More Israel

Note: I hate recommending audio and/or video because that's too heavy a lift for most people. I know my inbox is overwhelmed with people linking to audio and video and articles and if I consumed it all I'd have no time to do my own work. So, having said that...

1. "Why Hamas Won Gaza - Bill Clinton": https://tinyurl.com/bdhs994k

This a concise explanation of how Hamas gained power in Gaza. I could summarize it, but it's only 3:35 long, but you should watch this, everybody should watch this, irrelevant of your feelings about Bill Clinton, positive or negative.

2. "Conversation with Fareed Zakaria — The Conflict in Israel and the State of Foreign Affairs The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway": https://tinyurl.com/2sxm7zxz

This is a longer commitment, and therefore I can understand why you might pass. But if you want an overview of what is happening with Israel/Hamas and the Middle East...this is the best one I've found, and I've been consuming information voraciously. Start the podcast at 19:20. The above link is to Apple Podcasts, but the podcast is available on all platforms.

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Not sure you knew this, but my father arrived in Israel in 1942 after barely escaping the carnage that became the Poland/Russia story (long but fascinating story). As a 14 year old boy, he was moved to a Kibbutz and "indoctrinated" into the Hashomer Hatzair scouting movement, where he eventually joined the Palmach. He told me stories of the youth movement, and living in the North, where they pleaded with Arabs not to leave in 1948, in English, Hebrew and Arabic. They worked side by side with the Arabs (as they were known). It broke his heart to see his dreams of peace shattered time after time. 

Now, maybe it was a somewhat idealized version,  but the reality is post Six Day war in Jerusalem, the Israelis were waiting for a call from the Jordanians to try and make peace. None came. 

Lastly, let's not forget the massacres I've witnessed in my lifetime: 

Avivim school bus bombing 1970

Lod Airport 1972

Munich Olympics 1972

Kiryat Shimona 1974

Zion Square Massacre 1975

Ma'alot Massacre 1975, 

Entebbe 1976

Coastal Road Massacre 1978 

—- and the list goes on and on. 

Let's of course not forget to mention poor wheelchair bound Leon Klinghoffer, executed and tossed off the side of the Achille Lauro.

Simma Levine

P.S. For those who think it was a mistake for the Jews to have a home in the Middle East, clearly they don't know their history or read a Bible. Jews lived in the area until they were expelled by the Romans, around the time of the destruction of the second temple. They started coming back during the inquisition (and some sooner) while it was controlled by the Ottoman brothers

That land was controlled by the Ottoman Empire until 1918 until the British arrived. Prior to that the area was inhabited by both Jew and Muslim, side by side, in relative piece.

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I am a Jewish trial lawyer and I have been intricately involved in the world of sports and entertainment law for about half a century. After reading some of those execrable letters, I realized that I had to try to set the record straight. I am terribly frustrated by how terribly the Israeli government has handled public relations. As you can clearly see from the article and map below, pursuant to the 1948 accords, the origin minuscule State of Israel did not include the West Bank (Judea and Sumeria), the Golan Heights, Gaza or even East Jerusalem where the Old City and the Wailing Wall (Kotel) were located and held under the auspicious of the Jordanian government. It should be noted that Jews were denied access to this holiest spot in the Jewish religion—where the Temple Mount had been located. Perfectly content with existing within the confines of this area that had been mandated to them by U.N. Resolution, they were  nevertheless viciously and mercilessly attacked by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria. At that point in time a Palestinian state could have been carved out of any of those areas which had not been ascribed to Israeli boundaries, but instead, none of these nations who attacked Israel had an iota of thought about the Palestinian people. It was not until the Six Day War in 1967, that those territories fell under Israeli control, and only then, twenty years later, when all of the sudden everyone in the Arab world was clamoring for a Palestinian state, which could have been carved out of more land available to them then that they are even demanding now! Of course Jewish settlements had been violently attacked by the Palestinians since the creation of Israel by the PLO and various other terrorist groups. Even in 2000 when the Clinton administration and the Israeli government proposed a very reasonable road map for a Palestinian state, the Palestinians responded with the Second Intifada. As Abba Eban once famously said: "The Palestinians never failed to fail to miss an opportunity". Now with all this hue and cry that Israel has cut off the food, water and electricity that it had provided to Gaza, the Israeli government made it clear that they would continue to provide those needs if Hamas simply released the hostages. Of course, Hamas knows what that would mean, so they would rather see their own people die from starvation and sickness than let those innocent captives go free. Even if the Gazans that did not support Hamas would be innocent victims, they should have risen up against Hamas as they rose up against the Israelis. As it has often been said, if the terrorists laid down their arms, there'd be peace; if the Israelis laid down their arms there'd be obliteration. All that having been said, I do think that the creation of a Palestinian state is a sine qua non for peace, if they recognize the right of Israel to also exist in peace. 

Louis B. Priluker, Esquire 

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I told You Bob. Three weeks ago. Before this HAMAS atrocity. During your attempted Roger Waters execution. The Israeli apartheid state can no longer be ignored by the majority of earth citizens in good conscience. I'm a relatively young guy still and I cant bear it. Nobody from Gen X on down is down with it. Only you old guys. And I really Dislike people calling pro-Palestinian equality "anti-semitism" which is what I emailed You and then used it as a jumping off point for an article. We're soooo tired of it. No one believes it except Israeli hardliners. And no one believes them. Ironically the most active Palestinian supporters in the US are Jews. The ones who run all the orgs. They just hate what's been done in their name. What people forget is that israel is at war. Still. They're the Russia in this. As are the Palestinians still at war all these decades later. They're the Ukrainians. I still Am in shock by their methods in this latest attack. My God what inhumane barbarism. But it's a war Bob. They're not attacking Israel because they hate Jews. Go to Iran and see how much Jews are hated. They're not. Second largest Jewish population only to Israel. They're attacking isrsel because Jews invaded their home of 2000 years. And then … we'll you've been there. You've seen it. It's deplorable how Israelis treat them. They're downright war crimes. What we've seen the last 60 years. I'm still in shock by what I see There every damn time. As Israel reprises, in greater numbers, orgs like Hamas will be more fueled to gear up for their next reprisal. And so it goes. As wars go. And the ball is fully in Israel's court. They can stop this any time they want to.  Biden called it "an unprovoked attack". Jesus. Both of you boomers need to get a clue. Or stop telling untruths. At least tell it like it is. We all despise what Hamas did to our Jewish brethren. But this is war. Stop trying to pretend like it's not. And for Gods sake stop trying to conflate anti-semitism with being anti invasion and occupation. And shiiiit negro I've got a lot more skin in the Jewish game than I do In any Arab one. I'm pro Palestinian equality because I'm human. Not because I've got some allegiance to Palestinians. 
Still a subscriber. But please man, study. Learn. Pray if that's your thing. You could be a passionate voice for liberty and equality. EnLighten up Bob. See both sides. Soften that hardliner in you. As so many recent subscriber emails to you show, people know what's up now. And they're not afraid to say. Even so soon after the atrocities  we just witnessed. That's surprising. People are done with the mass displacement of one group with another just because they want to and can. That's soooo 20th century. Those days are gone. 

Sincerely,
The Ambassador
The Transcendence Embassy
C/O Dying Van Gogh Records/BMG

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There is no justification for what Hamas has done to innocent Israelis, and there never will be. 
But Hamas is not all Palestinians. 

There is also no excuse for what the right-wing Israeli government has done (and now has exponentially ratcheted up the kill rate) to innocent Palestinians, and there never will be. 
But Netanyahu's fascist government is not all Israelis.  

Let's try to remember that, shall we?…
There are no winners in this game, only suffering and death. 
And when it comes to the leadership involved, there are no good guys.  Only theocrats and racists who thrive on the violence, and the power it gives them. 

Having said that….
Israel clearly has the upper hand militarily in this situation (by a VAST margin), and always has. The Israeli government MUST stop its apartheid and brutal oppression tactics against Palestinians. These people live in an open-air prison of extreme poverty and suffering, with no escape. Totally at the mercy of Israel's whims. This violence is what such misguided, dehumanizing policies have wrought.  You can't create the conditions that WILL inevitably spawn monsters… and then feign innocence and surprise when they actually act like monsters. 

Mike Froedge
Step Up to the Mike Productions, LLC

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I have followed you since you first started publishing. 
While I disagree with you on most political things I 100% agree with you on Israel. 
I consider myself a Christian and as long as I have a breath of fight in me I will protect and help defend Israel's right to exist. Jews have had it tough for a long, long time.  Nobody understands that more than Christians. 
If Israel goes, we all go. 
Nothing left to do but fight and pray. 
regards

J.B. Vick 

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It took me a while to reply to this. When I first did, my response was as reactive as your letter. So I wrote it but I just erased it after. 
This letter came as a shock. You're a man of great character whom I've admired and who doesn't pull any punches. But in situations of this complexity, being this reactive only adds fuel to the fire. I am sure you read a lot so I am surprised at the lack of nuance and history of your response. Human history is messy, and full of awful atrocities on every side of the spectrum, and being alive on this earth takes a tremendous amount of courage.

