Harvey Mansfield's new book Manliness has sparked new and vigorous debate about male vs. female qualities.  His unapologetic claim that manliness involves risk taking and direct confrontation, and should be encouraged, has drawn the expected howls of outrage from certain women. ... More

One of my children has been having some problems internalizing certain moral standards — a not uncommon problem in a young child. With a child like mine, who hasn't yet internalized abstract moral standards, it's not wrong to steal, it's just wrong if a someone you love is made unhappy by the... More

From a strictly military perspective, Iraq represents a stunning victory for America. But as capably as American forces prevailed over Saddam Hussein on the field of battle, the post—war effort has been frustrating, to say the least. Endeavors to elevate Iraq's new government to a modern... More

A momentous battle is taking place over dominance of the enormous market for commercial jetliners. Europe's Airbus and America's Boeing each seek to cripple their rival with better products, more attuned to the needs of the airlines and the flying public. The lead has passed back and forth between... More

[Editor's note: our contributor LTC Joseph Myers forwards this report from Iraq with the following introduction: I received this 'update' from a friend, written by a great American and Infantry officer, it represents his view of things in Iraq...a personal foxhole snapshot from someone 'over... More

Last week, a tragedy occurred in Europe, though the American media largely ignored it, and our political leadership has not made it an issue.а For all the talk of democracy in Iraq and in the Middle East, there is still one bastion of Stalinism in Europe.а That is in the country of Belarus, where... More

The major problem facing American Muslims today is not active prejudice or government harassment; it's political correctness. PC has been the governing force in relations with the American Muslim umma since 9/11, if not before. It is the sole reason why dubious and litigious groups like The Council... More

Rhonda Bye died too young. Drug addiction and life on the streets killed this once—beautiful and talented computer expert/fashion model, leading to kidney failure at the age of 39. Noting the coverage by Kevin Fagan of the San Francisco Chronicle, AT editor Thomas Lifson commented on the... More

The giant supercarrier may be entering its last days in the US Navy. In defiance of Congress, America's sea service is retiring one of the last of its oil—fired flattops, the USS Kennedy  which is too old to repair and too expensive to upkeep in a fleet desperately attempting to replace... More

The problem posed by the presence of millions of illegal aliens in our midst has no easy and immediately practical solution. Sweeping rhetoric from advocates of one clean—cut position or another may sound satisfying, but would cause chaos in practice. De facto open borders or mass expulsion,... More

Since the end of World War Two, a collection of western nations have relied upon the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for collective defense. This organization was originally created to counter the nuclear and conventional threat posed by the Soviet Union and to help bring political... More

Kofi Annan attempted to calm the naysayers of the UN's latest concoction, the new Human Rights Council, in a recent Wall Street Journal commentary (free link here).  Secretary General Annan used his characteristic mellifluous tone and soothing verbiage — techniques he has used his... More

The Scooter Libby case is back in the public eye, with the news that subpoenas have been issued to the New York Times, NBC News and Time Magazine, and the likelihood that reporters' notes, emails, and testimony of celebrities like Tim Russert may become public. But the embarrassment which may... More

When we passed the third anniversary of the invasion of Saddam Hussein's regime, there was much talk about sectarian violence in Iraq.  However, a strange thing happened on the way to that predicted civil war: it failed to materialize.  The repetitious headlines about internecine warfare... More

So now the Democrats' theme is "dangerous incompetence."  This is the soaring vision they offer the American people, as the nation records the 53rd month of growth since the end of the last recession in November 2001; as the S&P 500 is up 60 percent to 1300 from 800 at the start of 2003;... More

Abdul Rahman faced death at the hands of our Afghan allies for the "crime" of converting to Christianity. This fate is no fluke, not a brutal Afghan variant on the practice of "tolerant" Islam. Death for apostacy is part and parcel of Islamic scripture and tradition. When Afghanistan's leading... More

What Dr. Habib Siddiqui should have said at Vanderbilt Part One may be read here. Habib Siddiqui's speech, originally delivered at Vanderbilt University, may be read at this Muslim magazine. Throughout my critique I use the older translation by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall. This website  has... More

