Venus Pluto Conjunction Capricorn is everywhere!

Venus Pluto Conjunction Capricorn is everywhere!




Once a year Venus and Pluto go into conjunction and tomorrow is that annual event. It is exact, January 16 at 8:29pm EST.

And we can look no further than this week's news to see the conjunction in action.

Lance Armstrong whose legendary 'win at any cost' attitude towards cycling finally came to a head this week. He was interviewed by Oprah (there's some Pluto for you) and finally admitted to doping as early 1990's. Doping before his bout of Cancer by the way. Wall Street Journal reported that Lance had it out last month with the head of the American Anti Doping Agency where he said, "You don't hold the keys to my redemption, I hold the keys to my redemption." Some sources say the root of the confession is money and desire to compete in triathalons. Hislove of athletics versus redemption. Hello, Venus meet Pluto.

Yesterday on the one month anniversary of Newtown shootings, members of the community including parents whose children were killed, came forward and announced the formation of their group, Sandy Hook Promise. If you watched them speak you certainly could feel the Venus and Pluto. Hard to not cry for sure. But they were very measured, very focused, committed to the future and rebirthing the hideous incident towards something good. None of them want anyone else go through something like that again. They have said they will not weigh in on guns...at this time. Capricorn conserves its energy and its power and Pluto holds its power until the right time to strike. As we know, right now Pluto and Saturn are mutually receptive (Saturn is in Pluto's home sign Scorpio; Pluto is in Saturn's home sign Capricorn) which double downs in that conserving nature or keeping one's powder dry. Probably the wrong metaphor to use in this circumstance. Sorry.
Here is the Sandy Hook Promise: I Promiseto honor the 26 lives lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
I Promiseto do everything I can to encourage and support common sense solutions that make my community and our country safer from similar acts of violence.

And of course Joe Biden is giving his recommendations to the White House for reforming gun regulations and background checks (Pluto) loopholes. There is a lot of discussion for common sense. Which is of course Capricorn's very catch phrase. And of course the debt conversation continues but a few days ago the President ruled out that giant coin thingy. Sometimes the renegade energy of Uranus in Aries makes our heads hurt.

As I was mulling all the action this week, it seemed this was a more pronounced Venus/Pluto conjunction than I could remember in a long time. It may be due to the New Moon taking place so close to the building period of the conjunction. It may be due to the Uranus Square in Aries. Whatever it is, it is not subtle.

My husband was listening to Phillip Glass this week and it struck me as the perfect soundscape to this week's Venus/Pluto. This particular piece is from the soundtrack to Fog of War. Yes, Neptune is the real planet of fog, but Venus is lower octave of Neptune and Pluto of course is one of the war planets and well, there is so much Capricorn in the notes...I think you can feel the aspect when you listen to the piece.

Remember to look at your chart and take note of 8-10 Capricorn. That is where this tension is riding out in your chart.

Talent Corp Career Attack

Talent Corp Career Attack


As a University student our aim and mission are all almost the same, to score good grades and get the perfect job after we graduate. Last Tuesday there was a Career Attack Fair by Talent Corp at Dewan Sri Budiman UiTM Shah Alam.



Even though I have still two more years to go before I graduate, but still as a UiTM student I didn't want to waste the opportunity to see what lies ahead of me when I get busy looking for a job. This Sector Focused Career Fair (SFCF) had been participated by 73 companies that adds up to a total of 3000 vacancies to offer for those graduates that are starting to look for a job.



This fair is a good thing actually, it makes students understand better of what waits for them when they start working. I had a brief walk from booth to booth and I learnt that there are a lot of things that a company can offer. Famous and big companies also. So for those final semester students, don't miss out on these kind of activities. It really does help, and I myself found already a company where I could do my practical and I had no idea before that I could do it at that company.

More info head downhere

p/s: This post is sponsored

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Planting Our Losses as Prayer

Planting Our Losses as Prayer


A week ago, I'd have been preparing to help with the WELCA Bible study. The group was studying the story of the widow visited by Elijah, who shared her last bit of food with Elijah and found that the grain didn't run out. She makes a cake for Elijah and survives to see more bread.

Of course, she survives just to have her son die. But Elijah brings him back to life.

The woman leading the Bible story sees it as a tale of hope, making a way out of no way. I saw it as loss after loss--but the good news was that God can transform those losses. I was trying to come up with an artsy/craftsy project.

I thought about baking bread, but we didn't really have that kind of time. I thought about having us write things on paper and set them on fire, but that seemed dangerous.

In the end, I decided that we would write our losses on paper slips and bury them in a huge pot of soil that I'd bring. Maybe we wouldn't write our losses, but instead we'd write about situations that we want God to transform. Maybe we wouldn't write, but would instead draw. Maybe it would be something completely abstract, so that it could stay a secret. We'd talk about the pot as representing the grave, and how redemption can often come, even when it looks like death.

I expected some resistance, but I didn't expect resistance to the act of putting something, even a secret something, on paper. One woman proclaimed again and again, "That's between me and God." I didn't push.

The woman whom I thought would most hate the exercise loved it. She wrote slip after slip and took great delight in pushing them into the soil. No matter how long I teach, I will never be able to predict with complete accuracy how things will go.

The woman who refused to commit to paper also did not like the pot of soil. "Why can't we just pray?"

I tried to explain that what we were doing was a form of prayer. I tried to explain how prayer that engages the body more thoroughly (writing/drawing and then the burying)might work better for some people. I did not convince her.

At least we weren't trying yoga or dance or some other full body prayer kind of thing.

It's been a week, and I still can't decide if I think it went well or not. And honestly, it's probably not important. I enjoyed it, and at least one other woman did. It stretched me to think differently, and it stretched others. And even if it wasn't enjoyable for all, it only lasted for 10 minutes, so it's not a huge deal.

And who knows what seeds have been planted?

Marvel Action Hour

Marvel Action Hour


Marvel Action Hour was another attempt by Marvel UK to utilize American reprints in a British comic format. The slim 24 page fortnightly was printed on matt paper and featured Fantastic Four stories from the late 1970s and Iron Man strips from the 1980s. The first issue was cover dated 9th October 1996, and priced 75p. The free gift was a chew bar.



