Steve Kelman on Politics, Culture, and Life, 12.15.23
Steve Kelman, Harvard Kennedy School prof, moderate Dem, pro free speech/anti cancel culture, pro tax rich, pro-Israel. Research improving gov performance, China interest. Blog reprints Facebook posts
Opposition to Hamas in Gaza
An article in the Jewish Insider Daily newsletter discusses growing opposition in Gaza to Hamas.
House impeachment inquiry
The sole "reason" for the House impeachment "inquiry" is to harass the President. Not a pretty picture.
Feminist silence on Israeli rapes
An editorial in Sweden's leading daily asks: "Why are feminists so quiet about what happened to Israeli women?"
Israeli couscous
The Forward reports that the word "Israeli" on an "Israeli couscous salad" served in the Yale dining halls was removed but then restored after public objections by an Israeli student at the college. Wow. (I learned from the story that "Israeli" couscous has larger pearls than classic Mideast couscous.)
James Bond: zippo lighters and Soviets
Have just started Ian Fleming's From Russia with Love, which Barack Obama identifies as one of his ten very favorite novels. On the first few pages, there is a reference to a Soviet spy using a zippo lighter. This dredged up an ancient memory from my 7-week visit to East Germany in 1971, which formed the basis for my book Behind the Berlin Wall, The Stasi minder who accompanied me for almost my entire time there was very proud of his zippo lighter and American razor blades, both unavailable to ordinary East Germans. I have occasionally wondered what happened to him after my book came out; it cannot have been a career-enhancing event for him.
Jailed pro-democracy advocate in Hong Kong
The UK foreign secretary has met with the son of jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai. China's Global Times has written about this: "It is well known that Jimmy Lai is a notorious anti-China and chaos-inciting figure in Hong Kong. He was the mastermind behind the turmoil in Hong Kong and has blatantly colluded with external forces to endanger national security through numerous misdeeds. It is beyond reproach for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to seek to hold him accountable," Those not beholden to Beijing in Hong Kong and abroad should be calling for Lai's release.
James Bond: there was a SMERSH
With only minimal James Bond knowledge, I had vaguely heard of SMERSH, the Soviet intelligence organization in the novels. It turns out this organization indeed existed, it means (in reality, and as the intro to the novel states), "Death to spies."
China and Vietnam
China is pressing Vietnam to upgrade their relationship from its current "comprehensive strategic partnership" to a "community of common destiny." I see.
Evangelical Christians and Israel
The outside of the envelope that arrived in the mail today said in big letters: "TERRORISTS ASSAULT GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE. PLEASE HELP RUSH AID TO JEWISH WAR VICTIMS." Since Jews never emblazon a statement that Jews are God's chosen people, and few Jews would use this language today at all, I immediately suspected that this came from one of these evangelical Christian organizations that claim to love Jews but actually believe we will all be killed in an Armageddon battle against Satan. Indeed, the return address was MJAA, which, it turns out, is the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, and inside is an endorsement from Pat Robertson and Billy Graham's daughter. Wonder how I got on this list.
I am still continuing to get a huge number of pro-Palestine links on my feed. I have no idea why these continue to come and come. I do not open up the ones I receive. Why is this happening?
China targets pessimism
China's internet censors have announced a campaign to target short video clips online that promote "pessimism."
Insider trading on Hamas attack?
A new paper discussed in The Economist suggests that Hamas people aware of the impending October 7 attack may have successfully made short sales of Israeli securities and stock options.
Is anti-Zionism always anti-semitic?
The Times has an article on the front page on whether anti-Zionism is automatically anti-semitic. I am a strong supporter of Israel, but I believe it is possible to oppose the idea of Israel without being antisemitic. Historically, especially before establishment of the state of Israel, there were many Jews who were anti-Zionists.
Humanities majors in China have job problems
Beijing Review has an article on how humanities majors in China have a more difficult time in the job market than science majors. The hashtag "majors in arts and humanities transferring to computer science" is popular on the Chinese internet. Sounds like the US!
Private space launches in China
Beijing Review has an article on the participation of private Chinese firms in space launches, though the highest launch to date has only been 400 meters (a bit more than 400 yards). This seems to be their version of SpaceX.