STRATEGYPAGE: “The newly elected civilian government in Pakistan is trying to dismantle the pro-Islamic radical elements in the ISI (a combination of military intelligence and CIA). It’s not certain that this effort will work, even though it began several months ago, not in the wake of the recent Mumbai attack. . . . The problem is that these Islamic radicals have been operating openly in the ISI for three decades, and were put there by the government in the late 1970s, when it was decided that Islamic conservatism was the solution for Pakistan’s problems (corruption and religious/ethnic conflicts.) These guys are not just ‘Taliban spies,’ but Pakistani intelligence professionals that believe in Islamic radicalism.”

FALLING IN LOVE with a robot dinosaur. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

EUGENE VOLOKH: Associated Press doesn’t understand “actual malice” standard in libel.

JULIAN SANCHEZ: Orwell in Bailoutland. “This whole familial frame seems to amount to an inverted Gospel of Wealth: Where the 19th century claimed that financial success was a reflection of moral worth, the function of public policy in the 21st century will be to create that symmetry. The only question is whether workers in a particular industry are naughty children who need to be sent to the corner for a time-out, or well-behaved children who should get a gold sticker for effort. This is, as I hope goes without saying, a pretty authoritarian frame on either side.”

READER RAYMOND ECKHART asks what I think about this pro-gay marriage protest at Charlie Crist’s wedding. Sounds like it was orderly, nondisruptive, and nonviolent, so it’s fine with me. Which should be obvious.

UPDATE: Kingsley Browne emails:

If “it’s fine with me” means “it’s fine with me that it’s legal”, then it’s fine with me, too. But if it means “it’s fine with me and I don’t think it’s tacky at all,” then I’ll have to part company with you. Would you be okay with the Instadaughter’s wedding being protested because someone didn’t like something she did in her job, or didn’t like who she worked for, even if the protest were “orderly, nondisruptive, and nonviolent”?

I might be, but such protesters would have to deal with the Insta-wife, beside whom I’m the soul of moderation and nonviolence.

ILLINOIS: Obama: Probe shows no contact in Ill. gov scandal. “President-elect Barack Obama said Monday a review by his own lawyer shows he had no direct contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about the appointment of a Senate replacement, and transition aides did nothing inappropriate.” Well, that should put those rumors to rest.

UPDATE: Rasmussen: “Forty five percent (45%) of U.S. voters say it is likely President-elect Obama or one of his top campaign aides was involved in the unfolding Blagojevich scandal in Illinois, including 23% who say it is Very Likely.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Chad Olson writes: “Regarding Obama being in the clear because his own lawyer said so. Obama should ask Cheney how that worked for him in the Plame mess.” Well, Cheney was never charged!

IN TENNESSEE, a bill to require photo I.D. for voting.

A BIG ONE-DAY-ONLY TOY SALE at Amazon.

UPDATE: Reader Chuck Nichols writes: “Thanks for linking to the big Amazon toy sale today. I don’t check Amazon daily but I’m a regular reader over at your place. We just saved a big chuck of change on a couple of presents for my soon-to-be 4 year-old’s birthday in early January. Thanks again, and keep up the great work.” Glad to help.

AFGHANISTAN TODAY: An interview with Michael Yon.

BING WEST on the Anbar Awakening and Afghanistan.

A HEROIC SOLDIER from Knoxville.

BEAT THE NEW BOSS: D.C. libertarians plot their Obama administration strategies.

INTERESTING: Utilities Suggest Huge Electric Vehicle Orders. “Utilities are among the groups now considering mass orders of electric vehicles from the U.S. automobile manufacturing sector, to help the auto companies make the biggest manufacturing realignment since since WWII.”

WASHINGTON POST: Democrats’ Dilemma in Illinois: To Appoint or to Elect?

MARY ANASTASIA O’GRADY: Innocents Die in the Drug War.

IS SELLING PEOPLE PORN worse than robbing them? Apparently, the Justice Department thinks so. Perhaps things will be better in this regard under the Obama Administration.

ALBERTA OIL SANDS PRODUCTION to fall short of goal. Low oil prices have produced a cutback in investment. Sigh — we’ve heard this song before.

ABC NEWS: Secret Service Shows Unusual Restraint in ‘Bizarre’ Shoe Incident.

That’s because the whole thing was staged. It’s another sneaky Bush ploy — in 2001, the heroes of the Arab world were men who crashed planes into buildings. Now, men who throw shoes. All part of the plan . . . .

POWERING NANOTECHNOLOGY with tunneling electrons.

WHY SO EAGER to push Blago out? I’d say good riddance if he resigned or was impeached. On the other hand, as both Ann Althouse and I have noticed, the effort to declare him “disabled” is pretty lame.

HUFFINGTON POST: Senate Democrats May Return Thousands In Madoff Contributions. HuffPo does note, as I did the other day, that he made “a smattering” of contributions to Republicans as well.

MICKEY KAUS: “We need a Czar Czar, to crack the whip on all the czars. … P.S.: Also a federal czar policy. Right now, czar decisions are made on an ad hoc, case-by-case basis, with no attempt at czar harmonization.”

SOME MORE REVIEW LOVE for the Panasonic LX-3. It’s the camera I took with me to the Caymans, and it did very well. So far I’m extremely pleased with it.

UPDATE: Reader Jonathan Wasserstrum writes: “You seem to be very happy with your new camera, and the reviews you have linked to all seem very laudatory as well. I was wondering if for a casual user, the additional benefits/features of the LX-3 would be money well spent over one of the Canon SureShots or if the features would just sit there unused.”

Well, the best feature is the fast, wide-angle lens. You’ll use that. There’s not as much telephoto zoom range as on most other pocket cameras, but I find that I almost never use the extreme telephoto range of my other pocket cameras anyway. If you’re indoors in low light, you’ll like the ability to take good pictures without a flash. The color rendering also seems exceptionally nice. That said, there are plenty of good cameras out there that are cheaper.