With so few pages to accommodate two US comics, the strips took it in turns to be serialized over two issues. For example, issue 1 featured a complete FF tale plus the first third of an Iron Man story, and No.2 featured the rest of the Iron Man story and 9 pages of the next FF adventure.



The reproduction of the strips was excellent and the comics featured some fine John Buscema/Joe Sinnot Fantastic Four pages.



The original splash pages of the lead strips were replaced by newly drawn images by Jon Rushby and inked by Bambos Georgiou so the stories could begin on the covers in traditional UK fashion.



The title was inspired by a cartoon series of the same name so clearly the comic was hoping to capitalize on that. Sadly, it wasn't to be. After just four issues the fortnightly was abruptly cancelled with no warning. So sudden was the decision that the next issue was advertised but never materialized. Sales must have been pretty low. Superheroes were a hit or miss affair with the British public back then. The Fantastic Four had never really been hugely popular in UK comics so it was never going to be an easy sell.



Marvel Action Hour was one of the shortest-lived UK comics of all time but it was a worthwhile effort. The company have since enjoyed much more success with the 76 page 'Collectors Editions' reprinting three full comics, - aided no doubt by the massively successful Marvel movies of this century.

I Need Thee

I Need Thee

Brittany is back to blogger again:)
I'm not even going to lie and put on a fake smile, it's been a rough past couple of weeks. Nothing has seemed to be going right. I came down with some sort of virus about a week and a half ago. I spent the day in bed and the next three days moping around with chest and stomach pains. I also had a bite on my arm that the nurse at work swore it was Staph infection. I made myself a doctors appointment to get myself checked out. I'm still not back to normal - but thank goodness it wasn't Staph.

Yesterday, was an absolute, not so very good day. Not at all. The day started at 5am. A resident passed out on me. Another pooped in the middle of the hallway. Two toilets overflowed. The coffee pot exploded on me. I spilled milk in the dining room. A resident reached for my hand - I grabbed it - he had a fist full of snot. Fish was for lunch (I hate fish).
After my exhausting day, I was driving to my dentist appointment, and I had a wreck. Awesome. What a day I'm having.

After everything with the wreck got cleared away, I went home and crashed. I woke up in time to get ready for church.

The Lighthouse Church has started revival with Bro. Michael Brown from Fresno, CA. Last night was the first night and oh it was so good! Bro. Brown had Bro. Morrell sing at altar call:

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;Every hour I need Thee;Oh, bless me now, my Savior,I come to Thee.Oh, how true this is. I began to think about all my complaining. All my moaning and groaning. Oh, how I need Thee. Even in the bad days, even in the good days, I need Thee. While we sang about this song, I thought about people who don't know Jesus; people who don't have a relationship with Him. Who do they go to in time of trouble? Where do they go? Who do they lean upon? I have Him to go to on the bad days. I have Him to talk to and Him to take care of me. You know...even though I sometimes don't have days when everything goes perfect, I still have Him to go to. I still have my Jesus to live for. Those are the best kind of days. I'd rather have a bad day living for Him than a good day living for the world. My Jesus, I need Thee.Bro. Chris Bracken told our church one time that he "believes it is a sin to complain". What do true Christians have to complain about? This has come to mind so many times in the past few weeks. I have nothing to complain about. Absolutely nothing at all. In the midst of it all, I need Thee.I've decided that I'm going to be thankful for all God has blessed me with. At least I have a job right? At least I still have a car. I'm so thankful that God chose me to live for Him.Enough rambling for now.Tomorrow, I am going to be thankful:)- Brittany

