The Senate Select Commission on Intelligence noted that in 1999 Joseph A Wilson had also been sent to Niger by the CIA and there has been much speculation   about the purpose of that trip. Now we know. His keen powers of observation were put in out nation's service to check out reports... More

The website QandO does a thorough fisking of the Associated Press's shocking — yet unsurprising — distortion of Donald Rumsfeld's speech to the American Legion. Example 1 of four: Donald Rumsfeld gave a speech to the American Legion. You can read it here. Robert Burns from AP reported... More

Now that we know who to blame for the Plame game Will the media stem the floods from that dam? Or will they continue to inflame with the same claim That the White House orchestrated this fantasy  scam?   They have probably gone too far this time, So silence will be the deafening sound... More

Draw your own conclusions from the fact that Armitage's best friend Colin Powell called Dick Cheney's supporters (including Scooter Libby, Doug Feith and Paul Wolfowitz) the "Gestapo Office" (quite insulting considering that there is a history of relatives lost in the Holocaust among... More

This is ironic.  The New York Times has withheld publication of an article from UK readers of its website in order to avoid prejudicing a trial. The publisher has used its advertising system to identify the location of UK readers and block the article from them, it said. The NYT has no... More

The University of California, which has been raising tuition at an extraordinary pace for years, is throwing millions of dollars a year at a racialist boondoggle. The San Francisco Chronicle's Matier and Ross report the creation of a new post: vice chancellor for equity and inclusion... More

The 1856 Caning of  Senator Charles Sumner (Mass) by South Carolina Represenative Preston Brooks after Sumner gave an anti—slavery speech in Congress has an echo in the current British Parliament.  A Jewish member of Britain's House of Lords was assaulted by another meber of... More

The New York Times has just published a stunning discovery — the real identity of the leaker who "outed" Valerie Plame, famous non—spy and disinformation expert. In an article that deserves to be nominated for the Walter Duranty Prize the Times pretends it didn't know the answer all... More

Don't be fooled by Nasrallah's apparent apology for the latest Hez'bollah war. Listen to that deceptive babbling:  It was really just meant to be a kidnapping, he whined during a Lebanese television interview; had we known the Israelis would actually retaliate and fight back we  really... More

Glen Kessler of the Washington Post reports that the US put a freeze on the assets of the Islamic Resistance Support Organization, a Hezb'allah affiliate which is ostensibly a charity. The Treasury Department released copies of a receipt issued by the group to a donor, which on the back listed... More

Yesterday, August 29, was a memorial day for many who were involved with Hurricane Katrina.  Much like the Rodney King riots of the early 90's, Katrina The Debacle has come to assume an evil existence of its own.  But the MSM story is not the whole story,  nor is it ours. I was with... More

"Did Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald Lie?" asks the headline in this pointed IBD op—ed. "Patrick Fitzgerald's three—year manhunt to track down who blew Valerie Plame's CIA "cover" has been exposed as a costly sham. He apparently knew all along that his man was not Scooter Libby. "When... More

When I read yesterday's news that Colin Powell's aide, Dick Armitage, had been Robert Novak's source for Valerie Plame's name I was not greatly surprised. For one thing, America's diplomats have a long record of confusing their personal interests with those of the nation itself. Our first... More

What is it with these fabulists who fantasize about what movie star will play them on the big screen? First, we had Joe Wilson musing to the  Washington Post's Richard Leiby in October of 2003 about who will play his wife in the movie adaptation.  Now we learn falsely confessed child... More

Just to make sure we're all on the same page, let's consider the some assertions by Joseph C. Wilson IV, and how they do or do not comport with the related sections of the report by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), dated July 7, 2004, on the Intelligence Community's prewar... More

Donald Rumsfeld is a man who is very picky with words. This administration prefers actions over words, but words are important. It is therefore a day to celebrate when Rummy comes out and says it like it is. Of course he was speaking to an audience that could understand — the American Legion... More

The day before the unofficial anniversary of the breach of the New Orleans levees, there was a local story of heroism in my hometown of Indianapolis. This will never cross Katie Couric's brand new desk at CBS nor Anderson Cooper's at CNN; yet, this tragic event with an amazing rescue stands as... More

While there is much to agree with in Dan Gordon's article, I do have some comments: 1.   While I accepted the weight of opinion that Hezbollah's provocative first move was at the instance of Iran, I did not accept the view that Iran and Hezbollah anticipated Israel's response.  Iran... More

I read the recent debate about the Mount Soledad cross with considerable pleasure. It's comforting to see that the contributors to the American Thinker are independent enough to have some issues they disagree about and that they can do so with civility and good humor. I was therefore... More

Sweetness & Light has noted  Reuters' publication of a propaganda photo with Jesse Jackson viewing ruins in Beirut, complete with "Made in America" propaganda sign. Strangely enough, no dead babies or children's toys are in evidence. I guess they are slipping. Thomas Lifson   8... More

Benny Avni of the New York Sun quotes Kofi Annan in a seeming equation of Israeli soliders with the Taliban.  "You have to talk with those with the guns to stop shooting, whether they are Israelis or whether they are Taliban or anybody else," he said, referring to the United Nations's need... More

Geneive Abdo, writing in the Washington Post, tells us that the comforting media stereotype of Muslims in America being completely different from their Muslim brethren in Europe in terms of assimilation, is not really valid. I found few signs of London—style radicalism among Muslims in the... More

Betsy Newmark, who lives near Durham, NC (Raleigh) and is the parent of a Duke graduate, reflects on the picture drawn of Duke President Brodhead and his administration's handling of the Lacrosse team in the wake of the rape charges. The New Yorker has lengthy article on the case on which... More

Ray Robison looks at the polling data during Plamegate, and points out the degree to which the MSM sold the public on the (false) notion that the Bush administration behaved unethically. Most tellingly, he contrasts the polling data with polls surrounding the Lewinski affair, when the press was... More

A run amok driver mowed down pedestrians in San Francisco today, and is believed to have done the same in nearby Fremont earlier. His name has finally been released, and Bookworm has done a little sleuthing, finding that his name is common in Afghanistan. Obviously, no conclusions can be drawn, but... More

I think it's time to have an annual Duranty Award to the news outlet which has done the most to cover up for thuggish rulers while undermining those who fight to protect Western civilization and its values. It's a hard call this year, but for chutzpah alone, Reuters gets my nomination this... More

Bookworm has been going through a 1967 issue of Life Magazine which covered the Arab—Israeli war, and has discovered that 40 years has seen a dramatic shift in attitudes towrad Israel by major media. In 1967, Life was a major influence on the way Americans viewed their world. Two posts, so... More

While the Cook Report, Stuart Rothenberg and Larry Sabato have all recently raised their forecast of the seats the Democrats might pick up in the November House races, Democratic Congressional Campaign Chair Rahm Emanuel is acting increasingly agitated, like a man who knows better where the Party... More

A confession: I am in awe of fighter pilots. I was never physically qualified to join the Army, much less posessed of the physical and mental abilities necessary to be a fighter pilot. But that has never stopped me from fantasies of dogfighting in a WW II Mustang or an F 16. Nor has it crippled me... More

Rocco DiPippo of The Autonomist discovers one of the Huffington Post bloggers (not just a person posting a comment, but someone allowed to run a blog there) coming awfully close to wishing for another 9/11. Russell Shaw asks, "If you knew us getting hit again would launch a chain of... More

We have published articles on both sides of the question, and the argument is far from settled. But the latest evidence includes  this remarkable statement from Nasrallah himself, "We did not think, even one percent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude,"... More

How could UNIFIL have failed to notice this? "IDF forces from the Golani Brigade blasted open a Hizbullah bunker overnight Saturday some 400 meters from the security fence near Rosh Hanikra, it was reported on Sunday. The bunker was discovered a mere stone's throw from a UN post. According to... More

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we do practice to deceive," Sir Walter Scott wrote. Newsweek's Michael "Spikey" Isikoff has just decided to dump leakey old Richard "Dick" Armitage, who squealed on Valerie Plame, who blamed George W. Bush, who was stabbed in the back by Armitage's ole' buddy... More

