Palestinian pawns: Egypt’s refugees. By Sarah Mousa.

Palestinian pawns: Egypt’s refugees. By Sarah Mousa. Al Jazeera English, May 27, 2013.

Zionism and Israel Are Anti-Semitic. By Joseph Massad.

The last of the Semites. By Joseph Massad. Al Jazeera English, May 21, 2013. Originally posted May 14, 2013.

Zionism, anti-Semitism and colonialism. By Joseph Massad. Al Jazeera English, December 24, 2012.

Truths, facts, and facts on the ground: Support for Israel is based on lies. By Joseph Massad. Al Jazeera English, November 18, 2011.

The language of Zionism. By Joseph Massad. Al-Ahram Weekly, May 6-12, 2010.

The Gaza Ghetto Uprising. By Joseph Massad. The Electronic Intifada, January 4, 2009.

Israel’s right to be racist. By Joseph Massad. Al-Ahram Weekly, March 15-21, 2007. Also at The Electronic Intifada.

Jewish volunteers for racial supremacy in Palestine. By Joseph Massad. The Electronic Intifada, August 4, 2014. 

The Persistence of the Palestinian Question: Essays on Zionism and the Palestinians. By Joseph A. Massad. New York: Routledge, 2006. 

Curriculum reform should start in the U.S. and Israel. By Joseph Massad. The Electronic Intifada, August 18, 2003.

“No Common Ground”: Joseph Massad and Benny Morris Discuss the Middle East. By Andrew Whitehead, Benny Morris, and Joseph Massad. History Workshop Journal, No. 53 (Spring 2002).

Palestinians and Jewish History: Recognition or Submission? By Joseph Massad. Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Autumn 2000).

Tenure Track Bigotry: Columbia prof unleashes “anti-Jewish screed.” By Adam Kredo. The Washington Free Beacon, May 14, 2013.

Joseph Massad tries to equate anti-semitism with Zionism. The Elder of Ziyon, May 14, 2013.

Joseph Massad loves the word “colonialism.” The Elder of Ziyon, May 7, 2010.

Answering Joseph Massad. The Elder of Ziyon, March 15, 2007.

Al Jazeera management orders Joseph Massad article pulled in act of pro-Israel censorship. By Ali Abunimah. The Electronic Intifada, May 19, 2013.

Al-Jazeera runs then deletes anti-Semitic screed by Columbia Univ. Prof. Joseph Massad. By William A. Jacobson. Legal Insurrection, May 19, 2013.

Congratulations, al Jazeera: You’ve just posted one of the most anti-Jewish screeds in recent memory. By Jeffrey Goldberg. Twitter, May 14, 2013.

Joseph Massad’s Stunningly Ignorant Al-Jazeera Essay on Zionism and Anti-Semitism. By Dana Goldstein. DanaGoldstein.net, May 15, 2013.

Joseph Massad Update. By David Bernstein. The Volokh Conspiracy, May 31, 2013.

Joseph Massad: Zionism, Antisemitism, and the Question of Palestine. Video. Second Palestine Solidarity Conference, Stuttgart, Germany, May 10-12, 2013. publicsolidarity, May 16, 2013. YouTube. Also at Public Solidarity website.

Why We Should All Work Like Putin. By Michael Bohm.

Why We Should All Work Like Putin. By Michael Bohm. The Moscow Times, May 30, 2013.

The Economy Needs More Than the Tech Sector. By Joel Kotkin.

Economy needs more than tech sector. By Joel Kotkin. Orange County Register, May 31, 2013.

A Rise in Wealth for the Wealthy; Declines for the Lower 93%. By Richard Fry and Paul Taylor. Pew Research, April 23, 2013. PDF.

What Is Reform Conservatism? By Ross Douthat.

What Is Reform Conservatism? By Ross Douthat. New York Times, May 30, 2013.

Signs of Life in the GOP: A “Reformocon” Policy Program. By Walter Russell Mead. Via Meadia, June 1, 2013.

What Is Reform Conservatism? By Ross Douthat. NJBR,

Why the United States Intervenes Abroad, and Why It Doesn’t. By Adam Garfinkle.

