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I've Been Thinking:
There has been a salmonella recall on Israeli chocolate made in the Strauss Elite Nazareth plant. Elite was bought by Strauss. Strauss is owned by Unilever. Unilever, of course, has gained notoriety as the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
Almost every Israeli has grown up on Elite chocolate. This was a big blow to the Israeli public – from toddler to senior citizen and everyone in between.
The salmonella was first detected by inspectors before Passover - but they did not go public until after Passover so as not to hurt the mood of Passover or, probably more importantly, their bottom line.
Ofra Strauss, the chair of the Strauss Group apologized to the public. She said: "I apologize for letting you down. We pledge that we will fix the flaws and return our products to the shelves only when they are safe."
Eyal Dror, CEO of Strauss Israel, explained the timeline: "About a month before the incident, there were pigeons in the chocolate factory. We got a couple of complaints from one of our clients, and indications of product anomalies, but we didn't listen or look into it, and that's not right."
The “incident” Dror refers to is the time when the salmonella was officially detected – not when the report was released. So they knew of the danger and continued producing chocolate and shipping chocolate for a month.
These executives showed sheer incompetence and a lack of regard for their customers, their health and their wellbeing. That is criminal. They must be prosecuted for their decision and their own words can be used against them.
They just wanted to sell more product.
Think about it. How could pigeons ever be permitted in a sterile food factory. Every worker on the factory floor wears masks, gloves, white coats and those silly looking white shower caps. Look at their videos on Youtube.
This isn’t Purim or Halloween. They wear disposable outfits because when you come into contact with food, you are legally required to sanitize. Everything should be as close to sterile as possible.
What would happen if there were reports of pigeons in an operating room? Would responsible leadership wait a month see if some inspector detects impurities? No way! Not even in Iran!
This is about more than chocolate. There should be national outrage. The board should replace the Elite Strauss leadership.
Strauss Elite decided not to inform the public of a risk and not to shut down. They decided to continue to sell beloved chocolates and ice cream and spreads that they knew was dangerous to consume.
What they did not know was just how dangerous. And that is the biggest legal issue. It was wanton disregard for the health of the public. Management took the risk. Thankfully, no one died.
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I've Been Thinking:
By now, almost everyone has heard of the city of Mariupol.
But did you know that the great yeshivah of Ponevezh (Ponevitch) relocated to Mariupol in 1914 and tried to remain safe in that city during the inter-war years.
Originally located in Lithuania, during World War I, the Ponevezh Yeshiva was forced to shut its doors by the Germans. They looked for a safer place to re-open and Mariupol was the perfect spot. At the time it was about 20% Jewish – that was about 5,000 Jews.
And located on the Black Sea, it was far from the fighting.
After the War the Yeshiva went back to Ponevezh, but in 1939 it was caught between both Germany and Russia who were both squeezing it.
The Rosh Yeshiva, the head of the yeshiva, was able to save the prestigious school and reestablish it once again. In 1944 the Yeshiva of Ponovezh opened its doors in Bnei Brak, Israel
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I've Been Thinking:
Seven Israelis were convicted of celebrating the brutal murder a Palestinian toddler and his parents.
They were members of the Dawabsheh family and they were murdered in 2015 during an act of arson.
The Jerusalem Magistrates Court found the men guilty of “glorifying murder with song and dance”. The dance and song took place at a wedding.
There is an issue of freedom of expression. But this behavior was not appropriate and it was beneath the threshold of acceptability.
The court was correct. There is no first amendment right in Israel. It is not as all-encompassing as it is in the United States.
Shame on those seven Israelis.
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I've Been Thinking:
Both Microsoft and the government of the United States have discovered that Russia has been attacking Ukraine with digital hacks.
In fact, Russia has been aggressively targeting infrastructure and media and communications systems. It is part of a larger military strategy initiated by Russia to strike and disrupt life in Ukraine.
The Russians are, of course, using the standard bot and malicious software.
The United States discovered a Russian cyber weapon called “Pipe Dream.”
