STEVEN EMERSON PROVIDES SOME BACKGROUND on the ongoing trial involving CAIR and the Holy Land Foundation. I’m surprised this hasn’t gotten more media coverage. (Via LGF, which notes that this is “the largest terror financing trial in history”).

MORE BLOGGING FROM IRAQ, by Wesley Morgan.

And don’t miss this interview with a female U.S. soldier.

UPDATE: Oops, the interview turns out to be dubious — Morgan says he was lied to.

ON HILLARY AND TERROR: “Clinton is prodding us to think about what a good candidate she will be in different situations that may develop over the lengthy campaign season. The others don’t want to talk about that because they look worse in these imagined scenarios. So here we see how Clinton has played a shrewder, more complex game all along.”

CHINA: From Cultural Revolution to sexual revolution. Sounds like a great leap forward to me!

CRACKING THE CODE FOR KEYLESS ENTRY:

A group of Israeli and Belgian researchers found a vulnerability in the algorithm that is used to secure anti-theft digital key systems in numerous vehicles, including those made by such companies as Honda, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes Benz and Jaguar. With that information they were able to devise an attack to crack the code of anti-theft keys.

With just an hour of remote access to the digital key of one car made by a manufacturer, the researchers say they are able not only to crack the unique code for that specific key but can also determine the key initialization process used to code the digital keys for all of the cars made by that manufacturer. From there, it’s pretty simple for them to crack the unique code of another car made by that company.

Oops.

THE STORY KEEPS CHANGING, THOUGH: “This morning on C-SPAN 2, I heard a nice young historian spout the conventional wisdom about President Bush and the Iraq War. This particular interpretation is now totally uncontroversial – but it is false.” Back in 2003, people were telling a different story.

CHRIS WALLACE on Bill Moyers.

WHAT WILL THEY THINK OF NEXT? An Apple computer that also serves beer! Beat that, Michael Dell. Plus, lots more Apple news.

MORE QUESTIONS about reporting from Iraq.

FORGET HYBRIDS: Volvo is focusing on the diesel route to high mileage. But there’s a hitch: “Unfortunately, Volvo has no plans to introduce the Powershift or the diesel into the U.S. market. Apparently certifying the new engine for the U.S. market is too expensive at this point. And they’re unsure if there is enough customer support to back the effort. Too bad. We think both the transmission—and the diesel—would do quite well here.” Maybe we need to take a hard look at regulatory barriers to automotive efficiency?

ORIN KERR: “If the rumors are true that Gonzales will soon resign and Bush will nominate Chertoff to replace him as AG, that would be a very positive development.” I’d still favor Randy Barnett — and wouldn’t things have gone better if the Bush Administration had listened to me last time? — but Orin reminds us that this is the real world, not the ideal world.

AT JULES CRITTENDEN’S: Little Saddam.

DAVID BROOKS ON the political brain.

BURT PRELUTSKY LOOKS AT the private lives of public men. And women.

NEW GLASS: An interesting Iraq metric. (Via Charlie Foxtrot).

IN THE MAIL: Lawrence Anthony and Graham Spence’s Babylon’s Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo.

UPDATE: A reader asks if U.S. troops get as much credit in the book as they got in this contemporaneous news story. I’m not sure, but he thinks the Amazon listing downplays the troops’ role. However, there’s this: “What follows is a truly remarkable book, as Anthony pulled strings, made connections (legal and illegal), sweet-talked bureaucrats, and made miracles happen as he, with the help of the American military, brought the Baghdad Zoo back from the brink.”

SOME QUESTIONS ANSWER THEMSELVES: “Seriously, would you rather live 30 days without a politician or 30 days without a sewage treatment facility in your neighborhood? The septic tank pumpers, the garbage collectors, and the electricians are the only folks who hold back the threat of a new Dark Ages. They stand alone along the thin, brown line between anarchy and order. Some of the dirtiest jobs are the most vital. . . . If the world was a fair place, the sump-pumpers and bilge-bailers of this world would make as much as a Congressman. They do more for the public good than both houses of Congress.” Amen.

COOKWARE: Reader Jordan Schwartz emails:

I just re-read your cookware post from December of last year, but unfortunately, it didn’t answer one of my questions in my great high-end cookware search. I’m deciding between All-Clad stainless steel and Calphalon One Infused and Anodized collection (not non-stick). Do you have any preferences? You have mentioned that you use All-Clad before–have you ever tried the Calphalon One? It’s almost been a year–think its time for another cookware post?

I also seem to remember that you and I share a birthday–August 27th. If so, happy almost birthday!