Are conservative leanings the fruits of intellectual inquiry or the fault of psychological frailty?  If psychologist Jack Block is to be believed, it's the latter. Publishing his findings in the Journal of Research into Personality (a page—turner, I'm sure), the UC Berkeley professor... More

As a forensic handwriting analyst of more than thirty years, I too was struck by Gorbachev's logo for Green Cross International, when I read Jack MacKenzie's "article":http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5320 on the subject in ??The American Thinker??. Because of the logo... More

What Dr. Habib Siddiqui should have said at Vanderbilt At an interfaith conference at Vanderbilt University, Dr. Habib Siddiqui delivered a speech on March 11, 2006, titled 'Islam and Coexistence.' Normally, speeches at universities are sparsely attended, so they do not make an impact outside of... More

With the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA scheduled to convene in June for the first time since the 2004 GA passed a notorious anti—Israel divestment resolution, supporters and detractors of  divestment are discussing whether the Church's decision was anti—Semitic,... More

It appeared to be the beginning of something new and exciting for the mainstream press. The Washington Post hired a conservative blogger ostensibly to give the view from the right on issues covered by the paper's news department. The Post has proven it self innovative in other ways when it comes to... More

To be successful in the sport of boxing, a fighter must embody every athletic attribute to its maximum—and all at the same time. Speed, strength, power, balance, hand—eye coordination, stamina, strategy, and courage are all required at their top level, continually, without letup. There... More

[This the third of three parts. Partа1 is found here. Part 2 is found here.] Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack. One defends when his strength is inadequate; he attacks when it is abundant.а аааааааааааааааааааааааа —Sun Tzu... More

Conservatives can be wrong about some things, which is not to say that liberals are right about them. A fundamental change for the worse is taking place at all levels of government in the United States with the acquiescence of conservatives, if not their encouragement, assuming they even notice... More

In stark but reliable simplicity, Republican successes of the past several decades can be directly correlated to the contrasts between their philosophy and agenda as compared to that of the Democrats. In the 1994 election cycle, differences between the two parties were clearly defined, and... More

[Part 2 in a three—part series. Part 1 may be read here.]    The ultimate in disposing one's forces is to be without discernable shape                 —Sun Tz   It appears likely... More

Anyone who has ever been in a schoolyard can see that boys and girls deal with conflict in diametrically different ways.  When boys have a problem with each other, the cause of the feud is usually well known to both parties, and they tend to confront one another directly, often... More

Richard Cohen, a columnist for the Washington Post, looks like a nice man and seems to be sincere about what he writes. He is no lock—step Democrat and recently broke ranks by commending President Bush for his stand on the Dubai port management issue. He has written with sound common sense... More

The first campaigns of the Long War are drawing to a close. The Jihadis have lost the opening rounds. What next? There's an unconscious conviction that what happens next is... nothing. We go back to everyday life, the way things were before all that unpleasantness in lower Manhattan and Washington... More

This past week has provided two glaring examples of the pitfalls of allowing that  'no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam', as per the new constitutions of the vox populi elected governments in Afghanistan and Iraq. With major input from the U.S.... More

While art imitates life, it's also true that life imitates art.  It's with this in mind that my eyebrows were raised upon hearing about Big Love, a series with which HBO breaks new, albeit not hallowed, ground.  It stars Bill Paxton as Salt Lake City businessman Bill Henrickson, a man... More

Harvard Professor Stephen Walt and University of Chicago Professor John Mearsheimer have just published a lengthy diatribe against what they call the 'Israel lobby.' Their article appeared in the London Review of Books, and a longer version has been released as a Harvard Kennedy School working... More

The third anniversary of the U.S.—led invasion of Iraq was marked over the weekend by a wave of protests around the world. Most of the marches in America were spearheaded by United for Peace and Justice, the nation's largest anti—war coalition. United for Peace and Justice is... More

It is the first week of spring, the season of rebirth.  But in Europe people can't be bothered.  The average number of children per woman in Spain is 1.15, in Germany 1.15, and in the United Kingdom 1.60, according to the Economist Pocket World in Figures for 2004.  Why is... More

