The Monday Tour: 1/2/06

For some looks at The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: The Narnia movie, take 3; Take 2; and Take 1. (HT: Intellectuelle)
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Saudi Arabia: Women Make Gains Despite Challenges.(HT: All Things Conservative)

The year 2005 began with a disappointment for Saudi women seeking greater roles in society, but it ended on a higher note of optimism for the years ahead.

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Okay, everybody relax, take a deep breath - because this will not make the left or the right happy. The Gallup Poll is out on the most admired man and woman of 2005. The winners: George Bush and Hillary Clinton. In a party affiliation split, George Bush came in second among Democrats. (HT: All Things Conservative)
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The Washington Post's quotations of the year: 'And Now, Quotations That Said It All . . .'. The winner again - George Bush with

"Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job."-- President Bush, during his first visit to the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, commending then-FEMA head Michael Brown.

(HT: All Things Conservative)
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There is a whole raft of posts on the developing political situation in Iraq at Iraq the Model. Everything is up in the air.
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Predictions for 2005 from Evangelical Outpost. My favorite:

After being caught exiting a Motel-6 in Boise, ID, Ann Coulter and Al Franken will admit that they are secretly married.

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Early data challenge assumptions about Katrina victims:

"Four months after Hurricane Katrina, analyses of data suggest that some widely reported assumptions about the storm's victims were incorrect.... The victims weren't disproportionately poor.... they also weren't disproportionately African American....The one group that was disproportionately affected by the storm appears to have been older adults. People 60 and older account for only about 15 percent of the population in the New Orleans area, but the Knight Ridder database found that 74 percent of the dead were 60 or older. Nearly half were older than 75. Lack of transportation was assumed to be a key reason that many people stayed behind and died, but at many addresses where the dead were found, their cars remained in their driveways, flood-ruined symbols of fatal miscalculation."

(HT: WorldMagBlog)
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There is a Catholic carnival at Living Catholicism. (HT: WorldMagBlog)
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Until next week - enjoy