For all your Down Under race riot news.

I interviewed Congressman Tom Tancredo earlier today. We spent most of the time discussing the Congressman's views on the efficacy of threatening Mecca as a potential deterrent, but the Congressman also brought up The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe:

HH: You don't like the Chronicles of Narnia?

TT: It was good, but you know what, I kept thinking, you know, I don't think there's going to be a sequel here. It just didn't seem like there was enough action, and I was worried...

HH: Tom, it made a$107 million dollars.

TT: Yeah, yeah, that's what they were just saying, and that's why I am glad to see what they just said because believe me I wanted it to...

HH: I know why you didn't like it...I know why. Those four kids entered illegally into Narnia.

TT (laughing): Maybe that's it. I never thought about it.

HH: That's exactly what the case is...(laughing)

TT: I didn't think it was the best movie...

HH:: You were on the side of the side of the White Witch.

TT: That could be it, man. (laughing)

The entire interview will be posted at Radioblogger later tonight.

Just talked with the Powerline bloggers Scott Johnson and John Hinderaker about the bizarre "revised" speech offered up by Strib editorial writer Jim Boyd last week when he won an award, believe it or not, for distinguished journalism. Past recipients were actually pretty distinguished, but this time around, well, we'd like to see the minutes of the Committee meeting which selected Jim Boyd. The Committee that made the award:

MEDIA AWARD COMMITTEE

ROBERT HUNTER, Chair

J. BRIAN ATWOOD
PATRICIA LYNCH EWELL
CHARLES FREEMAN
DANIEL SIMPSON
THEODORE L. ELIOT, Jr.
WILLIAM VANDEN HEUVEL
A. ELIZABETH JONES
KENTON KEITH
HELEN THOMAS (ex oficio)[sic]
BOB BERGER (ex oficio)[sic]

Helen Thomas? Get the picture. As an "ex oficio" member, she may not have voting power, but here's William vanden Huevel's speech in honor of Senator Kennedy to give you a sense of that Committee member's views.

I don't think we have to guess about this Committee's in depth review and award process.

Powerline's assessment is up, and very amusing. And I sure wish the Academy would publish an uncensored transcript of Mr. Boyd's remarks.

Only 200? And they got frightened? How this man postures. How he neglects to inform his audience that he repeatedly turned down offer after offer of on-air interviews, and refused to respond to detailed critiques of his sloppy, painfully biased work. No matter. His paper is dying the slow death of hard left agenda journalism everywhere.

I will leave it to the Powerline gents to have their fun with the endlessly entertaining Boyd. But what in the world does E&P mean by "revised" in this line:

What follows is a revised version of the speech he gave in accepting that award.

What, exactly, did he revise?

That's the perecntage of Iraq's population saying life is good for them. (HT: CaptainsQuarters.)

I guess that squares with Congressman Murtha's, Howard Dean's John Kerru's and Barbara Boxer's info.

on the passing of the years. Read it all.

The Washington Post goes full Orwell today with its love letter to Hillary Clinton that begins:

At a time when politicians in both parties have eagerly sought public forums to debate the war in Iraq, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has kept in the shadows.

Clinton has stayed steadfastly on a centrist path, criticizing President Bush but refusing to embrace the early troop withdrawal options that are gaining rapid favor in her party. This careful balance is drawing increasing scorn from liberal activists, frustrated that one of the party's leading lights has shown little appetite to challenge Bush's policy more directly and embrace a plan to set a timetable for bringing U.S. forces home.

Hillary Clinton is not a "centrist" on the war. As recently as November 15, she voted with Senator Levin to demand a timetable for withdrawal, an idea that is rejected by every serious proponent of victory in Iraq as the worst sort of defeatism.

Clinton intends just this sort of positioning for her 2008 presidential run, so it will be necessary to compile a detailed record of her Defeatocrat sentiments. Send me links to your posts on her record on the war, and I'll list them here. I welcome specific suggestions on what facts and quotes the Washington Post overlooked in its piece today.

Club for Growth president Pat Toomey writes about Rhode Island's GOP primary in the race for the Senate seat held by Lincoln Chafee in today's OpinionJournal.

I am supporting Steve Laffey in this race, although I supported Arlen Specter in the race against Mr. Toomey in 2004. Unlike Senator Specter, Senator Chafee is never with the GOP on crucial votes, refusing to vote to authorize the war in Iraq, refusing to vote for President Bush's reelection, and most recently providing the only Republican vote on November 15 of this year for Senator Levin's "timetable" amendment that would have instructed the president to set a date for leaving Iraq.

Lincoln Chaffee gets all the big ones wrong. He should be retired.

From this morning's Wall Street Journal (subscription required):

A split has developed within the entertainment industry as several major cable operators signaled their willingness to give in to regulatory pressure by providing a so-called family-friendly package of programming, despite resistance from many cable programmers.

The nation's two largest cable operators, Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Inc., indicated they are considering creating a "tier" of cable channels that would exclude channels airing risqué programs. Two smaller operators, Cox Communications Inc. and Insight Communications Co., hinted they are ready to do the same.

Which "cable programmers" will resist this? MTV, of course, which will see its ratings crash as parents slice the channel from their homes. Other racy channels will disappear as well. The big winners will be those channels that are broadly acceptable to those holding to traditional morals. The market will decide. Which is exactly why the edgy channels will scream every step of the way that it is censorship. It isn't, of course, as no one is suggesting that they not be carried as an available option to cable subscribers.

Only that they not be subsidized.

Randy Balko has been writing about the case of Corey Maye. Instapundit has brought attention to the case as well. Battlepanda is watching the discussion spread across the blogosphere.

Corey Maye case in which a man is on death row for killing an officer in a raid on his home. Before bloggers rush in, they have got to get all the facts before them, and review the entire record. Balko is doing a fine job of posting a great deal of information, but it is done in a series of posts without much in the way of a comprehensive overview. If there is one site that has a timeline and a comprehensive set of documents and links, please send me a pointer.

Get it here.

Here's the list. Go purple onm the 15th.

From Sky News:

Violence has again erupted in Cronulla, in Sydney's south, with reports that many car loads of Middle Eastern youths have descend on the suburb wielding baseball bats. Despite an increase in police presence, the youths have managed to get through and are causing what is being described as extensive damage. Police are warning people to avoid the area.

The Sydney Morning Herald has extensive coverage.

Tom Blair has many links including to a timeline that will greatly assist American MSM caught clueless again.

$109 million worldwide. It is the second greatest domestic box office December opening ($67 million) ever.

And the buzz is great and the repeat audience ready to return.

Radioblogger continues to collect reviews for the contest. Send your link to generalissimo@hughhewitt.com.

UPDATE:

I wonder if Jonathan Last is beginning to worry about the restaurant I will choose.

Indeed.