DEATH THREATS for my University of Tennessee colleague Henri Grissino-Mayer, over tree-rings, climate, and violins.

HMM: “PRINCE Bandar Bin Sultan, the former Saudi Arabian ambassador to America, has been hit by a court order in effect freezing some of his US assets, as part of a class-action lawsuit over bribery allegations at British defence giant BAE Systems.”

PUTIN 0, DE HAVILLAND 1:

Vladimir Putin has announced that if NATO does not act in a manner more to his likely in future negotiations, he will take action to let them know he is not to be trifled with by unleashing an arms race.

So Russia (GDP $2.08 trillion) is threatening the EU (GDP $14.44 trillion) and USA (GDP $13.86 trillion) with an arms race?

Who says Russians do not have a great sense of humour? They are famous for it, in fact and this is a case in point. In effect Vladimir Putin is saying “if you do not start respecting me, I will bankrupt my country by producing large quantities of the same weapons that the Israelis consistently turn into confetti using western military technology.” Oh saints preserve us!

Ouch.

A ROUNDUP OF science fiction and fantasy news.

MORE ON Democrats and superdelegates.

UPDATE: “Panic” in the Hillary camp.

NEWSWEEK: Where did Hillary Clinton get the money for her $5 million loan to her campaign?

BRAD ROURKE: White Men Can’t Talk.

MICHAEL YON: “These words come to you from South Baghdad, where signs of progress are unmistakable. I am with 1-4 CAV in an area that was among the most dangerous in Iraq during early and mid 2007. But a few days ago I walked down a road—wearing no body armor or helmet—where just 7 or 8 months ago tanks and Strykers would have been in great danger.” But it’s not over yet — follow the link and read the rest. And if you like his work, consider donating. That’s how he gets paid.

OUCH: A “refresher course in Christianity” for the Church of England.

UPDATE: Related item here.

WORKING THE PIMP: “It’s hard to read about MSNBC’s relationship to the mothership Clinton campaign these days without being reminded of Vichy France.”

ROGER SIMON POSTS AN INSIDER REPORT on the end of the writers’ strike.

AT MSNBC, a double standard on pimping.

INVESTING IN ROMANIA: Thoughts from the American Ambassador.

SKIP OLIVA’S VEEPWATCH.COM is a blog covering the vice-presidential contest.

IS BARACK OBAMA THE MESSIAH?

UPDATE: Reader Clyde Spicer emails: “I’ve seen this before, only the last time, the part was played by Roger Daltrey. The whole thing reminds me of the holiday camp scene in Tommy. Obama’s theme song should have been The Who’s I’m A Sensation.”

Hmm. I leave a trail of rooted people, mesmerized by just the sight. . . . I am the light. Sounds right to me! But Roger Daltrey had better hair.

A SUPERDELEGATE THREAT FROM CHRIS BOWERS:

If the institution that exists to resolve disputes within the American center-left does not operate according to democratic principles, then I see no reason to continue participating within that institution. If that institution fails to respect democratic principles in its most important internal contest of all–nominating an individual for President of the United States–then I will quit the Democratic Party. And yes, I am perfectly serious about this. If someone is nominated for POTUS from the Democratic Party despite another candidate receiving more poplar support from Democratic primary voters and caucus goers, I will resign as local precinct captain, resign my seat on the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee, immediately cease all fundraising for all Democrats, refuse to endorse the Democratic “nominee” for any office, and otherwise disengage from the Democratic Party through all available means of doing so.

Ann Althouse asks: “What’s morally wrong with following the rules that everyone knew all along? Parties aren’t morally obligated to use a purely democratic approach to picking a nominee. The Democrats set up a system with some delegates who were there because of their position in the party and not as representatives of people who voted in primaries or caucused. They were authorized to exercise their independent judgment about who the party should nominate, in what looks like a check on freewheeling democracy. Why should they now be told to subordinate their independent judgment?”

Speaking as a fellow professor of Constitutional Law, Althouse makes perfect sense to me. But this attitude is not going to be shared by many people who’ve spent the last nearly-8 years claiming that winning the popular vote is more important than winning the electoral vote.

