July 22, 2015

Credibility? What credibility?

The Obama/Kerry team believes that "the masses are asses," and they act on that convenient understanding again and again. Its latest use comes in the attempt to sell the Iran deal to Congress.  As NPR tells us, Kerry is planning to ...

June 28, 2015

Has SCOTUS Created a Way to Get Around the Estate Tax?

Sometimes, at a most solemn moment, a most irreverent thought shoots through the mind. When I heard that the US Supreme Court legalized gay marriage, my thought was "I wonder what the estate tax lawyers will make of it?" How about advisi...

July 26, 2011

Mark Twain on the Oslo Tragedy

As is pretty much always the case, Mark Twain got it right.Here is what he said in his highly cynical What Is Man?: "...when you know the man's religious complexion, you know what sort of religious books he reads when he wants some more light, and w...

July 19, 2011

Rupert Murdoch's Journalism, and that of the NY Times

Rupert Murdoch's rivals are full of glee. Finally, the big bad old boy had overreached, and is in big trouble. Better yet, the virtue of the nice, good, clean papers like the NY and LA Times shine even better by contrast. Hurray!But, without even bei...

May 10, 2011

Is Obama's Urge to Close Guantanamo Hampering Intelligence Gathering?

President Obama wants to shut down Guantanamo; so what does he propose to do with the newly-captured Guantanamo-class detainees?Case in point: the raid on Osama's compound. Osama got shot dead -- apparently to deny him an opportunity during a trial t...

May 6, 2011

Obama's Birth Certificate and Osama's Death Picture

These two have an interesting common denominator that reveals much about our president's mindset.Consider CIA director Leon Panetta's reaction of shrug-of-the-shoulders "sure" when asked whether the photos would be revealed. After all, the ...

December 9, 2010

Will Obama impose a solution on Israel?

It is tempting, but wrong, to interpret the recent announcement that President Obama decided to stop pushing Israel into a new three-month settlement freeze as a sign of his contrition and realization that he was, all along, on the wrong track. ...

November 27, 2010

Of Walls, Winged Horses, and Religious Tourism.

There was only so much that Muhammad, Islam's founder and, according to the Muslims, the final and ultimate prophet of God -- could accomplish out of Mecca. To have a talk with the prophets that preceded him, to take a tour of heaven, and to visi...

November 23, 2010

Obama and Bibi in a 'Who's on First' word box

About a week and a half ago Secretary Clinton, undoubtedly on President Obama's instructions, pushed Israel's Netanyahu into agreeing to present to his cabinet administration's incentives for resuming the West bank settlement freeze -- incentives tha...

November 15, 2010

The Wonders of ObamaLogic

As Americans are salivating in anticipation of the blessings of ObamaCare, the Israelis are about to experience the thrills of another wonderful emanation of the Great Mind -- the ObamaLogic.As is well known in certain circles which for some reason c...

October 20, 2010

Obama got himself up the Middle East tree -- and Netanyahu will be foolish to help him get down again

Given Obama's clearly expressed sympathies for the Palestinians, his demonstrated willingness to brutally coerce the Israelis, and his well-advertised strategic Middle East agenda -- that of smoothing stormy Iraqi, Afghani and Iranian waters by pouri...

August 5, 2010

Imam Rauf -- a Typical Muslim Cleric?

It seems that the Ground Zero mosque project has been examined from every conceivable angle since its inception, all the way through the community board hearings, protest and support rallies, politician's statements, newspaper editorials, and to the ...

June 18, 2010

Collective Punishment -- And Collective Guilt.

You fill out the tax form and discover that your taxes got higher. Puzzled, you check it out to discover that the higher tax was a result of Obama's policies. You did not vote for Obama, and so feel justified in not paying the extra tax. Will not vot...

June 7, 2010

Aesop (and some others) on Ground Zero Mosque

Many good points have been made at this Sunday's rally against the Ground Zero Mosque, yet one vital point was completely overlooked and still needs to be made.It is best illustrated by a fable. Aesop tells us of a...

March 29, 2010

Bibi should talk to Senator Nelson about Obama's promises

The key question Israel's Netanyahu should ask himself as he ponders demands by the Obama administration for drastic unilateral concessions to Palestinians in exchange for the promised prospect of peace has nothing to do with the Middle East conflict...

March 6, 2010

Obama should be the last one to 'cast the first stone' in Israel-PA talks

A certain person who lived in Judea some 2,000 years ago once saw a crowd of righteous gentlemen who were about to stone a woman caught in a compromising situation, and uttered this advice: "Let him who is without sin throw the first stone....

