NEW AT RSC: The conservative, 70-member House Republican Study Committee has a new chairwoman, Rep. Sue Myrick (N.C.), who replaces Rep. John Shadegg (Ariz.), for a two-year term. "Sue Myrick will be an outstanding chair of the RSC," said Shadegg. "She is intelligent, articulate, and committed to ensuring that the RSC remains an influential force in Congress." Said Myrick, "I am enormously gratified to have been selected as the new RSC chair, and I look forward to advancing our conservative agenda into the 108th Congress." Myrick (American Conservative Union rating: 95%) entered Congress in the 1994 Republican wave and serves on the influential Rules Committee.
COMMUNISTS VIOLATE ARMI-STICE: The U.S.-U.N. Command has concluded that North Korea violated the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War when its troops brought machine guns into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates her from South Korea. "The U.S.-U.N. Command said an investigation confirmed reports by South Korean soldiers that North Korean troops brought 7.62mm machine guns into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from Dec. 13 to Dec. 20. . .," reported AP. "The command, which is viewed essentially as a U.S. entity, requested a meeting with North Korean counterparts to discuss the issue on Dec. 26, but it said Communist officials refused to accept the request. Under the 1953 armistice, only rifles and other small arms are allowed inside. North Korea routinely violates terms of the armistice that govern conduct inside the DMZ, according to U.S. military officials." The latest violations of the armistice come as North Korea breaks a 1994 agreement not to produce new nuclear weapons. After initially refusing to negotiate with North Korea, the Bush Administration has agreed to talk to her Communist government. "We’re not going to provide any quid pro quos for North Korea to live up to its existing obligations," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said January 7.
TO IRELAND NOW? Frustrated by the feeling he was being restrained from greater involvement in the Northern Ireland peace process, Richard Egan has resigned as U.S. ambassador to Ireland. The 67-year-old Boston entrepreneur thus became the first major Bush-appointed ambassador to call it quits, sparking immediate speculation over who would succeed him in Dublin. Among the most oft-mentioned names are those of Jim Nicholson, the former Republican national chairman who is currently ambassador to the Vatican; Michael Finnegan, a partner in J. P. Morgan; and author Peggy Noonan, best known as a speech-writer for Ronald Reagan and the elder George Bush.
ICE CAP MYTH DEBUNKED: Did the cavemen drive SUVs in prehistoric times? That may be the explanation liberals will give for new evidence that the Antarctic ice sheet has been naturally melting for 10,000 years. The new research, published in the journal Science, suggests that despite dire warnings from environmentalists that human activity is causing the melting, the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet has in fact been contributing water to the ocean for the last 10,000 years. In order to conduct the research, scientists, led by John Stone of the University of Washington, analyzed loose rocks from melting glaciers on the polar continent.
HANGERS-ON: One oft-heard complaint about the Bush White House is its slowness in filling vacancies in certain departments and agencies, thus leaving Clinton holdovers in positions of power. One example is the Railroad Retirement Board, where the term of Chairman Cheryl T. Thomas expired August 28 of last year. But she retains the office and eats into the five-year term of her yet-unnamed successor. Thomas was formerly a top aide to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. With her at the helm, the RRB has featured an address in its office by Patricia Mendoza of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and a film entitled "Hispanic Americans: One or Many Cultures?"
NO E-TAXES: On the first day of the new Congress, Rep. Chris Cox (R.-Calif.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D.-Ore.) introduced a bill to make permanent their ban on special taxes on transactions that take place over the Internet. The current ban expires on Nov. 1, 2003. Said Cox, "Given the continued softness in the tech economy, this is hardly the time for new taxes on the Internet. Rather, providing long-term certainty about tax policy is one of the necessary ingredients for a tech rebound." The Internet Tax Non-Discrimination Act will do just that by requiring that Internet transactions be taxed no more than other transactions.
