NOW PEOPLE WANT BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS FROM ME: Well, aside from the obvious suggestion, of course. . . .

I’ll try to come up with a list later. In the meantime, here are some science fiction recommendations. And if you haven’t read Mark Steyn’s America Alone, then that’s a good choice. It goes well with Claire Berlinski’s book, and you can hear our interview with Claire here.

TERROR-FREE INVESTING: “The idea of ‘shareholder democracy’ is today much bruited about, but whatever connotations that term has acquired, at bottom it means investors have a “vote” — that is, they can choose where to put their money, and where not. That kind of democracy assumes a new urgency in the post-9/11 world, as tens of billions of dollars are currently surging into countries that sponsor terrorism. . . . In this case, shareholders — citizens — have the power to influence. If American investors in these businesses — not only institutional investors such as public pension systems, money managers, investment trusts and university endowments, but also individuals — pressure companies to sever such business relations, they can become change agents in the financial sector and force multipliers for our troops abroad.”

MORE PEOPLE checking the A.P.’s work in Iraq.

MORE ON rules of engagement in Iraq.

UPDATE: Related post here.

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Well, I wouldn’t have believed this possible:

Sen. Robert Byrd has built a reputation in Congress and in West Virginia using special interest funding to bring federal jobs and money home, but the king of pork said he’s willing to give up his projects for 2007 to find a way out of the ” fiscal chaos” left by the outgoing Republican-led Congress.

Byrd, incoming chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and his House counterpart Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin outlined their plan late Monday to pass a yearlong stopgap spending bill to keep government programs and agencies functioning until Sept. 30, 2007. To expedite the process, Byrd and Obey said they would eliminate earmarks — funding inserted into bills by lawmakers for projects in their district or states — from the unfinished budget.

Robert Byrd giving up on pork? What’s next — Chuck Schumer avoiding TV cameras? All joking aside, however, this is a big deal and the Democrats will deserve considerable praise if they deliver on these promises.

INSTAPUNDIT: “Real or fake?”

Jeez, get a clue.

UPDATE: Reader Jim Dunn emails:

Greetings, blogfather. Just wanted to add my voice to your chorus praising big pharma. My mother has gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), and a Novartis drug called Gleevec has given her years more life than she could have enjoyed otherwise.

What’s more, I WANT companies who develop products like Gleevec to make big money. If the people battling against life-threatening diseases don’t deserve piles of money, who does? It’s so stupid it makes my hair hurt to hear people gripe about big pharma, then turn around and blithely talk about a major league ballplayer making $15 million a year or a movie star earning $20 million for one 90-minute batch of celluloid drivel as if that’s perfectly normal.

And Michael Ubaldi writes:

For those who weren’t aware, distrust of drug-makers — already irrational — has become blind enmity.

My aunt is senior director of a Pfizer toxicology department. At a family gathering in July, she and I spoke about work. It was immediately obvious that my aunt had come to find it easier to couch her occupation
in apologia, so I interrupted her and, before asking her to continue, made clear that she had nothing to be ashamed of.

Only a moron would want to live in a society where people are ashamed to work for drug companies. And yet, I’m not surprised to see that resulting from the demagogy that abounds among politicians and “public interest” types who are not serving the public interest whatsoever.

Meanwhile, reader Steven Grim emails:

Your post about the drug that has changed your wife’s life got me thinking about my own life changing drug. I take Imitrex for migraine headaches. Before finding this drug my life was severely impacted at
least one time a week. No amount of any over the counter medication would even dent the pain from these headaches. My only recourse was to sleep them off for a day and I usually had to deal with nausea. It affected both my work and social life to a great degree. Now with Imitrex, my headache is gone within a half hour, there are no side effects, and it’s not a narcotic so there are no addiction concerns. It has changed my life. It’s expensive, but it is absolutely worth it.

For me, it’s acid-lowering drugs like aciphex and, more recently, Nexium that have made a huge difference. And come to think of it, I wrote a column on the underrated nature of these non-lifesaving drugs a while back.

Hey, Big Pharma isn’t perfect. But treating ’em like they are evil is stupid, and counterproductive, and the people who do it are the ones who deserve to be ostracized and humiliated, not the people who are actually working on things that make life better.

