
Disturbing news out of Iran this week as the regime-backed newspaper daily Kayhan says Carla Bruni, first lady of France, deserves to die for her views.
Taking a stand for the rights of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two who was sentenced by an Iranian court to death …
Continue reading this article »

For as long as I could, I avoided writing about the proposed Islamic Center near Ground Zero. For starters, on a personal level, the subject is uncomfortable. As a writer who has the great privilege of working with moderate Muslim-Americans and heroic moderate Muslims in the middle east and elsewhere, I reject the idea that …
Continue reading this article »

The first hint of fall is in the air, and with it, the predictable announcement: mideast peace talks will begin.
In a demonstration of familiar American hubris, President Barack Obama has declared his intention to make peace in the region by creating a Palestinian state on the West Bank within a year.
Not sure …
Continue reading this article »

Today former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told FOX News that Israel has until the weekend to launch a military strike on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant - or else the humanitarian risk of an attack becomes too great.
Not sure what to make of this troubling, and …
Continue reading this article »
I’ll be discussing security implications of the Steven Slater controversy. Enjoy!
Continue reading this article »
Yesterday I got the opportunity to interview a 15-year veteran flight attendant and get her reaction to now-famed flight attendant Steven Slater’s “take-this-job-and-shove-it”-style rant.
(I had just posted a piece on The Huffington Post reporting on my experiences as a passenger on Jet Blue flight #1052 from Pittsburgh to JFK - the scene of Slater’s rant …
Continue reading this article »
And I gotta say, the guy made my day.
The funny thing is, I was seated on this flight yesterday - JetBlue #1052, Pittsburgh to JFK - next to a lady who was scared to fly. At the outset, she pulled out a rosary and started praying (that’s not unusual, especially on a flight from Pittsburgh, …
Continue reading this article »

From The Huffington Post
by HEATHER ROBINSON
Following last week’s passage of the toughest round of E. U. sanctions yet against the Iranian regime, German human rights activists who have promoted tougher sanctions against Tehran say that while the latest round are progress, Germany should do better.
Specifically, members of Stop the …
Continue reading this article »
Interesting piece in today’s Pitsburgh Post-Gazette about President Harry S. Truman’s decision to use nuclear weapons against Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki in order to finally end the deadliest conflict in human history.
I was unaware that apparently, after the war Japanese Emperor Hirohito - who had led Japan in its fanatical …
Continue reading this article »
Last Monday the European Union passed its toughest set of sanctions yet against the Iranian regime. My understanding is that finally, after many years of talk and attempts to “engage” with Iranian leadership, European leaders are finally recognizing that a brutal regime cannot be appeased with such talk - and that if anything, engagement …
Continue reading this article »