Macsmind is doing its usual superb job covering the news of the Department of Justice investigation into the leaking of information on the NSA surveillance system to the New York Times (which Mac called a day ahead of time), and brings us news that the Washington Post is also under investigation... More

Beijing is running into some resistance from its press over censorship. About 100 reporters of the Beijing News walked out after this week's sacking of the daily's top editor, the latest victim of China's strict press controls, industry sources said on Friday. But while Communist Party officials... More

Harvard and Georgetown offer courses and do research using the historical critical method on both the Old Testament and the New. Hundreds of other American and European universities and theological seminaries do the same.  Harvard and Georgetown do not use this method to examine the... More

Bookworm's essay here on being a crypto—conservative has drawn a response from Neo—neocon. Be sure to read the comments, in which Bookworm offers her rejoinder. More

In still yet another sign that World War ll and the Cold War have ended, thanks to American strength, determination and resoluteness: The U.S. Air Force on Friday handed over the keys to Rhein—Main Air Base to the operator of Frankfurt International Airport in a final act of closure for the... More

It's the oldest trick in the spy book, and it persists and flourishes because it works so often. Lure a diplomat (or military officer, or business competitor) into a compromising sexual relationship, and then threaten exposure unless valueable secrets are delivered. Apparently, the old honey trap... More

ABC's Nightline segment last night (12/29/05) promoting Spielberg's Munich was carefully edited to include the use of film clips and location clips, which confirms that this segment was negotiated and orchestrated by Spielberg's publicity machine, from start to finish.  Cynthia McFadden opened... More

Chiesa, an Italian website, reports that the jizya — a special tax on non—Muslims — is threatening a return in the areas of the West Bank where Hamas has won control. Anyone who doubts that jihad is still the animating force of many Muslims who follow their holy scripture should... More

Mediacrity cries crocodile tears over far left—wing blogger Jim Romanesko, probably the highest—salaried blogger anywhere, though we don't know how much David Brock pulls down from George Soros moneybags funding Media Matters.  Romanesko works for the Poynter Institute in Florida,... More

I know, I know... I'm not supposed to use that word. Everyone knows Communism is dead. The New York Times told us so. Sao Paolo Forum: the backbone of communism & terrorism spread in Latin America | www.vcrisis.com FSO: Global Analysis with J. R. Nyquist "The Undead Again" 12/23/2005 Michael... More

Apparently, I'm not the only reader who thinks the explanations of the professors who spread the fake story of Homeland Security investigating  a student for checking out Mao's "masterpiece" doesn't pass the laugh test. The head of policy studies at the University of Massachusetts at... More

Let's face it, the only thing Russia is doing to control Iran's nuclear ambitions is to have a slick PR campaign that spouts disinformation about the entire sordid affair in the hope that no one notices its support of the mad mullahs. A report from the AP via The Washington Times, says that Javad... More

Srdja Trifkovic makes a case for viewing Islam, or at least some forms of Islam advocating violent jihad, as a political ideology, not strictly a religious practice deserving conbstitutional protection and deference: We don't need any legislation to protect CAIR's clients' privacy, we need the law... More

There is a summary of the current state of play in the Iraq elections results at Iraq the Model. Greg Richards  12 29 05 More

This event, sanctioned by the Malaysian government, sounds like an attempt to appropriate history thousands of years prior to the establishment of Islam: A team of 35 Malaysians will try to drape Egypt's great pyramid at Giza with the flags of the world's 57 Muslim countries... If so, it... More

Freeing a convicted terrorist has bought Germany nothing. Davidsmedienkritik reports that a German official has been kidnapped in Yemen: A former German government minister, his wife and three children were kidnapped in Yemen on Wednesday, local officials said, and one of their captors said their... More

Rick Richman of Jewish Current Issues notes Steven Spielberg's reaction to critics of Munich, starting with a quotation from Spielberg's now—famous telephone call to Roger Ebert: [boldface in the original] 'Some of my critics are asking how Spielberg, this Hollywood liberal who makes... More

Michael Crichton has written a must—read essay (really, an illustrated lecture mdae available to readers of his website). It begins with a focus on the way in which the exaggerations of the damage of Chernobyl have actually done more damage than the explosion in the reactor. But it ranges... More

Omygosh!  All the criticism directed at the New York Times must be having some effect!  Look what they published ...  in their op ed column: a defense of Bush spying coupled with strong, well reasoned criticism of the outraged Bush critics. As they succinctly summarize The... More

In the midst of chaotic news events facts and truth, out of necessity, are distorted or unknown.  Myths and lies take over, become established as facts, muddying the truth to the extent  it is almost impossible for reality to emerge clearly. Think about the facts from early Hurricane... More

While the media yelps about Bush bypassing FISA and implies compliance with it is easy and provides no barrier to needed intelligence on terrorist activities, it conveniently ignores its own reportage which earlier indicated that the FISA court contributed ot 9/11. Here's one example, via Sweetness... More

The Senate Democrats crossed a line when they filibustered renewal of the USA Patriot Act. Their unseriousness on national security will continue to brand them as a party not to be trusted with power in times of national peril. The point is being driven home by a senior FBI official outlining the... More

Confirming this article posted by The American Thinker back in August, Iran's Majlis (Parliament) has stated their goal of a unified Islamic world. 'We strongly support unity among Islamic nations', the Majlis Speaker said, adding that such unity was critical in preserving the interests of the... More

Once again Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shows the world that he belongs in the same court as the "Mad Mullahs."   Iran Focus reports why: Iran's hard—line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who recently called for the destruction of Israel and termed the Holocaust a 'myth'... More

Bill Roggio has just posted his own version of the truth —— relating to the WaPo piece by Finer & Struck. It's a big old can of whup—ass. Sally Vee 12 27 05   More

Richard Baehr today explores the reasons why the Left Hates Israel. They turn out to be similar to the reasons why the Left Hates the US, why the feminist Left Hates Conservative Men, why the Black Left Hates Conservative Blacks, and so on. What all these Leftist targets of malice and slander have... More

A.M. Mora y Leon is back from Venezuela, and writing about the shortages which are developing in Hugo Chavez's socialist paradise. Despite abundant petrodollar wealth, the price controls and other statist interventions are producing shortages in a time of wealth. I agree that the coffee in... More

Che Guevara remains a celebrated figure in our culture, despite his bloodthirsty history and track record of failure. A recent Argentine movie, The Motorcycle Diaries, romantically celebrated his youth. Now, a photo exhibit at the International Center for Photography in New York City, whitewashes... More

Reuters reports that the mastermind of the 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre wanted a job as a consultant on Steven Spielberg's new movie: The Palestinian mastermind of the Munich Olympics attack in which 11 Israeli athletes died, said on Tuesday he had no regrets and that Steven Spielberg's new film... More

According to the Times of London, "THE Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy—O'Connor, used his Christmas sermon to attack the way that Bethlehem has been treated. ...He described it as a town "corralled" and "blocked in" by checkpoints, with the economy decimated by the security... More

Michael Moore helped defeat Gore by deriding the Democratic Party. A few years ago, I was reading a review of Fahrenheit 911 in a Connecticutt free newspaper I got at a tourist rest stop. The liberal author clearly stated, with insight, that Moore's statement in 2000 that there wasn't a "dime's... More

The New York Post uses the T—word ("Treason") in the headline (The Gray Lady Toys with Treason")of its lead editorial today, discussing the New York Times' publication of classified information likely to aid and comfort the enemy in Iraq: Has The New York Times declared itself to be on the... More

As I noted here last week, a new study from Duke University suggests the so—called engineering gap between America and its Asian rivals China and India is a myth.  Now BusinessWeek has uncovered some possible reasons behind this "propaganda" and the detrimental effect it is having... More

Senator Bill Frist just called for international trade sanctions against Iran, with the exception of medicine and food. In an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times, Frist, who is expected to run for the GOP presidential nomination, writes: "IRAN'S RULING mullahs have waged a 26—year... More

Apparently, some are. More concerned with the threat from Iran, some Sunnis, at least, are privately talking about warming uip to Israel. Israpundit quotes a Knight—Ridder dispatch: Since results from Iraq's national assembly election trickled out this week showing that Shiite Muslims... More

Remember the grotestque mutliated Santa displayed in Manhattan, allegedly to protest the commercialization of Christmas? The high—minded lefty who put it on display now seeks to cash—in. Sweetness & Light captures the hypocrisy. Scroll down for another abused Santa Claus. It is a... More

