Political Mavens

I’ve never been to Spain, but I kinda like the music
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen (bio)

So, some time between 1035 and 1627 C.E. (or A.D. if you prefer), the name of a Spanish town changed from Jews Hill to Kill Jews, and there’s an effort under way to change it back, according to the Associated Press.

Posted by Rachel Raskin-Zrihen on April 22nd, 2014
Permanent link: I’ve never been to Spain, but I kinda like the music

Fading Gigolo - More Than Meets the Eye
By Marilyn Penn (bio)

“Fading Gigolo,” a new film written, directed by and starring John Turturro, Woody Allen and several other top stars, has gotten short shrift from the NYTimes and the Wall Street Journal. Its premise is less funny than shaky: a going out of business bookseller finds an unconventional way for his now unemployed worker/friend to earn some extra money and get out of debt. John Turturro plays the sensitive part/time florist/book stacker who’s coaxed into male prostitution. Sharon Stone and Sofia Vergara are the wealthy va-va-voom lovers who crave a menage a trois and apparently can’t find a suitable male without asking Woody Allen for a recommendation. As I said, the premise is shaky.

Posted by Marilyn Penn on April 21st, 2014
Permanent link: Fading Gigolo - More Than Meets the Eye

Media elite’s extreme fascination with the Jihadist individuals’ personalities hurts the victims of the Boston bombing
By Walid Phares (bio)

When the argument was made in The War of Ideas that the U.S. Middle East Studies elite had been causing failures in foreign policy and psychological distress on citizens for providing faulty expertise on the roots of Jihadi terror, some of the book’s projections had not yet been reached. They now have been. A Boston bombing victim Adrianne Haslet-Davis was frustrated by NBC’s repetitive use of the names of the bombers who caused her injury last year. She was participating in Meet the Press to discuss her experience. It turned out that the panel shifted the discussion to the personality of the bomber as if the terror act was a criminal aggression against her personally, causing her to leave the set. The media elite’s fascination with the personality of terrorists has been generated by U.S. academia’s assertion that the terror acts are expressions of individual frustrations by the Jihadi perpetrators, not products of their ideology.

Hence the discussion grows about the “private life of Dzohar” instead of the ideology that recruited him into the battlefield. This is a war, not a crime scene, and the Jihadists are members of a movement, not Hollywood stars. Ms. Haslet-Davis is right: she has no personal connection to a “frustrated Dzohar.” She is the victim of a Jihadi terrorist. NBC should thus discuss the terror ideology or the fate of victims of this ideology. Creating a link between criminal and victim in a global war serves to shift attention from the threat to national security to unnecessary mental torture of the victim.

NBC’s approach to the homegrown Jihadi menace needs to be corrected and so should the dominant Middle East Studies analysis of the roots of that threat. The victims of Ft. Hood had no connection to Major Hassan; the victims of the Boston bombing had no ties to the Tsarnaiev brothers; and civilians in Detroit had no relation to Abdelmuttalib, the so-called “Christmas Day Bomber.” The actions by terrorists against U.S. citizens, and citizens around the world for that matter, are generated by a conviction by indoctrinated groups and individuals that the Jihadi ideology is right and that killing in its name is legitimate. Unfortunately, the U.S. educational and opinion-generating elite is attempting to create a link between killers and victims rather than the global war waged by the Jihadists. In a sense, directly or indirectly, this trend aims at minimizing the real root cause of the threat. If anything, this might help the terrorists and dis-educate the public.

http://m.wmur.com/news/boston-bombing-survivor-walks-off-the-set-of-meet-the-press/25436236

Posted by Walid Phares on April 12th, 2014
Permanent link: Media elite’s extreme fascination with the Jihadist individuals’ personalities hurts the victims of the Boston bombing

Arab moderates’ Iran problem is in Washington
By Walid Phares (bio)

The visit came at the heels of severe crises in international relations—from Crimea to Kiev, Libya’s resurging violence, the unending war in Syria, an escalating security breakdown in Yemen, urban terror in Egypt, and car bombs in Lebanon and Iraq.

