The Truth Behind Sanctions

“Sanctions are one of America’s most powerful tools for pressuring rogue nations. Mr. Mnuchin has taken great pride in bolstering Treasury’s sanctions capacity and often says that he spends half of his time working on sanctions matters.” Really? “Rogue nations” turn out to be any nation that doesn’t kowtow to US demands. The rest of the world actually thinks we are the rogue nation undercutting treaties and agreements we have entered into, as well disregarding UN Security Council Resolutions we don’t agree with, regarding climate change, Iran, the Palestinian issues, the Golan Heights, the Cuban blockade. invading Iraq, etc. All with the excuse of nonexistent threats to “national security” — as if there is any real threat to the security of the world’s greatest military power from small countries just trying to get by and protect themselves from our lust for power and control.

“It would be a mistake to interpret the policy as being one of a step by step approach, where we release some sanctions in return for piecemeal steps toward denuclearization” said the administration official, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity. “That is not a winning formula and it is not the president’s strategy.” Actually, step by step is the only winning policy as North Korea is not dumb enough to accede to all our demands before we agree to give them anything in return. Our policies are designed to fail so we can have enemies to justify our bloated military budget.

NYTIMES.COM

Trump Overrules Own Experts on Sanctions, in Favor to North Korea

“President Trump likes Chairman Kim, and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary,” said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary.

Anti-Semitism and Philosophy

It is always dangerous to project our values and current opinions back upon thinkers of the past and hold them accountable to standards they could not have been aware of. This article does, I think, too much of that and also relies too much on secondary sources rather than the primary writings of these past thinkers. When we teach them today we tend to pass over their errors and emphasize the positive philosophical accomplishments achieved by them. With the possible exception of Heidegger, I really don't see that any of the mistaken views of these other past thinkers, especially Hume, Voltaire, and Kant have influenced current expressions of anti-Semitism or that they are particularly quoted by anti-Semites to justify their beliefs or that contemporary practitioners of the teaching of the history of philosophy are contributing to expressions of anti-Semitism as they are occurring today, which have their sources in contemporary political and ethnic conflicts we are all well aware of and have origins remote from the academy and the history of the Enlightenment.

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NYTIMES.COM

Opinion | Confronting Philosophy’s Anti-Semitism

Should we continue to teach thinkers like Kant, Voltaire and Hume without mention of the harmful prejudices they helped legitimize?

Racist Resolution Against Ilhan Omar Passed by Congress

Well, the following should be removed from the resolution as this was a dog and pony show which is an embarrassment for the Democrats, especially those with dual loyalties (to their voters and to lobbyists):“… imputations of dual loyalty threaten American democracy and have no place in American political discourse.” The US allows dual citizenship (and thus loyalty) and so this resolution is ridiculous. It’s really a manifestation of bigotry and racism against Ilhan Omar orchestrated by people with dual loyalties they don’t want to admit. It’s okay, and legal, to have dual loyalties either by dual citizenship or by sentiments — so why the fuss? 

"Dual citizenship. Based on the U.S. Department of State regulation on dual citizenship (7 FAM 082), the Supreme Court of the United States has stated that dual citizenship is a "status long recognized in the law" and that "a person may have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries and be subject to the responsibilities of both." Wikipedia article on dual citizenship: recommended reading for members of the House.

NYTIMES.COM

House Votes to Condemn All Hate as Anti-Semitism Debate Overshadows Congress

The House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a broad resolution condemning bigotry, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to defuse tension over Representative Ilhan Omar.

US Upsets Korean Summit

“But Mr. Trump’s offer was essentially the same deal that the United States has pushed — and the North has rejected — for a quarter century. Intelligence agencies had warned him, publicly, Mr. Kim would not be willing to give up the arsenal completely. North Korea itself had said repeatedly that it would only move gradually.” Reading between the propaganda lines in this article we find out that North Korea offered to dismantle its main nuclear research center for relief from some of the sanctions imposed on it — those since 2016 which were designed to mostly affect the civilian population (the US has long sought to punish the people of a government it doesn’t like to turn them against it). This offer was completely rational and was put forth as a first step to build trust and confidence which the North correctly stated did not yet exist between the two countries. To demand complete 100% capitulation to American demands before any sanctions would be lifted was never a serious position. This whole farce was conducted to make the North seem sneaky and untrustworthy even though, as the above quote shows the position of the North was essentially what they have been saying for a quarter of a century. What they want is a lifting of sanctions, a peace treaty to end the war, and a promise of no nuclear first strike against them. The US is openly stalling on all three of these goals. Until the US stops its bullying and aggressive warmongering which is the subtext of its dealings with the North despite Trump’s palsy-walsy approach, there can be no serious improvement in relations. The South is taking a much more rational approach and we should follow their lead as the whole reason we are in Korea is claimed to be to protect the South from the North and if the South is happy with the North’s gradual approach to improving relations step by step we should be too.

NYTIMES.COM

How the Trump-Kim Summit Failed: Big Threats, Big Egos, Bad Bets

President Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea had dramatically different visions of what “denuclearization” meant, dooming their deal.