Category: The American Spectator
A Righteous Man in Japan
In the early 1940s, in the middle of World War II, a young Jewish student was arrested for wearing tefillin, phylacteries traditionally placed on the arm and head during prayer, on the rooftop of a store. This was somewhat of a surprise, for he was neither in Berlin nor Warsaw, but rather Kobe, Japan. Thousands of European Jews had obtained visas through the heroic kindness of Chiune Sugihara, vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kaunas, Lithuania, who risked his life to provide safe passage out of the reach of the Nazis and into Japanese territory. Included among these survivors were many students and teachers of the renowned Mirrer Yeshiva.
The post A Righteous Man in Japan appeared first on .
Rushdie on Death and Dying (While Remaining Alive and Well)
Through no fault of his own, the author Sir Salman Rushdie has become the English-speaking world’s premier purveyor of writing about death. The brutal reason for this is that, on August 12, 2022, Rushdie was stabbed several times in Chautauqua, New York, while preparing to give a talk—about, ironically enough, the United States as a place of safety for writers fleeing their home countries. Rushdie survived, miraculously, but lost an eye and the use of one hand in the process. His attacker, Hadi Matar, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for attempted murder, and now faces federal charges of terrorism under the auspices of Hezbollah.
The post Rushdie on Death and Dying (While Remaining Alive and Well) appeared first on .
Battleships and Beyond: How To Stop China From Dominating the High Seas
The effects of Nicolás Maduro’s sudden downfall are now rippling far beyond the Caribbean basin. To wit, the U.S. military toppling the Venezuelan dictator without breaking a sweat is a humiliation for the Chinese Communist Party, which cannot dominate even its immediate neighborhood because of American armed might. Xi Jinping seeks not only to drive our military out of the Western Pacific, but also to build his own globe-spanning forces. If he succeeds, China will inhibit America’s ability to defend its interests even close to its shores.
The post Battleships and Beyond: How To Stop China From Dominating the High Seas appeared first on .
Aldrich Ames and the Enemy Within
I had a friend, a Soviet-East Europe Division case officer in the Central Intelligence Agency who served in Moscow in the 1980s. He was extremely well-suited to operations behind the Iron Curtain: He had a preternatural capacity to know where he was even in areas of Moscow he’d never been to. Maps and photographs once seen were never forgotten, giving him a continuous visual feed as he ran endurance contests against the omnipresent possibility of KGB surveillance. After a few runs, something dawned on him: His agent never made mistakes in his clandestine communications and routines. Everything was perfect.
The post Aldrich Ames and the Enemy Within appeared first on .
A Bag of Rocks for $400,000?
On a social media site the other day, someone posted a single sentence to the effect that he’d tried once…
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Utopian Future?
Utopia awaits in New York City. Karl Marx has been reincarnated, in spirit if not life, as newly inaugurated Mayor…
I Have a Knack for Divination
I’m not going to feign a modesty that, like all writers, I lack. I’m pleased to quote myself: “Beyond bombing,…
America’s Cultural Chasm: Family v. Individualism
The future of humanity rests not upon government, but with the family. A principle that is as bold as it…
Exit the Hollywood Women, Part 2 — Kathleen Kennedy
I was never much of a Star Wars fan. I was a devoted Star Trekker — original show and films…