Posted by Walid Phares on April 10th, 2014
Permanent link: Arab moderates’ Iran problem is in Washington

Pro-American is Not Islamophobia
By Marilyn Penn (bio)

American college girls consider themselves harassed when a life-sized sculpture of a man in his underwear is placed on their campus.

Posted by Marilyn Penn on April 10th, 2014
Permanent link: Pro-American is Not Islamophobia

Brendan Eich and the Thought Police
By Joan Z. Shore (bio)

Let’s be clear: Brendan Eich, the newly-appointed CEO of Mozilla, was not condemning homosexuality — he was defending a traditional concept of marriage.

Posted by Joan Z. Shore on April 9th, 2014
Permanent link: Brendan Eich and the Thought Police

How to raise bully-proof children
By Mark Davis (bio)

Bullying has been around as long as kids have existed. From ancient caves to Elizabethan towns to modern elementary schools, there has always been a layer of kids deriving sick pleasure from victimizing other kids.

Posted by Mark Davis on April 9th, 2014
Permanent link: How to raise bully-proof children

So tell me, maestro, what’s with the stick?
By Neil Steinberg (bio)

Only one member of the orchestra is mimicked with any regularity. The average guy doesn’t tape empty soda cans together and pretend to play the bassoon, or sit on a chair and saw away at an imaginary cello. Nobody plays the air flute.

Posted by Neil Steinberg on April 9th, 2014
Permanent link: So tell me, maestro, what’s with the stick?

Blame U.S. militarism for the Fort Hood shooting
By Dennis Byrne (bio)

Belen Fernandez doesn’t exactly come right out and say it, but she comes as close as one can while hedging her bets. In this Aljazeera post (”The Fort Hood shooting should be analysed within the larger context of US militarism”), she supposedly takes the “larger view,” but in effect blames U.S. militarism for the shooting:

Posted by Dennis Byrne on April 4th, 2014
Permanent link: Blame U.S. militarism for the Fort Hood shooting

Prez flunks foreign policy
By Peter Brookes (bio)

Americans are down on President Obama’s foreign policy. A Real Clear Politics average of polls over the last month reveals 51 percent of Americans disapprove of his handling of international affairs, while only 40 percent approve.

Posted by Peter Brookes on April 4th, 2014
Permanent link: Prez flunks foreign policy

The War on Wilders, Part 1
By Diana West (bio)

Behold the statue of The Dockworker in Amsterdam (found here via here). It stands between the Portugese Synagogue and the Jewish Historical Museum on Jonas Daniel Meijerplein Square.

Posted by Diana West on March 30th, 2014
Permanent link: The War on Wilders, Part 1

The Obamacare Law Is Whatever They Say It Is
By Monica Crowley (bio)

Posted by Monica Crowley on March 30th, 2014
Permanent link: The Obamacare Law Is Whatever They Say It Is

Fellow libertarians, you lose me on weed
By Mark Davis (bio)

Libertarians are an odd bunch. I should know, because on many issues, I am one. But I’ve always identified two things that will keep them from full participation in the American mainstream.

Posted by Mark Davis on March 27th, 2014
Permanent link: Fellow libertarians, you lose me on weed

Venezuelans’ fight for freedom important to U.S.
By Peter Brookes (bio)

While the uprising in Venezuela is getting lots less news coverage than the turmoil in Ukraine, the outcome is of equal importance — if not more — to the United States.

Posted by Peter Brookes on March 27th, 2014
Permanent link: Venezuelans’ fight for freedom important to U.S.

Unhappy Birthday
By Monica Crowley (bio)

We just marked four looooonnnnnggg years since Obamacare was signed into law. Seems like an eternity, no? Let’s review what we’ve gotten for all of this upheaval, chaos, and trillions of dollars in spending.

