FRENCH TV. FAKE KILLINGS, AND THE AL DURA SCANDAL: Roger Simon interviews Philippe Karsenty, who was sued by French TV for daring to point out that they were engaged in a blood libel supported by bogus video.

HEY, I MADE THE FORBES Web Celeb 25.

THIS WILL BE A BIGGER QUESTION in the general election:

The National Archives is withholding from the public about 2,600 pages of records at President Clinton’s direction, despite a public assurance by one of his top aides last month that Mr. Clinton “has not blocked the release of a single document.”

Perhaps someone can smuggle out the crucial documents in his/her socks. Apparently, security at the Archives is less than airtight.

THIS IS GOOD NEWS: “After years of development, Nanosolar has announced today that they have shipped their first batch of inexpensive solar panels to the site of their first real-world deployment, a megawatt solar plant being built on the surface of a landfill in eastern Germany.”

FROM PAPER PLANES to paper AK-47s.

IN THE MAIL: Glenn Beck’s An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World’s Biggest Problems. Amusing cover.

BECOMING A WEB STAR with online lectures:

Walter H. G. Lewin, 71, a physics professor, has long had a cult following at M.I.T. And he has now emerged as an international Internet guru, thanks to the global classroom the institute created to spread knowledge through cyberspace.

Professor Lewin’s videotaped physics lectures, free online on the OpenCourseWare of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have won him devotees across the country and beyond who stuff his e-mail in-box with praise.

Traditionally, teaching has played second-fiddle to scholarship at many institutions because it can’t get external plaudits. I wonder if online course will change that.

GEORGE W. BUSH, “pro-life liberal?”

A VIDEO REPORT on the new Congress.

ANOTHER DEMOCRAT SOUNDING POSITIVE ON IRAQ:

U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly returned from a second trip to Iraq in five months encouraged that the mission there is going better and that by 2009 the U.S. military’s role could be primarily as trainers and advisers.

“I feel we’ve made progress, and the other part is I feel we can see an end game in sight,” Donnelly, D-Ind., told reporters on a conference call Tuesday from Washington. “It isn’t we just keep plugging away in the hopes something will turn out right. Gen. (David) Petraeus is working a plan and we seem to be heading toward a place where the Iraqis can be self-sustaining and we’ll have a smaller presence in the background.”

Donnelly’s findings were in stark contrast to his visit to Iraq last July, when he said the only positive thing that happened in that country since the beginning of the war in March 2003 was the ouster of Saddam Hussein.

Maybe Harry Reid should give up on giving up.

GEEK THE VOTE: A roundup of candidate policies on science and technology.

HOW CHINA abets genocide in Darfur.

MORE IOWA POLLING PROBLEMS: “The networks could leave the Iowa caucuses to their own perverse, undemocratic and historically misguided devices without making them more perverse and undemocratic. But then how would network polling divisions justify their existence?”

ASK DR. HELEN: Should Alimony Be Abolished?

AMERICANS ARE IN A MORE POSITIVE MOOD, according to this poll. I guess that’s because Iraq is going better, and Congress hasn’t done anything . . . .

MCCAIN: End the Alternative Minimum Tax.

VERNOR VINGE: What if the Singularity doesn’t happen?

You can hear our interview with Vinge here.

MEGAN MCARDLE: Three cheers for retail.

MORE NEWS ON PETER JACKSON’S THE HOBBIT, and I find it a bit disappointing. “Jackson will executive-produce, not direct or write.” A few other developments, too — read the whole thing.

JIHADINETS: Thoughts on terrorism and the Internet.

WHEN TERRORISTS GET TO THE AFTERLIFE, THEY’LL FIND THAT NONE OF THEIR 72 WOMEN ARE STILL VIRGINS.

Why? Because of Fred Thompson.

If he’s got the guts to run this in Iowa and New Hampshire, he’s got my vote . . . .

SOME GIFT RECOMMENDATIONS for college students. How can any dorm room be without a Wi-Fi Rabbit?

UPDATE: Not much love for the wi-fi rabbit here.

HOW CAMPUSES DEAL WITH PHYSICAL THREATS: Badly. If they don’t develop some backbone, people will start capitalizing on this in an organized fashion. That would be bad.

IS THIS THE JOHN EDWARDS SCANDAL we’ve been hearing about? (Via Kaus).

UPDATE: Bill Quick: “Has Clinton minion Ron Burkle finished taking control of the National Enquirer yet?”

ANOTHER UPDATE: “It would be a bigger problem if Edwards had a prayer.” Some people can’t reach the Enquirer story, but I’m seeing it fine. Here’s an excerpt:

The woman linked to Presidential candidate John Edwards in a cheating scandal is more than six months pregnant and telling a close confidante that Edwards is the father of her unborn child, The NATIONAL ENQUIRER has learned exclusively.

Is it true? Hey, it’s the Enquirer — so it’s as reliable as the New York Times! I agree with Kaus that it makes no sense for Hillary to be spreading this story. Obama, on the other hand, would benefit from having Edwards out of the picture, giving him the undiluted anti-Hillary vote.

MORE: Denying everything. And now the story’s down from the Enquirer site. Kaus: “I don’t know why, but you can’t be too paranoid when Ron Burkle might be involved.”

WELL, GOOD: “The Senate voted Tuesday to provide $70 billion for U.S. military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, handing a victory to President Bush and his GOP allies on Capitol Hill.”