This is a situation that involves ALL of us. We have to share this earth because there's no other way. As Einstein once said "I don't know with which weapons World War III will be fought but I know World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones". Blowing each other up to smithereens solves nothing. 

You have a very very big and wide audience. You have the power the create a bridge and a conversation. But instead you just reacted with fear and anger. I understand your pain, I believe that every single one of us who is looking at what is happening consciously is hurting over what's going on. But some of us I believe , have a bigger responsibility. Anthony Bourdain was a person who created conversations and brought people together with such purity and potency in a world that was progressively becoming more and more divided. Can you do the same? It's easy to be a reactionary these days. I advice you to check the episode of "No reservations" on Jerusalem one of these days and look at the human beings that live there instead of the politics. 

There's a lot of children in Gaza. The grand majority to be exact.  I would keep that in mind next time I feel as reactive as this. 

In any case, I was disappointed at your letter. I'm not sure what I expected but it definitely wasn't this. I imagine a lot of conversation even if it's reactive will come of it. I hope some of the letters you're receiving will allow you to look at the situation with wider spectacles. 

You probably already saw this but incase you haven't, meet Mc Abdul from Palestine: 
https://youtu.be/l8qay1Al7Dc?si=TkWijAk4OQwrbL7M

Best vibes

Kami Rayne

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You really are a dick!! 

Two wrongs don't make a right and an eye for eye revenge tactics don't work either Captain Caveman!!

Bibi obviously had his eye off the ball re: Hamas and its terrorist plans as he was too busy trying to dismantle the Israeli Judicial System!! 

The killing needs to stop immediately and peace talks needs to start. The Hamas thugs need locking up for war crimes and the collective punishment of the Palestinians must end. 

Patrick Smith

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...blows me away(and I assume you too)how people create two sides to a story.

Jimmy
loyalears

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With all that's being written, no one really talks about what the world would be like with all of us gone. How many more would have died from COVID and other diseases without the vaccines developed by Jewish scientists? And how about entertainment? Movies, TV, comedy. Financial markets. Many want us gone, but would they really live better lives without us?

Stay safe.

Tom Brodie

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Maybe it's time to publish Hamas's charter. Article in the Atlantic - maybe if people read that their stated purpose is to wipe the Jews off the planet and they think Jews are responsible for WWi, WWII, and alcohol drug addictions and they use Rotary Club and Lions as arms of their nefarious plots, then maybe, just maybe everyone will realize that Hamas is evil, pure evil

Terrance Moran

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I really sympathize with you --- the bombardment of opinion is fine but the uninvited bombardment of attacks is not --- Arafat queered the deal back in the late 1990's that would have let to a two-state solution ---- Arafat Arabs ( not all Arabs) did not want to end to the fighting.  Ask anyone who is a student of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

R Lowenstein

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Bob - thanks for sharing these replies to your email about the unfolding tragedy in Israel. If nothing else, they represent the spectrum of belief regarding the Jewish State and the lengths to which some will go to justify the barbarism of Hamas. 
For me, it is clear that Iran is using Hamas to disrupt the peace process in the region. I have heard from friends in Israel that Arab Israelis are outraged by the actions of Hamas. The fact that Egypt closed their border to the people of Gaza is revealing of the way Hamas is viewed by the rest of the Arab world. 
The Abraham Accords brought Gulf states together in the recognition that Iran, not Israel, is the common enemy of peace in the region. My hope is the action of Hamas reinforces rather than destroys this understanding. 

David Murphy

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Bob, this is a great article if you haven't already read it. The writer is a multibillionaire hedge fund manager who admonishes UPenn and other universities for their silence regarding the attack on Israel and over the pro-Palestine movements on their campuses, some of which are blaming Israel for the attacks. His basic premise is that prominent Jewish donors should stop donating to such universities. 

To add my own take to this, many large public and private universities have become hotbeds of progressivism and radicalism. The university administrations are often very quick to speak out vocally over hot topic issues; the killing of George Floyd, publicly support for the BLM organization, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the "don't say gay" bill in Florida, the "disenfranchisement" of black voters in Georgia by requiring voter ID, etc. Yet when one of the most horrific terrorist attacks in modern history occurred, many of these universities remained silent. Not even an admonishment of the brutality of the attack nor condolences for the families of victims. 

This is truly shameful on their part. One of the biggest culprits is UCLA, whose campus is filled with buildings named after prominent Jewish donors who have given the university hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in the past few decades. All they did on their social media feeds is post a canned response from the UC Regents and made excuses for a pro-Palestine rally that was scheduled to happen on campus, after a public uproar about it occurred. 

My hope is that wealthy Jewish donors across America, who have collectively donated tens of billions of dollars to universities over the years, never even give another penny to the universities that remained silent after this terrorist attack. It will be a crippling financial blow to them. 

Also, given how many Jewish people own and run companies in America, they should be extra selective when sourcing job candidates from these schools, particularly the ones from particular majors that tend to produce radical activists. 

https://www.thefp.com/p/marc-rowan-university-donors-close

tonycor1

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These particular individual men must be remembered for their intentional actions and specific crimes against humanity when it's time for war tribunals in The Hague: 

Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister: Leading the Likud party, Netanyahu systematically undermined Mahmoud Abbas. He intentionally left a vacuum in Gaza for Hamas, giving him a pretext for his genocide. He also altered the Israeli constitution, shielding himself from legal consequences.

Yoav Gallant, Defense Minister: Gallant targeted UN facilities, schools, and hospitals, displaying his genocidal intentions. While depriving Palestinian civilians of essentials, he bombed them using advanced US-funded weaponry. These attacks on UN structures were deliberate.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Minister of National Security: Convicted 8x for inciting violence against Arabs, Netanyahu still appointed him. He leads the settlement activities in illegally occupied territories, using IDF forces to evict Palestinians.

Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Finance: Smotrich publicly called for the destruction of Palestinian villages by the Israeli state. He financed illegal settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.

Peace is impossible while these men hold power.

However, 40% of the Knesset, including Yair Lapid, seeks peace. Lapid refused to join the war cabinet, emphasizing this isn't a reflection of 'The Jewish People'. With children in the largest concentration camp in human history as targets, the genocidal maniacalism  of these individuals is clear.

????? ??????? ?????.

Aaron Harris

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I'm surprised to see so many apologists for terrorists subscribed to your newsletter. I'm probably not your typical subscriber because I would describe my politics
as anti modern day liberal (I can't stand the far right either). Not surprisingly too much of the far left has come out in support of the terrorists. The only answer is to hunt
down and decimate Hamas. There are no negotiations or treaties that will do anything but the equivalent of putting a band aid on a gaping wound. Like you mentioned,
innocent people will get killed, but hundreds of innocent people have already been slaughtered, and those people weren't harboring terrorists among them. The only way
the so called innocent Palestinians are going to give up the Hamas terrorists is if they are more afraid of the Israelis than Hamas

My dad was a tank commander in World War II. He was in the 12th Armored Division. They were nicknamed "The Hellcats" and "The Suicide Division" because they were on the
front lines starting in France and ending in Germany with the defeat of the Germans. They saw first hand what the Germans had done to the Jews. My dad would only hint at what he had seen
and done in the war, but you could tell it changed him. He was the greatest man I've ever known. The Allied troops were forced to destroy numerous German cities to root out
the evil. Hundreds of thousands of German civilians were killed. Six million Jews were killed by the Nazis. Six million!!! You know,  and all these other morons should understand
that the deaths of every other Jew alive and still to be born is the only real goal of Hamas and those of their ilk.  If you don't oppose the terrorists then you are implicitly supporting them It is time
to wipe out this cancer. Make them run and hide like the cowards they are for the rest of their lives. And no I'm not Jewish though I did grow up in an area of Western PA with a large
Jewish population. In fact I'm half German with the rest divided between Albanian and Slovak.

Dave Crookham

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Disappointed in you. Supremacist thinking and stereotype slinging... I thought you were better than that.

The war criminals are Netanyahu's supremacist crew AND his ally-enemy Hamas, whose unconscionable violence will help "justify" the government troops' ultimate of fulfillment Bibi and the hardliners' ethnic-cleansing dreams. Decent Jews and Arabs deserve better. 

The Palestinian civilians, the Israeli civilians... I pray for them, and for peace and justice.

NR Davis

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Free Palestine from the evil white supremacy Zionist! God is watching!!!!  

Sarahalmi

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I'm with you.  Hamas is holding their 'em-constituents hostage. Anyone giving you sh*t and unsubscribing, you don't want them anyway. Ethnic cleansing? Go look at videos of hamas ethnically cleansing fatah or their dear neighbors to the north in Syria (many of which are "Palestinian". They used to be Arabs when Jews were Palestinians. 

