Brutalism is Back

 

Israel has many Brutalist public buildings, like Court Houses, the Negev Statue in Beer Sheva, and others. I never liked them, it seems to be lacking imagination, and sheer poverty. 

Yet, the Wall Street Times writes that "On balconies and in backyards, hulking stone chairs and chunky concrete tables are making their weighty presence known. The look, though not actually prehistoric, is one with a past. Brutalism, the modern-design movement more typically associated with no-frills 1960s and 1970s public buildings than patio furniture, has long been an aesthetic critics love to hate. So why, after years of trim minimalism, are designers embracing the monolithic look for the outdoors?"

Why? Because it is ugly in an impressive way.

President Biden COVID positive

 

He caught the virus on his Middle East tour. For a 79 y/o/ man it is rather worrying. 

Pic.: Vicepresident Kamala Haris. It seems to me that she will make a strong President. 

Stoned Bovine Art

 

The World as Anarchy vs Legality

 DER SPIEGEL: One of the basic assumptions of political realism (Mearsheimer) is that the international system is ultimately anarchic and that there is no authority above that of individual states. Does your experience confirm this assumption?
Kissinger (nearing his 100th birthday): No. The principle of sovereignty on which international relations were based in Europe, and via Europe, in the rest of the world, permits the evolution of the concept of legality in international law.  

The USA is working towards a world based on legality, establishing regional alliances like NATO, following the examples of the Athenian Delian League * and the Roman Latin Alliances. 

(*) The Delian League, founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, with a number of members between 150 and 330 under the leadership of Athens.

Success in Eastern Turkestan

Recently released Chinese census data show that in 2020, Xinjiang’s #Uyghur population aged 0-4 was only 36% the size of that aged 5-9, notes @fuxianyi of @UWMadison. https://bit.ly/3ANy8rV

Pic: Uyghur fighters in Idlib, Syria. But the Uyghurs are going and soon gone. China has defeated its Muslim terrorism. A success for the Chinese and a lesson for the rest of us. 

Arik Einstein z"l

The Deep State plans to police Israel

From the Jerusalem Post: 

If the Israeli government won’t protect Jews at the Kotel [Western Wall], then perhaps Jewish Agency security teams need to be placed there.”

The Jewish Agency was the pre-State organization established by the British Mandate to serve as the native executive arm of the Colonial government. This system of indirect rule mightily helped the British colonialists to avoid frictions with the natives and was intended, theoretically, to become the nucleus of future self-government. The British had a vast and successful colonial experience and these intermediate bodies, supervised by British political officers, permitted efficient rule with very few colonials. For example, India was ruled with the help of traditional rajas and princes, while Nigeria was ruled by a dozen Emirs and Obas and so, controlled by their British political secretaries. Nigeria had then about 30 million inhabitants, ruled by about 3000 colonial officers, most of them from India. And the country was peaceful, infrastructure was built and finances were healthy. A paradise.

The Brits half-organized the Jewish Agency and gave it some powers, such as selecting the Jewish immigrants. They also tried to create a parallel Arab Agency, but the Arabs were unable to work together and they had no literate manpower to operate the Agency. 

After the Independence of Israel, the pre-State organizations lost their raison d'etre. The paramilitary armies were integrated into Zahal (by force), and so on. When I arrived in Israel, the bureaucracy that dealt with immigration was the Jewish Agency (I received a collapsible bed, a kerosene heater, and other basic home accessories.)  I was offered a job in the Hativat HaHityashvut (the settlement division) of the Jewish Agency and I was surprised that these pre-State organizations did not disappear but continued to fulfill State functions. 

The Jewish Agency still exists and stands ready - no, is hungry - to recover its governmental function. Israel is becoming more and more Orthodox and discriminates against Reform immigrants. American immigrants tend to be "woke" and vocal in their demands for gender equality and privileges for colored immigrants (such as Ethiopians). Now the Jewish Agency offers to police Israel to ensure American woke "rights', such as non-profiling American Blacks, and protect American non-Jewish sects. Rightist Israel and woke American Jewry are moving apart and fighting for primacy. The Jewish Agency, partly financed by American Jewry, still holds powerful para-governmental functions and operates - in a way - as a Deep State. It is not secret and not conspirational but aspires to protect the American way in Israel, and I mean their crazy woke extremist females. I do not write "women" because American Supreme Court does not know what a woman is because they are not biologists. And I do not wish to offend or insult Americans by calling any one of them a "woman". 

Bottom Line: I did not know that the Jewish Agency has security teams. I learn every day.