An  international conference devoted to "freedom of expression and tolerance" should allow representatives from all over the world, right?  Wrong  — if that conference involves Muslim nations. Yossi Sarid, an Israeli liberal journalist was among 60 journalists invited to take... More

Agence France Presse reports on a speech Al Gore gave in Edinburgh Sunday at the International Television Festival in which he says "democracy is under attack." Does he mean by Osama, or by Ahmadinejad, or by Nasrallah (Hizballah)?  You know he doesn't!  He means here in the good old US... More

Christians revere Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus. For many years Christian Arabs were in the majority of that town. They owned many of the businesses and were in charge of the town's religious celebrations; decorating and sponsoring celebrations for Christmas and other religious... More

Paul Jackson, extraordinary Canadian journalist and occasional AT contributor, writes a column in today's Calgary Sun that recalls a day when some Democrats "had blood in their veins" when it came time to defend America. There's much talk currently —— horrifying to the mish—mash... More

Mike Isikoff and David Corn, whose work I often discount because of their evident biases, have now produced a new book, reiterating what we've been saying for some time: Richard Armitage was Robert Novak's source about Plame and he kept silent as Scooter Libby, Karl Rove and the Administration... More

Via the Washington Times: In what must be an officially approved leak, the London Telegraph reports that Israel has appointed a top general to oversee a war against Iran, prompting speculation that it is preparing for possible military action against Tehran's nuclear program. ... Maj. Gen.... More

In today's Washington Post, Manhattan Institute fellow John McWhorter offers an alternative view of the controversy prompted by Andrew Young's recent statement about the ownership of mom—and—pop stores in black urban areas. 'In Defense of Andrew Young' begins: Andrew Young unwittingly... More

British neocons? What's that? Well, they've just told us. According to Adam Smyth at the Brussels Journal, The Henry Jackson Society (HJS) is a British organisation that wants to spread 'liberal democracy' across the world through an interventionist policy. It posits that the United States and... More

Although I've enjoyed many of Mr. Jack Kemp's previous articles and agreed with many,  his disingenuous arguments  the contrary, he is wrong, wrong, wrong about the Jewish War Veterans and the ACLU being silly and stupid protesting about a cross on a public space, Mount... More

Once again, thumbing his nose at the West and the UN, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the start of a new phase in the drive to make the Arak 'research reactor' fully operational.  The facility, which Reuters euphemistically calls a 'heavy water project,' is located 120 miles... More

Did you realize that Isarel was using a death ray in Lebanon? If not, you haven't been paying enough attention to Islamist websites. Sweetness & Light has been doing that research, so you don't have to. Scroll down for an absolutely precious graphic image at the end. More

Fisheries policy in the United States has led to disastrous declines in many species because of a phenomenon known as the tragedy of the commons. When a resource is available to all, no incentive for conservation exists. Ronald Bailey of Reason Magazine describes the problem with American... More

Senator Joe Lieberman refuses to endorse or  campaign for the other Connecticut Dems on the ticket and the left goes wild with rage. Captain Ed weighs in intelligently as usual. "Firedoglake, MyDD, and even the normally reasonable Middle Earth Journal all claim shock and anger over this... More

Some scientists believe global warming is increasing the glaciers in some parts of the world. "Researchers at Newcastle University looked at temperature trends in the western Himalaya over the past century. They found warmer winters and cooler summers, combined with more snow and rainfall, could... More

In case you've been too distracted by Iran's nuclear antics, Hezb'allah's big adventure in Lebanon, or the Sunni—Shiite show in the greater Baghdad metropolis and haven't noticed the Turks and Kurds going at it in northern Iraq, here's a short update: Turkish airforce attacks on Iraqi... More

Below find the latest poll results for 5 GOP senators in trouble (Talent, Chafee, DeWine, Burns and Santorum), who had all been trailing. In parentheses, the prior poll result (GOP candidate first). Missouri : 46—44 (46—47) Rhode Island: 43—42 (38—44) Ohio : 42—45... More

From the Weekly Standard comes the hardly new revelation  that 'Science by Press Release' isn't really 'science' at all. "NEW STEM CELL METHOD avoids destroying embryos," the New York Times headline blared. "Stem cell breakthrough may end political logjam," chimed in the Los Angeles Times.... More

You've got to be 21 to buy a beer in most of the country. In New York, the age is 18 for a pack of smokes, and there are some efforts afoot to raise it to 21. But under the FDA's decision this week, the Plan B "morning after" contraception kit is available over—the—counter to one and... More

I saw a San Diego headline today online. "Jewish veterans, local ACLU latest to sue over cross," it read. I immediately thought, "Are these people crazy?"   Wouldn't their organization — and the nation — be better served if they went to synagogues to secure them from attacks such... More

A blog called the "Blotter" produced by ABC News has an interesting report suggesting Al Qaeda has come to Gaza. This report was generated from the disection of the videos showing the Fox News correspondents being held hostage. This analysis was done by ABC's  paid consultants... More

John Mueller, a professor of political sceience at Ohio State University, writes an essay on this question in Foreign Affairs, published by the Council on Foreign Relations. The author never mentions Hezbollah which has a more robustly developed infrastructure in the US than AQ; which... More

When Republican Kentucky governor Fletcher was indicted on misdemeanor charges in June, it was a front—page, above the fold news story for the New York Times. But the charges were just dismissed, and the Times relegates the news to a brief item on page A 12. A high—tech lynching by... More

As all those Lebanese civilians start streaming back to their wrecked homes, the international media is there to record the scenes of destruction and the former inhabitants' poignant wailings as they show their (civilian) weapons and vow murderous revenge.  They are, for the most part, absent... More

The UN turned away refugees in Lebanon seeking shelter. Somehow, the summer vacation must have removed the filters at the New York Times. Otherwise, how would this ever get published in the Times? On July 15, Israeli loudspeakers across the border warned villagers to evacuate after Hezbollah began... More

Adam Daifallah, writing in the New York Sun, diagnoses some of the deep schisms facing Canada's Liberal Party, which, he points out, has been the most electorally successful part in North America over the past few decades. The willingness to fudge on foreign policy issues, which allowed both Jewish... More

Observing the mainstream media's (MSM) behavior during the Israel—Hezbollah conflict, I was struck by the number of biblical sayings that are applicable to their treacherous ways. Here are just a few examples: Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.  (Psalm... More

The New York Times talks a good game about treating workers well. Wal—Mart does not get good press in the Times and elsewhere for its alleged sins of low wages and benefits. Still, thousands showed up in Oakland and Chicago recently to apply for jobs at new Wal—Maret stores. But when... More

Joel Mowbray publishes in the Washington Times a shocking account of the ties of a powerful professor/institute head at Georgetown University, Professor John Esposito. Headline—grabbing stories about a British—based Muslim academic's public support for "martyrdom" last weekend missed a... More

The much—publicized Plame civil suit is off to a bad start. The plaintiffs moved for permission to leave their residential address off the complaint. Judge Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia gave the motion short shrift: Plaintiffs ask that, "[o]ut of respect for... More

Dr. Sowell engages in a bit of voodoo economics here, I fear. A supermarket can prosper with one cent of clear profit on each dollar of sales because that dollar comes back to be re—used again and again in the course of a year. If the inventory of a supermarket sells out in two weeks, that... More

A British online friend brought this to my attention and I thought I'd share it with you: How Mark Steyn is missed in British newspapers. Here he is on The Axis of Evenhandedness: There's a hoary old joke from a few years back in which the Secretary—General proposes that, in the interests... More

A bitter split between Egypt, the most populous Arab country, and Syria has broken into print with publication of an article in the state—controlled Cairo newspaper. Joelle Bassoul of Reuters writes: Egypt state media have accused Syria of committing "massacres" in Lebanon, lashing out at... More

Nidra Poller is an astute political commentator and also a novelist living in Paris. Faithful long—time readers may remember the three articles she has contributed to AT. Today, in the Wall Street Journal, she takes a look ($link) at France's 'seduce and betray' policy toward America in... More