Balancing national security for all with civil liberties for individuals is a tricky high wire act that all decent democratic countries try to maneuver. Democrats predictably criticize Bush and Company as crypto fascists, while gleefully wallowing in the National Security Agency's spying... More

The San Francisco Chronicle gives prominent photographic treatment to a group of 9 moonbats dining in the rain outside Senator Dianne Feinstein's home in Pacific Heights. According to the Chron, The meal of turkey and trimmings was organized to urge the Democrat to bring troops home from Iraq... More

France is beginning to face its own role in allowing the genocide slaughter in Rwanda. The UK Times reports: ...a judge opened a formal inquiry into allegations that the French Army conspired in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The move, which will renew debate over the actions of François Mitterrand,... More

The New York Times today does itself credit by publishing a critique by Edward Rothestein of Steven Spielberg's film Munich, far less favorable than the Times' own review. Rothstein tellingly focuses on the underlying moral framework of moral equivalence, a flaw in Speilberg's fable noted by many.... More

Alex Beech covers the dismaying descent of Venezuela under Hugo Chavez into the vortex of Jew—hatred so characteristic of brutal dictatorships in the Western World. Once again, the adage that Jews are aree like to coal miner's canary — the early warning system for coming oppression... More

Sweetness & Light catches Ron Fournier of the Asscociated Press calling MoveOn.org, the Soros—funded outfit, a "grass roots" political group. Right. I remember when the AP took pride in its even—handedness. Thomas Lifson  12 25 05 More

Dinocrat.com reprints the Viacom and New York Times Company ethics policies, and demonstrates how both have violated their own policies by non—disclosure of conflicts of interest in major stories. It seems to us pretty clear that these non—disclosure are not oversights — far from... More

There's no clue yet as to who induced the Dems to put the kibbosh  on the portions of the Senate resolution supporting democracy in Iran. A Senate resolution condemning the president of Iran for anti—Semitic comments he made earlier this month is riling its Republican sponsors on... More

There's an update on the purportedly kidnapped "peace workers" long after the deadline set by their captors has passed: (IsraelNN.com) Some of the members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams kidnapped in Iraq were previously stationed in Hevron, where members of the local Jewish community say... More

As  noted here a few days ago, for the past several years Muslim Arabs have terrorized Christian Arabs in Bethlehem to such an extent that most of the Christians have fled to save their lives.  As a result, Bethlehem's once dominant Christian majority has shriveled to an estimated 20% of... More

Representative Mark Kirk, of suburban Chicago, is worried by the trend of inner suburbs ("inurbs") trending Democrat,m while the fast—growing exurbs are strongly GOP. Fred Barnes writes in the Weekly Standard about Kirk's plan to focus on issues which appeal to inner suburban families. It is... More

From today's Boston Globe: ''I feel as if I was lied to, and I have no idea why," said Williams, an associate professor of Islamic history. He said the possibility the government was scrutinizing books borrowed by his students ''disturbed me tremendously." The story stems from an incident in the... More

Classified information in Washington is more or less currency, to be used by politicians. This phenomenon of selectively revealing secrets is of course is not limited to Washington. Anywhere people congregate and vie for power there will always be the manipulation of information for selfish... More

Never let it be said that the BBC's concern for the poor and oppressed stops at home. No. Especially not at the Bolshie Beeb itself, which has doubled the number of executives paid over 100,000 pounds per year over the past half decade. That's $170,000.00 to you, fella. Plus perks, natch. Not... More

A fascinating editorial appeared in a Guayanan newspaper yesterday. It was entitled "Work ethic" and began as follows: "Some of those who have emigrated to what they thought were greener pastures, have been shocked to discover that in order merely to survive they have to work infinitely harder in... More

Senator Ted Kennedy looks ridiculous today, in the wake of his foolish reliance on a bogus story of "repression" under the Bush administration's anti—terror efforts. As we noted last Thursday, the Senator took to the pages of the Boston Globe and wrote this whopper: Just this past week... More

Media outlets are now racing each other to expose vital national security secrets to mass—murdering terrorists. US News & World Report just gave our enemies another tip: Don't store your dirty bomb materials in a mosque. The US has been monitoring for radioactive materials in US mosques,... More

According to Christian tradition Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a small town just outside of Jerusalem that is now under Muslim Arab control.  Until recently its population was up to 80% Christian Arab.  But in the past few years, through numerous small and large terror incidents... More

Govindini Murty of the Liberty Film Festival writes us: The Dome Village, a center for the homeless here in LA, is being forced out of its current location because the landlord, a Democrat, discovered that Ted Hayes, the leader of Dome Village, is a Republican. Ted Hayes is one of LA's most... More

In a press release from the Multi—National Force Iraq dated December 23, we learn that two terrorists were captured recently by coalition forces during raids on suspected safe houses near Mosul.  One of them, Muhammad 'Amir Husayn Mar'I al—Sufi, known as Abu Naba, was the Ansar... More

Well... not exactly. An Italian judge in Milan has issued an E.U. arrest warrant for twenty—two purported/alleged CIA operatives for having in 2003 kidnapped an Egyptian cleric and — hold onto your hats — sending him back to Egypt.  And what was so heinous about this... More

The New York Times plays its scripted role well today, in lavishing praise on Steven Spielberg's movie Munich in its film review. It is all about "vengeance." The old "cycle of violence" theme, equating Israel's defense of its survival with the aggression of those who want to eradicate it and... More

We are tempted to seek comfort in the words of Yogi Berra in confronting the Boston Globe's reiteration of the apparent New York Times Company party line first published in the flagship rag to the south: the Iranian President's threat to destroy Israel is just domestic politicking. In the past,... More

John Podhoretz writes a terrific column today making merry at the expense of the New York Times, using the Times' own Season of Sharing with the Neediest campaign as a weapon as a weapon. Pinch Sulzberger comes in for considrrably mockery as one of the Neediest, as do Paul Krugman and MoDo. Read... More

Michael Ledeen forwards an interesting idea about the leaks. It has the virtue of speed and maximimum deterrence for such leaks: A smart friend writes in to support the call by Mark Levin and me for an investigation of the leaks to Jim Risen et al: Forget about prosecuting anyone for now.... More

Why does Tom Daschle have to follow up Ted Kennedy with another Big Lie? Again, repeat after me, Presidents Clinton and Carter approved these sorts of investigations; Clinton's Assistant Attorney General wrote an op—ed in the Chicago Tribune showing their legality, and "controlling legal... More

Ben MacIntyre has an outstanding column in the UK Times Online edition, on the astonishing growth of the free Iranian blogosphere. Persian—language blogs now number more than 100,000, neck and neck with French—language blogs as the second biggest language on the Internet. Iranian... More

Ah, what would we do this XXXX Season without the jolly elves of PC?  Among the usual collection of religiophobic paranoid stories comes this gem from Merry Old XXX—land, soon to be known only as the Western Provinces of the EU.  On an official UK Department of Education website... More

Faithful readers know that I consider Larry David a comic genius, regrettably in thrall to his wife Laurie's dogmatic enviro—leftism. Mrs. David is an activist, and has been a fundraiser for the hypocritical  Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Mrs. David herself has plundered sensitive wetlands... More

The AP reports: Southern and Western states are growing so much faster than the rest of the country that several are expected to grab House seats from the Northeast and Midwest when Congress is reapportioned in 2010. Demographers and political analysts project that Texas and Florida could each... More

You never heard about it? That's not surprising, because Clinton got it taken off the record, eliminating a legal decision from the books. The victims weren't illegal combatants, but poor, black Haitians. Slate reports: Guantanamo under Clinton produced its own share of suffering and... More

Political correctness or apathy regarding the fate of Jews facing another Holocaust or something prevents the New York Times from reporting on Iranian Shiite genocidal extremism. Yet they have not shown similar sensisitivity regarding Christians and Jews, whose doctrines are routinely... More

The New York Transit Workers Union (TWU) seems to think it is fighting a revolution oin behalf of the working man, and that the oppressed masses will support them. They may be slowly discovering that they are seriously deluded. Ryan Sager of the New York Post notes: Nowhere did the rhetoric get... More

