A cooler filled to bursting with cold bottled beers of various hues and pedigrees; bowls of chips, differently sized and shaped and spiced — with dips made from spinach and clam and dill-smoked salmon; platters of crisp cut veggies, chafing dishes filled with Asian-styled dumplings (with a ginger sesame sauce) and criminally spicy buffalo wings — the meat so soft it slides melting off the bone; summer sausage slices slathered

An instructive anecdote for this evening: Last year, I insulted the hostess of a New Year’s Eve party I was attending by smugly noting, “Uh, that’s not really champagne, — it’s sparkling wine,” when she tried to make what she called a “champagne toast” just before midnight. Not my fault, really — she was pouring from a bottle born in Sonoma, CA., which is no where near N.E. France… “So.

CNN is reporting that Japan has effectively abandoned the Kyoto Protocol. Additionally, the “nation’s deep economic slump is … likely to make corporate Japan fight harder against any measures that increase the costs of production.” Common sense is beginning to shine its light right on through that “CO2 blanket” we’ve heard so much about…

Writing for WorldNetDaily, Henry Lamb explains how a last-hour “unanimous consent” maneuver by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev) sought to enact legislation that otherwise “can’t stand the scrutiny of public debate and public opposition.” The bill — S. 990, The American Wildlife Enhancement Act of 2001 — passed, and Lamb is none too pleased: This particular bill should have been entitled ‘Screw-The-Landowner Act of 2001.’ It is one of several proposals

Writing for WorldNetDaily, Henry Lamb explains how a last-hour “unanimous consent” maneuver by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev) sought to enact legislation that otherwise “can’t stand the scrutiny of public debate and public opposition.” The bill — S. 990, The American Wildlife Enhancement Act of 2001 — passed, and Lamb is none too pleased: This particular bill should have been entitled ‘Screw-The-Landowner Act of 2001.’ It is one of several proposals

The Washington Post is reporting that “‘There will be no famine in Afghanistan this winter,’ according to Catherine Bertini, executive director of the UN World Food Programme, which trucks food into Afghanistan”: ‘There will be deaths, because the country was in a pre-famine condition this summer before the war started. But it will be isolated, and not large-scale.’ Earlier reports making this claim were based on an Iranian press release,

The Washington Post is reporting that “‘There will be no famine in Afghanistan this winter,’ according to Catherine Bertini, executive director of the UN World Food Programme, which trucks food into Afghanistan”: ‘There will be deaths, because the country was in a pre-famine condition this summer before the war started. But it will be isolated, and not large-scale.’ Earlier reports making this claim were based on an Iranian press release,

The New Republic’s running an “Ari Fleischer Out-of-the-Loop Watch” in its “Notebook” section. So, how out of the loop is he, according to TNR?: There was last February’s presidentially authorized strike on Iraq–a mission Fleischer learned about from the press. There was the stem-cell decision, Bush’s most important pre-9/11 policy announcement, which occurred while Fleischer was on vacation and was handled by Karen Hughes. And now Fleischer has admitted that

The New Republic’s running an “Ari Fleischer Out-of-the-Loop Watch” in its “Notebook” section. So, how out of the loop is he, according to TNR?: There was last February’s presidentially authorized strike on Iraq–a mission Fleischer learned about from the press. There was the stem-cell decision, Bush’s most important pre-9/11 policy announcement, which occurred while Fleischer was on vacation and was handled by Karen Hughes. And now Fleischer has admitted that

A Manhattan man who was trying to quit smoking, and who had “violent visions” about beating his wife and kids as a result, just won his family back after a long court battle, The New York Post reports… The odd case dates back to February 1999, when A.V. went to see the family nurse and told her “he had these nightmares and visions of violence,” Bloom said. The nurse referred