Shark Blog

• Political realities

  In response to a recent note, an American friend wrote the following: "In other words, you are saying that..." [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 10:59pm EST
  

• An empty gesture

  Reading the announcements of government officials is more of an art than a science. It is appropriate to weigh the... [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 8:46pm EST
  

• An American conundrum

  You want a conundrum? The New York Times describes a great example. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/world/asia/25rollout.html?partner=rss&emc=rss "In declaring Tuesday that he would "finish... [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 11:50pm EST
  

• On academics and intelligence

  Israel's image in the world is less than desirable. How bad? is difficult to answer. There have been no serious... [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 4:25am EST
  

• Political disinformation, bureaucracy, and reality

  One should never say never. However, Probably not is a fair guess. Closest to me is one more round in... [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 8:41pm EST
  

• Is the President contributing to Palestinian violence?

  There has been a worrisome shift in Israeli commentary on President Obama's efforts to force peace between Israel and Palestine.... [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 8:27pm EST
  

• A McGovern clone in the White House

  Remember George McGovern? His clone is sitting in the Oval Office. The 2008 campaign differed in several ways from 1972... [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 11:48pm EST
  

• Comments on Gilo are annoying. Lack of movement on Iran is dangerous

  Barack Obama was six years old when the Jordanian army opened fire on Jerusalem as its part in the 1967... [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 10:15pm EST
  

• State Department bureaucrats on religious freedom

  More than 40 years ago I chose public administration as my specialty in political science. I still poke at it,... [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:16pm EST
  

• Ridicule or analysis, Chapter 2

  This overloaded news day provokes a secular and politically moderate Israeli to ask if the greater threat against a good... [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 11:34pm EST
  

• Ridicule or analysis?

  This is one of those times to wonder if ridicule or serious analysis is in order. The occasion is a... [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 8:29pm EST
  

• Despair by Israelis and Palestinians?

  The Washington Post has published two views, claiming to be contrasting expressions of Israeli and Palestinian despair for peace. http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2009/11/israeli_despair_for_peace.html... [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 11:02pm EST
  

• Childish?

  You've heard of the crippled giant? The image refers to an entity with so much power that its obligations work...' [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 6:53am EST
  

• A multi-cultural conundrum

  The Fort Hood killings will reverberate. At the lower end of the military, Muslims will find their property trashed, and... [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 3:04am EST
  

• Not so simple

  Thomas Friedman has written one of his better articles. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/opinion/08friedman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion As a retired professor still inclined to give grades to... [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 8:44pm EST
  

• Allahu Akbar, Praise the Lord, Hear O Israel

  Allahu Akbar, Praise the Lord, and Hear O Israel elicit the best of sentiments, and something else. A youtube segment... [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 2:06am EST
  

• On the value of realism

  What is the future? Who knows? In Jewish tradition, Malachi was the last prophet, i.e., the last person to hear... [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 8:03pm EST
  

• Has Obama done more harm than good, or doesn't it matter?

  This note is about some little details of international politics. They come from the media, which does not always get... [...]
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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 1:30am EST
  

• Why the stalemate?

  Headline in Friday's Ha'aretz "Abu Mazan (Mahmoud Abbas) is losing hope: 'I sense that Netanyahu has not changed since 1996'"...' [...]
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  Posted: October 30, 2009, 12:35am EDT
  

• On the problems and benefits of uncertainty

  "The power to tax is not the power to destroy, while this court sits." "The Messiah will come in his..." [...]
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  Posted: October 28, 2009, 12:55am EDT
  

• No place for moderation in a Holy Land

  You want moderation? Not here. Muslim and Jewish religious leaders are competing to heat up their followers in defense of... [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2009, 4:31am EDT
  

• No place for moderation in a Holy Land

  You want moderation? Not here. Muslim and Jewish religious leaders are competing to heat up their followers in defense of... [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2009, 4:31am EDT
  

• No place for moderation in a Holy Land

  You want moderation? Not here. Muslim and Jewish religious leaders are competing to heat up their followers in defense of... [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2009, 4:31am EDT
  

• No place for moderation in a Holy Land

  You want moderation? Not here. Muslim and Jewish religious leaders are competing to heat up their followers in defense of... [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2009, 4:31am EDT
  

• Test of analytical skills, or political inquisition?

