This morning, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) released its findings of the government’s response to protests that occurred in February and March. The findings were expected to be critical and hold the government accountable for the abuse that took place. They did not disappoint. Placing significant emphasis on Bahrain’s security services, the report documents the numerous human rights violations that took place. In his address following BICI Chair Cherif Bassiouni’s remarks, King Hamad vowed that he will do everything possible to ensure that the atrocities that took place …
This Thursday, millions of families will celebrate Thanksgiving with roasted turkey, buttery mashed potatoes, and (with only a slight amount of guilt) another piece of pumpkin pie. But in early America, days of Thanksgiving weren’t always about food. Reflecting American religious practice, Presidents and Congresses from the beginning of the republic have from time to time designated days of fasting and thanksgiving (the Thanksgiving holiday we continue to celebrate on the third Thursday of November was established by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War). Following a resolution of Congress, President …
Churches will be aglow on Thanksgiving as families gather to express their gratitude for the blessings they’ve experienced. Their continuing presence in the pews would bode well for our nation as well, given that decades of sociological studies have documented the relationship between church attendance and charitable giving, volunteerism, and civic involvement. In a comprehensive study of charity in America, Who Really Cares, American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks found that those who attend church weekly are more likely to donate money to a charitable cause than peers who seldom …
This week at The Republican National Security Debate, hosted on CNN by The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute, an electromagnetic pulse attack (EMP) was mentioned as one of the most important national security issues that is not discussed often. This is true. Despite the gravity of the threat, the United States remains unprotected from the effects of an EMP. An EMP is a high-intensity burst of electromagnetic energy caused by a rapid acceleration of charged particles. The EMP would disrupt all electronic devices within its zone of impact. …
The U.S. State Department recently announced that the United States will cease carrying out certain obligations under the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty with regard to Russia. The CFE Treaty, which entered into force in 1992, sets ceilings on key armaments essential for conducting surprise attacks and initiating large-scale offensive operations among North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and former Warsaw Pact members. This is a late and absolutely inadequate response—after all, Russia ceased implementation of the treaty with respect to all other parties in 2007. So what does …
This week is a time of giving thanks, and one of the most treasured gifts for which many Americans are thankful is freedom. In the West, freedom lies at the center of an inherited tradition that goes by the name “liberal,” from the Latin liber, meaning “free.” To sustain genuine freedom, we bear the responsibility of understanding the roots of this tradition and preserving it from error, perversion, and decay. Today in Washington, D.C., the word liberal carries connotations of big government and left-leaning political ideology. The same is probably …
Earlier this month, the National Center for Education Statistics released another round of results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card. While both fourth- and eighth-grade math scores saw modest increases, this glimmer of good news is dimmed, unfortunately, by persistently flat reading scores. Since 1996, fourth-graders’ math skills have improved significantly—by some 17 points on a 500-point scale, and eighth-grade math has improved 14 points over the same time period. However, since 1998, fourth-graders have improved their reading scores by just …
In an op-ed for FOX News Heritage’s Jim Carafano lays out policy ideas that can lead to true immigration reform. The main argument was that immigration reform cannot begin with Amnesty. There are many other ways to confront the problem of illegal immigration, but Amnesty is a “non-starter” The first thing we must do, Carafano argues, is secure our borders. This will require a partnership with Mexico. Carafano states: …we can and must do more stateside to secure the border. But we need sensible security measures, with D.C., the states …
This Thanksgiving, American families will gather around plump turkeys and homemade stuffing to share good food and good conversation with loved ones and family members. The benefits of the quality time families spend together over the Thanksgiving feast can go well beyond the last slice of pumpkin pie. As a brand new chart on Heritage’s FamilyFacts.org shows, sharing meals with family members can mean much more than full stomachs and plentiful leftovers. Teens who eat dinner five or more times per week with their families are at least half as …
Don’t say the wheels of government always spin slowly. When there is an agenda at work, they can move with considerable speed, and in the deconstruction of American overseas broadcasting, things are moving fast. Consider a new feasibility study completed on November 10 regarding a merger of three major entities of U.S. international broadcasting: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (FRE/RL), Radio Free Asia (FRA), and the Middle East Broadcasting Network (MEBN). These are three critical components of U.S. public diplomacy—in the case of RFE/RL, going back to the beginning of the …
