Current Affairs

Partly because the electronic media almost lost one of their stars, we're seeing the kind of information about Iraq that has been scarce before now. I watched "Good Morning America's" report this morning about the injuries sustained by "World News Tonight" co-anchor Bob Woodruff, and it included a look at how sophisticated combat medical procedures have become.

For those worried aboout which radicals can come to the United States to speak or caught up in high school controversies, here is what real censorship looks like:

In the Chinese government's latest effort to stifle dissent, propaganda chiefs have shut down one of the country's most influential newspapers after it ran a story about distortions in Chinese textbooks.

Twenty years ago tomorrow, when we sent a teacher into space and lost her. Until the Twin Towers of 2001, that was the most gripping public moment in my memory, one of those stunning, numbing catastrophes that have people at work huddled around the TV set in shock and disbelief. I thought then, and still do, that there was at least something comprehensible about a teacher dying in pursuit of the unknown. The more we know about Christa McAuliffe, the sadder her death seems:

Another privatization story, not from Indiana this time:

The head of a European investigation into alleged CIA secret prisons in Europe said Tuesday there was evidence the United States outsourced torture to other countries and it was likely European governments knew about it.

What I want to know is: Did we hand it off to just any old country that asked, or did we put it out for competitive bid?

If you're just getting sick and tired of this violent, fascist country and long for the calmer life of a peace-loving paradise, you can escape to Canada, jus like your uncle did back in the Vietnam days. Well, maybe not . . .

I don't know what we're all so worried about. The future of the world seems to be in darn good hands:

The four-day World Economic Forum that began in the 1970s as a place to discuss new management techniques has evolved into an eclectic mix of highbrow futurology, ethical debate and a fair bit of schmoozing.

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This article by radio commentator and blogger Hugh Hewitt is a thought-provoking look at my profession. It includes:

1. Something I agree with -- the facts that the "mainstream media" or whatever we want to call that conglomeration is full of leftist bias and that those charged with providing fresh blood (such as the Columbia School of Journalism) don't have a clue and so can't do anything about the problem.

Anybody who has ever had an argument with someone of a different political persuasion knows this is true:

The study points to a total lack of reason in political decision-making.

Reading this story about a bad law student who became a bad lawyer, I was reminded of the old joke: What do you call someone who graduated last in his medical class? Answer: Doctor. Of course, bad doctors can just kill one person at a time. Not all bad lawyers end up in where this poor guy did; many of them are responsible for the developing law of the land, which can screw up generation after generation.

Now that we've convinced girls that they can be anything they want to be and that education is the key, what are we going to do about the boys?