be the Ralph Nader of 2016? – The Washington Post

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

If so, that’s excellent news for Donald Trump.

Does Bernie Sanders want to be the Ralph Nader of 2016? – The Washington Post

2 things…

1.) Bernie’s failure to condemn these hateful acts casts him as an arrogant, ambitious man who cares very little for values like equality and justice.

2.) Does he want to be Nader and give the election to the conservative right rather than support the candidate closer to his own positions? Based on his actions it certainly appear so. ..And that betrays the so-called support he holds for many of the positions he staked out over the course of campaign.

G7 told to act on antibiotics as dreaded superbug hits U.S.

On By peanutgallerynhIn Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

Britain told the G7 industrial powers on Friday to do more to fight killer superbugs as the United States reported the first case in the country of a patient with bacteria resistant to a last-resort antibiotic. 

…In Japan, British Prime Minister David Cameron said leading countries needed to tackle resistance by reducing the use of antibiotics and rewarding drug companies for developing new medicines.

G7 told to act on antibiotics as dreaded superbug hits U.S.

hmmm