“HOW THE SCHMIRK STOLE NANOTECHNOLOGY:” Howard Lovy offers a fable for our times.

CARBLOGGING: Here’s a preview of the Detroit Auto Show. I wonder if Kaus will go?

ONCE SKEPTICAL, BRITON SEES IRAQI SUCCESS:

The British officer described himself as neither optimist nor pessimist but “a hard-boiled realist,” then offered an upbeat assessment that matched that of American generals: “I think we’re in great shape.”

He took a jab at the press. Western reporters, he implied, had come to an early conclusion that the allied undertaking in Iraq would not succeed, and had failed to adjust. He compared this with criticism that greeted allied forces in the first stages of the spring invasion, when resistance stalled the drive to Baghdad.

The plan provided for 125 days to take Baghdad, and it was accomplished in 23 days, he noted. But, he told reporters, “you had us dead and buried in seven days.”

Read the whole thing. And read this, too.

YOU CAN BE BOB HOPE: The Mudville Gazette explains how.

UPDATE: Looks like David Letterman is the new Bob Hope:

BAGHDAD, Iraq – With shouts of “Dave, Dave!” U.S. soldiers greeted the American late night TV show host David Letterman as he visited troops in central Baghdad on Christmas Eve.

Letterman, the host of CBS’ “Late Show,” chatted with wounded and sick soldiers in the military’s main combat hospital and met soldiers at one of Saddam Hussein’s ransacked palaces that now serves as part of the U.S.-led coalition’s headquarters. . . .

Snapping a picture, 1st Lt. Michael Gerstmyer, 24, from Baltimore, Maryland, said he was surprised at how relaxed the TV star appeared in a battle zone.

“He acts like he’s been here for years,” Gerstmyer said.

Last Christmas, Letterman visited troops in Afghanistan.

Bravo.

JAMES LILEKS: “I know it’s a played out meme, but please: we need ’80s Eye for the 70s guy’.”

TIM BLAIR has a comprehensive roundup of quotes from 2003. Don’t miss it. Meanwhile, here’s a good one from Andrew Sullivan:

Our leading bishops demand hard evidence of Saddam Hussein’s possession of weapons of mass destruction. If we were to demand the same level of proof from their profession, they would all be out of a job.

Heh. Indeed.

MAD COW APPEARS in the United States. I think it’s the swine flu of the 21st century, but I’m glad I don’t own McDonald’s stock.

UPDATE: Call me crazy, but I don’t think that McCaviar is going to get them over this hurdle. On the other hand, reader James Dailey emails:

MCD actually maintains its own beef supply and has intensive controls regarding quality. I’d be more worried about companies like Lone Star and Outback, that do not have their own supply. MCD’s menu has been moving away from beef as the only source of revenue, with salads and poultry becoming important menu items. Your reaction is common and is why the stock is trading down – but is also why I’m buying for my clients!

There’s always a silver lining, I guess.

AIRBRUSH AWARD: Michael Demmons has a doozy of an example.

UPDATE: Clayton Cramer says he can’t find the story, but I followed the link and found it right here. You did have to scroll to find the link — Demmons’ link goes to a contents page.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Clayton Cramer says I’ve missed his point: “It wasn’t whether anyone is carrying this story about the Lincoln Memorial–it’s whether the story has any basis other than a press release by PEER.”

MORE: Reportedly, the Park Service has changed its mind.

CHRIS MOONEY has an interesting article on legal sunsets in Legal Affairs.

It looks as if the assault weapon ban will sunset, and it’s certain that it wouldn’t have passed without that provision, since it barely passed at all even with the help of some last-minute chicanery by Tom Foley, who paid for that with his seat. So sunsets do work, sometimes.

WILL BAUDE has lots more about the virtues of premarital sex: Just keep scrolling.

COLBY COSH: “I don’t want anyone to think I’m a monomaniac, as opposed to an ordinary maniac.”

MICHAEL NOVAK writes that America is “a Spartan Athens:”

The United States is self-consciously a child of the ancient civilization of Greece and Rome.

