News
Eyewitness To History
In yesterday's Jerusalem Post, Yehuda Avnner recalled some vivid observation of a testy conversation duringthe fall of 1970 between his boss, Prime Minister Golda Meir, and opposition leader Menachem Begin. After making a heated speech on the floor of the Knesset...
A Stratospheric Soul
There's an interesting article by Adrian Higgins in today's Washington Post about the plans to restore the house and grounds of Steepletop --- Edna St. Vincent Millay's home in upstate New York.At least part of the first step toward raising the necessary millions will...
Nixonland Nitpick 8
Nixonland (p. 521) notes that men on a movie crew were hostile to Jane Fonda "not merely for her anti-war stand but for her defiance of feminine convention: she had stopped wearing makeup. Wrote William F. Buckley: "She must never even look into the mirror...
Waiting For Some Other Shoes To Drop
As a rule of thumb, and making allowances for certain exceptions, having the National Enquirer on their case isn't something you would wish on even your worst enemy. Which means that the always well-informed and often right Cindy Adams has some very bad news for John...
Good Stories Bear Retelling
Kansas City Star sports columnist Joe Posnanski is ---where else?--- in Beijing. In today's paper he reports about the role ping pong plays in everyday life in China --- and how that helps explain the impact that the American ping pong team had when they arrived ---as...
Showing The Bear A Game Face
In today's New York Post, Max Boot surveys our reactions to the unfolding events in Georgia and concludes that "all indications are that the will of the West has been found wanting. The Bush administration has limited its reaction to a few statements of disapprobation...
At Last — A Diet One Can Live With
One of the unexpected bonuses of the current Olympic Mania (Phelps Division) is the revelation of a diet that I might actually be able to observe without cheating. Or at least, in the spirit of John Edwards, not cheating that much. Swimming sensation Michael Phelps...
Was It Time?
"Peace at the center": RN smiling at Marie Abplanalp's wedding Saturday, April 16, 1994 was a great day in the life of the 37th President. Marie Abplanalp, daughter of his friend Bob, was getting married in Bronxville, New York. President Nixon was a special guest at...
The Bear Is Back
Robert Kagan's column in today's Washington Post is important and disturbing. Historians will come to view Aug. 8, 2008, as a turning point no less significant than Nov. 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell. Russia's attack on sovereign Georgian territory marked the...
Nixonland Nitpick 7
In 1969, says Nixonland, the new president "was sworn in by Justice Black" (p. 357). No, it was Chief Justice Earl Warren. The book thus misses a delicious irony. Nixon and Warren had been at odds since their days in California politics. In 1968, Warren had sought...