David P. Goldman

See today’s Spengler column in Asia Times Online. Some extracts:The fact that Ha’aretz, Israel’s left-leaning daily, found it necessary on February 17 to warn the Benjamin Netanyahu government not to attack Iran [1] strongly suggests that the option is on the table.It seems clear . . . . Continue Reading »

CNS news has the goods on Rashad Hussain, the 31-year-old Indian-American whom Obama just appointed as America’s first ambassador to the Organization of Islamic States. A few years ago, Mr. Hussain was a vocal defender of an accused (and later confessed) funder of the Islamic Jihad, . . . . Continue Reading »

Jewish Theological Seminary Downsizes Its Cantorial Schoolby David P. GoldmanThe Tablet (www.tabletmag.com) reported yesterday:As part of a major restructuring effort, the Jewish Theological Seminary announced last week that its cantorial school, traditionally separate from the rabbinical school, . . . . Continue Reading »

The Forward website reports today: The Jewish Theological Seminary is eliminating the position of dean of its cantorial school as part of a major reorganization and consolidation at Conservative Judaism’s flagship seminary. Chancellor Arnold Eisen said that the restructuring would take place . . . . Continue Reading »

Although Greece is an EC member, its finances and political system have the character of a banana republic. EC membership, though, enabled Greece to borrow far more money than any banana republic, such that the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio is about triple that of Argentina just before the . . . . Continue Reading »

A general strike has paralyzed Greece in protest over rather timid austerity measures by the Papandreou government. With a budget deficit at about 13 percent of GDP, markets fear national bankruptcy. Were that to occur the Greek economy would collapse, Greek banks would be unable to roll over . . . . Continue Reading »

I will be on Larry Kudlow’s CNBC show tonight circa 7:00 . . . . Continue Reading »

Jody Bottum quoted Peter Lorre’s harrowing speec h at the end of Fritz Lang’s classic crime movie M , yesterday. Lorre’s performance is stunning, but the other leads are no less interesting. The role of The Safecracker, the master criminal who leads the underworld’s pursuit . . . . Continue Reading »

“Follow your bliss” was the watchword of the late Joseph Campbell, the cultural anthropologist who popularized the idea of the universal “hero’s journey” and the “spiritual quest.” Campbell was also an anti-SemiteThe controversy surrounding the ritual role . . . . Continue Reading »

Contemporary American Judaism: Transformation and Renewal by Dana Evan Kaplan 446 pages, $34.50 A housewife in an old-country joke accuses her kitchen maid of stealing four pounds of meat. “The cat ate it!” the girl protests. They take the matter to the rabbi, who puts the cat on the . . . . Continue Reading »