POLIWOOD: comparing the Best Picture winners of the 1950s to those of the past decade. The more Hollywood talks about its artistry, the crappier its product becomes.

SNUBBED. I predict it will get much worse.

MICHAEL JENNINGS gets around.

NEWS: Jasper Schuringa ID’d as Flight 253 Hero.

UPDATE: Related thoughts from Randy Barnett.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Byron York: Obama handles Northwest Airlines terror incident differently than Ft. Hood. “The White House wants the public to know that President Obama, on vacation at a luxurious oceanfront home in Hawaii, has received conference call updates and is keeping close tabs on the situation.”

JANE HAMSHER: Why I Reached Out to Grover Norquist on Fannie/Freddie.

MORE IUD TALK. The discussion in the comments is as interesting as the article.

GREATEST NEWSPAPER HEADLINE of all time.

VIDEOLAN to release a video editor.

STEPHEN GREEN: The Week In Blogs: Victoria’s Secret & A Galaxy Far, Far Away.

STUNNING satellite photos of Earth.

HAWAII VACATIONS? I’d be the last to begrudge anyone a tropical island trip, though I don’t want any goddamn carbon-footprint lectures from people who fly thousands of miles week after week. Meanwhile, whatever you think of Presidents, I think Congress should be required to spend at least 270 days a year outside of Washington . . . .

THE FIRST FUNCTIONAL molecular transistor.

MARTIN FELDSTEIN: Gold is a poor inflation hedge.

ROGER SIMON: A ClimateGate Christmas.

PANASONIC TO CREATE batteries that can power a house for a week. I’d love to see ’em.

AND WITH GOOD REASON: Feingold Slams Obama Over Earmarks.

UPDATE: “Earmarks? How about bribes?”

IN THE MAIL: From Howard Morris, Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid: The Simple Truth to a Complicated Relationship.

JACK LAIL: Why Examiner.com’s traffic is growing through the roof. “Oh yeah, some are more worried about Google ‘stealing’ their content while the Examiner just grows and grows. We better start worrying about somebody wooing the audience.”

STEVEN BARNES: What if Spike Lee had directed Avatar?

TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS of 2009.

AL QAEDA FAILED. WHAT ABOUT US? Stewart Baker has ten questions on last night’s attempt.

NICE TO SEE THE NEXT GENERATION COMING ALONG. In response to my hands-on-toys posts from a while back, reader Lynn Blatnica wrote last night: “Went to Amazon and bought the electronic schematic sets plus the Science book for kids. My grandson, David, has not stopped playing with the 300 set all day. He’s nine. He has made every effort to build all 305 projects in the book. I have never seen him take such a major interest in anything before. Had to say thanks for making me the ‘best gramma in the world’.” That’s what it’s all about!

CATCHING ON A LITTLE BIT LATE: “This Is a Frightening New Side of Barack Obama.”

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE OBAMACARE LAWSUITS.

IF THE SHOE BOMB FITS: Jules Crittenden on last night’s failed terror attempt.

Plus, the real homeland security kicked in: “Next thing you know everybody was on him.” Nice to see that travelers haven’t forgotten the lessons of 9/11, even if our leaders mostly have.

UPDATE: More here. And further thoughts from Dan Riehl.