I just came across this li’l nugget — from NRO’s Jonah Goldberg, who’s down on the Corner, bloggin’ on the SOTU address: Okay, I admit this is unfair criticism…but I loathe the phrase ‘economic security’ and it makes me cringe that this was his biggest applause line. How come every civil libertarian in open-toed shoes thinks it’s brilliant to say something like ‘our security must not come at the cost

Jay Nordlinger spends a good bit of space in his latest NRO “Impromptus” column taking a big stick to Al Sharpton. Here’s a sample: There are a great many black Americans who are repulsed by the likes of Sharpton and Jackson; of course, they

“Israeli police rooftop marksmen, black-clad swat teams on motorcycles, and soldiers with M-16s swamped west Jerusalem yesterday in a hunt for a potential new threat on the streets of the holy city: female Palestinian bombers” — today’s Independent

The Washington Times today runs the story of Donald G. Arnold, “a Vietnam veteran and president of his neighborhood association” who “was named a ‘citizen of the year’ by Maryland in 2000 for his work with police in southeast Baltimore to stop drug dealers and make the city safer.” None of that mattered, however, when Mr. Arnold tried to renew his permit to carry a gun that he needed in

Michael Ledeen, writing for The National Review, says those who’ve been quick to jump on Colin Powell for his in-fighting with the DOD (like protein wisdom’s own Victor Milkwhite, for instance!) have been fantastically duped. Far from challenging the administration’s wishes, Ledeen argues, General Powell is merely acting like a convert to Foggy Bottom “realism.” In reality, all the world’s a stage — and on it, the U.S. is running

From the Department of Suburban Miracles: “A Milwaukee woman said that she sees an image of Jesus Christ on a tree right in her own back yard,” the The Milwaukee Channel reports. “Ella Huffin, 63, said she was stunned to see the holy image appear out of nowhere outside her northeast side Milwaukee home.” ‘A week before Christmas, I was sitting at the table looking out the window, and there

The New York Post confirms that “The Justice Department recently bought drapes to hide two mostly nude statues seen in the background during press conferences – but Attorney General John Ashcroft is denying he ordered the cover-up.” Comstock said an aide in Ashcroft’s office ordered the draperies, which she described as more like curtains, because it was more cost-effective to buy them than to rent them, as the Justice Department

“Police officials said Monday that they expect demonstrations at this week’s World Economic Forum will be mostly peaceful, but they plan to strictly enforce a century-old law barring groups of demonstrators from wearing masks,” The Washington Post reports. “Chief of Patrol Joseph Esposito said the law applies to groups of three or more. ‘Three or more with masks and they’re marching, they’re under arrest,’ he said.” Thousands of demonstrators are

Jacob Sullum has a really interesting Reason piece examining sexual predator laws, court-imposed “treatment” based on questionable “science,” and cirumvening double jeopardy. In “Sick and Wrong,” Sullum details the instructive story of Michael Crane, a convicted Kansas sex offender whose secondary conviction was recently overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court: On January 6, 1993, a half-hour after exposing his genitals at a tanning salon in Johnson County, Kansas, Michael Crane

“The U.S. attack submarine Greeneville, which collided with and sank a Japanese fishing boat last year, has collided with an American warship in the northern Arabian Sea but neither ship was in danger of sinking, the Pentagon has said. “Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said there were no injuries in the surface collision on Monday about 40 miles (64 km) off Oman, but a fuel tank on the amphibious Navy warship