Pipe Dream is extremely dangerous. It targets Industrial Control Systems (ISC). That means power grids, water supplies, hospitals, pumping stations, sewage, trains and bridges. Pipedream is called a Swiss Army Knife because it has so very many adjustable tools.
It was discovered by a group of US teams working to keep the United States safe. The Department of Energy, the Department of Cyber Security, the Infrastructure Security Agency, the NSA, and the FBI all played a role in uncovering Pipe Dream.
Making it even more of a threat, Pipe Dream’s attack software targets Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture (OPC UA). That is our internet and computer systems.
To complicate matters, Pipe Dream may not have been developed by Russian hackers. It was probably purchased from Schneider Electric or from Omicron- both are now selling this product.
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I've Been Thinking:
Most people have never heard of and certainly can’t pronounce the word flechettes.
The best way to describe flechettes is the wing on a throwing dart or the feathers on an arrow. On military weapons, flechettes are the fins.
One type of weapon which uses flechettes is the cluster bomb - which is an illegal weapon according to today’s rules of war. The cluster bomb explodes high and releases hundreds of mini bombs that spread in all directions.
Russia uses flechettes. The Russians used flechettes in their invasion into Ukraine and especially in the city of Bucha. The Russians fired 122mm shells and hundreds of 3 mm flechettes flew out to attack Ukrainians.
As I said – flechettes are an illegal weapon according to today’s rules of war. Russia knows that. Russia, aka Vladimir Putin, does not care.
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I've Been Thinking:
One of the biggest issues Palestinians have with the Abraham Accords is that the Palestinians are no longer dictating the way other Arabs and Muslims see Israel.
Israelis and Arab leaders are engaged in trade and activity. The Palestinians are watching from the sidelines. The Palestinians are not even in the game.
But the tide may have turned for the Palestinians.
Some Palestinian advocates are claiming that recent violence on the Temple Mount may be what is needed to once again put their agenda on the front burner of the Arab world.
In a recorded speech, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, head of Hezbollah, said that: "the Palestinian Issue is returning to life and gaining supporters and additional combatants that are willing to sacrifice themselves for its cause. The enemy relied on the time to pass and for the nations to forget the Palestinian issue, but what's happening is the opposite.”
Nasrallah spoke of the riots being waged on the Temple Mount, referring to them as the resistance, and said that: "its returning today and with it the sword in Gaza that defends it like it did last year."
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I've Been Thinking:
A leopard, walking around your neighborhood, jumping from porch to porch and then to the ground is simply – to put it bluntly, not normal.
But that is exactly what recently happened in the Iranian city of Ghaemshahr, located in northern Iran.
The leopard attacked a policeman. It was subsequently wounded by police who shot it in order to save their colleague. The policeman is in stable condition.
The leopard was taken to a wild life refuge. These leopards are an endangered species. Unfortunately, the leopard died.
More and more. wild animals are encroaching upon and entering human domains. What was once unheard of, is now happening all over.
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I've Been Thinking:
There have been some shocking studies about US youth and their attitudes toward Israel and why they developed to those attitudes. College students were polled and here are some of their responses.
When questioned about feeling a “responsibility” towards Israel the responses were: 33% feel some responsibility, 23% feel little responsibility, and 12% feel no responsibility.
About responsibility for fellow Jews in the United States: only 9% feel a great deal of “responsibility” to help fellow Jews in the U.S., 33% feel some responsibility, 30% feel little responsibility, and 18% feel no responsibility.
These numbers are, quite frankly, shocking.
Nearly half of the college students polled have little to no “responsibility” for their fellow Jews in the United States.
“Responsibility” is a loaded term. It implies more commitment than the word “care” or “feeling”. But this is worrisome.
At the same time, 23% of the students polled reported that the anti-Israeli climate on campus or elsewhere has forced them to hide their Jewish identity. And 28% say the anti-Israeli climate on campus and elsewhere has made them rethink their own commitment to Israel. 54% say it has not affected them.
Jews are hiding their Jewish identity and young Jews are questioning their connections to Israel because of the toxic climate on campus.
That is a problem. It is a big, worrisome, problem.
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I've Been Thinking:
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas is livid that Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh is playing a role in talks regarding increased tensions in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount.
