Monthly Archives: December 2007

December 19, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Tom Friedman strikes again

We commented on the AP’s Kyoto revisionism in “The AP strikes again” this past September, noting an AP story stating: Under the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton, the United States joined a U.N. meeting in Kyoto and agreed to the protocol. But the United States rejected it under the administration of President George W. Bush, Clinton’s successor. Readers with a long memory may recall that the United States never »
December 19, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Hollywood at War

Today we continue with our preview of the new (Winter) issue of the Claremont Review of Books wiith the second of three pieces that we are previewing here. The entire issue is now available to subscribers online. Subscribers can access every article individually or download the entire issue (artwork included) in PDF. Subscribe here. In “Whatever It Takes,” CRB film and teleision columnist Martha Bayles takes a look at four »
December 18, 2007 — John Hinderaker

61 In 61

We’ve had our differences over the years with Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman, but today he wrote an excellent column on a timely topic: Roger Maris. I had lost sight of the fact that Maris still holds the American League home run record, with 61. He achieved that mark in 1961, an epic season in which both Maris and teammate Mickey Mantle chased the seemingly unattainable record set by »
December 18, 2007 — John Hinderaker

Christmas Comes to Washington

Tonight, the Senate passed a $555 billion omnibus appropriations bill combining $70 billion in funding for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with the budgets of 14 Cabinet agencies. The military portion of the bill passed easily, 70-25, perhaps reflecting growing popular awareness of progress in Iraq. Thus, some observers hailed the vote as a victory for President Bush. On the domestic front, however, it appears that there is little »
December 18, 2007 — John Hinderaker

Many Voters Still Not Buying Hillary

Hillary Clinton has always had an electability problem. In the current campaign cycle, she has presented herself to a national audience for the first time as candidate rather than wife. Recent headlines suggest that she is working at making herself more likable. So far, though, it appears that many voters are able to resist Hillary’s appeal: Forty percent of Americans say they would vote to keep Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton »
December 18, 2007 — Scott Johnson

In War: Resolution

Regular readers of Power Line may recall that I have occasionally declared the Claremont Review of Books to be my favorite magazine. Our friends at the CRB have just put the new (Winter) issue to bed and we’ve been afforded the privilege of previewing three pieces from the new issue this week. The entire issue is now available to subscribers online as soon as it’s published. Subscribers can access every »
December 17, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

Another Arizona Republican throws in with Russ Feingold on “ethics” legislation

John Fund reports on an effort by certain Senators, including the normally sensible Jon Kyl, to restrict the ability of federal judges to obtain continuing legal education and to appear at private law schools where they might educate others. The effort takes the form of an amendment to legislation raising the pay of federal judges. The amendment would ban federal judges from attending non-government or bar association-sponsored seminars and educational »
December 17, 2007 — John Hinderaker

It’s Dangerous…

…to be a Christian in Turkey. Yesterday, another Catholic priest was attacked in Ankara. He was stabbed, fortunately not fatally. The priest, Adriano Franchini, was at least the fifth to be shot, stabbed or otherwise attacked in Turkey since February 2006. Is Turkey still considered the model of a moderate Islamic republic? To comment on this post, go here. »
December 17, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Captions for the crying Dutchman

The pressures entailed in saving the world overcame Dutch diplomat Yvo de Boer — Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change — at the UNFCC’s Bali conference last week. The Daily Mail dubs him “the crying Dutchman.” Six of these ten captions made me laugh. »
December 17, 2007 — John Hinderaker

China’s Economy: Not So Big After All

Most measures of countries’ economies are distorted by currency exchange rates. The World Bank has developed a new method of measuring economic activity that is intended to correct for this distortion. The results are quite interesting: The size of China’s economy is overestimated by some 40 percent based on most current measures, but is the world’s second largest, the World Bank said Monday. In a report ranking the world’s economies, »
December 17, 2007 — John Hinderaker

How Bleak is the Senate Landscape for 2008?

For Republicans, it’s pretty bleak, no doubt about it. The raw numbers, in terms of open seats and candidates up for re-election, heavily favor the Democrats. Still, the picture may be lightening a bit. In the Washington Post, Chris Cillizza writes that the Democrats’ giddy hopes of achieving a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority are fading: For a few months this fall, it appeared as though Senate Democrats had a real chance »
December 17, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

Does the Lieberman endorsement matter?

Yesterday, Scott asked whether “Joe Lieberman swing[s] Republican votes in New Hampshire.” The answer may well be that he does not. However, Lieberman’s endorsement of John McCain has the potential to induce independent voters to support McCain in that state. During the town hall meeting I attended in Rochester, New Hampshire and its aftermath, I sensed a yearning among voters for a substantial reduction of hostilities between the two parties. »
December 17, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Notes on Tom Friedman’s carbon footprint

A former neighbor of New York Times columnist Tom Friedman comments on Friedman’s epiphany in Bali yesterday. Sounding like the late Charles Reich, Friedman observed “a change in global consciousness” on display among the assembled UNuchs in Bali. I commented briefly on the Bali conferenece and drew attention to Friedman’s column in “The end is nigh.” Friedman’s former neighbor writes: I took note of your piece on the Bali conference »
December 17, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Doing that wudu at Normandale Community College

Minneapolis Star Tribune metro columnist Katherine Kersten has located the Twin Cities’ newest mosque, on public property at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota. Kersten reports: Last week, I visited a Muslim place of worship. A schedule for Islam’s five daily prayers was posted at the entrance, near a sign requesting that shoes be removed. Inside, a barrier divided men’s and women’s prayer space, an arrow informed worshippers of the »
December 17, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Axis of Evil: Coming soon to a neighborhood near you

Todd Bensman is the outstanding reporter for the San Antonio Express News whose work we previously drew attention to in “Breaching America: Todd Bensman’s findings,” and other related posts. Now the Express News has sent Bensman to Nicaragua and Bensmam has come away with a journalistic bombshell regarding Iran’s move into Nicaragua. Bensman’s story is “Iran making move into Nicaragua.” Is anyone paying attention? To comment on this post, go »
December 17, 2007 — Scott Johnson

Lost: The traditional pleasures of everyday life by the sea

Charles Johnson takes his patented note of the glorified terrorist propaganda that routinely passes for news and analysis in the mainstream media. Charles is somehow immune to the pathos Washington Post reporter Scott Wilson evokes for the citzens of Hamastan in “Sealed off by Israel, Gaza reduced to beggary.” It is the burden of Wilson’s story to document the extreme depredations inflicted by Israel on the citizens of Hamastan. The »
December 16, 2007 — Paul Mirengoff

The Yak attack continues

Yakubu scored again for Everton yesterday in a »