My wife, having been told by friends in Europe that Sudoku, the Japanese [1] number—grid puzzle, was all the rage there, asked me to find some Sudokus and teach her how to solve them. A Google search disclosed a website with billions of Sudoku puzzles, a Wikipedia article with the... More

Dear Mr. Redford, I have a movie idea for you. I'm in the process of writing a screenplay and wanted to run it by you with the hope that you would be interested in producing my project. I call it, The Motorcycle Diaries II and since you produced the original, I thought you, more than anyone else,... More

The Brits may have lost the Empire, but they are forging ahead in the battle for PC. According to the UK Sun, the Royal Navy is going to hold Gay "therapy lessons" to help its hopelessly heterosexual Old Salts obtain a deeper — one might say, a more penetrating — understanding of what... More

What happens when a passage in the Quran is erroneous? What if it has passages which can be compared with another older sacred text? How do you clarify the mistake? Do you retreat to the doctrine of infallible revelation? (The Quran comes down from Allah, so that settles everything!) Or will you... More

The New York Times again reveals its indifference to anti—Semitism and the threat of radical Islam in America — as well as a healthy dose of hypocrisy. Last April, a prison Imam named Umar Abdul—Jalil (who has a $76,000 a year job counseling prisoners in the New York prison... More

We hear on all sides that the Democrats want to "nationalize" the 2006 Congressional elections. Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch worries that the conflict in Iraq is going badly, and that the election will turn against President Bush because the American people believe that. I think Da Mayor is wrong on... More

The other day, the U.K. Guardian ran an article by Noam Chomsky, a man celebrated in much of Europe as one of the world's foremost intellectuals, which turned on a mind—boggling premise. Mr. Chomsky alleged with palpable personal satisfaction that people of some Latin American and Asian... More

Since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, the Iranian regime has increased its oppressive tactics at home. The government is indeed tightening its fascist fist around the Iranian people, particularly women. It plans to segregate Iran's pedestrian walkways on a gender basis, according to a deputy in... More

Prepare to celebrate an important anniversary, someting to mark with pride. Rest assured the loony left has its own colorful plans in the works. On March 19 three years ago President Bush addressed the nation, and the world, from the Oval Office:  'My fellow citizens, at this hour, American... More

We hear a lot about women's 'reproductive rights.'  In fact, some liberal politicians — Barbara Boxer comes to mind — seem to be able to segue from any conceivable topic to a discussion of them with ease.  But do men have reproductive rights too? Answering in the affirmative,... More

Shortly after this year's elections, the 2008 presidential race will begin in earnest. This means that among Democrat politicians, the venom and bile being spewed against President Bush will only increase. But at some crucial point, it must be redirected from the outgoing president to any... More

A narrative has emerged that Israel's settlements in the West Bank are a "tragedy." The fatal flaw lies in the original sin of supposedly lawless occupation of land, in contravention of the Geneva Convention. It makes a strong emotional pitch to a sense of justice, a major influence on the thinking... More

"Resolved that the United States Senate does hereby censure George W. Bush, president of the United States, and does condemn his unlawful authorization of wiretaps of Americans within the United States without obtaining the court orders required." Just how stupid is Russ Feingold? Judging from... More

On the morning of March 8th, all the members of the DePaul University community received an email from its president reporting that the school had been vandalized earlier that morning by racist and anti—Semitic graffiti. Dear Colleagues, The Lincoln Park Campus was vandalized overnight with... More

So, the Dubai port deal is off.  The firestorm is over.  What began, according to Newsday, at the moment Chuck Schumer fielded a call from an Associated Press reporter asking New York's senior senator to comment on an obscure plan to rejigger operations at six U.S. ports has ended... More

If jesting Pilate would not stay for an answer to his famous question, he owed it to himself to hang around long enough to check out a certain website, where he would surely have discovered what truth isn't. The Huffington Post is the sort of place kids used to call a nuthouse. For lefties at once... More

