Thursday, December 26, 2019

Current Events Discussion Topics

An on-line "Zoom" discussion is conducted every Monday morning at 9:30am Chicago time through the North Shore Senior Center hosted by Ron Mantegna. You can enroll in this discussion session at   https://www.nssc.org/

Ron conducts a Northbrook Library zoom discussion every 1st and 3rd and 5th Thursday, 10-11:30am. Open free to all who enroll.  Contact the Northbrook Library to connect with Ron Mantegna.                                                                                         

Congress defied Trump on Epstein files. Are we at an early stage of Trump as a “Lame Duck”?  Will Epstein’s many victims ever see justice? Might we see names of significant wrong-doers? How likely is it that some victims will take the risk to name names if Justice doesn’t release names?

 

How fair is it to blame Trump for rising prices? But is Trump making Biden’s mistake by trying to convince America, “You’re really OK”? People clearly don’t feel OK about their personal economy.

 

People hate when benefits are taken away. What happens now to address Obamacare? Will Congress support extending costly subsidies? Will Republicans finally offer a new plan?

 

Things happen.” What does America gain by disregarding human rights sins of Saudi’s Crown Price? Is “swinging a business deal” more important than standing up for our values?


How dangerous is this? Are both sides wrong? Congressional Democratic leaders warned that the President’s posts accusing several Democrat senators of “seditious behavior from traitors, punishable by death" would encourage political violence against lawmakers. Democrats were in a viral video calling on members of the military and intelligence community to refuse to carry out illegal orders from higher-ups. While this is true, is there evidence of any illegal orders being issued?

 

Which Party may have the advantage in the Redistricting battle we see in several states?

 

Trump is offering a new peace plan for Ukraine that basically supports Putin, asking Ukraine to give up land and cut their army. Are Americans OK if we stop supporting Ukraine?

 

The predictit.org site takes bets on who will be elected President in 2028. It has Vance at 27%, Newsom at 21%, AOC 7%, seven at 4% or less. What is that telling us?

 

How does a 50-Year Mortgage help with Affordability?

 

How meaningful is a $2,000 “Tariff Dividend Check”?

 

How concerned should we be about Racism here? Paul Ingrassia is a racist, and was picked to lead the office of special counsel. Lacking votes, he dropped out. Was this staff incompetence? Or was a political message being sent to please racist voters? But…what message was sent now that he was picked to serve as deputy general counsel at the General Services Administration?

 

Racist move? Or just treating Immigration more fairly? Biden limited refugees to 125,000. Trump cut limits to 7,500—with 7,000 being Afrikaners, a group not traditionally eligible for the program. The Administration says they have been “tyrannized by South Africa’s Black majority”. The other 500 will be chosen by their ability to speak English and views on “free speech,” upending a system that for decades took in people fleeing conflict and persecution anywhere regardless of race or language.

Is AG Bondi breaking any laws by acting as “hit person” against Trump’s political enemies?

 

Are national parks and museums wrong to cover how bad Slavery was? Does History need to be more positive? What’s more harmful: not covering full details, or covering it all?

Fetterman dines with Trump. What’s wrong with often agreeing & working with Republicans?

 

GOP wants DOJ to void pardons and EOs Biden signed with an autopen. Your thoughts.

 

How might Pritzker’s new Illinois Accountability Commission make a difference? A new independent Board is now tasked with capturing examples sent to them, and creating a public record of the conduct of ICE agents and recommending actions to hold the federal government accountable.

 

For years, Trump has asked for $230M for being “wronged” by the Justice Department. How valid is his charge? Now Justice is his. Is it meant to be more of a distraction? Is it working?

 

Ultra-Orthodox are being asked to join the Israel Military Service They hate this. What now?

 

Miller, Hegseth and others moving to Military bases to be free from protests. Your thoughts.

 

What should we make of RFK jr. (and Trump) saying Tylenol causes Autism…and so does circumcision?  How confident are you with who is in charge of America’s Health?

 

Does Cashless Bail put more peace-loving Folks at risk while putting Law Breakers back on the street?

 

Are things going too far in pushing back against “Woke”? Cracker Barrel is accused of being “woke” after their flap with their logo to “erase the White guy”?

 

Is a “Christian Soldier” heading our Military? Hegseth is openly aligned with Christian nationalist, Doug Wilson. Wilson believes in a patriarchal society: stop women from voting, criminalize homosexuality, build a government ruled by Christ.

 

Good move? Trump has directed the Commerce Department to start working on a new census, noting that illegal aliens in the U.S. will not be included in the count.

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Israeli History/Israeli Current Events


Upcoming Discussion

Mark Gelfeld leads a Zoom discussion at the Northbrook Library 10am to 11:30am every 2nd and 4th Thursday. Signup is free at this link. A library card is not needed. 
https://visit.northbrook.info/event/4628524

Israeli Current Events will be discussed for the first portion of our session.
Then...we'll continue reviewing events related to the First Lebanon War
Links below allow you to review slides we show and discuss at each session.