First there was the Ethan Bronner column that used biased experts to support a contention that Iran does not intend to abolish Israel (despite that country's clearly stated desire to do so and its nuclear development). Now, the Times published an op—ed column by an Iranian... More

Rober Mugabe, the thuggish dictator who has ruined Zimbabwe's formerly robust agricultural sector by seizing white—owned land and handing it out to supporters, driving the country formerly known as Rhodesia into financial ruin and near—starvation, is "buying" six military jets from... More

From Canada's CTV News: Embattled Liberal MP Boris Wrzesnewskyj has resigned as deputy foreign affairs critic following the uproar over his comments suggesting Canada should negotiate with Hezbollah. Wrzesnewskyj found himself distanced from members of his own party when he made the statement... More

After much hard work, the blog Eureferendum has completed its detailed analysis of the photojournalism at Qana. Everything has been painstakingly analyzed online with the participation of bloggers from around the world and is available for you to see. The conclusion of the ... More

Yesterday Chicago restaurant diners bid au revoir to the delectable delicacy foie gras. Foodie political correctness has infected the normally—sensible Windy City as if it were San Francisco. Rick Moran covers the story at Right Wing Nut House. ...in lobbying for a ban on Foie Gras, the... More

Via Andrew Bolt's blog on the Herald—Sun website (Australia). Dick Weltz   8 23 06 More

When even the New York Times reviewer can be this critical, CNN must have been seized by the spirit of Leni Riefestahl in its paean to Osama bin Laden. On the one hand, the producers here are attentive to Mr. bin Laden's skill at media manipulation. On the other, they themselves seem... More

From the JTA news agency: The Web site of U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D—Mich.) was linked for five years to the Web sites of the Arab Anti—Discrimination Committee and the Arab American News. ADC's site contains accounts of 'massacres' in Lebanon with inflated numbers of casualties.The... More

The Los Angeles Times publishes an op—ed by Erin Aubry Kaplan that is startling on both its rhetorical hatred for Wal—Mart and its easygoing attitude toward black racism against Koreans, Jews, and others who operate retail stores in black neighborhoods. The article analyzes the recent... More

Buried at the end of a Matier & Ross column in the San Francisco Chronicle is the news that Al and Tipper Gore have purchased a luxury condo in San Francisco. Gore is a businessman these days —— sitting on the boards of Apple Computer Inc. and Current TV, the cable and... More

The New York Sun publishes an editorial today that should forever lay to rest the question of the credibility of Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. By juxtaposing some of Roth's statements when challenged with the underlying facts, including his own group's offocial... More

There's something about lurid crimes that brings out the worst in social commentators. With his August 22 Newsday column, 'Karr: I have fun, I have rights, I have the media,' the usually astute James P. Pinkerton joins such notables as Buckley and Mailer in the long line of writers who... More

The Washington Post publishes an op—ed calling Marwan Barghouti, a terrorist, a "prisoner of conscience." This bizarre terminology for someone with by definition no conscience, is used by one Saad Eddin Ibrahim, who is identified as: ...an Egyptian democracy activist and a sociology... More

Senator Conrad Burns of Montana, up for re—election, keeps sticking his foot in his mouth. The latest instance. via AP: Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, whose re—election campaign is pressing for tighter immigration controls, referred to his house painter as "a nice little Guatemalan man"... More

And just what is this supposed to accomplish? The only thing missing is Oprah. From the BBC: Al—Khiyam is one of many towns and villages in southern Lebanon that was heavily bombed in Israel's military campaign against the Hezbollah militant movement. It was virtually deserted as the... More

Now that it seems likely that Senator Lieberman will be returned to the Senate as an independent and in the process bring enough Republican voters to the polls to help three incumbent Republican Congressmen return as well, the left is furious. They've mounted two challenges to keep him off the... More

The Washington Times picked up this Jeff Leonard AP piece on Trilby Lundberg publisher of the authoritative Lundberg survey of national gasoline prices. Refreshingly for the AP, this story is a straight profile on Ms. Lundberg that reveals some important insights from the "gas guru" as Leonard... More

The Spectator Magazine of the UK has sponsored an in—depth public opinion poll, one which seems to smash various received stereotypes about the British public: Almost three quarters of the British public are now convinced that we are fighting a new world war against extremist Islamic... More

An alleged burglar fell to his death when climbing a defective stairway on the outside of a Boston house. The owner, who had previously been cited for problems with the stairway and had already begun appealing the citation, is now reported to be in trouble with the Boston authorities, according to... More

Presidential approval is inching up past 40 percent: 43% in Rasmussen, 42% in CNN and USA Today. This might reflect Lebanon, the foiled British attack, and/or the Lieberman race. Note also the generic Dem/GOP congressional difference is down to 2%! It had been in the low teens. Do NOT expect a... More

The Longwalk.ca was a blog published by Thomas Hubert,a vice president of communications for The Liberal Party of Canada. He blogged and commented some really nasty anti Israel stuff. He resigned today. His blog is gone with an apology to all who may have taken offensive by his... More

What can outsiders say about Israel's war against the Hezbos? Maybe Prime Minister Olmert was indecisive. Maybe he made wise choices ——— or at least  choices that seemed wise to the inner cabinet, which was really in charge. He's the elected leader in a pretty vigorous... More

We have suggested that Richard Armitage had been the source of the disclosure of Plame's name. A F.O.I.A. request, adds to other evidence that it was he who told Woodward in mid—June  of 2003. From the AP: Armitage's official State Department calendars, provided to The Associated Press... More

The Toronto Star, a left wing paper, reports Canadian Jews seem to be switching in some numbers away from the Liberal Party: [S]upport for Harper among Jews is wider than a few influential business leaders. Across the community there are rumblings of discontent with the Liberals. Whether it's... More

There are those who seek to portray the refusal of British holidaymakers to allow two suspiciously acting Arabs on a flight as a victory for terrorists. The truth is, however, that the exact opposite is the case. This was a clear victory for people who felt threatened and took steps to protect... More

Almost everyone's out of D.C. at the moment, save for a few reporters at the Washington Post who seem to have sunstroke because they are writing stuff that makes little sense, at least to those of us who don't think the DNC handouts of Republican doom constitute news. On the left of Sunday's... More

The Los Angeles Times reports on ties between a major political money contributor and a powerful politican, leading to the near miraculous removal of a number of obstacles to development of a huge tract of land, soon to house as many as 200,000 people. The words "pristine wilderness" appear... More

Now that the cease fire is in effect in Lebanon ,the photo journalists are  for the first time showing  funerals of killed Hezb'allah fighters, including four from Qana, where we'd been led to believe only little children and other civilians had died. Pictures of the dead... More

Amir Taheri has been reading what the Arab press says in Arabic about the war in Lebanon.  He finds no unanimity on the subject of who won. One Tunisian writer has compared Nasrallah with the Mexican bandit—cum—folk hero Pancho Villa who also defied the United States and... More

Tom Carew writes from Dublin: Two aspects of "proportionality" are worth noting. First, when Ireland had only 2.8m people in 1960, and an Army of only 7 Regular Infantry Battalions, with no overseas experience, with WW II bolt—action Lee Enfield rifles, we sent an Infantry Battalion to the... More

Calling on Muslims to kill Islamic scholar Dr. Raddatz is fine, but stamping the word "Koran" on toilet paper ( as done by 61—year—old Manfred van Hove) merits a 1—year prison sentence in Germany. Editrixblog reports: Please dear Crocodile, eat me last! Last Wednesday, the... More

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has joined the blogosphere. But don't expect the anger and vitriol that American political blogs are known for, at least not in his first post. Some of his attacks are cultural, but primarily they are economic, particularly interwoven in an over 2,000 word post with... More

An excellent column by Edward Luttwak in the new British online paperThe First Post makes a convincing case that the gloomy assessment of Israel's performance against the Hezbos is 'way premature, and probably wrong. He compares the current situation with the aftermath of the 1973 October War and... More

