The Mexican Basket Case

The Middle East and Asia occupy most of our foreign-policy interest these days, but relatively little attention is paid to our most important dangerous foreign contact: Mexico. That isn"€™t to say that Mexico doesn"€™t call forth a lot of comment"€”usually about illegal immigrants, anchor ...

Three Waves of Mediocrity

The Obama regime's official explanation for the murder of our ambassador to Libya and three staffers amid the destruction of our Benghazi consulate"€”that it was spontaneous and quasi-legitimized by an anti-Muhammad film"€”seems to be unraveling. But perhaps more importantly, it points out the ...

Fire in the East

While most geopolitical fears are focused on the Middle East, it would be wise to also keep an eye on the Far East. There are no less than five major territorial disputes agitating the area, two of which have heated up in recent weeks, and all of which present potential headaches for the United ...

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

The two major national party conventions trotted out this year's brightest and best as if they were displaying prize pigs at a county fair. Highlights included Clint Eastwood haranguing an empty chair and Obama getting a character reference from the most noted perjurer and adulterer ever to occupy ...

Phyllis Diller

5 x 6 Feet Under

The Grim Reaper thinned the herd of baby-boomer entertainment icons this summer. Ernest Borgnine, Andy Griffith, Phyllis Diller, William Windom, and"€”ahem"€”Scott McKenzie made up a huge chunk of 1960s entertainment. The first four were mainly television standbys, and the last was a prophetic ...

Will There Be Life on Mars?

While the world had its eyes trained on London's Olympics, a great many were staring at the planet Mars. On August 5, workers at the JPL's Mars Science Laboratory breathed a sigh of relief. Despite the “Seven Minutes of Terror,"€ during which the Curiosity rover had to make its descent to ...

A Furor Over Foreskins

Last year I wrote about the anti-circumcision campaign here in California, and now another chapter in the Foreskin Chronicles has opened up in Germany. Whereas the California campaign fizzled, the District Court in Cologne on June 26 banned the circumcision of boys for religious reasons. The court ...

God’s Frozen People

The religious world is buzzing this week with the unusual results of the Episcopal Church's latest General Convention. That venerable institution has voted, among other things, to sanctify same-sex marriages, forbid discrimination in parish employment against transgendered clergy and other staff, ...

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes

Celebrity Schadenfreude

Tom Cruise received a most unpleasant 50th-birthday present: His wife of five years Katie Holmes has filed for divorce. Cruise was apparently blindsided by the news. The tabloids declare that Katie felt her hubby was too controlling and she feared for her daughter Suri, seeing some threat in her ...

Simeon of Bulgaria, Alexander of Serbia, Michael of Romania, Constantine of Greece

Return of the Kings

A specter is haunting Europe"€”and pace Marx, it is the specter of monarchy. Whenever a ceremony of any sort is performed for or by a deposed ruling family's members"€”as has happened in the past few years in France, Germany, and Austria"€”there is sure to be whining in the media and among ...