I’m sorry, I really couldn’t resist. Last week’s SNL with Justin Timberlake contained this comedy gem, now in uncensored format (NSFW).

And for those of you who are curious and want to make your own, Jason Kottke has the instructions…

Washington Post has a story out today that doesn’t cast the congressman in a very good light. Quid pro quo or just politics as usual? Looks like a bit of both and that’s the problem.
See, the group the story is talking about is Pennsylvania Association for Individuals With Disabilities, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with [...]

Their answer to the recent unanimous UN resolution?
More centrifuges:
TEHERAN – Iran will on Sunday start putting in place 3,000 uranium enriching centrifuges at a key nuclear plant in an immediate response to a UN sanctions resolution, top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani told the hardline Kayhan newspaper.
“Our immediate response to the UN Security Council is that, [...]

Two unlikely countries are now locked in a life and death struggle.
From NY Times:
According to witnesses, Ethiopian fighter jets bombarded several towns, obliterating an Islamist recruitment center and other targets, while Ethiopian tanks rolled into battle. The attacks set off riots in Mogadishu, Somalia’s battle-scarred seaside capital, and fighting on several fronts in southern Somalia.
Ethiopia, [...]

I haven’t written for a few days, so I figured now would be a good time to take some time to thank all of you for reading when you do and hope you continue in the new year.
Be safe and have fun!

This has been one of those oft whispered questions in Washington and beyond, but it’ll most likely never get answered because everybody knows it’s political poison. After all, who wants to be labeled as anti-farmer?
But the reality of the American farmer is much different than those days of a tightknit family working their land for [...]

But will another soon begin?
If you haven’t heard already, Saparmurat Niyazov, the leader of the incredibly oppressive regime that has ruled Turkmenistan, has died…even though he said he was going to live forever.
Here’s more about how crazy Niyazov was…from the BBC:
Mr Niyazov became Communist Party chief of what was then a Soviet republic in 1985 [...]

Polls often lie, but not when they’re so consistently telling the President that the American public thinks he’s just doing an awful job of it.
From CNN:
Support for President Bush’s management of the Iraq war has dropped to an all-time low even as his overall approval remains tepid but steady, according to a CNN poll released [...]

Five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance.
Judging from the quote in the title, Bush is on the third step:
As he searches for a new strategy for Iraq, Bush has now adopted the formula advanced by his top military adviser to describe the situation. “We’re not winning, we’re not losing,” Bush said in an [...]

Debbie Schlussel goes low on Obama…
So, even if he identifies strongly as a Christian, and even if he despised the behavior of his father (as Obama said on Oprah); is a man who Muslims think is a Muslim, who feels some sort of psychological need to prove himself to his absent Muslim father, and who [...]

Ethicist Peter Singer has an interesting article in the New York Times magazine on charitable giving. It’s largely a discussion of “how much should one give?” and makes the argument that it is perfectly defensible, on moral grounds, to tax the rich more heavily than the poor and to expect them to donate more.
I’ve been [...]

Would you believe $53 trillion?
And the 2006 deficit alone? $4.6 trillion.
That’s based on a GAO analysis (pdf) that looks at the present value of future liabilities the government has racked up over the next 75 years.
Are the numbers real? Yes. Are they meaningful? Sort of.
The figures come in answer to the following question: “If the [...]

The reason? Same as always…no coherent plan.
From Wash Post:
The Bush administration is split over the idea of a surge in troops to Iraq, with White House officials aggressively promoting the concept over the unanimous disagreement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to U.S. officials familiar with the intense debate.
Sending 15,000 to 30,000 more troops [...]

First, watch this…

Remember, net neutrality ensures that everybody’s site gets equal access to the same speed and performance. Big companies want to change that and charge a premium for that speed and performance, while putting limits on those who don’t have the means to pay additional fees….which is pretty much everybody.
What’s truly scary is that [...]

There are no words…
A fence-building company in Southern California agrees to pay nearly $5 million in fines for hiring illegal immigrants. Two executives from the company may also serve jail time. The Golden State Fence Company’s work includes some of the border fence between San Diego and Mexico.
After an immigration check in 1999 found [...]

Did you realize that Israel has gender segregation on buses?
From Haaretz:
A woman who reported a vicious attack by an ad-hoc “modesty patrol” on a Jerusalem bus last month is now lining up support for her case and may be included in a petition to the High Court of Justice over the legality of sex-segregated buses.
Miriam [...]

You’ve heard the justifications for torture before…….”What if (fill in this space with a horrible scenario that could only be averted by torturing somebody you knew had the information you needed)?”
Yes, it’s the 24-ification of America, and post 9/11 we’re lousy with scenarios like these to justify our actions.
Reason’s Jim Henley brings some perspective [...]

The bird flu cure killed more than the flu itself?
More countries are dropping the dollar in favor of euros?
India helps Iran build the bomb while U.S. looks the other way?
Find out more from Foreign Policy.

Gene Healy is having his say about the presidential hopeful.
First the “good”…
Say what you will about Newt Gingrich, but he has that rare political gift: he sounds captivating and forceful even while talking complete dreck. I witnessed that up close a couple of years ago when I crashed a meeting of conservative activists, and [...]

So not only is marijuana a $35 billion cash crop, it’s reportedly our country’s largest.
From LA Times:
A report released today by a marijuana public policy analyst contends that the market value of pot produced in the U.S. exceeds $35 billion � far more than the crop value of such heartland staples as corn, soybeans and [...]