Not just any role, a large role.
Haniyeh was in touch with senior Egyptian intelligence officials, with Qatari ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and his foreign minister and with UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland.
The Hamas leader also contacted Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi.
Ismael Haniyeh lives in Doha, Qatar under the sponsorship and protection of the Qataris.
It seems as if important people are listening to him and taking his calls.
None of that bodes well for Mahmoud Abbas.
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I've Been Thinking:
Kamala Harris, vice president of the United States, served Psagot wine at her seder. The picture was splashed all over the twittersphere.
Actually, it was condemned all over the twittersphere.
Psagot wine is made in Samaria, in the north part of the West Bank just outside of Ramallah.
Quickly doing damage control. Hadar Susskind, head of Americans for Peace Now tweeted an explanation. She tweeted: "I absolutely believe that the VP did not intend to serve wine produced in a settlement. But this mistake came about because of policy. Specifically, the Trump administration policy which erased the Green Line and allowed products made in West Bank settlements to be labeled as 'Made in Israel.'"
Susskind urged her membership to: "sign this petition to urge Secretary of State Antony Blinken to reverse Trump’s embracement of West Bank settlements."
I am flabbergasted, simply flabbergasted.
The wine served by the vice president and her husband was a very good wine and I compliment the selection. But if you think it was wrong to select that wine – say it was wrong. Condemn the selection. Don’t try to justify it.
This is an example of one of the big issues that emerges in covering this administration. It appears as if the right is the only group that criticizes the administration.
Part of the role of ideologues is to be true to their ideology. That’s not what happened here. Instead we have a perfect example of ideology morphing into a political apology.
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I've Been Thinking:
Passover and Easter overlapped this year.
That coincidence provides a perfect opportunity to illustrate how certain aspects of Christianity misread the life of Jesus – and that misunderstanding led to the persecution of Jews over the millennia.
For instance, whenever the Passion (the story of the crucifixion in Christian tradition) is read - anti-Jewish acts happen in its wake. The theology emerges out of an idea called supersessionism.
Supersessionism is the concept that Christianity replaced Judaism. It is best seen in the Christian names of the Bibles. And in the New versus the Old – in the idea that the new Christian Bible takes the place of the old Hebrew Bible.
It is also seen in the notion that Jesus was lapse in His Jewish observance. New scholarship, with very few exceptions, totally reject this. They assert that Jesus was an observant Jew, including issues of ritual purity.
If more Christians studied and were taught the real roots of Jesus, it would go a long way to fighting the awful plague of Jew hatred ravaging the world today.
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I've Been Thinking:
The head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary faction in Lebanon announced that with just $9 billion they could wipe Israel off the map.
According to Mohamed Raad: “The resistance only needs $9 billion and there will be nothing left called Israel in the region.”
That is, to put it mildly, a very bold statement.
When you analyze the statement, however, you see that Raad and Hezbollah demonstrate two major weaknesses.
Number one - they do not understand the value of the dollar. When speaking in military terms, $9 billion is not all that much money.
Number two - they do not have an understanding of Israel’s military power.
I can guarantee that if they were to get $9 billion and tried to destroy Israel, they would be the ones to be destroyed.
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I've Been Thinking:
A family was hiking in southern Israel in the Arava Desert, in Nachal Tamar, when two daughters wandered off the path. The younger daughter was 6 years old and the older one was 13.
The children wandered on to a minefield.
Thankfully, the girls had the presence of mind to call emergency services.
After four wrenching hours, they were finally safe and sound. Two of those hours were spent standing still in the very same spot and two were spent slowly, very slowly, making their way back to safety - personally guided by sappers.
The two girls, along with a sapper, wore large mats on their feet which spreads the weight so as not to trigger an undiscovered mine.
Because they were in the desert, police suggested they use drones to deliver water so that the children would they not dehydrate. But the parents feared that the drone would disturb a mine and they nixed the idea.
It was an emotional and harrowing four hours and after making it to safety the sisters ran into their parent’s loving arms.
This story had a happy ending. Israeli police are using this story to call on all hikers to pay attention and stick to signed paths. Good advice.