Earth Is An Island

Earth Is An Island



Earth is an island. We are islanders. Whether we act for its benefit or detriment, it will be known. Somewhere on the island, the scales will be tipped and there will be change, for better or for worse. It is hard to see this change from a place of comfort, say from within our routines or inside our homes, offices, and automobiles. It is, however, easy to see this change from a bicycle while riding across the vast spaces of Canada.We would begin in Vancouver, British Columbia, with the intention of heading eastward with the prevailing winds at our backs. Four thousand miles later, we planned to arrive at Halifax, Nova Scotia. You prepare for this type of journey with one certainty in mind; that it will change your life. When we dreamt of our trip, my girlfriend and I saw peace. We saw green fields, snowy mountain peaks, close encounters with wildlife, and blue skies that spanned and never stopped. In our minds, Canada was one of the last vestiges of frontier. It presented a grand challenge. We took that ideal and held it close for eight months of excitement, until we could cash in on our hard work. Then we trimmed our possessions down to thirty pounds of gear, clothes, tools, water and food. The rest went into a 10ft x 10ft storage container while our cat Huxtable went to his Aunt Zoee's. Our touring bikes, or Donkeys as we called them, were wrapped purposefully in bubble wrap for the flight.Our first two days in Canada were spent stirring about a quaint little guesthouse, sharing tentative adventure stories with fellow foreigners. When we explained that we were about to spend our summer riding bicycles along the Canadian highway system, the looks we received were 50% admiration and 50% are-you-crazy. There was an electric charge in the air. We were about to combine our passion for the outdoors with our passion for self-sufficiency and environmental awareness. At home, we had just sold our car and vowed to make cycling our primary form of transportation. If we could ride through the Rockies, over the prairies, and around the Great Lakes, commuting in Philadelphia would seem like a cakewalk.The first three weeks of our trip were devoted solely to British Columbia, whose terrain was varied and extremely beautiful. We followed the Fraser River, the worlds greatest salmon river, from its mouth to its origin in the Rockies. The ascents were formidable, but the descents felt akin to flying. The grassy foothills transformed into a desert canyon, which in turn transformed into a mountain-lined valley where we saw giants. Mount Robson, the tallest of these, claimed the same vertical height as Mount Everest.Then we entered Alberta, whose western border was built of mountains that sloped into the prairies as we continued east. These flat grassy lands stretched across the three provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba until the border of Ontario. The green and yellow fields were immense in breadth, and the air was never still. The hills returned in Ontario, where the rocks, lakes and forests were reminiscent of the old Appalachians. We were granted the magnificence that we had hoped for.Everywhere we pitched our tent was home, whether it was a wooded hill along the coast, an island wildlife preserve, a farmers Canola field, a riverbank, or the shores of a lake. We made friends with schoolteachers, old timers, hostel occupants, bicycle mechanics, curious squirrels and even more curious cattle. Our pace allowed us to experience so much. There was no window between the fresh air and our lungs. The world was no longer so complicated; it was simply the world and we were simply creatures in it.Our journey, however, was laced with something we did not expect. Our adventure slowly became less of an adventure and more of a learning experience. It started in B.C. with local people warning us about unusual snowmelt and the threat of flooding. Then we began to notice an alarming number of dead pines dispersed over the landscape. Winters cold snap, which controls insect hatchings, had been too short this year, leaving the pine beetles numbers unchecked. The beetles had ravaged the forests, and logging companies were now faced with the daunting task of removing the dead to prevent fire. The mosquito had also survived the winter, and upon standing still we were instantly covered by their hungry hordes. Signs of a big change popped up everywhere until they became impossible to ignore. British Columbia and Alberta flooded behind us. We listened to the weather forecast religiously but in spite of our efforts to stay dry, rain became a daily occurrence. We rode in downpours and thunderstorms and savored our time in the shelter of our little tent.As we traveled deeper into the prairie lands, the weather became more and more severe until eventually the word “twister” entered our vocabulary. We had settled down for our first night in Manitoba when a plump, low-lying green-gray cloud appeared in our picnic shelter window. We watched its approach with wonder as it began to rain. Flags ran circles around their poles. Then came the hail. We laughed at the thousands of dime-sized white balls as they bounced off of the ground. As their speed intensified, we exchanged a look that we had never exchanged before. The world was at once deafening and terrifying. The laughter stopped as we pulled each other under the picnic table. Water came in from all directions. We looked to our blue tent to be our wind gauge. We thought to ourselves “This is it."Fifteen minutes later, we were elated to discover that it was not, in fact, “it”. We ran into town, happy to be alive, looking for the solidarity an event like this might inspire but found that folks were only concerned with the dents in their car. Beyond that, the gravity of the storm was lost by their indoor perspective. To our shock, the storm that passedt over us gave birth to five separate tornadoes over the course of one evening. From then on, each time we checked the forecast, there were reports of a tornado or hailstorm somewhere in Canada, spread over the path that lay before us. It became clear to us, because of the absence of concrete warning system or emergency plan, that tornadoes of this frequency and severity were somewhat new to Canada. We could not help but ask why.The answer was right next to us. We were sharing the road with a different kind of threat, one that could be reasoned with to a degree. Traffic was our constant companion over every kilometer of asphalt. The first two provinces had shoulders wide enough to be considered our own private bike lane. Unfortunately, the shoulders tapered off into nothing or were limited to small sections by the time we reached Manitoba. Cars,trucks, RVs, and tractor-trailers routinely passed within inches of our knuckles. Road kill served as a reminder of the frightening possibility of death posed by the endless stream of vehicles. Sadly, this was also our most common opportunity to see wildlife. We would see moose, deer, songbirds, coyotes, grizzly bears, and bear cubs scattered along the highway, almost exclusively in their lifeless forms. The Trans-Canada Highway bottlenecked in Ontario and alternative routes disappeared. We spent our days and nights listening to the constant hum and rumble of automobiles. We lost count of the litter. We breathed exhaust. This, we realized was the catalyst that caused so much to go awry. The human way of life and all its conveniences has become the harbinger of destruction. It felt as though humanitys constant conflict with natural order was itself an unstoppable and inescapable force, much like the tornadoes. The maddening difference is that we are conscious of the damage our actions yield; yet we continue on our path.Much of what we were beginning to think and feel was foreign to us. We had left home idealistic and romantic, subscribed to the belief that anything was possible, and felt as though the universe had an unseen order to it. We had been mindful that nature was in harm but did not fully understand to what extent. We found comfort in giving people the benefit of the doubt, and trusted that a general awareness was growing. In the end, our trip challenged everything that we believed. We were 25 and invincible, so we were shown mortality. We believed that mankind was unified by a greater good; the trip explained that it was also unified by a greater bad. And having been out there with only our bare necessities, we realized that normal everyday life had too many barriers that prevent people from fully understanding their effect on their surroundings. We were so disheartened by what we were seeing and felt so endangered that we could no longer enjoy the beauty that we so dearly loved.At the two thousand mile mark, our trip ended prematurely. The relative safety of home was calling. And home was where we could do our part to prevent the bad from getting worse. The trip had thrown everything into such sharp contrast, giving us the lightning bolt revelation that we needed. The trouble is, unless you spend a number of days living outside, this revelation may not attract your notice until it breaks down your door.Most of the islanders here consider their house to be their island and miss the big picture. But nature is an immense force that dwarfs us, and it is indifferent. People can no longer afford to be indifferent in response. If our island Earth sinks under our stewardship, it will take everyone and everything we know with it and we will be at fault. This is what we know. It is within our power to balance the scales with what we make of our life here on this island.©2007

Can Your Ad Agency Survive The Two Revolutions

Can Your Ad Agency Survive The Two Revolutions



Recently, I read THE INNOVATORS DILEMMA by Clayton Christensen of the Harvard Business School. Many analysts consider it THE book to read on disruptive change in the business world. One point that Christensen makes clearly and often is that well established firms generally fail when their industry is confronted with new markets and technologies. The logical extension of this is that this cannot bode well for the smaller and mid-sized players in the advertising industry if his thesis is correct.

Christensen is not brutal in his comments. He does not say that managers of struggling firms are lazy, corrupt or intellectually limited. The point he makes is “there is something about the way decisions get made in successful organizations that sows the seeds of eventual failure.” People are very wedded to the axiom that, “if the machine aint broke, dont fit it.” Well, that is fine for normal times but, in a revolution, it no longer works.