Why the United States Intervenes Abroad, and Why It Doesn’t. By Adam Garfinkle. The American Interest, May 29, 2013.

Middle East In Flames: The Fruit of White House Policy In Syria. By Walter Russell Mead. Via Meadia, June 2, 2013.

As Syrians Fight, Sectarian Strife Infects Mideast. By Tim Arango, Anne Barnard, and Duraid Adnan. New York Times, June 1, 2013.

Measuring the U.S. impact in Syria. Video Panel. Meet the Press. NBC News, June 2, 2013.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Moira Johnston, Topless Crusader, Causes Quite a Stir in Philadelphia.

Topless Crusader Causes Quite a Stir in Philadelphia. MyFoxPhilly.com, May 31, 2013. YouTube.

Topless Moira. Moira Johnston webpage.

Moira Johnston Facebook.

Philadelphia News, Weather and Sports from WTXF FOX 29

Moira Johnston Bares Her Breasts in New York City in the Name of Freedom. By David Moye. The Huffington Post, July 31, 2012.

Moira Johnston Goes Topless in N.Y.C. to Raise Awareness of the Right to a Bare Chest. By Lizzie Crocker. The Daily Beast, July 29, 2012.

Moira Johnston: Topless in NYC. BTR Pulse, Episode 80. Video. BreakThruRadioTV, June 22, 2012. YouTube. Also here.

The Myth of Gatsby’s Suffering Middle Class. By Amity Shlaes.

The Myth of Gatsby’s Suffering Middle Class. By Amity Shlaes. New York Times, June 1, 2013.

A Middle-Class Wife. By Alice Austin White. The New Republic, January 20, 1917.

Belief Is the Least Part of Faith. By T.M. Luhrmann.

Belief Is the Least Part of Faith. By T.M. Luhrmann. New York Times, May 29, 2013.

First-Date Sex: Myths and Realities.

First-date sex doesn’t lead to love for men – but disdain for women. By Emma Wall. The Telegraph, May 30, 2013.

First-date sex: it’s time to bust the slut myth. By Ian Douglas. The Telegraph, May 30, 2013.

Chinese Spring Festival Operas, 2012 and 2013.

Chinese Spring Festival Opera 2012, Year of the Dragon. Video. XinWenNews, March 20, 2012.




Chinese Spring Festival Opera 2013, Year of the Snake. Video. XinWenNews, February 11, 2013.

Alpha Dads: Men Get Serious About Work-Life Balance. By Sheelah Kolhatkar.

Alpha Dads: Men Get Serious About Work-Life Balance. By Sheelah Kolhatkar. Bloomberg Businessweek, May 30, 2013.

Israel Forges Onward In a Hostile Neighborhood. By Cathy Young.

Israel forges onward in a hostile neighborhood. By Cathy Young. Newsday, May 20, 2013.

The Many Cases for Getting Married Younger. By Megan McArdle.

What Are You Waiting For? By Megan McArdle. Newsweek. The Daily Beast, May 29, 2013.

The many cases for getting married younger.

Advice for the Young Women of Princeton: Find a Husband. By Susan A. Patton. NJBR, April 1, 2013.

China’s Glamorous First Lady Peng Liyuan Saving the Communist Party With Song. By Eveline Chao.

Peng Liyuan, the wife of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, sings during a July 2007 performance celebrating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army of China.

China’s Glamorous First Lady Peng Liyuan Saving the Communist Party With Song. By Eveline Chao. The Daily Beast, March 16, 2013.

Chinese VP’s Wife Shows Off Vocal Pipes, Stripes. NPR, February 18, 2012.

Meet Peng Liyuan, China’s First Lady to Be. By Melinda Liu. Newsweek. The Daily Beast, November 26, 2012.

Peng Liyuan: the new first lady of fashion. By Belinda White. The Telegraph, March 25, 2013.

Peng Liyuan: the “Kate Middleton” effect of China’s new first lady. By Malcolm Moore. The Telegraph, March 24, 2013.

China’s First Lady Strikes Glamorous Note. By Jane Perlez and Bree Feng. New York Times, March 24, 2013.

China’s first lady Peng Liyuan: a perfectly scripted life. By Malcolm Moore. The Telegraph, April 3, 2013.

