Free Republic

The exit of Roger Moore from the James Bond franchise opens the door to better films, a return to espionage plots and an outstanding new lead.

Earlier this summer, a group of scientists spent two weeks in Indonesia atop a glacier called Puncak Jaya, one of the few remaining tropical glaciers in the world. They were taking samples of ice cores to study the impacts of climate change on the glacier. Lonnie Thompson, a professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University, led the team and what he witnessed shocked him: The glacier was literally melting under their feet. Thompson tells NPR's Guy Raz he has conducted 57 expeditions around the world, but this trip was unusual. It was the first one where he experienced rain...

Wrangling over the fate of the debt-ridden studio had thrown its plans to make new movies, including the next 007 film, into disarray. The 23rd Bond movie had been due for release in 2012, the 50th anniversary of Ian Fleming's spy character's first outing in Dr No.

The script for Bond 23 was penned by regular 007 collaborators Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (The World is not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace) and polished by newcomer Peter Morgan (The Queen). The LA Times also claims Sam Mendes, who is unofficially attached to direct the film, worked on the script last spring. The paper’s source claims “creative discussions among the writers and producers” have hampered the film’s development. The LA Times doesn’t elaborate on the specific nature of the alleged scripting issues, but speculates that it may owe to the lofty expectations placed...

The "Ding Dong, the Bush Is Dead" fever rages on, disappointments notwithstanding. Hurricane Katrina was, politically, a wash. And say what you like about Harriet Miers, but at least the disaffected right wrapped the whole thing up in a month. Meanwhile, the left's still panting orgasmically about Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation into what Scooter Libby said to Judith Miller about what Valerie Plame knew about what Joseph C. Wilson IV said . . . zzzz . . . fingers growing heavy . . . losing the will to type . . . Most Americans have never heard of any of these...