Wednesday digest

- What can you say about deceased President Gerald Ford, other than that he was a dedicated public servant, a true gentleman, and a great American?

- Can't say I think that executing Saddam is a great idea, even though it probably won't have as deep an impact as many think it will. Take a look at this which gives new meaning to the term "deathbed conversion". Meanwhile, what about a two-state solution?

- A primer on the sabre-rattling in Somalia, here. It's important to watch what happens there because it's very possible that al-Qaeda could set up shop there in light of a power vacuum.

- This Australian writer speaks the truth about the need for women's advancement in Islamic societies.

- Tony Blankley takes stock of 2006 and finds much to be concerned with, but it's clear that when it comes to the economy, doom-and-gloom talk should be taken with some skepticism. More here on how robust things are in America right now, President Bush's foibles aside. One also has to wonder: is there any economist alive today who is more instructive than Thomas Sowell?

- This look at the future of oil suggests that there is almost 100 years' worth of oil reserves under the earth's surface. Still, energy self-sufficiency is key for the West.

- After reading Christopher Hitchen's ode to self-abuse in my brother's January Maxim magazine (unavailable online), I'd have to say he's my sleeper pick for any 2007 celebrity death pool.

- Continuing to demonstrate the amateur hour abilities of most Canadian conservatives when it comes to playing the game of political optics, just when you think Ottawa mayor Larry O'Brien can't step in it any worse than he already has, he does.