FREE FROM CAMPAIGNS, bloggers speak freely.

A LOOK AT PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD NANOTECHNOLOGY: Fairly favorable, considering the many scare stories.

IN THE MAIL: Rudy Rucker’s new novel, Mathematicians in Love, where fancy math is a tool for getting the girl — er, and incidentally altering the universe.

And here, by the way, are some science fiction recommendations by John Birmingham, author of the Axis of Time series. His taste obviously overlaps with mine. Thus, he’s a genius! I also bought Birmingham’s nonfiction book, How to be a Man, for my teenaged nephew, as it’s chock-full of practical advice, amusingly delivered.

JOHN MCCAIN ON THE IRAQ STUDY GROUP: Video.

AS ALWAYS ON FRIDAY, Major John Tammes rounds up news from Afghanistan that you probably haven’t seen.

WIRED HAS A BIG REVIEW OF DIGITAL VIDEO CAMERAS, and they liked this HD Canon the best. They also look at accessories like microphones, etc.

And they have a big roundup of high-definition TVs, too. They liked this Sony a lot, though it’s a bit small.

And yeah, I know — partly because people keep reminding me — I owe you a digital camera video carnival, but I haven’t had time to put one together yet. Sorry.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER ON THE LITVINENKO POISONING:

You don’t need a convoluted device to explain Litvinenko’s demise.

Do you think Anna Politkovskaya, the journalist who was investigating the war in Chechnya, was shot dead in her elevator by rogue elements? What about Viktor Yushchenko, the presidential candidate in Ukraine and eventual winner, poisoned with dioxin during the campaign, leaving him alive but disfigured? Ultranationalist Russians?

Opponents of Putin have been falling like flies. Some jailed, some exiled, some killed. True, Litvinenko’s murder will never be traced directly to Putin, no matter how dogged the British police investigation. State-sponsored assassinations are almost never traceable to the source. Too many cutouts. Too many layers of protection between the don and the hit man. . . . The other reason for making it obvious and brazen is to send a message. This is a warning to all the future Litvinenkos of what awaits them if they continue to go after the Russian government. They’ll get you even in London, where there is the rule of law. And they’ll get you even if it makes negative headlines for a month.

Safer to attack Bush — which is why more people do that.

I WATCHED JOHN KERRY’S APPEARANCE ON KUDLOW LAST NIGHT, and I have to say that I think it was the strongest performance I’ve ever seen Kerry turn in — if he’d been like that the whole time in 2004 he would have won.

My first thought was that he’d given up on running in 2008, and that he’d benefited from the let-up of pressure. That seems not to be the case, though.

A LOOK AT Mary Cheney’s womb and the news reporting thereon.

THE NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL REPORTS: “Despite increased security at courthouses following shootings in Chicago and Atlanta about one year ago, many judges are bringing their own guns into their courtrooms for protection.”

And I love this quote, from one of those judges: “”We feel strongly about providing adequate security, but it comes down to personal responsibility. And you’ve got to take responsibility for your own safety.” Indeed. Even if you’re not a judge.

YALE, ALITO, AND POLITICS: A drama in one dubious act. (Via Althouse).

SORE WINNERS: “Republican Vern Buchanan might be the official winner in a messy Sarasota-area congressional race, but Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean says the Democratic-controlled Congress should not seat Buchanan without another election.”

This will certainly harshen the divisions in the new Congress.

NO IMAMS WERE INVOLVED: Farts spark emergency landing:

The flight from Washington to Texas landed at Nashville airport, in the southeastern state of Tennessee, after passengers alerted the crew to the smell of burning sulphur.

Lynne Lowrance, a spokeswoman for Nashville International Airport Authority said all 99 passengers and their luggage were taken off the plane and searched.

An unlucky canine team was also brought in to sniff the aircraft for explosives.

After intense questioning by the FBI, a woman passenger admitted to lighting matches on board the aircraft to conceal her gas, Ms Lowrance said.

“For a long time she did not admit to striking matches and I think that was just out of embarrassment,” she said.

“She did finally admit to it saying she had a medical problem about excessive gas.”

Glad I wasn’t on that flight.

CHINA: The world’s number one jailer of journalists. “Some countries, like China, have worked hard to expand traditional registration and licensing requirements online as a way to control at least online journalism being done by people living in China. For commercial Chinese Internet media, the chilling effects on speech have managed to mirror those in the Chinese offline media world. Efforts in China to regulate non-commercial or personal Internet media (blogs, etc.) have not been quite as successful given how difficult it is to control individual bloggers. But as some colleagues of mine at the Open Net Initiative pointed out in a report early this year, these efforts have still resulted in more caution and self-censorship by people talking online.”

Sadly, this has happened with a lot of help from American companies.

POLONIUM UPDATE: “Dmitry Kovtun, a businessman and former Russian agent who met with former spy Alexander Litvinenko in London, has developed an illness connected with a radioactive substance, the prosecutor’s office said. Interfax, citing unidentified sources, said Kovtun fell into a coma immediately after being questioned by Russian investigators and Scotland Yard detectives.”

THE MUDVILLE GAZETTE crunches the numbers on troop deployments and gets some surprising results.

MEDIA BIAS AS A MARKETING TOOL: It goes down smooth, but it’s bad for you. It’s the trans-fat of journalism!

“CROTCHGATE?”

YES, LIGHT BLOGGING: Went to my daughter’s orchestra recital tonight. She did quite well, and so did they all; the eighth graders pulled off the Third Brandenburg Concerto, and while it wasn’t Benjamin Britten’s version, it was a very creditable performance for a middle school orchestra.

CAREER PLANNING: “You could just be a party girl, but that’s not for you. You want a career. A real career. Should you go to law school? No way. You go to work for a hedge fund.”

JONAH GOLDBERG: “The report undercuts the Murtha crowd by delegitimizing the quick bug-out (AKA redeployment) option and makes staying in Iraq at least until ’08 the “conventional” or “mainstream” point of view. For Bush, isn’t this the only part of the ISG report that matters? And when it comes to the actual situation in Iraq, the report basically confirms established policies of the White House and the Pentagon. So, in effect, doesn’t the heralded bipartisan commission in effect give Bush the leeway to — ahem — stay the course?”

PROGRESS TOWARD NANO-MEDICINE?

Intel just released samples of its latest chip, the Penryn. It’s manufactured with a 45-nanometer process, and for those of you counting at home, 45 nanometers is about half the size of DNA and proteins.

While these new chips are not yet ready to be implanted in the body, nor sophisticated enough to detect unique proteins (such as those often associated with heart disease), Intel is making progress in this area. It’s even done some preliminary work with privately held nanotech firm Nanosys, linking disease-detecting nanowires to computer chips.

In the meantime, Intel is busily making progress toward Barrett’s goal of bringing the economics of the semiconductor industry to the health sciences.

Sounds like we’re moving toward an Andy Kessler world. You can hear our podcast interview with Kessler here. (Thanks to reader Chip Fussell for the link.)

THE TEN FUNNIEST POLITICAL MOMENTS of 2006.