Adam Horowitz and I (Phil Weiss) are trying to think up a new phrase up top to replace "Iraq comes
home, the war of ideas" as we revamp this site. Maybe just "The war of ideas." Or maybe
something like "Tearing down the walls."
What does this have to do with the picture at left? Just a vibe. My niece Isabel Friedman is in Varanasi, India, on a cross-cultural student program. She went to three weddings last week. I loved this picture. She tells me, "The two girls were nieces of the bride, I believe. They hovered around
our student group for a good chunk of the wedding, most likely curious and
confused as to why 12 westerners showed up at their auntie's
wedding. They were intrigued, playful, modest and spent a lot of their
time herding around their younger family members."
That sounds about right. We'll continue to be a
serious news/opinion site re the Middle East and Israel/Palestine, but we want words that
can include the hopeful engaged spirit in that girl's eyes. Ideas?
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{ 50 comments }
You're a brand now. Just "Mondoweiss." Less is more.
Post-tribalism ?
Beyond tribalism ?
Quickening of a post-tribal world ?
"Tearing down the walls' works better than "The war of ideas"
She knows who she is.
And her example will allow others to do the same
—
Maybe turn whatever chosen words into a logo
I like the "war of ideas" concept though it's always nice to establish discourse with a little less of a militaristic feel ("Bringing a fair fight to the arena of ideas"). I agree that Mondoweiss is a brand now and KISS (keep it simple, stupid) is never a bad idea.
When I think of this blog I consider the authors, Phil and Adam, as well as so many of the thoughtful and articulate commenters as part of a vanguard for positive change (which is itself ironic as I think 'National Vanguard' is a neo-nazi group)
When I think of what I've learned from Phil and Adam and the others in here, I think of the words of Gandhi;
"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
Who is your target audience? In my opinion, you need to be clear and specific about who you want here…
"Jews without a Clue"
"JewsansClues"
"Two antisemites from Verona"
"Couldn't Jew Just Die"
"How We Can Save Hitler's Legacy"
"Phil's Phools plus Adam"
There are any number of good descriptive titles you can use that are far more accurate than what you are using.
I just want to say:
1) The combination of "serious news/opinion site re the Middle East and Israel/Palestine" and more spiritual (or whatever one calls it) texts is much appreciated. Mondoweiss is more than just "hard" news and quotes from other people. It's personal, and I love it that way.
2) I always thought that "the war of ideas" captures the essence of this site. "Tearing down the walls" sounds too generic in my opinion.
3) re Suzanne. No writer has to specify his target audience. It divides people and might make readers feel uninvited.
The target audience is anyone who wants to achieve a just peace in Palestine, a just US foreign policy and a honest and respectful society, of which the Jews-Gentile relationship is one interesting part.
I liked the original slogan a lot. Honest, direct, probing, challenging, intriguing. Iraq is the subject that has brought myself, and I imagine many others, to question Zionism.
Whatever you do, please stay away from Mondoweiss: We soft-peddle the truth because we really don't want to hurt the Zionists' feelings. Save that one for Mondowitty.
Phil, the following caption accurately describes your blog (and describes why I and many others visit it) in general terms:
"Mondoweiss: Thinking Inconvenient Thoughts Out Loud"
Chris…you crack me up. lol!
Me wrote: re Suzanne. No writer has to specify his target audience. It divides people and might make readers feel uninvited.
Phil is going to do whatever he wants to do. I just wanted to point out that the tone starts at the top (with Phil). Right now he is attracting a particular mindset that he may or may not be all that thrilled with.
As an interactive site, commentators make or break the intended message. Just sayin'…
It's all good, Phil. Chris Berel's comments show who we are dealing with. Has there ever been a POV less American, even as Chris is protected by goy troops and financial support?
Judging by the kind of sentiments so often reported here such as those elicited by Helena Cobban from that Israeli guy, or the kind you get from some of the posters here, you ain't waging a war *of* ideas, you're waging a war *for* ideas.
Reading Zeki Ergas' take on paradigmatic shift and the IP conflict, it occurs to me that Mondoweiss is a bridge between the decaying paradigm and the emerging one. Just food for thought.
While I still like the simple brand, here is a thought:
"Open forum on the Middle East."
I agree, keep Mondoweiss,it's now a brand and well known.
There are some people engaged in endeavors of all kinds that I mentally deem 'Happy Warriors', maybe it will give you some ideas for a sig to Mondoweiss.
WHO is the happy Warrior? Who is he
What every man in arms should wish to be?