China Uncensored: Watch Out Michelle Obama, Meet China’s First Lady, Peng Li Yuan. Video. NTDonChina, April 5, 2013. YouTube.

Peng Liyuan: China’s new first lady, the “Carla Bruni of the East,” set to visit the Obamas. By Tom Phillips. The Telegraph, May 31, 2013.

Me and My Censor. By Eveline Chao. Foreign Policy, October 26, 2012.

Eveline Chao website.

Peng Liyuan: On the Good Earth of China. Video. cctv13music, Aug 17, 2011. YouTube.




Peng Liyuan: Shi Ji Chun Yu (Spring Rain of the New Century). Video. kwwkwwkww, December 11, 2011. YouTube.




Spring Flowers: Chinese Literature and Art 2012 Spring Festival Celebration. Video. cctv13music, January 30, 2012. YouTube. With Peng Liyuan.




Peng Liyuan: My Motherland. Video. kwwkwwkww, November 15, 2007. YouTube.

The Cult of Transformational Leadership. By Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

The Cult of Transformational Leadership. By Joseph S. Nye, Jr. The Diplomat, May 31, 2013.

Hating the West and Reaping Its Privileges. By Fouad Ajami.

Hating the West and Reaping Its Privileges. By Fouad Ajami. Real Clear Politics, May 30, 2013. Also at Bloomberg.

Al Khazneh (The Treasury) at Petra, Jordan.

Al Khazneh. Wikipedia. Untouched picture here.

Petra. Wikipedia.

A Religious Problem. By Michael B. Oren.

A Religious Problem – Jimmy Carter’s Book: An Israeli View. By Michael B. Oren. Wall Street Journal, December 26, 2006. Reprinted at News for Members of the Tribe, December 26, 2006.

A Biblical Warning Against Statism. NJBR, March 7, 2013.

Letter from John Adams to Mordecai M. Noah, 15 March 1819. Founders Online.

John Adams, Zionist. By Tom Van Dyke. American Creation, June 7, 2010.

John Adams Embraces a Jewish Homeland. By Michael Feldberg. American Jewish Historical Society. Also here and here.

A Case of Courage: Truman and the Birth of Israel. By Michael Beschloss. Newsweek, May 13, 2007. The Daily Beast.

“I am Cyrus”: Harry Truman’s support for the creation of the State of Israel was rooted in his interpretation of Scripture. By Paul Charles Merkley. Christian History and Biography, No. 99 (Summer 2008). Also here.

Michael Oren: Power, Faith, and Fantasy. The U.S. and the Middle East. Video. UCtelevison, March 26, 2008. YouTube.



Oren:

Several prominent scholars have taken issue with Jimmy Carter’s book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” cataloguing its historical inaccuracies and lamenting its lack of balance. The journalist Jeffrey Goldberg also critiqued the book’s theological purpose, which, he asserted, was to “convince American Evangelicals to reconsider their support for Israel.”

Mr. Carter indeed seems to have a religious problem with the Jewish state. His book bewails the fact that Israel is not the reincarnation of ancient Judea but a modern, largely temporal democracy. “I had long taught lessons from the Hebrew Scriptures,” he recalls telling Prime Minister Golda Meir during his first tour through the country. “A common historical pattern was that Israel was punished whenever the leaders turned away from devout worship of God. I asked if she was concerned about the secular nature of the Labor government.”

He complains about the fact that the kibbutz synagogue he enters is nearly empty on the Sabbath and that the Bibles presented to Israeli soldiers “was one of the few indications of a religious commitment that I observed during our visit.” But he also reproves contemporary Israelis for allegedly mistreating the Samaritans—“the same complaint heard by Jesus almost two thousand years earlier”—and for pilfering water from the Jordan River, “where . . . Jesus had been baptized by John the Baptist.”

Disturbed by secular Laborites, he is further unnerved by religiously minded Israelis who seek to fulfill the biblical injunction to settle the entire Land of Israel. There are “two Israels,” Mr. Carter concludes, one which embodies the “the ancient culture of the Jewish people, defined by the Hebrew Scriptures,” and the other in “the occupied Palestinian territories,” which refuses to “respect the basic human rights of the citizens.”