AN AGENDA BEHIND THE Flying Imams incident?

I suspect that the Democrats won’t be willing to hop on this bandwagon, as it would make them look weak on terrorism. Once again, though, the absence of major attacks since 9/11 is causing a rise in complacency that some people see as an opportunity.

AUSTIN BAY LISTS recommended books on war and technology.

CAPTAIN ED REPORTS: “In an important victory for the Bush administration, a Clinton appointee to the federal bench upheld the new detainee law that bars Guantanamo prisoners from using American civil courts to challenge their detention.”

A LOOK AT TECHNOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT and the Associated Press.

Plus, Michelle Malkin teaming up with Eason Jordan?

SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE in Iran. Plus, the real problem with the Iraqi army.

VIRTUAL VIOLENCE, real punishment.

NOAH SHACHTMAN looks at antiterrorism efforts in space:

It’s a mission MacGyver would love. Three or four times a year, small groups of junior officers gather at an Air Force Research Laboratory facility in New Mexico and try to figure out how to take down an American satellite using nothing more than sweet talk and off-the-shelf gear.

The U.S. military relies on satellites to relay orders, guide precision bombs and direct flying drones. But those multibillion-dollar systems can be surprisingly vulnerable to the simplest of attacks. So, it’s up to the members of the Space Countermeasures Hands On Program—Space CHOP, for short—to find those weaknesses before enemies have a chance to crack them.

Glad to see they’re working on that.

VARIFRANK WONDERS what’s going on with Saudi Arabia.

IT’S BEEN A WHILE since I closely followed the news on the latest associate bonus wars at big law firms. Like, since I was an associate. I wish they paid law professor bonuses. . . .

HOLLYWOOD ON THE OHIO: Some cool stuff from Rick Lee.

MY EARLIER MENTION OF THE LITTER ROBOT produced some emails:

I have two cats and own a Litter Robot (plus a regular litterbox, in case the power goes out et al). The Robot, aka the Death Star, is great – it never clogs like the models with the rakes do, and it’s got built-in safety features that stop it from rotating immediately if a cat enters mid-cycle. The sound of it starting to rotate can be a little eerie in the middle of the night, at least at the beginning, but that’s the only real drawback. Anyway, I highly recommend it. I have the white model, but the other one looks much cooler. Excellent holiday gift for a cat household, especially a multi-cat household.

(on the off chance you use this, please just identify me as a cat owner in Houston…)

It’s not Laurence Simon, though. Trust me, he never asks for anonymity! (But forget the second litterbox — just get one of these!) And reader Chap Godbey writes:

This Litter Maid model is what we use. There’s a sensor that knows when the cat gets in and out of the box, and after the cat gets out a rake comes by and cleans all the lumps into a concealed bin. It’s much less costly than that other model and is durable. One big cat and one box means one week before you have to empty the bin.

I miss the cats, but not the litterbox.

UPDATE: Reader Glenn Ruddiger is unimpressed with the Litter Robot and its admirers:

Seriously, is the Instapundit readership so well off and time consumed that they can’t afford a minute every couple days to scoop the crud out of a litter box?

Dude, it’s a Litter Robot! Of course InstaPundit readers will want one. What part of “Robot” don’t you understand? Robots are cool!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Yeah, yeah, fembots are cooler, but you can’t actually buy those on Amazon. Yet.

Meanwhile, Ruddiger responds:

heh heh Yes, robots are cool, but only when they cut my grass or sweep my floors or fight each other in death matches.

Honestly, my cats seemed genuinely interested when I scoop the litterbox. They watch every move I make — sometimes from a distance, sometimes completely in my way. I can see their tiny little kitty brains working — “why not just leave the lid off *that* container…”.

Sweeping we’ve got covered. And I already mentioned the robot lawn mower.

Meanwhile, warn your cats that they can be replaced, and maybe they’ll start cleaning their own litter boxes . . . .

On the other hand, maybe we’d better worry about a robot uprising.