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, citizens of New Orleans had their firearms unlawfully confiscated under orders from former New Orleans Police Chief Eddie Compass.  So during a time when the means of self—defense were most needed, the Second Amendment rights of the... More

It is rare that I read anything in Editor & Publisher with which I agree. That publication largely reflects the left wing views of the American press, and too often defends what I consider the indefensible practices of the profession. So this piece by Professor David Perlmutter comes as an... More

Re: your article yesterday by Bill Lalor,  "Bolton Confirmation Hearings Loom" Editor: So the Democrats are complaining that Bolton has a 'tendency to 'go it alone''? I distinctly remember their main complaint about Condoleezza Rice was that she was "not her own person", that she was a puppet... More

Jay Cost, who was on the button in predicting the outcome of the 2004 election warns on Real Clear Politics that the pundits' reliance on right track/wrong tracks polling as predictors of the mid term outcome is misplaced: Changes in the final Gallup "right track/wrong track" only anticipate 11.6%... More

Words of Santayana will be with us sure mañana, When we face a fascist menace once again. What we term a win today, we will learn to our dismay, Is perceived as lack of will by evil men.   A lord of Britain led us, to a place where Nazis bled us, Believing he'd found peace within his time. At... More

In my experience during the past week, airports have been running surprisingly smoothly.  The passenger load is way down —— probably because some people have canceled flights, but more importantly because kids seem to be starting school earlier each year, so summer... More

Melanie Phillips, writing in National Review Online, admirably clarifies the problem the UK faces with a reported one third of young Muslims believing the 7/7 London Tube attack was justified. She says that they are caught in a "cultural limbo, stranded between the repressive culture of the Asian... More

A former special adviser to Kofi Annan lambasts Israel and America, says US should not have supplied Israel with arms and should talk with Hezbollah in a New York Times op—ed. He effectively justifies Hezbollah's actions. Not a mention of their attacks around the world (including... More

Judith Apter Klinghoffer, writing at the History News Network, accuses Jimmy Carter of a "bold faced lie" in his interview with Der Spiegel. In his recent interview with Spiegel Online, the self—righteous former president accused Israel of a "massive bombing of the entire nation of... More

Just who were those Lamont voters opposing Senator Joseph Lieberman in last week's Connecticut primary?  Angry kiddies using blogs and online activism to fuel their post adolescent rebellion?  Not quite according to an analysis to be published in this week's New York Times Sunday... More

Iran's sinister President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad simply begs for a nickname. What should it be? Mullah Strangelove? Doctor Kool—Aid? Darth Vader?  Apparently his Iranian enemies call him "the monkey." But the nickname problem was already solved in the 1980s, when, according to Brett... More

"Large portion of Hezb'allah fighting force killed" Despite all the gloomy assessments of the war in Lebanon, we must recognize that the media has concentrated on the deaths of alleged Lebanese civilians while ignoring the number of Hez b'Allah fighters killed. IDF figures reveal that the... More

Catherine Mayo, the woman who urinated in the aisle and otherwise went a bit berserk on a London to Washington, DC flight and was formally charged today, is not merely a person with claustrophobia, as Gov. Mitt Romney would have you believe. She did, in fact, have a screwdriver that she got past... More

Catherine Mayo is the name of the woman detained in the incident aboard a United Airlines flight from London forced to land in Boston, after she allegedly disrupted it. Eagle—eyed Sweetness & Light noticed that some accounts referred to the 59 year old as a journalist, and that she... More

A friend sent this link to a remarkable set of pictures of Israeli soldiers on the front lines. It is well worth a look, even if you don't read Hebrew. More

Many of the mainstream media apologists have conceded — and they had little choice but to do so — that many of the photographs of the Israelis' response to Hez b'Allah's act of war, were staged. The evidence of staging and Photoshopping is too public. The media allowed itself to be used... More

Denver's Archbishop Chaput now joins Sydney's Archbishop Pell (whom I discussed here) as another courageous and honest voice on the subject of Christian—Muslim relations. Such candid views, ignored by their uninformed, and often craven peers——"elite" theologians, journalists, and... More

The headline of the New York Times article today tells the story. "Eye on election, Democrats run as Wal—Mart foe." The story contains the following indicators of the enduring enthusiasm for bashing an institution which attracts roughly 100 million cash—bearing Americans a week for a... More

The Hezb'allah attack on northern Israel had, among many other serious consequences, the effect of postponing, and possibly ruining, the harvest of Israel's wine grapes, most of which are grown in the north. The American Thinker has published Sidney Retsky's coverage of Israel's growing and highly... More

Israel's Defense Minister Amir Peretz is now claiming in Haaretz that he was ignorant of the threat that Hezb'allah missiles posed to Israel. Of course, even a casual reader of media anywhere in the world, let alone a front—line state targeted for destruction, has long been aware that... More

The mysterious dissident Cuban journalist goes to a secret computer in Havana every few days where it's safe from Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's surveillance goons and sends me his hand—gathered Cuban news by email. Quite apart from the state—controlled press, this independent Cuban... More

War always has advances and retreats. The Hezbo War is not a victory for civilized nations. but Is it a defeat? Not much of one. But human beings can make a mental defeat out of anything. The psychologist Albert Ellis was one of the first to discover an effective "talking treatment" for... More

As the smoke clears from the battleground of the Israel Hezb'allah War and as we observe the continued supineness of Israel in light of its first strategic defeat, the vocabulary of the situation gradually comes to the fore. And now I can summarize my own shock at the failure of Israel to take the... More

Michael Luo writes about Muslim schools in New York devoted to memorizing the Koran. Never once does he mention the problematic nature of some of those very verses. A rather respectful tone is taken: The students who finish memorizing the Koran earn the title hafiz, an exalted accomplishment in... More

The French general in charge of UNIFIL says will take a year to build forces in Lebanon. He also blames Israel for the deliberate killing of UNIFIL personnel. Somebody explain to me why Israel should trust its security to this man. Ed Lasky   8 16 06 More

David Bernstein of The Volokh Conspiracy unmasks Professor Juan Cole of the University of Michigan for publishing and building an anti—Israel case on phony reports, and failing to correct the error when notified. Juan Cole matters because he is so often used as an "expert" by the likes... More

The BBC highlights outlandish allegations, based on anonymous sources, from Seymour Hersh, a man who has been roundly criticized for inaccuracy. Hirsch  just wants to re—live My Lai.  Israel and the United States were in close contact about Israel's war on Hezbollah long... More

For understandable reasons, Fox News Channel has remained rather silent about the kidnapping of correspondent Steve Centanni and cameraman Olaf Wiig in Gaza. Presumably, negotiations are under way. I only hope that it is all about money, not about changing the tone of FNC's coverage. If this AP... More

There's a new media trope out there that the Hezbo fanatics have won the Lebanon war ——— or are perceived to have won, which is the same thing, as far as the media are concerned. The New York Times, for example, claims this was a "battle of perception." This is very convenient,... More

Kofi Annan continues to amaze with his verbal gymnastics. Of course diplomats in general have a penchant for understatement and bland formulations, but Kofi's choice of words sometimes just amazes. The Secretary General was interviewed by Israel's Channel 2, and managed to actually call the... More

U.S. Representative Bobby Jindal (R—LA) is a spectacularly talented an accomplished man, and he is only 36 years old so far. But now the legend of Bobby Jay adds new luster with the latest chapter. As reported in the local Lousiana website Daily Report: Jindal delivers baby ——... More

Rick Richman, proprietor of the blog Jewish Current Issues, was kind enough to assemble a group of people* to interview former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone from Israel today. Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke for a few minutes about the role that Israel plays on the... More

Andrew Walden takes a close look at the connection between academia and just—busted terrorists in the UK, in Front Page Magazine. One of at least 24 'young Western Muslims' nailed in the British airliner bombing plot last week, Zaman is described as 'a well—known political activist' at... More

An item today in AT points the reader to The Israeli Project's (TIP) update marking the one—year anniversary of the 'withdrawal' of Israelis from the Gaza strip. The lives of nearly 9,000 civilians were turned upside down by the evacuation, and naturally, they and others opposed to the... More

