Hasta La Gadget!

I would like to think that it is pretty common knowledge by now that Samsung has been developing the Tizen platform for some time now, with the Samsung Z being tipped by many to be the first device that is based on the Tizen platform, although that was eventually ditched with low-end Tizen devices replacing it. Tizen Indonesia has reported that the SM-Z130H (which also carries the codename Kiran, where we have seen alleged leaked photos of it) will roll out in India this coming December 10th, where it will carry the name Samsung Z1.

This is touted to happen when Samsung holds an event in India this December 10th, as a platform to introduce the Tizen OS v2.3 based Z1 which will cost no more than a Benjamin. The hardware specifications themselves are far from impressive – we are looking at a mere 4-inch WVGA display, a 1.2GHz dual-core Spreadtrum SC7727S processor with a Mali-400 GPU, 512MB RAM, a 3.2-megapixel camera at the back with LED flash, and a front-facing VGA camera.

Connectivity options include dual-SIM card slots, 3G network compatibility, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.0, and FM Radio. Having gone through the FCC’s hoops in early October, this is one smartphone that is ready to rock and roll – all it needs is an official excuse to do so, and Samsung looks set to unleash it this month.

Samsung Z1 With Tizen Could See December 10th Announcement

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All day people gathered, waiting, daring to hope, that maybe this time black lives would matter. Minutes passed. Then hours. And, as darkness descended on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, the now enormous crowd continued to wait patiently — trying its best to remain optimistic. Perhaps, despite so many decades of history, black people really could find justice in the American legal system.

That such a faith still flickered was, itself, remarkable. Everyone standing outside of the Ferguson police station awaiting news on whether the grand jury would indict police officer Darren Wilson well remembered what happened on February 26, 2012 when Trayvon Martin was killed. Nothing. They also had noticed that, though Martin’s killer went free, in the very same state, black mother Marissa Alexander was sentenced to 20 years in prison merely for firing a warning shot at her abusive husband. And, of course, they had just heard, only two days earlier, that yet another black child, this time 12-year-old Tamir Rice, had also been shot to death by the police.

But having faith and clinging to hope is what it means to be human. Even when the past, as well as most recent present, tell people that optimism is wholly unfounded and that they should be realists not romantics, somehow they still believe.

And then they don’t.

At 9:00 p.m. on November 24, 2014, St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch stepped to the podium and explained — in fact, explained better than most any defense attorney ever could — why Darren Wilson would not, and in fact, should not, be indicted for killing unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9, 2014.

Hope then became despair. And despair then became all-consuming and almost impossible to contain. For some it took the form of uncontrollable sobs. For others it was expressed through screams. And for still others it erupted in smashing and burning things inanimate. In its various articulations, though, it was a despair that would fill any parent’s heart, and spread like fire through any parent’s veins, if their child had been shot to death and no one cared.

And yet too many Americans — overwhelmingly white Americans — didn’t remotely recognize, let alone understand, Ferguson’s despair. Why? Because, at the end day, they don’t see this nation’s black children — its Trayvon’s, Michael’s, and Tamir’s — as their children. Indeed they find it hard to see black children as children at all.

But while so much of white America couldn’t relate to the utter anguish of Ferguson’s black community it certainly worried mightily about how community members might react to the news that Michael Brown’s killer would not face trial. This reaction, whites knew, could be potentially disruptive to both privilege and power. And so they tried to contain this torment with tanks and tear gas.

And, when even these military measures couldn’t keep people from expressing their grief, and indeed only deepened their misery, these same white Americans began the shaming process. They began wondering publicly, shaking their heads most disapprovingly, why blacks can’t express their feelings more suitably, in a more appropriate way. They wished, loudly, for this grief to be less raw. They called for it to be far more civil. They desired it be expressed with greater decorum.

But this kind of distress, parental yet powerless, can’t possibly be proper or polite. It is perpetually provoked, it is historically-bound, and, thus, it is bone-deep.

This is a desolation born of the fact that we remain, and have always been, a nation in which only some parents, specifically the parents of America’s black and brown children, must continually suffer loss with no justice. From the parents of Emmett Till, to the parents of Medgar Evers, to the parents of Rodney King, to the parents of Sean Bell, to the parents of Yvette Smith, to the parents of countless other African Americans, justice is rarely served and, therefore, black pain and sorrow are ever-present.

