U.S. ECONOMIC GROWTH IS “GALLOPING.”

Meanwhile, France’s problem is not enough Wal-marts.

THE CARNIVAL OF EDUCATION IS UP! And some others (look right!).

DON HO, CARDIAC PIONEER:

Ho had his own stem cells injected into his heart Monday night, which is expected to improve the muscle’s pumping ability by as much as 70 percent.

Ho suffers from cardiomyopathy and his doctor said conventional surgery could do nothing to ease the inflammation. The procedure, which is not available in the United States, was performed by former University of Michigan cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Kit Arom and overseen by Dr. Amit Patel of Pittsburgh.

I hope this works, and that if it does it becomes available in the United States.

NEWS FROM IRAQ, via the Washington Post:

As Iraqis nationwide prepare to go to the polls for the third time this year on Dec. 15 — this time for a new parliament — candidates and political parties of all stripes are embracing politics, Iraqi style, as never before and showing increasing sophistication about the electoral process, according to campaign specialists, party officials and candidates here.

“It is like night and day from 10 months ago in terms of level of participation and political awareness,” said a Canadian election specialist with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, a group affiliated with the U.S. Democratic Party that is working to ease Iraq’s transition to democracy. . . .

In January, most candidates outside the dominant few parties largely eschewed campaigning, fearing they could be kidnapped or assassinated. Now, even long shots are getting into the act. One day this week, National Democratic Institute instructors explained get-out-the-vote techniques to a dozen members of the Free Iraq Gathering, a new coalition that “probably won’t get many more votes than you see in that room,” according to an institute employee.

Sounds positive to me.

THE LAST REFUGE OF POLITICAL SCOUNDRELS: Paul Martin proposes a handgun ban for Canada. Because a ban on rampant political corruption would be too hard to enforce . . . .

ON THE BALL: Even though I selected 2-day shipping, the satellite radio I ordered yesterday showed up this morning as I was leaving for work. That’s pretty impressive. No time to fool with it today, but I’ll charge up the battery tonight and post a report.

A SOLAR-ENHANCED PRIUS: Cool, in a geeky sort of way.

At the gym this morning, I parked between another Highlander hybrid and a (non-solar) Prius. That probably says more about my neighborhood than their overall sales, but maybe not. A few years ago it was Chevy Suburbans and Toyota Landcruisers as far as the eye could see.

FOUR YEARS AFTER THE TALIBAN FELL — and four years and a month after people pronounced Afghanistan a hopeless, Vietnam-like quagmire — an ABC News poll says that Afghans are optimistic about the future:

77 percent of Afghans say their country is headed in the right direction — compared with 30 percent in the vastly better-off United States. Ninety-one percent prefer the current Afghan government to the Taliban regime, and 87 percent call the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban good for their country. Osama bin Laden, for his part, is as unpopular as the Taliban; nine in 10 view him unfavorably.

Progress fuels these views: Despite the country’s continued problems, 85 percent of Afghans say living conditions there are better now than they were under the Taliban. Eighty percent cite improved freedom to express political views. And 75 percent say their security from crime and violence has improved as well. After decades of oppression and war, many Afghans see a better life.

Read the whole thing. (Via BarcePundit).

UPDATE: Major John Tammes, who spent some time in Afghanistan with the Ordnance Corps, and also served as InstaPundit’s Afghan photo correspondent (see some of his photos here) sends this email:

I saw your story (and link to the Barcepundit) on the optimism of the Afghans. The past few months have been a little difficult – feelings of letdown, etc. Seeing something like this is…validation.

You and Franco have made my day!

Good! As I’ve said before, if you read the news coverage and it leaves you dispirited, demoralized, and depressed, that’s not an accident. That’s the goal.

HERE’S A ROUNDUP OF BLOG REACTION to the Miami airport shooting. It’s tragic, but as the InstaWife was saying this morning, traveling with a bipolar who’s off his meds is like traveling with a diabetic who’s not taking insulin: unwise.

KOS: A voice for moderation in today’s Democratic Party.

LEARNING TO LOVE SPRAWL: My TechCentralStation column, which revolves around Robert Bruegmann’s Sprawl: A Compact History, is up.

Bruegmann’s book is very interesting, and I predict that it will be very influential.

MORE THOUGHTS ON G.M., over at GlennReynolds.com.

Meanwhile, the UAW — with behind the scenes support from GM — is holding up pension legislation in Congress.

JULIE FIDLER has a survey she’d like people to take.

MARC DANZIGER BUSTS a conspiracy theory. Sheesh.

CLIVE DAVIS has a Narnia roundup.

IT PROBABLY LACKS THE POP APPEAL of his Harry Potter piece, but I just got a piece of fan mail from Rob Merges regarding this article by my colleague Ben Barton on tort reform, innovation, and playground design, so I guess I should link it.

JOHN LEO writes that Harvard Law is outperforming Yale on faculty diversity.

BOB WOODWARD IS VALERIE PLAME: Discussed at Tom Maguire’s.

VIOLENCE AT THE POLLS IN EGYPT: Gateway Pundit has a roundup.

MOHAMMED OF IRAQ THE MODEL has a report on the impending Iraqi elections. The opening paragraph illustrates that the Iraqis have achieved parity with other democracies!

I SHOULD HAVE MENTIONED THIS SOONER, but Scott Adams has a blog. Not surprisingly, it’s quite good. I particularly recommend his advice on how to debate.

“GROWING OIL SUPPLIES MEAN LOWER OIL COSTS:” Wow, that’s more support for Mickey Kaus’s outrageous theory about prices. Someone should look into this!

SHOTS FIRED by air marshal at Miami airport. A suspect is dead, but it’s not clear what he’s suspected of.

THE CONSUMERIST, Nick Denton’s new shopping site with an angry, bitter edge, is now up!

And no, he didn’t buy me a sports car in exchange for this mention. Though feel free, Nick!

HAS THE WHITE HOUSE joined the War Against Christmas?