More people admire Senator Hillary Clinton than Oprah Winfrey. According to Gallup, Winfrey is becoming increasingly influential however. This year, 16% of respondents said they admire her most. The same can be said for Clinton, however: 18% said they admire her most of all women in the world. That’s up from last year: in fact, it’s the highest number of admirers since the year 2000.| MORE ›

A Siberian tiger escaped from a San Fransisco zoo yesterday, killing one visitor and wounding two others. Zoo officials have no idea how the tiger was able to escape.

The tiger was already infamous: last year she – Tatiana – attacked a zookeeper. After they, they kept a close eye on the tiger, but she was able to break out of his enclosure nonetheless. (more…)

In what’s quite a surprising development, Russia’s Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying on Wednesday that “Russia‘s delivery of nuclear fuel to the Bushehr power station makes it unnecessary for Iran to pursue its enrichment program.”

When interviewed by the Moscow Daily he said: “We believe that Iran has no economic need to proceed with its program of uranium enrichment.| MORE ›

For the third time in 10 days, Turkish fighter jets bombed PKK targets in Northern Iraq.

In a statement posted on its website, the Turkish army said that “[t]he warplanes struck at eight caves and other places used by the rebels in an “effective pinpoint operation” after spotting a group of rebels preparing to spend the winter in the hideouts.” (more…)

Robert J. Samuelson wrote a tremendous column titled “The End of Free Trade.” I suggest that all of you head on over to the WaPo to read it.

Here’s today quiz. What do the following have in common: (a) Vladimir Putin; (b) China’s currency, the renminbi; (c) the U.S.-Peru trade agreement; and (d) Hugo Ch¿vez? Answer: They all reflect the “new mercantilism.” It’s an ominous development affecting the world economy.| MORE ›

Reason Magazine’s Michael Young brings the news that “[a] Spanish police memo evidently leaked to the Spanish daily El Mundo says that the head of Syrian military intelligence, Assef Shawkat (who is also the brother in law of Syrian President Bashar Assad), threatened Spain (and, by inference, Spanish troops in southern Lebanon) if a Syrian arms dealer living in Spain, Munzer al-Kassar, was extradited to the United States.”

General Shawkat wrote in a memo:| MORE ›

Liberal Middle East expert Juan Cole published a post in which he exposes the “top ten myths about Iraq.” Please allow me to respond. (more…)

A new study says that Israel could survive a nuclear war with Iran. So far the good news. The bad news? The death toll would be incredible: “it could lead to the death of between 16- 28 million Iranian civilians, and 200-800 thousand Israelis.”

It’s one of the main reasons that the Mullahs have to be prevented from developing nuclear weapons: it’s not just about Israel’s safety, it’s also about the safety of the Iranian people themselves.| MORE ›

Surprise, surprise. According to the latest ARG poll, Hillary Clinton has pulled ahead in Iowa in the last week or so. The results of the poll? 34% of Likely Democratic Caucus Goers say they’ll vote for Clinton, against only 19% who say Obama and 20% who say Edwards.

This polls comes only a couple of days (a week or so) after a poll that showed that Obama and Clinton were virtually tied. (more…)

Like many of you I’ve walked in and out of too many stores, spent too much money, wrapped too many presents, and stayed up too late to really enjoy this special day. Perhaps that’s what’s got me thinking, at this hour, about the real reason for the Christmas season.

If you believe in God the father and that Jesus was a part of him sent to Earth to do bring us back into a relationship with him then Christmas means more to you than a party with presents, food, family, and friends.| MORE ›