To be sure, since white Americans haven’t experienced this long history of being terrorized by racist mobs and, today, don’t live in continuous fear of having their sons and daughters felled by police bullets, this ever-present pain may indeed be difficult to grasp. But for them to imagine it to be illogical or irrational is, in fact, more devastating to the future of this country than any on-the-ground expression of black distress could ever be.

After all, it is this sort of dismissal of palpable pain — a blindness and coldness to black humanity — that has caused so much trauma and tension in the first place. Indeed, if this nation ever hopes to make good on the promise of “justice for all,” and if it has any hope of actually giving every person in this country a rational reason to believe in the future, then America’s white people must reckon with their own power and privilege.

In fact, white people in this country are very well-aware that their kids are not assumed to be criminals as they walk down the street. They also well know that their kid’s skin color alone means they are unlikely to be shot to death by the police — even if they are suspected of committing a crime. And, here is the real point: were their children to be unarmed and yet killed with impunity, America’s whites would be sobbing, smashing and, yes, screaming for justice.

And, so… it is time for white Americans to stop shaming and to speak out against the killing of black children too.

Last week was inspiring. Since coming to New York two years ago, I have been working to build a community for myself. In many ways I have succeeded — I found people that I am honored to call friends, I have good neighbors, and I enjoy the community of my school. But last week was different. Last week, I felt part of a larger community, a community that “gets it,” a community that I share many values with, and a community that inspires me to action.

Since the announcement of the grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and killed unarmed black teen Mike Brown in Ferguson, MO, there have been demonstrations in many cities in America. The demonstrators march under the banners of “Justice for Mike Brown,” “Hands Up Don’t Shoot,” and “No Justice, No Peace.” The night after the announcement, there were hundreds of demonstrations all over New York City, and there was a feeling in the air that this time things might change. Or at least, this time the people won’t take it anymore.

The story of Mike Brown is incredibly sad, but even sadder is the fact that his death is not a new story. In the past few weeks alone, Tamir Rice, 12-years-old and unarmed, was shot by a police officer in Cleveland and Akai Gurley, 28-years-old and unarmed, was shot by a police officer in Brooklyn. I don’t even need to mention the color of the victims’ skin. This is what is so outraging — the assumption that a black man is a threat just because he is black. And in a time where a few thousand kilometers away in Israel, a prominent rabbi has said, “every car of an Arab man is a terror institution,” doesn’t all of this sound awfully familiar?

A blog post titled “And Now They Blame Ferguson On The Jews” is circulating online as a reaction to a banner from a demonstration in Seattle reading, “Occupation is a crime, Ferguson to Palestine, Resist U.S. Racism, Boycott Israel.” The post implies that this group is essentially anti-Semitic, and will jump on any occasion to hate Israel. But no one is blaming the Jews for the death of Mike Brown. These struggles are intertwined, and the core of the issues is very similar. It is the distorted view by the majority of a population that other people are a threat. When George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen, his defense was basically that Martin was wearing a hoodie, and a black man wearing a hoodie at night must be a threat. That argument sounds very similar to the Israeli who argues that peace is impossible because living side by side with a Palestinian community is a security threat for the Jews.

Jews are the ruling class in Israel. There is no doubt about it. There is an ongoing debate in Israel about the Jewish Homeland National Law, which will change Israel’s Basic Law to say that Israel is the Homeland of the Jewish people, thereby making the Arabs in Israel second-class citizens. But this is not a big change from the reality on the ground. The Arab citizens of Israel need to prove themselves on a daily basis, their loyalty to Israel is constantly put in question. Judging by Israel’s culture, national symbols, and national heroes, it is evident that one people is ruling over another (and this is even before we start talking about the West Bank and Gaza). Imagine living in a country where when you hear the national anthem, a song that is suppose to be your own anthem, you can’t sing it because you are not a part of the ruling class’s religion. This is the case with Israel’s Hatikva, which is about Jews’ longing for Zion. At the same time, imagine walking down the street and seeing a police officer, someone who is supposed to protect you, and knowing that he sees you as a threat. In these societies, no true progress can be made until this paradigm changes.

