Monthly Archives: December 2014
December 29, 2014 — Steven Hayward
There are a lot of myths and apocryphal stories about Churchill that can never quite be put down (such as the one that he was so drunk on one 1940 radio speech that he hired an actor to deliver it for him). The Churchill Center—you should join!—has a long list of the myths, along with links with the definitive information. My email box is exploding right now with readers wondering
»
December 29, 2014 — Scott Johnson
Gary Schneeberger of Grace Hill Media (a marketing firm established to reach “religious America”) has sent us the message and accompanying video below. Although it is a form message, it follows up where I left off in “There’s something about Louie.” Here is the message: By now you may have heard that UNBROKEN, the inspirational true-life story of war hero Louis Zamperini, blew away all industry estimates at the box
»
December 29, 2014 — John Hinderaker
In the wake of the murders of Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, armed attacks on law enforcement have continued across the country. In Florida, a drive-by shooter fired at two sheriff’s deputies. In North Carolina, two black men fired six shots at a police officer. In Los Angeles, two police officers were shot at in their patrol car. Are these enough incidents to constitute a trend? Let’s hope not. But
»
December 29, 2014 — Steven Hayward
Haven’t ever said much here about the issue of ocean acidification. The theory is that even if rising CO2 levels don’t lead to Thermageddon, it will nonetheless change ocean chemistry by making the ocean more acidic, threatening coral reefs, etc. My chemistry is so rusty that I don’t have much of an opinion about this hypothesis, and it does seem that a lot of the carbon dioxide that goes “missing”
»
December 29, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
President Obama promised that 2014 would be the year of the presidential “phone and pen.” Atypically, Obama delivered to some extent on that promise. For Obama, 2015 will be the year in which he eschews the phone and resorts even more to the pen. His controversial executive orders on amnesty and Cuba are just the tip of that iceberg. For years, leftist dominated federal agencies have been clamoring for an
»
December 29, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
If one headline summarizes 2014, it’s the title of this post (I say so in all modesty). It is a multi-purpose headline — one that applies, at a minimum, to Iraq, Syria, and Iran itself. When it comes to Iraq, no one has stated the facts more clearly than James Jeffrey, who served under President Obama as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq from 2010-2012. Here, via the Washington Post, is
»
December 28, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
In response to my post about Jim Webb’s presidential prospects, a reader suggests that Webb may actually be angling for the vice presidency: I wonder if Webb’s intent isn’t to become VP nominee. He simply informs Clinton, Warren, or whoever wins the nomination that they will not carry VA, NC, WV, & PA if he campaigns in those states for the Republican nominee which he will do if he is
»
December 28, 2014 — John Hinderaker
During Earth’s recent history, there has been a relationship between carbon dioxide and global temperatures: when temperatures rise, the concentration of CO2 subsequently rises, and when temperatures fall, CO2 concentration thereafter declines. Ice cores from Vostok in Antarctica have been studied intensively to analyze temperatures and concentrations of various gases over the course of millennia. Euan Mearns reviews the literature as it relates to both CO2 and methane: In their
»
December 28, 2014 — John Hinderaker
To a large degree, those who engage in violent protests are the same people, regardless of their alleged cause–anti-war, anti-economic development, anti-police. And those who organize the demonstrations are, likewise, largely the same groups, year after year. We wrote here about the fact that the Communist group A.N.S.W.E.R. is a chief organizer of the anti-police protests in New York. That post might have been the inspiration for this cartoon by
»
December 28, 2014 — Scott Johnson
The Washington Post found Rudy Giuliani guilty of telling a whopper when he stated recently: “We’ve had four months of propaganda, starting with the president, that everybody should hate the police.” On Face the Nation this morning, Major Garrett asked Giuliani if he wanted to retract his statement in light of the Washington’s Post’s verdict. In the video below, Giuliani not only declined; he explored the relevance of Obama’s go-to
»
December 28, 2014 — Scott Johnson
Making out a small case study in media bias, GQ found it remarkably difficult to identify an even mix of crazy Democrats and Republicans in its survey of “The 20 craziest politicians.” Seventeen of the 20 spots went to Republicans. In the New York Post Kyle Smith arrives to lend a hand. He identifies 16 crazy Dems overlooked by GQ. Vermont’s Democrat Bernie Sanders makes the list; Smith uses this
»
December 28, 2014 — Scott Johnson
Erin Burnett invited Rudy Giuliani to appear on CNN last week immediately following Giuliani’s visit to the grieving families of NYPD Officers Ramos and Liu. Breitbart posted the video below along with a transcript of the interview here. Burnett devoted the first question and perhaps 30 seconds to the murder of the two officers. After that she couldn’t wait to introduce yet one more statistic designed to create the impression
»
December 28, 2014 — Scott Johnson
Actor James Woods circulates the image below via Twitter (@RealJamesWoods) with the comment: “The real problem.” In my view it’s a real problem, not the real problem, but it’s a real big problem, so James Woods is close enough for full credit. I would like to credit the creator of that image as well as Woods; if you know who deserves the credit, please drop us a line at
[email protected].
»
December 27, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Tomorrow, the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys meet in the final game of the regular NFL season. Two years ago, these teams also played in the regular season finale. Then, first place in the NFC East was on the line. The Redskins, led by their brilliant rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III, prevailed. Tomorrow, nothing much is on the line. The Cowboys have already won the NFC East; the Redskins
»
December 27, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Let me begin by confessing my weakness for pundits who produce original and/or against-the-grain ideas. I also confess to the related tendency of preferring a plausible but misguided center-right defense of President Obama’s latest offensive policy initiative to the umpteenth denunciation of the policy on sound conservative grounds. These weaknesses help explain why I like David Brooks’ work. He’s the rare opinion-writer who comes up with ideas that I not
»
December 27, 2014 — John Hinderaker
By any reasonable standard, the Obama administration has been a train wreck. But that doesn’t prevent our state media from fawning over him as though he were the reincarnation of George Washington. Here, it is CBS, telling us that Obama is a “foodie” who eats at the trendiest restaurants, is “far hipper” than other presidents; in particular, “so much cooler than President Bush.” Actually, if you watch to the end
»
December 27, 2014 — John Hinderaker
Some 25,000 policemen turned out for the funeral of NYPD officer Rafael Ramos in Queens, some of them flown to New York, free of charge, by Jet Blue. This was the sea of blue outside the church where the funeral was held: Ramos’s family, before the service. I had not realized it, but Ramos reportedly was studying to be a minister: Mayor de Blasio has been trying to mend fences
»
