HARD TIMES: Boston Globe cutting nearly 20% of staff over 3 months.

POLIWOOD: Roger Simon and Lionel Chetwynd talk about Gran Torino.

THOUGHTS ON ANDREW WYETH’S DEATH. And a related item here.

ARE WE LIVING IN A giant cosmic hologram?

UPDATE: Does this mean the universe is a big computer simulation? Statistically, of course, that’s the way to bet anyway, but there’s a downside: “If we were ever to prove that we exist inside a simulation, it would be proof that the transhumanist assumption is correct — that the transition from a human to a posthuman condition is in fact possible. But that will be of little solace to us measly sims! The simulation — er, our world — could be shut down at any time. Or, the variables that make up our modal reality could be altered in undesirable ways (e.g. our world could be turned into a Hell realm).” I definitely regard that as a bug, not a feature.

TAXPROF: WSJ: The Best Economic Stimulus: A Corporate Tax Rate of Zero.

MICKEY KAUS on trading freedom for “community.”

I BLAME SARAH PALIN: Colder in Alabama than Alaska.

IN THE MAIL: Claire Wolfe’s The Freedom Outlaw’s Handbook: 179 Things to Do ‘Til the Revolution. A kind of anarcho-libertarian Edward Abbey. Much of the advice involves things I wouldn’t recommend, personally, though some of it’s amusing.

CATHY YOUNG on Eric Alterman.

BAILOUT HYPOCRITES:

Of seven newly minted freshman Democratic senators, six voted for releasing the second half of the $700 billion TARP funds in what is being considered Obama’s first major test of strength on the Hill. This would be rather uncontroversial had not five of them, to some degree or another, campaigned against the original, unpopular bailout bill to win their seats.

Check out the TV ad from Jeff Merkley.

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT: “Try to find any of these folks calling for the serious investigation into Chris Dodd that appears warranted, for instance.”

GALLUP: Americans Want Details Before Release of More TARP Funds. “A majority of Americans (62%) say Congress should block President-elect Obama’s request to release the remaining $350 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds until more details are provided about how the funds will be spent. The rest of Americans are split between saying the funds should be released immediately and saying they should not be released at all.”

I predict that no such details will be forthcoming.

LOOKING AT REPUBLICAN REJUVENATION, at The New Republicans.

TIGERHAWK: Why do professors deplore enterprise? “The question is, why are so many academics, who are ideologically unwilling to pass judgment on just about any value or culture no matter how depraved or defective, so reflexive in their condemnation of the business life?”

SOME AGING-RESEARCH CONUNDRUMS: “You might think that a drug which acts like COX-2 to cause more prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production and therefore more bone healing is the ticket. But every time we hear about a drug that can reverse some metabolic change that comes with aging we have to ask why the body changed with age in the first place. The decline of COX-2 with age down-regulates stem cells to inhibit stem cell activity. Why? Just an accident of decay? Or was this selected for because older stem cells are at risk of becoming cancerous when they divide?”

FABIUS MAXIMUS: “Some people just want to see the world burn.” Not sure the specific example he chooses is the first one that would come to my mind, but the point holds.

UPDATE: Bill Quick comments.

BITES FROM THE APPLE: A roundup of news from the Apple empire — from Steve Jobs’ health, to the iPhone Nano, and a non-Mac OSX.

POLITICO: Ethics cloud still hangs over Rangel.

UPDATE: Redstate: “The Democrats have made it clear that they don’t give a tinker’s dam about Rep Rangel’s numerous ethical lapses.”

THEY TOLD ME THAT IF I VOTED FOR MCCAIN, we’d wind up drafting young Americans to fight endless wars abroad. And, well . . . .

BLOGS AND comment culture.

WELL, HE COULD ALWAYS JUST READ INSTAPUNDIT. Trust me, it’s outside the bubble.

WASHINGTON POST: Rangel Probe Awaits New Ethics Chair.

JACK SHAFER on Obama’s new press strategy.

“SURE IS A DISGRACE TO JOURNALISM when you’re anonymous.”

OLDER EMERGENCY BEACONS won’t be monitored by satellite starting next month. But a lot of people haven’t switched over to the new ones.