Jesse Kornbluth: Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol: Half As Long, Twice As Readable

Classic review: The Man Who Invented Christmas
Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' was not just a book but rather a Victorian-era Christmas miracle....

re: MKB
The DREAM Act Cloture vote just failed in the Senate, 55 to 41. The Cloture vote was on the version of . . . Go The New York Times, Lap Dog of the GOP? Finally! 'A Klingon Christmas Carol' Chicago—Across the country this week, productions of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" are warming hearts. In this city, one version . . . Go The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism hits store shelves on January 10. You can pre-order from Amazon here or buy . . . Go Some ObamaCare cheerleaders...

Cornyn: No START 'Litmus Test' in 2012
The New York Times, Lap Dog of the GOP? Finally! 'A Klingon Christmas Carol' Chicago—Across the country this week, productions of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" are warming hearts. In this city, one version . . . Go The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism hits store shelves on January 10. You can pre-order from Amazon here or buy . . . Go Some ObamaCare cheerleaders (including the president) insist that Governor Romney's 2006 Massachusetts "reform" was the f...

War on Christmas? What war on Christmas?
The 'war on Christmas' seems to feature annual skirmishes over greetings and holiday displays. This year it flared up briefly when lawmakers complained of being made to work through Dec. 25....

BOOK WORLD - December 19, 2010
New additions to the lists include the latest Oprah Book Club pick, an omnibus edition of Charles Dickens' "Tale of Two Cities" and "Great Expectations," which debuts at #10 on the paperback lists. Certainly an ambitious choice, but just as certainly two of his most beloved novels ... In hardcover sales, Tom Clancy, and his hero, Jack Ryan, return with a strong debut at #1 on the fiction lists. His co-author here, Grant Blackwood, may sound familiar to thriller / adventure readers, as he has al...

Assange Walks Out of ABC Interview
Evie Axdahl, the Republican national committeewoman from Minnesota, has endorsed Maria Cino for chair of the RNC. A founding member . . . Go The New York Times, Lap Dog of the GOP? Finally! 'A Klingon Christmas Carol' Chicago—Across the country this week, productions of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" are warming hearts. In this city, one version . . . Go The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism hits store shelves on January 10. You can pre-order from Amazon here or buy . . . Go...

The New York Times, Lap Dog of the GOP?
Honest to God, did NYT’s Bill Keller send out a memo banning the use of “obstructionism” when writing about GOP? #lapdogs Evie Axdahl, the Republican national committeewoman from Minnesota, has endorsed Maria Cino for chair of the RNC. A founding member . . . Go Finally! 'A Klingon Christmas Carol' Chicago—Across the country this week, productions of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" are warming hearts. In this city, one version . . . Go The Politically Incorrect Gui...

Chillermania
During the school year, Rand travels the country and gives school presentations. On Thursday, he came to our neck of the woods in Virginia, so my wife and I took our brood. Rand spoke for more than an hour about the importance of reading and writing-and he kept several hundred elementary-school kids in rapt attention the whole time. It was an amazing performance, full of humor and good advice: “Reading isn’t something you do, it’s a place where you go,” “Writi...

Chavez to Rule by Decree
Hugo Chavez has for the fourth time been invested with essentially dictatorial powers by the Venezuelan National Assembly, this time for 18 months, yet more evidence of the truth of Spengler’s observation that “Socialism is not a system of compassion, humanity, peace and kindly care, but one of will-to-power. Any other reading of it is illusory.”  - Michael Knox Beran is author of the new book, Pathology of the Elites. The DREAM Act Cloture vote just failed in t...

Paul Revere's Ride
Evie Axdahl, the Republican national committeewoman from Minnesota, has endorsed Maria Cino for chair of the RNC. A founding member . . . Go The New York Times, Lap Dog of the GOP? Finally! 'A Klingon Christmas Carol' Chicago—Across the country this week, productions of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" are warming hearts. In this city, one version . . . Go The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism hits store shelves on January 10. You can pre-order from Amazon here or buy . . . Go...

Republican 'Reciprocity' on START
Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) expressed relief Saturday that two non-START-related issues – the DREAM Act and Repeal of ‘Don’t . . . Go The New York Times, Lap Dog of the GOP? Finally! 'A Klingon Christmas Carol' Chicago—Across the country this week, productions of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" are warming hearts. In this city, one version . . . Go The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism hits store shelves on January 10. You can pre-order from Amazon here or b...

'Eclipse' is top-selling DVD in the U.S.
Published: Dec. 16, 2010 at 4:42 PM Cast member Robert Pattinson attends the premiere of the motion picture romantic thriller fantasy "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse", as part of the Los Angeles Film Festival at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles June 24, 2010. UPI/Jim Ruymen 'Paws' is No. 1 on U.S. DVD chart LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" is the top-selling DVD in the United States, Rentrak said Thursday. Coming in at No. 2 on the sales roster for the week ending Dec...