My take is that in an era as we have now in communications a leadership team at an agency has to be able to spot paradigm shifts and adapt to them quickly. What concerns me is that all but a few agencies below the major advertising holding companies are equipped to do it or have the financial resources to buy companies and people who can.

What are the two shifts? To me, it is not simply the erosion of TV as an ad medium that many people point to as THE key issue. Rather it is the twin paradigm shifts taking place--the emergence of Big Data and the emerging (sic) middle class in emerging markets.

We discussed Big Data at some length in an earlier post “The New World of Ad Agency Mergers” (Media Realism, 10/28/13). The major holding companies have set up exchanges that can purchase on line impressions at a depth and cost that cannot be replicated by smaller shops. The second shift is what is going on in emerging markets. Every marketer in recent years nods vigorously when the abbreviation BRIC is mentioned and can proudly list Brazil, Russia, India and China as the countries making up the term. Yet, the BRIC companies are not where the real action is these days. Less obvious choices such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam in Asia, much of Latin America outside of Brazil and selected countries in Eastern Europe are showing stellar growth. As their middle classes grow, the need for advertising is soaring. The giants are ready to take advantage of this trend but the mid-sized and smaller shops generally have to watch it from afar.

In the United States, package goods companies increasingly are putting more money in to promotion and many advertisers are beefing up Public Relations and Interactive and Internet Marketing. Again, this puts the non-giants in an awkward position. They may be able to do solid Public Relations for smaller clients but they will increasingly be outgunned when it comes to Internet Marketing.

So, clearly there is a revolution going on in advertising both with the advent of Big Data and the shift away from North America, Western Europe and Japan in terms of dynamic advertising billing and simply economic growth.

When I try to talk or e-mail people about this, they often claim that they have the right people and will be fine no matter what happens. While this is a bloodless revolution, who survives and prospers in revolutions? Almost always, if you look at history, it is people who are wired differently than most of us. And, they do not always take the traditional straight path that to success. Both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were college dropouts--no MBAs for them. Billionaire investor George Soros claims that his fathers wise decision to leave Nazi-occupied Budapest steeled him for his later life. They abandoned an upper middle class lifestyle for a new life on a new continent. People who succeed in upheaval just see things differently than most people in existing successful companies. They are smart and focused and think outside the box as they have little or no vested interest in the status quo. Look at all the 20 somethings in Silicon Valley. They may be irreverent but they embrace the change and often make it more rapid. Virtually all started as outsiders.

One fellow wrote to me recently and said that he has a young digital designer who could be a young Steve Jobs incarnate. My answer was that if that were true the young genius would be bored at his shop and quit. He laughed but told me that my point was very well made.

So, as you hire going forward, look for the unusual. Perhaps she is a stat freak who sees things that you do not in consumer data. Or, perhaps she can link data from different sources together into a coherent strategy in a way the rest of your team has never considered. Maybe he is a better forecaster than your researchers as he has no baggage from the past to muddle his thinking.

If you have a team that has been together for a while it is probably a good idea to get some new injections in to your agency gene pool. The crazy or two that you bring on board may not be so crazy and could lengthen your corporate life.

If you would like to contact Don Cole directly, you may contact him at doncolemedia@gmail.com

A million Jews have left Israel

A million Jews have left Israel

The Jewish State Loses its Attraction for Jews
It is somewhat ironic that Israel – founded as a Jewish; state –has more Jews leaving it than entering it, despite it being a social taboo.

Amos Elon - author of ' Founders Sons' emigrated to Tuscany, Italy
Why is this so? Because even most Israelis see through the propaganda that says that anti-Semitism is growing in Europe. Because of the racist and intolerant society and atmosphere in Israel. Because far-right nationalists and Orthodox Jews have taken over the government led by Netanyahu and because the most dangerous place to be in the world is Israel!

The murder of 3,000 Argentinian Jews during the Junta, when Israel blocked visas for Jewish leftists whilst carrying on a profitable trade with the regime, has blown out of the water the idea that Israel is a refuge. To many intellectual Israelis like Amos Elon, whose final days were spent in Tuscany, Italy, Israel has nothing to offer than a racist state obsessed with who is a Jew and the demographic terror of waking up to too many Arabs.

Israeli protests over standard of livingBelow are 3 articles on a subject that Zionists rarely discuss.

Tony GreensteinWhy Jews flee to Europe (or at least half of it)
Doug Saunders, Vienna — The Globe and Mail
Saturday, Nov. 16 2013

Have you heard about Europes Jewish exodus? Amid growing tensions and tough economic conditions, tens of thousands of educated middle-class Jews are fleeing every year – not out of the continent, but rather from Israel into Europe, and especially to Germany, which has become the chief destination (after the United States) for the half-million Israelis who have left the country amid its much-discussed “brain drain.”

Egyptian write Ahdaf Soueif speaking to Israeli apartheid week in GazaThis has taken both Israelis and many Europeans by surprise – and offended some Israeli leaders. Last month, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, during a visit to Budapest, took to Facebook to denounce the growing wave of Europe-bound Jews who have become known in the Israeli media as the New Yordim (emigrants, or literally, “fallen”).


“A word to all those who are fed up, and are leaving for Europe,” he wrote, then described his familys tragic history in the Holocaust, concluding: “Forgive me if Im a little impatient with those who are willing to throw away the only country the Jews have because its easier to live in Berlin.”
Easier to live in Berlin? That would not, even a generation ago, have been a common Jewish sentiment. Among North American Jews, even visiting Germany on vacation remains a matter of controversy and distaste. The black years of the Shoah are too fresh in many family histories.

