REVIEWING THE REVIEWERS: A roundup of book reviews from all over.

WELL, THIS IS INTERESTING: A meteorite in Australia has been found to contain component molecules of DNA. Fred Hoyle, call your office!

THE HEALING IS NOT COMPLETE: Hillary “Loudly Booed” At Obama-Gore Rally in Michigan. Well, technically it was Jennifer Granholm who was booed for mentioning Hillary’s name “on behalf of women everywhere.” More evidence of the sexism that has marked this campaign!

UPDATE: L.A. Times: Early reaction to Al Gore’s Obama endorsement: Yawn.

But Mortman is lauding Al’s courage.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Meanwhile, on the sexism front, likening the relationship between Keith Olbermann and Clinton supporters to one between an abuser and an abused woman who always comes back. Olbermann’s ratings will tell the tale . . .

I’VE MENTIONED FALLEN ANGELS BEFORE, the greenhouse/ice-age novel by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Mike Flynn. It’s worth noting that you can also get it in electronic form via the Baen Free Library (thanks to reader John Chalupa for the tip).

And speaking of ice ages returning, John Ringo emails that his new science fiction novel, The Last Centurion, is based on a similar theme, and that reports of snow in Spokane in June have him worried he might have been ahead of the curve: “I wrote the damned thing spring of 2007 when eveything seemed fairly on track for normal temps. Given that serious climatologists are now discussing ‘mini-iceage’ I’m getting the puckering feeling Cassandra probably got.” Hey, Cassandra was always right. People forget that . . . .

I haven’t read the book, but I see from the Amazon page that it’s written “blog-style.” That’s kind of cool.

JOHN TIERNEY: Malthus vs. The Singularity:

Before any other readers post another comment about “overpopulation” and doomsday scenarios, I suggest they take a look at my colleague Donald McNeil’s excellent article on Malthusian mistakes. As he notes, the current forecasts of energy and food disasters sound just like the ones made during the 1970s. Similar apocalyptic forecasts were made in the 1940s (in books like “Our Plundered Planet”) and in other eras by prophets following in Malthus’ tradition.

These prophets have always claimed to be seeing the big picture, but they ignore thousands of years of history during which the prices of natural resources fell and the wellbeing of humans improved.

Yes, as Robert Fogel has demonstrated, the singularity in terms of human well-being occurred over the past couple of centuries.

A LOOK AT CANADA’S THOUGHT POLICE.

Plus When “tolerance” trumps freedom.

And, think wrong thoughts, lose your kids. I remember when Canadians were associated with niceness, not ideological thuggery and kangaroo courts.

SISTANI NOT BUYING OBAMA’S PLEDGES: “The pledges to withdraw from Iraq given by (officials) from occupation forces countries are only for elections sake.” Hmm. Has Austan Goolsbee been seen in Iraq?

EEWWW. Or maybe just “ugh.”

DOG BITES MAN: A media boost for Obama.

A.P. VS. THE BLOGOSPHERE: Terry Heaton comments:

The real problem for the A.P. is that it can’t win this argument, and by pressing the issue, they’re very likely to end up with a business model that dies overnight. And I don’t think I’m overstating that. Links are the currency of the Web, and the A.P. hard line spits in the face of that, which is leading to boycotts like Arrington’s. The monopoly co-operative is living in the past, but it needs that past to validate a business model that is as out-of-date as traditional media itself. Now, by pressing the matter, they run the significant risk of being in a contrary legal position, and what will be left for them after that?

They’ve announced that they’re willing to create a new policy, but that, too, is fraught with problems, for it can only shed further light on the weakness of their business model in a changing environment. Bloggers know that links go to the originator of the content, which would mean linking to the A.P.’s members, not the A.P. version thereof. When that happens, media companies will rightly ask why they need an expensive middle man in the equation. Always remember that the Web disrupts the middle of any transaction, including media. As such, the most enviable position in the new world is that of aggregator, but as Google News proves, there’s not exactly a whole lot of money to be made in so doing.

(Via Michael Silence, who comments, “The AP, living in the past, is cutting its lifeline of links.”)

MICKEY KAUS: “If Johnson quit as veep-vetter of his own volition last Wednesday, should Obama get credit for having taken ‘decisive action’?”

A HEADLINE YOU WOULDN’T HAVE EXPECTED TO SEE: Bush leaves on high note after Europe farewell tour:

US President George W. Bush headed home on a high note Monday after a week-long farewell tour of Europe, concluding with a trip to Britain where he welcomed renewed support on Afghanistan and Iran.

Bush made his very last stop in Northern Ireland, hailing the British province as a “success story” and a model for reconciliation in other former troublespots around the world, including Iraq.

Earlier in the day Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced more troops for Afghanistan and tougher sanctions on Iran, delighting the president, who leaves office in January after two terms in the White House.

Especially from Agence France Presse.

THE CARNIVAL of misandry.

IT’S LIKE A HYBRID YOU DRIVE FROM YOUR LA-Z-BOY: Watch your shows and still feel smug, with a flat-screen HD Eco-TV!

Even the packaging lets you feel oh-so-good about yourself: “Made from a combination of recycled material and materials from Sustainably Managed Forests.”

BLAMING THE IRAQ WAR . . . ON WESTERNS? “The thing about reductive thinking is that, while it purports to simplify the world, what it really reveals is the simple mind responsible for it.”

MORE BAD PRESS: AP: The Internet’s Big Bully.

Bullying bloggers is usually expensive.

ANOTHER BIG BRAZILIAN OIL DISCOVERY.

FOR WHEN “AUDIOPHILE” IS SYNONYMOUS WITH “SUCKER:” A $499 Ethernet cable from Denon.

HOW TO BUILD A BOOKCASE: Step-by-step instructions.

JON HENKE: How important are blogs and Internet media?

GAY MARRIAGES BEGIN IN CALIFORNIA in just a few minutes. Nice to see people who want to get married doing so, but the process by which this happened seems suboptimal.

SEIZING THE MEANS of linguistic production.

SOME IRAQ WAR HISTORY, at The Mudville Gazette.

ROBERT KAPLAN IN THE ATLANTIC: “As conditions in Iraq improve, Barack Obama has yet to adjust his proposed strategy for managing conflict in the region.” Read the whole thing.

ONLY SIXTY? 60% Believe Supreme Court Justices Have Their Own Political Agendas.