The Supreme Court's ruling of last year in the case of Kelo v. City of New London is proving to indeed be a 'Decision too far.' Jonathan Last, writing in the Weekly Standard, reviews the impact that decision has had in engendering legislation and court decisions limiting the scope of eminent... More

Dafydd at Big Lizards tears into Jed Babbin, likening him to Nancy Pelosi for alleged crimes of defeatism: Jed Babbin is now with the terrorists. Oh, I'm sure he would go ballistic if he ever read this post (which he wouldn't, of course; I'm not up there with Instapundit, Power Line, or Hugh... More

Amidst the whining that Israel's response to thousands of rockets landing on its territory was  disproportionate —— a charge  leveled against no other nation for defending itself —— Yaashiko Sagamori agrees;  Jews should strike back proportionately. But... More

As Israel, having abandoned the terrible simplicity of 'never again,' awaits the French army to bless it with the fruits of the ceasefire, further reflection on this war increases its mysteries. Take the Germans as an example.  As any student of World War II is aware, the Germans were great... More

The terrorists know this is above all a PR war, so when a Fox News reporter and a cameraman are kidnapped by unidentified gunment in Hamastan ——— previously known as Gaza ——— you have to wonder why. Bibi Netanyahu remarked a week ago that the BBC was... More

The Israel Project marks today as the first anniversary of Isarel's disengagement from Gaza, as in the forced evacuation of Jewish settlers. It does not report much good coming from it. The disengagement plan required Israelis to give up their homes, places of work and worship, their schools and... More

Sometimes it is actually better to sit back and let deranged idiots strut their stuff. Ummah News Links brings us word of the opening of an exhibit in Tehran "of more than 200 cartoons about the Holocaust opened today as Iran's response to last year's Muslim outrage over a caricature of the... More

Big congratulations to Sweetness & Light, which has just marked its first anniversary. S&L combs through MSM articles, and most memorably, photos, and with deadly accuracy highlights the absurdities they reveal, letting the rascals indict themselves. Others in the world of... More

Has appeasement ever worked? I can't recall.   It seems to always precede the fall   Of each good intention, every kindly thought   Of all the hand—ringing apologists fraught   With knee knocking neuroses   And hand trembling psychoses.   That it leads to war is... More

Shari'a marches on. In the United Kingdom, passport photographs apparently now must conform to Muslim ideas about modesty, according to this article in the Telegraph: A five—year—old girl's passport application was rejected because her photograph showed her bare shoulders. Hannah... More

Michael Ledeen equates the critics of Bush war in Iraq with the critics of Israel's war in Lebanon at National Review Online. But I think in one case (with the Israel critics), the disappointment is that the war was not won or conducted more aggressively. In the case of most critics of the... More

The New York Times runs a condescending article clearly meant to ridicule certain Christians: WHEN Israel and Hezbollah began trading blows last month, the community at RaptureReady.com, a fundamentalist Christian site dedicated to the proposition that the end times are near, was... More

The bottom line is that the good guys were unable, under the provocation of war, to destroy Hezb'allah.  Everything else is just blather.   These "international forces" ignore a critical aspect of a military force — who and for what are soldiers going to die?  A policeman... More

"Keller", VERB: — to attempt to excuse ones unethical behavior by reference to an ethical standard that one does not actually observe, especially if the attempt is transparently disingenuous. Example 1: "Tom, who never gave a nickel to charity in his whole life, stupidly tried to keller his... More

For well over a week, as the Qana incident has been debunked amidst the ruins of MSM credibility, suspicions have been raised that the much—photographed child victims were planted in the building, either after the fact, or in anticipation of an Israeli raid once the building was intentionally... More

In recent times the impact and meaning of Hitler and Nazism have been so distorted and trivialized, debased and twisted that honest analysts are reluctant to mention its ugly reappearance.  But now it is necessary to shout a warning that Hitler's descendants are calmly stating they plan a... More

An excellent critique of the Israeli response in the Hezb'allah war is given by Ari Shavit at Haaretz. This will sound very familiar to Americans. Shavit identifies two pervasive problems: Political Correctness and the illusion of normality during wartime. Because Haaretz is normally... More

David Bernstein covers some of the MSM reaction to Reuters' red—handed propagandizing exposed the Volokh Conspiracy.  Tim Rutten of the LA Times sees the bigger picture: That brings us to the most troubling of the possible explanations for these fraudulent photos, which is that some of... More

Byron Calame has redeemed himself. The New York Times public editor reveals that the the head editorial honcho Bill Keller has now admitted he lied to the public about the reasons for delaying publication of the NSA surveillance of incoming international phone calls. Calame asks "Did The Times... More

Iqbal Syed Hussain writes a cry—from—the—heart essay in the Pakistani newspaper, The Nation, deploring the corruption and delusions which are so characteristic of contemporary Islam: In the 21st century, when the world is moving fast and some nations have already reached the... More

Real Clear Politics hosts a series of articles by economist Thomas Sowell regarding the use, abuse, promulgation and suppression of statistics for political purposes by agencies of the U.S. government and the British Home Office. For example: Some years back, there was a great flurry in the... More

In this article, Ms. Juliette Kayyem (who teaches at the Kennedy School of Government, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs — the congenial home for Professor Walt of the "Israel Lobby" paper) opposes government efforts to surveil possible terror suspects and discounts the... More

Sweetness & Light diagnoses the root cause of Cindy Sheehan's hospitalization in Waco, Texas after her most recent publicity stunt in Crawford, where she bought up property, failed to generate the requisite headlines. S&L has been on Cindy's case for awhile, and nobody does Cindy more... More

Here in the U.S. we've had our share of questionable leaders from time—to—time.  They arise, do their work, and then hopefully go away without causing too much long—term damage.  In a country such as ours, the effects are usually minimal on a long—term scale. Jimmy... More

[unedited] Mr. Editor     James Lewis might have some misgivings about pervailing culture in United Kingdom, and he is right about American Heritage owning up to British Empire. However, to suggest that, and I quote " India's rising prosperity and modernization owes much to the... More

 An MSNBC news report describes the reaction of the Pakistani community in Walthamstow, England, where nearly half of the terrorists arrested last week in the foiled plot to blow up several airliners lived.  The report is not encouraging to those who wish to believe that the vast majority... More

The National Review's Rich Lowry, commenting on the recently foiled air terror plot in Great Britain, repeats the conventional wisdom (even among many so—called hawks) concerning the War on Terror.  In particular, he writes that we are facing "a shadowy enemy" and that it will take... More

It is said that when the ephors of Sparta were brought news of the surrender of the Spartan army to the Theban general Epaminondas at Leuctra in 371 BCE, they maintained their stoic demeanor, notwithstanding the heretofore unimaginable nature of the disaster.  I suppose that a calm public... More

Mr. Green Helmet is the subject of an AP story defending his role as a "civil defense worker." LGF posted an initial commentary, well worth reading, refuting the AP story's claims. But EU Referendum is hosting a work—in—progress report more definitvely exposing what lies behind... More

I found this on Eteraz ('heartfelt disagreement' in Urdu) and the links within most informative, and have added the author to the list of those to visit from time to time to gather other perspectives on the world. The post is titled "Muslim musings on British Muslims." The author is a foreign... More

Rachel Ehrenfeld argues the case in the Washington Times. We should avoid the excuses and evasions regarding its so—called "political status" and judge it solely by its actions and not its propaganda. Drug trafficking is a major money maker for Hezbollah, endorsed by a special fatwa by the... More

Are we talking about something from The Onion? No, it's actually rather splendid news, genuine if improbable—sounding. The Cossacks of Ukraine, who, as the czar's storm troops, historically terrorized Russia's Jews confined to the Russian Pale of Settlement, have now come out publicly in... More

Daniel Rivkin, Jr and Lee Casey, who have both been in the forefront of defenders of Israel in the American media, now question Israel's course in a Haaretz article entitled "Israel must win." The failure of resolve on the part of Ehud Olmert puts at risk Israel's value to... More

