DEVELOPING A cure for the superbug.

CHRIS ANDERSON: “So the problem with the music labels is not that music is an industry in decline, but that they have a too-narrow view of what business they’re in.”

SLEEP DRUGS: Only mildly effective, but wildly popular.

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Sharp Drop Seen in US Deaths in Iraq. The Bush Administration’s secrecy plan is a miserable failure!

But Jules Crittenden has some thoughts on reporting.

UPDATE: Still more thoughts on the press coverage from Dean Barnett:

YOU’D THINK THIS would be a big story. After all, the mainstream media makes such a show of “supporting the troops” at every turn, you’d think it would rush to report the amazing story of our soldiers accomplishing what many observers declared “impossible” and “unwinnable” not so long ago.

It hasn’t worked out that way. When General Ricardo Sanchez (ret.) addressed the situation in Iraq on October 11, he proclaimed that America was “living a nightmare with no end in sight.” Naturally, the “nightmare” quote wound up in the first paragraph of the New York Times report on Sanchez’s comments. What didn’t find its way into the Times’ report was any context of what’s going on in Iraq. The “nightmare” assessment would have been a whole lot more fitting when Sanchez was helping run the show in Iraq in 2006 than it is today. . . .

WHAT’S MOST FRUSTRATING about the press’s reporting about Iraq is that you just know the next time something goes wrong, be it a car bomb slipping through or a mishap involving American soldiers, that story will get above-the-fold treatment in America’s major dailies. . . . Of course, there is nothing wrong with the media reporting the bad news out of Iraq. Indeed, it’s their duty. But there is something profoundly wrong with the media reporting the bad news while disingenuously ignoring the progress we’ve made, progress that’s only been made because of the sacrifices of 160,000 American soldiers.

Yes, it’s almost as if undermining morale on the domestic front were a key goal. When the history of media reportage on this war is written, it will not be kind.

ORIN KERR ON Mukasey, waterboarding, and public opinion.

Plus, Simon on Mukasey, Jed Rubenfeld, and what the transcript says.

DECLARING A MAJOR in high school.

IRAN goes after the G.O.P. Well, you can’t buy this kind of publicity.

THAT’S GOTTA HURT: French Intellectuals Accuse Dutch of “Unacceptable Cowardice.”

THE WILDFIRES ARE ALL BECAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING — I mean, no they’re not!

ADVICE FOR THE G.O.P., from Bill Quick. “The two hottest issues in the country – the war on terror and immigration – favor the GOP – if the Grand Old Party has the cojones to take these issues and ride them to victory.” You think?

Meanwhile, James Joyner reminds Republicans that hating Hillary is not enough.

A ROUNDUP ON fighting the Southern California fires.

And here’s a huge fire-coverage aggregator courtesy of N.Z. Bear’s Kithbridge company.

“DRUDGE 1, NYT 0.”

HARRY POTTER AND THE OVERRATED HIPSTERS: Well, I think it’s a good title.

I MENTIONED “MEAN GIRLS” AT WELLESLEY BEFORE, but now this is a really mean girl at Wellesley. “A 20-year-old female student at Wellesley College was charged today with breaking into a dormitory at MIT and stabbing her former boyfriend seven times as he slept, according to police and prosecutors.”

MICKEY KAUS: “Sen. Reid has filed for cloture on the Dream Act, meaning a vote could come tomorrow (Wednesday).”

WE’VE ALL USED THIS EXCUSE, HAVEN’T WE? “I would have blogged about it if it weren’t for those pesky kids.”

THE DAILY MAIL: Violence is Down in Iraq. The Bush Administration’s secret-keeping fails!

YESTERDAY’S PRESSURE COOKER QUESTION generated a lot of email. Here are some highlights.

Reader Mark Marshall emails:

I can’t recommend enough the Stainless Steel Presto 8 Qt. at Amazon with the “Better Together” Lorna Sass book combo.

