The day before yesterday, Matthew Yglesias linked to a report by the Center for American Progress on Iraq, called “Reclaiming Control of U.S. Security in the Middle East.” He read it in its entirety, I only read the summary I am afraid, but it does sound very interesting, so I will try to read more of the report in the coming days (busy busy busy). For now, some excerpts, notes, etc. Of course, I strongly urge you all to read the report yourself. Page 1. “active steps to stabilize...

The following, I thought, might be interesting to all of you: here are the commandments of the Sabbateans. They are, as you all will see, much like the 10 commandments, but they are quite clearly different at the same time. I will copy (literally, including it errors) what the document which was sent to me by before mentioned helpful person on this subject in its entirety: These are the eighteen commandments of our master, our king, our Messiah, his majesty Shabbetai Zevi: 1. The first is that one...

CNN reports that a recently conducted poll has found that support for the war in Iraq is at an all time low: the latest CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll released Tuesday, 69 percent of those polled believe things are going badly in Iraq. Seventeen percent think the situation is improving. Thirty percent of Americans polled say they favor the war, the lowest level of support on record. Two-thirds are opposed. But there is more – not only are Americans as a whole more negative about the...

Thomas Friedman wrote yet another fascinating column for the New York Times, this time about the blogosphere, the Internet and the impact both have on one’s every day and professional lives. Friedman argues that, nowadays, everone is a publisher: it is incredibly easy for every person to create a blog and to start writing and sharing. It is also very easy these days to make photos, videos, etc. This way, according to Friedman, everyone is a potential publisher and a potential paparazzo. This...

I greatly encourage you all to check out the POMED Wire. The POMED Wire is the blog of the Project on Middle East Democracy. POMED “is dedicated to examining how genuine democracies can develop in the Middle East and how America can best support that process.” To accomplish its goals “POMED will first foster dialogue on political reform and democracy between and among Americans and Middle Easterners.” Furthermore, the organization “will provide accurate and thorough...

The Washington Post published its fourth installment of their series about the most powerful vice president in US history, Dick Cheney. Like the other ones, the fourth part is definitely worth the read. The subject: Evironmental policy. By combining unwavering ideological positions — such as the priority of economic interests over protected fish — with a deep practical knowledge of the federal bureaucracy, Cheney has made an indelible mark on the administration’s approach to everything...

This sounds like an open declaration of war: Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday accused former President Clinton of not responding forcefully enough to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing or later terrorist attacks. The former New York mayor criticized Democrats, accusing them of weakness and naivete in dealing with terrorism. Giuliani made the comments to about 650 business, corporate and political leaders at Regent University, the conservative Christian college founded by...

Governor Mike Huckabee now has his own Blog Talk Radio Show. I greatly encourage all of you to listen to it. Huckabee is, slowly but constantly, rising in the polls in some key states, and he is, perhaps not a potential president (looking at the money), but certainly a potential vice president, and a good one at that. I have to admit that I have a lot of sympathy for Huckabee. I do not agree with him on everything, but he seems to be a good man, who believes in what he does, and he is more of a uniter...

I am very happy to announce that at my blog we are joined today by another columnist. A short while ago, Rich Horton joined us, today Jessica Schneider does so as well. I am very happy that Jessica accepted my offer: she is one of the best writers and critics on the net (and she’s got a great sense of humor). You can read about Jessica here. Besides being a columnist for this blog, Jessica also has a blog of her own, she also runs one of the most successful independent literary websites on...

I read Jeff Gerth and Don van Natta’s biography of Hillary Clinton, Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton, and wrote a review about it for Monsters and Critics which can be read here. To say that I am not exactly positive about this book would be quite an understatement. This book was, in my opinion, not a biography but a hit piece, designed to point out Hillary’s flaws (which she obviously has) without pointing out her virtues.

The GTL wonders: “How Can The SAME Supreme Court Rule AGAINST “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” and IN FAVOR OF “Hallucinogins For Jesus”?” Dennis Sanders tells Republicans who are not happy with the influence of the Religious Right on their party, to stop complaining and get organized. Michael Linn Jones on Cheney the Chameleon. An interesting post by Carol Gee at The Reaction. Carol wonders: “hat does the investigative reporting of Seymour Hersh, the Washington Post...

Two articles at my own blog that might interest (some of) you: - Dems Attack Thompson: The Politico has an article up, claiming that the DNC has decided to go after Fred Thompson. As far as I am concerned it is all part of the game and, one thing that bugs me about Thompson: I simpy do not think that he will be a good President. He might be able to win the Republican nomination – who knows – but that does not make him a good president of the most powerful nation in the world. - Useless...

