Er, well, Kathryn, I can’t think of anything very intelligent to say about

what in Chinese is called “large matters under Heaven,” having just been

plunged into suicidal despair by the news that our school district is closed

for the day on account of an impending blizzard. However, since our

President is meeting Tony Blair in Belfast, I will take the opportunity to

remind NRO readers about Newshound, absolutely the

best one-stop shopping for all news on the N. Ireland situation. There is

some sort of registration stuff to go through, but it doesn’t cost anything,

and they do a great job of gathering up both news and comment from the

British, Irish and American press. They also have an excellent bookstore

(link at the right edge of their home page).