Bought it for my wife last year and it has more than paid for itself. The cookbook is excellent, and things that used to take lots of time and electricity, such as beans or legumes, are prepared quickly. Homemade apple butter and the most amazing lobster bisque (pressure wash those lobster bodies with a little clam broth) are some of our own experimentation.

Reader Rosemary Bright offers a useful warning:

Words of wisdom: when using the pressure cooker, before opening it you take off the little thing on top to let out all the steam. The key words here “Let Out ALL the Steam”.

As a bride I was hurriedly cooking vegetable soup before my father-in-law came for lunch so I threw it all in the pressure cooker. I didn’t wait until all the steam completely out and opened the lid (which is a twist and lock sort of thing). Soup went all over every where — I jumped back so it didn’t burn me, but it was all over the walls, the stove, the floor …. A mess.

So, Let All the Steam out before opening. Otherwise, a great way to cook fast (potatoes, for example – or rump roasts) and tender.

Good advice, I’m sure. Reader Kay Dinolfo emails:

I have both a stovetop (25+ y.o.) and a self-contained electric pressure cooker (bought off HSN). Like them both, and biggest difference in cooking is how much more you have to babysit the stovetop model to keep it cooking steadily. Not difficult, but needs more attention. The electric one, you just plug in, set the time, and you’re off to the races. HOWEVER… like buying a foreign car, repairs are much more difficult on my electric one, which wound up with a broken handle. Took me ages just to find the replacement parts, and I wound up buying a freight-damaged cooker off eBay for a dollar for its parts. The stovetop model is a Presto and my local Ace Hardware store carries any and all the replacement parts (gaskets, primarily, which wear out) conveniently and economically.

Reader Thomas Wright emails:

If you like cooking beans and whole grains, or making stews and pot roasts, pressure cookers can be loads of fun. They can be used as regular pots as well, so they do double duty. I use mine at least once a month, sometimes once a week.

Pressure cooker advice is simple. For the best brand that is easily available: Fagor. They are reasonable priced, well made and easy to maintain and come in a variety of sizes.

Pressure cookers are very good at two things. Cooking grains and legumes, and cooking tough meats.

Reader John Shonder agrees:

We have this one from Fagor and use it several times a week.

The “queen” of pressure cooker cooking is Lorna Sass. I recommend this cookbook for some great recipes.

And, finally, Clarice Feldman emails:

I have two Kuhn Rikon pressure cookers. They are wonderful for making stews in a hurry and fabulous for making risotto. The best Indian cookbook writer I know recommended it–she has some curry recipes using a pressure cooker–and so many chefs were raving about risotto made (fast) in pressure cookers, I tried it. I now never make it any other way.

So there you are.

UPDATE: A tip from reader Robbins Mitchell:

I grew up in Paris,Tn and my mother would cook pot roasts and quick cook potatoes for mashing in the pressure cooker…and when she took it off the stove, she would ALWAYS hold it under cold running water in the sink for a minute or so to condense the steam before removing the little thingy on top just to make sure there were no accidents….and there never were.

I had a girlfriend from Paris, Tn when I was in college. She was a credit to her hometown.

ANOTHER UPDATE: The Kuhn Rikons are high-rated, but kind of pricey.

MICHAEL YON WRITES that things are settling down in Iraq. And he emails, “Amazing. If Iraq keeps going this direction, my job will be done here next year. The violence is plummeting.” Sorry to see Yon out of a job, but that’ll be good news.

And maybe by next year he’ll be reporting from Iran.

UPDATE: “Clyburn was right.”

“MEAN GIRL” POWER, at Wellesley.

WHAT NARCISSISTIC HARVARD PROFESSORS DO when faced with a book.

CAPE WIND FALLOUT: “If local NIMBYs defeat this project, it could produce an ill wind for offshore wind projects nationwide.”

BILL ROGGIO: Crunch time in Pakistan.

THOUGHTS ON U.S. / TURKISH RELATIONS, from Victor Davis Hanson.

REMEMBERING THE FORD MAVERICK GRABBER, but not fondly: “The automotive equivalent of putting John Candy in track shorts–tight, mauve and gold polyester track shorts.”