British Paper Names General Petraeus Person of the Year

It took a British newspaper to name General David Petraeus "Person of the Year." I guess the Sunday Telegraph isn't constrained by Bush Derangement Syndrome like most American media as reported Monday;
[snip]

"But the reason for picking Petraeus is simple. Iraq, whatever the current crises in Afghanistan and Pakistan, remains the West's biggest foreign policy challenge of this decade, and if he can halt its slide into all-out anarchy, Gen Petraeus may save more than Iraqi lives."

Wouldn't it have been nice for an American newspaper or magazine to recognize this? Or is that asking too much? Regardless, readers are strongly encouraged to review the entire article.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=AA4OSBQXNV5A3QFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/12/30/nperson130.xml

Soldiers, Afghans Celebrate School Opening

KAPISA PROVINCE, Afghanistan, – U.S. soldiers helped local Afghans celebrate the opening of the Aftabachi Girls’ School in the Aftabachi Village here during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Dec. 26. The new school will serve 620 students and employ 15 teachers who will teach a wide variety of subjects including mathematics, science, English and Arabic, Mr. Turyaly, one of the school’s teachers, said.
[snip]
"This land was donated from private individuals,” Berry said. “That goes to show the emphasis the people in this area put on education. They give valuable farmland in a beautiful area.”
[snip]
The school will not be the last project. Berry noted plans are in the works for more projects in the spring.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48539

Don't be surprised if terrorists stage a Tet offensive

This spring marks the 40th anniversary of Hanoi's offensive. It will also mark the umpteenth time American enemies have attempted to win in the psychological and political clash of an American election what they cannot win on the battlefield.
[snip]
At the operational level, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) suffered a terrible defeat. However, Tet achieved the grand political ends North Vietnam sought. Tet was a strategic psychological attack launched in a presidential election year during a primary season featuring media-savvy "peace" candidates.
[snip]
The terrorists will attempt a series of terror spectaculars, and kill several hundred civilians in the process, because — in the quadrennial turmoil of an American presidential contest — sensational carnage that even momentarily seeds the perception of defeat is their only chance of victory.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5411653.html

Do we deserve our military?

"From Morocco to the Persian Gulf, we are seeing the rapid erosion of Christian populations, thought to now number no more than 15 million," Ms. Shea wrote in National Review. "The extinction of these ancient church communities will lead to ever more extremism within the region and polarization from the non-Muslim world."
There's one Middle Eastern country where the reverse is happening. Thousands of people attended Christmas services in Baghdad this year. Most of the worshippers were, of course, Christians. But in the pews with them were prominent Muslim clerics, both Sunni and Shia.
[snip]
David Petraeus is a better general than were William Henry Harrison, elected president in 1840, or Zachary Taylor, elected president in 1848. Yet David Petraeus is the Rodney Dangerfield of successful American commanders. He didn't even make the top ten in Gallup's poll of the most admired men for 2007, a list that includes former South African President Nelson Mandela, former President Jimmy Carter, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

http://jewishworldreview.com/1207/jkelly123107.php3

Year of the what?

2008 is officially the United Nation’s International Year of the Potato, and, at least in Greece, the Year of Feta. The UN has also declared 2008 to be the International Year of Sanitation, the International Year of Planet Earth (which lasts for 3 years) and the International Year of Languages.
[snip]
To get the UN to back a year of something takes a good deal of work and time. According to the UN’s procedure for the proclamation of international years, the subject for any such year must, among other things, be

"of priority concern to all or the majority of countries" and it should "involve action at the international and national levels"

In addition,

"each international year should have objectives that are likely to lead to identifiable and practicable results"...

[don't laugh, you're paying for this]

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071231/full/news.2007.397.html

North Korea misses deadline nuclear declaration

Washington - North Korea missed a year-end deadline to give a full account of its nuclear weapons under a disarmament-for-aid deal struck with regional powers and the United States. "It's unfortunate, but we are going to keep working on this," said U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey. North Korea, which tested a nuclear weapon in October 2006, gave no explanation for missing the deadline...

[broken promises (again)? no problem, we'll keep working with you (again). ]

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSSEO21329520071231?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Nationalized Health'care'

[there:]
NHS losing battle against superbug’
Nurses should take back responsibility for cooking and cleaning in hospitals instead of letting private contractors do the work, a medical expert says. Many doctors are afraid of being treated in their own hospitals, while a lack of support from the Government has left elderly patients at risk from hospital-acquired infections and malnourishment, (Snip) Recent attempts by ministers to lower rates of MRSA and Clostridium difficile infections through a ''deep clean'' of hospitals will not have any significant impact...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article3095545.ece

[here:]
ABC Does Three Consecutive Nights of Socialized Medicine
"Critical condition" in medical terminology means a patient has a high risk of death that could occur within the next 24 hours. So when you see "Critical Condition: Rx For America," sounds like something is in really bad shape, right?

No, it was just a promotional three-night series on ABC "World News with Charles Gibson" that ran from December 10-12 about health care. By the third night, Charles Gibson was even calling one example of socialized medicine a "system that works."

[what bias?]

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2007/12/13/abc-does-three-consecutive-nights-socialized-medicine

Not So Hot

If a scientific paper appeared in a major journal saying that the planet has warmed twice as much as previously thought, that would be front-page news in every major paper around the planet. But what would happen if a paper was published demonstrating that the planet may have warmed up only half as much as previously thought?

Nothing. Earlier this month, Ross McKitrick from Canada's University of Guelph and I published a manuscript in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres saying precisely that...

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12492

Opposition stirring against new reactors

Texas anti-nuclear activists are rallying their forces to challenge the nuclear renaissance that could see the state become home to the country's first new nuclear power plant project in nearly 30 years. On Friday a coalition of groups said it will intervene in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's review of NRG Energy's application to build two new reactors in Matagorda County, next to the existing South Texas Project nuclear plant.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/5409693.html

Border crossings cut by Texas crackdown

A strict policy to arrest, prosecute and jail illegal aliens who cross into the U.S. has shown significant success in reducing crossings and crime along the Texas border, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials said this month. The first 45 days of Operation Streamline — a collaborative effort of local, state and federal agencies in Texas — has resulted in decreased illegal border crossings and crime...

[who would have guessed? and note the inclusion of crime in the decreases]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071229/NATION/882891077/1001

House GOP to fight Democratic 'war' on jobs

Democratic proposals for higher taxes and policies that favor unions and lawyers over businesses threaten to kill jobs and reduce disposable income for middle-class families, according to a report by House Republicans. The report, titled ''Death by a Thousand Cuts: Democrats' War on American Jobs,'' cites policies that expand government and boost taxes, open doors for more lawsuits against employers and increase regulation on large and small businesses.

[catchy title, big politicos involved - expect a 60 Minutes special on this any day now...]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071226/NATION/376664386/-1/RSS_NATION_POLITICS

3 Dogs Live The Sweet Life On $800,000 Inheritance

Hagerstown, Md. -- They're not as loaded as Leona Helmsley's pooch, but three dogs in western Maryland still have more money than they know what to do with. The dogs -- a beagle named Buckshot and Labrador mixes named Katie and Obu-Jet -- inherited $400,000 and a house in Hagerstown when their owner, Ken Kemper, died last year. The trio is worth about $800,000 altogether. (Snip) On Friday nights, Grady treats them to a spaghetti dinner, complete with meatballs and garlic bread.
http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5344789&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.7.1