JStreet, which bills itself as a “pro-peace, pro-Israel” lobby, and aims to be a progressive counterpart to AIPAC, is having its convention starting tomorrow. Unlike some in the pro-Israel community, I’m not hostile to JStreet. First, I know one of the bigwigs in JStreet, and though he and I don’t have much in common politically, […]
Author Archive | David Bernstein
From the Volokh Archives: Touchy Canadians
Originally posted Dec. 2003. Just came across it, and though it was worth reposting in light of recent controversies over hate speech prosecutions in Canada: Some Canadians are rather touchy about criticism from Americans regarding freedom of speech in Canada. The irony of this touchiness is that the Canadian Supreme Court has based its free-speech […]
Andrew Sullivan on Human Rights Watch–Ignorance is Bliss
Sullivan quotes me: “I suggest that if Yglesias and similarly-situated bloggers want to address the root causes of R. Bernstein’s obviously painful decision to denounce the organization he founded and nurtured, they read this comprehensive report by NGO Monitor” (by the way, I’ve since heard from a very reliable source that R. Bernstein in fact […]
Ayn Rand’s Contributions
Following up on Ilya’s post, I though I’d mention a couple of other contributions Rand made. First, and as is most evident in Atlas Shrugged, Rand turns Marxism on its head. While Marxists argue that “capitalists” make their profits on the backs of the working class, Rand illustrates that the working class, as such, makes […]
Yglesias on Robert Bernstein and HRW
I wrote yesterday that “I wonder how long certain liberal bloggers who have been reflexive defenders of HRW without bothering to seriously investigate the bill of particulars against it (e.g.) can continue to repeat things like ‘the idea that HRW is some kind of Israel-bashing organization is nonsense’ now that the founder and former longtime […]
Heller (Kevin) Again
Just about every time I post something about Human Rights Watch, Kevin Jon Heller at Opinio Juris, who served as HRW’s external legal advisor on the trial of Saddam Hussein, posts a nasty response. His response almost never addresses the substance of my post, but instead provides readers with an attack on the messenger, i.e., […]
Bernstein (Robert!) Denounces Human Rights Watch:
Robert Bernstein (no relation), the founder of Human Rights Watch, has issued a stinging condemnation of the organization he led from 1978 to 1998. Here’s a taste: I must do something that I never anticipated: I must publicly join the group’s critics…. When I stepped aside in 1998, Human Rights Watch was active in 70 […]
Why the U.S. is Doomed to Have an Expensive and Inefficient Health Care System
I found this to be an extremely enlightening post, by Megan McArdle. It’s too good to summarize, read the whole thing. But I do want to highlight one point: government control, whether in a single-payer context like the Medicare system, or via various government mandates as in Massachusetts, has not led to lower costs. Someone […]
Top Ten Reasons Obama Won the Nobel Peace Prize
With David Letterman somewhat distracted, I thought I’d solicit nominations for a top 10 list. Here’s a few to start off: Consolation prize for losing the Olympics Who gives a rat’s you-know-what about Afghanistan, anyway The Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology were already taken “We couldn’t give an ‘un-prize’ to George W. Bush, […]
Boston Area Jewish Delis
My previous post on delis reminded me of how disappointed I was in the quality of the Jewish delis in the Boston suburbs when I arrived in college from Queens. Here are two actual conversations, the first at a “kosher-style” deli in Newton on Commonwealth Avenue, the second at the kosher Rubin’s in Brookline. In […]
Save the Deli
The number of Jewish delis has declined substantially, and the remaining few are in jeopardy. Can a federal bailout be far behind? Personally, I’d much rather my federal taxes go to preserve good corned beef than bad Buicks.
Guardian Debunks Ahmadinejad Story
Not a Jew. I pointed out previously that persons of Jewish descent in anti-Semitic societies sometimes become openly anti-Semitic themselves to prove their lack of loyalty to the Jewish community. The flip side is that people with no Jewish descent (e.g., with very high probability, Hitler) are often alleged by their political enemies to really […]
A First? Frank Rich and I agree on something
Bernstein: “The Obama administration has treated Obama’s promise of changing the way business is done in DC as a distraction from his legislative agenda. I suspect they’ll come to regret that perspective.” Rich: “Obama’s promise to make Americans trust the government again was not just another campaign bullet point; it’s the foundation of his brand […]
Was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Born Jewish?
This could just be disinformation, but if true it explains a lot. Note that some of the worst anti-Semites in history, including Torquemada and Karl Marx, were of recent Jewish descent, and used anti-Semitism to ingratiate themselves with their non-Jewish constituencies. Ha’aretz: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s scathing attacks against Israel and his repeated denials of […]
Liveblogging of Yale’s Constitution in 2020 Conference
over at Joshblogs.