<em>TWN</em> Media Watch

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5

Just a bit of notice that I will be live on MSNBC at 1:45 pm ET discussing former Iran President Mohammad Khatami’s visit to Washington as well as current Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s challenge to President Bush to a televised debate.

Diplomatic Strategy in Middle East?

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40

The Forward is becoming a daily read for me. It does a superb job of captruing diverse views about issues related to Judaism and Israel — and is one of the few American portals I know of where the debates taking place in Israel are published relatively unfiltered.

Conservative Judaism Opening Doors to Gay Rabbis?

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43

This is jarring news, positive news. I know very little about conservative Judaism and have the gut feeling that this line of Judaism differs from the orthodox. But even then, what will Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell say about this? I can’t wait.

Birthdays and Op-Eds

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22

I’m going to spend the day with friends and my dog, Oakley, fishing and kayaking on the Chester River in Chestertown, Maryland as I tick off another year today. Lyndon Baines Johnson and Mother Teresa both share my birthday of August 27th. Confucius, Many Ray and Pee Wee Herman too.

The Return of “Thought Control” in Japan?

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15

(Yasukuni Shrine where the souls of Japan’s soldiers who died on the battlefield — as well as WWII class A war criminals — are deified) The Washington Post has just published an article of mine,”The Rise of Japan’s Thought Police,” that will appear in tomorrow’s Outlook pages, but which is available on the web now….

Bipartisan Foreign Policy Type? One of the Frustrated Many?

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18

Christopher Preble, Director of Defense Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, just published this on the Partnership for a Secure America’s blog. Preble and I are two of the three executive committee members of the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy. Chris Preble has organized a good forum at an awful time — 8 a.m….