By Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO — He is understandably remembered and cherished as the iconic civil rights leader, “the drum major for justice,” and for his brilliant oratorical skills. Some also recall his provocative, brave cri de coeur as the vanguard protestor against the Vietnam War—which did not line up in his “moral field […]
MLK died helping the labor movement Read More »
USA
By Carol Davis GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Arizona–For decades I have wanted to visit the Grand Canyon. Finally, on my 74th birthday in May, my friend Debbie and I set out (from her Las Vegas home) to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon for a three-day excursion. Never in my imagination had I pictured
By Rabbi Ben Kamin Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO — When Katrina all but drowned New Orleans starting six years this very day, media pundits and animated politicians followed with serious criticism of the federal and state responses and glaring lack of preparedness. A great deal of focus fell upon President George W. Bush’s evident
Officials were right to be cautious about Hurricane Irene Read More »
USABy Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO — He started out with the most outrageously un-rabbinic analysis of why Haiti suffered so much more than did the other part of the island, the Dominican Republic, during last year’s catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake: it was due to the widespread practice of homosexuality and the per capita AIDS
Homophobic rabbi is wrong on theology; embarasses fellow Jews Read More »
USA
By Isaac Yetiv, PhD LA JOLLA, California — In the last 13 articles I attempted to tackle the most arduous problems plaguing America today, and I offered some solutions in the belief that the dire situation is not an act-of-God: the predicament is man-made, and the medicament will be man-made too. I trust the following
These are abiding principles for America Read More »
USABy Rabbi Ben Kamin SAN DIEGO — One is hesitant to even remotely capitalize on someone else’s grief. This is hardly the intent here; rather, a desire to share something that informs my life. Beyond that, it haunts me and I sense that it is just at the cusp of a deeper, national impulse of
Navy Seal’s grandmother is angered by his death Read More »
USABy Isaac Yetiv LA JOLLA, California– The month-old painful spectacle of Washington partners-in-government fighting each other on “raising the debt limit,”something that should have never occurred in the first place, has strengthened my belief, expressed in a previous column, that the system as presently constituted is broke and, as a result, we have a dysfunctional
Why the financial community repudiates American politicians Read More »
USA
By Shoshana Bryen Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Having written that “the mission” is what counts when sending American soldiers to protect, to fight and sometimes to die on our behalf, readers challenged us to define the mission in Afghanistan. We tried. Going back to the beginning of the Obama administration, we looked at what the
U.S. purposes in Afghanistan remain muddled Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USAWASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)—The Jewish Federations of North America lauded the introduction of a Congressional bill to provide support for agencies serving Holocaust survivors as they age in place in communities across the country. This bill is a result of meetings and discussions that Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Iliana Ros-Lehtinen conducted with Holocaust survivors and social
Jewish Federations laud bill to aid aging Holocaust survivors Read More »
USA
By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — Toward the beginning of the book of D’varim, Deuteronomy, Moses says to the people: “I cannot bear the burden of you by myself….How can I bear unaided the trouble of you, and the burden, and the bickering!” (Deut. 1:9-12) For the last couple of weeks all of us
As Moses was tired of bickering, so too are the American people Read More »
USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –They are all special forces; every American killed in service to our country is a special force. There have been 1,725 Americans killed in Afghanistan and 11,541 wounded (3,649 not returning to duty within 72 hours) before Saturday. But actual Special Operations forces are something else. One website that works
General questions about special forces casualties Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –Raising the debt limit would not ordinarily be fodder for JINSA Reports but the deal will necessarily impact upon American defense policy and our ability to plan for the defense of ourselves, our interests and our allies, so a quick review is in order. The Numbers.Total defense-related spending in
A look at the post-deal Defense budget Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USABy Isaac Yetiv, PhD LA JOLLA, California — The Founding Fathers, fearful of “tyranny,” created, intentionally, a system of “divided government” to make impossible the concentration of power in the hands of one man or one group. But today, because of the great divisions in our society, the fierce partisanship and factionalism have led to
How to put an end to these budget crises Read More »
USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C — The Constitution obliges our government to provide for the common defense. Determining against whom, under what circumstances, with what capabilities and under whose direction is the prerogative of the President, the Commander in Chief. The military services carry out the directives of the President, so the priorities of
Defense budget must be based on threat assessment Read More »
Shoshana Bryen, USA