A beggar’s book outworths a noble’s blood. —Henry VIII, Act I, Scene I Above the piano in our living room hangs a painting by the French neo-impressionist Jan Bonal. It is a pointillist Parisian street scene, executed much in the…
When great moral-political issues are at stake, U.S. presidents and various leaders worldwide have contemplated boycotting the Olympics. It has happened a number of times with a bunch of nations. The United States boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow…
France came back from an early two-point deficit, saved a tie in the last minutes of overtime, then fell short in penalty kicks to give soccer’s FIFA world cup to Argentina in a dramatic final in Qatar. It was the…
The age of men posing as women to secure easy athletic victories appears to be dead in the water, at least in swimming. On Sunday, FINA, the international governing body for swimming, voted to prohibit male transgender athletes from participating…
The ongoing saga of the NBA’s love affair with a repressive state took an interesting turn last month when Enes Kanter Freedom was cut from an NBA roster. Thus has been eliminated the only player in the league with the…
The Beijing Games are in the books, boycotts and protestations notwithstanding. For viewers — those few who watched — it was 17 days of soaring triumphs and crushing defeats, of medal-stand tears and post-event sob sessions. But for our Olympians,…
Eileen Gu, 18, was crowned the winner in the Olympics’ first-ever Big Air Freeski event after landing a double cork 1620 on Monday. In the daring event, skiers perform tricks in the air after shooting down a 60-foot-long ramp. Gu,…
Here we are on the cusp of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, and what is nobody talking about? The athletes and the competition in the Winter Olympics in Beijing. We haven’t heard much about the speed skating competition, the latest…
A few days ago, Washington Post reporter Josh Rogin — author of Chaos Under Heaven, which details the struggle over China policy within the Trump administration — appeared on The John Batchelor Show to discuss what Rogin has called the…
There is an Irish song much beloved in Australia that tells of a young man in Ireland who steals some corn and is sentenced to a penal colony in Australia but keeps hope alive because he is in love and…