Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

Netanyahu to offer withdrawal from 90% of West Bank - Ynetnews

**Absolutely no offer of East Jerusalem, absurd. This probably is not true, but the fact that Netanyahu denies offering 90% of the West Bank while excluding East Jerusalem, demonstrates how firmly against any peaceful solution Netanyahu is.** "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has prepared a "tempting" plan to be presented to the Palestinians in the direct negotiations, as part of which Israel will offer to withdraw from up to 90% of the West Bank, excluding east Jerusalem, the London-based Arabic-language al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Friday. The Prime Minister's Office denied the report, calling it "unfounded." "

Cairo mosques begin unified call to prayer - Yahoo!

"Is it even remotely feasible to get Cairo's 4,000 mosques to all sing the same tune? That's just what Egypt's government is aiming to do, beginning an ambitious project Thursday to unify the timing and sound of the Islamic call to prayer across the sprawling city of 18 million people, neighborhood by neighborhood. The project, which has been six years in the making, was meant to start in Cairo's northern suburbs on Wednesday, the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, but system glitches and a communication breakdown delayed it by a day."

Glenn Beck Is Indifferent to Gay Marriage - The Atlantic Wire

"Glenn Beck is no stranger to quoting the founding fathers in an attempt to salvage a country that's "burning down." But, in an interview with Bill O'Reilly on Fox News, he invoked the words of Thomas Jefferson ("If it neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket, what difference is it to me?") in support of an unlikely cause: gay marriage. Asked why he has remained notably silent on the recently overturned Proposition 8, he answered, "because honestly, I think we have bigger fish to fry." As O'Reilly pressed him to return to the gay marriage debate, Beck simply laughed off the idea and mocked the notion that gay-marriage was a "threat.""

Netanyahu rejects peace talks based on 1967 borders - Haaretz

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday rejected a Palestinian demand that direct negotiations be based on a statement by the Quartet confirming its position that the future Palestinian state will be based on the 1967 borders. Meeting in Jerusalem with U.S. envoy George Mitchell, Netanyahu repeated his demand for the renewal of direct talks without preconditions. Mitchell briefed Netanyahu on his meeting on Tuesday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and gave the prime minister the Palestinian proposal. "

Ground Zero Mosque Goes Green - The Daily Beast

"In the midst of the drama around the mosque that’s being erected two blocks from Ground Zero, a few details have been left out that provide some clarity as to the purpose of this project. Specifically, the project will be the country’s first certified “green mosque,” in full compliance with stringent LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards, which is why organizers have named the project Park51, rather than the oft-cited “Cordoba House.”"

The Lost Generation - The Washington Independent

"In the report, the ILO warns of “significant consequences for young people as upcoming cohorts of new entrants join the ranks of the already unemployed” and of the “risk of a crisis legacy of a ‘lost generation’ comprised of young people who have dropped out of the labor market, having lost all hope of being able to work for a decent living.”"

Iran-Israel-US: Goldberg Journalism “If You Build This War, It Will Come” - Enduring America

"Let’s call this for what it is. Jeffrey Goldberg is not functioning as an analyst here. He is not even carrying out the fundamental task of a reporter. He is serving as a spokesman for the Israeli Government in its attempt to put psychological pressure on Iran, to block any resumption of talks on uranium enrichment, and possibly to push Washington into acceptance of, if not support for, Israel’s military action. Goldberg’s piece has no substance as a critique of the political, diplomatic, and military situation, for it is void of any information of — as opposed to rhetoric about — the state of Iran’s nuclear programme and its international strategy. It is void of any information about Washington’s perspective and approach, including the option — very much “on the table”, to use the cliche invoked for military action — of discussions with Tehran."

Sorry, kid, first-borns really are smarter - Msnbc

"Birth order within families has long sparked sibling rivalry, but it might also impact the child's personality and intelligence, a new study suggests. First-borns are typically smarter, while younger siblings get better grades and are more outgoing, the researchers say. "

Tony Judt: An intellectual hero - Al Jazeera English

"I only knew Judt in passing as a graduate student at NYU but his reputation was already secure then, as a leading historian of France and the European Left. What was as striking as his superior intellect was his equally clear intellectual courage. He was clearly an intellectual of both the 1960s and of the Left (a much maligned combination in Newt Gingrich's America). But unlike so many of his peers he grasped the inherent contradictions of both while they were happening. And so Judt became an astute and critical observer of why the era and its politics not only failed to bring about revolutionary change in Europe and the US, but produced a conservative backlash that is largely responsible for the slow destruction of the welfare states that had enabled unprecedented prosperity in the West in the decades after the second world war."

IDF soldier on leave attacks group of Peace Now activists in Tel Aviv - Haaretz

"An Israel Defense Forces soldier who was on leave attacked a group of left-wing activists from the Peace Now movement while they were passing out flyers in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tens of activists from Peace Now, which advocates a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, gathered at Tel Aviv's Arlozorov Train Station Friday morning and handed out stickers and flyers to people passing by. A soldier from the Israel Defense Force's Givati Bridade approached the group and began tearing down posters that the activists had put up. "

Israel suffers from evoking Holocaust to justify militant policies - Haaretz

"There are good and valid reasons for and against attacking Iran, but as long as the Holocaust is part of the equation, those who have to make the call will never be able to reach a reasoned decision. It seems that in the national Israeli psyche, backed up by the education system and the IDF, the only worthwhile lesson of the Holocaust is that Israel should be strong and defend itself, and the only purpose of defending Israel is that there should not be another Holocaust. "