Last week, I demonstrated with the Israelis For a Sustainable Future in front of the Israeli consulate in New York City, in solidarity with those who are demonstrating in Israel against the Jewish Homeland National Law. I see this stand as a direct continuation of the demonstrations in Ferguson. We might not have chanted “Justice For Mike Brown,” but the reason we demonstrated is exactly “No Justice, No Peace.” No individual should be treated differently than anyone else in their community, not in Ferguson, not in Palestine, and not anywhere else. And until we reach that, I hope the new community that has been built in New York City, of people from all of these supposedly different causes, will walk hand in hand until we have justice and peace.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s fractious coalition government seems headed for a breakup that could spark new elections against a backdrop of security turmoil inside the country, disputes over nationalist legislation and a deep freeze in peace efforts with the Palestinians.

With little to gain from a vote that would come two years early, the country’s top politicians could still pull back from a brink that none seem to relish. But the vitriolic attacks of recent days suggest another angry campaign could soon be at hand. If that happens, it seems likely for now that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be returned for a fourth term. Despite sagging popularity amid economic doldrums and increasing global isolation, his divided opposition lacks a credible unifying figure.

Under Israel’s political system, the leader is the elected parliament member who can show majority support in the 120-seat house.

Netanyahu’s current coalition consists of a diverse array of partner parties that includes the centrist “Yesh Atid,” which rose to power with promises of economic relief for Israel’s struggling middle class; “Jewish Home,” a hard-line party closely identified with the West Bank settlement movement; “Hatnuah,” which was elected on a platform pushing peace with the Palestinians; and “Yisrael Beitenu,” a nationalist party that seeks to redraw Israel’s borders to rid the country of many Arab citizens. His own Likud party is itself riven with disputes.

With little common ground, the competing factions have begun to squabble over a host of issues, including the budget, the collapse of U.S.-brokered peace talks, Jewish settlement construction and how to confront a wave of Palestinian attacks in Jerusalem.

The differences boiled over last week when Netanyahu pushed a piece of legislation defining Israel as “the Jewish state.” Although its 1948 Declaration of Independence already does this, critics say enshrining it in law would undermine Israel’s democratic character, enrage the country’s Arab minority, and possibly enable future illiberal legislation. The dispute forced Netanyahu to delay a vote on the bill by a week, and officials say the vote is likely to be pushed back yet again.

Addressing his Cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu complained of the incessant infighting.

“I hope we can return to normal conduct,” he said. “This is what the public expects from us. This is the only way to lead the country, and if not we will have to draw conclusions.”

The comments came a day after Finance Minister Yair Lapid, head of Yesh Atid, accused Netanyahu of playing “petty politics,” and said he hadn’t spoken to him in a month.

Israel’s media is almost unanimously predicting a government collapse with elections in a few months. Many observers believe Netanyahu’s championing of the “Jewish state” law is an effort to establish terms of debate that would bring out his nationalist base.

“The things that Lapid said about Netanyahu on Saturday proved without a doubt: The current government has come to its end. It’s only a matter of time,” wrote Shimon Schiffer, a senior political commentator at Yediot Ahronot.

A new opinion poll published Sunday in the Haaretz daily provided little incentive for anyone to head to elections, though.

Asked which politician is most suited to be prime minister, 35 percent of respondents said they favored Netanyahu, down from 42 percent in August, after a war against militants in the Gaza Strip. It said 38 percent were satisfied with his performance, down from 77 percent in early August. Forty-seven percent said Netanyahu should step down before the next elections to allow someone else to hold the top job.

Yet the same poll showed shrinking support for Lapid, Hatnuah leader Tzipi Livni and the opposition Labor Party. And the fact that the more liberal side of the map is split into three main parties also creates awkwardness for the opposition and may be preventing momentum for change.

The only party that showed gains was the hard-line “Jewish Home.”

One wild card is the possible entrance to the race by Moshe Kahlon, a former member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party who has combined an agenda favoring middle class economic issues with a tough policy on security matters, and who could, some believe, ultimately throw his weight behind a different prime ministerial prospect than the Netanyahu. He is polling around 10 percent in most surveys.

The poll interviewed 511 people and had a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points.

Reuven Hazan, a political scientist at the Hebrew University, said it is not in anyone’s interest, except perhaps Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett, to push for new elections.

“But politics is not always rational, and sometimes the dynamics of hatred, the statements made off camera, they tend to take on a life of their own,” he said.

“Netanyahu is unliked by most Israeli voters,” he added. “But there isn’t anyone else to challenge him.”

There were so many Logitech peripheral deals during Black Friday (they’re still available! ) that we made our own little Gold Box. Now we’re doing the same with Cyber Monday deals on Razer peripherals.

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