August 29, 2009

Obama's Nuclear Blackmail of Israel -- and of the World

Given the campaign rhetoric of a year ago - that once the One is anointed to US Presidency all ills of this world will be healed and humanity will start breathing in a clear air of post-Bush bliss, it is rather astonishing that some of the gravest pr...

July 6, 2009

Obama's Demagoguery

"Suddenly another voice spoke, low and melodious, its very sound an enchantment. Those who listened unwarily to that voice could seldom report the words that they heard; and if they did, they wondered, for little power remained in them. Mostly t...

June 27, 2009

Aztecs and Ayatollahs

The Aztecs had an interesting idea of celestial mechanics. Moon and stars were deadly enemies of the sun. Night was not just a time for sleep - it was a time of frightful combat, with the sun being brutally attacked under cover of darkness by combine...

June 24, 2009

Why Obama is soft on Iran's Mullahs

If President Obama shares the view of the man he nominated to head the National Intelligence Council, his slowness in condemning Iran's repression comes into clear focus. Remember Chas Freeman, President Obama's nominee for the chair of the National ...

May 31, 2009

Why West Bank Settlements Must Stop

"He wants to see a stop to settlements - not some settlements, not outposts, not ‘natural growth' exceptions," Secretary Clinton announced  on behalf of President Obama during her recent press-conference in Egypt. "That is o...

May 6, 2009

Missing the point on Middle East 'engagement'

Now that the word of the day is "engagement," media figures are rushing justifying President Obama's change of American policy vis-à-vis the Middle East. Therefore, Mr. Roger Cohen regularly enlightens us, via the New York Times edit...

March 9, 2009

'Why should Arabs be any less pragmatic than Jews?'

That is a question Roger Cohen of the New York Times rhetorically asks as he argues in an NYT's op-ed for recognition of, and negotiations with, Hezb'allah and Hamas, since this, in Mr. Cohen's view, will make them "pragmatic," which pragma...

January 7, 2009

In a Democracy, You Get What You Vote for

I guess there is a practical frame of mind, and a reflective one. Take for instance the terrible situation of the Gaza civilians who find themselves in the midst of fighting: people of the practical frame of mind are either demanding solutions, or co...

May 27, 2008

How does Obama love Israel?

Senator Obama recently expressed his deep love of, and "unshakeable commitment to" Israel. I believe him, but I am still worried. What exactly does he mean by love?Love is indeed a many splendored thing, and people use the wo...

May 20, 2008

What's the big deal??

When reading the following in a recent Haaretz article,  I wondered what to be most amazed at. "Israel finds it hard to explain to the world what is very clear from its point of view - the unacceptable threat posed to Sderot, Ashkelon and o...

May 17, 2008

When not in doubt, lie

Mark Twain resolved much uncertainty when he declared that "when in doubt, speak truth." Yet he offered no similarly authoritative advice on what to say when not in doubt -- and so lies were utilized quite frequentl...

June 26, 2007

Israel's absurd concession

Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert announced at Sharm-al-Sheik that he will contribute to strengthening Abbas' reputation among the Palestinians by releasing 250 Fatah terrorists from Israeli prisons.Which is in direct cont...

May 31, 2007

Possession of Ph.D. versus ability to reason

The decision of UK academic union to boycott Israel threw into sharp relief the difference between one’s possession of an academic title and his or her ability for general reasoning.The Arab-Israeli conflict being a textbook property dispute, w...

May 28, 2007

Giving land to Palestinians

I was more than a bit surprised to read in Mr. Feldman's article  that Palestinnians promised that Gaza would be peaceful if the Israelis withdrew. To the best of my recollection, the Gaza withdrawal was a unilateral move on ...

May 19, 2007

Minnesota Muslims' dilemma

Moslems who escaped the war-ravaged Somalia and were given refuge in the US are not sure whether they should feel happy in their new home, according to the May 18th segment of the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Indeed, they face serious problems...

May 4, 2007

And what do Palestinians get from the US for rocketing Israel and electing Hamas?

There is pressure building on Israel to start "removing roadblocks and opening passages in the territories and upgrading the Palestinian forces loyal to PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Israel is also urged to approve requests for weapons, munitions a...

April 28, 2007

A note on "The Muslim Mainstream and the New Caliphate"

I think two aspects of Mr. Bostom’s article cry to be addressed. First, there should be nothing surprising – and therefore there is noting demonic – about Moslem notion of waging holy war “until all mankind is reduced to the a...

April 14, 2007

Oxfam's folly

According to the tearful plea from Oxfam - a poverty and "injustice" advocacy group - international aid should be given to Palestinians no matter what. As per the Guardian report , Oxfam's position is that "International aid should be ...