—It is the generous Spirit, who, when brought
Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought
Upon the plan that pleased his childish thought:
Whose high endeavours are an inward light
That makes the path before him always bright:
Who, with a natural instinct to discern
What knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn,
Abides by this resolve, and stops not there,
But makes his moral being his prime care;
Who, doomed to go in company with Pain,
And Fear, and Bloodshed, miserable train!
Turns his necessity to glorious gain;
In face of these doth exercise a power
Which is our human nature’s highest dower;
Controls them and subdues, transmutes, bereaves
Of their bad influence, and their good receives:
By objects, which might force the soul to abate
Her feeling, rendered more compassionate;
Is placable—because occasions rise
So often that demand such sacrifice;
More skilful in self-knowledge, even more pure,
As tempted more; more able to endure,
As more exposed to suffering and distress;
Thence, also, more alive to tenderness.
—’Tis he whose law is reason; who depends
Upon that law as on the best of friends;
Whence, in a state where men are tempted still
To evil for a guard against worse ill,
And what in quality or act is best
Doth seldom on a right foundation rest,
He labours good on good to fix, and owes
To virtue every triumph that he knows:
—Who, if he rise to station of command,
Rises by open means; and there will stand
On honourable terms, or else retire,
And in himself possess his own desire;
Who comprehends his trust, and to the same
Keeps faithful with a singleness of aim;
And therefore does not stoop, nor lie in wait
For wealth, or honours, or for worldly state,
Whom they must follow; on whose head must fall,
Like showers of manna, if they come at all:
Whose power shed round him in the common strife,
Or mild concerns of ordinary life,
A constant influence, a peculiar grace;
But who, if he be called upon to face
Some awful moment to which Heaven has joined
Great issues, good or bad for human kind,
Is happy as a Lover; and attired
With sudden brightness, like a Man inspired;
And, through the heat of conflict, keeps the law
In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw:
Or if an unexpected call succeed,
Come when it will, is equal to the need:
—He who, though thus endued as with a sense
And faculty for storm and turbulence,
Is yet a Soul whose master-bias leans
To homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes;
Sweet images! which, whereso’er he be,
Are at his heart; and such fidelity
It is his darling passion to approve;
More brave for this, that he hath much to love:—
’Tis, finally, the Man, who, lifted high,
Conspicuous object in a Nation’s eye,
Or left unthought-of in obscurity,—
Who, with a toward or untoward lot,
Prosperous or adverse, to his wish or not,
Plays, in the many games of life, that one
Where what he most doth value must be won.
Whom neither shape of danger can dismay,
Nor thought of tender happiness betray;
Who, not content that former worth stand fast,
Looks forward, persevering to the last,
From well to better, daily self-surpast:
Who, whether praise of him must walk the earth
For ever, and to noble deeds give birth,
Or he must fall to sleep without his fame,
And leave a dead unprofitable name,
Finds comfort in himself and in his cause;
And, while the mortal mist is gathering, draws
His breath in confidence of Heaven’s applause:
This is the happy Warrior; this is he
Whom every Man in arms should wish to be.
Who is your target audience? In my opinion, you need to be clear and specific about who you want here…
Good god. Yes, and conversely, who he doesn't want here.
you ain't waging a war *of* ideas, you're waging a war *for* ideas.
—–
Excellent point, Sin Nombre.
"Open forum on the Middle East."
Posted by: Doppler
I like this one, clear and unpretentious. However, it sounds a bit too similar to the Mondoweiss antithesis: The race-hatred-promoting 'Middle East Forum'.
"Iraq comes home: the war of ideas"
Is good already and keeps note of the blogs' origin and gives a bit of direction. Many of the other suggestions are bland, including "Open Forum on the Middle East". It's ain't broke, etc.
I like Andy's: "Mondoweiss: Thinking Inconvenient Thoughts Out Loud"…or something similar.
I would definitely drop Iraq from the phrase. Although it was the impetus, and although the war is still ongoing (and we'll still be there occupying even when it's officially announced that we've left), this site is obviously much, much broader (in fact, it doesn't even really concentrate on Iraq at all), and citing Iraq in the motto is misleading, IMHO.
@MX – That could work though in a "Judean People's Front" vs "The People's Front of Judea" sort of way.
I went back and reread what Phil wrote:
"We'll continue to be a serious news/opinion site re the Middle East and Israel/Palestine, but we want words that can include the hopeful engaged spirit in that girl's eyes."
I think the phrase should touch on the fact that this site is both "controversial" and hopeful.