John Gotti Jr. recently scored another victory in court when the jurors could not agree on a verdict and asked to be freed from the case.  Gotti was on trial for the 1992 botched kidnapping of Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. The legendary crime fighter was left near death after a... More

This weekend some interesting developments appeared to rip some holes in the Wilson Gambit and further erode Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's  credibility. David Corn of The Nation magazine and VIPS (Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity) have pushed nonsensical claims that... More

When it comes to diagnosing what's wrong with America and offering solutions on how to cure what ails us, there is no shortage of thoughtful, sincere opinions, on both the right and the left, that offer specific courses of action to address the nation's problems. In fact, an entire literary... More

Since presiding over the fall of Communism, Mikhail Gorbachev has moved on to a different mode for the imposition of a utopian vision on humanity. Perhaps sensing that religious impulses remain far more powerful than the dreams of Karl Marx, he is working to harness religion to environmentalism,... More

It has been more than 21 months since I last saw a brand new episode of The Sopranos, an artistic achievement that has begun to make a lasting impact on the medium of television. Artistically superior to the vast majority of movies, The Sopranos has the ability to develop characters and plot lines... More

An American peace activist is slaughtered by Islamists Yesterday, peace activist Tom Fox was found murdered in Iraq. Fox, along with fellow activists Harmeet Singh Sooden, Norman Kember, and James Loney was kidnapped in Baghdad on November 26, 2005. All belonged to the leftwing Christian Peacemaker... More

In The Other War: Israelis, Palestinians and the Struggle for Media Supremacy, veteran journalist Stephanie Gutmann provides careful documentation of the myriad ways in which the mainstream media coverage of the Middle East has been grossly compromised.  Gutmann spent part of her teenage years... More

Americans who love their country and its heritage have been outraged as they learned of Aurora, Colorado geography teacher Jay Bennish, who was recorded by a student last month as he spewed anti—American diatribe to his class. But should anyone really be surprised? By no means is this an... More

Two million captured documents from the files of Saddam Hussein's government remain mostly un—translated, their contents unavailable to the national conversation on Middle East policy. History has some lessons for us in the treatment of treasure troves of enemy files. We can — and must... More

It's a story that by now seems all too familiar.  The concept was fine in theory — self government and democracy for a people oppressed by the heavy hand of an autocratic ruler.  Unfortunately, no one seems to have thought through the aftermath.  The overthrow of the forces of... More

How the mighty have fallen. The media and publishing oligopolies are on the way out, thanks to competition — first talk radio, then cable news, and now the internet and other bandwidth—expanding technologies. The old companies and individual Big Players are not showing many signs... More

When the history of our times are written a hundred years from now, it is probable that historians will be scratching their heads in puzzlement over contemporary reports regarding the challenges faced by the Bush Administration and how the President's people managed them. They will take note of the... More

As if observers needed yet another example of higher education's big lie, Lawrence Summers' recent ignoble loss of the presidency of Harvard University confirms the reality that, despite its claims to the contrary, academia is no longer the certain intellectual marketplace for open discourse and... More

In Iraq today, there are intense, oftentimes rancorous, political debates and discussions. For the first time in this ancient land, open political disputes among elected representatives are being argued before the eyes of constituents. Or, as Defense Secretary Rumsfeld described this very... More

The scientific argument that humans have caused global warming — a major underpinning of the 'Kyoto Protocols' — suffered a major blow last week, with the publication of a new study. The implications have not yet spread very far beyond the rarified circles of specialists, but the... More

'This is worse than a crime... it's a blunder.' (Talleyrand, on Napoleon's execution of the Duke d'Enghien) The French have always gone their own way in international relations. Back in the days of the early Louis, the French, annoyed by several Italian republics, made an alliance with the Ottoman... More

The peaceful non—assassinations of mockersIn their replies to the uproar over satirical depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, Muslim spokespersons who have access to the national media have recently withheld some valuable but unpleasant information about early Islam. Killing those who... More