Ted Kennedy alleges in a Boston Globe op—ed that Bush is not listening to the Constitution with regard to the NSA surveillance. These sorts of wiretaps were signed into law by Jimmy Carter, President Clinton's Assistant Attorney General wrote an op—ed that pointed out the legality of... More

Does the UN Secretary—General lash out at brutal dictator Saddam Hussein? Or the ongoing genocide in Dafur? How about the UN's own peacekeepers in Africa who have bought child prostitutes with food? No. He reserves his wrath for a free press which dares to question him over his son's use of... More

Liberal fantasies of Karl Rove being frog—marched in handcuffs for leaking classified information may turn into a nightmare of prominent liberals being prosecuted for damaging the fight against al Qaeda via leaks of classified data. There are no names on the public record yet, but... More

Propelling the Plame story to critical mass was a leak to Andrea Mitchell that the CIA had referred the matter to the Department of Justice for investigation. Was she asleep, out of the loop, or uninterested when several Democratic Senators were being investigated for leaks? Newsmax reports... More

Stephen Schwartz today has a very interesting take on why US Muslims stay silent on the War on Islamic Terrorism. He argues that in the United States, the Saudi radical interpretation of Islam, Wahhabism, is so powerful and pervasive that Muslims are silenced. Elsewhere in the world, he argues,... More

When the Plame warriors were in full tilt, the Democratic Party and the media demanded the cooperation of the Administration, and the President fully complied, ordering his appointees to cooperate completely and to sign waivers of the confidentiality pledges they'd received from reporters. As it is... More

Matt May recounts General U. S. Grant's response to a confederate sympathizer in St. Louis in 1861, after the man said "Where I come from if a man dares to say a word in favor of the Union we hang him to a limb of the first tree we come to." Grant's response: "After all we are were not so... More

MEMRI translates the chilling propaganda being fed to Iranians over television, repeating the familiar blood libel against the Jews of Europe. If one were planning to wipe out Israel with a nuclear weapon, this would be the sort of thing needed to prepare the public to accept it. Video link... More

Sweetness & Light, which often delights and surprises with its extraordinary research, has dug up an interesting slogan showing that history sometimes does repeat itself. During World War I, the advertising slogan of the arch—rival of the New York Times, the New York Herald, used to urge... More

Ralph Diamond writes us from Annapolis, MD about assimilation in Australia — and here, too, we suppose. His parents, Eddy and Samira, who have lived in Australia since 1972, said their five children would be allowed to go to the beach again only when the 'conflict is resolved and peace is... More

We have published numerous articles by a number of authors on the foundational nature of Jihad in Islam. The claim that violent war on unbelievers, as currently waged by al Qaeda and other Islamofascists, is somehow aberrent is not justified by a reading of the last 1400 years of... More

"Your house is my house," Mexico is telling the US. In a story in the left—wing UK Guardian, "The Mexican government, angered by a U.S. proposal to extend a wall along the border to keep out migrants, pledged Tuesday to block the plan and organize an international campaign against... More

Unlike the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times has discovered cause for alarm in Iran's threat to Israel. A nation led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad needs to be kept as far from nuclear weapons as possible.... The Iranian leader has stacked his Cabinet with hard—liners but has met some resistance... More

A sudden unexplained mass illness in a region beset by Islamicist terror is worth noting. The Scotsman brings us this worrysome news: AT LEAST 45 people, most of them children, have been hospitalised in the Russian region of Chechnya with an illness that doctors say might be nerve—gas... More

Much of the civilized world has condemned Iran for expressing its intention to destroy Israel. Charles Krauthammer of the and others have pointed out that the Iranian leader is a believer in a coming apocalypse, and that Shiite Islam has its own version of a messianic return, the... More

In an interesting move, a local court in Shanghai will grant journalists from The New York Times unrestricted access for four days later this month to study China's legal procedures.  On December 21, The Korea Herald reported: They will be allowed to enter any courtroom and hear any case as... More

I earlier wrote that many attacks on the neocons are thinly veiled anti—Semitic slanders.  NRO's Jay Nordlinger finds an example from the U.K.: I also found this in The Spectator, in a review of a book called Santa: A Life. It is worryingly deranged: "Santa cannot even safely go home... More

Joseph J. Rochefort is a name famous in intelligence circles but not as well—known to the general public as he should be.  Rochefort headed the cryptanalysis section of the Pacific Fleet — Station Hypo — in the early days of World War II.  At the beginning of the war,... More

A theme that courses through all of Jewish history is the theme of liberation. The story of the Israelites escape from Egyptian slavery and its return to its homeland under the leadership of Moses resonates with many oppressed minorities. That particular escape from tyranny long resonated with... More

I am not thrilled with the Chicago Tribune article (registration required) today on the Thomas Klocek case, an article in which I am quoted. I suspect, as do others involved in his case, that  DePaul's administration and prominent board members played a role in what the Tribune... More

The Washington Times reveals today that the Coalition effort to push the peace process with Iraq's so—called Sunni nationalists has also included a prisoner release deal.  Yesterday, the US freed eight high—value detainees from Saddam's former regime.  Publicly, the Coalition... More

New York State's Taylor Law prohibits strikes by public employees and imposes extremely severe penalties on those who break it — for very sound reasons. The Transit Workers Union strike illegally called at 3 o'clock this morning provides a case in point. The lives of 8 million or more New... More

Despite some encouraging signs, the situation in Germany is troubling in other regards. Reuters reports Germany has secretly released a Hezbollah member serving a life sentence in prison for killing a U.S. Navy diver. He was returned to Lebanon despite an extradition request from the United... More

The Christian Science Monitor takes on the liberal myth that too few American students are graduating from university with engineering degrees.  Mr. Mark Clayton poses the question: If China graduates more than eight times the number of engineers that the United States does, is it thrashing... More

Sweetness & Light has discovered that Jimmy Carter used the same spy powers as President Bush. Strangely enough, we don't recall any controversy over it. More

To all of those of liberal ilk, The New York Times yields mother's milk A mammary fount where socialist sheep Can nurse their troubled minds to sleep Safely snuggled in Big Momma's hands, Dreaming of defeat in eastern lands; Or impeaching Bush to save the nation, Giving Gore and Kerry... More

The indispensable New York Sun in its lead editorial yesterday had a powerful analysis about the gathering of intelligence: '...But contrary to what you may read in some other newspapers, that law [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978] does not require that all such surveillance be... More

Shane Briscoe, of the Ayes Right blog has personal experience with reporters helping to manufacture the news. Turns out those were the good old days. Who knew at the time? His reflections on our current media are worth reading. More

"American Brands Selling Well Overseas" The Economist presents the findings of an academic study by Peter Katzenstein of Cornell and Robert Keohane of Princeton, indicating that firms strongly identified with the United States are performing strongly in overseas markets, despite predictions... More

Fedora, a diligent researcher at Free Republic, documents the New York Times history of revealing state military secrets.   In his press conference today, the President indicated he believed an investigation has been launched into the latest, most serious of these... More

The Clinton Administration's two—faced policies justifying US intervention in the Balkans is the gift that keeps on giving — for Islamic terrorists, that is. The US Army News Service reports that US forces in Kosovo captured escaped fugitive Ramadan Shiti and two associates, Mehmet... More

Newly elected Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning to visit Israel next month "on a trip meant in part to signal solidarity following recent anti—Israel remarks by the president of Iran, the German government said Sunday." It is a good sign. Europeans seemed genuinely shocked a few weeks ago... More

Washington Post television critic Tom Shales goes off the deep end today, reviewing the President's Oval Office address last night. Shales allows his hatred of the President to color his interpretation, even to the point of saying that under Bush's Patriot Act all dissent will be crushed,... More

Rabbi Marc Gellman, a prominent Reform rabbi, adds his voice to those who are decrying the left wing politicization of the Reform Judaism movement, specifically the recent call to oppose the War in Iraq. The movement of which I am a member has just voted against a war that I support. This vote by... More

Opinionjournal.com reports that a recent opinion poll in Pakistan reveals a startling improvement in attitudes toward the United States in this key battleground Muslim nation: Long a stronghold for Islamic extremists and the world's second—most populous Muslim nation, Pakistanis now hold a... More

Tom Maguire thinks the NSA surveillance leak was supposed to be an October surprise and that Richard Clarke and Rand Beers are likely suspects: ...following the possibility that the story was politically motivated, let's ask about sources, described here as: "Nearly a dozen current and former... More