I'm for peace and living side by side, but when your neighbor wants your head and then takes your baby's head, game on. Hamas and Islamic jihad are holding 2 mm Arabs hostage. Why don't their brothers in Egypt want them to come through Rafah? Because Arafat was Egyptian and they know better.  

Of course israel isn't perfect, but they are actually the best neighbor Arabs have. The rest of the Arabs kill each other on the daily. 

Adam Meislik

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Israel will prevail.  

I wish our society was more educated that land was offered to Palestine in the 40's after the war and they refused it because Jerusalem wasn't part of the deal. 

Keep doing what you do.

Vera Kolovic NYC

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F*ck the anti semites Bob. They will hate us for breathing. Your take was spot on. 

Josh Fialky

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Simply:  if there is no Israel, there are no safe Jewish people… anywhere.

Sari Leon

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What is wrong with this world? We all know "Free Palestine" means kills the Jews and destroy Israel. They're not looking for peace. If anyone else did what hamas did to their country there would be hell to pay. The world's response? It's Israel's fault and show some restraint! 

Free Palestine from Hamas

Nathan

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I agree with you but you forgot the PLO. They are as bad as any other organization there. Go Bibi. If anyone knows how to do this it is he even if he does have oddball ideas about how his country should be run. I'm tired of the Palestinian bs and BDS and no more Roger Waters for me. 

Helene

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I give you a ton of credit for sharing your thoughts, knowing full well you'd lose subscribers and receive heated messages back. 

It's just like you said how real artists used to be in music before social media and trying to please everyone for likes and follows. 

And on another note, I'm half a world away, not Jewish, don't know anyone personally impacted, and yet I'm still traumatized to my core from what happened. Cannot fathom what it's like living through it.

Nathan Taylor

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Just think…….
If all the terrorists, hamas, etc. lay down their weapons, there would be peace.
If Israel laid down its weapons they would all be slaughtered.
Who are the villains?

Ron Stone

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More Joe Walsh-SiriusXM This Week

Tune in Saturday October 14th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

Phone #: 844-686-5863 

Twitter: @lefsetz

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz 


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Future Ticket Sales

Are they about to crash?

There have been stories in the past two days that interest rates have peaked, that the Federal Reserve won't raise them again, but there are other business stories that have one wondering whether the public is going to shy away from buying concert tickets, just like they've shied away from travel and luxury goods.

"'Revenge Travel' Fizzles for Budget Airlines - Travel demand is getting back to normal, causing an autumn slowdown at some low-price carriers": https://tinyurl.com/n9ysdfs7

We thought it would never stop. After being locked down during Covid people started to travel and travel and travel... Airline ticket prices went through the roof. If you've flown you've noticed this. And when you did get on the plane, it was full. But now, this trend is reversing. And hotels too, 100% occupation is fading...

And:

"A Gilded Age Is Fading for Luxury Brands - The latest results from Louis Vuitton owner LVMH show that luxury shoppers are sobering up after years of heavy spending": https://tinyurl.com/yb6hc732

Then there's today's news:

"Big Banks Say Trouble Is Coming, But Their Earnings Are Still Strong": https://tinyurl.com/4bk7jpjd

Concert tickets are luxury goods. They are not necessities, like food and water. So will people continue to lay out beaucoup bucks to see shows? And will they continue to go at all? Are they satiated after a long post-Covid run, like they are with travel and luxury goods?

Now the truth is today many concert tickets are sold far in advance of the dates the shows play. And this is especially true with the bigger acts. So there might be a delay in evidence of softness. And club shows...let's just say shows for $50 or less...that's more like going to a bar, then again, when people start cutting back, they don't go out to eat, they cancel streaming services...

And then there's the price of tickets. The sky has been the limit. There's been adjustment of prices upward when demand soars on the on-sale date. There seems to be no limit to what people will pay, or let's just say for all the bitching about concert ticket prices, there are many people who've had no problem paying triple digits to see their favorite act. The rich soaking up the good seats at inflated prices...that is wrong, you'd be stunned how the hoi polloi save and lay out for their favorite shows.

It's hard to argue with the numbers. When travel and luxury goods, signaling status, fade are concert tickets far behind? Business has been through the roof, can this continue?

Indicators say otherwise.


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Re-Israel

This was a disgusting take. Thanks for clearing up things. Unsubscribed. You had the nerve to justify the way in which Israel has treated Palestine for all these years? The chickens come home to roost. You're a sick bitch. 

#FreePalestine

Asa Ferguson

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Pathetic Bob. I'm done with you. You know the history of that apartheid welfare state! 

Forget the chicken and egg crap. This is the new reality. 

Ahmad Matari

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Bob
As if words  could ever be enough. 

Amongst the sickening list of inhuman crimes against humanity is the one Golda Meir articulated long ago when she said:

"If you kill my children, I may forgive you,  if you make me kill yours, I wil never forgive you."

When innocent Palestinians  are killed in reprisal and defence over the next few wks, watch how short memories are as to why. 

With all the verbiage spewing forth  in the blame game , one should ask what Hamas, etc. would do if they had the military might of Israel. Genocide would be the upside. 

Stay strong. 
Sam Feldman

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Shalom Bob,

Greetings from Pardes Hanna, Israel. Thank you for your recent post about the horrific tragedies that are occurring here as we speak. Thankfully where we live is relatively safe, however as you know, it's a very small country where everyone is one degree of separation away from someone who was murdered, missing, kidnapped or forced to flee their homes. My oldest daughter is in the IDF, fortunately in a non-combat unit. She was sent home from her base on Monday and told by her unit commander to stay by her phone as she would be needed to go to funerals. She's 19 and lost a classmate already this week. It's f*cking heavy. 

What keeps us sane is community. Our local friends, our family and yes…the support we see online from people that "Stand with Israel," from the NY Jets to Madonna. U2 wins the MVP for their rendition of "Pride" the other night in Vegas. It all helps and we appreciate it greatly.

This being said I'm befuddled by the deafening silence of our community, the music industry. Several of the majors have opened up offices in Israel over the past several years, along with one of the largest promoters in the world. Clearly, Israel is of some importance to these companies. How many music industry organizations have publicly posted their support? You could count them on one hand.

These may seem like small gestures, but their impact is tremendous. What we've suffered collectively is an attack on the Jewish people, the children and grandchildren of some of the pioneers who helped build the music business. It would be nice if more of the major music companies would acknowledge that collective loss. 

P.S...as I was hitting "send," I received a "Red Alert" app notification on my phone...rockets about 30 minutes from my house in the Sharon region. Strange days indeed. 

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As a millennial Jew, may I point out that you make the classic boomer misstep of conflating a population of 2 Million Palestinians living in Gaza with the 30,000 Hamas Zealots. 

Why do their stories not matter? Why do you like other mainstream media sources conveniently overlook the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from a faction of Radical Zealots in Israel? Do these groups have a level playing field historically and presently?

Hamas' genocide and atrocity is horrific, and was the largest step backwards towards a two/state solution in my lifetime. It's a shame you lack nuance and blindly chose tribalism above humanism in your conflation of Palestinians as Hamas. 

It's akin to foreign onlookers labeling all Americans as White Nationalist Neo-Nazis. Not productive and may lead to justification of civilian murder. Is a child's massacre really eye-for-an-eye?

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I have followed your posts for a long time and appreciate your honesty. 
I live in Rehovot, 3+ hours of rockets fell on us as we tried to have Shabbat and Simchat Torah.
And we are 35 miles from Gaza.

The mess Hamas started, and we continue to find the levels of their depravity, is unreal. My son was one of the first groups of soldiers to get down there Saturday. I don't want to think about what he saw, but he and his team were part of the process of clearing the settlements, inch by inch, one at a time of terrorists.

How anyone can see these pictures and videos and still say it isn't true or argue about what was found shows how immune people are to what they see.
Blame it on video games, movies, whatever, but for someone to still take the side of such evil, how can people go to work with them every day? 

Keith Brooks

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Last night I drove a friend to the Shura Army base in Ramle where the national sorting center is for the over 1300 killed so far. She is a social worker who is working with the victims families who have come to identify the bodies when possible. She explained to me that her job is to see each body and then explain to the family in what way they can identify or not their loved one. Of the 1100 bodies brought to the center only about 400 have been processed because many are missing faces, charred after being burnt or have been decapitated. The infants and yes… fetuses have no fingerprints so it's DNA identification only. There are so many bodies they are stored in refrigerator semi-trailers waiting to to be processed. I saw them and didn't realise till afterwards what was inside.
This was conveyed not as PR but as a conversation between two friends as to what she was contending with personally. 
And then there's the 150 elderly, children and babies and adults kidnapped still being held captive in Gaza.
And that 260 of the deaths were people attending a desert rave. Shot at point blank range and some even raped.
And then there's the 5000 missiles….