I have the All-Clad and like it a lot. (I also have some of the much cheaper Cuisinart Multiclad stuff, and it’s quite good, especially for the money. My brother has it, too, and was saying just last night how much he likes it.) I don’t know anything about the Calphalon One stuff other than that it looks pretty in the stores, though if you follow the link to the December post you’ll see that Megan McArdle likes it. Any reader comments?

The only new cookware advice I have is that my brother — who’s taking advantage of the 59 cents per pound mangoes at his grocery store — swears by this GoodGrips Mango Splitter. He says it’s works perfectly, splitting and seeding them. Not bad for under twelve bucks. When we were kids, mangoes were a rare delicacy. Now they’re cheap, and you can buy specialized mango-cookware at Kroger. Three cheers for globalization!

And reader Ed Bush writes:

Over the years I must have missed you talking about your Romertopf clay pot. Someone like you would have to have one. If you don’t, get one and make your Insta Chicken in it.

I’ve seen these over the years, and they look cool, though it seems like something that might get broken in my household. And how easy are they to clean, really?

Also, I should note that this cheap nonstick skillet, which I picked up last year based on its promise to resist damage from metal utensils, is still holding up perfectly despite the best efforts of, ahem, some of the less careful cooks in my household.

And, yeah, tomorrow is my birthday. Thanks!

UPDATE: A Romertopf endorsement: “This baby is worth every umlaut. . . . Despite being made of clay, it is durable (eight years and counting with an accident-prone chef and two twitchy toddlers) and simple to clean.” That sounds good.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Paul Byers emails:

I have been using Calphalon One for over a decade. It has had other names in that time but still the same pots. They cook great! Even temps and brown really well. Cook a lot like well seasoned cast iron, which is what I learned on. I fearlessly use the OXO Stainless utensils without damage to my pots. I wash them with Scott brand pads and soupy hot water. If you take care of the pans they will glaze and then are much easier to clean. DO NOT PUT THEM IN THE DISH WASHER! Have a couple of the newer stainless Calphalon pans that have been gifts from folks who know my loyalty to the brand. They cook well but not as nice as the anodized. Little harder to reduce in the stainless but the thick aluminum plate on the bottom keeps the hot spots to a minimum. I have owned and passed on All Clad, Old copper bottom Revere Wear and well seasoned cast iron. I am all Calphalon now, even when I am camp cooking on a charcoal grill.

That dishwasher thing is a dealbreaker in my house Others may feel differently. Meanwhile, reader Mark Butterworth writes:

I’ve picked up a number of Calphalon pieces on sale and built up a nice set of pots, but I’ve also added some All-Clad which I love. They are beautiful and I thought my Saucier pot heated up faster than others I use.

To prove it, I did an All-Clad pot vs. a Calphalon pot of similar dimensions. I put two cups of water in each and set both pots on equal gas burners (two small ones on my range).

It took about 8-9 minutes to get a rolling boil and much to my surprise, the anodized aluminum Calphalon won. It beat All-Clad by a minute or so.

I still prefer my All-Clad. So pretty. So Shiny.

Mmm. Shiny.

THOUGHTS ON ART AND LIFE, from Megan McArdle: “Back when I wanted to be a fiction writer, I wanted to be the kind of fiction writer who has a dramatic slide into the abyss. It wasn’t long after I stopped writing short stories that it occurred to me that dying old, desperate and alone probably wasn’t nearly as inspiring for the people it happened to as it was for twenty-year olds looking for an excuse to smoke too much.”

UPDATE: From the comments: “Even goth chicks prefer guys who make them laugh.”

IT’S TIME FOR The Hipster Olympics! “We’re forced to assume that our competitors’ participation is strictly ironic.”

Video is here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO Todd Steed!

THE ECONOMY SUCKS: “Record low unemployment across parts of the West has created tough working conditions for business owners, who in places are being forced to boost wages or be creative to fill their jobs.”

Oh, nooo! Low unemployment! Upward pressure on wages! This really does suggest that to the Big Media folks there’s no such thing as good economic news these days.

TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY responds to European criticism on the death penalty.

JAMES KIRCHICK EXAMINES the Obama doctrine. “Judging from his statements thus far, it appears that Illinois Democratic senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama — though many steps away from becoming leader of the Free World — has presciently formulated his own doctrine: The United States will remain impassive in the face of genocide.”

FLORIDA VOTERS DISENFRANCHISED? “Florida officials complained that the DNC was going to ‘disenfranchise voters,’ as it says on the state party’s home page.”

More here:

Florida lawmakers angrily assailed the Democratic National Committee and its chairman, Howard Dean, saying he is threatening to “disenfranchise” the state’s voters by considering a plan to invalidate the state’s presidential primary.

Reader John Underriner emails: “They said if Bush was elected Florida Democrats would be disenfranchised — and they were right!” Funny how those predictions keep coming true.