Yet for this generation of Israelis, the shift to Europe is surprisingly uncontroversial. Last year, I had a conversation with a successful Israeli historian who had taken up residency in Germany. “That move must have shocked a lot of your friends in Israel,” I suggested. She looked askance, as if this was an unheard-of notion: “No, of course not,” she said. “My friends are all just jealous that I can get a visa to live here. Every Israeli academic of my generation wants to move to Europe.”
Much of this emigration has to do with Israels impossible economic conditions – writer Ruth Margalit recently noted that 87 per cent of Israelis over 25 are financially dependent on their parents.
But it is also political: European countries are seen by Israelis as stable, egalitarian and safe, while in an Israel governed by hard-line regimes, the zealots and the Orthodox seem destined to prevail. “With all due respect,” Jerusalem Post columnist Susan Hatis Rolef recently wrote, “I think it is physically safer for a Jew to live in Berlin these days than in Jerusalem, though I do not belittle the emotional difficulty involved for a Jew to do so, given the not-too-distant history.”

She listed the reasons for the exodus: “loss of hope that peace will ever prevail … discomfort with the lack of determination of Israels leaders to make a serious effort to separate religion and state … and the feeling that life in Israel frequently feels like life in a pressure cooker.”

Still, it might seem more logical that the Jewish exodus would be out of Europe, not into it. Here in Austria, a party with an anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi background won nearly a fifth of the vote in the Sept. 29 elections. In Hungary, France, Greece and the Netherlands, parties based on religious and racial intolerance have had strong showings (although they govern nowhere). In a recent survey, 76 per cent of European Jews said they believe anti-Semitism has increased over the past five years. In France, home to half of Europes Jews, almost half said they had considered emigrating out of Europe.

So which is it: a Europe safe for Jews disenchanted by Israel, or a Europe Jews are seeking to flee? Its important to understand that there are really two Europes.

The most comprehensive recent study of cross-European attitudes toward religious minorities was conducted two years ago by Andreas Zick of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Resarch on Conflict and Violence. It found a huge divergence in attitudes.

On the statement “Jews have too much influence in my country,” a staggering 69 per cent of Hungarians and 50 per cent of Poles answered yes, compared to far smaller numbers in Western Europe (14 per cent in France, 20 per cent in Germany and 6 per cent in the Netherlands) Likewise, majorities in Poland, Hungary and Portugal agreed with the statement “Jews in general do not care about anything or anyone but their own kind,” while this was a small minority view in the larger economies.

In Europes centre and east, where hardly any Jews remain to be found, public intolerance has risen to dangerous proportions. In the larger economies, Jews are largely seen as fellow citizens with a different religion. Unfortunately, the places where people of any religious minority are free from annoying zealotry are becoming fewer in number.Why Are So Many Jews Leaving Israel?
by URI AVNERY

THOSE WHO are interested in the history of the Crusades ask themselves: what brought about the Crusaders downfall? Looking at the remnants of their proud fortresses all over the country, we wonder.

The traditional answer is: their defeat in the battle of the Horns of Hattin, twin hills near the Lake of Galilee, in 1187, by the great Muslim Sultan Salah ad-Din (Saladin).

However, the Crusader state lived on in Palestine and the surroundings for another hundred years.
The most authoritative historian of the Crusades, the late Steven Runciman, gave a completely different answer: the Crusader kingdom collapsed because too many Crusaders returned to their ancestral homelands, while too few came to join the Crusaders. In the end, the last remnants were thrown into the sea (literally).

THERE ARE vast differences between the Crusader state that existed in this country for two hundred years and the present State of Israel, but there are also some striking similarities. Thats why their history always attracted me.

Lately I was reminded of Runcimans conclusion because of the sudden interest of our media in the phenomenon of emigration. Some comments bordered on hysteria.

The reasons for this are two. First, a TV network reported on Israeli descenders abroad, second, the award of the Nobel chemistry prize to two ex-Israelis. Both caused much hand-wringing.

“Descenders” (Yordim) is the Hebrew term for emigrants. People coming to live in Israel are called “ascenders” (Olim), a term akin to pilgrims. Probably the word has something to do with the fact that Jerusalem is located on a hill surrounded on all sides by valleys, so that you have to “go up” to reach it. But of course there is an ideological Zionist connotation to the terms.

Before the founding of our state and during its first few decades, we saw ourselves as a heroic society, struggling against great odds, fighting several wars. People leaving us were looked upon as deserters, like soldiers running away from their unit during a battle. Yitzhak Rabin called them trash”.

What made the TV story so frightening was that it showed ordinary middle-class young Israeli families settling for good in Berlin, London and New Jersey. Some of their children were already speaking foreign languages, abandoning Hebrew. Terrible.

Until lately, “descending” was mostly attributed to misfits, lower-class people and others who could not find their place in ordinary society. But here were normal, well-educated young couples, Israeli-born, speaking good Hebrew. Their general complaint – sounding rather like an apology – was that they could not “end the month” in Israel, that their middle-class salaries did not suffice for a decent living, because salaries are too low and prices too high. They singled out the prices of apartments. The price of an apartment in Tel Aviv is equivalent to 120 months average middle class income.

However, sober research showed that emigration has actually decreased during the last few years. Polls show that the majority of Israelis, including even a majority of Arab citizens, are satisfied with their economic situation – more than in most European nations.

THE SECOND reason for hysteria was the award of the Nobel Prize to two American Chemistry professors who were educated in Israel, one of them born in a Kibbutz.

Israel is immensely proud of its Nobel laureates. Relative to the size of the country, their number is indeed extraordinary.

Many Jews are deeply convinced that the Jewish intellect is superior to that of any other people. Theories about this abound. One of them is that in medieval times, European intellectuals were mostly celibate monks who did not bequeath their genes to any offspring. In Jewish communities, the opposite happened: the rich were proud to marry their daughters to especially gifted Torah scholars, allowing their genes to start life in privileged circumstances.

Yet here were these two scholars who left Israel decades ago to graze in foreign meadows, continuing their research in prestigious American universities.

In former years, they would have been called traitors. Now they only cause profound soul-searching. One of the two had left Israel because the highly-regarded Weizmann Institute did not offer him a professorship. Why did we let him go? What about all the others?

Actually, this is not a specifically Israeli problem. Brain-flight is taking place all over the world. An ambitious scientist longs for the best of laboratories, the most prestigious university. Young minds from all over the world flock to the US. Israelis are no exception.

We have good universities. Three of them figure somewhere on the list of the worlds hundred best. But who can resist the temptations of Harvard or MIT?

