Hillary Edges Out Oprah as Most Admired Woman in '07  —  PRINCETON, NJ — For the sixth year in a row, President George W. Bush is the most admired man and Sen. Hillary Clinton the most admired woman in Gallup's annual survey.  But neither winner had a very decisive win this year …

Praise for Liberal Fascism  —  Charles Murray declares: “'It is my argument that American liberalism is a totalitarian political religion,' Jonah Goldberg writes near the beginning of Liberal Fascism.  My first reaction was that he is engaging in partisan hyperbole.  That turned out to be wrong.

A Fresh Look at Hezbollah  —  I haven't written much about Lebanon lately, partly because I've been working in Iraq, but also because Lebanon has been in a holding pattern for the past year.  There isn't much new to say about the same-old same-old.  —  But Andrew Exum published a perceptive piece …

Andrew Sullivan: Tenaciously Behind the Curve  —  Via Memeorandum, I discovered that Andrew Sullivan is recommending the equally clueless Juan Cole's “Top Ten Myths about Iraq 2007″: … Sullivan then quotes Cole: “Among the primary effects of the ‘surge’ has been to turn Baghdad …

Solar cheaper than coal and falling  —  Let me be the last in the greenosphere to note that Nanosolar has shipped its first panels, and it's no exaggeration to say that this moment will likely be seen as a historical turning point.  —  For a taste of the breathless anticipation around Nanosolar …

Tsunami aid ‘spent on politics’  —  THREE years after Australians donated $400 million to rebuild Asian lives devastated by the 2004 tsunami, aid groups are under attack for spending much of the money on social and political engineering.  —  A survey by The Australian of the contributions …

Best of the Web  —  Today's Video on WSJ.com: Filmmakers Maureen and James Tusty tell James Freeman about Estonia's “singing revolution. “  —  Phony Libertarian  —  Rep. Ron Paul, by far the most popular sideshow act in the 2008 presidential circus, is supposedly a libertarian.

Obama ups the ante in Iowa  —  MASON CITY, Iowa — One week before Iowans gather for the first-in-the-nation caucus, Sen. Barack Obama said Wednesday that his message of change has already been “vindicated."  —  Obama made the declaration at the outset of a critical final push in Iowa …

Huckabee still gives paid speeches  —  Breaking with tradition for presidential candidates, Mike Huckabee is continuing to accept paid speaking engagements in the thick of his insurgent presidential campaign, although churches get a break from his usual fee of up to $25,000.

Senate meets briefly to block Bush  —  WASHINGTON - The House was quiet as a mouse the day after Christmas.  But across the Capitol, the Senate was operating in an unusually efficient manner in its ongoing power struggle with President Bush.  —  A nine-second session gaveled in and out by Sen. Jim Webb …

Exclusive - Bill Clinton: “We Need To Stay in Iraq to Protect the Kurds From The Turks”  —  This is America's nightmare.  —  Just before Christmas, Turkish warplanes (F-16s made in the USA) and helicopter gunships bombed 200 Kurdish targets in northern Iraq, killing 150 people …

Diversity Training Backfires  —  Employers pay a lot of money for diversity training and sexual harassment training, but often the training backfires and blows up in the face of the employer that paid for it.  In Hartman v. Pena (1995), the Federal Aviation Administration got sued …

Many Retirees May Lose Benefit From Employers  —  WASHINGTON — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday that employers could reduce or eliminate health benefits for retirees when they turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare.  —  The policy, set forth in a new regulation …

Kansas GOP Chair Sends Email Boasting of Voter Caging  —  Kris Kobach, a former counsel to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft who is currently the chairman of the Kansas GOP, sent out an email on Thur entitled “Kansas Republican Party Year in Review” in which he brags of voter caging.

Favorite quotes of 2007  —  One of the few things I dislike more than end-of-the-year “looking back” lists is the incessant chatter and worthless speculation over the upcoming primaries.  But that chatter and speculation is inundating everything.  Thus, I offer some of my favorite quotes of 2007: