Word: lively
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...doing everything in our power to keep you and your family safe and secure during this busy holiday season." He forgets that Americans have never really wanted the government to do "everything in its power" to keep us safe. That would make this a terrible place to live. And yet, after eight years of paternalistic bluster from President George W. Bush, we have grown accustomed to the cycle of absurd promises followed by failure and renewed by fear. Bush liked to say that the authorities have to succeed 100% of the time and terrorists only once. The truth is, authorities...
...Downplaying the threat doesn't help Though Obama learned of it while vacationing in Hawaii soon after the attack was foiled, it took him more than 72 hours to make a live, on-camera comment about the near tragedy. (There is some evidence that Democratic partisans were privately pleading with the White House to say something after 24 hours.) Obama's cause was not helped by the comments of his Homeland Security chief, Janet Napolitano, who announced on Sunday, "Once the incident occurred, the system worked." Say what? Napolitano has eschewed the word terrorism for "man-caused disasters," explaining...
...snarkier precincts of the left-wing blogosphere, mainstream journalists like me are often called villagers. The reference, so far as I can tell, has to do with isolation: we live in this little village on the Potomac - actually, I don't, but no matter - constantly intermingling over hors d'oeuvres, deciding who is "serious" (a term of derision in the blogosphere) and who is not, regurgitating spin spoon-fed by our sources or conjuring a witless conventional wisdom that has nothing to do with reality as it is lived outside the village. There is, of course, some truth to this...
...Edinburgh treat - afternoon tea in the Balmoral hotel, tel: (44-131) 556 2414. In the evening I'd watch a classical concert at Usher Hall, tel: (44-131) 228 1155, one of the city's great festival spaces. Finally I'd settle down to a late dinner and some live music at my fantastic local, the Shore Bar & Restaurant, tel: (44-131) 553 5080. (See pictures of whisky making in Scotland...
...plaque has done little to resolve the Hmong's plight in Southeast Asia. Thousands live in poverty in Thailand, and a few armed bands still live in the Laotian highlands, refusing to surrender to the government of Laos. Earlier this month, there were signs that the conflict might be easing: Vang Pao, now 80 and living in California, said he wanted to return home and help reconcile the Hmong and the Communist government in Vientiane. But officials reportedly replied that they'd welcome him back by executing him. It's no wonder Thailand's Hmong refugees are worried that...