Why Christmas Should be More Commercial

Christmas in America is an exuberant display of human ingenuity, capitalist productivity, and the enjoyment of life. Yet all of these are castigated as “materialistic”; the real meaning of the holiday, we are told, is assorted Nativity tales and altruist...

N.Y. Port Authority’s Forgotten Heroes

“Billy Blazes,” a New York firefighter action figure, is one of the biggest-selling items on the Christmas toy market this year. Also high on the holiday gift list: “FDNY” and “NYPD” caps, shirts and sweaters. The two city...

Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams: Grace Under Fire

Someday, many of their critics will apologize. Who am I talking about? Two economists, who happen to be black, Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams. For over 30 years, Thomas Sowell, currently with the Hoover Institution, and Walter Williams, chairman of the economics...

How John Walker Turned into a Taliban Terrorist

It isn’t the case that the parents of John Walker — the Marin County child of privilege turned Taliban terrorist — never drew the line with their son. True, they didn’t do so when he was 14 and his consuming passion was collecting hip-hop CDs...

Rocky Mountain Bigot?

NBA Denver Nuggets coach Dan Issel, after another tough loss at the buzzer, walked off the court toward the locker room. A fan, however, taunted the white coach, calling out, “Issel sucks.” Issel angrily fired back, “Hey, go buy another beer. Go...

Yassar Arafat’s Suicide Factory

In declaring his own war on terrorism last week, Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made a surprising claim. He said that Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, “is responsible for everything that is happening here,” a reference to the onslaught of...