France is claiming to lead in tsunami aid. Link. I am reproducing the story in its entirety here.

PARIS
France says it’s the top donor for the tsunami disaster relief effort in Asia. The prime minister’s boast that France is vaulting to “the head of all the contributors” follows barbs from the U-S about the extent of French generosity.

In an interview this week on Fox News, the chief of the agency that distributes American aid said France tends not to be a world leader in foreign aid — and often packages its help as loans. France’s Foreign Ministry has rejected those allegations.

Since Sunday’s earthquake that triggered the tsunamis, the U-S has announced an initial aid package of 35 (m) million dollars, while also facing accusations from some that it had been stingy. France has pledged to provide 57 (m) million dollars.

I’ve had a few hits from search results lately:

On Google someone searched for: baen free library instapundit
My post mentioning the Baen Free Library is here.

On Yahoo someone searched for: jerry orbach religion
I posted on Jerry Orbach’s death yesterday and I have mentioned religion in a few posts. Google Ads points to religious ads a lot.

I’ve also had several searches for assam american video because I posted that Fox News had the video.

Here, in no particular order, are my wishes for 2005 including, but are not limited to (as I shall surely think of more), the following:

• The Iraqi election on January 30th goes off, if not without a hitch, at least with minimal problems.
• The Palestinian election is free, fair and valid.
• Annan and the rest of upper management at the U.N. realize that they have no credibility and resign.
• The clean up from the Tsunami is completed as quickly as possible to reduce the inevitable further losses due to disease.
• After the successful Iraqi election, Osama turns himself in.
• I find a job (preferably one I can do from home), or get myself some clients.
• Get a nice, new, highly powered laptop with lots of RAM, a big hard drive, a DVD/CD burner and loaded with software.
• Moonbats from both sides wake up and move a little more to center.

Add your own to the comments.

Iowahawk has found the first draft of Nick Coleman’s diatribe against Powerline in a dumpster at the Mall of America.

It begins:

NICK COLEMAN: THE FIRST DRAFT

[ed. note: found in a dumpster outside the Mall of America — the first draft of Nick Coleman’s latest cry for help in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune]

OOOH, TIME MAGAZINE BLOG OF THE YEAR! I AM SO FREAKING IMPRESSED… NOT

By Nick Coleman

Star-Tribune

The end of the year is a time to bury the hatchet, so congratulations to Powerline, the Twin Cities blog that last week was named Time magazine’s “Blog of the Year!”

Now let me get a new hatchet.

That’s a veiled warning, readers, because Sensei Nick is about to unleash a flurry of professional journalism hatchet-fu on the so-called “Blog of the Year,” which will soon be begging for mercy from my metaphors of fury.

Trust me. It won’t be pretty.

Read the rest.

Wretchard has a well written essay that you should go read in its entirety:

“Fortress Unvanquishable Save for Sacnoth”