This is not about "Free Palestine". This is about Isis-like barbaric behaviour. Pure raw evil. The worst single day in Jewish history since the Holocaust.

Thought this was worth sharing. I am sick, appalled and my heart is bleeding.

Best,

Hillel Wachs
2b Vibes Music
Tel Aviv - Jerusalem

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Well said, Bob

It's always the Jews that are the problem.

No one talks about EGYPT'S blockade on their border with Gaza, which is 7.5 miles long. Why won't they open it up? Because they don't care. They also don't want terrorists in their country. It's always the Jews.

No one talks about Gaza's billion-plus dollars in aid that it has received from QATAR since 2012 that could have gone into building infrastructure, schools, a productive society, but instead Hamas used to dig tunnels into Israel, build rockets, and to create a Jew-hating destructive society. It's always the Jews.

No one talks about LEBANON'S limited legal status for the ~200,000 Palestinians living in their country. Lebanon DOES NOT grant citizenship to Palestinian refugees (they are regarded as foreigners), keeping them from basic needs like healthcare and education. Palestinians in Lebanon are prohibited from owning property and from working in dozens of skilled professions. But no, it's always the Jews that are demonized.

This is nothing new. Jews have been persecuted since the beginning of time... and continue to be persecuted in 2023. 

But, we will prevail as we always have.

-Adam Cohen from New York

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I am 54 years old. My grandfather was a Zionist, in the literal sense of the word. Golda Meir spent time with our family when she travelled to Chicago. Before he passed away, he sat me down as a young teenager in the mid-80s. He said, Josh, you are a smart young man, with a big heart. And I know as time goes on, you and other young liberal Jews in America will want to trade more land for peace. To do whatever is required for peace. Of course, peace is what we all want. But the thing you need to understand is the Palestinians do not want peace. They only want to see the annihilation of Jews and to take back Israel for themselves. After my generation is gone, the past can easily be forgotten. But please remember what I am telling you. While you think that you can negotiate a peace, it will not be on equal footing. It is impossible to engage in a real negotiation with people who do not value life. People who are willing to strap a bomb to the chest of a ten year old boy on a tricycle heading for a synagogue. I know this is impossible for you to imagine. People who believe that the more Jews they kill, the bigger martyr they'll become. Israel is the size of a pinhead in a region dominated by Arabs and Arab countries. These countries have no interest in helping the Palestinian people or taking any of them into their own lands. They will use them as pawns. In the coming decades, as their numbers multiply, most Palestinians will not actively seek to harm Jews as they go to work and raise their families, but look to their leaders. The people they have chosen to lead them, they are terrorists. Plain and simple. Please Josh, never forget.
 
This was said to me almost 40 years ago. Well, the world has just seen the reality of what happens when  a people choose terrorists as their leaders. And it's absolutely horrifying to think what could possibly come next. The loss of innocent lives on both sides is a despicable tragedy. This fills me with an overwhelming sadness. But the dismantling and destruction of terrorist organizations and their operatives, such as Hamas, is the only path toward a lasting peace for Jews in Israel and the world.
 
Josh

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Thanks for this letter. I am from Austria and have been living in Israel for more than 25 years and we are all still in a state of shock and hurting. But not just a physical war has started, but the
(dis)information war, too. You are a gifted writer, who knows how to get to the heart of the matter. Please put your excellent recommendations of books and Netflix shows aside and
fight to defend not only Israel, but the values of the Western world (and especially women's rights) that have been targeted and tried to be eradicated in this Pogrom.
 
Thanks, Angela Ballas

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Nothing crazy here Bob, I wouldn't even say there was much opinion in what you wrote. But I still want to make sure you knew this line "Sure, innocent people will be killed in Gaza. But these are the same people who chose to be represented by Hamas." was untrue and unfair. If you haven't met anyone, I can assure you there are a lot of Palestinians who don't want Hamas there and don't like the way things have gone. Just like there are tons of Israelis that don't support their government's handling of this situation and others. Both of those groups of bystanders will continue to suffer, just like many of us will in this country.

Dustin Edelhertz

___________________________________

I do "believe the Palestinians are an innocent people", without believing any of the "mantra" you describe. I am of Jewish descent, and I think I can keep 2 thoughts in my head at once. One, is that terrorism must be answered, and crushed. AL Qaeda, Isis, …Hamas. These people love death, not only of Jews, or Westerners, but of their own people. There is no legitimate way to support or excuse them. 2nd thought: Israel has to find peace with the Palestinian people, and the status quo up til now isn't it. It does no good to say one side is right and innocent, and the other side deserves what they have. That will keep this situation going forever. If we don't want the next Hamas to be created after we kill this one, that has to be faced. Everyone should ask themselves if that is the best way to go, for the sake of Israel, and Israel's allies, like the US.

Joseph Henderson
Yonkers NY

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Bob:
I was 20 in 1972. 
Does anyone remember the Olympics in Munich?
I do. 
DW Davis 

___________________________________

Fun fact: There are more black people in the five most populous states in America than there are Jews on earth.

Danny Segelin

___________________________________

You're making a key mistake in your narrative here by interpreting a fringe hardline view as a blanket fact for all Muslims. I'm surprised at how shallow your understanding is here beyond an emotional response. 

The stated aim to get rid of Israel is a hardline manic view. It gets repeated. Repeated by US news until you believe that everyone wants this. It's BS designed to make you dehumanize people. It works. 

This is not what the vast majority of people want. Take a breath.  

I'm sure you've seen at this point that Bibi was happy to keep Hamas as an ally-enemy so "we can control the flames" as was reported. 

The cynical vacuum of removing peaceful political elements seeking a two state solution has led to these madmen in charge in Palestine. 

Thankfully more people know about this now and the narrative is changing even in my lifetime. 

It really is on you to know more about this situation before sending out comments like 'Arab countries want us all dead'. This is racist fear-mongering. 

No one has a monopoly on suffering but for a few days one side of the border has felt the fear that the other has felt for their lifetime. 

Israel controls all essential services in a small, packed area that is literally living an apartheid reality of squalor, with a brutal militia taking the lead. 

They don't want you dead Bob. 

All the best, Patrick Stefan

___________________________________

Beyond the horror, the tragedy, the sheer cruelty, the unspeakable shock, it is also a story of cowardice - I am writing from Paris (pointing that out for perspective)

The reporters on tv talking about « Hamas fighters » - well, no you (expletive of your choice) there are terrorists, not « fighters ».

The far left refusing to condemn explictly the attacks and putting the blame on Israel; (to be fair a few, but too few voices voiced their disagreement on their leader's choice of words);

The mayor of Paris taking two days to put the Israel flag on the Eiffel tower, when it took less  24 hours or less for other official buildings in Europe to do it.  The only thing they did first was switching its light off, which may or may not been seen as an ambiguous tribute.
They said it was a matter of technical challenge. Yeah right…just scared ###less of the suburbs and potential riots. 

Never seeing that playing buddies with Qatar is not exactly without consequences. Letting them buy the capital's football team. Handing them over the World Cup. And all intelligence agencies know this country bankrolls Hamas, and hosts their leader. 

Baptiste Piégay

___________________________________

Sorry Bob, normally respect your opinion but you're well out of it on this one. 

This situation is a sh*t show and there are no good guys. Hamas and Israel are both criminal, and this conflict won't end until one side is wiped out, and let's face it, it won't be the Israelis. 

What a stupid idea to try and create the Jewish homeland in Palestine, as a British person I take my own share of the blame, but it's been generation after generation of needless bloodshed and stupidity. 

Think about it Bob, any other subject and you'd be able to see clearly. 

Tomer Krail

___________________________________

For many Americans you may be the only Jew they know.  I live in south Florida, and if you live in New York or LA, there's plenty of interaction between the non-Jewish and the Jewry. 

I think a LOT of Americans have very little contact with Jewish people. And what these Americans hear, is the constant reporting on Jew-baiting on social media and congress critters talking about Jewish space lasers. It's cartoonish, but what happens if your accountant or your doctor isn't Jewish, is that the cartoon turns into a weird bias. 

Bjorn Larsen
Florida 

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I refuse to look at posts on Instagram anymore because it's all Free Palestine. How about Free Israel?? You're right, the Jews have been on counterattack since the beginning. Last time I checked I don't remember a Holocaust for anyone else. Are there anti-Palestinian hate crimes? Haven't heard of that one. I am in NO way saying Palestinians are all bad or are to blame for what's going on. They mostly just wanna live and let live. The problem is the vocal minority. Same thing we have here. Most Americans are either nice people or indifferent. It's the small fraction who make noise and cause problems. Domestic terrorists. International terrorists. Same sh*t. Zero tolerance for extremism. We have our hands full with Ukraine against the Russians and may have spread ourselves too thin. It almost feels like the bad guys are starting to win the war here and it's infuriating and scary. 