  One of the reasons I chose to study political science more than 50 years ago was its eclectic character. Its... [...]
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  Posted: October 25, 2009, 12:33am EDT
  

• Jewish vitality

  The latest sources of Jewish panic are claims that Israel has gone crazy in an alleged concern for its defense,... [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2009, 10:57pm EDT
  

• Political aggression and its consequences

  Excerpts from an official United Nations summary of the Human Rights Council resolution on the Goldstone Report http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/47d4e277b48d9d3685256ddc00612265/81f352257c983c5285257651006c06dd?OpenDocument ". ...." [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 3:46am EDT
  

• Sound, fury, and quiet

  It is one of those times to excite Jews' well developed paranoia. A sizable majority of member states in the...' [...]
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  Posted: October 17, 2009, 11:14pm EDT
  

• Nobel prizes and political views

  Israel knocked down another Nobel prize last week. A professor is sharing this year's award for chemistry. Ha'aretz boasted with...' [...]
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  Posted: October 11, 2009, 8:42pm EDT
  

• Passions and problems of Barack Obama

  Barack Obama is a fascinating individual. He is also sitting in the world's most important seat. Observers the world over... [...]
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  Posted: October 10, 2009, 2:26am EDT
  

• Nobel Prize, hubris, and/or naivite

  Barack Obama won the most powerful office in the world, along the way promising widespread changes that magnified expectations. Now... [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 5:19am EDT
  

• Where we live

  When I came to Israel 34 years ago, and gradually decided to stay, I was attracted by the mixture of... [...]
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  Posted: October 08, 2009, 5:29am EDT
  

• Competing to establish Palestine, or to kill it?

  Recent expressions coming from the Palestinians reveal a chronic internal competition that does not auger well for their ability to... [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 8:39pm EDT
  

• Is it time to worry?

  Are we seeing the onset of another intifada? There have been several days of stone throwing, fire bombs, stabbings, and... [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 12:31am EDT
  

• Is he or isn't he

  There is a story afoot that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born Jewish. Details are that the family had been... [...]
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  Posted: October 03, 2009, 11:53am EDT
  

• American extremism

  I do not know what surprises me more. That the debate over health care in the United States has provoked... [...]
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  Posted: October 02, 2009, 5:48am EDT
  

• Avoiding madness

  The United States is not the only country with extremist elements that express themselves from time to time. France has... [...]
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  Posted: October 01, 2009, 3:16am EDT
  

• Micro events

  A British court has rejected a petition from Gaza, via a London law firm, that Defense Minister Ehud Barak be... [...]
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  Posted: September 30, 2009, 10:02pm EDT
  

• Some puzzles for Israelis and others

  Should Israel be scorned because the former prime minister is said to have helped himself to financial favors during his... [...]
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  Posted: September 25, 2009, 5:57am EDT
  

• Inspiring President

  Barack Obama sounded like he was campaigning for President of the World in his recent speeches at the United Nations.... [...]
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  Posted: September 25, 2009, 10:15pm EDT
  

• The most powerful man in the world

  It is hard to envy the president of the United States. The New York Times describes his party colleagues in... [...]
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  Posted: September 23, 2009, 5:27am EDT
  

• No high marks for Obama

  Since the country went back to work after the New Year holiday, the airwaves have been filled with competing speculation... [...]
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  Posted: September 22, 2009, 11:52am EDT
  

• Policy failure

  Seventy years ago, a distinguished scholar documented one of the keystones of politics: politicians have abnormally large egos. (Harold Lasswell,... [...]
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  Posted: September 18, 2009, 2:44am EDT
  

• Goldstone Mission

  The Israeli government boycotted the Goldstone Mission, established by the United Nations Human Rights Council to report on the operation... [...]
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  Posted: September 16, 2009, 11:42am EDT
  

• Simple solutions and other sewage

  A recent op-ed piece in the New York Times argues against any concessions by Arab governments to Israel in exchange... [...]
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  Posted: September 14, 2009, 2:28am EDT
  

• Hot buttons

  Hot buttons excite intense emotion. They stimulate opposition to something felt very important by many people. Abortion, coverage of immigrants,... [...]
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  Posted: September 12, 2009, 11:13pm EDT
  

• We are not yet finished with Saddam Hussein

  This part of the Middle East has long been a place of exciting ideas. Chosen People, Promised Land, and Holy... [...]
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  Posted: September 10, 2009, 6:47am EDT
  

• Israeli education

  The scare item of the day on the front page of Ha'aretz: "Teacher salaries in Israel among the lowest in...'" [...]
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  Posted: September 09, 2009, 2:47am EDT
  

• Avigdor Lieberman

  One can gain insight into Israeli politics by examining the position of the current foreign minister. What emerges is a... [...]
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  Posted: September 08, 2009, 2:31am EDT
  

• Does he really think that settlements are the key?

  Has Israel insulted the United States by approving construction on some 500 new dwellings in the West Bank, and indicating... [...]
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  Posted: September 07, 2009, 4:41am EDT