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Israel’s Incremental Genocide in the Gaza Ghetto

Ilan Pappe The Electronic Intifada, Common Dreams
The Zionist strategy of branding its brutal policies as an ad hoc response to this or that Palestinian action is as old as the Zionist presence in Palestine itself. It was used repeatedly as a justification for implementing the Zionist vision of a future Palestine that has in it very few, if any, native Palestinians. And nowadays the vision is of an Israel stretching over almost the whole of historic Palestine where millions of Palestinians still live.

Jazz Musician Charlie Haden Spoke for Beauty

Chris Barton Los Angeles Times
Jazz is by nature a contradiction. No other music is so dependent upon individuality, but it hinges on an interplay with others in a giving, attentive way that emphasizes communication and communion. The single voice is key, but it takes on a rare power within the ensemble. Charlie Haden embodied that duality with a vital and beautiful grace.

Why You Can't Ignore Religion If You Want to Understand Foreign Policy

Leo P. Ribuffo History News Network
Historians cannot understand the behavior of the American people past and present without paying serious attention to nationalism and religion--or, more precisely, religions, since religion is a weak category. The relationship between religions and foreign relations is more problematic. Thus my text for this sermon is an old American adage, sometimes attributed to Mark Twain: For someone with a hammer everything looks like a nail.

Could A Socialist Senator Become A National Brand?

Alisa Chang National Public Radio
Sanders is the only member of Congress who calls himself a socialist. And if you're wondering how a Democratic socialist differs from a Democrat, he'll point to the time he took to the Senate floor for 8 1/2 hours in 2010, railing against President Obama for supporting Bush-era tax cuts. That's drawn him few fans in corporate America. But in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, a rural dairy farming region, Bernie does really well.

Keeping an Eye on Wayward Studies

Ira Flatow/Ivan Oransky Science Friday podcast (transcription by Portside)
Ivan Oransky, co-founder of the Retraction Watch blog, discusses the scientific process, what can go wrong, and the differences between misconduct and honest mistakes