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I've Been Thinking:
Silverstein, the beloved children’s author and artist, is being honored with a US postal stamp.
Silverstein was born in Chicago in 1930, he died in 1999.
“The Giving Tree” is Silverstein’s greatest work. It tells the story of the friendship between a boy and a tree. The commemorative stamp features a picture of the boy catching an apple.
A marvelous lesson about the relationship between trees and people, “The Giving Tree” is read ubiquitously in Jewish education.
Children read the book themselves or have the book read to them every year on Tu B’shvat. What a wonderful way to celebrate the New Year of Trees.
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I've Been Thinking:
A bottlenose dolphin was found dead in a fish farm in the port of Ashdod.
There are only an estimated 300-400 of these dolphins in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. They are considered “vulnerable” – in other words, they are at risk of extinction.
The authorities and investigators and, of course, the expert marine biologists were all called to make certain that there was no foul play at the fish farm.
They discovered that the body of this eight-foot-long dolphin had marks around the dorsal fin and the pectoral fins. It was determined that the dolphin had probably gotten tangled in the fishing nets or ropes that are used to secure ships in the Ashdod port.
Other marks were also seen on the dolphin. According to the scientists, those marks were caused by members of the pod that had tried to free the dolphin. Dolphins work together to solve common problems. As a pod they even coordinate to take out sharks.
This is the third dolphin this year to be washed ashore. All three of these dolphins were caught in nets or ropes.
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I've Been Thinking:
An Israeli fisherman, fishing off the coast of Ashdod, spotted a hammerhead shark.
The fisherman contacted the Israel Nature and Parks Reserve. They sent out two inspectors – and they found the shark.
It is very unusual to find a hammerhead shark in the Mediterranean.
This hammerhead was over 6 feet long. The inspectors observed and filmed the shark for over an hour.
Hammerheads are considered rare and endangered in the Mediterranean. Experts approximated that there were only 12 hammerheads in the entire Mediterranean.
This sighting, in addition to being exciting, is evidence that the shark population is expanding in the Mediterranean area.
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I've Been Thinking:
The now famous Texas synagogue – the synagogue that captured the attention of the world when the synagogue rabbi and three congregants were held captive by a terrorist - recently re-opened.
Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, TX had been damaged by the attack. Windows were broken and doors were destroyed. There were bullet holes in the walls.
Much of the synagogue needed to be repaired.
Anna Salton Eisen, a synagogue founder, said that the scene reminded her of the abandoned synagogues in Poland, still marked with bullets from World War II, that she saw while visiting that country in 1998 with her parents — both Holocaust survivors.
She said: “I was standing in my synagogue this time and it was just empty and silent and it showed the marks of the violence that had occurred.”
Eisen added that the return to their synagogue will help the healing process for her fellow congregants.
She said: “We are not defeated and we are not going to live in fear.”
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I've Been Thinking:
Hamas slammed Arab and Muslim countries that condemned the recent spate terror attacks in Israel.
Hamas supported the terror attacks. They were not responsible and did not claim responsibility. They certainly gave their support and heaped praise on the terrorist and their actions.
Concerning the nations and leaders who condemned the terror, Hamas published a statement.
"We were surprised by the condemnation. Resistance is the protection of people and holy places and is a right enshrined in international law," the Islamist terror outfit said.
"Israel's aggressive policy against the Palestinian people is one of the causes of terrorism and racism around the world."
The hardest thing for people is their last statement that Israel is the cause for terror and racism around the world.
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I've Been Thinking:
Israel has seen an uptick in terror and yet, the international media is reluctant to call it “terror”.
Instead, they rewrite the events - placing blame on Israel.
Here is a recent Reuters news agency release. "Israeli forces shoot dead Palestinian after Tel Aviv bar attack". Well, yes – BUT – only after the Palestinian perpetrated a terror attack that killed 3 people. That detail was omitted from the original release.
Only after a huge backlash did Reuters rewrite the lead. Now it read: "Israeli security forces on Friday shot dead a Palestinian suspected of killing three people in a Tel Aviv bar, in the latest attack in a series amid renewed tensions between Palestinians and Israelis".
