PATTERICO looks at the L.A. Times’ 2005.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has some blog-related highlights from 2005, too: “Judging from the thoroughly unhinged tone of the old media, I’d say bloggers had a fabulous year.”

CONSEQUENCES FOR “BAGHDAD KID” Faris Hassan — but I agree with K-Lo that letting him blog is a good idea.

WE’RE BACK, but I have to unpack and cook dinner. Regular blogging will commence later. Meanwhile, the latest Blog Mela is up, and so is Fairtax Friday and the Carnival of Knitting.

Also, Ed Morrissey notes some shocking news on renditions that ought to be getting more play.

UPDATE: On Morrissey’s post, Tim Worstall emails: “Hey, I think we know what Sandy Berger was stuffing into his pants now.”

STRATEGYPAGE:

In the two countries that Islamic terrorism was born in, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the terrorists are taking a beating. This is good news that doesn’t get much attention, but it says much about the future of Islamic terrorism. In Egypt, the majority of the population continues to be turned off by the seemingly random violence of Islamic terrorists. . . .

Islamic terrorists are aware of this image problem, and there is a, at times, public debate among the leadership over the need to avoid attacks that kill Moslems, especially women and children. Another tactic that works, is good works. Charity projects are good for the image of Islamic terrorists. This has worked in the Palestinian territories (Hamas), Lebanon (Hizbollah), and Pakistan (many groups). However, the “charity” tactic also limits your choice of targets. For the moment, Palestine, Lebanon and Pakistan remain the main training grounds, and support bases for Islamic terrorism. Getting at these bases is difficult, because of the protective “good will” the Islamic terrorists have created.

Read the whole thing.

NEW TAX BREAKS FOR HYBRIDS:

Hybrid cars are a good bet for tax breaks in 2006. The new year will bring more savings for buyers of at least 13 gas-electric vehicles, with those showing the most improvement in fuel efficiency securing bigger tax breaks for their new owners.

The breaks will come in the form of tax credits, and they range from $3,150 for buyers of the Toyota Prius to $250 for Chevrolet’s Silverado pickup truck, according to an analysis by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

Maybe I should have waited until 2006.

MORE ON DEVELOPMENTS IN IRAQ, from Iraq the Model.

JONAH GOLDBERG: “A new contender for dumbest story of the year makes a bid. The AP reports that the White House’s Orwellian website technology — they use a traffic counter! — is not technically illegal.”

I agree with Ann Althouse that it would be nice to have a national discussion on surveillance laws in light of new technology. The kind of coverage these topics are getting from our increasingly dysfunctional press, however, makes me wonder if such a discussion is even possible.

UPDATE: More from Althouse here: “I wonder if those who screamed loudest about the Plame leak and national security are equally outraged about this new leak?”

DAN RIEHL looks at the year in military heroism.

THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT has opened a probe into the NSA leaks. My guess is that the New York Times editors are going to wish they hadn’t called so loudly for an investigation of the Plame affair.

Meanwhile, Charles Fried has thoughts on the underlying matter.

LIKE THE DIE HARD MOVIES, the sequels just keep coming: “Tropical Storm Zeta formed Friday in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, another installment in a record-breaking hurricane season that officially ended last month.”

I see this as Mother Nature’s way of marking hurricane-blogger Brendan Loy’s wedding.

BOB KRUMM: Impeach Bush now! “So, yes, bring forth Rep. John Conyers’ articles of impeachment. It should be Speaker Hastert’s first order of business in the new year. Rush it to the floor for a vote a la Rep John Murtha’s demand for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. And when the motion is overwhelmingly defeated, perhaps then we can put all this nonsensical talk about impeachment behind us and finally focus instead on the nation’s future.”

J.D. JOHANNES has thoughts on “the Baghdad kid.”

UPDATE: Some interesting thoughts from Iraq the Model, too.

And in a semi-related matter, check out the graphs on violent deaths in Iraq over at Gateway Pundit.

MICHAEL SILENCE has some year-end thoughts on blogs and the blogosphere.

GORE IN ’08?

FINISHED READING RESONANCE, by Chris Dolley and Timothy Zahn, the other day. A pretty good Singularity story, with an interesting quantum-mechanical / multiverse spin.

UPDATE: The Amazon page says Timothy Zahn’s a coauthor, but I don’t think he really is. I don’t have the book with me at the moment, so I can’t check.

IT’S BEEN MORE ABOUT VIOLENT VIDEOGAMES AND CONGRESS over at GlennReynolds.com all week. Start here and scroll up, if you’re interested.

AFTER PROBLEMS WITH POWERBLOGS, Volokh is back up, though I think some other sites are still down.

COOKIES ON WEBSITES? Heaven forfend! Ed Morrissey notes the fizzling of the latest “espionage” story, and Jeff Jarvis observes: “This is getting ridiculous: The AP is treating the NSA’s use of web cookies as if it is Big Brother spying. They’re just cookies.” Found in abundance, as many have noted, on Big Media sites themselves.

SORRY FOR THE NON-BLOGGING: We’re up visiting my brother’s family. Email response is also likely to be somewhere between slow and nonexistent. Back later.

THE CARNIVAL OF THE VANITIES IS UP: So is the Carnival of Education. Don’t miss the Carnival of the Liberated. And there are lots more carnivals listed at BlogCarnival.com.

IN THE MAIL: Behzad Yaghmaian’s Embracing the Infidel : Stories of Muslim Migrants on the Journey West.

STEPHEN GREEN reports on the birth of a new baby boy: “Given Melissa’s and my genes, the question wasn’t if he would be born with hair. The question was: How would he have it styled?”

MICKEY KAUS IS GLOATING over L.A. Times fact-checking problems. Meanwhile, still no word from the Washington Post on the factual errors in the Jonathan Finer and Doug Struck story that misreported on Bill Roggio’s blogging from Iraq. I know it’s the holidays, but this is still an embarrassment for the Post.

TOTALITARIAN TOURISM: The L.A. Weekly runs a lengthy report by Michael Totten on what it’s like to roam around Khadafy’s country.

DR. TONY has thoughts on political ethics reform, and suggests that it’s all for show.

I tend to agree.