The Fat Diaries: Drinking Away the Cold
Cold enough for you? If you’re like me, or anyone else in the D.C. metro area, you’ve been appalled by the unseasonably cold December we’ve been having. It’s not the sleepy gentle cold that sends a pleasant shiver up your spine, with the gentle tinny smell that precedes a magical Snowfall. It’s not the comforting chill that gets the kids excited for winter break and the holiday season. This monster is the blow your hair off, freeze your feet and hands into blocks of ice, expl

Santa, This Year I Need a Coat
What a gloomy and heartbreaking measure of our current economic situation. Check this out. The millions of letters sent by Children to Santa Clause end up at Post Offices and reviewed (as is possible) by “staff elves.” This year there are fewer requests for bikes, Computer Games, and other hot toys. Instead, more kids are asking Santa for life’s basics—coats, shoes, blankets, and even food. I’m not one to encourage the concept of Santa Clause, largely because the traditional m

Amy Chyao - texan of the year finalist
Sixteen-year-olds aren't supposed to be smart, are they?  Aren't they just supposed to sit on the coaches or chairs and play Video Games until their heads explode in anger and rage?  Not Amy Chao.  She uses her brains for the betterment of society. She is a cellist and a Spelling Bee champion.  She can even spell "dermatophyte".  I didn't even know what that was until I looked it up.  Amy Chyao an an inspiration to us all. She has won accolades in the Intel Internat...

Eight Republicans Vote to Repeal
WASHINGTON -- In a last-minute surprise, eight Republican senators joined nearly every Democrat to Repeal the Military's "don't ask, tell policy" on gays. The final 65-31 vote to end the 17-year-old policy that bars gays from serving openly included moderates as well as at least one conservative who had previously spoken out against changing the status quo. Collins had joined with independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to lead the Repeal effort. But Burr was a surprise. He had previously ...

Will Fallout Shelter Make a Post-9/11 Comeback? 'Shelter in Place' Recommended
(Dec. 16) -- It might be time to dust off your old fallout shelter, if you have one. Federal officials and disaster experts are telling people the best place to be in case of a Terrorist-style Nuclear Attack might be your own home. "The government has a surprising new message," The New York Times reports. "Do not flee." In fact, there is little new about this advice: It's what officials have been saying for several years now. A couple with three Children relax amidst bunk beds and shelves of pro...

Germany to Begin Afghan Pullout in 2011
(Dec. 17) -- Germany has announced plans to withdraw its Troops from Afghanistan more quickly than expected, with the pullout beginning next year and finishing by 2014. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told the parliament Thursday that the pullout will begin about a year from now -- earlier than the 2012 date outlined in a 108-page progress report on Germany's mission in Afghanistan, issued earlier this week. Germany has been reviewing its Afghan plans at the same time that President Ba...

Top Underreported Stories of 2010
By Dan Fastenberg Thursday, Dec. 09, 2010 Secretary of State Colin Powell cautioned President George W. Bush against invading Iraq on the basis of the Pottery Barn rule: "You break it, you own it." But things worked out differently: Iraq was broken, but it's never been owned by Washington. On the contrary, seven years and counting of a war that Economists have concluded will cost America more than $3 Trillion has produced an unstable Iraq in which Iran wields more political influence than the U...

I'll Drink to That: Bar Hosts 'Bacon Happy Hour'
The bacon craze continues to sweep America. I get down to Baltimore quite often, usually to watch the Yankees slap around the O's. I'll make a point to visit this place next time down there and hopefully it coincides with the Beer & Bacon Happy Hour.Bacon. It's everywhere: on our plates, in our drinks and constantly on our minds. Now, the popular pork product is even showing up at a dive bar in Baltimore -- at a tiny watering hole called Bad Decisions that's quickly becoming the place to pig-o...

In Odor News
I know, you’re thinking something is definitely smelly on the whitehouse lawn.  No this story is about the scent of danger. Car crashes can be blamed on any number of factors, from mechanical malfunction to driver error. But what about new-car smell? An accident expert investigating a hit-and-run in Edwards, Colo., says a collision between a driver and a bicyclist may have been caused, in part, by the fresh scent inside a month-old 2010 Mercedes-Benz sedan. Motorist Martin Erzinger R...

Ex police chief charged with indecent exposure
An Arrest Warrant has been issued for a former Police Chief of a small Los Angeles County suburb accused of publicly disseminating nude pictures of himself and exposing himself near hiking trails, officials said today. “Nothing in this job surprises us anymore,” Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez told AOL News. “You never know … as long as these people come from the human race, anything is possible.” Anaheim police are looking for Paul Lawrence Wadley, 56, who has be...

Pigging Out: Baltimore Bar Hosts 'Bacon Happy Hour'
(Dec. 14) -- Bacon. It's everywhere: on our plates, in our drinks and constantly on our minds. Now, the popular pork product is even showing up at a dive bar in Baltimore -- at a tiny watering hole called Bad Decisions that's quickly becoming the place to pig-out. Every month, Bad Decisions -- located in the lively Baltimore bar district of Fells Point -- differentiates itself from the dozens of other bars in the area by hosting a smokin' hot event called "Beer & Bacon Happy Hour." Every mon...

Legendary Pink Panther, Comedy & Film Director Blake Edwards Dead at Age 88
Talk about the loss of one of the best writer/directors of comedies ever. An SOB, Cool Cat and 10 rolled all up into one … Julie Andrews & Blake Edwards, 1973 Rest in Peace Blake Edwards: 1922 - 2010 Blake Edwards, the legendary Hollywood comedy director has passed away at age 88  from complications of Pneumonia  at a Hospital in Santa Monica, California with his wife and Children at his bedside. Aside from his acclaimed directing, Blake Edwards might best be

Tax Cuts and Unemployment Benefits: It's a Win-Win!
In an effort to encourage the same level of civil dialogue among Politics Daily’s readers that we expect of our writers - a “civilogue,” to use the term coined by PD’s Jeffrey Weiss - we are requiring commenters to use their AOL or AIM screen names to submit a comment, and we are reading all comments before publishing them. Personal attacks (on writers, other readers, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, or anyone at all) and comments that are not productive addition...