MERRY CHRISTMAS. If you want to buy something from Amazon, please use this link.

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MERRY CHRISTMAS:

Via Molly Lewis. Entire Wade Johnston Christmas Extravaganza here.

“SMART DIPLOMACY” UPDATE: America’s Deteriorating Relationship With Egypt. “Sources familiar with the matter say that Robert Ford — the highly-respected, Arabic-speaking career diplomat and current ambassador to Syria — was withdrawn from consideration for the Cairo post after some representatives of Egypt’s military regime quietly indicated that they didn’t want him in the job because of his stated willingness to negotiate with some of Syria’s Islamist militants and political groups.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: THE SERFS OF ACADEMIA: We’re Constantly in Fear: The life of a part-time professor: Academia’s dirty little secret. Interesting that the two parts of American society that are most loudly critical of inequality and exploitativeness in American society — Hollywood and academia — are the two parts of American society where savage inequality and exploitativeness are most pronounced.

WHITE CHRISTMAS, by Bing Crosby.

POLITICO: Obama’s Albatross: Transparency.

Five years into his presidency, Barack Obama might have been reaping kudos for ushering in a new era of transparency in government.

Instead, he’s under fire for his administration’s secrecy.

That’s because he has a lot to hide.

JUDICIAL SEXISM: Judge sentences man to write ‘boys do not hit girls’ 5,000 times.

THE ROAD TO WISDOM LEADS THROUGH the palace of excess. That’s true, actually, but it can be a perilous path for many.

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DOUG MATACONIS: Apollo 8′s ‘Earthrise’ 45 Years Later.

Related: This is how the most famous photo of all time was taken.

JUST BECAUSE IT’S A CONSPIRACY THEORY DOESN’T MEAN IT’S A CRAZY CONSPIRACY THEORY: 9 Huge Government Conspiracies That Actually Happened.

HISTORY: How A Small Force Of Finnish Ski Troops Fought Off A Huge Soviet Army.

AN EPIDEMIC OF BINGE-DRINKING BY WOMEN? Or an epidemic of stories about binge-drinking by women?

SO WE’VE GOT THAT GOING FOR US, ANYWAY: Human Penises Are Gigantic Compared With Other Primates. “Flaccid, the penis of the gorilla and the orangutan, both with much bigger bodies, is virtually invisible; erect, it reaches 1.5 inches or less; the chimpanzee, man’s closest relative (sharing 98 percent of his DNA) achieves an erection twice that of the other two apes but still only one-half the average human one. Why, comparatively, man’s penis is so disproportionately large is a question that engages a clutch of disciplines including archaeology, anthropology, and zoology, as well as the evolutionary, psychological, and sociological branches of biology. Collectively they remain at a loss.” Like big antlers, it’s to attract chicks.

FROM THE MILITARY SATIRE SITE, THE DUFFELBLOG: General Mattis Crosses Potomac With 100,000 Troops; President, Senate Flee City. This whole story sounds vaguely familiar. But the comments are a bit troubling. . .

FROM UNCLE JAY: The Singing 2013 Year In Review.

PUT A LUMP OF COAL IN THEIR STOCKINGS: The 10 Worst Colleges For Free Speech.

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OH, GOODY: Whooping Cough Has Evolved In Response To Its Vaccine.

CHANGE: