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Best of the Web Today, by James Taranto (part of the Wall Street Journal OpinionJournal.com Web site, which is open to the public without a subscription)

Chrenkoff

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Instapundit.com

Iraq the Model

From the Desk of Jane Galt, Asymmetrical Information

Liliks (Today's Bleat)

OpinionJournal.com (a site by the Wall Street Journal that does to require a subscription to view)

OxBlog

PowerLine

Real Clear Politics, T. Bevan

Speculist:  Live to see it!

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This Is Rumor Control

Tim Blair

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Archives for Harry's Blog

November 2004

October 2004

Some good articles on the 2004 Red Sox season

A postgame interview with Curt Schilling's after the Sox won the American League Penant

October 28, 2004

Danny Postel, "Fukuyama's moment: a neocon schism opens," Open Democracy, Free Thinking for the World, October 28, 2004:

The Iraq war opened a fratricidal split among United States neo–conservatives. Danny Postel examines the bitter dispute between two leading neocons, Francis Fukuyama and Charles Krauthammer, and suggests that Fukuyama’s critique of the Iraq war and decision not to vote for George W Bush is a significant political as well as intellectual moment.

But the latest salvo against the war and its neocon architects has stung its targets like none other has done. That’s because the critique Francis Fukuyama has advanced is an inside job: not only is its author among the most celebrated members of the neo–conservative intelligentsia, but his dissection of the conceptual problems at the core of the Iraq undertaking appeared on the neocons’ home ground. “The Neoconservative Moment,” his twelve–page intervention into the Iraq debate, was published in the Summer 2004 issue of The National Interest, a flagship conservative foreign–policy journal.  (continued)

Posted October 28, 2004, 11:00 p.m.

October 26, 2004

For the latest election polls, see the Real Clear Politics polling page.  

Posted October 26, 2004, 9:00 p.m.

October 26, 2004

From Arthur Chrenkoff's roundup of the past two weeks' good news from Iraq, OpinionJournal.com of the Wall Street Journal, October 25, 2004:

Progress continues in rebuilding Iraq's electricity infrastructure:

 

The commissioning of the generators in September added 47 Megawatts of electricity to the grid--enough to fuel 141,000 Iraqi homes, adding to the estimated 15 million Iraqi homes already serviced by the national grid. . . . Electricity production in the country averages approximately 5,000 Megawatts, a total that exceeds the pre-war level of 4,400. . . .

A new 30-kilometer transmission line was also brought online in September in South Central Iraq, bringing more electricity to the region and linking the country's first new power station to a key substation in the region. The installation of the line and commissioning of the four generators are the latest successes in the $1 billion effort to rebuild the country's antiquated electrical infrastructure.

The successes come as weeks of inventory and training were completed to transfer seven electrical stations back to the Ministry of Electricity. The transfer marked the completion of the U.S.-led renovation at the seven sites that put 429 Megawatts on the national grid. . . .

Six additional power stations are slated to be transferred to the Ministry in October, a move that will return an additional 986 Megawatts of generation capacity--enough to service 2 million Iraqi homes.

Since arriving in Iraq last fall, the Corps has built more than 1,200 towers, repaired 8,600 kilometers of transmission line and rehabilitated or built enough generators to bring an additional 1,621 Megawatts to the national grid--enough to service 4.8 million Iraqi homes.

And a few days later, further progress was reported in the capital: "A new generator came on line here today bringing enough new electricity to the energy-thirsty country to fuel more than 275,000 Iraqi homes. The new 96 Megawatt generator is the second new generator to come on line at the north Baghdad plant since the reconstruction effort began at the site one year ago. The commissioning brings the total available electricity in the country to nearly 5,300 Megawatts, far exceeding the pre-war level of 4,400."

American support made the difference for one power station:

 

As part of its efforts to bolster security and the economy in Northern Iraq, the 1st Infantry Division partnered with civilian companies and the Army Corp of Engineers to repair the Bayji Power Plant complex.

The facility, which is comprised of three power plants, once generated 1,300 megawatts of power. But after the first Gulf War, Iraqi officials were unable to get parts to maintain the plants because of sanctions levied against the country. The three plants were generating a little less than 400 megawatts of power prior the American-led invasion of Iraq last year.

Since then, coalition forces have worked diligently to repair the complex, which was one of the major power sources in the nation. In August, it was generating about 800 megawatts of power. . . .

The plant employees 2,000 locals, 1,200 of which are permanent. . . . As of August, the 1st Infantry Division had spent more than $1 million on parts for the plant.

Aside from repairs to the 500-acre complex, security was a major issue. Its fence had gaping holes that serve as a gateway for looters who frequently stole equipment and supplies from the power plant. . . . To remedy that problem, the Big Red One spent $450,000 to build a 12-foot wall around the entire complex. That project created more than 700 jobs for locals, as six different contractors who submitted the lowest bids worked on the wall simultaneously. . . .

The plant is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2005.

Posted October 26, 2004, 9:00 p.m.

October 28, 2004

See Robert David Sullivan's "Beyond Red & Blue Preelection Update, Deja Vue in Des Moines, Bush and Kerry Have Trod Limited Political Ground," from the fall 2004 issue of CommonWealth magazine from MassInc:  

In one of the clichés of presidential politics, candidates often say that the best part of campaigning is getting to see so much of America. It would be hard to take such a claim seriously this year. President George Bush and Sen. John Kerry have mostly limited their public appearances to a handful of “swing” states, completely ignoring most of the South and rarely visiting such large metropolitan areas as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston.

Read the entire article.

Posted October 26, 2004, 9:00 a.m.

October 20, 2004

From the Best of the Web, OpinionJournal.com,
Wednesday, October 20:

You need a math major to figure this out:

"College Costs Spike Again"--headline, CNN/Money, Oct. 19

"College Costs Level Off--a Little"--headline, CBSNews.com, Oct. 19

"Studies: Pace of College Costs on Decline"--headline, Associated Press, Oct. 19

Posted October 20, 2004, 9:00 a.m.