Last week, it was announced that Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal contributed $20 million each to Harvard and Georgetown to endow programs in Islamic Studies. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Rumsfeld v FAIR, the case brought by the law schools of these two... More

After firing on a crowd of peaceful demonstrators, unsuccessfully covering it up, then admitting but minimizing the slaughter, and repressing local witnesses, officials in China are now justifying the Dongzhou Village massacre. The subscription—only South China Morning Post reports that a... More

Read about Iraq embracing democracy, how 324 schools in Iraq will be refurbished or rebuilt, men from 1st Battalion, 5th Marines readying the Iraqi police in Ramadi, view a map depicting all coalition operations leading up to Iraq's elections, read a detailed summary of recent operations and much... More

Clandestine secret spying against our enemies by agencies of the Executive Branch is hardly new. One of the most famous examples, of course, is the U—2 spy plane program authorized by President Eisenhower in the 50s. As Eisenhower explained at the time, "no one wants another Pearl Harbor." He... More

The historic and blind allegiance of many Jews in America to the Democratic Party continues to baffle many of us. On Friday, the House of Representatives voted to support Israel by passing a Resolution urging that the Palestinians deny Hamas the opportunity to run in elections and stated that... More

The CENTCOM Newsletter for the week of 12 December 2005 can be found here. Among the stories covered this week: Iraq — This is an exciting period in the history of Iraq. With the end of more than three decades of Ba'ath party rule in the spring of 2003, the Iraqi people are now taking... More

The New York Times and the Democrat Left (the overlap is considerable) have gone into water that may be deeper than they suspect, with the printing of a year—old story based on intelligence leaks, on the very day the Senate voted on cloture for renewing the USA Patriot Act. Democrats are now... More

If you want a better understanding of Al Qaeda strategy, read Thomas Donnelly's  thought—provoking analysis of the letter from Bin Laden's sidekick Zawahiri to the murderous Zarqawi, who heads "Al Qaeda in Iraq." The letter, dated July 9, was intercepted in Iraq and looks genuine. In... More

The king of the lefty bloggers, Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos, has an interesting take on the Iraqi elections. While getting in the obligatory shots at the President for his mishandling of everything, and while unconvinced that things are now going to go swimmingly in Iraq, he does seem to be... More

The New York Times, alone among major news outlets, does not mention the minor fact that Hamas is a terror organization, one using bombs against innocent civilians, in reporting the victory of Hamas in West Bank local elections. Mediacrity is all over the case. The Times continues down the path... More

I never watch the notoriously  sibilatious Chris Matthews, finding him generally both poorly informed and overly histrionic. But a responsible website reports amazing news about him. The full quote, from Chris Matthews: "If he [Bush] gambled on creating a democracy in the Arab... More

The Boston Herald picks up today where AT took its readers yesterday, savoring the hypocrisy Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., prominent advocate of wind power except when it spoils the view from property owned by his family and enjoyed by him. Environmental groups, who are now portraying Kennedy as a... More

The Chinese government is doing everything possible to prevent the outside world from learning of the massacre of protestors in the village of Dongzhou, in the Pearl River Delta just north of Hong Kong. Howard Stevenson reports for the New York Times: ... the government had decided to... More

The debate over what to do about Iran's pending acquisition of nuclear weapons is one of the most important issues of the moment. On the one hand, James Lewis has argued that inasnity among leaders of great nations is not so unusual as we might like to believe, and that the fanatical religiosity of... More

By voting against extension of the Patriot Act — from which no violation of civil liberties was ever documented — while at the same time working tooth and nail to block the Barrett report  — which certainly does document the Clintons' abuse of the IRS and Department of... More

It is much too soon to write—off Europe as Eurabia, however much we are frustrated by the appeasement of of certain European elites. The Free Europe Institute (FEI) is fighting the good fight. The Institute is the brainchild of, among others, Yves Roucaute, who is a... More

Hillary Clinton joins Brent Scowcroft in mischaracterizing the 1990s as a decade of "peace and prosperity" — ignoring the terror attacks on America in Somalia, the USS Cole and the first attempt to destroy the World Trade Center. In Hillary's world, if her husband didn't respond to a terror... More

Democrats (and some Republicans) condemn pay—day loan outfits and other lenders that charge exorbitant interest rates to those who can least afford them (the poor, especially minorities). Now it appears that erstwhile defender of the little guy and ex—Democratic Presidential contender... More

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. burnishes his reputation for hypocrisy today in the New York Times. The man who on television derided soccer moms for driving SUVs full of kids and equipment to soccer practice (let them eat mass transit?) before being forced to admit under Sean Hannity's persistent... More

Guy Pfeffermann, writing in Business Week, urges charitable donations to business schools in Africa. It actually makes a lot of sense: Sadly, most of Africa's health organizations and local NGOs —— many of which receive millions in aid —— suffer from a lack of management... More

Stung by a major circulation decline following boycotts over its coverage of Israel and the Gray Davis recall, the Los Angeles Times is moving away from its ultra—liberalism, and enduring the loss of Barbra Streisands subscription. Philip Morris' victory in Illinois' Supreme Court on... More

A union—led war on Wal—Mart is underway. The company which has brought low prices and improved the lives of low income Americans is derided by supposed guardians of the common man and woman. The company which has revolutionized the distribution sector and propelled the American economy... More

An Arab News article reports the conclusion of a Daudi Arabian forum to produce a "unified national vision related to how citizens should approach bridging the cultural gaps with outsiders." Highlights of the forum "Us and Others" follow: Dealing ethically and in a civil way with foreigners living... More

Further evidence that Saddam's WMD were moved to Syria just before the US invasion has come from a well—connected Isareli source. The New York Sun reports: Israeli officer, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, asserted that Saddam spirited his chemical weapons out of the country on the eve of... More

Billionaire California businessman Ron Burkle (Ralph's supermarket chain) has long funded everyone from the Clintons to Jesse Jackson (he provided the funds for him to settle with his mistress) and  the CalPERS (California Public Employees'Pension Funds) is heavily invested  in funds he... More

In the past few days many stories in the mainstream media have noted a new study released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that shows China has surpassed the U.S. as the world's top exporter of high—tech communications and information products such as cell phones,... More

Now that Florida has a concealed weapon law, there is further proof  of the adage "More guns, less crime."  Angellow Ortiz, 37, was walking to his car Tuesday afternoon at the Marriott Fairfield Inn on Vineland Road near Universal. Suddenly, two men with guns tried to rob him.... More

Pelosi, Kennedy, Kerry and Dean, That's a quartet to set the scene For American troops to cut and run Before peace in Iraq has barely begun.   Show them democracy Then snatch it away Who cares how many Iraqis Will have to pay   With their lives and worse As they return to the curse Of... More

The last time I visited a beach in Sydney, Australia was a decade and a half ago, so I am not exactly up to speed with the recent riots there. My immediate reaction was that the press accounts were unduly eager to identify the rioters as whites and the Lebanese (or as they were most... More

An important step is being taken that will hasten the a long—overdue accounting for the real history the much—ballyhooed 9/11 Commission Report overlooked. The Hill reports: Rep. Curt Weldon's (R—Pa.) months—long crusade is starting to pay off. The Pentagon, after weeks of... More

Reza Aslan, writing in the Los Angeles Times, strives to find a democratic tradition in Islam. The purpose is a noble one: to refute those who denounce the elections in Iraq as "satanic." Because Muhammad did not officially choose a successor, it fell to the community he left behind to decide who... More

Richard Cohen, liberal Washington Post columnist attacks Hillary. She is becoming "reactionary" as seen from the fever swamp Cohen inhabits. Why is he surprised? The Clintons always react to poll numbers in their political strategies.Ed Lasky  12 15 05 More

Whoops!  Another hysterical Hurricane Katrina myth has been busted.  As most eloquently expressed by Kanye West, a black rapper, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."  While undoubtedly a great fund—raising line for the hurricane relief telethon, alas for him and the... More

The penultimate paragraph of the original "Congressional Omerta" article in AT made this prognostication concerning the Barrett Report: The American public will hear of the published—but—restricted contents of Section V via anonymous leak and innuendo, and the redacted portions... More

I'm always amazed at the selective reportage of environmental issues. Yesterday, the AP reported: An Associated Press analysis of a little—known government research project shows that black Americans are 79 percent more likely than whites to live in neighborhoods where industrial pollution... More

