After calling the ruling an atrocity on his MSNBC program, Al Sharpton wants the federal government to act. “There are grounds for civil rights charges here,” he said on Meet the Press, adding, “There would never have been protests if there had been an arrest and if the police department there did what it was supposed to do.” Despite Reverend Al’s protestations, local police did do their job. After examining all the evidence, police believed Zimmerman’s story. more

Article on Rabbi sparks memories To the Editor: Your article about Rabbi Chaim Aryeh Leib Schwartzblatt, a mashgiach at the JASA kosher kitchen in Far Rockaway, brought back memories [“From Holocaust’s ruins, a life of learning and teaching,” July 5]. The Rabbi Shulman, to whom he referred, who asked him to take on the position of mashgiach, was my late husband, Rabbi Nahum Shulman, a”h. For 20 years Rabbi Shulman was the Rabbi of Congregation Bais Tefila, the shul that served the JASA residents. In addition to serving as spiritual leader of the congregation, Rabbi Shulman was the Rav Hamachshir for the kosher kitchen, JASA’s large food program. Rabbi Shulman’s appointment of Rabbi Schwartzblatt as mashgiach was an inspired decision. Rabbi Schwartzblatt has brought a unique personal history and Torah learning to his position. My family and I wish him continued good health and fulfillment in all that he does. — Mrs. Anita Shulman more

Al Sharpton’s incitement of anger and violence in the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case recalls what he did in Crown Heights. Twenty-two years ago, a tragic car accident in that Brooklyn neighborhood escalated into a pogrom against the Jewish people. The media gives it a politically correct description — violence between the area’s blacks and Jews. But the violence was not two-sided, it was an attack on the Jews by the neighborhood’s Caribbean community, fueled in part by Al Sharpton, now an MSNBC host and adviser to President Obama. more

When I first heard the Muslim Brotherhood claim the interim Egyptian President Adli Mansour was Jewish, I was shocked and angry. How the heck did they figure it out? That was one of the closest held secrets of the World-Wide-Jewish-Conspiracy! That announcement came on top of the news that the Government of Turkey blamed their anti-Islamist protests on the Jews. That one wasn’t a leak; it was a stupid mistake. The guy we sent in to run the protests forgot where he was for a second and tried to organize a Havah Nagilah circle dance (Shlomo will not be allowed out by himself for a while). more

In his letter to the editor [“The president, not Dunetz view, changed,” July 5], Michael Brenner asked. “One wonders: Did Jeff Dunetz change his mind, or is it just that the party in the White House changed?” If Mr. Brenner had read my article more closely he might have noticed this paragraph where I talked about my change of opinion: more

The Senate passed the “Comprehensive Immigration Bill” by a wide margin. The bill was full of pork — it had something for everybody with the one exception that it did not have anything for those who wanted the United States’ borders secured. The border security amendment praised in the press had holes in it so large you could drive a space shuttle through any of them. more

Dear Editor: I read, with great interest, the article “Irish eyes aren’t smiling on Israel” [The Jewish Star, June 28] and the quote from Paddy Monaghan asserting that the Irish “are relational people. Israel needs to take the time to explain…” Unfortunately, my two trips to Dublin, in the 1970s and 1982, convinced me otherwise. more

The government programs that Edward Snowden revealed were wrong — Verizon Wiretapping and PRIZM — go against the founders’ intent and, I believe, if taken to the Supreme Court would be struck down. But the appropriateness of the surveillance on the general public, and the legal/moral issues of Snowden’s using the press to share them with the world are two completely separate issues. Snowden is not a hero whistleblower but a criminal leaker of secrets. more

If you ever get a chance to look at the front grill of a Fisker Karma, the first model luxury electric car made by Fisker Automotive, you will notice that it seems to be laughing as if it were saying, “Ha, ha, I got your money!” Despite that, the Fisker Karma is a beautiful looking hybrid sports sedan, which is about to meet a very ugly end. more

The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants — Albert Camus America is slowly moving toward abandoning those rights endowed to us by our Creator and protected by the United States Constitution. more