Andrew Bolt posts from the Holy Land.
Stand on the top of sheer Masada, probably Israel’s most inspiring and memorable landmark, and you can see the ruins of the palace built by Herod, a king so powerful that historians call him “the Great”.
See, deep below on the plain, the outlines still of the camp of an army of a Roman empire so powerful that it seemed fated to last forever. That empire, too, is long gone. Around you is country over which fought pharaohs, the generals of Alexander the Great, and the great kings of Babylon and Persia .
From the sublime to something else. Vlad Putin sings “Blueberry Hill”. If you are in a hurry fast forward to 1.25.
Is that real or is someone having a lend of us?
Trouble in the Chinese paradise.
“China has uncovered 531bn yuan [AUD$81.5bn] of irregularities in local government debts…
“There are growing concerns about the amount of bad loans being held by local governments.”
Organizations and Markets, top posts for 2011. Viva les French Fries.
Most people don’t know that France is McDonald’s second-most popular market, despite the presumed French distaste for les choses américaine. Knowledge @ Whaton has a nice piece suggesting that the firm’s willingness to cater to French tastes explains its success over local and multinational rivals.
French fries of a different kind. Tim Blair on car burning as recreation.
Ruminations by a Tintin fan. I had a deprived childhood, only finding Tintin when I had children of my own. Still, better late than never.
So the new Tintin movie, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, opened in Australia on Boxing Day. As a die-hard fan of Tintin, the creation of Georges Remi known as Hergé (1907-1983), I will have to see it, though I have serious doubts that the movie can remotely match my expectations given it originates from books that are amongst the most favorite in my life.
Baa Bas the elephant is fun as well. Not to mention Pooh Bear.
Climate realist puts his house on the line in a legal case against the hockey stick evidence hiders.
John O’Sullivan is putting in above and beyond what any single skeptical soul ought to. He’s already been a key figure helping Tim Ball in the legal fight with the UVA establishment, which has spent over a million dollars helping Michael Mann to hide emails. The case was launched by Michael Mann, but could turn out to do a huge favor to skeptics — the discovery process is a powerful tool, and we all know who has been hiding their methods, their data, and their work-related correspondence.
Two weeks in Israel with a mob of Christians and Jews. [0ld news but possibly of interest to supplement Andrew Bolt's impressions.]