The Union for Reform Judaism and its President Eric Yoffie yesterday faxed the White House with demands for and  instructions on how to end the war in Iraq. Yoffie and his Reform movement counterpart Rabbi David Saperstein, are proving each week that they are basically hard left political... More

We received a letter from an erudite reader we are proud to number among our audience. With his permission, we are publishing it, with the proviso that his views are his alone and do not reflect the views of the Department of Defense or any of its arms. His citation of Winston Churchill speaks... More

A radical proposal for Democrats making some headway: Dems should oppose Roe vs. Wade. The Economist magazine runs some numbers, ponders the complexity of American politics and comes up with a "heretical" proposal that might bolster Democrats: they should stop taking baby steps about... More

Paul Sperry, writing in Front Page Magazine, brings us encouraging news that Now for the first time, a key Pentagon intelligence agency involved in homeland security is delving into Islam's holy texts to answer whether Islam is being radicalized by the terrorists or is already radical. Military... More

The Los Angeles Times allows Jane Fonda's second ex—husband (the one just before Ted Turner) the space in which to make an utter fool of himself venting various platitudes somehow brought to mind by the departure of Tookie Williams. You've heard it all before, but the point seems to be that... More

United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales authors an op—ed for the Washington Post, supporting reauthorization of the Patriot Act. Remarkably, he opens himself up for questions from the people via the internet. Sounds like a man who thinks he has a very strong case. Ed... More

Peter Glover, who covers the lamentable state of the BBC among many other concerns in the UK, discovers that the once—respected BBC is using a Christmas Day broadcast to a science fiction series to bash America: The Christmas Day episode of the BBC's Doctor Who is to include an... More

Apparently the prophecy of global warming hasn't reached the ears of the weather gods in Chicago. It's been five years since Chicago's early season snowfall tally has been any higher at the city's Midway Airport observation site than the 15.8" currently on the books. That's the year December... More

Although the United States is the favorite punching pag of the greenies worldwide, reality is beginning to be recognized: that our market—driven system not only makes us wealthier than the envious Euro—Canadian carpers, we are actually doing better than they are in reducing... More

Unsurprisingly, the Beijing government is denying any similarity between the slaughter of protesting villagers in Dongzhou Village and the slaughter of protestors in Tienanmen Square. The subscription—only South China Morning Post reports: In a regular briefing in Beijing yesterday, Foreign... More

Arutz Sheva today reports on comments by former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor and intelligence expert John Loftus concerning options to deal with Iran.  Loftus essentially summarizes three key points about dealing with the mullahs that have been discussed previously in AT.  First, he... More

Marxists, socialists, anti Americans, the uninformed, the easily duped, the useful idiots and others in that vast herd of independent minds are quickly deployed to violently protest whenever a World Trade Organization meets to discuss erasing trade barriers and spreading the wealth; whenever an oil... More

A study shows that the trees in the Amazon rainforest are much much older than we assumed and play a far smaller role than estimated in reducing global warming:  Because their trees are old and slow—growing, the Amazon forests, which contain about a third of all carbon found in land... More

We came across this full—page ad in the New York Times (click on Download PDF flier, at bottom of page). The ad was taken out by an anti—Bush group styling itself as "The World Can't Wait" coalition and calls for the ouster of the "Bush Regime" — clearly trying to yoke the... More

Let's see: two "leaders of the EU" who were and are savagely anti—Bush and who have opposed American efforts to expand free trade and bring Democracy to the Middle East are now among the most discredited politicians in the world. Does this tell you anything about the sort of people who tend... More

First Guy: I want to become a reporter To write the news of the day. I want to tell our stories In a fair and balanced way.   I see an America strong and safe. I see Americans free. I watch young men and women Fighting for the guys like me.   I want to tell the Home Front What the Front... More

As Richard Baehr pointed out to AT readers here, the Union for Reform Judaism, the national organization for Reform Jewish synagogues, has chosen to enter the political fray on the left, opposing President Bush and the War in Iraq. Today, the Republican Jewish Coalition responds, in the... More

Bill Clinton faults America for not abiding by Kyoto Accords. As he did with Iraq, he said one thing as President and did another as an anti—Bush, pro—Hillary partisan. If he supported Kyoto, why didn't he submit it for ratification in 1998 when he was President? Ed... More

Andrew Bostom, our frequent contributor, is also the author of THE definitive English Language history of jihad, The Legacy of Jihad. Today, James Robbins of National Review Online offers another glowing review of a work that is an essential reference work for anyone who wishes to truly understand... More

The Boston Globe, owned by the New York Times, peddles a Jewish conspiracy theory in an op—ed by H.D. S. Greenway, and article so ill—informed it gets wrong the name of supposed arch—conspirator Richard Perle. But then again, conspiracy theorists are notoriously sloppy with... More

OK, ok, we're sure there are some sweet and wonderful people in Saudi Arabia. It's just that we're worried about all the others. And we keep hearing about them: Item One "TWO teachers in Saudi Arabia who were sentenced to jail and flogging after angering the kingdom's Muslim scholars have received... More

Today, the Boston Globe ran a story about an American couple who, at great personal risks to themselves, went to Europe to help rescue Jews and others from the horror of the impending Holocaust. They are being honored in Israel as Righteous Gentiles, and surviving family members are being... More

When the political history of this era is written by observers detached from current passions, there is no doubt that Rush Limbaugh will accorded a prominent place in explaining the rise of conservatism. He is without question the single most influential media figure in the entire history of... More

Saudis continue their buying of American universities. The very same same kleptocrat who blamed 9/11 on US support for Israel (made famous by Mayor Giuliani's contemptuous return of his $10,00,000 check) is now funding Islamic studies at Harvard and Georgetown. John Esposito, who will be the main... More

Remember all that blather from France and elsewhere that the riots weren't organized and Muslim? More disinformation. The BBC reports: Police investigating suspected plans for attacks in France have arrested at least 20 people during raids in and around Paris. They described the arrests as a... More

Spengler, the acerbic columnist for the Asia Times, has a worthy commentary up today on the spate of politically correct movies tanking at the box office. because he has a way with words, I recommend the entire column, despite his offhand dissing of President Bush. His underlying thinking is quite... More

Amidst all the crocodile tears shed for the so called Palestinian Arab refugees who supposedly were expelled upon the creation of Israel in 1948, little attention has been paid to those Jews who really were expelled or forced to flee from Arab/Muslim countries where they and their ancestors had... More

Stephen Bainbridge, a man whose legal and political writing I admire (and whom I personally like a lot), and whose knowledge and judgment on wine is equally formidable, has come out foursquare in favor of wineries conveting to screwtop closures for wine bottles. Many fine California and Australia... More

We featured a discussion over the weekend of the possibility of an Israeli first strike against Iran's nuclear weapons production facilities. Such an attack would be difficult and risky. But if such an attack were to take place, it would surely feature this, the newest weapon in Israel's air strike... More

Christmastime.  It's the most wonderful time of the year.  Can you smell the chestnuts roasting on an open fire?  Do you hear the jingle bells ring? Are you begging the weatherman to let in snow?  On your Christmas wish list are you writing, 'All I want for Christmas is my two... More

Iraq the Model is providing coverage of the Iraq election taking place right now. The coverage features pictures. Check for updates throughout the day. Hat tip: John B. Dwyer More

Benny Avni of the New York Sun has yet another scoop on yet another scandal at the United Nations, an organization whose leader Kofi Annan can only be construed as a political foe of President Bush. Iraqis will go to the polls this week, and the upper echelon surrounding the... More

It looks like the Los Angeles Times really is turning over a new leaf, with all the recent staff changes. Good—bye, Robert Scheer, hello Jonah Goldberg. Today, it scathingly criticizes France for blocking further trade liberalization for agricultural products in an editorial  sharply... More

Our frequent contributor Noel Sheppard has noted at Newsbusters that ABC News and Time Magazine conducted a poll in Iraq which yielded startlingly positive news for the Bush adsministration's policies:  71 percent of the Iraqis saying their lives are "going well" Although ABC reported the... More

There can be no doubt that we are making progress against Muslim extremism when you read something like this: "Moderate Muslim clerics in about half a million mosques across Bangladesh on Friday preached that suicide bombers are the enemy of Islam."  and this: "Volunteers from Indonesia's... More

