By Isaac Yetiv , Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — The drafters of the US Constitution, fearing ” the rule of one opinion, whether of a tyrant or of a mob,” created a government structure premised on the idea that humans are fallible, fickle, and unreliable…and need to be feared. James Madison, who promoted this […]
Napoleon crowned himself; Obama makes law by himself Read More »
USADETROIT, Michigan (Press Release) — The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Tuesday, Aug. 28, expressed outrage and horror at an alleged anti-Semitic hate crime against a student at Michigan State University. The student was knocked unconscious and had his mouth stapled shut by two men at a party, after the men allegedly asked the student if he
Anti-Semitic hate crime alleged at Michigan State University Read More »
USA
By Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO –None of them who planned it—and it was not very well planned—were certain it would succeed. Nor was it some kind of new idea. A. Philip Randolph, the wiry, erudite, socialist equivalent of MLK one generation earlier, had actually conceived of mass march on the capital, one that would
49 years ago, Martin Luther King told his dream to the nation Read More »
USA
By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California —Last week, I received an email from the Reelect-elect Obama campaign. The President is urging rabbis to help re-elect the President. The email contained the following information and assertions: Obama for America today announced the launch of Rabbis for Obama, a campaign initiative to engage and mobilize grassroots
High Holy Days no time for election-year politics Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USABy Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO –In this heady time of national decision, the Hebrew Scripture unhesitatingly calls for appropriate restraints on any king. It’s fair to say that the notion of “limited government” and “checks and balances” are not recent manifestations; they’re actually 3,000 years old and come straight out of Deuteronomy and, hopefully,
Some good biblical advice about would-be leaders Read More »
USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — If I’ve learned anything in a half-century of studying politics, it is that those who demand everything risk getting nothing. Currently there are two examples of major players who haven’t gotten that message. One is the Republican Party of the United States, which, according to reports, is likely to include
Demands of U.S. Republicans, Palestinians go too far Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, USA
By Shoshona Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –While noting in The Washington Post that Israel “cannot afford to outsource its security to another country,” Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, former chief of Israeli Military Intelligence, contends that President Obama can/should frame “a nuclear-armed Iran as an impermissible threat to the national interests of the United States and its
Obama should explain how Iran endangers U.S. interests Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USA
By David Brin PASADENA, California — I write this from Pasadena, where I just finished a public evening (that will be podcast soon on the site of KPCC FM radio) discussing with USC Professor Paul Rosenbloom and the Planetary Society’s Mat Kaplan the future of artificial intelligence, uplifting dolphins, and good or bad types of
Whimsical Obama has quality often lacking: curiosity Read More »
USABy David Brin ENCINITAS, California –Mitt Willard Romney now informs us that he did pay taxes during the last ten years. Thus he attempts to staunch – despite his own refusal to provide proof in the form of tax returns – the assertion of critics like Democratic senator Harry Reid that Romney paid no taxes
Why shouldn’t voters see Romney’s tax returns? Read More »
USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called cavalierly for the people of Aleppo to rise up against the Assad regime. When they did — as when President Bush (41) called on the Shi’ites and Kurds of Iraq to rise up against Saddam in 1991 — the U.S. declined to support the rebels, and
Clinton signals, but doesn’t make the turn Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USABy Isaac Yetiv, Ph.D. LA JOLLA, California — Even before the presidential debates, the lines separating the worldviews of the candidates present a sharp picture of clear distinctions; and that is good for the electorate and for democracy. The incumbent, President Obama, by his words and deeds, situated himself far to the left of mainstream
Democrats desperate to change subject from economy Read More »
USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –Americans are jaded by the size and shape of the financial crisis that ripped through banking in 2008. Bernie Madoff, AIG, “too big to fail,” Goldman Sachs, subprime lending, unfathomable derivatives, and underwater mortgages make it hard to work up much steam on yet another banking story. And you could
Standard Chartered Branch, Deloite & Touche accused of conspiring with Iran Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USABy Morris J. Amitay WASHINGTON, D.C — The specter of the January 2, 2013 sequestration has created rare unanimity here in Washington. Just about everyone both in the defense establishment and Congress maintains it would have disastrous consequences if implemented. This new round of budget cuts was mandated by the U.S. Budget Control Act
Partisan gridlock jeopardizes U.S. military readiness Read More »
USABy Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — The recent attack upon the Sikh Temple in Wisconsin dredged up some old memories I thought I had buried. My story began not long after 2001. At that time, I was a rabbi in Glens Falls, New York, when the incident occurred. After the terrible 9/11
Attack on Sikh Temple stirs memories of Glen Falls Read More »
Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi, USA