(I put "controversial" in quotes because it's only controversial due to the fact that the majority of Americans are so hopelessly unaware of the Middle East and the world at large, and much of what they do know is so Israeli-centric, Zionized, etc.)
thanks much. all very helpful. and appreciated…
'a bridge being built with falling walls'
Suzanne: "Who is your target audience? In my opinion, you need to be clear and specific about who you want here…Right now he is attracting a particular mindset that he may or may not be all that thrilled with."
LOL. Good God you chameleon Zionists are predictable. This is the new honey-trap Suzanne. Her old, nasty Zionist tactics didn't work, so now she's trying the sweet and dainty seductress route. Next week, she'll be posing (unconvincingly) as the rigorous intellectual with slight Zionist sympathies.
It must be some kind of group survival strategy to adapt colors according to the surroundings until finally attaining the right shade. But the net political effect is a group of slimy lizard creatures with zero political principles other than self-perpetuation at the expense of non-lizards. And there are few things more dangerous and ugly than organized lizard-supremacists with real political power.
Get a life Suzanne. You're a career-troll. No one but OTHER trolls are taking anything you say seriously.
We are fine with the tone/etc. of Phil's blog.
The only person who stuck out from us regulars was Rowan because he seemed a bit harsh. Not a knock against Rowan's ideas, just in how he presented them.
You and the rest of the village idiots only recently infested the comments section of this blog. You're in no position to make judgments on how Phil's tone is attracting this person or that person.
In fact, as a regular – and I'm sure there are plenty more who'd agree – it's you and the rest of the trolls who've changes the tone. But not of the content. Rather, of the debate here.
And that was just momentary. People will learn to ignore you over time.
I mean, I think the fact that AFTER people like you showed up, Phil had to make a post about policy change.
Oh and I think just 'Mondoweiss' is fine. Less is more like as one of the above posters said.
The Jews are our Misfortune.
Pithy, historic, accurate.
"I put "controversial" in quotes because it's only controversial due to the fact that the majority of Americans are so hopelessly unaware of the Middle East and the world at large, and much of what they do know is so Israeli-centric, Zionized, etc."
Translation: I am better,and smarter, and holier than other Americans. They're all stooopid, and I am brilllllliant. I am one of the Chosen People, not those dirty little JOOOOS, dammit. Me! Me!
:-) :-) :-)
I explained the troll technique over and over, didn't I: personalisation, amateur psychology, gratuitous smears, threats, and irrelevances.
Evidently, Suzanne feels that most Americans are quite knowledgeable when it comes to world affairs, and that there is a media voice in this country for Palestinians and Arabs that is equal to the one given to Israel and its advocates.
Translation of Suzanne: My identity disappears if I can't be an unabashed, blood-thirsty Jewish nationalist. It's the only thing I've got.
just talked to adam and he says that an issue is, if there's no subhed, new people come here and they don't know what's going on, and they feel lost. not good.
and keeping iraq, that throws new people, cause they think it's iraq blog
Phil I think you're stuck in a printing press mindset. The cover of a magazine matters. The cover (heading) of a blog is inconsequential. People come here because of links; they stay (or don't) because of the content. It's not like they glance at the heading and have to decide whether to purchase something or not.
As I see it, the role of this site and every other earnest intellectual’s site should be to foment a civil war, peaceful or otherwise, if necessary, between the Zionist advocates of institutional racism, and Americans who value the traditional American melting pot ethic — "E pluribus unum" — out of many, one. We’re in a war for the country’s soul, and the country happens to be the most powerful superpower in history.
Yeah…Phil, what Crazy Eddie says…be the guy who calls for armed conflict against the American JOOOOOS.
(seriously Phil, either go for that or lose these freaks, pleeeeeeeaaasssse?)
Phil I think you're stuck in a printing press mindset. The cover of a magazine matters. The cover (heading) of a blog is inconsequential. People come here because of links; they stay (or don't) because of the content. It's not like they glance at the heading and have to decide whether to purchase something or not.
Although obvious now that I've read it, I never thought about it like that before. That's another point for the blogosphere.
That said, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's entirely inconsequential.
JOOOOOS … personalisation, amateur psychology, gratuitous smears, threats, and irrelevances… I guess the girl just can't help it.
On "The Importance of Being Jewish" – and other Social Obligations: An ongoing non-denominational Debate
Ugh. Well it comes off as sarcastic, pendantic, and cumbersome, all at once, but I think you get the intent though.
