Reading reviews in the national press about Norman Podhoretz’s The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism (Doubleday), I was struck by how oblivious to certain facts the reviewers of this book seem to be. Haven’t Ian Buruma of the New York Review of Books, Jay Nordlinger of National Review,  Amer Tahiri of the New York Post or any of the other establishment reviewers … [Read More]

The formula that I have long toyed with the notion of revealing is nowadays the intellectual property of Conde Nast, yet the kind of article discussed here would not look out of place in any of number of niche publications, from Plage and Piste to the more sombre Snort! and Anorexia Today. Still more encouraging for the canny sycophant considering journalism … [Read More]

This exchange between Michael Scheuer —former head of the bin Laden unit and author of the brilliant Imperial Hubris —and the idiotic Bill Maher is a classic: Synopsis of the good part: Maher asks “Why are they trying to attack us?”—and then answers his own question, opining “As long as there’s an israel in the world, and I’m a big supoorter … [Read More]

The National Post opines: “Of all the provocative things for the Iranian president to say in his rambling address, the strangest has to be his contention that there are no gay people in Iran.” Yet not so strange, if you understand his point of view. In Iran, you see, homosexuals are thought of as women trapped in male bodies. That’s why … [Read More]

To a certain extent, all of us are what we think. And what we read determines our thoughts. Ergo, we are the product of what we read. No wonder I am confused most of the time. What I have been reading lately is terribly confusing and contradictory. I would prefer to be enjoying the poetry of Andrew Marvell and Robert Herrick, … [Read More]

Great. That’s all we need. There is a cholera epidemic in Iraq caused by the “decrepit water supply system”. The outbreak started in northern Iraq, aka Kurdistan, the peaceful portion of the former nation-state of Iraq, now rendered a bloodbath thanks to “Operation Iraqi Freedom”. The outbreak has spread to Baghdad, where all hell happens without warning on a daily basis. … [Read More]

On a bookshelf in my office sits a copy of the third printing of Joseph Sobran’s wildly popular 1983 book Single Issues: Essays on the Crucial Social Questions. I have another copy, a first edition, at home. Both bear the same Introduction by J.P. McFadden, the founder and first editor of Human Life Review. Sobran dedicated the book “To J.P. McFadden … [Read More]

One tends to do a lot of reading on board a boat while sailing far from the madding yobs.  Mostly books, thank God, as newspapers are hard to find until they’re ready to wrap fish. The Spectator, of course, is sent wherever I am by my nice personal assistant who buys it first thing Thursday morning and has it delivered by … [Read More]

A few days ago I was diverted from working on my computer by an exchange on FOX between Bill O’Reilly and someone described as his “ombudswoman.” The lady in question pointed out to O’Reilly that he had been rude to Ron Paul, who had been on his show, and that he kept interrupting his dignified guest with a scowl. O’Reilly responded … [Read More]

The Baker-Hamilton Report has come and gone. The Petraeus Report has come and gone. Nothing has changed. There is no exit. More to the point, there is no plan for an exit. Give credit to Cheney and Bush. They do what they please, and get away with it. They are blinkered and we are bamboozled. The White House is staying the … [Read More]