Displaying posts tagged with

“John Searle”

Sep
22
2009
Opinion By Alex Fein | 16 comments

Stridency: The Enemy of Persuasion

After the pool closed at the end of summer, there wasn’t much to do on kibbutz.
During our year in Israel, on a youth movement leadership programme, my group and I spent half the time on an isolated socialist idyll that sustained itself by operating a large plastics factory.
When Autumn arrived, the recreation choices diminished to [...]

Sep
8
2009
Life By Alex Fein | 20 comments

AJN 3 – John Searle: A Very Bizarre Suggestion

John Searle’s commentary on the community survey (AJN 15) is a study in how to say as little as possible in 800 words. One brief section, however, demands attention.
Along with the expected motherhood statements that pepper his piece, Searle also indulges in frantic dissimulation.
To give the appearance of responsive governance, Searle concedes that certain areas [...]

Sep
3
2009
Life By Alex Fein | 5 comments

Coming Next – In The AJN Bumper Edition: Pontificators, Congratulations, and our GLBT Community

Some weeks, I’ll open the AJN on a Thursday morning, and feel dismay that too few of our machers have been behaving foolishly/disingenuously enough to write about. Not so this week. Today’s AJN is a bumper edition.
Dvir Abramovich, not content with having humiliated hiimself and the community in The Sunday Age, has his feather-weight diatribe [...]

Aug
30
2009
Life By Alex Fein | 41 comments

Dvir Abramovich in The Age: No Laughing!

Although Dvir Abramovich’s opinion column in today’s Sunday Age grossly misstates facts and makes various bizarre assertions, I would still like to thank him for the free publicity he has so generously given this blog, through his opinion piece.
Nevertheless, it is only right that [...]

Jun
11
2009
Life By Alex Fein | 37 comments

John Searle's Speech at the June 9 Yom Ha'atzmaut Celebration

At a function attended by Jewish leaders and non-Jewish luminaries, such as Premier John Brumby, to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut, JCCV president, John Searle delivered a speech.
We will post the transcript in full (which can also be found at the AJN), with Mr. Searle’s words in italics, and put the key elements in bold face. We [...]

May
31
2009
Life By Alex Fein | 14 comments

An urgent request to Our Leadership for the Jewish reponse to anti-Indian violence

How is it that the only Jewish person to appear in the mainstream media condemning the recent violence against Indian students is David Vorchheimer? His letter to the editor, appearing in Saturday’s Age was a triumph of understatement, reason, and should be a template for the language with which our community’s leadership responds to this [...]

May
19
2009
Opinion By Alex Fein | 23 comments

Michael Fagenblat’s Presentation at the Seven Jewish Children Reading

Seven Jewish Children is not an anti-Semitic play. On the contrary, its challenging message deserves to be heard, especially by Jews, Israelis and Zionists. However in the context of a Nakba commemoration for Australian Friends of Palestine, the play risks degenerating from being challenging and useful to useless self-validation. Here, then, are seven responses to Seven Jewish Children in the context of a commemoration marking what Palestinians call the Nakba–the Catastrophe–of 1948.

May
12
2009
Opinion By Alex Fein | 11 comments

8 minutes of terror

The thing is, it’s so bad it’s funny.

And anyone who doesn’t already have a problem with Jews can see it. Anyone who does have a problem with Jews is not going to hear our venerable leader, Jeremy Jones of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, and think, “Gee… I’ve been wrong about you people all along!”

We’re talking about a an 8 minute play. It’s just another one of those cultural expressions of the evils of Israel (but not Jews – some of their best friends are Jews).

Some lady named, Caryl Churchill wrote it. Who? Let’s just say that if our resplendent leader, Mr. Jones had not screamed, “FIRE” yet again in the crowded theatre of multicultural discourse, we would never have heard of Caryl Churchill, and neither would you…

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