SPITZER cozies up to lobbyists.

NEWSBUSTERS WONDERS why the Huckabee stem cell story isn’t getting more attention. Well, it’s the slowest news weekend of the year and lots of media folks are on vacation. Oh, and also, they want Huckabee to get the nomination so the GOP will lose in the fall.

UPDATE: “That queasy Little Rock feeling.” This does have a familiar feel. . . .

PHIL BOWERMASTER on the importance of being “unrealistic.”

ALMOST ENOUGH REASON BY ITSELF TO BACK BARACK: “Jesse Jackson can still get a crowd going—when he can find one. He appeared at a Los Angeles restaurant this fall, primed to discuss school dropout rates and home foreclosures. But only eight people showed up, mostly reporters. It’s no longer Reverend Jackson’s day in the sun, or any other black leader’s whose name isn’t Barack Obama. So where does that leave the leaders to whom black America has long turned in times of crisis—Jackson, and the Revs. Andrew Young and Al Sharpton? At times they can seem like jealous, cranky old men.”

HAPPY FESTIVUS! I neglected to order a Festivus Pole this year, but maybe next . . . .

Anyway, here’s the Story Of Festivus:

VITAMIN D UPDATE: “Vitamin D tests conducted on a group of University of Toronto students have found that virtually all non-whites had insufficient levels of the sunshine vitamin, putting them at elevated risk of debilitating diseases such as osteoporosis, cancer and diabetes. . . . Vitamin D insufficiency used to be thought of as a problem causing only rickets, but in recent years, researchers have found that low levels of the nutrient are linked to a disparate range of diseases and health problems, including many types of cancer, osteoporosis, mult-iple sclerosis, diabetes and susceptibility to tuberculosis and influenza.” And many of the whites had low levels, too. Sun isn’t all bad, you know.

And it’s not just Canada — we see low levels in the United States, too:

Recent research shows up to 50 percent of kids and adults in the United States are at high risk for vitamin D deficiency. It’s not to be taken lightly — a lack of vitamin D has been linked to a whole host of diseases. And research continues to show it has a significant effect on cancer.

We’re even seeing a resurgence in rickets as people keep their kids indoors or slather them with sunscreen. And Vitamin D may even slow aging:

A King’s College London study of more than 2,000 women found those with higher vitamin D levels showed fewer ageing-related changes in their DNA. . . . They found that, after adjusting the results for the age of the volunteer, women with higher levels of vitamin D were more likely to have longer telomeres in these cells, and vice versa.

That’s good, if it’s true. Meanwhile, don’t hide from the sun. You only need 10-15 minutes a day, but it’s important to get that.

CHRISTMAS CARDS from Iraq. Video from the troops.

MORE ON THE LAME incandescent bulb ban that Congress just produced. And this seems right to me: “Sure, you’ll see more compact fluorescents five years from now, but you would have seen them without any energy bill.” The only real argument for this is that it preempts even dumber — and probably inconsistent — laws from the states.

HOW LAW PROFESSORS THINK: “I love It’s a Wonderful Life because it’s the greatest financial services movie ever made.”

NOT JUST A WRONG-HOUSE RAID, but an actual home invasion by a police officer who appears to have been moonlighting in crime. But he still couldn’t get the right house: “Ferman said the men were looking to retaliate against someone they thought had stolen money from a friend of theirs who was a drug dealer. Apparently, the men picked the wrong address and broke into the apartment of a couple who were not involved, Ferman said.”

JOHN TIERNEY: Smart elevators, dumb people.

I’ve had experience with this technology, and I don’t think it’s the people who are dumb.

ADVICE TO MUSICIANS FROM DAVID BYRNE: “What is called the music business today, however, is not the business of producing music. At some point it became the business of selling CDs in plastic cases, and that business will soon be over. But that’s not bad news for music, and it’s certainly not bad news for musicians.”

NEURO-FUEL.

CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS IN BAGHDAD.

FRED THOMPSON works Iowa hard. “Fred is confounding the pundits with a bruising schedule when it matters most.”

UPDATE: Did the L.A. Times pull a Politico? “Not only not accurate, but it sure seems that between the two of them, Michael Finnegan is much lazier than Fred Thompson.”

MARS, MEET ASTEROID: “Mars could be in for an asteroid hit. A newly discovered hunk of space rock has a 1 in 75 chance of slamming into the Red Planet on Jan. 30.” I’d rather see a nice big comet strike that might donate some water and volatiles — might as well jump-start the terraforming process . . . .

RACIAL UNDERCURRENTS IN THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN: “It has unfolded mostly under the radar. But an important development in the 2008 Democratic battle may be the building backlash among African Americans over comments from associates of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton that could be construed as jabs at Sen. Barack Obama’s race.” I noted this danger a while back.

JULES CRITTENDEN: Look back in anger.

LIVEBLOGGING RON PAUL on Meet the Press. Video here.

CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS from Queen Elizabeth.

I’M KIND OF EMBARRASSED to see this happen in Tennessee: “According to the Williamson County School System, self defense is no defense when it comes to getting suspended for fighting. ” In that case, I think she should sue the school system and principal for failing to protect her.

UPDATE: Related thoughts here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Roger Martin emails: “Sadly this is common practice. My co-worker’s son was jumped by three students in McGavock High School here in Nashville a couple of years ago. All were suspended for three days. The dad, my co-worker, protested to the principal. The principal showed him tapes of the fight. It was clear that the three other kids started the fight by jumping my co-worker’s son. But tough luck, the zero tolerance policy says that all must suspended. My co-worker’s son was a straight A student and the three thugs that jumped him had just returned from another suspension for fighting. This is very common in the Middle Tennessee area schools and most likely all over the US.”

Sounds like we need legislation.

MORE: Reader Dennis Halpin writes:

My son had a similar problem here in Seattle. I called the principal and told him to inform the aggressor that assault and battery is a criminal offense and I would press charges if it happened again. Then I was going to sue the school, the district and the principal for not providing a safe place for my son to go to school. Aggression that had been going on literally for years stopped, but only when the consequences got big enough to get their attention.

Yep. Violence is only a problem when it’s a problem for the people in charge. In general, it’s probably better to be a litigious jerk in these circumstances. They’ve made clear that that’s the behavior they want to reward . . . .

OKAY, YOU’RE NOT QUITE SCREWED: But even if you’re an Amazon Prime member, the deadline is approaching. If your Christmas shopping isn’t done by now, you can always go to the mall.

Don’t say you weren’t warned. And remember, shopping online is good for the planet!

DEEP BACKGROUND from Austin Bay.

HUCKABUCKS: More thoughts on Huckabee’s stem-cell dollars, and other financial issues, from Bob Krumm. “In addition to the payments from Novo Nordisk, Mike Huckabee took a third of a million , much of it from organizations with governmental interests, even while he was Governor of Arkansas. . . . Taking payments from companies with businesses effected by pending legislation apparently doesn’t violate any ethical rules in Arkansas. Nor does sitting on a corporate board while governor. This is after all a state that has produced another former governor who infamously played close to the line of the law. But it certainly isn’t right.”

UPDATE: Much more on Huckabee’s finances here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Jonah Goldberg: “Wonder why this hasn’t made more of a splash.” A cynic might suggest that it’s because the mainstream media folks want Huckabee to get the nomination, because he’ll be easy for the Democrats to beat.

MORE: Maybe you don’t have to be that much of a cynic . . . . Related thoughts here.

IT’S GREENHOUSE FRIENDLY! A look at the new atomic age.