Better but not quite accurate. It places the emphasis and the wrongdoing on Israeli security forces. And the words “terror” and “terrorist” and still not mentioned.
The BBC posted this biased portrayal of the terror attack: "Palestinian gunman killed by Israeli security forces after deadly attack at Tel Aviv bar".
The Guardian depicted the events this way: "Israeli forces kill Palestinian after Tel Aviv shooting leaves two dead". It was later altered to read: "Israel: Two dead after gunman opens fire in Tel Aviv bar".
Fox got it correct - but hedged a little: "Israeli forces kill Palestinian after Tel Aviv shooting leaves two dead". Later altered it to: "Israel: Two dead after gunman opens fire in Tel Aviv bar".
This is a moral problem.
Murdering Israeli Jews simply because they are Israeli Jews is terror and it is racism.
How do these people, people others depend on for information, not lose the high ground for their moral inconsistency?
Every decent person must label these events properly and condemn the murder of innocent people, targeted because and only because, they are Israeli Jews.
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I've Been Thinking:
Support for a single state solution of the Israeli/Palestinian situation is higher now than it has been.
A recent survey shows that 33% of Palestinians support the idea that there should be only one state for both Israelis and Palestinians. The study was done by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.
Just three months ago, 24% of Palestinians supported a single state solution.
The one state solution is most popular among young people and nationalists.
This study indicates that the mainstream population of the Palestinians have lost confidence - or are quickly losing confidence, in their leadership to bring a resolution to the stalemate.
This number represents the highest number in 30 years of surveys on this subject.
If there were to be a single state, the populations would be split evenly with about 7 million Israelis and 7 million Palestinians.
The results of these studies suggest a troubling future in terms of resolving this problem.
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I've Been Thinking:
Support for a single state solution of the Israeli/Palestinian situation is higher now than it has been.
A recent survey shows that 33% of Palestinians support the idea that there should be only one state for both Israelis and Palestinians. The study was done by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.
Just three months ago, 24% of Palestinians supported a single state solution.
The one state solution is most popular among young people and nationalists.
This study indicates that the mainstream population of the Palestinians have lost confidence - or are quickly losing confidence, in their leadership to bring a resolution to the stalemate.
This number represents the highest number in 30 years of surveys on this subject.
If there were to be a single state, the populations would be split evenly with about 7 million Israelis and 7 million Palestinians.
The results of these studies suggest a troubling future in terms of resolving this problem.
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I've Been Thinking:
Support for a single state solution of the Israeli/Palestinian situation is higher now than it has been.
A recent survey shows that 33% of Palestinians support the idea that there should be only one state for both Israelis and Palestinians. The study was done by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.
Just three months ago, 24% of Palestinians supported a single state solution.
The one state solution is most popular among young people and nationalists.
This study indicates that the mainstream population of the Palestinians have lost confidence - or are quickly losing confidence, in their leadership to bring a resolution to the stalemate.
This number represents the highest number in 30 years of surveys on this subject.
If there were to be a single state, the populations would be split evenly with about 7 million Israelis and 7 million Palestinians.
The results of these studies suggest a troubling future in terms of resolving this problem.
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I've Been Thinking:
Michael Bloomberg has joined forces with the Sagol family to help mayors in Israel become better mayors.
They have created The Bloomberg-Sagol Center for City Leadership at Tel Aviv University.
Bloomberg is drawing on the experience he has gained from his own Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative at the Kennedy School for Government and the Harvard Business School.
At the launch event held at Tel Aviv University, Michael Bloomberg explained the thinking behind the newly created center in Israel this way: “Mayors are on the front lines of every crisis, whether it’s terrorism or a pandemic. The series of recent terrorist attacks in Israel underscores the urgency of this new initiative, which is aimed at helping mayors confront their most difficult challenges and most pressing crises.”
“Israel has always been an inspiration due to its fortitude and the resolve you continue to show in the face of terror. In New York we are in tremendous gratitude to all those countries who stood by us and helped after 9/11, especially Israel, and one small way we can repay the debt is by replicating the program that has been phenomenally successful in the United States.”
