THE CREW



Here they are...

THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS



A concise and heartfelt address to the nation. Particularly moving were the words of the prophet Isaiah (40:26), as quoted by the President:

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

THE COLUMBIA HAS BEEN LOST



Let us all pray for the crew and their families.

ON SHERYL CROW'S T-SHIRT



I like Sheryl Crow and her music, but I was dismayed to hear her karma-tric and ill-informed statements on war. I, for one, agree with Ramesh Ponnuru of the National Review Online:

SHERYL CROW IS RIGHT, or at least her t-shirt is. War is not the answer. Victory is.

RIP: VOTER NEWS SERVICE



After the most recent elections, I was struck by how much I enjoyed waiting for the final results to roll in, sans the usual goofs spawned by that network voter prediction service with the initials VNS. Like minded readers will enjoy the following, AP story:

NEW YORK � Six major news organizations announced Monday they are disbanding Voter News Service, the consortium they had built to count votes and conduct surveys on Election Day. The decision follows two major election-night failures in a row by VNS.



Given the expense of mounting such operations on their own, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel and The Associated Press said they were considering other options for sharing vote counts and exit poll surveys.

I have an idea: Why not wait for the official returns to roll in, like everyone else? The entire story can be found here.

JUXTAPOSITION OF THE DAY



I caught this little tidbit in James Taranto's "Best of the Web" today (from a few weeks ago -- a feature of the WSJ's OpinionJournal website):

Life Imitates Watt



"I have a black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple. And we have talent."--Interior Secretary James Watt, 1983 (the comment led to his resignation)



"The Army wants commercial freight handlers to help it ship 30,000 vehicles to the Middle East in the coming weeks from bases in Germany, according to European transport industry sources invited to contract for the job. . . . Potential European carriers were being asked to hire 'American military veterans, preferably black, Jewish or disabled' as drivers and crew."--Reuters, Dec. 24, 2002

Classic.

HAPPY NEW YEAR



This is a somewhat belated greeting to you all this new year. I hope all of your dreams come true.