Blog
Last Tuesday, I watched a TV report from Homs, Syria by Marie Colvin, a Long Island native working out of London as foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times. It was both emotional and sobering. Colvin, who sported a patch over her left eye resulting from a hand grenade thrown in Sri Lanka, commented on the…
Read More >>Two movements with similar names are sweeping the nation. One deals with basketball. The other with our presidential campaign. The first is newer, more fun and a lot healthier for the nation. “Linsanity” has recorded the impact made by Jeremy Lin, point guard for basketball’s New York Knicks, who emerged in the past two weeks…
Read More >>Jerusalem and Birmingham, Alabama constitute two very different and distant cities. But given the elephant in the political room—the issue that presidential candidates and the incumbent government prefer to avoid—they’re a lot closer than you think. This week’s Newsweek (2-13-12) includes an article on Alabama’s recent immigration law. While H.B. 56 meets Alabamians’ needs for…
Read More >>The Occupy movement has occupied a lot of media attention—particularly in Oakland where the other one percent continue to clash with police. Earlier this week, the other one percent managed to trash the lobby of Oakland City Hall and burn an American flag. That’s pretty productive considering they kept janitors working and reduced flag inventory,…
Read More >>I went to an auto-supply store yesterday looking for valve caps for my tires and got a lesson in politics. A woman in her mid-forties approached me with two different cans of motor oil. “Which would you get?” she asked. I suggested she check with a sales associate. She held one aloft. “I suppose this…
Read More >>I saw a TV commercial last week featuring small children quoting and commenting on John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have life eternal.” Now, I have no brief with people of any religion expressing their faith.…
Read More >>In the Mishnah, Rabbi Eliezer advises us to “Return [to God] one day before you die. (Pirke Avot 2:10).” But none of us knows the day of our death. Thus we should repent daily. My friend Bruce’s friend’s father died last Friday at 72—five years older than me. He was healthy, active and vital. The…
Read More >>It’s over! Iowa held its vaunted caucus for Republican presidential hopefuls, and Mitt Romney “won” by eight votes over Rick Santorum. In doing so, he was rejected by 75 percent of Iowans, who didn’t seem wild about any of the candidates. The real winner was the media, which blanketed the nation with Iowa coverage. Many…
Read More >>They want to retreat centuries to a purer time when men were closer to God. No, not Islamists seeking to return to the time of Muhammad in the seventh century. I’m talking about the haredim, Israel’s ultra-orthodox Jews. First, a bit of Torah. People have long believed in an idyllic past. Witness the Garden of…
Read More >>Lowe’s, the home improvement chain, beckons shoppers with, “Let’s build something together.” Earlier this month, Loewe’s sought to help build walls around American Muslims. This gives a whole new meaning to the ancient meaning of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. So let me unravel the mystery. The Tampa-based Florida Family Association took umbrage at…
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