Chuck Spinney: Smart Iranians, Neutral Americans, Fearful Jews, Idiot Zionists….

The hysteria coming out of Israel regarding the need to attack Iran raises a question  of whether or not Netanyahu is overplaying his hand.  Perhaps he is serious. Perhaps he is bluffing in the hope that he can squeeze a huge increase in the annual US aid budget to Israel; perhaps he thinks he can …

John Steiner: What we in 2012 can learn from Teddy Roosevelt in 1912

What we in 2012 can learn from Teddy Roosevelt in 1912 CNN, 6 August 2012 Editor’s note: John Avlon is a CNN contributor and senior political columnist for Newsweek and The Daily Beast. He is co-editor of the book “Deadline Artists: America’s Greatest Newspaper Columns.” He is a regular contributor to “Erin Burnett OutFront” and …

NIGHTWATCH: Syrian Alawites in Fight to the Death (or Exile) – Phi Beta Iota: The Era of MINORITY Rule by Violence Is OVER

Syria: On 6 August, just days after the government declared Damascus nearly rid of rebel fighters, a bomb detonated on the third floor of Syria’s state television and radio building in Damascus, leaving several people injured, according to Syrian state television. Comment: The Syria opposition’s tactics resemble those of the Afghan mujahedin who fought the …

John Steiner: Bob Burnett on Renewing Democracy, Shifting Paradigm and Open Letter from Robert Steele

Renewing Democracy: Shifting the Paradigm Bob Burnett Huffington Post, 27 July 2012 Thomas Jefferson believed in renewing democracy by regularly shifting the dominant social paradigm.  Jefferson argued that constitutions should be rewritten every generation, declaring the ³dead should not govern the living.² That explains why contemporary Americans are so fractious: we¹re overdue for a new …