However they want to address the issue, most people are horrified at the refugee crisis now besetting Europe, with its scenes of chaos, conflict, and desperation. Yet in Israel, at least one high official sees in it not horror, but hope. As Rania Khalek has reported :...
They were supposed to be different: Republicans for peace, conservatives against empire, leading a grassroots insurrection to overthrow the neocons and restore the Republic. It was Mr. Libertarian goes to Washington. Mr. Frodo goes to Mordor. Yet, when the chips were...
Inscribed on a plaque inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty is a poem by Emma Lazarus titled “New Colossus.” The sonnet waxes lyrical about how different the Green Goddess is from ancient colossal statues, and how that symbolizes the contrast between American...
At this year’s Comic-Con (a huge event in the worlds of comics and superhero blockbusters), celebrated writer Grant Morrison: “…told a crowd of 2,600 that he’s done all he can with traditional superheroes. He’s sick of the ‘military entertainment complex,’ in which...
In Greek myth, the eternal punishment of Sisyphus was to forever push a boulder up a hill in Hades, only to see it roll down from the summit each time, and to have to start over from the bottom. This well portrays the hopelessness of striving for “limited government,”...
Ron Paul is a man of faith. His faith shines through every page of his new book, Swords into Plowshares: A Life in Wartime and a Future of Peace and Prosperity . The title itself, based on a Biblical verse, evinces his religious faith, which greatly strengthens his...
Terror struck twice in Israel this Thursday. First, an ultra-Orthodox zealot went on a slashing rampage at the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade, stabbing six, and fatally wounding a 16-year-old girl. Then, extremist Jewish settlers firebombed the house of a Palestinian Arab...
The recent Iran nuclear deal represents a thaw in the American cold war against that country. It is a welcome sequel to the Obama administration’s partial normalization with Cuba announced late last year. Hardliners denounce these policies as “going soft” on theocracy...
When it comes to flags, George Carlin said it best: “I see them as symbols, and I leave them to the symbol-minded.” Yet, those who fanatically oppose particular flags are just as symbol/simple-minded as those who wave them. For example, the recent Jacobin surge to...
Note to the reader: I just recovered from a flu, so in lieu of new material, and in honor of Henry David Thoreau's birthday last Sunday, here is an essay I published on my own site earlier this year. “No” is often treated as a bad word, especially when used by...
