A KILLER ASTEROID HEADING OUR WAY? Plus, here’s an article on possible asteroid missions:

The US space agency is drawing up plans to land an astronaut on an asteroid hurtling through space at more than 30,000 mph. It wants to know whether humans could master techniques needed to deflect such a doomsday object when it is eventually identified. The proposals are at an early stage, and a spacecraft needed just to send an astronaut that far into space exists only on the drawing board, but they are deadly serious. A smallish asteroid called Apophis has already been identified as a possible threat to Earth in 2036.

Hmm. This is sounding familiar. Time to dust off the old Orion plans?

UPDATE: More on asteroid impacts here.

WORST BURGLAR EVER: (Via Marc Cenedella.)

HMM. Sounds like the Saudis really have something to hide.

“ASSASSINATION CHIC — it’s everywhere!”

JEFF JACOBY LOOKS AT ANTIMILITARY BIGOTRY IN SAN FRANCISCO: Just for fun, a GOP member of Congress should introduce a bill requiring high schools that get federal funding to offer JROTC.

With Democrats talking about bringing back the draft, how could they oppose this?

PEOPLE TOLD ME IN 2004 THAT IF I VOTED FOR BUSH, before you know it there’d be moves to bring back a draft. And, sure enough, I voted for Bush and now they’re talking about bringing back the draft. . . .

More here.

OF CERP AND IRAQ: Got an email from Michael Rubin in response to my post on his LA Times piece about Iraq. Scroll down or click here to read it.

DESPITE THE HYPE AND SCARCITY FOR THE PLAYSTATION 3, some of the Amazon reviews from people who own one seem to be pretty negative: “If I were to rate this system on the number of crashes it would get 5 stars! Once again Sony talks a good game but releases a huge pile of steaming poo.” “I own all 3 systems now and by far this is the biggest flop.” “Do not buy this system yet many if not all people have experienced their system crashing after about 3 hours of gameplay and there are many graphical glitches.” “After playing Resistance for three hours, the system locked up and crashed. The unit was incredibly hot and unrecoverable even after cooling down. I had it resting in a well ventilated cool area, so I’m not sure what the deal is here.” “Well after waiting 13 hours in line I finally got the system. First let me say the graphics are no better the the x-box 360, second this box gets hot, I mean fry an egg on it hot. I don’t know if there’s something wrong with it or this is normal but you can’t touch the unit after playing for an hour or so. I’m very disapointed. It doesn’t play my playstation 2 games, the graphics still look cartoonish and it does freeze up from time to time.” “Only thing that I found was that alot of my PS2 Games will not work with the system. This really sucks. Another thing that I noticed is that after a little while of playing, BOY doesn’t this thing get hot. Seems like it is cookin itself right there on the entertainment system. I am going to see if they will let me take it back.” “I cant believe that after delaying the release of the PS3 for a year that Sony still couldnt get it right.”

Other people seem to like it, though. Any InstaPundit readers manage to snag one yet, or are you all still waiting in line with John Edwards? I note that while Amazon has reviews posted, they don’t seem to have any actual Playstation 3s to sell.

UPDATE: Reader David Henrion says it’s fanboy rivalry run amok:

After reading the Amazon reviews, I checked the backgrounds of various negative reviewers. As a gamer, I know that a lot of people are such total fanboys of a certain system that they will go and bash other systems as much as possible. So, for “A. Luciano “ROTTENCORPSE”,” who wrote that he or she owned all three systems and the PS3 was the worst, has reviewed several Xbox 360 games, including Halo 3, which is not out yet, and gave them all 5 stars. The Xbox 360 itself also received 5 stars. They also reviewed 2 PS3 games, giving them both 1 star, and the Nintendo Game Cube, giving it 1 star as well. “Clayton “…”” also had a negative review, and this person had only previously the Xbox headset and a punching bag. The PS3 is the only reviewed item for other Amazon customers as well. So, I think that some of these are fake, or at least exaggerated to promote the Xbox 360. This does not seem to have spread to the other next-gen systems, however the longest review for the Wii on the front page is 3 lines.

Heh. That we get that sort of thing over different game platforms seems a bit much to me, but as a wise man once said, people gotta have somethin’ to do.

WHISTLEBLOWING on racial discrimination at the Navy, and retaliation therefor.

UPDATE: Comments and questions from Neptunus Lex.

TIM BLAIR PHOTOBLOGS THE ANTI-GLOBALIZATION PROTESTS in Melbourne, where some of the protesters seem to be doing a bit of, um, globalizing themselves. More here.

Plus: “What is it with religious folk and pork?”

A PRO-LIFE THEOCRAT takes over in Nicaragua: “Abortion was a central issue for November’s presidential election in mainly Roman Catholic Nicaragua. President-elect Daniel Ortega once favoured abortion rights but changed stance after re-embracing Catholicism. . . . He has since been reconciled with the church and has become a strident opponent of abortion.”