Danny Jay

___________________________________

Well of course you're right. But I do have two minor comments.

1) It's not like the poor, and I do mean poor, Palestinians have really had a choice in elections. I don't think elections (fair or not) have been held by Hamas in Gaza 2006. And in the West Bank, I think there's not been an election since 2009.  

2) The failure of both Israeli intelligence and their military security at their Gaza border are failures of the government (duh).  Netanyahu cut the military budget to transfer money to the Orthodox Yeshivas in exchange for political support by the Orthodox parties to build his coalition and regain office.  The military itself I think is fine, it's the politicians.  And, yes, the government did get lax at the Gaza border, lulled into complacency by Hamas inactivity (while they developed their plan and their arsenal) with Israel distracted by internal politics and policing the Jerusalem area.  

I've seen some ugly stuff online the past few days. Especially the theory that Netanyahu knew and did nothing because he wanted an excuse to go to war.  And, of course, that it's Israel's fault because it's an apartheid state.

FYI, I was winding down last Friday night, checking for late emails (Alice is on tour) and checking my Facebook when I got a Facebook message from an old school friend (7th/8th grade in NYC), who moved to Israel after college to be a teacher there, 40+ years ago.  She said she was hearing way more rockets overhead than usual and she was worried something was very wrong.  She lives a bit northeast of Tel Aviv, not in the south.  I checked CNN right away. Nothing there. But obviously her instinct was right, as I found out early Saturday morning when I woke up.

Toby Mamis

___________________________________

Long time reader.  Thanks for your article on the Hamas attacks. (Thanks for also mentioning Roger Waters.  David Gilmour's wife said he's "anti-Semitic to his rotten core" and I would think she knows.)

Agreed that many people don't want to know the facts.  Israel, of course, never wanted to control the Gaza Strip.  As you noted, the UN supported a Jewish and Arab state, side by side in 1948.  Jews said yes to the UN proposal; Arabs said no. Israel was created.  Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip.

Then, in 1967, Israel was attacked by Arab countries.  Israel gained territory, including the Gaza Strip. Israel gave 100% of the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians in 2005.  Hamas won elections in 2006.  Missiles to Israel began soon after.  In its charter, Hamas states its commitment to Israel's destruction.  Although many policymakers remained committed to the two-state solution for decades, with good intentions, how is that possible with a terrorist organization committed to Israel's destruction? 

It is comforting that President Biden came out today with strong support for Israel.  And many leaders from Europe, and Canada, have also been very supportive.  Of course, rallies in support of Hamas in NY, and Sydney ("gas the Jews"?) are troubling.  If these people rallying against Israel are criticizing Israelis just for being raped, tortured and killed, what's going to happen around the world when Israel starts to fight back?

33 student groups from Harvard, consistent with Iran, hold Israel solely responsible for Hamas's carnage. Do people really want to give money to Harvard?  One interesting development.  In response to a similar statement by an NYU law student, the law firm that had made the student a job offer rescinded the offer. Good precedent.

Perhaps something good can come of this tragedy, namely, the removal of Hamas from Gaza.  It won't be easy, but it would hopefully be a first step toward a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.  

Regards,
Phil Tretiak 

___________________________________

As an atheist, raised Catholic, and after some research into my ancestry learned that in fact before the Inquisitions in the Iberian peninsula approximately 500 years (I'm a child of Portuguese immigrants) that I likely descended from Sephardic Jews(the options were convert, die, or leave, which explains why Spinoza and his family, as Portuguese Jews, escaped to the Netherlands), I can't imagine the anti-Semitic bile that is coming your way in response to this newsletter. I lament the loss of Israeli life. I lament the loss of Palestinian life in Gaza and the Westbank, but just like there are progressive Israeli Jews constantly fighting against the authoritarian tendencies of the current right wing Israeli government, Palestinians need to throw off yolk that is Hamas. Because if they believe Hamas is their best chance at ending an occupation, they may learn that "from the river to the sea" may eventually happen, but not in the way they think. 

May cooler hearts eventually prevail in the Middle East, but honestly it doesn't appear it's going to happen for quite some time now. 

Michael Moniz

___________________________________

It's worth mentioning that Jews represent less than 0.2% of the world population. Not even one percent 

Before the Holocaust, there were 19 million Jews in the world. Today there's about 16 million. Our population has still not recovered. There's more saxophonists and squash players in the world than Jews.

Iran welcome civilian casualties in Gaza. Their
goal is to increase hatred of Israel in the Arab world to the point where Saudi Arabia pull out of the normalisation talks with Israel. 

Raphael Brous

___________________________________

I subscribe to your emails because I appreciate your opinions, whether I agree or disagree. It's clear you enjoy the research, weighing the facts, and coming out the other side with an interesting critique, suggestion, or warning. That's why it's all the more upsetting that you wrote what you did about Israel. There's a single sentence that shows you don't know what you are talking about. You write:

"Sure, innocent people will be killed in Gaza. But these are the same people who chose to be represented by Hamas."

This is simply not true, Bob. It's a twist. Subtle misinformation. And it's being used as an excuse to wipe out a people. The last election was in 2006, where some people voted, at a time when the country was largely divided. Hamas took control, or NPR reports, "violently took control." Does that sound familiar? What that should make you think of is our dear young country, and January 6. Or the next election. Imagine if Trump managed to get elected again and the US didn't have another election until 2040. Would you agree if someone said you chose MAGA to represent you?

The point is: Hamas and Palestine are not one and the same. 

reference sample - NPR - Oct 10, 2023 - "Hamas won 2006 parliamentary elections and in 2007 violently seized control of the Gaza Strip from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority." Read the full article here:https://www.npr.org/2023/10/10/1204826544/hamas-israel-war-gaza-palestinian

the words of Netanyahu (as reported in Haaretz): "Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas," he told a meeting of his Likud party's Knesset members in March 2019. "This is part of our strategy – to isolate the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank." Read the full article here: https://archive.ph/H8LSL#selection-1249.56-1249.65

I'm curious to hear how you receive this, Bob; if you have a chance. I'm sure your inbox is packed.

Warm regards,
Peter Picard

___________________________________

Thank you for your measured words about Israel.  It's a terrible situation no matter how you slice it, and it's heartbreaking for the Israelis who did not invite this violence, and for the Palestinian civilians who do not want a part of this violence.
 
What can be said of Hamas that has not already been said?  It is barbarism, plain and simple.  What kind of a person cuts the head off an infant?  And sure, the usual suspects will go on about oppression and the stuff that happened in 1948…but those babies had nothing to do with anything that happened in 1948.  There is no justification for anything Hamas did, and shame on those who try to justify it.  What you didn't say, but what needs to be said, is that the PLO is incredibly corrupt and has failed to adequately represent the Palestinian people.  Its leaders have gotten fat off of the conflict, and as long as there is a conflict to exploit, people like Arafat and Abbas had no reason to pursue a true peaceful solution.  It's been said that the PLO takes in close to $2 billion a year.  Why has that money not gone toward improving the lives of the Palestinian people and securing a peace with Israel?  With that sad state of affairs, it's little wonder that some Palestinians sided with Hamas.
 
It is also my belief that Benjamin Netanyahu has failed Israel.  His arrogance and hubris has damaged democracy in Israel and done great damage to Israel's image on the world stage.  Netanyahu benefited politically from the presence of Hamas; they effectively functioned as a boogeyman that his party could point to to justify their political abuses.  Yitzhak Rabin understood decades ago that the solution to this conflict would not be a purely military one, and that a political solution needed to be found.  Netanyahu, in his arrogance, believed that he could wall in Gaza, bomb them occasionally, and everything would be all right.  We've seen how that turned out.  It is my hope that the events of the past few days will be the thing that causes the Israeli people to seek a better leader than Netanyahu, one who understands that the status quo cannot be sustained, and who will pursue a resolution to this conflict once and for all.
 
Take care,
Wes R. Benash

___________________________________

Waking up to the jarring news of a massacre on the streets of Israel triggers a whirlwind of emotions. It's the kind of shock that rattles you to your core. As I grapple with the details – taking the phone of an elderly woman and recording themselves assassinating her along with posting the video on her Facebook page for her family and friends to see. Raping the dead bodies of Jewish teenagers on the streets of Gaza while thousands applauded and celebrated. Slaughtering 40 innocent babies, by decapitating them. Burning alive young girls and laughing with joy. The personal toll hits home. These are not just headlines; they're stories of my neighbors, my friends, and my fellow citizens.

Yet, what adds a bitter layer to this tragedy is the deafening silence from supposed allies. In moments like these, you expect solidarity, a shared sense of grief. Where are those with "I stand with Paris" profiles, adorned with French flags? Or the advocates of LGBTQ rights proudly displaying the rainbow flag? And what about those who've shown support for the Black Lives Matter movement on their social media? Where do they stand in the face of the single worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust? Instead, there's a void that amplifies the pain.