MORE: Dave Price defends the Litter Maid:

Had it for 5 years. I calculated the labor time saved scooping cat execra at $100/hr (because I have to do it, and I get paid roughly that much to do other things I could be doing instead of scooping cat litter) and it’s a bargain. Had to replace it after 2 years, but the newer one seems moderately improved and more durable.

Never have to think about it. Really, the biggest challenge is remembering to clear it once every week or two when it gets full.

If only there were a robot for that . . . .

DUKE RAPE UPDATE:

DNA testing in the Duke lacrosse rape case found genetic material from several males in the accuser’s body and her underwear _ but none from any team member, defense attorneys said in court papers Wednesday.

The papers were filed by attorneys for the three lacrosse players charged, Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans. They complained that the information about DNA from other men was not disclosed in a report prosecutors provided earlier this year to the defense.

The testing was conducted at a private laboratory for the prosecution.

“This is strong evidence of innocence in a case in which the accuser denied engaging in any sexual activity in the days before the alleged assault, told police she last had consensual sexual intercourse a week before the assault, and claimed that her attackers did not use condoms and ejaculated,” the defense said.

This case just looks worse and worse.

JOHN MCCAIN AND INTERNET FREE SPEECH: This story on CNET has gotten a lot of attention, with links on Drudge and Slashdot. Excerpt:

McCain’s proposal, called the “Stop the Online Exploitation of Our Children Act” (click for PDF), requires that reports be submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which in turn will forward them to the relevant police agency. (The organization received $32.6 million in tax dollars in 2005, according to its financial disclosure documents.)

Internet service providers already must follow those reporting requirements. But McCain’s proposal is liable to be controversial because it levies the same regulatory scheme–and even stiffer penalties–on even individual bloggers who offer discussion areas on their Web sites.

“I am concerned that there is a slippery slope here,” said Kevin Bankston, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. “Once you start creating categories of industries that must report suspicious or criminal behavior, when does that stop?”

According to the proposed legislation, these types of individuals or businesses would be required to file reports: any Web site with a message board; any chat room; any social-networking site; any e-mail service; any instant-messaging service; any Internet content hosting service; any domain name registration service; any Internet search service; any electronic communication service; and any image or video-sharing service.

The McCain people were upset enough with this report that they emailed me about it, and I talked with a guy from McCain’s office named Pablo Chavez. Chavez says that this misstates what the bill does: In fact, there’s no obligation to monitor or discover child porn, just to report it if you become aware of it. And the bill is, he says, aimed at “the MySpaces of the world,” not individual bloggers.

I’ve given the bill a quick read — text here — and it doesn’t seem entirely clear to me that it doesn’t reach individual bloggers, regardless of intent. Chavez says that McCain only wants to get hard-core child pornography, and has no desire to do anything that might reduce free speech on the Internet. He also says that McCain is open to amendments that would alleviate any concerns that bloggers might have. Perhaps people should propose some?

UPDATE: Email from InstaPundit readers is universally mistrustful of McCain, which is indicative of just how much damage he’s done himself with his support of campaign finance “reform.”

PETER KANN WRITES ON mending the media.

A FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATION into the Duke rape case?

UPDATE: K.C. Johnson has much more.

GOOD NEWS: “Military meets, exceeds recruiting goals.”

When we interviewed Army Secretary Francis Harvey a few weeks ago, he seemed very optimistic about how recruiting was going. I guess he was right to be.

MICKEY KAUS is staying on the Diana-bugging story.

JAMES LILEKS ON IRAN:

It’s interesting: if the Holocaust “conference” decides that the Holocaust didn’t happen, well, then the justification for Israel is specious and founded on lies, and the mullahs are justified in redressing a mistake. I have the awful feeling that terms, conditions and justifications are being set right before our eyes, and the putative leaders seem unwilling to acknowledge what most canny observers infer.

It’ll all make horrible sense. In retrospect.

Indeed.

DAVE WEIGEL NOTES the Ohio gun control rollback that I mentioned earlier and observes: “this is just one policy area where Democrats have finally caved to the libertarian consensus, to avoid another decade of drubbings over the gun issue.”

Even a flatworm is smart enough to turn away from pain. Which means that political parties eventually manage, too.