RADLEY BALKO: “One particularly disturbing trend I’ve found in covering the rise of SWAT-style paramilitary raids is that criminals are catching on to the trend. I get several stories a week about crooks dressing up as raiding cops to make their way into a target’s home.”

“BOMB IRAN.”

A LOOK AT BREAST IMPLANTS AND LIBERTY, from a Postrelian perspective.

THE CONGRESSIONAL “RACE TO STUPID:” Not a sprint, but a marathon!

MORE PUTIN THUGGERY? “Scotland Yard has launched an investigation into an audacious attempt to murder – using a deadly poison – a leading Russian defector at a restaurant in London. . . . The crime invoked memories of the murder of Georgi Markov, 49, the prize-winning Bulgarian author and broadcaster, who was poisoned as he waited with commuters on Waterloo Bridge in 1978. Mr Markov felt a pain in his thigh and three days later he was dead: the murder weapon was an umbrella, partly developed by the KGB, which fired a pellet the size of a pinhead, containing the poison ricin.”

CRAIG NEWMARK notes that PorkBusters-style transparency is starting to catch on in Britain.

CLANDESTINE VIDEO: “Iranian dissident Zahra Kamalfar has been living with her children under unspeakable conditions in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport for 73 days. A one-time demonstrator against the extremist theocracy, she escaped from an Iranian prison when on a two-day furlough to visit her children. She ended up being buffeted from country to country. Now in imminent danger (possibly Monday, if the Russians cooperate) of being taken back to the Islamic Republic for the Mullahs’ version of justice, Ms. Kamalfar speaks out in this dramatic video smuggled out of the airport to Pajamas Media.”

Follow the link to see it, and to find out what you can do.

RON BAILEY REPORTS FROM THE NAIROBI GLOBAL WARMING CONFERENCE:

“Climate change tourists” is how Kenyan Maasai leader of environmental group Practical Action Sharon Looremeta dismissed the diplomats negotiating over what to do about global warming here in Nairobi. “You come here to look at some climate impacts and some poor people suffering, and then climb on your airplanes and head home,” she bitterly added. She was expressing the widespread frustration of many African representatives who were hoping that the conference would result in “new mechanisms to help sustainable development in Africa” and “more funds for adaptation.” In other words, they expected cash.

Read the whole thing.

HELP A JAILED EGYPTIAN BLOGGER: Tom Palmer has more.

WISHFUL THINKING at the BBC. Larded with a bit of misrepresentation regarding what Tony Blair actually said.

A CONTEST ON FUN-BUT-DEADLY HARDWARE, over at DefenseTech.

FANS OF ALCEE HASTINGS are spreading rumors about Jane Harman that don’t seem to be true. Tom Maguire is on the case, remarking: “let me offer a steaming mug of reality to the reality based community, from the NY Times, with helpful emphasis added.”

I’ll just note that, true or not, the Democrats don’t seem to have waited long before descending into circular-firing-squad mode.

UPDATE: Plus, Ann Coulter acquires the power to bend space and time, and incidentally to turn lefty bloggers into Emily Litella. Well, it’s not the first time that’s happened.

SOME THOUGHTS ON DIGITAL CAMERAS AND VIDEO, from Andrew Marcus, who headed up the Pajamas Media election coverage:

I tested a handful of cameras in the run-up to the production, and in the end I recommended we go with the Canon because of several key factors, most importantly, they run on AA’s. The newer Sony’s have much improved focus and stability over the previous generation, however they seem to be migrating most of these cameras to Lithium-Ion rechargeable. Many people probably prefer it that way, but for capturing news events like this, I never want to be further away from a recharge than the nearest Walgreens, 7/11, or hotel gift shop.

The fold out monitor was another huge plus. The ability to shoot over head, low angle, or turned on one’s self, marks a vast improvement in the quality that can be achieved in this class of camera.

Lastly, this Canon takes a wide angle adapter! I found that it seems to take the f-stop down a notch. The camera didn’t reflect that, but the footage did. The funny thing is that the wide angle is twice the size of the camera itself.

The best part is that almost nobody is intimidated by it (even with the wide angle on), so their guard doesn’t go up. That almost always leads to more relaxed and revealing coverage/interviews.

I’ve noticed myself that people are far more open and natural than when confronted by a big camera with a big lens. And the folding screen is a real asset, I can see. And I very much agree about the AA batteries. That’s why I favor this small Sony. And here’s an old post with some general thoughts that may still be useful. And my Sony can take a wide angle conversion lens too, though you also have to get this adapter to make it work. I haven’t tried it, but I’ve often wished that my digital pocket cameras had wider-angle coverage — though to do so, it’s pretty much necessary to make them no longer pocketable. It’s those damn laws of physics, again . . . .

Anyway, be sure to share any thoughts you have, for next week’s digital camera carnival.

UPDATE: I’d forgotten before, but here’s another post on blog-journalism tools. And note this post, too.

THE LONDON TIMES EDITORIALIZES: “A secular society that demands tolerance should also show tolerance.”