articles 12/29

New Democrats Online
The Road Back
If Democrats want to be a majority party again, they need to win back the middle class.
By Al From and Bruce Reed

Wired News
Stem-Cell Method May Cheat Death
Reproduction experts in Chicago might have an elegant solution to the explosive moral dilemma posed by embryonic stem-cell research.
By Kristen Philipkoski.

Wired
The BitTorrent Effect
Movie studios hate it. File-swappers love it. Bram Cohen's blazing-fast P2P software has turned the Internet into a universal TiVo.

Time to Kill the Embargo
Press embargoes may have served a useful purpose at some point, but now they are mostly PR tools. So let the information flow.
by Adam L. Penenberg.

Blue: The Next Orange?
Forget reform. The U.N. needs regime change.
by Claudia Rosett

Leave Rumsfeld Be
He is not to blame for our difficulties.
by Victor Davis Hanson

Rumsfeld’s Baby and the Bathwater
The secretary, the military, and transformation.
By John Hillen

NY Times
Director of Analysis Branch at the C.I.A. Is Being Removed

NY Times
Looking for Cuts, Pentagon Turns to Jet Fighter Program

Is it Oslo mania all over again?
by Joel Mowbray
Just as Arafat delivered an accord as expected at Oslo, all indications are that Abbas will soon sign on the dotted line.

Kofi's stingy uncle
by Jonah Goldberg
As of this writing the death toll in Asia from the killer tsunami exceeds 50,000. Almost immediately, the United States put together an aid package of $15 million, with assurances that more will be on the way.

The undemocratic party
by Terence Jeffrey
If the process for confirming federal judges in the next session of Congress is anything like the last, the Democratic Party should change its name to the Undemocratic Party.

Americans pass gut check
by Tony Blankley
Osama Bin Laden is getting positively chatty these days. He has released his third video in as many months -- this time calling for Iraqis to boycott next month's elections.

Caricature References
By Richard Cohen
Newsweek reports that at a Washington dinner party I had an encounter with George Tenet, the former director of the CIA, whom I had earlier that day called "incompetent" and a "failure." Newsweek reports that Tenet exclaimed, "Hey, what did I ever do to you?" and then mockingly asked if I wanted to step outside. Newsweek, however, does not report what happened next: Tenet and I talked about our mothers.

The Philosophers' Blog
Where condescension is king.
by Ross Douthat

Embryology: Inconvenient Facts
by William L. Saunders, Jr.

A Unified Theory of the Old Media Collapse
Asymmetrical tolerance and the collapse of Big Media credibility: How 2004 brought doom to legacy media.
by Hugh Hewitt

Journalism & humility
The two rarely go together anymore, but by following the Bible a Christian journalist can aspire to be a humble truth teller. Other current options—subjectivity-balancing or ideological commitment—leave reporters standing on shifting sand.
by Marvin Olasky


Winning The Future: A 21st Century Contract with America
by Newt Gingrich
The dangers are manifold: Terrorism. Judges who think they’re God (and who are anti-God). Rising economic challenges from China and India. Immigrants and young Americans who know little about American history and values. Can America survive? Yes, says Newt Gingrich, and we as Americans can do more: We can create a safer, more prosperous, and healthier America for our children and grandchildren. How? By enacting a 21st Century Contract with America. When he was Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich issued his first Contract with America. What was the result? Sweeping reform that shocked Washington and spurred an economic recovery for the nation, including: the first major tax cut in sixteen years; real, lasting welfare reform; and four years of balanced budgets. But the challenges now are even starker, and Newt is back with a plan for American greatness that includes: · How to win the War on Terror – how Ronald Reagan’s winning strategy in the Cold War can be adapted and modified to win this new global struggle · How to reestablish God in American public life – without God, America ceases to be American, which is why leftists are so keen on banishing our Creator · How to reform Social Security – and improve your retirement earnings – before Social Security bankrupts the nation and the next generation of taxpayers · How to restore patriotism to American schools – and insist on patriotic learning for new immigrants · How to make American health care the global standard for excellence and accessibility – while reducing health care costs · And much more The challenges of the 21st Century are great, says Newt Gingrich, but so are the opportunities. The decisions we make over the next four years will determine our future. And no book can be more important for making the right choices than Newt Gingrich’s Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America

Ten years after Contract with America, its believers press on
By Carl Weiser

Bob Dylan, a Work in Progress
"I'm not part of no Movement," he once said.
by Nat Hentoff

Policy Review
Eminem Is Right
By Mary Eberstadt

The Media & Medievalism
A new tyranny rears its head
by Robert D. Kaplan

When War must be the answer
The case for force
by James V. Schall, S.J.

What Happened to Expository Preaching?
By Alistair Begg
Why is expository preaching absent from so many of today’s churches? Because of a loss of confidence in the Scriptures, preoccupation with the wrong battles, and a sad lack of excellent role models, many preachers compromise on their calling and revert to the expectations of the culture.

USA Today
U2's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb Named Album of The Year