The Bloomberg-Sagol Center will have a significant impact on municipal leadership in Israel.
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I've Been Thinking:
Forbes published its list of billionaires and Elon Musk tops the list with $219 billon.
Miriam (Miri) Adelson hit the list at #50 with $27 billion. Miri is the widow of Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate.
Together, Sheldon and Miri created the newspaper Israel Hayom. Miri remains owner of the Israeli paper.
Israel Hayom is the largest newspaper in Israel. It is distributed, for free, across Israel. The thinking behind the paper has always been to challenge mainstream media in Israel – media that has generally been left leaning or even extreme left.
Miri Adelson continues the tradition of philanthropy she and her husband began. Their generous support was and still is given to education in Israel, education about Israel and Jewish causes.
The Adelson’s were also very large contributors to Republican causes and candidates.
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I've Been Thinking:
Iran is pointing their finger. And that finger is aimed directly at the United States. They are blaming the United States for the stalemate in the nuke talks.
While significant progress was made in the latest round of talks, the talks taking place in Vienna have stalled.
An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman did not mince words. He said the United States is responsible for the pause in talks between Tehran and world powers in Vienna aimed at reviving their 2015 nuclear deal.
Speaking during a weekly news conference Saeed Khatibzadeh said: "America is responsible for the halt of these talks ... a deal is very much within reach … Washington should make political decision for the deal's revival."
And then he added that Tehran would "not wait forever".
If it sounds like a threat – it is.
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I've Been Thinking:
AirBnB has announced that it is now suspending all operations in Russia and in Belarus.
The company statement announcing this decision reads: "Guests globally will no longer be able to make new reservations for stays or experiences in Russia or Belarus."
Brian Chesky, AirBnB CEO, added that reservations starting on or after April 4th have been canceled. This policy change was announced on Twitter.
This is a small but essential move.
AirBnB is a huge company and travelers have learned to rely on this service when travelling both domestically and to foreign destinations.
Many more US corporations that service Russia and Belarus should be following AirBnB’s move. They, too, must pull out of Russia and Belarus and they must pull out now.
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I've Been Thinking:
Afghanistan just outlawed the farming of poppy.
Poppy is what makes opium.
Afghanistan was producing over 6,000 tons of opium.
Poppy is their largest single export - amounting to billions of dollars. And the Taliban declared that if farmers continue to grow their poppy, their fields will be burned.
Every year for the last 6 years, Afghanistan has broken records in poppy and opium production. They are the largest producer of poppy and opium in the world. So large that Afghanistan produces more than all the other poppy producers in the entire world combined.
The US has spent $8 billion over the past 2 decades trying to eradicate the crop.
The Taliban outlawed poppy and opium once before, in 2001. It ruined their economy. This time, Afghanistan will probably suffer the same end result. This decision will probably further ruin their already failed economy.
On the bright side, if Afghanistan no longer produces opium. there will be fewer hard drugs on the market.
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I've Been Thinking:
There has been a spike in terror attacks against Israelis.
It could be considered a wave of terror.
These most recent terrorists are operating on their own - independent of organizational support and coordination.
They are lone wolves. They are, however, affiliated with IS the Islamic State, which used to be called ISIS.
Lone wolves are very difficult to defend against.
They have no real network or command structure. One cannot infiltrate or pay for information about them. Lone wolves get radicalized online, from the internet, and they get their info because they are locals.
And that is why Israel the government is telling Israelis that everyone needs to be alert and vigilant. Every Israeli must try their best to detect lone wolves.
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I've Been Thinking:
The Abraham Accords, begun under the administration of Donald J. Trump, continue to produce positive results.
The most recent result is a free trade agreement signed between the United Arab Emirates and Israel.
Negotiations for the deal were pretty straight forward. They focused on imports and exports, regulations, customs and government purchases. The most important element in this new agreement is that trade between the two nations expand and that is because trade will be stimulated by having no tax on any deals between the two countries.
The groundwork for the deal was laid during Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s trip to the UAE last September.
These are very positive moves. There is significant benefit not only for both these countries, but also for the region. Positive results and important change will emerge because of these Abraham Accord deals.
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