Major Bosshardt, who is well-known and loved by every Dutch person, has died at age 94. Boshart was a Major in the Salvation Army and dedicated her life to the poor and addicted. She first became famous because she regularly visited the red light zone in Amsterdam, to talk to prostitutes, to listen to their stories, and to be there for them: she did not condemn them, she loved them. When asked why she always went to prostitutes and drug addicts, she said that, in the end, we are all sinners and...

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about a religious group in Turkey called the Dönme, after reading an article about them at Forward.com (Jewish news). Before reading that article, I had never heard of the Dönme, but after reading it, I was fascinated and wanted to find out more about them. Little over a week ago, a person who wishes to remain anonymous, sent me a lot of articles about them, hoping that they would help me understand the Dönme better. They most surely did, so here is my follow-up...

To say that Tom Friedman does not exactly like the energy bill that recently passed the US Senate would be quite an understatement: When you watch a baby being born, after a difficult pregnancy, it is so painful and bloody for the mother it is always hard to tell the truth and say, “Gosh, that baby is really ugly.” But that’s how I feel about the energy legislation passed (and not passed) by the Senate last week. The whole Senate energy effort only reinforced my feelings that we’re...

Good news for Hillary Clinton and Fred Thompson (who has yet to officially announce his candidacy): the two of them lead the polls in Nevada. For the results click here.

It seems that Hillary Clinton has learned from the health care debacle in the 1990s: As first lady in the early 1990s, she tried to reshape the nation’s health care system — an audacious effort that collapsed under its own complexity, Republican opposition and the Clintons’ unwillingness to seek compromise with lawmakers. “I still have the scars to show for it,” she tells voters now, promising a more consensus-based approach to health care reform if she is elected president… Burned...

Mark Steyn on universal health care: I don’t have much to add to Jonah’s and Iain’s posts, but hey, that’s never stopped me before. So let me just say that I think socialized health care is the single biggest factor in transforming the relationship of the individual to the state. In fact, once it’s introduced it becomes very hard to have genuinely conservative government – certainly, not genuinely small government. I think I say in my book that in Continental...

A very interesting short contribution at the AEI website, written by Gary J. Schmitt. The title of the article: “To Be, or Not to Be . . . an Empire.” Read it in its entirety, here are the last three paragraphs: As former Reagan and Clinton administration official Stephen Sestanovich has argued, it is historically inaccurate to see George W. Bush’s foreign policy as marking “a dramatic departure from that of his predecessors.” When one examines “the primary security...

Fred Thompson’s secret weapon: IN the battle for the women’s vote, Fred Thompson has a secret weapon against Hillary Clinton – the legions of former girlfriends who still adore him and who want him to be president. The Hollywood actor and former Tennessee senator racked up an impressive list of conquests during his swinging bachelor days in the 1990s, but he appears to have achieved the impossible and kept their friendship and respect. For those who wonder, yes, this is British...

The Youth team of the Netherlands has won the European Championships soccer for players U21. Today they won in the final against Young Serbia, with 4-1. Goal scorers: Otman Bakkal, 1-0; Ryan Babel, 2-0; Maceo Rigters, 3-0; Mrdja, 3-1; Luigi Bruins, 4-1. Last year, we won this championship as well (for the first time in history). The U21 teams are considered to be the talents: we are looking forward to the coming years, when these players get older, stronger, and better and will, hopefully, compete...

Here are three interesting articles about the situation in Gaza: - Charles Krauthammer at NRO: Charles argues that the situation is, now, quite simple. The West and Israel should isolate Gaza, because the West cannot deal with a terrorist organization. Furthermore, Israel should adopt a zero tolerance policy towards Hamas / Gaza. “Israel should declare that it will tolerate no more rocket fire — that the next Qassam will be answered with a cutoff of gasoline shipments.” At the...

Victor David Hanson takes on critics of the surge in his latest article for NRO: Just as journalists, generals, and politicians rush to get into print another tell-all, I-know-the-answers book about the “disaster” in Iraq, so too in the 1990s the mini-Middle East publishing industry used to be devoted to equally furious attacks on realism, neo-isolation, and cynicism of Republicans and conservatives for an array of sins — sacrificing the Kurds and Shiites, not supporting Democratic...

My first review for Monsters and Critics has been published: the book I reviewed is A Mormon in the White House by Hugh Hewitt.

Bob Herbert writes: A huge ego and a few billion dollars can cause an awful lot of mischief. Michael Bloomberg is weighing a possible run for the White House. This is frightening for a couple of reasons. First, consider the prospect of a half-billion-dollars worth of 30-second Bloomberg-for-president ads running all day and all night on television screens in every part of the country. Americans of every persuasion will have images of the mayor of New York all but burned into their retinas. For Democrats,...