DON SURBER: Blogs can save newspapers:

One of the things I have seen going recently are newspapers. Particularly afternoon newspapers. Did I mention the Daily Mail publishes in the afternoons? If the Dead Tree Media is a herd of dinosaurs, the PM newspaper is the sick member of the herd.

PMs have been sick for the 30 years that I have had the pleasure to be a newspaperman.

Blogs could save them.

But for newspapers to be saved, newspaper people will have to get over their fear of blogs, as Surber has done.

CINDY SHEEHAN, making Democrats look good:

The Sheehanoids managed to cow Rep. Rahm Emanuel into shutting down his press conference. And from the Angry Left bloggers who once cheered her on: silence. Browsing the homepages of the Daily Kos, Atrios, Talking Points Memo and the Puffington Host, we can’t find a single mention of the erstwhile moonbat heartthrob.

It comes as a relief to realize that many of those who once treated Sheehan as a heroine did so merely out of partisanship, not hatred of country.

Indeed.

IRAN’S SUPREME AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI is reported to be dead.

UPDATE: What does this mean? Is it true? I don’t know, but oil prices are down.

DANIEL GLOVER looks at rumblings in the Republican blogosphere.

Plus, Patrick Ruffini returns to blogging.

MOVING THE GOALPOSTS in Congress.

VICTORY IS SWEET for Dean Barnett. “After almost three years of blogging, I have taken home one of those prized ‘Wanker of the Day’ awards that that Atrios guy gives out. I couldn’t be prouder.”

HDTV ON YOUR LAPTOP: I review an interesting gadget for Popular Mechanics.

UPDATE: Reader Gary Boyd emails:

Got one of the Pinnacle Pro Sticks for my son for Christmas. Rather than buy a TV for his dorm room this seemed a much better deal, particularly since he has an enhanced laptop display. Set up time was reasonable and the mini-remote works great. Both analog and HD signals come in from the local channels with the included antenna and the cable hookup is painless.

Highly recommended.

Thanks for the second opinion.

THE NEGROPONTE SHUFFLE: Bob Owens has it all figured out.

IN THE MAIL: (Actually, something I ordered for a project I’m working on). Travis S. Taylor et al.‘s book, An Introduction to Planetary Defense: A Study of Modern Warfare Applied to Extra-Terrestrial Invasion.

I had an interesting discussion on this topic with some NORAD guys when I spoke at the Air Force Academy several years ago. The book looks okay, but not as focused as I’d hoped — though admittedly the topic itself is pretty unfocused. The Amazon reader reviews are good.

DEAN BARNETT: “If you’re looking for a blogger to feel some pity for Saddam Hussein because his executioners were primitive and rude, you’ve come to the wrong place.”

SINCE THE DEMOCRATS WON, NOBODY CARES ABOUT ELECTRONIC VOTING FRAUD ANY MORE, but the problem hasn’t gone away. Had just a few thousand votes in some key districts gone the other way, we’d be hearing about Diebold conspiracies ad nauseam. But regardless, the subject remains important, and it deserves attention between election cycles, when there’s actually time to do something about it. Certainly we need to get our act together before 2008. And, of course, there are lots of non-electronic problems, too.

More on that subject here.

JULES CRITTENDEN: “Iran wants war. Iran just doesn’t want to fight it.”

It’s been obvious that Iran is behind much of the internecine slaughter in Iraq. I don’t understand why we haven’t been returning the favor by fomenting insurrection in Iran — or what made the mullahs so confident that we wouldn’t. I continue to wonder if they’ve managed to deter us from significant action, somehow.

A LETTER TO LOU DOBBS on the middle class.

SOME QUESTIONS, from Victor Davis Hanson.

A SEMESTER LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT: Don Surber on Duke University:

The DNA cleared them in April. I saw it then. Any reasonable person saw it. Helen Keller would have seen it. Instead the anti-jock, anti-male, anti-white, and anti-intellectual biases politicized the case and it continued.

The cowardly university president and his silent partners — where were the Duke law professors? — just killed Duke. The school’s new name is Duke lacrosse team. The players aren’t to blame; those who refused to speak up for the players are.

Yes, this has been a PR disaster for Duke, and the Duke Administration has helped to make it so.

JEFF BEZOS’ SECRETIVE PRIVATE SPACE COMPANY, BLUE ORIGIN, has unveiled its new spacecraft.

More here. Bezos says his goal is to lower costs so that ordinary people can travel into space. I’m cool with that.

Plus, he’s hiring!

AT BLACKFIVE, some thoughts on strategy for the Long War.

Plus, some thoughts from The Belmont Club. Also here.

ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS protesting the Democrats. Well, they did vote for the war.

As Ann Althouse comments: “Aaagghh! Now, everyone’s sick of Cindy Sheehan. ” Video here.

The antiwar crowd destroyed the Democrats once; they’re set to do it again.

MAKE YOUR CAR a wi-fi hotspot.

UPDATE: Plus, wired beaches.

NEWS FROM SOMALIA:

There was not a hijab or niqab in sight as clubbers at the Global Dance Hall worked up a sweat to gangsta rap and Kenyan hip-hop. Instead, women shook their hair and stole glances at the men lining the wall.

Quite what Mogadishu’s Union of Islamic Courts would have made of the occasional flash of ankle beneath the long dresses is anyone’s guess. But no one cared as they celebrated their new freedom.

It’s something.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: Duke does the right thing at last:

For the second time in as many weeks, the Duke administration has taken a powerful step toward bringing this disastrous affair to a close. This afternoon, on behalf of President Brodhead, Vice President of Student Affairs Larry Moneta formally invited Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann to return for the spring term.

The symbolism of this move cannot be missed: with the decision, the Duke administration is formally saying that the presumption of innocence no longer can be ignored and strongly implying–through its deeds–that no one in the upper levels at Duke any longer believes in the credibility of Mike Nifong’s allegations. Coupled with Brodhead’s repeated demands that Nifong recuse himself, this act signals a dramatic, and welcome, shift by the administration on the case, and a statement that from here on out, Brodhead will stand on behalf of due process.

Better late than never. But still late.

UPDATE: Reader Brian Gates is unimpressed:

Wow. The school canceled their sports season, the faculty publicly condemned them, and they had to leave the university. But a year later, Duke has decided these young men are entitled to the presumption of innocence. That’s mighty white of them.

I’m no law prof, but isn’t the presumption of innocence most useful before a pile of facts come out indicating that the accused are, in fact, innocent?

Yes.

CLAYTON CRAMER is planning his book tour, in support of his new book, Armed America: The Remarkable Story of How and Why Guns Became as American as Apple Pie, so if you’re on the East Coast and would like him to stop by, drop him a line.

PAJAMAS MEDIA: Free Blogger Abdelkareem Nabil Soliman! I’ve written about him before, but he’s still in jail. Follow the link to see what you can do.

THE “REVERSE SUCKUPATHON:” This seems rather common.