POLAND GOES ON THE OFFENSIVE in Afghanistan.

VIDEO: Jim Cramer responds to Jon Stewart.

NOBODY’S PERFECT: 20 Celebrities Who Have Aged Miserably.

TREATING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS with hookworms?

WELL, THEY ARE BROKE: After 22-years, GM ending Ken Burns funding.

REP. MIKE HONDA: Nanotech deserves public and private sector support. (Via Nanodot).

MORE Apple Netbook rumors.

THREE BOOKS on battlefield robotics.

NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Using nanotechnology to deliver anti-cancer genes.

MICHAEL YON: Victory in Iraq: Next Stop, Afghanistan.

IN THE MAIL: What Would Lincoln Do?: Lincoln’s Most Inspired Solutions to Challenging Problems and Difficult Situations.

FROM A READER, an amusing parody.

POLITICO: GOP Says Ethics Turnabout is Fair Play. Well, like the Dems a few years ago, they’ve got plenty to work with. . .

TIGERHAWK: “My suggestion is that Obama hand management of the banking crisis over to the State Department and Russian translation over to Treasury. At least then we will be repeating our mistakes with different players.”

WHAT TO DO ABOUT Darfur.

RETHINK STEM CELLS? Science Already Has:

Members of Congress and advocates for fighting diseases have long spoken of human embryonic stem cell research as if it were a sure avenue to quick cures for intractable afflictions. Scientists have not publicly objected to such high-flown hopes, which have helped fuel new sources of grant money like the $3 billion initiative in California for stem cell research.

In private, however, many researchers have projected much more modest goals for embryonic stem cells. Their chief interest is to derive embryonic stem cell lines from patients with specific diseases, and by tracking the cells in the test tube to develop basic knowledge about how the disease develops.

Despite an F.D.A.-approved safety test of embryonic stem cells in spinal cord injury that the Geron Corporation began in January, many scientists believe that putting stem-cell-derived tissues into patients lies a long way off. Embryonic stem cells have their drawbacks. They cause tumors, and the adult cells derived from them may be rejected by the patient’s immune system. Furthermore, whatever disease process caused the patients’ tissue cells to die is likely to kill introduced cells as well. All these problems may be solvable, but so far none have been solved.

Plus this: “Restrictions on embryonic stem cell research originated with Congress, which, each year since in 1996, has forbidden the use of federal financing for any experiment in which a human embryo is destroyed.” What? Congress, not Bush? Now they tell us. . . ..

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

JERRY POURNELLE: “If the Gates Foundation decided to take mankind to space they could permanently end problems caused by shortages of energy and mineral resources. Wealth is generally the answer to many problems, including over-population.”

ANOTHER: Possible conflict of interest surfaces for President Obama’s new urban czar Adolfo Carrion. “President Obama’s new urban czar renovated his Bronx home with help from the architect on a major development that needed his approval, a Daily News investigation has found. . . . Carrión would not say how much he paid the architect, if anything. He also refused to provide copies of checks for the work.” (Via JWF, where there’s more background.)

BILL ALLISON: Dodd’s Dealings Illustrate Holes In Financial Disclosure. “Note that Dodd doesn’t disclose the owners of the other 2/3s of his Irish ‘cottage’ — nor is he required to. Shouldn’t we know who politicians are buying properties with? Given the number of members who’ve run into ethical questions regarding homes and vacation homes (Sen. Ted Stevens, Rep. Charlie Rangel and Rep. Alan Mollohan spring immediately to mind) shouldn’t we have more disclosure about member’s real property?”

SUPREME COURT DUMPS NY and DC lawsuits against gun makers. And this is interesting: “President Barack Obama’s administration joined the gun industry in urging the Supreme Court not to question the constitutionality of the 2005 law, known as the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.”

ESQUIRE: How To Fix Hillary’s New Peace Plan. “If the Obama administration continues to isolate Tehran, overlook history, let advisors feud, and miscalculate the power balances in Israel and Lebanon, its strategy to bring Syria to the table could fall flat.” I suspect it will fall flat regardless, because where Middle East peace plans are concerned, that’s always the way to bet . . . .

WASHINGTON POST: Democrats Stung By Dissenters: “Democratic leaders in Congress did not expect much Republican support as they pressed President Obama’s ambitious legislative agenda. But the pushback they are receiving from some of their own has come as an unwelcome surprise.”

ROGER KIMBALL OFFERS a guide to destroying the economy.

IRAQPUNDIT WONDERS IF THE TROOP DRAWDOWN is encouraging bomb attacks in Iraq.