THE SUDDEN disillusion caused Israelis to take a hard look at Israeli academia. It appears that our standards are slipping all along the line. Our universities are under-funded by the government, the number of professors and their quality decreasing. High-school students are slipping in their exams.
Why?

Immense funds are swallowed by the army, whose demands grow from year to year, though our security situation is improving all the time.

Our eternal occupation of the Palestinian territories is a drain on our meager resources. So are the settlements, of course. Our government invests in them huge sums of money. The exact amounts are a state secret.

In the long run, a small country with limited resources cannot sustain a huge army, as well as an occupation regime and hundreds of settlements, without depriving everything else. One single fighter plane costs more than a school or a hospital or a laboratory.

BUT MY worry about emigration is not limited to material considerations.

People do not leave for material reasons only. They may think that they are emigrating because life in Berlin is cheaper than in Tel Aviv, apartments easier to find, salaries higher. But it is not only the strength of the attraction of foreign lands that counts – it is also the strength or weakness of the bond to the homeland.

In the years when “descenders” were considered trash, we were proud of being Israeli. During the fifties and sixties, whenever I presented my Israeli passport at any border control, I felt good. Israel was viewed with admiration throughout the world, not least by our enemies.

I believe that it is a basic human right to be proud of ones society, ones country. People belong to nations. Even in todays global village, most people need the sense of belonging to a certain place, a certain people. No one wants to be ashamed of them.

Today, when presenting his passport, an Israeli feels no such pride. He may feel a sense of contrariness (“us against the whole world”), but he or she is conscious of his country being considered by many as an apartheid state, oppressing another people. Every person abroad has seen countless photos of heavily armed Israel soldiers confronting Palestinian women and children.Nothing to be proud of.
This is not a subject anyone ever speaks of. But it is there. And it is bound to get worse.
Jewish Israelis are already a minority in the country ruled by Israel, from the Mediterranean to the Jordan. The majority of subjects deprived of all rights is growing by the year. Oppression will necessarily grow. The image of Israel throughout the world will get worse. Pride in Israel will fade.
ONE EFFECT is already becoming obvious.

A prestigious recent poll conducted among American Jews shows a marked loosening of the attachment young Jews there feel for Israel.

The American Jewish scene is dominated by elderly professional leaders who were never elected by anyone. They exert immense power over American political life, but their influence in their own community is slipping. Young Jewish Americans are no longer proud of Israel. Some of them are ashamed.

These young Jews do not, in general, stand up to protest. They are afraid of providing ammunition to the anti-Semites. They are also educated from childhood that we Jews must stand together against the Goyim who want to destroy us.

So, instead of raising their voice, they keep quiet, leave their communities, disappear from sight. But this process can be utterly disastrous for Israel, Our leaders rely completely on the stranglehold they have on American politicians. If these perceive that the Jewish support of Israel is diminishing, they will be quick to liberate themselves.

THERE IS another aspect to the Zionist part of the equation.

Zionism is supposed to bring Jews to Israel. That is what it is all about. But Zionism can be a two-way street.

Israel declares itself to be “the State of the Jewish People”. Jews all over the world are considered de facto Israeli nationals. But if there is no basic difference between a Jew in Haifa and a Jew in Hamburg, why stay in Haifa when life in Hamburg seems to be so much better?

I have campaigned for decades to exchange Zionist theology for a simple Israeli patriotism. Perhaps the time has finally come to do so – after turning Israel into a country we can be proud of again.

URI AVNERY is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom. He is a contributor to CounterPunchs book The Politics of Anti-Semitism.

The million missing Israelis - Israeli emigration

Joseph Chamie, Barry Mirkin | Foreign Policy blog | July 5, 2011

Over more than six decades of statehood, successive Israeli governments have repeatedly stressed the centrality of Jewish immigration and the Law of Return of all Jews to Israel for the well-being, security, and survival of the nation. Yet while much is published on Jewish immigration to Israel, considerably less information is available about Jewish emigration from Israel.

Government estimates of the numbers of Israelis residing abroad vary greatly due mainly to the lack of an adequate recording system. Consequently, scholars and others have questioned the accuracy of government figures. Besides the statistical and methodological shortcomings, the number of Israeli expatriates is open to considerable debate and controversy because of its enormous demographic, social, and political significance both within and outside Israel.

At the lower end is the official estimate of 750,000 Israeli emigrants -- 10 percent of the population -- issued by the Israeli Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, which is about the same as that for Mexico, Morocco, and Sri Lanka. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government places the current number of Israeli citizens living abroad in the range of 800,000 to 1 million, representing up to 13 percent of the population, which is relatively high among OECD countries. Consistent with this latter figure is the estimated 1 million Israelis in the Diaspora reported at the first-ever global conference of Israelis living abroad, held in this January.

Current estimates of Israelis living abroad are substantially higher than those for the past. During Israel's first decade, some 100,000 Jews are believed to have emigrated from Israel. By 1980, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics estimated some 270,000 Israelis living abroad for more than a year, or 7 percent of the population. Several decades later, the number of Israeli emigrants had swelled to about 550,000 -- or almost double the proportion at the end of the 1950s.

Of the Israelis currently residing abroad, roughly 60 percent are believed to have settled in North America, a quarter in Europe, and 15 percent distributed across the rest of the world. It is estimated that about 45 percent of the adult Israeli expatriates have completed at least a university degree, in contrast to 22 percent of the Israeli population. The Israeli emigrants are deemed to be disproportionately secular, liberal, and cosmopolitan. Furthermore, the emigrants are generally younger than the immigrants to Israel, especially those from the former Soviet Union, hastening the aging of Israel's population.

The often-cited reasons for Israeli emigration center on seeking better living and financial conditions, employment and professional opportunities, and higher education, as well as pessimism regarding prospects for peace. Consistent with these motives, one of the most frequently given explanations for leaving Israel is: "The question is not why we left, but why it took us so long to do so." And recent opinion polls find that almost half of Israeli youth would prefer to live somewhere else if they had the chance. Again, the most often-cited reason to emigrate is because the situation in Israel is viewed as "not good."