Whether in its secular and/or observant manifestations, Israel clearly discomfits Mr. Carter, a man who, even as president, considered himself in “full-time Christian service.” Yet, in revealing his unease with the idea of Jewish statehood, Mr. Carter sets himself apart from many U.S. presidents before and after him, as well as from nearly 400 years of American Christian thought.

Generations of Christians in this country, representing a variety of dominations, laymen and clergy alike, have embraced the concept of renewed Jewish sovereignty in Palestine. The passion was already evident in 1620, when William Bradford alighted on Plymouth Rock and exclaimed, “Come, let us declare the word of God in Zion.” Bradford was a leader of the Puritans, dissenting Protestants who, in their search for an unsullied religion and the strength to resist state oppression, turned to the Old Testament. There, they found a God who spoke directly to his people, who promised to deliver them from bondage and return them to their ancestral homeland. Appropriating this narrative, the Puritans fashioned themselves as the New Jews and America as their New Promised Land. They gave their children Hebrew names—David, Benjamin, Sarah, Rebecca—and called over 1,000 of their towns after Biblical places, including Bethlehem, Bethel and, of course, New Canaan.

Identifying with the Jews, a great many colonists endorsed the notion of restoring Palestine to Jewish control. Elias Boudinot, president of the Continental Congress, predicted that the Jews, “however scattered . . . are to be recovered by the mighty power of God, and restored to their beloved . . . Palestine.” John Adams imagined “a hundred thousand Israelites” marching triumphantly into Palestine. “I really wish the Jews in Judea an independent nation,” he wrote. During the Revolution, the association between America's struggle for independence and the Jews' struggle for repatriation was illustrated by the proposed Great Seal designed by Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, showing Moses leading the Children of Israel toward the Holy Land.

Restorationism became a major theme in antebellum religious thought and a mainstay of the Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian churches. In his 1844 bestseller, “The Valley of the Vision,” New York University Bible scholar George Bush—a forebear of two presidents of the same name—called on the U.S. to devote its economic and military might toward re-creating a Jewish polity in Palestine. But merely envisioning such a state was insufficient for some Americans, who, in the decades before the Civil War, left home to build colonies in Palestine. Each of these settlements had the same goal: to teach the Jews, long disenfranchised from the land, to farm and so enable them to establish a modern agrarian society. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln said that “restoring the Jews to their homeland is a noble dream shared by many Americans,” and that the U.S. could work to realize that goal once the Union prevailed.

Nineteenth-century restorationism reached its fullest expression in an 1891 petition submitted by Midwestern magnate William Blackstone to President Benjamin Harrison. The Blackstone Memorial, as it was called, urged the president to convene an international conference to discuss ways of reviving Jewish dominion in Palestine. Among the memorial’s 400 signatories were some of America's most preeminent figures, including John D. Rockefeller, J. Pierpont Morgan, Charles Scribner and William McKinley. By the century’s turn, those advocating restored Jewish sovereignty in Palestine had begun calling themselves Zionists, though the vast majority of the movement’s members remained Christian rather than Jewish. “It seems to me that it is entirely proper to start a Zionist State around Jerusalem,” wrote Teddy Roosevelt, “and [that] the Jews be given control of Palestine.”

Such sentiments played a crucial role in gaining international recognition for Zionist claims to Palestine during World War I, when the British government sought American approval for designating that area as the Jewish national home. Though his closest counselors warned him against endorsing the move, Woodrow Wilson, the son and grandson of Presbyterian preachers, rejected their advice. “To think that I the son of the manse [parsonage] should be able to help restore the Holy Land to its people,” he explained. With Wilson’s imprimatur, Britain issued the declaration that became the basis of its League of Nations mandate in Palestine, and as the precursor to the 1947 U.N. Partition Resolution creating the Jewish state.

The question of whether or not to recognize that state fell to Harry S. Truman. Raised in a Baptist household where he learned much of the Bible by heart, Truman had been a member of the pro-Zionist American Christian Palestine Committee and an advocate of the right of Jews—particularly Holocaust survivors—to immigrate to Palestine. He was naturally inclined to acknowledge the nascent state but encountered fervid opposition from the entire foreign policy establishment. If America sided with the Zionists, officials in the State and Defense departments cautioned, the Arabs would cut off oil supplies to the West, undermine America’s economy, and expose Europe to Soviet invasion. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops would have to be sent to Palestine to save its Jews from massacre.

