More Odds and Ends

You know who I miss? Jon Stewart. Sigh. Anyway, here's the news...

Of Bernie Kerik's sins, one of the most disgusting was his taxpayer-funded love nest. It turns out that he and Rudy Giuliani have one more thing in common. Is this the scandal that begins his implosion? Color me skeptical there.

GOP authoritarianism watch, take 2,363: "Voters planning to vote in Virginia's Republican presidential primary will be required to sign an oath swearing their Republican loyalty." Loyalty oaths are, of course, nothing new for these modern Bush Republicans.

Safety tip for those in Muslim countries... don't name a teddy bear 'Muhammad'. It pisses them off!

A day or so after Pakistani prez Musharraf quit as army chief (becoming merely a militaristic civilian dictator instead of a military dictator), he also "promised Thursday to lift Pakistan's state of emergency on December 16." And TruthDig looks at the lackluster alternatives.

Speaking of crazy people, some conservatives worked themselves into a frenzy over a story via The Washington Times and Fox News about terrorists working with Mexican drug smugglers to blow up an Arizona army base! Like most of these stories, it turns out to have been bunk.

Paul Krugman continues to shake his head at the Social Security crisis-mongers.

Finally, as Bill O'Reilly releases his new book for kids, Tom Tomorrow sums him up.