Steyn on the WorldThe Less Unwon WarTen years ago, along with three-quarters of the American people, I supported the invasion of Iraq. A decade on, I'll stand by that original judgment. March 22, 2013
An unstable truce with the Axis of CrazyI greatly enjoy the new Hollywood genre in which dysfunctional American families fly to a foreign city and slaughter large numbers of the inhabitants as a kind of bonding experience... William & Kate have nothing on ObamaFrom the New York Daily News: "Snooki Gives Kate Middleton Advice On Being A New Parent." Great! Maybe Kate could return the favor and give Snooki and her fellow Americans some advice,,, An act of war, not a movie protestSo, on a highly symbolic date, mobs storm American diplomatic facilities and drag the corpse of a U.S. ambassador through the streets. Then the president flies to Vegas for a fundraiser. U.S., Europe on different paths to same placeThe Eurovision Song Contest doesn't get a lot of attention in the United States, but on the Continent it's long been seen as the perfect Euro-metaphor. Years before the euro came along, it was the prototype pan-European institution and predicated on the same assumptions. Eurovision took the national cultures that produced Mozart, Vivaldi and Debussy, and in return gave us "Boom-Bang-A-Bang" (winner, 1969), "Ding-Ding-A-Dong" (winner, 1975) and "Diggi-Loo-Diggi-Ley" (winner, 1984). The euro took the mark, the lira and the franc, and merged them to create the "Boom-Bang-A-Bang" of currencies... Facebook also a loser in EgyptSo how's that old Arab Spring going? You remember – the "Facebook Revolution"... THE YEAR ACCORDING TO STEYNFrom Arab Spring to American Autumn, Weiner twitpics to federal diapers, the Pundette has compiled an excellent round-up of Mark's view of 2011 THE LESSON ACCORDING TO LUKEOur lesson for today comes from the Gospel according to Luke. No, no, not the manger, the shepherds, the wise men, any of that stuff, but the other birth: But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. That bit of the Christmas story doesn't get a lot of attention, but it's in there – Luke 1:13, part of what he'd have called the back story, if he'd been a Hollywood screenwriter rather ... THE LESSON ACCORDING TO LUKE"Useful stories" we forgot the usefulness of THE FRAUD OF "YOU'RE NOT ON YOUR OWN" ECONOMICSThe President's wretched speech in Kansas THE SQUANDERING OF THE UNIPOLAR MOMENTWhat does America have to show for its investment in Egypt and Afghanistan? ARAB SPRING, COPTIC WINTERAs the Jews learned long ago, and the Copts are realizing now, Egypt has spent 60 years getting worse, and is now getting worser. IN THE DANGER ZONE"It's the end of the world as we know it," sang the popular musical artistes REM many years ago. And it is. REM has announced that they're splitting up after almost a third of a century. But these days who isn't? The Eurozone, the world's first geriatric boy band, is on the verge of busting apart. Chimerica, Professor Niall Ferguson's amusing name for the Chinese-American economic partnership that started around the same time REM did, is going the way of Wham!, with Beijing figuring it's the George Michael of the relationship and that it's tired of wossname, the other fellow, getting equal billing but not pulling its weight. GAGGING US SOFTLYIn this anniversary week, it's sobering to reflect that one of the more perverse consequences of 9/11 has been a remorseless assault on free speech throughout the west. I regret to say that, in my new book, I predect this trend will only accelerate in the years ahead. The essay below was written as last week's National Review cover story: To be honest, I didn't really think much about "freedom of speech" until I found myself the subject of three "hate speech" complaints in Canada in 2007. I ... THE DEMOGRAPHY OF DEBTORSHAPPY WARRIOR from National Review The other day, Abdul Qadir Fitrat, the governor of Afghanistan's central bank, fled the country. The only wonder is that there aren't more fleeing. Not Afghans; central bankers. I mean, you gotta figure that throughout the G-20 there are more than a few with the vague but growing feeling that the jig's up big time. Round about the time the Afghan central banker was heading for the hills, the Greek central banker ventured some rare criticisms of his government ... |
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