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Vel Nirtist
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July 22, 2015
Credibility? What credibility?"U.S. Will Lose 'All Credibility' If Congress Rejects Nuclear Deal, Kerry Says."
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June 28, 2015
Has SCOTUS Created a Way to Get Around the Estate Tax?The law of unintended consequences may work to surprising effect.
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July 26, 2011
Mark Twain on the Oslo TragedyAs is pretty much always the case, Mark Twain got it right.
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July 19, 2011
Rupert Murdoch's Journalism, and that of the NY TimesRupert Murdoch's rivals are full of glee. Finally, the big bad old boy had overreached, and is in big trouble.
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May 10, 2011
Is Obama's Urge to Close Guantanamo Hampering Intelligence Gathering?Take no prisoners in Abbotabad
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May 6, 2011
Obama's Birth Certificate and Osama's Death PictureThese two have an interesting common denominator that reveals much about our president's mindset.
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December 9, 2010
Will Obama impose a solution on Israel?Politically, an attempt by Obama to coerce Israel may at this point in time serve Clinton far better than it would serve Obama.
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November 27, 2010
Of Walls, Winged Horses, and Religious Tourism.The PA denies Jewish connection to Jerusalem's Western Wall.
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November 15, 2010
The Wonders of ObamaLogicThe Israelis are about to experience the thrills of another wonderful emanation of the Great Mind -- the ObamaLogic
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October 20, 2010
Obama got himself up the Middle East tree -- and Netanyahu will be foolish to help him get down againWill Netanyahu bail Obama out?
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August 5, 2010
Imam Rauf -- a Typical Muslim Cleric?What kind of advice can a man so aloof from the world (or the one that is so cruel) give to his charges?
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June 18, 2010
Collective Punishment -- And Collective Guilt.In Gaza, It is collective punishment all right. But the collective punishment of those who are collectively guilty.
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June 7, 2010
Aesop (and some others) on Ground Zero MosqueThe backers of the Ground Zero mosque should invest where the return on investment is at its max
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March 29, 2010
Bibi should talk to Senator Nelson about Obama's promisesWhat worked with getting Sen. Nelson's vote on Obamacare ought to do the trick with Israel, too
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March 6, 2010
Obama should be the last one to 'cast the first stone' in Israel-PA talksShould he be throwing a stone at those who are perhaps much less sinful in that regard than he is?
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August 29, 2009
Obama's Nuclear Blackmail of Israel -- and of the WorldFor the full eight months that the dream of dreams became a reality and the blessed O occupies the Oval office, Iran keeps spinning its uranium-enrichment centrifuges as if nothing happened
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July 6, 2009
Obama's DemagogueryOur president keeps the world, and a huge number of Americans, enthralled by his superb oratorical skills. But are Obama's pronouncements indeed solid pieces of political wisdom, or just tricks of a glib tongue?
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June 27, 2009
Aztecs and AyatollahsDoes God need human protection? The Ayatollahs seem to think so.
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June 24, 2009
Why Obama is soft on Iran's MullahsIf 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.
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May 31, 2009
Why West Bank Settlements Must StopIsraelis are not the only ones who build on the disputed land to accommodate for 'natural growth.
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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.
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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
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January 7, 2009
In a Democracy, You Get What You Vote forA couple of years ago, in a free and democratic election the Gaza Civilians, electrified by Hamas' fiery promises to destroy Israel, gave most of their votes to these terrorists.
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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?
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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.
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May 17, 2008
When not in doubt, lieMark 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
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June 26, 2007
Israel's absurd concessionPrime 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.
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May 31, 2007
Possession of Ph.D. versus ability to reasonThe 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.
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May 28, 2007
Giving land to PalestiniansI 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.
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May 19, 2007
Minnesota Muslims' dilemmaMoslems 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.
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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."
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April 28, 2007
A note on "The Muslim Mainstream and the New Caliphate"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 authority of Islam
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April 14, 2007
Oxfam's follyAccording to the tearful plea from Oxfam - a poverty and "injustice" advocacy group - international aid should be given to Palestinians no matter what.
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April 11, 2007
Ahmadinejud and the punditsNo 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.
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April 2, 2007
PC's deadly tabooI 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."
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March 28, 2007
Just solution for Palestinian refugee problemThe much-lauded, just-re-approved "Saudi peace initiative" demands "just solution" to "Palestinian refugee problem." But look at what they mean by justice.
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March 25, 2007
A note on atheismI hope Mr. Alderman, who wrote the Letter to a Popular Atheist realizes that atheism is a faith-based religion just like any other one
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March 20, 2007
That kidnapped BBC reporterNow 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
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March 18, 2007
Hamas and the Palestinian peopleIs 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?
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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.
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March 8, 2007
Educating Abdullah III was listening to Jim Lehrer's interview with Jordan's King Abdullah that followed his speech to a joint session of Congress.
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February 25, 2007
Hosni Mubarak and Robin HoodThe 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
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February 21, 2007
Responding to Iran's "offer"I find the official American reaction to Iran's president's "offer" rather less than adequate.
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February 14, 2007
Imagination and the PresidencyWe've been told that character and personality are quintessential in a successful president. There is one other key skill that I haven't heard mentioned before, which is of key importance: imagination.
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February 9, 2007
Israel's DemocracyIsrael 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.
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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."
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January 26, 2007
Iran's Un-TheocracyWhy are the Muslim s not convinced that democracy is right for them? Theocracy.
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January 24, 2007
The Root of TerrorThough 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 that position would state with similarly genuine conviction that "one man's round Earth is another's flat one."
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January 24, 2007
Sen. Webb's comparison to KoreaI 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.
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January 14, 2007
"Old" Europe and IsraelRichard 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.
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January 3, 2007
Bush and EinsteinOne 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. In the year 2001, we lived in another sort of perfect world yet again. All friction between different cultures and religions was supposedly ironed out by declaring all of them simply "different".