EVENING UPDATE FOR THURSDAY, JANUARY 17TH, 2008

* Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur of Ohio needs some kind of Government directory, with pictures.  As Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was testifying before a committee on which she serves, Kaptur confused him with Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson.  But that's okay.  Kaptur has actually improved.  In 2003 she equated Osama bin Laden with those who fought the American revolution, saying this:

One could say that Osama bin Laden and these non-nation-state fighters with religious purpose are very similar to those kind of atypical revolutionaries that helped to cast off the British crown.

There's no doubt about it.  Why, if Benjamin Franklin were alive today, he'd fly his kite right into a New York skyscraper.

* Ed Markey, chairman of something called The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming (I'm not making that up) has expressed deep concern about the fate of Alaskan polar bears if oil companies are allowed to drill in their habitat area.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I like polar bears.  I've known polar bears.  Polar bears are friends of mine.  I'm eating a Klondike bar right now, and there's a polar bear on the wrapper, and, by God, I wouldn't have it any other way.  And I do want them protected.

But these sudden expressions of anguish over our bear friends and relatives would be a lot more convincing if the aggrieved parties would actually come up with a practical plan for energy independence.  In the interim, maybe we can make a deal with the polar bears. 

What is needed is a major national effort, on the level of the Manhattan Project, to develop alternative energy sources.  The problem is, no matter what's proposed, there'll be elements on the left who'll oppose it.

* The op-ed editor of the Times of London weighs in  on the controversy over The New York Times's hiring of Bill Kristol as a columnist.  The Brit gets it right, supports the appointment, and gives critics a firm lecture on what a great newspaper is all about.

* Rasmussen now has McCain and Huckabee tied for this Saturday's South Carolina primary.  Other polls show McCain somewhat ahead.  Check Real Clear Politics, which has the most up-to-date results.

* The Directors Guild of America has reached a contract agreement with Hollywood management, putting pressure on the Writers Guild of America (of which I'm a member), whose strike has shut down the TV and film industries for 11 weeks.  There are some concessions to the directors in the new-media category that may, or may not, be acceptable to the writers.  We should know within days whether the directors' deal will serve as an industry guideline and help bring the writers' strike to an end.

Posted on January 17, 2008.