Beginning at noon EDT, American Thinker will be switching to an upgraded publishing platform. Although the look of our site will stay the same, behind the scenes, there will be considerable work going on. It is possible that readers will experience an outage of AT service for a reasonably short period of time, as the old software is uninstalled, and the new software activated. Please bear with us during any service interruption you might experience. The new software will require a period of...
The American media have ignored the story, but President Obama, fresh off his gum-chewing appearance at the Joplin victims memorial service continued his pattern of treating solemn occasions lightly by playing his 70th round of presidential golf while the nation mourned is fallen military heroes. He did manage to visit Arlington National Cemetary, at least (corrected). It took a Brit, the great Nile Gardiner of the Telegraph, to call out the disgrace: Does it matter if the president chooses to play golf...
Is wearing a plain white T-shirt a sign of membership in a white supremacist group? Apparently so, at least according to a government school principal in Soquel, California (a suburb of PC Central Santa Cruz). A local television station covered the story (hat tip: the Blaze): One of the alleged white supremacists calls himself an Asian. Is this political correctness run amok? Recall that students in Morgan Hill, California, roughly 20 miles from Soquel, were sent home for wearing American flag T-shirts,...
Would someone please remove the banana from the economy's tail pipe?Wall Street Journal: After a disappointing first quarter, economists largely predicted the U.S. recovery would ramp back up as short-term disruptions such as higher gas prices, bad weather and supply problems in Japan subsided. But there's little indication that's happening. Manufacturing is cooling, the housing market is struggling and consumers are keeping a close eye on spending, meaning the U.S. economy might be on a slower path to full health than expected. "It's...
Tomorrow, it is expected that a widely watched housing index will show that prices for homes are lower than they were at the bottom of the housing crash two years ago.In other words, you ain't seen nothing yet. The New York Times: Disenchantment with real estate is bound to swell further on Tuesday when the most widely watched housing index is all but guaranteed to show that prices of existing homes sank in March below the lows reached two years ago - until...
Well, not necessarily "news" news. It's just another foreign leader announcing that Gaddafi has agreed to a cease fire - which he hasn't - and that the rebels have already rejected,making the leader - in this case, South African President Zuma - look faintly ridiculous.But this story somehow made it closer to the front page than any Libyan story in a month. The fact is, NATO may soon be looking for a way out of this mess, and these occasional forays by peacemakers...
Many readers already know that late last week, a twitter account belonging to Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner sent out a picture of a man's underwear showing a tumescent male member, normally the type of distasteful story we would prefer to ignore. However, the changing story offered by the Congressman, known for his self-righteous criticism of political opponents, requires coverage. As the old saying goes, it's not the scandal, it's the cover-up that counts.Here is the original post that appeared on Andrew Breitbart's Big...
When is it permissible if you're a Muslim to kill children?Any old time, says Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah -- just as long as the child is an Israeli child.Ynet News: Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah, considered one of the Islamic Republic's most radical clerics, issued a religious edict on his website whereby suicide attacks are not only legitimate but are a must for every Muslim, a special paper by the Middle East Media Research Institute shows.[...]The follower presented another question regarding Islam's position on...
The Pentagon has concluded that an organized cyber attack on the United States might warrant a military response.The conclusion is part of a strategy, parts of which will be unclassified next month, that deals with the question of hackers disrupting power or communications networks in the United States.Wall Street Journal: Recent attacks on the Pentagon's own systems-as well as the sabotaging of Iran's nuclear program via the Stuxnet computer worm-have given new urgency to U.S. efforts to develop a more formalized approach to...
Among 116 electric cars that the Obama administration intends to buy with taxpayer money, 101 will be Chevy Volts. The program will also include installing charging stations in San Francisco, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Diego and Washington, D.C.According to USA Today, "The moves are mostly symbolic to show the government is doing its part in trying to reduce America's dependence on oil." The electric cars are projected to save taxpayers a total of $116,000 in fuel costs-presumably annually. USA Today did not specify.With...
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Unbelievably, President Barack Obama sat in public chewing gum at the memorial service for victims of the Joplin tornado. Right there in the front row. Watch the video below and see.Is it nicotine gum? That is the most plausible explanation for this gross violation of propriety. Obama had a bad week in Europe, blundering badly with his toast to the Queen of England, humiliated before the world by speaking the magic line that cued the orchestra to play Britain's National Anthem, "God save...
An apartment dweller in South Beach Miami posted a shocking video online (video is now removed) just hours after violence erupted outside his window early Monday morning. The streets were filled with the annual Urban Beach Week partiers who have descended on the town since 2001.The event, which draws hundreds of thousands of people including famous performers like Ludacris and Busta Rhymes, usually drives locals out of town for the weekend. Miami Beach Commissioner Ed Tobin told a Miami Herald reporter just two days...
Germany, a nation known throughout its history as having a penchant for national suicide, is about to repeat the process. The coalition government of Andrea Merkel has decided to scrap all nuclear power generation by 2022. Additionally the country will switch off 17 plants this year and the other nine by 2022. This as a reaction to the Fukushima nuclear melt-down and re-election requirements.They will instead rely on renewable energy for the shortfall of 35% of electricity that nuclear power plants now produce. ...
In the three months since the release of my book, Deconstructing Obama, I have learned more about the media than in the thirty years before. In the video that follows producer Chris Kusnell does an excellent job of distilling my education into seven action packed minutes.If there is a take-way message it is this: although the right has plenty of media outlets, as long as we merely react to the news that the left creates and shy from making news on our own,...