A REPORT ON HOW THE Science Debate 2008 effort is going. There’s some useful advice from my Dewey Ballantine compatriot Tom Kalil: “The research community needs a more compelling message than ‘give us 7% more money than last year.'”

THE GROVEL CONTINUES: MSNBC airs an hour-long campaign ad biographical feature on Hillary Clinton. “This pre-empts the regularly scheduled programming, a show called Deadly Encounter. Not joking.”

UPDATE: Jake Tapper reports that the Clintons don’t want Shuster fired after all. Of course not. Now that they’ve shown they can yank his chain whenever they want, it’s much better to keep him on the job, properly subservient!

BUT OBAMA DOESN’T HAVE TO SPIN: “The Hillary Clinton campaign is now, in a new press release, spinning away her losses in Washington, Nebraska, and Louisiana as ‘expected.'”

UPDATE: Reader Joseph Ingrassia emails:

I am in medical school now, but I remember when I used to watch the WWF (WWE as it is called now) about 10 years ago and I have to say Obama’s victory/campaign speech tonight in Virginia is utterly reminiscent of any “face” (good guy) speech as he arrived in the ring in a new town.

“My it’s good to be back to (insert city/state)…I’ll tell you you guys have the best (insert sports team/governor)…” the speech then goes on about being an underdog and more importantly winning against the odds et cetera, et cetera. The best part about it is that the crowd in both instances, fake wrestling and politics, always screams and applauds in the same spots and eventually breaks into chanting the hero’s name. I understand this isn’t a speech meant to unveil any type of policy specifics (when are his speeches ever about that really?) but the similarities were striking for about five minutes.

On another note, as a future doctor their health care plans SCARE me. I can’t wait to treat people that don’t have to pay a dime (directly at least) for care…you think I’ll be seeing a lot of people with the common cold and other such common illnesses that don’t need medical attention?

Now he’s promising to reduce the cost of living, eliminate poverty, create “millions” of new green jobs…maybe he can teach me to walk on water too.

The way people talk, you can’t rule that out.

THIS ARTICLE CALLING FOR professional attire for professors is ground we’ve covered before — but the comments are fun to read.

UPDATE: I say, go for the natty college-professor look!

OVER AT DAILYPUNDIT’S WEEKEND COOKING THREAD, the topic is favorite foodie mags, books, and TV Shows. At the moment, as it happens, I’m watching Giada de Laurentis tour the Greek islands in a variety of skimpy outfits, in HD. While I believe the Insta-mom is lukewarm on her cookbook, the TV show does not disappoint.

UPDATE: Now she’s drinking Raki, a grape-based jetfuel they distill on Crete. My brother used to bring it back when he worked there. When you get the good Raki, it’s really good. When you get the bad Raki, it tastes like carbueretor cleaner. And pretty much is. If you’ve got a really dirty carbueretor . . . .

OBAMA CHARGES election irregularities in Louisiana.

UPDATE: The Anchoress emails: “Doesn’t it strike you that this guy is utterly fearless in the face of the Clintons, and completely on his game, intending not to let them get away with a thing? I must say…I like the cut of his jib. Don’t think I like his policies…but there is a lot to admire there.” He’s brave where the Clintons are concerned. We’ll see how that works out for him.

IS RON PAUL saying so long, suckers? That seems a bit harsh. Apparently, he’s facing a real challenge for his Congressional district.

HMM: “A new study finds that when it comes to financial success, you’re better off being a moderately happy person rather than someone who’s chronically ecstatic.” Hmm. Well, that’s me. So where’s my great wealth?

WHY GOOD PEOPLE DON’T GO INTO GOVERNMENT: “Howard Krongard worked his last day at the State Department recently, having learned a hard lesson in the ways of modern Congressional ‘oversight.’ To wit, if you don’t follow Henry Waxman’s orders, he’ll try to ruin you. . . . Mr. Waxman doesn’t much care if any of this is true, because his larger goal is to send a message to every Inspector General in government: They answer to him.” Kind of like the Clintons and MSNBC. It’s too bad that it’s so easy to gin up fake scandals and “ethical” problems in the service of political witch-hunting. Somebody should write a book on that!