MEGAN MCARDLE: “If you want to know why I am no longer a lefty, just read this series on MyDD about PIRG, the organisation that supervised my transition from ultraliberal to libertarian. I have never worked at any organisation, including the Catskills hotel that basically used foreIgn temporary labour in sweatshop fashion, that treated its employees as shamefully as PIRG. People talk about workers being disposable, but no other business model I have encountered depends on its employees having an average tenure of two weeks, the better to funnel their lost wages up the hierarchy to god-knows-where.”

A RESPONSE TO VICTOR DAVIS HANSON, from Bill Quick.

DAN RIEHL FINDS SOMETHING TO LIKE in Democrats’ positions on Iraq.

IS THIS A BUG OR A FEATURE? “Secret ‘watch lists’ have nabbed more members of Congress than terrorists.”

WELCOME TO Muslim-friendly Tennessee!

JAMES RUHLAND OFFERS advice to the Democratic Congress.

THE EPISCOPALIANS ARE REVOLTING. Well, some of them anyway. A lifeboat from Nigeria?

THE FCC IS ELIMINATING THE MORSE CODE REQUIREMENT for amateur radio licenses. (Via TechMeme).

TIME’S PERSON OF THE YEAR: You!

It’s a recognition of a phenomenon that some of us have been talking about for a while. Danny Glover has more.

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE:

Republican leaders left behind just enough spending authority to keep the government operating through mid-February, less than halfway through the 2007 fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Democrats have signaled that when they take control of Congress in January they will extend that funding authority for the remainder of the year based largely on the previous year’s spending levels, which will result in many cuts in programs.

The Democrats also will do something that is certain to anger many lawmakers but cheer critics of excessive government spending: They will wipe out thousands of lawmakers’ pet projects, or earmarks, that have been a source of great controversy on Capitol Hill. In the past, lawmakers have peppered individual spending bills with earmarks benefiting special interests. But the funding resolution the Democrats intend to pass in lieu of spending bills will be devoid of earmarks.

Sounds good to me! It’s early yet, but the Democrats are looking good so far.

DATING IN DC: “Some DC men might take offense at the mere mention of the possibility that most of us are ‘vanilla pansies.’ I, on the other hand, very much hope that it’s true. The higher the percentage of vanilla pansies among my male competitors on the DC dating scene, the better the market outlook for me!”

Unless, of course, vanilla pansies are what the market values. Though I doubt that.

A RUMSFELD ROUNDUP at BlackFive. (Via Op-For).

UPDATE: Rumsfeld: Weakness is provocative. “It may well be comforting to some to consider graceful exits from the agonies and, indeed, the ugliness of combat. But the enemy thinks differently.”

I, NANOBOT.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Things are coming to a head.

DANIEL DREZNER HAS THOUGHTS ON GRAND STRATEGY in tomorrow’s Washington Post.

THE EMILY LITELLA CAMPAIGN: Evan Bayh won’t run after all.

UPDATE: Mickey Kaus: “The solid centrist Dem alternatives to Hillary are dropping out, one by one. Funny how that happens!”

STEPHEN GREEN IS NOT DEAD: “I started losing weight a few months ago. Nothing serious, just enough to get friends asking if I’d lost any weight. I denied it at first, but then I had buy all new Levi’s in a waist size I hadn’t worn since the late Eighties.”

A FINAL “SNOWFLAKE” from Donald Rumsfeld.

I JUST NOTICED THAT THE LONESOME COYOTES have some downloadable music on the Web. Check it out if you’re interested in Texas Swing. I saw them open for Asleep at the Wheel some years ago, and though Asleep at the Wheel put on their usual first-rate show, the Coyotes committed the unpardonable sin of upstaging the headliner.

IN THE MAIL: The latest book from cartoonist gods Cox and Forkum, Black & White World III. A perfect Christmas gift for anyone who’s tired of Ted Rall or Doonesbury.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER REMINDS AMERICANS that it’s not all about us. “We traditionally flatter ourselves that we are the root of all planetary good and evil, whether it is nuclear weapons in North Korea, poverty in Bolivia, or disco attacks in Bali.”

WEB SURPASSES NEWSPAPERS, and this trend bodes poorly for the financial future of newspapers. I saw a discussion of this on Kudlow last night, and the New York Times guy was arguing that it wouldn’t hurt them because overall readership — paper plus online — was up. He didn’t have much of an answer when Larry Kudlow asked him if the Times was coming out ahead financially on that shift, though. If it were, I think the stock price would be trending up, instead of down.

U.S. UP, ISLAMISTS DOWN, according to the Washington Post’s Global Power Barometer. Make of that what you will (“not much” is my take), but the animation is kind of cool.

ILYA SOMIN: “Why the Texas ten percent plan is worse than traditional affirmative action.”

HEY, I’M A “pinko agit-propster.” You’d think it would pay better.