During long periods, America looks too pacific to be a threat to the likes of Hitler and Mussolini. Too much like Athens gone soft. But at times such as the present–with wars in Afghanistan and Iraq–the Spartan dimension of our civilization becomes visible to all doubters. The biggest thing that most Europeans don’t know about America is its Spartan side. Our founders chose the eagle as the symbol for the nation because the eagle is supreme in war, seeing unblinkingly and at great distances. Once fixed on its prey, the eagle is not easily deterred.

Our founders well knew that democracy of itself softens manners, tames–even coddles–the human spirit, and pulls great spirits down to a lower common level. No democracy will long survive, they knew, that does not toughen itself to face adversity, to raise up warriors, and to keep ready a warlike spirit. A democratic army should be small, under civilian control, they insisted, kept safely away from political power, but committed to keeping those who serve in it fearless and invincible.

In a word, in order to survive and to prosper, democracies need to infuse a Spartan spirit into their Athenian thinking. To maintain the peace, prepare for war. A democracy too soft will soon perish.

I’d be interested in hearing what Victor Davis Hanson, and perhaps Jacques Chirac, would say in reply.

ROGER SIMON SAYS that there’s a war on Wolfowitz. Daniel Drezner has more, and one of his commenters points out that much of the anti-Wolfowitz stuff is coming from Robert Novak.

BRUCE STERLING has a blog.

THE DOWNSIDE OF EMAIL: Just got this message:

i just read your rules and regulations for being considered to be added to your blog list, well nevermind, i’m not going to kiss your ass dude

The funny thing is, I don’t even have “rules and regulations” for being considered. I wonder what he’s talking about?

PORPHYROGENITUS is praising the BBC for its coverage of the Parmalat scandal, “Europe’s Enron:”

Credit where credit is due since I slam their radio World Service News all the time, they were very open and candid in their climbdown from previous smugness on the subject, very explicitly acknowledging that, yes, it can after all happen there and all the previous assertions that EU countries had fixed things so nothing like what goes on in America could take place in European firms was false. So, kudos to them for being able to admit that.

Indeed.

WINDS OF CHANGE offers a special holiday terror alert analysis, as well as the conclusion to its series on Halliburton and government contracting.

MORE GOOD ECONOMIC NEWS: “The U.S. economy, propelled by tax cuts and low interest rates, roared ahead at an 8.2 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the best showing in nearly 20 years, while Americans’ incomes and spending both showed healthy gains in November.”

OVER AT GLENNREYNOLDS.COM, I observe that it’s been a good year for bloggers.

IS THE INTERNET WEIMARIZING AMERICAN POLITICS? Arnold Kling fears that it might be:

My concern here is the combination of weakened Constitutional protection and Internet-facilitated extremism. In my lifetime, I believe that what has protected our country from extremist demagogues has been the need for coalition-building in the two-party system. To build a winning coalition at the national level, each party must lean toward the center. The Internet might change the dynamic.

I think he’s wrong about this, but you should read the whole thing. After all, I could be the one who’s wrong here. [Should you be admitting that? Isn’t the Internet a “hot medium” that rewards extremism? — Ed. No, I think it’s a “cool medium” that rewards logical thought and critical thinking. But I could be wrong! Still, I’m standing by my theory that rock and roll is what has saved us from extremist demagogues. . . .]

HOWARD DEAN: In trouble for dishonesty on the war. Er, but not this war. Bad timing — this sort of thing would have been overlooked a few months ago, but now the next story is “frontrunner stumbles,” and Dean’s playing into their hands.

Furthermore, if Dean thinks that he can cover his flank on this war by invoking Vietnam, he’s crazy.

UPDATE: Robin Roberts emails that this makes Dean’s “slip” look a bit more premeditated.

MESSAGE TO THE POLITICAL PRESS: When Frank Rich is noticing that you’re behind the curve, well, you’re really behind the curve. . . .

THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD comes to Tennessee: I find this rather disturbing, even if this particular story has a happy ending.

ARMORING COCKPITS — and protecting hijackers? D’oh!

NANOTECHNOLOGY GETS REAL: My TechCentralStation column is up.