A formerly secret system for orbiting satellites and (implicitly) conducting space warfare has been revealed. A stunningly complex and sophisticated 'black project' was developed, utilized to an unknown degree, and is now mothballed — all without Congressional debate or public knowledge. The... More

The Academy Awards are mercifully over, and the postmortems are in. First time host Jon Stewart has gotten mixed reviews, with some saying that he seemed too stoic. And, much of the left were very disappointed with the choice of Crash as best picture instead of Brokeback Mountain, as there seemed... More

I just wanted to see the weather. That's all. I do admit it's my own fault for making the mistake of tuning in to one of the major networks. Much to my surprise what do I see? Yet another Hollywood Awards Show. I know... it's hard to believe. I guess it must be that time of the month again. It... More

No, Not All Cultures and Religions are Equal If anything renders people sheep among wolves, it's when they convince themselves that every creature is a sheep.  We live in an age in which one of the few sins is giving offense, one of the only virtues is a tendentious tolerance and one of the... More

Last week's Associated Press release of a video, taken just prior to Hurricane Katrina's arrival in New Orleans last August, has generated a new round of second—guessing and finger pointing regarding who is to blame for the supposedly slow, poor response to this natural disaster. Falling... More

We are at that stage in the political cycle when the supporters of the president, like Pejman Yousefzadeh, or even critics—with—a—book—out like Bruce Bartlett, start mourning that the 22nd Amendment—the one that limits the President of the United States to two... More

So George Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck is not on anyone's lips to win Best Picture Sunday night. All the same, the response to Clooney's film demonstrates that the McCarthy myth still possesses considerable potency, even among people who think his name was 'Eugene' and that he died just last... More

Sunday evening, as clips are shown of the films nominated for 'Best Picture,' we will probably see —— along with a worldwide audience —— Golda Meir pondering the decision to assassinate the Palestinians behind the 1972 Munich atrocity. The audience will hear her say words... More

Every now and then some little bit of information, a phrase or a sentence read, or a scene in a film will prompt a sudden realization. Not the kind of realization experienced by the theoretical physicist Richard Feynman at the moment he made the discovery that won him the Nobel prize. His was a... More

Google is a company that enjoys its mystique. A bit of the shine may be off its stock, but it remains a formidable internet technical, financial, market and market powerhouse, making very impressive amounts of money for company only a few years old. Google is now is a culinary powerhouse, too.... More

The White House Press Corps and journalists working the Capitol Hill beat are well versed in the ways of Washington. Yet, they also seem determined to keep the public in the dark about how our government works. When a Republican is president, they find it convenient to foster myths enabling... More

About a thousand years ago, when I became a police officer and started walking the streets of Brooklyn, I believed in the system of justice. I felt that being a cop meant being one of the good guys. It didn't take long before I began to experience the seamier side of life, not only in the street,... More

A notable decline in the core business of the New York Times Company has been underway, and yet is not reported in a straightforward way in the company's official filingsаwith the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC аrequires companies to file Form 10—K every year, to provideа 'a... More

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper opened up a new era this week when for the first time in the country's history a 'nominee' to the Supreme Court of Canada appeared before a bi—partisan Parliamentary committee and answered questions about his views. In the past, appointments to the court... More

Consider the wretched plight of Professor van Helsing, AKA Peter Cushing.  The poor man must have buried Count Dracula, with the mandatory stake through the heart, in dozens of movies.  Yet each time, the Count managed to rise again to put the bite on fresh victims.  The good... More

Because many in the West regard religious faith with distaste, as the incoherent superstition and prejudice of backward peoples, religious illiteracy has become one of the most serious obstacles to success in the war on terror. In confronting the mindset of Islam, the inability of western... More

During several notable speeches since 2003, including both  inaugural and State of the Union addresses, President Bush has repeatedly stressed the paramount importance of promoting freedom in the Middle East. Speaking in an almost messianic idiom, he has termed such a quest 'the calling of... More

After decades of efforts to encourage women to pursue math and science, the most enduring accomplishment may be the continuing downhill trend in the academic performance of boys. The Boston Globe reported that a male high school student is suing his school for alleged discrimination against boys.... More