Truman listened carefully to these warnings and then, at 6:11 on the evening of May 14, he announced that the U.S. would be the first nation to recognize the newly declared State of Israel. While the decision may have stemmed in part from domestic political considerations, it is difficult to conceive that any politician, much less one of Truman's character, would have risked global catastrophe by recognizing a frail and miniscule country. More likely, the dramatic démarche reflected Truman’s religious background and his commitment to the restorationist creed. Introduced a few weeks later to an American Jewish delegation as the president who had helped create Israel, Truman took umbrage and snapped, “What you mean ‘helped create’? I am Cyrus”—a reference to the Persian king who returned the Jews from exile—“I am Cyrus!”

Since 1948, some administrations (Eisenhower, Bush Sr.) have been less ardent in their attachment to Israel, and others (Kennedy, Nixon) more so. Throughout the last 60 years, though, the U.S. has never wavered in its concern for Israel’s survival and its support for the Jewish people’s right to statehood. While U.S.-Israel ties are no doubt strengthened by common bonds of democracy and Western culture, religion remains an integral component in that relationship. We know that Lyndon Johnson’s Baptist grandfather told him to “take care of the Jews, God’s chosen people,” and that Bill Clinton’s pastor, on his deathbed, made the future president promise never to abandon the Jewish state. We know how faith has impacted the policies of George W. Bush, who is perhaps the most pro-Israel president in history.

In his apparent attempt to make American Christians rethink their affection for Israel, Jimmy Carter is clearly departing from time-honored practice. This has not been the legacy of evangelicals alone, but of many religious denominations in the U.S., and not solely the conviction of Mr. Bush, but of generations of American leaders. In the controversial title of his book, Mr. Carter implicitly denounces Israel for its separatist policies, but, by doing so, he isolates himself from centuries of American tradition.

High Blood Pressure Linked to Declining Brain Function. By Denise Chow.

High Blood Pressure Linked to Declining Brain Function. Denise Chow. LiveScience, May 29, 2013. Also at The Huffington Post.

Microbleeding in Brain May Be Behind Senior Moments. By John Bohannon. Science Now, May 28, 2013.

The role of aortic blood pressure in determining cognitive ability. By Matthew Pase et al. Association for Psychological Science (APS) 25th Annual Convention, May 24, 2013. To be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science. Check for it.

The Democrats’ Iraq Syndrome: Defeatists and Demagogues Call the Shots. By Seth Mandel.

The Democrats’ Iraq Syndrome: Defeatists and Demagogues Call the Shots. By Seth Mandel. Commentary, May 29, 2013.

Liberal Hawks were vocal on Iraq, but have been quiet on Syria. By Jason Horowitz. Washington Post, May 28, 2013.

Long Engagements. By George Packer. The New Yorker, February 11, 2013.

Can Mitt Be Our Favorite Ex-Non-President? By Jonathan S. Tobin.

Can Mitt Be Our Favorite Ex-Non-President? By Jonathan S. Tobin. Commentary, May 31, 2013.

Did the Nakba Begin in 1948 – or 1920? By Daniel Pinner.

Nakba: What’s in a name? By Daniel Pinner. Jerusalem Post, May 29, 2013.

Stacey Thompson, Military Rape Victim, Says Retaliation Prevalent For Those Who Speak Out.

Stacey Thompson, Military Rape Victim, Says Retaliation Prevalent For Those Who Speak Out. By Julie Watson. AP. The Huffington Post, May 31, 2013.

Stacey Thompson



Two Music Videos From the ’80s.

These two romantic ballads show either the fun-loving Morning-in-America optimism and prosperity, or the inanity and big hair cluelessness of the ’80s. Belinda Carlisle, Ann and Nancy Wilson. Is this why America won the Cold War?


Belinda Carlisle: Mad About You. Video. BelindaCarlisleVEVO, November 20, 2009. YouTube.




Heart: There’s The Girl. Video. emimusic, March 31, 2010. YouTube.