Another important factor contributing to the outflow of Jewish Israelis is previous emigration experience. As 40 percent of Jewish Israelis are foreign-born, emigration is nothing new for many in the country. Moreover, as Israeli emigrants cannot yet vote from abroad, they are likely to feel marginalized from mainstream Israeli society, further contributing to their decision to remain abroad as well as attracting others to do the same. Whether the Netanyahu government's effort in the Knesset to approve a bill granting voting rights to Israelis living abroad will slow the trend is uncertain.

Adding to emigration pressures, many Israelis have already taken preliminary steps to eventually leaving. One survey found close to 60 percent of Israelis had approached or were intending to approach a foreign embassy to ask for citizenship and a passport. An estimated 100,000 Israelis have German passports, while more are applying for passports based on their German ancestry. And a large number of Israelis have dual nationality, including an estimated 500,000 Israelis holding U.S. passports (with close to a quarter-million pending applications).

Population projections show that Jewish Israelis will remain the large majority in Israel for the foreseeable future. However, it will be a challenge for Jewish Israelis to maintain their current dominant majority of approximately 75 percent, primarily due to higher fertility among non-Jewish Israelis -- nearly one child per woman greater -- the depletion of the large pool of likely potential Jewish immigrants, and large-scale Jewish Israeli emigration. Consequently, demographic projections expect the Jewish proportion of the country -- which peaked at 89 percent in 1957 -- to continue declining over the coming decades, approaching a figure closer to two-thirds of the population by mid-century.

The emigration of a large proportion of a country's population, especially the well-educated and highly skilled, poses serious challenges for any nation. However, large-scale emigration is particularly problematic for Israel given its relatively small population, unique ethnic composition, and regional political context.

Moreover, not only is Israeli emigration increasing the influence of the orthodox Jewish communities, it is also boosting the need for temporary, non-Jewish foreign workers, especially in agriculture, construction, and care-giving. The presence of more than 200,000 foreign workers -- nearly half of whom are unauthorized and mainly from Asia (in particular Thailand and the Philippines, but also increasingly from Africa) -- is also contributing to the changing ethnic composition of the country.

The departure of Jewish Israelis also contributes to the undermining of the Zionist ideology. If large numbers of Jewish Israelis are opting to emigrate, why would Jews who are well integrated and accepted in other countries immigrate to Israel? Furthermore, up to a quarter of young Israelis in Europe marry outside their faith. The majority do not belong to a Jewish community and do not participate in any Jewish activities. As with other expatriate groups in Western nations, Israelis living abroad often profess their intention to return. However, Israeli emigrants are likely to remain in their adopted countries insofar as they and their families have become successfully settled and integrated.

Israeli governments have already consistently perceived immigration levels as too low and emigration levels as too high. In addition to policies encouraging immigration for permanent settlement, Israel has programs and media campaigns actively promoting the return of Israelis residing overseas. The government also maintains connections with the country's expatriates through mandatory registration in its consulates overseas and outreach programs and activities -- and provides counseling, guidance, financial assistance, and tax benefits to returning citizens.

Despite these efforts, it is doubtful based on past and current trends that these various incentives and appeals will be sufficient to entice the return of the million missing Israelis. Large-scale emigration has not only resulted in critical demographic and socioeconomic imbalances in the country, but more importantly poses grave political challenges and jeopardizes the basic Jewish character and integrity of Israel.

Joseph Chamie is research director at the Center for Migration Studies, and Barry Mirkin is an independent consultant.

Alon Ben-Meir

Senior Fellow, NYU's Center for Global Affairs'The Jewish State of Israel'
As the Israelis and Palestinians are presently negotiating in an effort to end a nearly seven decades-old conflict, Prime Minister Netanyahu has made recognition of the Jewish right to a homeland in Israel "the most important key to solving the conflict." The 1947 UN Partition Plan called for the establishment of a Jewish state and a Palestinian state and this fact was not lost to the 160 countries that have since recognized Israel, but none were required to recognize it by name as the Jewish state. Why, then, is Netanyahu making this requirement sine qua non to resolving the conflict with the Palestinians?

There is no doubt that the Jewish right to a homeland in Israel is central to preserving the Jewish national identity of the state and providing a safe and secure haven for the Jews to ensure their survival.

The Jewish people have for millennia endured persecution, discrimination, and expulsions, culminating in the unimaginably horrific Nazi Holocaust. Only when seen in the context of survival itself is one able to grasp why the vast majority of Jews in and outside Israel are committed to the survival of the state and its Jewish identity.

That said, the irony is that current and previous Israeli governments have regularly embraced policies and taken measures that directly undermined any prospect of preserving Israel as the state for the Jewish people.

The problem here is while a sustainable Jewish majority is central to permanently securing that objective, there are many indicators that clearly demonstrate the diminishing Jewish majority in Israel, and little is being done by Netanyahu to reverse the trend.

Instead, Netanyahu is demanding that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, as if such recognition will eternally guarantee the national identity of the state regardless of the changing demographic composition of Jews and Arabs in Israel.

Writing in Commentary magazine in May 2009, historian Michael B. Oren, who shortly thereafter became Israel's Ambassador to the United States, identified "the Arab demographic threat" as one of seven "existential threats" facing the existence of Israel.

"Israel, the Jewish State, is predicated on a decisive and stable Jewish majority of at least 70 percent," wrote Oren. "Any lower than that and Israel will have to decide between being a Jewish state and a democratic state. If it chooses democracy, then Israel as a Jewish state will cease to exist."

Here are the startling demographic trends that if continued unchecked will reduce Israeli Jews to a minority and endanger the very purpose why Israel was created.

First, the Arab citizens of Israel constituted 20.7 percent of the total population in 2012. In 2011, the birth rate among Israeli Jews was 3.0 births per woman verses 4.38 per Palestinian woman. Some reports state that the Israeli Arab population will grow from the current number of 1.658 million to 2.4 million by the year 2030. This could represent nearly one quarter of the Israeli population.