We've all heard of the 'fog of war,' of being 'fogged—in' at an airfield, the State Department moniker of 'Foggy Bottom,' of waiting for the 'fog to lift,' of 'London fog,' of having one's glasses 'fog up,' or of being 'in a fog' when confused or uncertain. But now comes Philip Klein of the... More

The Los Angeles Times, among others, presents objections voiced by some Muslims to the President's phrase. President Bush was widely criticized by Muslim leaders on Thursday for saying that the foiled plot to blow up airliners over the Atlantic was a triumph in the "war against Islamic... More

A New York Times editorial seems to justify and misreads the (irr) rationality of terrorism; the NYT sees such acts as expressions of anger and frustration. There is nothing Americans want more than to win the war on terror, to come to a place where people no longer feel it is a fine thing to... More

Ahmadinejad will tell the world on this Sunday's Sixty Minutes that "Those who refuse to accept an invitation will not have a good ending or fate." The reference is to his letter to President Bush last May, in imitation of Mohammed's invitation to his enemies to submit to Islam before waging... More

Adnan Hajj and Reuters photo editors put in play the basic credibility of the major media when they published a Photoshopped image exaggerating damage from an Israeli warstrike. Photoshopping conclusively established that Reuters puts out propaganda. So the next question is obviously,... More

Real Clear Politics brings to us a David Warren column from the Ottawa Citizen, written for a Canadian readership, but plain excellent and worth a read. "Not all my readers appreciate that we are seeing now, in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, and across swathes of Afghanistan and Iraq, a... More

Peter Schweizer, writing in USA Today, nails Al Gore for Green hypocrisy. Public records reveal that as Gore lectures Americans on excessive consumption, he and his wife Tipper live in two properties: a 10,000—square—foot, 20—room, eight—bathroom home in Nashville, and a... More

General McCoy is rightfully proud of the American reconstruction efforts in Iraq. Much good has and will be done. But at what cost? The Wall Street Journal, citing the recent audit of Iraq reconstruction efforts, reports ($) the following: Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart... More

Israel has destroyed bridges being used to transfer supplies and terrorists to Hezb'allah forces in the Southern part of Lebanon. Regardless that some of the people in this New York Times article are murderers, the International Red Cross aids and abets them, helping their effort to circumvent... More

The foriegn minister of Finland, which has just rotated into the EU presidency, singles out Israel as recipient of leaked documents. "It has long been known that all EU documents that deal with the Middle East also are known in Tel Aviv within an hour after having been distributed to the member... More

Mike Wallace on Ahmadinejad, "He is an impressive fellow. He really is. He's obviously smart as hell" The degradation of some in the media is on full display. The buttering up exceeds even Larry King. Ahmadinejad denied the holocaust and awaits the return of the missing 12th Imam. That's... More

Today's announcement of a British bust of a terror ring, and the Code Red status granted to flights between the U.K. and the U.S. ushers in a new day in air travel security. A lot more baggage will be checked, immediately costing the hard—pressed airlines more money (carry—on bags save... More

David Bernstein, writing at the Volokh Conspiracy, makes a high level Associated Press executive look pompous and foolish in her denial of the very possibility of photographs being staged. It is rather stunning that antique media people think they can still say, in essence, "We're above that. We... More

Dave in Seattle, never clueless, writes: While the rest of the media world argues about the issue of faked / staged / mis—captioned newsphotos, the Seattle Post—Intelligencer protects its readers by not covering such foolishness.  And as if to emphasize their distain for the... More

Confederate Yankee knows: With this control and the apparent complicity of many media stringers both Arab and western, Hezbollah has chosen to fight a completely different kind of media war than they one we have seen in Iraq. A review of the Yahoo! photostreams (compilations of various media... More

One tourist attraction in San Francisco that I heartily recommend to visitors is the tour of Alcatraz, now part of a national park. The boat ride out is scenic, and the prison itself is historic, hosting many of the worst federal prisoners, people like Al Capone. The prison is heavily deteriorated,... More

Matt May has written for AT about the United Methodist Chruch and its Middle East stance. Today, he writes a defense of fighting for freedom in a United Methodist website. It is worth a look. The left has captured many mainstream denominations, and believers and members like Matt who stand up are... More

The moonbats are barking loud this morning.  Simple arithmetic tells me a slightly different story about the overall attractiveness of BDS at the ballot box.  This was one of the hottest Senate primaries in recent memory.  Yet the approximately 146,000 people who voted for Lamont... More

The U.K.  Daily Mirror is not the first paper most think of when it comes to serious breaking news. But the Mirror was the first to break the story of Adolf Hitler doing a little editing of the Bible so he could use the power of the religion he hated to his further his maniacal cause. It's... More

I watched snippets of Israeli delegate Dan Gillerman making his case in the UN Security Council debate. To my dismay, he stayed within the context of the UN narrative: start with the status quo ante, take account of the terrorists' demands, and such baggage. Israel should know that it is leaving... More

Lebanon's Prime Minister Siniora pens an op—ed in the Washington Post. After an intemperate and error—filled tirade that fills the Lebanese Prime Minister's screed, is the last line the punch—line? Lebanon must be allowed to reclaim its position in this troubled region as a... More

The mighty New York Times deigns to cover the Reuters scandal today, in an article in business section (of all places), by Katharine Seelye and Julie Bosman. Speaking of fraudster Adnan Hajj, they write  Still, Reuters officials said they were unaware that any American newspapers had run the... More

The Connecticut Yankees no longer seem as practical—minded as they were in the day of Mark Twain. Voters in Cynthia McKinney's district in Georgia knew enough to reject nutty left wing oppositionism, even in an incumbent. What is wrong with the Yankees? Real Clear Politics has its usual... More

Bernard Lewis is said to be the greatest living Western scholar of Islam, someone with deep sympathy for the Muslim world, without forgetting its dark side. Writing in the Wall Street Journal online edition today, Lewis now expresses deep concern over an apocalyptic Iran armed with nukes. It... More

Major General Bill McCoy, Reconstruction project director in Iraq, has responded to Andy Mosher's recent WaPo article critical of reconstruction efforts in Iraq. The General's comments on the job journalists are doing are worth reading. With his permission, we present it here. After spending... More

Those of us sorting through the agency photos from Lebanon cannot fail to notice the artfully placed (often pristine) objects in the middle of rubble.The certainty of staging for emotive effect is undeniable, especially as so many trikes and toys just seem to appear so often, improbably placed in... More

Pajamas Media has posted a podcast on the Reuters scandal, featuring Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post, Clifford May of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, and Thomas Lifson of The American Thinker, in a discussion moderated by Roger L. Simon, co—founder of PJM. More

Val Prieto at Babalu blog has become the single most reliable source of information about what's going on in Cuba right now. He's sifted fact from speculation and come up with a serious and valuable new list of what's known and not known about the ongoing transition inside Cuba. It's the best... More

Investors Business Daily looks at whatever happened to former 60s radical and Jane Fonda husband Tom Hayden. I knew he had been a California state assemblyman from Santa Monica, but had lost track. It's pretty unsavory, but not really surprising, I guess. The cast of characters has... More

MDES G6031, Fall 2006, Instructor: Joseph Massad "This course intends to familiarize students with the most recent theories dealing with nationalism from a variety of angles and perspectives. In addition to covering the theoretical material, the course also examines two case studies on... More

Israel has not been able to break up Hiz b'allah's command and control, or even to lower the pace of rockets raining down on Haifa and the North of Israel. Now DEBKA.com claims one reason is that Hezbo command and control is not located in Lebanon at all. The command which coordinates the... More

Huffington Post, the political blog founded by Arianna Huffington that features contributions and individual columns from a wide range of liberals (including Hollywood celebrities), is on the verge of announcing a $5 million investment from Japanese venture capital firm Softbank and venture... More

In my opinion, Arab opposition to the US/French UN agreement on cessation of fighting is good news.  It is clear Bolton snookered the French (no requirement for Israel to withdraw). But the deal is not good enough for Israel. In particular, there is risk with a Section 7 agreement that might... More