April 11, 2007

Ahmadinejud and the pundits

No sooner did Ahmadinejud proudly announced that Iran can now enrich uranium on an industrial scale, than the political commentators displayed their gymnastic agility by promptly getting on all fours and sticking their heads in the sand. "Russia...

April 2, 2007

PC's deadly taboo

I have to disagree with Mr. Lewis’ assessment  in "As long as you're hated it's better to be feared" that “what they [the mullahs] have over us is sheer pig-headed fanaticism.” I wouldn’t call it that. By their ...

March 28, 2007

Just solution for Palestinian refugee problem

The much-lauded, just-re-approved "Saudi peace initiative" demands "just solution" to "Palestinian refugee problem."First of all, one wonders why there should still be such problem, and why there are still any "Pale...

March 25, 2007

A note on atheism

I hope Mr. Alderman, who wrote the Letter to a Popular Atheist realizes that atheism is a faith-based religion just like any other one - differing merely in the number of gods it advocates. Atheists' certainty that there are zero gods is as irrationa...

March 20, 2007

That kidnapped BBC reporter

Now we know who reports from Gaza for the BBC. On a purely human level, one cannot but feel sorry for the father of kidnapped Gaza BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, and hope for his son’s speedy release. But an interesting fact transpired in his...

March 18, 2007

Hamas and the Palestinian people

Is it possible to nourish the body but not the person? Eyes, but not the organs of vision? Ears, but not the organs of hearing? Feet and hands, but not the limbs?It obviously isn't, because those are just different words describing the same thing.But...

March 11, 2007

Christianity and American way of life (updated)

I think Mr. Warshawsky's essay today, while obviously well-intentioned, if so widely off the mark in terms of realistic assessment of the influence of Christianity in America that an opposing voice is clearly in order.Let's examine Christian influenc...

March 8, 2007

Educating Abdullah II

I was listening to Jim Lehrer's interview with Jordan's King Abdullah that followed his speech to a joint session of Congress. In that address he stressed the necessity of solving the Arab-Israeli conflict, but I could not help recalling what was sai...

February 25, 2007

Hosni Mubarak and Robin Hood

The absence of a fair process in making laws, and of due process in enforcing them, produces some pretty odd characters in a society - some good, some bad, some in between.Take the text-book case of Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham. If everyt...

February 21, 2007

Responding to Iran's "offer"

I find the official American reaction to Iran's president's "offer" rather less than adequate. Ahmadinejad said Iran would "stop the enrichment program if other nuclear powers were willing to do the same."  The response from ...

February 14, 2007

Imagination and the Presidency

By the very nature of democracy, the day after elections most Americans are happy with their new president. Though, due to our electoral system, the popular vote is not always reflected in the final outcome, by and large a person gets elected to the ...

February 9, 2007

Israel's Democracy

Israel is not exactly a new - or even young - country, and yet it would benefit greatly, I think, from carefully considering experience of others - and from learning from her own mistakes, accumulated during her sixty years.Because Israel's is one of...

February 9, 2007

Friday morning's holy violence at Al Aqsa

"With our soul, with our blood, we sacrifice ourselves for Al-Aqsa," the Palestinian crowd shouted yesterday, according to the press report, "The soldiers of Satan want to turn Al-Aqsa into a synagogue."What was it that caused yes...

January 26, 2007

Iran's Un-Theocracy

"As I observed their rancorous and loud disagreements in trying to come to a decision, I pitied the nation that was denied God's direct guidance, and thought how blessed was my own land, in living by the laws given by God Himself." So wrote...

January 24, 2007

The Root of Terror

Though there is plenty of "moral relativism" around, one hears precious little about "factual relativism." Everyone heard that "one's terrorist is another's freedom fighter," but I wonder how many among the advocates of ...

January 24, 2007

Sen. Webb's comparison to Korea

I was struck by Senator Webb's comparison, in his reply to the State of the Union address, of the present Iraq situation with the Korean war. I thought about this comparison in my blog some months ago.I came to precisely the opposite c...

January 14, 2007

"Old" Europe and Israel

Richard Baehr's detailed analysis of the stark contrast in popular support of Israel here in the US and across the Atlantic left out, I think, one critically important piece: Europe's history, which differs markedly from that of the US.Europe's histo...

January 3, 2007

Bush and Einstein

One hundred and twenty-five years ago, in 1881, the world of science was in a state of bliss. All big questions about the Universe having been answered two centuries earlier by Newton, what remained was just arriving at more precise values of various...