I am told that Barack Obama has announced the return of soft power. Soft power is a term used in international relations theory to describe the ability of a political body, such as a state, to indirectly influence the behavior or interests of other political bodies through cultural or ideological me...

The really great Naqshbandi website says this about "Shaykh Ahmad al-Faruqi as-Sirhindi" He was the Pearl of the Crown of the Knowledgeable Saints. He was the Treasure of Those who Came Before and of Those who Came After. In him were combined all their favors and generosity. He was the Sinai of Divi...

Russian warships approached Venezuela Monday for upcoming joint maneuvers -- Moscow's first military presence in the region since the Cold War -- as Washington closely monitored the situation. Venezuelan defense officials said the ships, including the nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great and dest...

Thus quoteth STEYN: I didn't think I could like Sarah Palin more than I do, but the nancy boys at MSNBC bleating all over the screen about the Great Turkey Carnage is hilarious. This is a great caption: TURKEYS DIE AS GOVERNOR PALIN TAKES QUESTIONS FROM MEDIA Or was it: MEDIA DIE AS GOVERNOR PALIN T...

Here is a good measure of what a changing spectrum means from David Corn, ex of The Nation now Washington Bureau Chief of Mother Jones on the "transition" Well, I looked at the people who have been announced so far who are making up the transition team, those who are conducting the reviews at the ag...

HAARETZ, this year: The United States security coordinator for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, retired general James Jones, is preparing an extremely critical report of Israel's policies in the territories and its attitude toward the Palestinian Authority's security services. A few copies of the r...

Way back in January I posted about what happens if the American consumer stops spending (over his head). We are self employed. Much of our business depends on our clients being able to lease equipment. Like you, Always On Watch, our largest expenditure is health care. $1458/month for 2. We see no so...

Egyptian police rounded up hundreds of teenage boys in Cairo in a day-long crackdown on sexual harassment, a police official said on Thursday. "We have arrested a large number of boys who were flirting with girls," Cairo's police director Faruq Lashin told AFP. About 400 teenagers, aged between 15 a...

Mr Charisse whose paper publishes Diana West's columns, has come across with this: I am, however, getting ready to pull the plug on Diana West, whose column often appears on Saturdays in The Evening Sun. In an October 2007 column written when we had to replace some of our other columnists, I said We...

Salon: But what really thrills me, what really feels liberating in a very personal way, is the official new prominence of Michelle Obama. Barack's better half not only has stature but is statuesque. She has coruscating intelligence, beauty, style and -- drumroll, please -- a butt. (Yes, you read tha...