Heartening box office returns this weekend. The Chronicles of Narnia (Part I of many, I trust) does excellent business, despite a major snowstorm in the East on Friday. Meanwhile, the moonbat leftist conspiracy theory—spouting, critically beloved Syriana tanks in its first weekend of broad... More

According to a survey taken by French publication  Le Journal du Dimanche Jacques Chirac must be envious of the comparatively stratospheric popularity of George W. Bush. AFP reports: Only 1 per cent of French people want President Jacques Chirac to stand for a third term at the Elysee... More

According to the subscription—only South China Morning Post, The commanding officer who gave the order for police to open fire on demonstrators in a Guangdong village last week, killing at least three people, has been taken into custody, official media said yesterday. The official... More

In the most eloquent statement about the post 9/11 world we have read so far, Condoleezza Rice shows why she is the most consequential US Secretary of State since Henry Kissinger, and rapidly rising among the ranks of the luminaries who have occuppied that office, the senior Cabinet position,... More

This will bring down the cost of healthcare in America. Are the liberals who attack Wal—Mart going to attack it for making medical care more affordable, particularly for lower—income people? Wal—Mart, by dint of its efficiency, has make many goods more affordable for people. Now... More

Dennis Praeger writes a superb column in the Los Angeles Times on the double standard for the religious left and the religious right: As far as the news media are concerned, there is no religious left, only the religious right and "mainstream" denominations — and, of course, the religious... More

The Jerusalem Post shares our disgust with the adoption of a supposedly neutral "Red Crystal" symbol for the Isareli counterpart of the Red Cross, when operating internationally. The point is to avoid inflicting extreme pain on the delciate sensibilities of Muslims which the the sight of... More

One of the most common demands of President Bush's critics on the war in Iraq is that he "admit mistakes" that he has made. Leave aside the question of the impact on Soldiers of a war leader going before all humanity and telling the world that his troops in the field are the victims of blunders. If... More

The Times of London reports tenatatively yes: ISRAEL'S armed forces have been ordered by Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, to be ready by the end of March for possible strikes on secret uranium enrichment sites in Iran, military sources have revealed. AT's Douglas Hanson and others have noted the... More

China has finally acknowledged the slaughter of villagers protesting seizure of their land in Dongzhou village, near Hong Kong. According to the Sunday edition of the subscription—only South China Morning Post: Three Guangdong villagers were killed by mistake and eight injured because a hard... More

After pushing their massive pipeline project as leader of German, Gerhard Schroeder goes ont he payroll of a state—controlled Russian company. Captains Quarters, picking up from Davidsmedienkritik, has the story.  Gee, I see a pattern. Chirac has had  close associates on the... More

The CENTCOM Newsletter for the week of 5 December 2005 can be found here. Among the stories covered this week: Baghdad, Iraq — Greatte residents in the northern Baghdad district of Adhamiyah will soon be the recipients of more reliable electricity, due in part to the installation of two... More

"How much damage will men like George Bush, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Sam Brownback, Ralph Reed, and Rick Santorum inflict before reason prevails and they are unmasked as the twisted, malevolent charlatans that they are? Fundamentalist Christians, adherents to a nauseating perversion of... More

The Washington Post has been acting as the mouthpiece for disgruntled Department of Justice Civil Rights Division lawyers by publishing their leaked rejected staff opinions, implying the new Administration is undercutting civil rights by rejecting their judgement, and ignoring that those opinions... More

Newsweek recently published a commentary from liberal author Clyde Prestowitz that follows the standard liberal line that all the best jobs in American are migrating to China and India, and which promotes the myth there are billions of highly educated youngsters in the developing world ready to... More

With many of free trade advocates nervous about the upcoming WTO meeting in Hong Kong, Mr. James Glassman at Tech Central Station makes a few excellent points. He writes: The World Bank has found that the total gain to the global economy from trade liberalization in agriculture —— the... More

The bloodily suppressed civil unrest in Dongzhou Village continues to leak slowly into the world media. The South China Morning Post, published not very far away from the village in Kwangtung Province where police opened fire on demonstrating citizens, carries some interesting details on the... More

Brace yourself. This may be a shock. Kofi Annan told a lie. Well, not just one lie. Mr. Annan is after all the highest official at the UN, and can't be expected to settle for just one. Mr. Annan, you might remember, couldn't see billions of dollars slipping past his nose in the UN Oil for Food... More

More evidence accumulates that the tide in Iraq is indeed turning. Citizens in Ramadi, where many of the hardcore fled from Fallujah, have turned in a high—ranking al Qaeda member. Fox News reports: Iraqi citizens turned over a high—ranking Al Qaeda member known as "the Butcher" to... More

Norman Podhoretz has written a must read article which explains the panic in the Democratic party and the champagne—swilling international set, as it is clear the Bush doctrine is reshaping the Middle East and is winning. Every word of it is worth reading. Not the least of which are... More

Daniel Henninger sees the end result of the mediagenic Plame case as I do: a disaster for the Fourth Estate which  created it. It is bitterly ironic that this most apolitical of prosecutors has come to Washington and is sucking into his legalistic maw one journalist after another, while... More

There is a must—read symposium on the meaning of the riots in Paris for the future of France, on Front Page Magazine this morning. We proudly note that three of the four commentators — Olivier Guitta, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Guadi, and Nidra Poller—  are contributors to the American... More

The rest of the country is accustomed to regarding San Francisco as a nuthouse (apologies to Rick Moran), so the supposedly scandalous prank videotape produced by Officer Andrew Cohen, and the reaction thereto by the city's Mayor and Police Chief have raised few eyebrows nationally. However, this... More

Once again, China faces internal turbulence. The Washington Post reports: Paramilitary police and anti—riot units here have opened fire with pistols and automatic rifles for the past two nights on rioting farmers and fishermen, who have attacked them with gasoline bombs and explosive... More

Jpundit highlights yet another blatant, possibly rising to the level of incoherence, flip—flop from the man who had a shot at being President, John Kerry. Speaking to the same group, the Council on Foreign Relations, he adopts contradictory stances: As part of the run—up to the 2006... More

It is getting nearly impossible for defenders of the MSM to maintain there is no bias with a straight face. There friends in the "unbiased" media keep letting the mask slip, most likely a manifestation Derangement Syndrome. the latest example is Mike Wallace, in an interview with the Boston Globe,... More

The New York Times, cheerleader of all international organizations (such as the UN, but not NATO) heaps praise on the International Red Cross — for an action many others see as blatantly anti—Semitic. The International Red Cross finally succumbed to pressure from the American Red... More

Victor Davis Hanson lays out the way President Bush has put the Democrats into a box (my phrase, not his) in his syndicated newspaper column today. As always, VDH is well worth reading. Thomas Lifson  12 09 05 More

Yep, going defenseless is great idea, especially considering Iran's vow to wipe Israel off the map (with one nuclear bomb—according to a previous Iranian leader). Nevertheless,the Los Angeles Times lets a man with Arab and anti—Israel background have some space to propagandize... More

It is heartening that we are finally beginning to formulate information warfare strategies in the Global War on Terror, as recommended in numerous articles and comments by Douglas Hanson here, and most recently by John B. Dwyer this week. Now, the Washington Times reports: U.S. Special Operations... More

The reality of newspaper death throes is settling in, even for the die—hards, and various desperate measures are being contemplated. In the left wing Editor & Publisher, Joe Mathewson contemplates a variety of special legislative measures which he thinks might enable the industry to... More

Iowahawk is up to his tricks again, and in fine form, indeed. Sample: POLL: 61% BACK TORTURE OF HOWARD DEAN New York — A new IPSOS/CNN survey of Americans released today showed widespread support for using "aggressive interrogation techniques" on DNC Chairman Howard Dean, including... More

We are now one week away from the election of a government in Iraq under the new constitution approved in October.  This may be one of the most important political events in the Middle East in the last 800 years.  It is the climax of our military / political campaign to (a) remove Saddam... More

Following an Instapundit hyperlink to Barcepundit,  I read: Four years after the fall of the Taliban, Afghans express both vast support for the changes that have shaken their country and remarkable optimism for the future, despite the deep challenges they face in economic opportunity,... More

Like many other legacy press outlets, Reuters has just discovered that the US has been countering our adversaries' moves with some savvy geo—political maneuvers.  Carol Giacomo, Reuters diplomatic correspondent, reports  that  The Bush administration is looking increasingly to... More