What perplexes me even more is the distant celebration of such profound loss. How can anyone rejoice in the face of innocent lives being snuffed out? It's a disconnect that I find hard to fathom. Imagine seeing Americans cheering on ISIS crimes, or the 9-11 attacks?

The heartbreaking truth becomes evident: achieving peace is an elusive dream when confronted with such pervasive hatred. The choice becomes personal – a decision between holding on to a vision of coexistence or prioritizing survival.

As I navigate through my complex emotions, the simplicity of the decision lingers – a stark reflection of the harsh reality we're living. It's not just a news story; it's an experience that forces us to question the very essence of peace and unity.

Torn apart,

Amir Epstein | Resonant Management

___________________________________

Good on you for saying something here Bob knowing all the hate you'll get for it. People are too dumb to look at the history and too eager to find moral equivalence where it doesn't exist.  Not even the reports of babies beheaded by Hamas will stop the terrorist apologists citing a cycle of violence when the aggressor has always been clear to see.  Christian to Jew I stand with you. 

From Andrew Harting

___________________________________

Good point.  The land for the new Israel was carved out of arab land and it is true about the Palestinians refusing to give quarter.  The Egyptians or Jordanians could have easily offered up more land for them but they didn't, thereby setting the stage for constant turf warfare.
 
As the saying goes; there will be peace in the region when Hamas loves its' children more than it hates Israel.

John Brodey

___________________________________

?Hi Bob, regarding this:

"Sure, innocent people will be killed in Gaza. But these are the same people who chose to be represented by Hamas"

More than half the population of Gaza is under 18, which is the voting age. They didn't choose Hamas.

Slaughtering civilians is a war crime regardless of who does it or who anyone voted for.

John Mulkerin

___________________________________

"But you probably don't know the history anyway. How the Palestinians were offered their own country back in the forties and refused to accept it, because they insisted that the Jews not have their own country."

I see. It's their fault?  What the f*ck is this supposed to do? Because it ain't helping, that is for sure. They were bigoted 80 years ago, so .. f*ck 'em?
Real nice Bob. Dog whistle much?

Bill Seipel

___________________________________


See below:

https://twitter.com/blmgrassroots/status/1711556684190278094

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12612345/Sydney-Opera-House-Israel-Palestine-protest-Anger-Jews-told-stay-home-dragged-away-protest-radical-Muslims-shout-vile-anti-semetic-comments-throw-flares-chant-death-jews.html

Michael Laskow

___________________________________

Hamas are MONSTERS.

A LOT of Palestinians will die as a result of them.

Mike Bone

___________________________________

Braindead, incoherent rambling... You don't think Palestinians are "unfairly oppressed"? While Bibi gloats about razing whole apartment complexes to the ground and Israel's defense minister claims Palestinians are "human animals"--you write such nonsense as "Israelis value human life more than Hamas"? While Israel shells hospitals, mosques, and schools?? You want to start with the same facts, look up the number of dead and injured (on both sides) since 2008. Look up the number of homes destroyed. Look at how, in 2018, when Palestinians attempted to protest peacefully, the IDF responded with live ammunition. Look at how whatever form of protest Palestinians take—and they've exhausted just about all of them—it's alwayslabelled as violent and anti-Semitic, driven by race hatred. If Israel is not the oppressor, how do they have the ability to turn off electricity to the whole of Gaza?

This is tacky writing, bad thinking, godawful politics. No mention of the decades of dispossession, no mention of the open-air prison that is Gaza. True, "it's all there if you want to see it." Well clearly you don't want to "see" anything about the conditions of life in the occupied territories, the root cause of Hamas's rebellion. So one-sided.

Anyway, this newsletter was mildly annoying, but ultimately nobody cares what you think. Palestine will be free, and you'll be remembered as just another idiot who defended the status quo of apartheid.

Conor Gillies

___________________________________

RE: "But where is Roger Waters now? "

-He's on the dark side of the moon?

Vince Welsh

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Andy Wirth-This Week's Podcast

Andy Wirth is CEO and cofounder (with Bode Miller) of Peak Skis. Wirth previously was the president and CEO of Squaw Valley Ski Holdings (parent company of what is now known as Palisades Tahoe), and before that he worked at Steamboat. Yes, we cover Peak skis and the ski industry, but also tune in to hear about Andy's skydiving accident in which his arm was nearly completely severed, as well as his history growing up in a military family, and fighting forest fires, and...

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/andy-wirth-125549055/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/andy-wirth/id1316200737?i=1000631071612

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Fair Play

What a movie! "Fair Play" is the kind of flick that used to play in the theatre, that opened to some intriguing reviews and then grew week by week by word of mouth until everybody you knew had seen it. And everybody you knew... Had been to college, wanted to make something of themselves, thought the world was their oyster until sometime in their life they realized they never reached the destination, or no longer believed in the destination, or accepted where they were, or ended up broken down on the side of the road and wondered what happened to them.

Now I seem to have established a dividing line, between the educated and the uneducated, between the hoi polloi and the elite. You've got it right there.

Used to be there was a continuum. The red state person might see an indie flick, might capture the Friedmans, but now everyone is on their own path, building their resumé, and they want to be damn sure they don't look like the people they hate. This is the problem with DeSantis and Cruz and the rest of them who were educated at Ivy League institutions and now want you to believe they've rejected all they've learned, all the values of the elite, and are down in the pit with the great unwashed. What a bunch of b.s.

But "Fair Play" is on Netflix. Available to all. That's one thing we can all afford, Netflix. So whatever end of the economic spectrum you are on you can press play and...

You'll find a somewhat boring, somewhat slow movie. Yes, I'm looking for something that rivets me, that has me glued to the screen, that excludes all other thoughts. And that wasn't "Fair Play" until...

You don't know where the film is going. It takes a while to reveal the elements, to establish context, and then you're fully engrossed.

What we've got here is the financial world. When I went to college the goal was to become a professional, a doctor, lawyer or maybe even an accountant. To rise above. To make a good upper middle class living. But then Reagan legitimized greed and that was not enough. Now you had to be a world-beater, you had to set the world on fire. Nerds inherited the earth. But they were not the only ones. You could drop out of college and make bank and put a dent in the universe in Silicon Valley, or you could finish your degree and get recruited by a consulting firm, or go straight to the bank and try to climb the ladder.

They work at a bank. Not really, they work at a fund. Which turns out to be highly respected. You see the rich have to park their money somewhere, and they've got to trust the people they invest with, because they're busy making more money. So you vet different outfits, look at the numbers, lay down some cash and... Of course you're diversified, you own real estate, but you're in the market, and you need a firm to help you there. And that's where Luke and Emily work, at the firm.

As you watch this movie you'll scratch your head and wonder why anybody would take this path. It's simple, the money. You'll learn this as the film unspools. Yes, you can make so much money that you can blow thousands meaninglessly.

Don't confuse these financial people with celebrities. Celebrities make it rain in bars, are all about the exterior, their image, whereas these financial titans are all about the interior, the money. Well, within the club you want to possess the accoutrements. A house in the Hamptons, a place in Aspen, a NetJet account. But you don't care what the great unwashed think of you. And you don't want them to pay attention to you. Because if they knew how much money you were really making, creating nothing, there'd be revolution in the streets. Scratch that, if the gutting of the abortion laws didn't cause riots in the street, income inequality won't either. Those at the bottom believe they can make it to the top. But ask yourself if you fit the paradigm of those in this movie, whether you've got the bona fides, the CV.

And you are working for the man, 'round the clock, all you've got is the money. It's just like working a service job, you're counting the hours until you get off, so you can spend your cash on what really interests you, but you can't give up the game, because the money is just too good.

Now I'm past this point in my life. The script has been written. I am who I am. But there's a time in your late twenties and thirties when you're laying pipe, when you're figuring it out. All the people you knew, where are they, what became of them... Did they go home and never risk, never take a chance in the big city? Did they get married right away and become slaves to their responsibilities or are they still in the hunt. You think everybody's part of your cohort. But ultimately you wake up one day and realize the journey is yours alone, no one else really cares about you.

But for a while there...

And you've got a relationship. Maybe established in college or graduate school, maybe in your job. And you're so connected while disconnected at the same time. You're in it together, but that's nearly impossible. One person ascends the ladder before the other, there is tension...

All the elements of the late twenties/early thirties relationship are here. The quickie, the need to do it anywhere and everywhere. The carnality is palpable, it drives you, you're firing on all cylinders, walking a wire only you can see, and it's thrilling and depressing and confounding all at the same time.

I'm not going to tell you the plot points of "Fair Play." I'd never even heard of "Fair Play" until I saw an article in the paper, how it was a hit at Sundance, how it was sold for double digit millions, and it was on Netflix.

In other words, there was no friction. It was in my mind and I could act.

I'm not going to the theatre, never ever. What a rip-off. But even worse is the amount of time involved. But the bottom line is oftentimes I'm not in the mood and when I am in the mood it's between screenings or...

