Victor Davis Hanson, speaking on Western virtues, in The National Review: Western society at its worst has also suffered from the same age-old sins of human nature prevalent everywhere and at every age

Collin Levey’s WSJ Opinion Journal article, “Anticircus Freaks,” contains wonderful words of social defiance from Ringling Bros. producer Kenneth Feld. Feld has begun taking on such bullying special interest groups as PETA by fighting their nuissance suits in court, usually successfully: ‘A small group of extremists does not have the right to impose their radical views on the people […] to prevent the majority, who want to see animals in

“The Miss America Organization might be saying adios to Atlantic City after this year’s pageant,” Debra Saunders points out in her latest column. “Its board of directors has been looking at other cities. I nominate Berkeley.” […] Of course, limiting the pageant to young ladies is likely to violate Berkeley’s refined sense of diversity. The City Council, of course, could pass a resolution inviting the organization to broaden its standards

“A group of scientists are experimenting with the worst smells imaginable to help the military develop an “odor bomb” so foul it could clear crowds,” according to this AP report. `What they would be interested in is something to keep people out of certain areas,’ said Pamela Dalton, a researcher at the Philadelphia-based Monell Chemical Senses Center. `We are going for odors that every culture has experienced and the experience

From EETimes: Radio-frequency identification chips, which have found a home in applications ranging from toll road passes to smart retail shelves, may be close to taking up residence in the human body. A Florida-based company has introduced a passive RFID chip that is compatible with human tissue, and the developer is proposing the chip for use on implantable pacemakers, defibrillators and artificial joints. The company, Applied Digital Solutions (Palm Beach,

Jay Nordlinger’s latest “Impromptus” column in The National Review is chock full of great stuff, including this bit on Helen Thomas: I

“Remember when we used to ‘degrade’ our enemies? Now we kill them,” Gloria Borger muses in this month’s U.S. News and World Report. In her essay, “In praise of straight talk,” Borger writes: We’re into the simple truth, which is not a bad thing — particularly for Bush, who has never been known for his ornate communication skills. Maybe Bush is benefiting once again from low expectations. Or maybe, offers

“The cleanup of the World Trade Center site is on pace to be finished by June, the New York Times reported, citing officials working on the cleanup.” The cleanup is progressing faster than city officials and real estate developers expected, and may create pressure to come up with a concrete redevelopment plan, the paper said. Public hearings on the development of the site could begin within six weeks, the paper

The Telegraph is reporting that Iraq may have acquired “a radar system capable of detecting America’s multi-billion-pound fleet of stealth bombers. The radar is believed to be the same Czech-built type used by Serb forces to shoot down a US F117 Nighthawk stealth bomber and seriously damage another during the war in Kosovo in 1999,” the story reports: US intelligence chiefs believe that Iraqi generals attempted to buy a system

The Village Voice is reporting (via Interfax) that “More than half of Russian citizens (55.1%), if offered a choice, prefer life before the reform launched in 1991 to their present-day life.” Less than one third of those polled (32.6%) prefer today’s life, and 12.3% of the respondents were undecided. The poll of 2,000 respondents was conducted by the ROMIR-Gallup International independent opinion research group on New Year’s Eve.