DavidsMedienkritik reports a very disturbing development in Germany: the use of the word "Jew" as an insult. The picture alone is worth clicking on the link. During a game in Germany's 2nd soccer league between Dresden and Cottbus fans of Cottbus showed a banner with "JUDEN" ("Jews") inscription.... More

Bookworm, whose essay on being a crypto—conservative appears today, has an interesting reflection on the case just argued before the Supreme Court, wherein universities seek to exclude military recruiters and simultaneously collect vast revenues from the federal government. She brings up the... More

Iran's leader is working his way down a list of anti—Semitism's "greatest hits." He doubts Holocaust and now calls for the "Zionist entity" to move to Europe. Is this guy the Howard Dean of the Middle East? I am sure the Muslims of Europe, not to say the non—Muslim... More

Even holding of prisoners incommunicado is torture, it seems. I guess they will be getting Miranda rights and government—paid legal aid attorneys. Ed Lasky  12 08 05  More

A new Hollywood movie, starring three Chinese actresses and set for a limited release today, is inflaming tensions between China and Japan.  The casting decisions made by the producers of Memoirs of a Geisha have led to a heated debate about cultural—sensitivity, and some Japanese... More

An ABC News story today on the Miami shooting by an air marshal carries this tidbit:  Officials say a 50—year old Egyptian man was stopped six days ago at New York's John F. Kennedy airport. Sources say he had a suspicious pair of shoes that tested positive five times for the... More

As we explained here recently, a blonde woman can speak freely at the University of Connecticut as long as she utters the proper politically correct phrases:  Bush bad; me good.  Cindy Sheehan was not interrupted by the relatively few students who are not afraid to affirm their... More

The Jerusalem Post has uncovered disturbing news about a prominent university in Ukraine, the Interregional Academy for Personnel Management, known by its Russian acronym MAUP: Besides his friendship with figures such as (David) Duke, (MAUP President) Schokin and his school are said to maintain... More

Donald Rumsfeld has an excellent piece in opinionjournal.com today, based on his speech at SAIS on Monday. Excerpt: Consider this: You couldn't tell the full story of Iwo Jima simply by listing the nearly 26,000 American casualties over about 40 days; or explain the importance of Grant's push to... More

December 7, Pearl Harbor Day, a day when our enemies rained destruction on us at the beginning of World War II.... And now, the CIA in a series of leaks to the Washington Post and, most recently, ABC News, is raining destruction on us from the inside while we are engaged in another world war. ... More

Huh? Does the Times do any research? The extent to which the cultural pages of the New York Times have been corrupted by its far—left sympathies is again made apparent today as they promote the work of Kurt Vonnegut (and Jimmy Carter). Notable quote by the Times: Two books that are selling... More

Judith Klinghoffer reminds us what a cold—hearted ambitious man Ramsey Clark really is, to the extent of forcing his father's resignation from the Supreme Court in order to (temporarily) advance his own career. A man who would betray his father would betray his country, it seems to me. It may... More

Anyone who has a shred of respect left for the UN should look at the detailed images available here. The appointment of Ambassador Bolton was delayed on the fear that he would ruffle feathers there. It apppears thatn a severe ruffling is long overdue. When Amb. Bolton's recess appointment comes up... More

It is sad to see the NAACP, an organization with a noble history, reduced to pleading for the life of a brutal killer who has never admitted or apologized for his horrific crimes. The Los Angeles Times reports: The new president of the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization... More

Now the New York Times officially joins the far—left wing (the Soros Wing) of the Democratic Party.  Just as Hillary now has protesters dogging her , now she has the New York Times editorial page after her if she apostatizes any more. Pinch Sulzberger, remnant of the late 60s,... More

The New York Sun cuts ($link) to the chase: One wonders where was President Clinton's attorney general, Janet Reno. It was in the mid—1990s, when the pick—up—truck driving Floridian was attorney general, that the activities for which Mr. Al—Arian was eventually brought up... More

Communists are officially atheists. But the Islamic clerics who rule Iran are hoping that their ally in the struggle against America, Fidel Castro, can be induced to submit to Islam. MEMRI highlights the recent invitation, as well as satirical reaction to it from free Iranians overseas. Eric... More

In an attempt to soothe relations with Libya concerning "The Condemned Six of Benghazi",  Bulgarian editor Dimitar Hristov has decided to publish a volume of love poetry written by Libyan foreign minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham.  Indeed, Mr. Hristov isn't shy about his... More

I hesitate to mention yet another Howard Dean blunder as he (along with Soros and Bing and Lewis) seem to be successfully destroying the opposition party. Nevertheless, his posing with Code Pink wares at a DNC meeting in Arizona does seem beyond his usually appalling gaffes. As Redstate notes, Code... More

Does any other profession have as many awards as journalism? I am not certain if anyone has ever compared the number of awards in various fields, but journalism surely ranks near the top of all realms of human endeavor in the number of "prestigious" awards handed out. Awards were recently presented... More

Yesterday, Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean declared that the U.S. cannot win the war in Iraq. In an interview on WOAI Radio in San Antonio, Dean said, "[The] idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong...I've seen this before in my life. This is the... More

Reading the headlines of the DeLay proceedings yesterday, you'd think he lost and his rivals in his party would be freed up to start measuring his office for new curtains.  I don't think so. I think in a motion to dismiss, the Judge is compelled to read everything in the pleadings... More

Mediacrity nails John Burns of the New York Times for a disgraceful puff piece on leftwingnutjob Ramsey Clark: The New York Times rewrote the dictionary today in a puff piece on Ramsey Clark, the nauseating former Lyndon Johnson crony who never met a mass murderer or Third World dictator he didn't... More

Ramsey Clark, now there's a name To make Americans shudder with shame. He pops up every once in a while. He currently stars in the Hussein trial.   Shall we be defined by a tottering mind? Or shall we present a perhaps unkind But totally needed benign restraint On an old and pathetic would be... More

"U.S. productivity increases at fastest rate in two years" More

Matt May, our frequent contributor, has posted to his website a highly interesting commentary on Lincoln, based on his review of Doris Kearns Goodwin's new book, Team of Rivals. The obvious parallels between our times and Lincoln's presidency shine through. In the immediate aftermath of Lincoln's... More

World Tribune.com reports that the US Army War College has concluded there are too many geo—political limitations for Israel to conduct a successful air campaign against Iran's nuke program.  I discussed these very same limitations last March. Those looking for a repeat of the IAF's... More

Education officials in Pakistan are removing from English textbooks a poem on leadership in the form of an acrostic — where the first letter of each line spells out "President George W. Bush." The Age of Melbourne reports: The 20—line anonymous poem, The Leader, lists the qualities of... More

I was reading Dinesh D' Souza's Ronald Reagan over the weekend and came across a quote from New York Times reporter Steven Weisman regarding covering Ronald Reagan.  Weisman talked about Reagan's good natured appeal to people and that he was "frustrating quarry." Lest anyone doubt, D'Souza's... More

Ron Nessen, a Washingtonpost.com columnist covering think tanks, hails a "voice of reason on Iraq." Do you think it would have been useful for him to note that this think tank, the Middle East Institute, is funded by Saudi Arabia? In a nutshell, all the recommendations from this think... More

Believe it or not, we can thank International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Chairman Muhammad El Baradei for finally confirming what AT has been telling our readers for over a year.  In a report in today's Jerusalem Post, El Baradei, ...confirmed Israel's assessment that Iran is only a few... More

Senator Kerry has accused American Soldiers of terrorism. And then he suggested that Iraqis do it instead! Seriously. From December 4, 2005, CBS Face The Nation: "And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing... More

Fresh off his trip to Syria where, echoing Joseph A. Wilson IV and some "moderate"media bigshots, David Duke charges Administration officials with dual loyalty: Former US Louisiana Representative David Duke on Monday expresses solidarity with Syria in face of the pressures and threats against the... More

Recently, BusinessWeek published a column by Intel Chairman Mr. Craig R. Barrett discussing the 'graduation gap' between American students and their counterparts in China and Japan in the fields of science, math, and engineering. When compared to our Asian rivals, according to the conventional... More