Zionism/Israeli History through 1967  

Below is a list of books mentioned during our sessions:

· "The Arab-Israeli Wars" by Chaim Herzog
· "Kissinger and the Yom Kippur War" by David Morse
· "The Making of Modern Israel 1948-1967" by Leslie Stein
· "Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict" by Charles D. Smith
· “The Iron Wall: Israel & The Arab World” by Avi Shlaim
· “Transformative Justice: Israeli Identity on Trial” by Leora Bilsky
· "Six Days of War : June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East" by Michael Oren
· “The Secret War Against The Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People” by John Loftus and Mark Aarons
· “A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel” by Allis Radosh and Ronald Rados
· "Truman" by David McCullough
· “Louis D. Brandeis: A Life” by Melvin Urofsky
· “The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership” by Yehuda Avner
· “George C. Marshall” by Forest Pogue (a 4 volume work- the most definitive biography)
· “1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War” by Benny Morris
· “Woodrow Wilson: A Biography” by John Milton Cooper, Jr
· “A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East” by David Fromkin
· "Constantine’s Sword: The Church and the Jews": A History by James Carroll
· “In the Garden of the Beasts” by Erik Larson
· “My Promised Land - The Triumph & Tragedy of Israel” by Ari Shavit
· "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide" by Samantha Power
· "The Physician" by Noah Gordon
· "Start-up Nation: the Story of Israel's Economic Miracle" by Dan Senor and Saul Singer
· "Eichmann in Jerusalem: a Report on the Banality of Evil" by Hannah Arendt
· "The Eichmann Trial" by Deborah Lipstadt
· "The House on Garibaldi Street" by Isser Harrel
· "Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices" by Mosab Hassan Yousef
· “Eichmann Before Jerusalem: The Unexamined Life of A Mass Murder” by Bettina Stangneth
· "Jaffa Beach" by Fedora Horowitz
· "Operation Thunderbolt:  Flight 139 and the Raid on Entebbe Airport, the most Audacious Hostage Rescue in History", by Saul David
· "Abba Eban", A Biography by Asaf Siniver
· "Jerusalem: The Biography" by Simon Sebag Montefiore
· "The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine" by Ben Ehrenreich
· "Jabotinsky" by Hillel Halkin
· "Doomed to Succeed: The U.S. Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama" by Dennis Ross 
· "The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel" by Uri-Bar Joseph
· "FDR and the Jews" by Richard Breitman
· "No Ordinary Time" by Doris Kearns Goodwin
· "Remember the Liberty!:Almost Sunk by Treason on the High Seas" by Phillip F Nelson, Ronald G. Kukal, Ernest A. Gallo 
· "Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn" by Daniel Gordis
· "Every Spy a Prince" The Complete History of Israel's Intelligence Community by Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman
· "FDR and the Holocaust: A Breach of Faith" by Rafael Medoff
· "Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations" by Ronen Bergman
· "Then They Came for Me - Martin Niemoller, the Pastor Who Defied the Nazis" - Matthew Hockenos
· "We Stand Divided - The Rift Between American Jews and Israel" - Daniel Gordis
· "BiBi" - Anshel Pfeffer
· "Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran and the 40-year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East" - Kim Ghattas


















Thursday, March 6, 2014

WELCOME TO TODAY'S DISCUSSION



“Current Events” Code of Conduct

We respect each other and conduct our discussions with civility.

This includes:

      Never using loud, abusive, threatening or insulting language.
      Never offending, threatening, or insulting groups or individuals based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or any disability.
      Never being under the influence of anything but our best behavior.
      Never harming anyone, including fighting or challenging anyone to fight.
      Understanding every aspect of Sexual Harassment - This includes: • making inappropriate personal comments or sexual advances • using obscene or lewd language or gestures • staring at, or following anyone in a manner that reasonably can be expected to disturb him or her • exposing others to sexual Internet content.

Ron's Rules:

1. Civility means treating each other with respect. Hate the comment. Love the commenter. When you make it personal, I will stop you. Talk to the issue. Respond like this: “I disagree. Strawberry is not better than butter pecan. Here’s why. ….”  Responses like this are out of line: “You’re an F-ing idiot if you think strawberry is better than butter pecan!”   Our goal is to shed light more than heat.

2. If someone else makes your point, you don’t need to make it again.

3. I try to seek different views. In doing so, I will call on some folks more than others so there’s a chance to hear different sides. But I may not get to everyone for some topics.

4. If you’re seeking a “support group” to vent heart-felt rants, go elsewhere. Attend with an open mind. You don’t need to agree with what you hear—just do try to understand the other side. I’m preaching to myself here as well.

5. Finally, It’s perfectly OK to push back against my questions you feel are too slanted or flat out incorrect. That’s going to happen.  Just don’t be picky in the interest of time.