Posted by Monica Crowley on March 26th, 2014
Permanent link: Unhappy Birthday

Through the Looking Glass
By Marilyn Penn (bio)

If you thought that the Board of Eduation in NYC was largely responsible for a malfunctioning school system, here’s an incident showing the improbable actions of our justice system in reversing a ruling that reflected rare common sense and discipline. Two female teachers in their thirties were found on the floor in a classroom at Madison High School in Brooklyn; they were topless and the room was dark on an evening when a student performance was taking place in the auditorium. Witnesses reported seeing the women undressed - one of them described seeing one of the teachers kneeling between the legs of the other one. The teachers were both fired.

Posted by Marilyn Penn on March 24th, 2014
Permanent link: Through the Looking Glass

Life eternal exists at your local post office
By Neil Steinberg (bio)

Among the theoretical questions people sometimes pose to themselves — if my house were burning down, what would I grab? If I won millions in the lottery, what would I buy? — is the classic, “If I had one day to live, what would I do?”

Posted by Neil Steinberg on March 24th, 2014
Permanent link: Life eternal exists at your local post office

Obama’s brain-dead approach to global bullies
By Dennis Byrne (bio)

Let’s face it: The goal of the 2014 Winter Olympics was to stomp Vladimir Putin’s Russian Federation, but good.

Posted by Dennis Byrne on March 24th, 2014
Permanent link: Obama’s brain-dead approach to global bullies

Bad Words - Bad Deeds
By Marilyn Penn (bio)

Have you ever wondered why it’s ok to use child actors in R rated films that they aren’t allowed in to see?

Posted by Marilyn Penn on March 17th, 2014
Permanent link: Bad Words - Bad Deeds

Could This Be The Trial Of The Century?
By Cory Franklin (bio)

An important libel lawsuit in Washington D.C Superior Court, which has received little public attention, is sure to heat up soon. At issue is a contentious clash involving global warming, scientific research, and freedom of speech.

Posted by Cory Franklin on March 15th, 2014
Permanent link: Could This Be The Trial Of The Century?

What Putin sees when he looks to the West
By Peter Brookes (bio)

Posted by Peter Brookes on March 13th, 2014
Permanent link: What Putin sees when he looks to the West

The Lunchbox - A Review
By Marilyn Penn (bio)

Ila, a Mumbai housewife sends her husband his lunch in a customary Indian tiffin that’s color -coded and brought to his desk by specially trained delivery men on bikes.

Posted by Marilyn Penn on March 11th, 2014
Permanent link: The Lunchbox - A Review

Ukraine vs. Russia — here’s what’s really going on
By Peter Brookes (bio)

When Moscow tells us that their massive military maneuvers in Western Russia have nothing to do with what’s happening in Kiev it’s like the old Marx Brothers’ routine: Who are you going to believe, me (Moscow) or your own eyes?

Posted by Peter Brookes on March 7th, 2014
Permanent link: Ukraine vs. Russia — here’s what’s really going on

Dissing Servants
By Marilyn Penn (bio)

After learning that the attic space at Gracie Mansion had once been occupied by Mayor Koch’s chef, Chirlane McCray, First Lady of New York City responded to the question of how the de Blasio’s might use it: “I can tell you with confidence, there will not be a servant living there.”

Posted by Marilyn Penn on March 4th, 2014
Permanent link: Dissing Servants

Iran’s Nuclear Deal is the Obama Administration Greater Mistake
By Walid Phares (bio)

The Obama administration, in its first and second terms, has committed strategic mistakes in the Middle East which will undermine U.S. national and security interests for many years, even under subsequent administrations after 2016.

Posted by Walid Phares on February 28th, 2014
Permanent link: Iran’s Nuclear Deal is the Obama Administration Greater Mistake

What’s a Mexican American?
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen (bio)

A Bay Area high school’s officials were right in banning students from wearing American flags on their shirts on Cinco de Mayo, the Ninth District Court of Appeals ruled this week.

Posted by Rachel Raskin-Zrihen on February 28th, 2014
Permanent link: What’s a Mexican American?

“For Muslims Only”
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen (bio)

If signs went up saying “Jews only,” or “Whites only,” or “Christians only” anyplace on the planet, but particularly in Israel, there would be a righteously indignant outcry around the world, as there should be.