Although not publicly stated,  the criteria for winning the Nobel Peace Prize  seem to be a) who has denounced the United States most demonically; b) who has denounced Israel most demonically.   Doing so indicates one's peacefulness, so from Jimmy Carter to Yasser Arafat, with... More

Where did it go?  This country we knew When our world was red and white and blue. Wasn't it clear what was right and wrong? Didn't we strive to try to belong To the legions of those who gave so much? Where and how did we all lose touch? When did the arrogant nudge the compassionate Aside and... More

Now that Patrick Fitzgerald has empaneled another grand jury   to continue his investigation into the Valerie Plame affair here is a question he should consider: how did Joe Wilson establish his bona fides with reporters he talked to in May 2003?  Most people who were told 'I just... More

AIDS is the most political disease in history, even in China. From the subscription—only South China Morning Post we learn that government officials in China believe that the extent of AIDS in China may have been overstated by about 20%: Authorities are reportedly in a bind over how to... More

Hong Kong, now part of China but with its own political arrangements, is in the process of reforming its electoral system. Today, between 80 and 100 thousand demonstrators took to its streets in favor of universal suffrage, such as is now enjoyed in Iraq. The South China Morning Post (available... More

Canada, as every liberal knows, is a tolerant country, far more advanced than the United States. Canada's largest newspaper just published one of the more appalling statements of religious bigotry I have seen in a mainstream media outlet. "Christmas is fast approaching, and with it, the dilemma of... More

I just received this item from the commander, 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor in Iraq after asking if he had a summary of his unit's operations in Samarra.  The 3/69th has been conducting missions in & around that city for the better part of a year now & are preparing to return... More

How awful is the Iraqi war reporting? The always interesting YARGB blog does an analysis of the fake insurgency in Ramadi, concluding: This war has apparently gotten to the point that the insurgents don't need to actually do military operations at all in order to produce the information warfare... More

Steven Spielberg gets a Time magazine cover  for his new movie on Israel's response to the Munich massacre of 1972. Spielberg indicates he wants to give it a try to "solve" the Middle East stalemate. Aside from the chutzpah, how about a basic English lesson.  Solve the stalemate? As... More

The CENTCOM Newsletter for the week of 28 November 2005 can be found here.  Among the stories covered this week: Kandahar, Afghanistan — Operation Atal Wali, or Operation Heroic Success, set a new benchmark for training for Afghan National Army Soldiers in Kandahar and, for that matter,... More

Jan Haluska writes: The answer is 'yes,' if he threatened a communist country.   In the years leading up to 1941, the hard left supported the 'America First' peace movement alongside many on the right.  The popular version is that Pearl Harbor changed all that, but the truth is... More

Dhimmitude is coming to America, and is already manifesting itself. Dismaying news, via Jihadwatch.com, about the behavior of the Marriott Hotel Chain, with whom we both very frequently stay, enjoying membership status in their frequent guest elite program. Jeffrey Epstein is the... More

Save hours of time and your hard—earned  money. When you see a newspaper article which like this one begins with demonstrably false facts, pitch the entire paper away and  demand a refund of the purchase price. The Los Angeles Times carries a piece today which... More

No. James Lewis   12 03 05 More

In court proceedings Friday in a lawsuit by by Dow Jones to unseal the eight redacted pages in the Judith Miller Appeal, the Special Prosecutor stated: "After being served with the instant motion,the Special Counsel arranged for the classification review of the redacted portions of this Court 's... More

Zenit.org, a Catholic news agency, reports that Pakistani Christians are being forced from their homes, to allow them to be used a shelters for earthquake victims. Christians are being expelled from their homes in Pakistan to make room for victims of the earthquake that hit Kashmir and the... More

Sweetness & Light is on a roll. In addition to its usual fare, highlighting of MSM articles and photos you might not have seen, it is lately publishing fascinating material, including old editorial cartoons, on the parallels between the Copperheads of the Civil War era and today's... More

The French are today commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Austerlitz with a re—enactment in the Czech Republic, site of the original battle. Finding important French military victories takes some looking. Try going to google and type in French military victories, and then... More

More madness emanates from the mullah world: Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said that the Islamic Republic had forced the West to accept resumption of Iran's nuclear enrichment activities in its Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) in Isfahan, central Iran. 'The West was forced to accept activities being... More

More evidence of a Russo—Iranian alliance is provided by a Reuters report today.  Russia will sell 29 TOR—M1 tactical surface—to—air missile systems, which are designed to bring down aircraft and guided missiles at low altitudes.  As reported  in AT last... More

Apparently that flood of political refugees who vowed to flee to Canada last year after the re—election of George Bush has never materialized.  Consider the following damning good news headline from our highly taxed neighbor to the north: November jobless rate falls to 6.4 per cent,... More

Former Turkish president Suleyman Demirel: Iran and Turkey have common interests. This article affirms Turkey's posture of welcome toward Iran. In a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, Demirel said that Mottaki's visit to Turkey is a good opportunity to develop... More

Syndicated columnist Mona Charen does a good job this morning of summarizing the CIA's internal war against the President. She notes Powerline's John Hinderaker who wrote in The Weekly Standard that the CIA's campaign was, "one of the great untold stories of the past three years." ... More

The Kelo decision, compelling property owners to sell to developers, is highly unpopular, but does answer (if badly) the need of older cities to make available to developers large tracts of land, to provide housing, shopping, business space, and other needed facilities. Forbes Magazine offers an... More

Our frequent contributor John B. Dwyer has an article in today's Washington Times comparing the progress in Iraq over two—and—a—half years with the situations in World War II, the Civil War, and in particular The Revolutionary War. A military historian's comparison is welcome.... More

Amir Taheri, writing in the New York Post, outlines the complexities faced by Iraq in dealing with its supposed bretheren in the Arab League. While the ins—and—outs of the meaneuvers are quite significant, the ultimate conclusion is inescapable: this collection of tyrants has no... More

According to Reuters, "Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt set out a radically federalist vision of a United States of Europe in a book published yesterday."  That's even the title of his new "manifesto" ——— "The United States of Europe." There's only one tiny problem... More

They're both blonde women, receive loads of media attention and inspire deep passions, both for and against.  But one is considered liberal; the other conservative.  So when both are invited to speak at a college campus, whose appearance is deemed so controversial that groups are forming... More

Senator Hillary Clinton has a letter to her constituents about Iraq on her official website, one paragraph of which reads: Based on the information that we have today, Congress never would have been asked to give the President authority to use force against Iraq. And if Congress had been... More

Our contributor Frederick Stakelbeck, Jr. has piece in today's Washington Times describing China's new technology to track where packages — and people — are at all times. Orwell never dared dream of such horrors. ...China was considering the introduction of a new weapon to curtail... More

Here's an odd coincidence: The four "Christian activists" who were kidnapped in Baghdad this week were grabbed in exactly the same place, and in exactly the same way, as the Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, a reporter for the leftwing Il Manifesto. Sgreno immediately turned her adventure into an... More

Hi. My name's Thomas. I'm an addict. At least according to some. My habit of spending hours a day in front of my computer now has a catchy name: Internet addiction disorder. The New York Times allows that some are skeptical. Count me among them. After all, whe I travel I can go for hours, even a... More

Benny Avni of the New York Sun reports that Detlev Mehlis, whose investigation of Syria's involvement in assasinating Lebanese leader Harirri was very tough and thorough, may be replaced Ibrahim Gambari, spokesman for the Secretary General told reporters that the independent investigation... More

Yesterday, Jonathan David Carson predicted on this site " the left in America will come ever more to resemble foreign jihadists, to the extent even of carrying out suicide bombings and maybe even beheadings. Today, the Times of London reports: MIREILLE, who was born in Belgium to a white,... More

Iran's reported  acquisition of space technology, much of it from Russia, is further confirmation of the importance of the emerging Russia—Iran alliance, exactly as reported here last March, by Douglas Hanson. More

An analogy stuck me yesterday as GW was speaking at the Naval Academy.  I put myself through university passing instruments in surgery; a surgical tech. I worked on every kind of case. Appendix, gall bladders, broken limbs, gun shots, knifings, the burn center, hip replacements, exploratory... More

Il Giornale, a respected Italian newspaper, has had two rather shocking tales about uranium deals in Niger,  which Parnasokan, a poster at Free Republic has kindly translated. In today's report, Il Giornale reports the role of the nefarious Pakistani ,A.Q.Khan, in illicit deals for... More