Opinion

I rise in the middle of the night, go outdoors at sunrise, but both in the fields and at home I study, think, read, and write … Every day I wander over the rocky mountains, through the dewy valleys and caverns … Meanwhile here I have established my Rome, my Athens, and my spiritual fatherland; […]

Every society has a place that is viewed as a toxic haven of immorality. Many in the United States try to point to combat sports, rap music, or video games as the biggest culprit, when in fact, America’s wretched hive of scum and villainy is actually Columbia University. Nestled in the bastion of morality and […]

David Letterman compared Johnny Carson to a “public utility.” Walter Cronkite anointed him the “most durable performer in the whole history of television.” An “OK” hand signal from behind Carson’s desk (“a gesture from God,” according to Richard Belzer) could make or break a comic’s career. I’ve been told by comedy podcasts that Carson had […]

The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson cannot be condoned in any way. The reaction to his killing, with some on the Left expressing pleasure at the appalling crime, has been shocking. The incident nevertheless highlights the utter failure of former President Barack Obama to resolve public dissatisfaction with the nation’s healthcare system with his […]

Somehow, even after the past few decades of secularization, a significant portion of the country still believes we would all be better off if Americans were even less religious. A new and extreme understanding of “separation of church and state” has taken hold, which prescribes that anything touched by the government must never mention God. […]

In 2022, the government of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu unveiled a monument of Col. John Pennycuick in his English hometown of Camberley. The inscription described him in characteristically Indian English flourish as “a noble man of sacrifice,” which sounds extravagant until one considers that, even today, families in the region hang his portrait […]

Lying or making erroneous statements is a time-honored tradition for politicians on the campaign trail, but a member of Congress who happens to be a candidate for the New Jersey governorship is taking his tall tales a step further and taking his misrepresentations to Photoshop. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) is such a fan of Bruce […]

Death hasn’t diminished Tom Clancy’s output. Since the spy novelist’s death in 2013, a team of writers has churned out Clancy-branded thrillers at regular intervals. The new Dune television series is based not on Frank Herbert’s original novel but on a series of spinoffs written by Herbert’s son, Brian Herbert. The implacable logic of the Hollywood franchise, […]

The snow came late the year I was 12. At least, that’s how I remember it. A few early winter flurries — more gestures at snow than actual precipitation, like the casual handwaving, the quick prestidigitations that magicians do to get the audience in the mood for the bigger tricks to come — were followed […]

George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “England and America are two countries separated by a common language.” This isn’t true of my own household, though. I married an unapologetic Brit, and our common language doesn’t separate us. It just makes things interesting. For instance, around my house, I hear British terms such as “have a go” […]

The Syrian civil war decimated the country. It killed over 600,000 people and displaced more than half the population, with 7 million displaced internally and more than 6 million fleeing into Turkey and Europe. Syrian President Bashar Assad’s exit resolves one problem. With the conflict frozen, the United Nations and international community had begun discussing […]