But to turn on the TV and the Roku, push the button on Netflix, that required little effort. I wanted to see "Fair Play." Because the article said people had visceral reactions to it, not all the same, and they wanted to talk about it, and that's my kind of movie.

Actually, while the film was running, I was playing my own life in parallel. Thinking about events and feeling emotions that I hadn't been in touch with in years. The movie evoked them. That's one of the elements of great art.

And "Fair Play" is not perfect. I'm not sure I completely accept the ending. But the stops along the way, I recognize so many of them. And you might too.

This film is true to life in a way that the tentpole movies are not. Its focus is narrow, and therefore it resonates even more. It gets the intimate truth right, the truth you feel inside that no one else is exposed to.

And relationships at this age have ups and downs, and makeup sex and...

You want to watch this movie.

Trailer (only watch this if you need convincing, better to start the film cold): https://tinyurl.com/3u3re5fh


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Israel

What do you want me to say?

My inbox is filling up with people asking me to comment on the war in Israel. But in today's modern world, the truth is self-evident, in the news. But having said that, it is well-documented that X/Twitter is a cesspool of misinformation. But now the truth is out, now you know what it's like to be Jewish, now you know that Hamas and the rest of these Arab countries won't be satisfied until Israel is wiped from the face of the earth.

But you probably don't know the history anyway. How the Palestinians were offered their own country back in the forties and refused to accept it, because they insisted that the Jews not have their own country.

Not that Israel is perfect. As a matter of fact, recently its politics/government has been insane, with Netanyahu trying to eliminate democracy, or at least put a huge dent therein. Then again, there's this same force in America, a march to autocracy, and it's based on hatred, Biden runs a crime family and the Democrats are pulling the country down the drain. And if you believe that mantra, you probably believe that the Palestinians are an innocent people unfairly oppressed by the Israelis and...

You don't think about dying in America. Maybe they'll shoot up your kids' school, but you need a gun in your house to protect yourself so you can commit suicide when depressed or shoot a supposed intruder who is your friend. You think you're safe. But if you're an Israeli, you must constantly look over your shoulder, you must constantly be on guard.

But having said that, the problem is that Bibi took his eye off the ball. Rust never sleeps, nor does Hamas or Iran or Hezbollah.

But that's all history.

Sure, innocent people will be killed in Gaza. But these are the same people who chose to be represented by Hamas.

Oh, I don't want to get into the details. I don't want to give you specifics that you can argue. I just want to say the world is an unsafe place and if you think it can't happen to you, you're wrong. Like Ukraine... Ignoring Ukraine, refusing to fund it, is like ignoring a drought in the central California valley and then being surprised when there's a shortage of grapes or lettuce or...

We're all in it together, and one thing is for certain, we can't all get along. Even worse, we're not even starting from the same facts.

But death's honesty, that's real. Once you're gone it doesn't matter what you think, because you can't think.

Anything I write here will only dig a deeper hole, will only piss off those who may not agree with me, they can nitpick something I said and bounce back.

But where is Roger Waters now? All those pro-Palestinian agitators, the BDS people, so upset with Israel that they want to see its demise so the Palestinians can live peacefully...

I've got nothing to add. It's all there if you want to see it.

It was a surprise, that's one of the big stories. That Israel didn't see it coming.

What else are we not seeing coming.

It appears after the 1/6 convictions that no one is going to rise up in the streets to defend Trump. But it's not an impossibility.

And it's also not an impossibility that Trump is not the nominee. Then how does Biden look as a candidate? Strange things happen, isn't that the point here? I was surfing my phone late Friday night, catching up on the news, the last thing I expected to see was war in Israel. It reminded me of the death of Princess Diana, 9/11, I was just checking in online and I was confronted by information that did not compute, that I could not easily digest. It was visceral. No one had e-mailed me about it, it was personal and private, yet ultimately universal.

That's what it's like to be living in the world today. You get the information alone and immediately start texting people, did you see? That's how you get the word out.

We've got tons of information, yet people are still fighting wars like they always have.

And the problem remains the Jews. If only we can get rid of the Jews, everything will be all right.

What a bunch of crap that is, if for no other reason that there aren't even that many Jews on the planet. But a scapegoat, a group that many have a negative opinion about, who are ultimately expendable... Yup, shoot 'em up in the synagogue, throw rockets at them, it's those people, the other, the loudmouths, the money-changers, that are the problem.

It's Hamas. But it's also Kanye West. And the protesters in Charlottesville.

I'm not changing any minds here. I'm paying attention just like you. The hostages...it appears the Israelis value human life more than Hamas, otherwise they'd blow Gaza to smithereens.

We don't know exactly how this plays out. But one thing is for sure, the vaunted Israeli military...turns out not to be all-knowing, omnipotent, our perception was incorrect, things change.

And the Iron Dome... The last time Hamas fired rockets commentators said that Israel should share this technology with the Palestinians.

Yes, it's clear, the Israelis are the oppressors and the Palestinians are the oppressed. Really? Tell me, how do you live, how do you defend yourself, when the stated goal of your enemy is your complete demise, when this is not the first rodeo, when Jews have been eradicated, made pariahs for centuries.

Yup, especially you Jews. Keep on with that Palestinian b.s.

What a long strange trip it's been, and continues to be.


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A Change In The Game

Forget about the music, focus on the AUDIENCE!

WHAT?

Of course the music is important. But you're no longer playing to gatekeepers, there are no rules, no A&R guys scratching their chins. Oh, of course those people still exist, but if you're playing the hit single game you're on a fool's errand, or in country music, which is always a step behind the pop game, as in it's still controlled, but that won't be forever, as terrestrial radio continues to diminish in importance.

You used to depend on the label, on intermediaries, to build your audience. Now that's your responsibility. And no one cares how you do it. If someone is judging your music, ignore them. Phish never had a hit single. And neither has Tedeschi Trucks. But they both do a ton of live business, have fans who go to every show and can't stop testifying. The one act that appears most in my inbox is not Drake, or the Weeknd, or Taylor Swift, it's Phish. Their fans can't stop telling me about them. Now even the managers don't know how many Phish fans there are, whether it's the same people going to every show, but one thing's for sure, there are very few of them compared to the aforementioned big three, but they're dedicated, they lay out their dough, Phish shows are swimming in attendees, the band can even do festivals!

And it's not only Phish. There's Jason Isbell. On a smaller scale Wilco. These are two other acts people bug me about. Once again, who cares about the music, it's not made for you, it's made for those addicted, the fans. And if the circle grows it will be because of these fans, not mainstream media. The media is just a victory lap, especially for these acts that have been around for a while. The looky-loos have already checked them out and either said yes or no, and once they've said no it's nearly impossible to addict someone, there's just too much in the pipeline, people don't come back.

Of course you can have a popular record, but that does not mean you'll have fans. And how many people are actually hearing that record?

As for Taylor Swift, she wouldn't be a superstar if she hadn't started out in country music. And Coldplay wouldn't be selling out stadiums if they weren't one of the last acts under the wire before the VH1/music television paradigm died. You can't reach everybody today, world domination is nonexistent, forget about it, don't stay at home polishing that one track that's going to break you wide, instead go out and try to find fans, and if people don't like what you're doing figure out why and change it.

Those are the stories of today, people doing it their way, by themselves. Yes, Zach Bryan is now attached to Warner, but he started himself and plays by his own rules. And keeps putting out music, not caring about overwhelming the system, but satisfying his fans.

And if you want to be big, you must do the opposite of everybody else, just like the execrable Peter Thiel said. Don't try to imitate, don't do what everybody else does, that ship has sailed. You want to be unique, you want to create your own lane, you want to hoover up all the people everybody else ignores.

And want a tip? Make your lyrics, your story, personal. Yes, have an identity. Don't get good makeup, unless that's what you're selling, don't sing to hard drive, do it your way, so people can identify with you. I abhor the fact that Pink does her damn acrobatic act, I mean one tour okay, but forever? But she's the only one doing it, and people clamor for tickets, so my opinion doesn't matter. Also, she had hits before the entire system blew apart.

Forget the old rules. Forget protecting your interests. The music is just a vehicle to establish your audience. Don't complain about Spotify payments. If anybody is listening, great. Odds of having a billion plays of anything, which pays quite well by the way, are incredibly low. Your songs are a demonstration, manna for the fans, who'll go to the show, buy merch...

A manager is more important than a label. You don't want someone who can schmooze as much as someone who has vision, who can execute your vision, who can make things happen. Someone who doesn't depend on others but is a self-starter.

Forget the legacy acts. They were built in another era.

Forget pop, it's too expensive. To make the music, to get known, and it all appears phony anyway.

As for hip-hop... That's its own game, but the biggest people in it seem to be outsiders, who focus on authenticity more than an individual track. Then there are acts like Run the Jewels who have never had a hit, but have a huge audience.