This is indeed a marvelous age. You can squint up your eyes and act the sage By reporting the news just as you see it. There are plenty of outlets if you'll just agree it Is wise to look down on the middle classes As you seek to educate the masses. The truth of your  impartings need not... More

Aviation Week & Space Technology offers a chilling account of Israel's efforts to identify the origins of and counter the flow of increasingly sophisticated weapons into Hiz b'allah's hands. These guys are not dumb, and they are not just passively receiving weapons from Iran. Israel isn't... More

After some strange behavior on Sunday, NPR political analyst Cokie Roberts was back on form Monday morning in responding to host Steve Inskeep's questions about the Connecticut Democratic primary: Q: What is the implication of a Lieberman defeat in the primary?  A: Bad for incumbents,... More

If we assume that Iran is behind both the attack by Hizbullah on Israel and the new violence in Baghdad, then the question arises, 'why now?' Wouldn't it have made more sense for them to wait until they have the Bomb?  Here is a guess.  The December 15, 2005 election which put the current... More

The state of Missouri wants to run background checks on college professors at its four state university campuses.  Some pompous professors are outraged about not being considered above the law. Welcome to the real world. It is about time this started to happen. I hope the idea spreads to... More

Rick Salant, of Thousand Oaks, CA writes: I believe Reuters is the agency that believes that "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."  This equation puts George Washington on a par with Arafat or bin Laden.  One who flies hijacked airplanes into buildings or blows up... More

Today's Cronica newspaper of Mexico City has a disturbing front page photo:  Elementary school—age children dressed in full war regalia, grinning before a camera and saying how ready they are to defend Hugo Chavez's Marxist "revolution." If there's ever a corruption of childish... More

Dinocrat.com notices that Reuters not only quoted the erroneous (and later withdrawn) comments of Lebanon's PM Siniora lamenting the deaths of supposedly 40 people in a southern viallge. The death toll figure was later revised to one. There's no crime in the straight reporting of an erroneous... More

This morning (USA Time — 4:38 AM PDT), Reuters belatedly announced it was withdrawaing all photopgraphs produced by Adnan Hajj. LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) — Reuters withdrew all 920 photographs by a freelance Lebanese photographer from its database on Monday after an urgent review of his... More

Professor Steven Plaut is an American born professor of economics at the University of Haifa who has not let the war disrupt his always informative e mails and blogs about life in Israel.  He even managed  to find some cheery news in the continuing barrage of Haifa. For the atheists out... More

Arabic names are written in Arabic script. Transliterating names into the Roman alphabet therefore requires judgment. There is no such thing as a "correct" spelling of Arabic—origin words. Just more and less widely—used transliterations. Until today, The American Thinker used the most... More

In today's New York Times , one of UNIFIL's former senior advisers and spokesmen and a former UN diplomat, Timur Goksel,  seems to speak admiringly of Hiz b'allah. Until 2003, Timur Goksel was the senior political adviser to Unifil, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which monitors... More

Dems have turned turn mum on the "culture of corruption." The Washington Times notes:  Democrats have reined in their use of the "culture of corruption" mantra in their efforts to oust congressional Republicans from power, fearing the slogan would backfire after two senior members of their... More

We hear from critics on the left all the time. One of them emailed me this photo which bears a .mil suffix, seeming to indicate a DoD origin. Various lefty sites have complained about what they say is Photoshopping. My eyes are none too good, and my expertise non—existent. If the DoD has... More

Hajj's fraudulent photo for Reuters, uncovered by Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs, is a laughably amateurish job.  He created 'smoke, clearly using a common tool in retouching software called the cloning brush.  To use a cloning brush, you sample one section of an image, and the... More

The AP runs a nasty article today: Do you believe in Iraqi "WMD"? Did Saddam Hussein's government have weapons of mass destruction in 2003? Half of America apparently still thinks so, a new poll finds, and experts see a raft of reasons why: a drumbeat of voices from talk radio to die—hard... More

Reuters now admits supplying the world's media with crude propaganda pictures, faked by an Arab photographer. The agency's journalistic standards are now a global laughingstock. If the agency hopes to regain credibility it must appoint an outside panel of experts to review other work of the... More

If there is one thing you can say about Axis of Evil countries, it's that they are persistent in their drive to acquire WMD.  And if there is one thing you can say about our intelligence agencies, it's that they are consistently bad, or deceptive, or both. The (UK) Times Online reports that... More

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs is a useful source of realistic thinking on the Middle East, written by experts. Prof. Gerald Steinberg has a must—read piece for those interested in the coming "cease fire" proposals for the Hezbo War. It's called "Is a sustainable ceasefire in Lebanon... More

"The law is an ass," goes an old saying. And not just in the USA. Via Ummah News Links: LONDON The government lost a legal battle yesterday over the status of nine Afghans who hijacked a plane, flew it to London and threatened to blow it up if they were denied political asylum. British Home... More

Gunnery Sgt. Keith A. Milks at Camp Pendleton writes about another hero from Iraq, Marine Cpl Robert J. Mitchell, Jr., who saved his fellow Marines at great personal risk, suffering wounds himself. These are the kind of people who honor us all with their service. We reproduce this article from... More

Ed Morrissey reports that Hezbollah rockets killed 11 in Israel. Not surprising because that is why Hezbollah aims at civilians. But USA Today which consistently refers to Lebanese killed when Israel aims at military targets are routinely called "civilians" calls the Israeli dead "people." For that... More

Certainly there are more important events and concerns to which one ought currently to devote one's attention. However, sometimes insight into the mind and spirit of others will come from attention to the smallest of details. Consider the following bit from BBC News South Asia: 'Dress code... More

EUreferendum, the site that did much to expose the troubling aspects of photographs of the supposed Qana victims, reports that some influential parts of the European press are expressing doubts. ...as to the conduct of the disaster site at Qana, it seems that BILD—Zeitung —... More

Prime Minister Harper's strong support of Israel has cost the Liberals the backing and financial contributions of two key, longtime Liberal Party supporters: OTTAWA — Liberal power couple Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz have publicly broken with the Liberal Party line on the Middle East... More

With the Israel/Hizbullah War we are getting another round of interviews with Muslim leaders in the Middle East and commentary from various Arab and Iranian sources. The tacit background of the Israel Muslim debate is the continuing failure of Muslim societies and cultures.  After all,... More

The media denies what our eyes can see, that Qana presented Hezbollah an opportunity to engage in some appalling and morbid street theater for the benefit of an anti—Western press jockeying to find marketable gruesome pictures of Israel's inhuman bloodlust .The posing of dead children was... More

Barbara Lerner looks at our war with the mullahs, who have grabbed the lead of the Islamofascist movement, and adopts their perspective on the matter, concluding that we are losing. It is a disturbing and necessary view of the conflict on which our fate depends. Hat tip: Herb Meyer Thomas... More

UPI reports: A U.S. Christian group is accusing Hezbollah of using Christian villages in Lebanon to shield its military operations against Israel. Christian Solidarity International said Wednesday in a news release that Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim group supported by Iran, is southern Lebanese... More

Forget everything the liberal media told you about homelessness. The problem is not a chronic situation. Mainly, it is confined to static group, who chose and continue to choose life on the streets. That's the good news. But the bad news is that the "care providers" who make their living... More

The website Cdr Salamander brings to our attention a potentially serious issue of, well, epidemic proportions. Given existing vaccines, I am not sure how much risk we in the United States face, but the post offers insight on both Islam and the coverage of Islam by our media. Hat tip: Bookworm Room More

Just noted the full—page ad in the New York Times calling for the overthrow of Bush regime. "Drive out the Bush Regime" is the headline. Government is moving each day closer to a theocracy, where a narrow and hateful brand of Christian Fundamentalism will rule. People look at this and think... More

New York Times columnist (and would—be bringer of peace to the Middle East) Tom Friedman was caught in a friendly ambush interview following the Webby Awards ceremony last June, where he received a prize. Friedman was in a jolly mood, and let out some interesting glimpses into his... More