Posted by Rachel Raskin-Zrihen on February 26th, 2014
Permanent link: “For Muslims Only”

Identity Politics Runs Amok
By Marilyn Penn (bio)

The New York City Council will not be marching in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade because gays can not wave the LGBT banner on this occasion. I’m curious about Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s decision to limit her outrage to the gay issue when she also might have insisted that marchers be allowed to wave banners about their support for abortion rights and universal insurance for birth control. As a New Yorker who is neither Irish nor Catholic, I wonder how the council which supposedly represents all New Yorkers became monolithically concerned about the feelings of the gay population, one which actually has its own designated parade. Of course, as Mayor de Blasio’s toady, Ms. Mark-Viverito made the ultimate obsequious choice, raising the ante one degree higher than her boss who declined to march himself but thought it was fine for city workers to march in uniform.

Posted by Marilyn Penn on February 26th, 2014
Permanent link: Identity Politics Runs Amok

The Fundamental Transformation of the Nation Rolls On
By Monica Crowley (bio)

The Army stood at 570,000 men and women at the height of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Under President Obama, it has been preparing to reduce its numbers to 490,000 men and women. Hagel’s proposal would get that level down to between 440,000 and 450,000 active-duty personnel.

Posted by Monica Crowley on February 26th, 2014
Permanent link: The Fundamental Transformation of the Nation Rolls On

What did Anne Frank ever do to Japan?
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen (bio)

Sources say there are about 1,000 Jews living in Japan – .001 percent of the population.

Posted by Rachel Raskin-Zrihen on February 24th, 2014
Permanent link: What did Anne Frank ever do to Japan?

Chutzpah
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen (bio)

Unbelievably, the Palestinians are now trying to call into question whether Israel should be allowed to be a Jewish state.

Posted by Rachel Raskin-Zrihen on February 24th, 2014
Permanent link: Chutzpah

No joke: Punny firm wins $19 bil. payday
By Neil Steinberg (bio)

Alexander Pope popularized a saying nearly 300 years ago — ‘He that would pun, would pick a pocket” — and the taint of the disreputable clings to wordplay as strongly now as it did then.

Posted by Neil Steinberg on February 23rd, 2014
Permanent link: No joke: Punny firm wins $19 bil. payday

Jimmy P - Searching the Past And Avoiding It
By Marilyn Penn (bio)

Based on a true story about an Indian soldier admitted to the Meninger Clinic after World War 11 for treatment of symptoms which we now call PTSD, ”Jimmy P” is an absorbing blend of psychotherapy and cultural anthropology. Jimmy’s malady has stumped the staff and an unusual man named George Devereux has been summoned from New York to treat him. The French actor Matthieu Amalric plays the expatriated European doctor with the same panache older viewers will associate with Paul Henreid; he is charming, innovative and though well versed in Freudian precepts, equally familiar with Indian tribal lore and customs. Through a relationship that borders as much on friendship as doctor/patient status, Devereux encourages Jimmy, persuasively embodied by Benicio del Toro, to strip away the layers of time and denial in order to confront his primal fears and learn to successfully manage them. Devereux is a brilliant and insightful man, reluctant to rely on pat categories and always ready to apply his knowledge of Indian culture to understand this specific patient and his background influences.

Posted by Marilyn Penn on February 21st, 2014
Permanent link: Jimmy P - Searching the Past And Avoiding It

After Olympics, Putin’s real games begin in Ukraine
By Peter Brookes (bio)

Job No. 1? Ukraine.

Posted by Peter Brookes on February 21st, 2014
Permanent link: After Olympics, Putin’s real games begin in Ukraine

A kinder, gentler expulsion
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen (bio)

Israel is being criticized, for a change, for sending dozens of the tens of thousands of the African migrants that have flooded the country in recent years, to Uganda.

Posted by Rachel Raskin-Zrihen on February 20th, 2014
Permanent link: A kinder, gentler expulsion

« Previously