I like having a subhed on blogs. It tells me a little bit about where the author(s) is/are coming from & that helps me to contextualize the content of the blog.
FWIW, I would get rid of 'Iraq' not because it is no longer relevant but because the world is moving to a more dangerous place. To quote that monster Rumsfeld, there are more unknowns now … and they are right here in our backyard.
Again, a new column coming out today reminds me of this: see Pilger that is but a follow-up to Aschkar.
Suzanne: "be the guy who calls for armed conflict against the American JOOOOOS."
Suzanne, read Fatal Embrace: Jews and the State (written by a Jew) to find out how corrupt authoritarian regimes have historically collaborated with corrupt Jews, in part so they could maintain the corrupt status quo by hiding behind red-herrings and misdirection like the one you just issued above.
But red-herrings and misdirection can only hold back history for so long. Murderous corruption is murderous corruption, and the Zionists and their collaborators simply can't sweep it under the rug by issuing routine accusations of anti-Semitism against those who speak out any longer.
anyone have a good wedding coupons?
Here are a few (taken from mostly your words):
Speaking truth to power (this is the overarching theme, isn't it?)
Let our people go (too bad it's confusing when out of context)
if we are not for us, who are we? (paraphrased from Hillel)
Quo Vadis, Mondo? (good ring but probably not such good match)
More later…
I think almost any of the lines from John carpenter's "They Live" might be appropriate:
Memorable quotes for
They Live (1988)
Frank: I've walked a white line my entire life, I'm not about to screw that up.
Nada: White line's in the middle of the road, that's the worst place to drive.
**
Nada: Brother, life's a bitch… and she's back in heat.
**
Nada: I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass… and I'm all out of bubblegum.
**
Frank: The Golden Rule: He who has the gold, makes the rules.
**
Nada: I don't like this one bit. Not one bit.
**
Nada: Wooo. It's like a drug. Wearing these glasses gets you high, but you come down hard.
**
Street Preacher: Outside the limit of our sight, feeding off us, perched on top of us, from birth to death, are our owners! Our owners! They have us. They control us! They are our masters! Wake up! They're all about you! All around you!
**
Gilbert: The world needs a wake up call, gentlemen. We're gonna phone it in.
**
Bearded Man: We could be pets, we could be food, but all we really are is livestock.
**
Drifter: What's wrong with having it good for a change? Now they're gonna let us have it good if we just help 'em. They're gonna leave us alone, let us make some money. You can have a little taste of that good life too. Now, I know you want it. Hell, everybody does.
Frank: You'd do it to your own kind.
Drifter: What's the threat? We all sell out every day, might as well be on the winning team.
**
Nada: [to Frank] You ain't the first son of a bitch to wake up out of their dream.
Frank: The steel mills were laying people off left and right. They finally went under. We gave the steel companies a break when they needed it. You know what they gave themselves? Raises.
Female Interviewer: Last place of employment?
Nada: Denver, Colorado. I worked there for ten years and things just seemed to dry up. They lost fourteen banks in one week. So, well…
Female Interviewer: There's nothing available for you right now.
**
Bearded Man: The poor and the underclass are growing. Racial justice and human rights are non-existent. They have created a repressive society and we are their unwitting accomplices.
Bearded Man: They are dismantling the sleeping middle class. More and more people are becoming poor. We are their cattle. We are being bred for slavery.
**
Phil and Adam.
Be careful you dont limit yourself for the future. You want to be relevant in 2014 and beyond. My father got the best advice from his lawyer who said that they should rename their company to the family name in case what they were selling changed. The lawyer cited credit rating, goodwill, brand recognition, and the cost factor of letterhead and ads, etc, irrespective of what they peddled. It was the best advice. Their company became world famous in their industry. They could add any product and it benefited from the company name. and reputation.
Someone above mentioned "Inconvenient Truths." Or something like that. That is what you deal in.
But it's more than that. You tell the truth — you discuss reality — when others refuse to. Your site is an oasis for think-changers.
I liked John Carpenter's 'Escape from New York', too, that sort of sly nihilism doesn't usually make it to general release. I especially liked the way that, every time anyone asked the protagonist his name and he replied "Snake Pliskin", they would go "Not the Snake Pliskin?" – but it was never explained why.
How about:
Mondoweiss, assimilating in America, finding peace in the Mid-East
Mondoweiss, assimilation in America as the path to Mid-East peace
Mondoweiss and the Knights who say… NI.
I really like the title as it is but it's getting outdated. I like the 'war of ideas' bit tho.
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