During the Cold War, the United States often was accused of supporting, in contravention to our own democratic principles, dictators of various stripes who happened to oppose Communism. Often, it was charged, for their own benefit rather than ours or that of their own populace. Now... More

In Yiddish something that's pitifully shameful is a shonda. And this morning I am ashamed of Abe Foxman (again) and Martin Peretz, publisher of The New Republic. Yesterday the ADL took out a half page ad in the conservative New York Sun thanking the President and eight senators for their... More

Did you ever wonder how a small group of Boomer radicals took over the Democratic Party, the universities, the media and Bolshiewood? David Horowitz may know. What's more, he thinks it's happening again, with what he and Richard Poe call the "Shadow Party," a "George Soros conglomerate" that can... More

Congressman Murtha's libelous claims about the Kelo unit's performance in Haditha were always reported as having been based on a military briefing. Turns out that's not so: Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat, is being sued by one of the accused Marines for libel. He had told The Philadelphia Inquirer... More

A.J. Strata informs us that Sidney Blumenthal has leaked the fact that NSA is assisting Israel in tracking weapons shipments from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah, gaining him anti—Israel supporters and (one hopes) a chance to talk to the grand jury investigating NSA leaks: Why would Sydney... More

After 30 years in the Army, Col. William Ivey is retiring, again.  At his previous retirement he was Chief of Staff, US 8th Army, Korea.  Col. Ivey returned to active duty so he could serve in Iraq, where he was Deputy CO, Task Force 134 for 14 months. He has kindly given us permission to... More

The New York Times ran an article (available for free here) denying that Ahmadinejad had called for Israel's destruction? "Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to wipe Israel off the map because no such idiom exists in Persian," remarked Juan Cole, a Middle East specialist at the University of... More

Conrad Burns, GOP Senator up for re—election in Montana, is self—destructing. The AP reports: Sen. Conrad Burns recent verbal attack on a firefighting team for its work on a Montana blaze angered some firefighters, drew harsh criticism in state newspapers and has left the... More

A new poll shows Joe Lieberman falling behind Ned Lamont by a double digit margin in his Deocratic primary fight for the party's nomination for the US Senate. As one writer pointed out the other day, a Lieberman loss in the primay could be a  plus for the GOP in helping defend three... More

This New York Times op—ed, compares Hezbollah to the American Civil Rights movement: In terms of structure and hierarchy, it [Hezbollah] is less comparable to, say, a religious cult like the Taliban than to the multidimensional American civil—rights movement of the 1960's.... More

Bob Lee Swagger is a North Carolina blogger who draws our attention to what may be serious reform underway at the University of North Carolina. And from the hands of none other than Bill Clinton deputy chief of staff Erskine Bowles, now the president of UNC. Erskine announced he was eliminating 15... More

Ned Lamont, the challenger to Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic primary, the candidate of the Kos Kidz who preen that they "speak truth to power" can see that he is in trouble, and is trying to lie his way out. Apparently he has forgotten how that worked out for Richard Nixon in... More

Some may remember hard leftist and PLO supporter Vanessa Redgrave going to the podium at the Academy Awards in 1978 to accept the Best Actress Award and denouncing Israel's first incursion into Lebanon as the work of "Zionist Gangsters."  Vanessa had won the Oscar for the movie "Julia," which... More

Dan Riehl is a master at exposing media lies, and  he has caught yet another big one: There's a story just starting to make the rounds of the MSM outlets — that Israel is targeting ambulances. You can find it mentioned in the New York Times, the Guardian and several more outlets. But it... More

Some of the best conservative bloggers are joining together in a campaign to elect Republicans to Congress. My friend Lorie Byrd, one of the best of the best, explains in a post at Wizbang. The official website of the PAC is here. The name recalls the "netroots" title claimed by the... More

The long—anticipated Fidel Castro Death Watch is underway. His exact condition is a state secret, which means that the heat wave on the East Coast today may be nothing compared to the climate Fidel currently faces. Meanwhile, bloggers are having great sport. Okay, I suppose Fidel, for all his... More

Malloch Brown, Kofi Annan's deputy, again interferes with national politics and seems to deny Hezbollah is terror group. While living in a home at the discretion of his landlord, George Soros, Malloch Brown (Annan's Chief Deputy) feels free to try to now interfere with British politics, as he... More

First cower, then praise, according to the French Foreign Minister (in translation, "Thank you, Sir—may I have another") .What is the French expressionfor self—abnegation? Barry Rubin explains in  the New York Post. IT is the greatest innovation in diplomacy since Britain's... More

A Boston Globe op—ed by a PLO member calls for Israel to engage the "Peace Process." But Max Boot of the Los Angeles Times shows the fatuousness of that call. Ed Lasky   8 02 06 More

Following his drunken anti—semitic outburst, Mel Gibson is now apologizing  profusely and even asking the Jewish community to help him get over his problems. He feels very bad, he claims, to have offended anybody. But ultimately the question is not whether he has offended a group of... More

Washington Post columnist David Ignatius believes that the lessons to be learned from the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the peace efforts that followed can be simplistically summarized as: the Egyptians needed a measure of self—respect derived from some kind of victory over Israel and that Israel... More

The Associated Press recently provided this map of the Israel—Hezbollah war.  Though otherwise unremarkable and not particularly informative, this map reveals something extremely important regarding AP's biases. The disputed Shebaa Farms area (named on the map as Chebaa Farms) is marked... More

A man—made human catastrophe in Africa is finally being remedied. You might expect to read about some environmental disaster carried out by rapacious developers. A dam perhaps? Or logging? How about pollution from a mine or smelter? Credit the vigilant environmentalists for correcting this... More

The outline of a settlement in the Israel Hizbullah War may be starting to emerge.  Shimon Peres was on PBS's Charlie Rose Show last night (Monday July 31).  Very likely he flew to the U.S. to pour some oil on troubled waters.  Which I think he did very effectively.  'Is... More

Something is very, very wrong with the reporting on Qana, for the moment, the worldwide symbol of Hezbollah's media offensive. It is already reasonably clear that major media photographers were willingly made into tools of propaganda, accomplices in the hideous desecration of corpses of children.... More

The quaint practice of leveling forests, chopping trees into pulp, making paper and then printing news upon the paper, and trucking the product to neighborhoods for distribution to readers about 12 hours after the news was fresh, is cycling downward. As it does so, some interesting patterns are... More

Powerline has noted John Dingell's (D—MI) bizarre refusal to say he is against Hezbollah, which killed hundreds of American Marines, among many other crimes of terrorism, and notes that he will be the chairman of an important House committee if the Democrats gain control of the House. This... More

The most humane army in the world, the Israeli Defense Forces, actually warns people where upcoming attacks will occur, thereby losing the element of surprise and giving civilians (and terrorists) time to flee or prepare for attacks. What response follows from this humanitarian gesture? Outrage.... More

The Presbyterian Church USA has been the subject of a number of critiques on this site for its anti—Semitism. But the disease appears to be metasticizing into outright general moonbattery. How else to explain the following, via Ummah News Links: The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were... More

Jonathan Chait is no freind of George Bush, so his critique of Helen Thomas, almost inevitably called the "doyenne" of the White House press corps, is all the more serious. Writing in the New Republic ($link), he notes her rise to rock star status among the Left. ...Helen Thomas of the liberal... More

Naveed Afsal Haq, who proclaimed himself a Muslim—American as he opened fire at people he presumed were Jews last Friday in Seattle, seems to combine sexual problems with Islamo—fanaticism. Phyllis Chesler and Nancy Kobrin delve into the complexities of the mind when it comes to mass... More

Senator Chuck Hagel grabs some attention in Nebraska with his comparison of Iraq to Vietnam: Hagel, a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam conflict, says anarchy has gripped Iraq and that President Bush erred in recently announcing that more troops would be sent there. 'That isn't doing any... More

It looks like overwhelming public pressure in Israel is now forcing the Olmert government to pursue the war in Lebanon far more vigorously. The polled majorities are on the order of 80 to 90 percent for finishing off Hezbollah, even at the cost of more Israeli lives and international pressure.... More