But all that was in the past, and I'm talking about today.

It's all from the bottom up. The creator is king. The platform is irrelevant. You use them all. Yes, you must be on social media, yes you must reveal your inner life, must detail your life constantly, but not to grow your audience, but to satiate the one you already have, the one in control of your career, the one that will grow you...or not. If you don't know your biggest fans, you're doing it wrong. Believe me, they won't stop coming to shows, they won't stop hanging out, they'll contact you on the internet, empower them.

If you have a catchy song...

I'd argue that Dave Matthews was broken by "Ants Marching," and that was never a hit. But just like Coldplay, Dave and his band broke in the old era, with VH1, don't try to emulate Dave, other than his focus first on his audience. Dave doesn't appear to be playing the game, and he's got a sense of humor about the whole thing, he's only serious when he's actually playing.

I don't care what you think, it does not matter. Does not matter what I think. It's not about slicing and dicing, analyzing the tracks, if you're not interested, fine. It's just a matter of whether SOMEONE is interested, and whether the act can grow the fire. Yes, you're starting with kindling, and the spark might be a catchy tune, or something you do live, but it's not about a typical hit massaged by the machine. Hell, you could work with Max Martin, create a radio-friendly track, but odds are it won't help your career unless someone is spending a ton of money and telling you what to do, and you don't want that, because these people DON'T KNOW! Only you know, because you're online, you're on stage, you're in touch with your audience, you're feeling the vibe, you know what works and what does not.

As for money?

Your goal is to give up your day job. Which might never happen. But if it does, don't dream of mansions... Those are for somebody else, mostly people not in music at all. You want to be able to travel by bus, and have enough money for freedom when you're not working, to maybe go on vacation, possibly to an island. It's a lifestyle, you should be thrilled you can make a living playing music.

Having said that, and I hate to insert this caveat, I hate to go negative, but no one is entitled to a living playing music, absolutely no one. If you're complaining about streaming payments, ticket fees, how the world is stacked against you, you're a chump. It's just like every other business. There are hurdles, a labyrinth, and you have to figure out how to navigate, how to establish a path. And if you can't do it, it's your fault. Don't be a sucker, don't complain, no one is listening, just work. You'll know when you've got it right, you'll hear from the audience, and those are the only people who matter.

The downside is world domination is nearly impossible. The upside is you've got all the tools to do it yourself, and most of them are completely free, if not close to it. Create whatever music you want. Get the word out however you want. Monetize however you want. There are no rules, you're creating your path yourself. And it's going to be unique to you.

If you've got people listening, don't care if outsiders criticize your music, they're just haters, you're on to something, keep going.

Forget everything you ever knew. Forget reading music business books. Forget paying people for a leg up. Look into the mirror and have a conference with yourself, figure it all out yourself, it's scary, but thrilling.

And entirely doable.

As a matter of fact, it's the way to do it. Forget the labels and the publishers and the old media that are not hip. The agents are hip. That's the most important person after your manager. But you can even make it without playing live if you're innovative enough. But you need to let the people touch you. Which means you've got to be out there, honest, leaving some blood on the saddle.

There are more slots than ever. But only for truly creative people.

You can do it. Or maybe you can't. But there are plenty who can. They're inventing the new music business.


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Taylor Lorenz's Book

"Extremely Online": https://tinyurl.com/4kjthpmd

You've got to read it. Like right now. Like click that link and start in. Because this is the key to the real America, the real world, that the boomers and the straight media pooh-pooh but drives all the viewers, eats up all the attention, generates all the dollars.

Forget the backlash. That goes with the territory. Like the negative reviews on Amazon. They don't like Lorenz writing about their field, where they live, so they're hating on her, just like everybody does on social media. Like I've said again and again, if you're not experiencing online hate, you're not playing, or you're not honest enough, not posting enough, because social media is a giant pecking order, a greased pole that everybody wants to climb, and if they can't make it to the top they're going to tear you down in the process.

Lorenz left the "New York Times"... I've heard her version, I've read the public version, but one thing is for sure, the usual suspects at the "Times" had no time for her. Because she was part of the scene, part of what she was writing about, she didn't keep the usual distance, wasn't neutral in the way they were taught in J-school. But that paradigm went out with the internet itself. If you don't participate, you've got no idea what is truly happening. The old paradigm of who, what, why, where, when and how? Gone. We don't want reporters, we want the words of people living the lifestyle, in the pit, reporting back their experience. The cheese moved and the mainstream media denizens don't like it. So, social media is a criticized backwater just like rock and roll in the sixties... It's where all the youth are, it's driving the culture, but the oldsters denigrate it, say it's worthless, decry all the time the youth are spending on these social media sites.

So what we've got here is the history. From blogs to Friendster to MySpace to Facebook to...

And for a minute there I was bummed, because I know so much of this. But do most people know all this, do they care? Kind of like all those books about Napster and file-trading, the changes in music distribution...we all lived through it, who needed to be reminded of it. But most people did not live through social media, at least the kind who are going to read this book. They were too busy doing other stuff. But just like you laid on the rug in your bedroom, listening to records while you devoured "Rolling Stone," today's younger generations go online and spend that time on social media. Yes, want to know about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict? Go on TikTok. I'm not saying the straight news is doing a bad job here, but it's completely different from what you get on TikTok. On TikTok you get people testifying personally, the message is more vivid, it resonates, it's right here as opposed to over there.

That's right, many people use TikTok like Google, to research products, to find the news...

But even me...I don't know all the players in history. Maybe I know Maker Studios, but not the names of those who started it and the ins-and-outs of its development. You've got to know, in the beginning, there was not that much money in it, and therefore unless you were in the scene you ignored it, were clueless, like a developing band fifty years ago. They might ultimately break through, but the early albums, the gigs, the history, you had to be there. And with so much diversion in today's world, unless you lived on social media, you're not going to know all this information.

But there's a parallel story... How the usual players, the agents, the studios, ignored the growth of social media stars. Wanted nothing to do with them.

And then there is the platforms themselves. They were devised to do one thing, but then the creators took them somewhere else, a place unforeseen.

And if you were around in the early days of the record business, the post-Beatles music business, you'll know it was cottage industry, with people forming new companies, trying to figure it out, make a buck, and the music itself was so interesting that it attracted the brightest minds.

The brightest minds were in social media. Because they were willing to think independently, to pivot. It's one thing if you've got the template and follow it, but to create the template? That's something else.

As for the music business today, we're in a post-template world, and everybody who was around in the pre-internet era can't handle it, and hates it. The business used to be defined, and closed. You needed a major label, for distribution, to get paid. And the major label owned radio and the press and other means of public relations. Today? It's a free-for-all, everybody's got the tools, and everybody's creating. And there's a lot of dross, but there's a ton of great stuff too.

And it's mostly based on personality. Your identity, your life, your thoughts, your comings and goings...things that got excised as music became more centralized, as opportunity cost rose, these elements were squeezed out.

Again and again in the book, after being rejected by the usual gatekeepers, the creators wake up and ask themselves why they need these intermediaries, why can't they do it for themselves? And then they do and make beaucoup bucks.

Right now I'm only in Instagram, the book is chronological, but I got a text from Lewi about Aspen and I told him I was reading the book...Jim devours business books, and it immediately occurred to me that I had to tell him about it, that he had to read it.

You see it's a completely different vision. They're making it up as they go, with no restraints. That's what blew up the music business. Yes, you got Tull, Zeppelin and Joni Mitchell all burning up the charts at once. People were excited about music in general, they were open to everything, they didn't want something calculated, but something new and different.

This is where all the money is, social media. Used to be in the movie business, then in the music business, but now it's social media. Anybody can make it, but very few do. Then again, so many die trying.

But this is where you can express yourself. This is where you can connect with the public. And you don't have to narrowly define yourself, you can be who you are, changing along the way, and you can find an audience and thrive.

Don't tell me about some of the worthless influencers, who are prank-oriented, where there's so little there there, they're like Top Forty hits, getting all the ink but not representative of what is going on. You've got to dig deeper.

This is so exciting. This is the world today. And just about everybody with power is missing it! They don't understand it. All they can say is it's worthless and to get off your damn phone.

But that would be like telling people not to listen to their Jimi Hendrix records in the sixties... Where else could you get this excitement?

The economy is gigantic. As is the artistic expression. And most people are unaware of the details, how we got here, the building blocks, to their detriment.

There is not another book like "Extremely Online." It's a peek into a world that you don't know everything about unless you're living it 24/7 and based on my inbox and what I read in big time media, most people are not. This is a window, a decoder ring.

I'm telling you now. Buy and devour this book. It's not hard to read, you might get bogged down occasionally in the names, but isn't that just the point, the fact that you don't know who these people are, that you're clueless?

And the sites might change, but the bedrock remains. This is about people, expressing their humanity, that's where all the money and excitement is today, and if you want to know what is going on...

Read this book!


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