A hard landing for a chopper, and a suicide bomb in Kabul are part of the weekly grist for the mill, but there is more important news from Afghanistan: Reuters reports that Seabees are headed in theater.

University of Texas professor Ami Pedahzur has a new book coming out next month on the Israeli secret services and has some provocative things to say about Israel’s war in Gaza.

I see the wingnuts, led by the Anchor Baby, have rediscovered the US Flag Code.

As Barack Obama spoke of hope in Wilmington at a park honoring Harriet Tubman and abolitionist Thomas Garrett, some Republicans were still chasing shadows along freedom’s trail.

Hilarious smackdown of Friedman’s new book by Matt Taibbi in the nypress: “How Green Was My Mustache”

A way out of Gaza

Dennis Zaki hasn’t made it to Bethel yet, let alone Emmonak. He is stuck at what he calls the “Jay Hammond International Airport.” That’s what a lot of us have begun calling the Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin looked really, really, REALLY pissed Friday, when having to answer a couple of questions at her long-delayed energy plan rollout in Anchorage.

WJ: Arianna Huffington. ABC: David Axelrod. CNN: Obama interview. Fox: Nancy Pelosi. NBC: Rahm Emanuel.

Prest-O Change-O, a 1939 Warner Bros Merrie Melodies cartoon staring a prototype Bugs Bunny.  Directed by Charles M. Jones.  Produced by Leon Schlesinger.  Animation by Ken Harris.  Written by Rich Hogan.

What’s on your mind tonight?

You’d think the Dead, with their long history of counterculture activities might not make it past the acid test of security checks needed to play the Mid-Atlantic States Inaugural Ball on Tuesday.
Band member Mickey Hart told Rolling Stone:

Oh, yeah, we don’t look so bad on paper. It’s not as bad as you might think.

Plus, it was a request from the top. Hart says:

[Barack Obama] picked us specifically, so it was quite an honor. There was a short list and we made the cut.