What's illegal for you and me is legal for them. Valerie Richardson in the Washington Times:It's no secret that members of Congress qualify as political insiders, but a new report strongly suggests that they also may be insiders when it comes to trading stocks.An extensive study released Wednesday in the journal Business and Politics found that the investments of members of the House of Representativesoutperformed those of the average investor by 55 basis points per month, or 6 percent annually, suggesting that lawmakers are taking advantage...
The only reason I am highlighting this piece in the Guardian is because it is a textbook example of everything that's wrong with climate change advocates.Greenhouse gas emissions increased by a record amount last year, to the highest carbon output in history, putting hopes of holding global warming to safe levels all but out of reach, according to unpublished estimates from the International Energy Agency.The shock rise means the goal of preventing a temperature rise of more than 2 degrees Celsius - which...
She may be the GOP's secret weapon in 2012 - despite the fact that she's a Democrat.And the Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee to boot.Deborah Wasserman-Schultz is a bomb thrower who suffers from a bad case of hoof in mouth disease, as well as enjoying the dubious distinction of having some of her most vitriolic attacks blow up in her face.To wit: She attacked GOP presidential candidates for favoring foreign car companies but owns a Japanese car herself. She accused the GOP...
Is it my imagination or are the forces of extremist Islam on the march throughout the Muslim world?The Christian Science Monitor: Islamist militants took over the southern coastal city of Zinjibar (see map) this weekend, bolstering claims that Yemen's unrest, which borders on civil war, is leaving a vacuum that is allowing militants to gain strength. The clashes with the government have so far been concentrated in the north, around Sanaa.About 300 militants took over the city Sunday after government forces stationed there...
Hot on the heels of my post yesterday where it was reported that the IMF is refusing to release the last payment to Greece because there is no guarantee they can make good on its current debt next year, news comes from Brussels that the EU is "racing" to put together yet another bailout package.This one is for 65 billion Euros on top of the 110 billion already spent by the Greeks. Reuters: Greece took a 110 billion euros ($158 billion) rescue package...
It's not often this old Airborne line doggie (that's a paratrooper infantryman for those of you unfamiliar with military lingo) gets a thrill up his leg, to borrow a phrase from someone I'm sure knows absolutely nothing about military lingo. But for the past year or two, my old soldier's heart has been going pitter-pat every time retired Army Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) and now Florida Congressman Allen West is featured on one or other of the FOX News shows or on one of...
This tragedy was either the result of bad intel or mistaken identity. The BBC: Afghan officials say all those killed were women and children. The strike took place in Nawzad district after a US Marines base came under attack. The air strike, targeted at insurgents, struck two civilian homes, killing two women and 12 children, reports say. "The president called this incident a great mistake and the murdering of Afghanistan's children and women, and on behalf of the Afghan people gives his last...
Those who are familiar with my writings elsewhere know that I have no great love for Sarah Palin. But no matter what you think of her, there is little doubt that she has unerring political instincts that would make her a formidable candidate for president. Yesterday, she made a stop at the Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally for vets and was immediately swarmed by press and fans - to the point that some of the bikers became agitated about the feeding frenzy and pushed...
StrategyPage.com has a nice summary of what's happening in Syria as the repression apparatus of the state is failing to keep a lid on unrest: Police states are now under more pressure because of the growing popular unrest, and Syria is a test of whether the traditional means of repression will work. In economic terms, only about ten percent of the population benefit from a dictatorship. This fraction of the population supplies the manpower for the secret police (about 50,000 full-timers on the...
On this Memorial Day Weekend in the United States Americans should pause to honor the brave men and women of the Armed Forces who are fighting and dying to protect freedom and the American way of life in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places around the world. They should then reflect on what and who America's real enemies are.There are really only two principal answers to that...Islam and all those who enable it to further its raison d'etre of conquering the United States and...
First, the Brotherhood in Egypt said they would only contest half the seats in Parliament. It's more like 75% now. Then they said they wouldn't put up a candidate for president. They now have two.Gosh - ya think they want to take over the country, or something? Muslim Brotherhood Sheikh Hazem Abu Ismail announced his intention to run in Egypt's upcoming presidential elections.He said that if elected he would implement Islamic sharia law and cancel the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.Ismail was...
Here's a shocker: Michelle Obama has trouble keeping staff. Despite the effort by Julie Mason and Amie Parnes to soft-peddle their Politico report regarding the high turnover rate on the FLOTUS's staff, the message comes through loud and clear.The first lady is a lovely woman, but she's tough as nails and that can be hard for some people...She has really high expectations.Apparently the source of this quote wanted to remain unidentified, that is to say, employed. Titled "Spotlight takes its toll on First...
Nearly every time I suggest to someone that Israel needs to declare complete sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, I am bombarded with doubts and accusations - "Are you crazy, it can't be done!" "What will the world say?", "America will not allow us", "We'll be boycotted and perhaps attacked", "We'll lose the Jewish majority in Israel", etc, etc.Although it's true that it's a complicated issue, my initial response to the valid concerns is to temporarily change the subject. Thus, rather than addressing each...
It's not front page news because if it was, it would panic Euro investors. But very quietly, a review of Greece's compliance with IMF strictures regarding its deficit is not going well because the Greeks cannot agree on implementing the austerity measures demanded by the IMF. In short, things are getting worse, not better despite the massive amounts of Euros dumped into the Greek economy.This means that Athens will not be able to use its debt as collateral when borrowing from European banks....
Iran is taking steps to insure that the polluting thoughts of freedom and openness are kept out of the homes of their citizens by establishing its own version of the internet.Wall Street Journal: The unusual initiative appears part of a broader effort to confront what the regime now considers a major threat: an online invasion of Western ideas, culture and influence, primarily originating from the U.S. In recent speeches, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials have called this emerging...