Ironically, in his speech in 2003 at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Netanyahu spoke of the demographic threat. "We have a demographic problem," he said, "but it lies not with the Palestinian Arabs, but with the Israeli Arabs [who will remain Israeli citizens]."

He continued to say, "If Israel's Arabs become well integrated and reach 35-45 percent of the population, there will no longer be a Jewish state [emphasis added]." Therefore, a policy is needed that will balance the two. Paradoxically, Netanyahu's policy is in fact gradually realizing his own ominous prediction.

Second, there is an alarming number of Israelis who are emigrating from Israel. Statistics show that up to one million Israelis (13 percent of the population) are living abroad, and very few are planning to return to Israel.

Many have left because they are seeking better job opportunities; others because they are weary of the continuing conflict with the Palestinians. Many have concerns about security, while others flatly admit that they want to shield their children from compulsory military service.

Third, immigration to Israel is hardly balancing emigration from Israel. In the year 2012, 16,577 Jews immigrated to Israel verses the 16,000 who emigrated from Israel. It is projected that by 2030, between 440,000 to 623,000 will immigrate to Israel and perhaps as many will leave Israel if current trends continue.

The largest reservoir of Jews outside Israel is in the U.S. with 6-6.7 million, followed by Europe with 1.4 million. Given the continuing conflict with the Palestinians and the growing disenchantment of young American and European Jews with the Israeli occupation, the likelihood of a huge influx of newcomers from these two major Jewish centers is diminishing.

Many Israelis, led by a prime minister who warned of the coming demographic threat, are doing nothing to reverse this trend by taking the necessary measures to increase the Jewish population.

On the contrary, Netanyahu is making matters worse by his expansionist policies in the West Bank and his discriminatory treatment of Israeli Arabs, which can only further exacerbate relations between them. Thus, instead of becoming a positive component of the Israeli social fabric, they may well become a fifth column.

What will it take then to ensure that Israel maintains its Jewish national identity while still preserving its democratic nature, given the gloomy demographic picture?

First, Israel must resolve the conflict with the Palestinians based on a two-state solution, which would remove Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza from the demographic equation that Israel faces today.

The continuing occupation and the expansion of settlements run contrary to the need to establish a Palestinian state in order to prevent the creation of a de facto one state, which will obliterate Israel's Jewish national identity. This would also enhance Israel's security and serve to make it a more attractive destination for Jews worldwide.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's warning in a 2007 interview with Haaretz remains as valid today as it was six years ago when he said, "If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights (also for the Palestinians in the territories), then, as soon as that happens, the State of Israel is finished."

"The Jewish organizations," he continued, "which were our power base in America, will be the first to come out against us because they will say they cannot support a state that does not support democracy and equal voting rights for all its residents." This will certainly dry up any prospect of immigration of American Jews in any significant number.

Second, Israel must discourage emigration of Israeli Jews to Western countries by providing job opportunities and better prospects for the future. It was inequality and rising prices that brought hundreds of thousands of Israelis to the streets in the summer of 2011.

Meanwhile, the government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on building new and expanding current settlements at the expense of poor Israelis who are living hand-to-mouth, driving many from raising their families in Israel.

The answer to this dilemma is a new economic policy that diminishes the socioeconomic gaps in Israel while sparing no effort to establish a comprehensive peace with the Arab states. This would open up new markets on Israel's borders, enabling new business opportunities to flourish in what President Shimon Peres used to call "a new Middle East."

Third, although the pool of Jews who wish to immigrate to Israel is limited, cultural and religious ties are still a magnet that will bring Jews to reside in Israel. These potential immigrants will be encouraged to make the move provided that they believe Israel offers new and exciting opportunities for growth and serves the purpose that was intended by its founders: a secure and democratic Jewish state at peace with its neighbors.

Fourth, Israel should institute policies that encourage a greater birthrate among secular Jews by providing appropriate subsidies, especially affordable housing. The divide between Israel's religious and secular communities is often portrayed in the animosity driven by the significant subsidies offered to the rapidly-growing religious community.

A campaign to reach all Israelis and offer appropriate assistance for higher education and housing is essential if Israeli citizens are to have the confidence that they can provide for larger families.

Fifth, as beloved as Israel may be in the eyes of American and European Jews, they are weary of Israel's tarnished image resulting from its discriminatory policies toward the Palestinians by bending democratic principles and perpetuating the occupation, which is akin to apartheid.

Never before has Israeli democracy been so clearly under attack. Bills introduced in the Israeli Knesset in 2011 under Netanyahu's stewardship sought to limit free speech by cutting funding from left-wing non-governmental organizations, curtailing the power of the judiciary, and explicitly declaring Israel as a Jewish state in a blatant measure to isolate its Arab citizens.

Even former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly likened Israel's undemocratic legislation with the mullahs of Iran in her 2011 address to the closed-door Saban Forum, hosted by the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.

Clinton's comments came days after former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta implored Israel to institute civil measures and American Ambassador Dan Shapiro joined his European colleagues in conveying to Israeli officials the US' concerns regarding the state of Israel's democracy.

Israel must decide what kind of nation it seeks to become: an undemocratic apartheid state or a democracy at peace with its neighbors that enjoy strong relations with allies in the West. It has never been clearer that Israel cannot have it both ways.

Recognizing Israel as a Jewish state by the Palestinians, as demanded by Netanyahu, is of no value or consequence, not any more than the four countries identified by their religious majority: the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

Perhaps Netanyahu should call for renaming Israel "the Jewish state of Israel," but then he must remember that only a sustainable Jewish majority will make it so.

It is time for the Israelis to ask their prime minister where Israel will be in 15 to 20 years down the line should he pursue the same illusionary policy. I am prepared to venture that his answer will be "I do not know."

The absurdity of linking peace with the Palestinians to their recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is glaringly clear because this will neither mitigate the challenging growth of the Israeli Arabs nor advance the peace process. Moreover, it will neither retain the democratic principle of the state nor will it ensure Israel's Jewish national identity.

Therein lies the danger to Israel's existence as a Jewish state, regardless of by what name Israel is recognized and by whom.