The ongoing disgrace of NBC News and Brian Williams  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  The New York Times's David Barstow, whose excellent and aggressive journalism led to the uncovering last April of the Pentagon's domestic propaganda program involving network “military analysts,” …

Taj Mahal hotel owner: We had warning  —  Watch the full interview with Ratan Tata on “Fareed Zakaria GPS” at 1 p.m. ET Sunday on CNN.  —  The Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, India, temporarily increased security after being warned of a possible terrorist attack, the chairman of the company that owns the hotel said Saturday.

Top Officers Hopeful That Obama Will Bring More Realistic View Than Bush  —  Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, went unarmed into his first meeting with the new commander in chief — no aides, no PowerPoint presentation, no briefing books.

Clinton, Obama seal the deal  —  It's finally official: President-elect Obama will appear with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in Chicago on Monday as he names her secretary of state, a remarkable reunion of once-bitter rivals.  —  The news conference at a Chicago hotel is scheduled to begin at 10:40 a.m. Eastern.

Acorn Watchers Wonder What Happened to Crop  —  The idea seemed too crazy to Rod Simmons, a measured, careful field botanist.  Naturalists in Arlington County couldn't find any acorns.  None.  No hickory nuts, either.  Then he went out to look for himself.  He came up with nothing.

Same Old New Deal?  —  Early in what became the Great Depression, John Maynard Keynes was asked if anything similar had ever happened.  “Yes,” he replied, “it was called the Dark Ages, and it lasted 400 years.”  It did take 25 years, until November 1954, for the Dow to return to the peak it reached in September 1929.

THE SHAGGED SHEEP  —  This is a long piece but it does have underage sex and bestiality in it.  So enjoy!  —  The other day I had an e-mail from M J Murphy, who blogs as Big City Lib, saying only this: … There followed a link to a post called Steyn Gets Punked By 28-Year Old Literary Hoax:

Deeply, Truly (but Not Physically) in Love  —  I COULD chalk it up to getting older, the fact that sex interests me these days about as much as playing checkers.  But the fact is I've never much liked sex, even though it has, on occasion, captivated me.  Says my proverbial therapist: “Sex threatens you, Lauren.

The GOP's McCarthy gene  —  Think Goldwater is the father of conservatism?  Think again.  —  Ever since the election, partisans within the Republican Party and observers outside it have been speculating wildly about what direction the GOP will take to revive itself from its disaster.

GOP Looks to Young Louisiana Gov. Jindal as Its Own Version of Obama  —  Jindal May Prove To be Republicans' Version of Obama  —  CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Last weekend, 18 days after Barack Obama decisively defeated their candidate for president, a mostly Republican crowd of self-described …

Doctors shocked at hostages's torture  —  They said that just one look at the bodies of the dead hostages as well as terrorists showed it was a battle of attrition that was fought over three days at the Oberoi and the Taj hotels in Mumbai.  —  Doctors working in a hospital where all the bodies …

He's Not Black  —  He is also half white.  —  Unless the one-drop rule still applies, our president-elect is not black.  —  We call him that — he calls himself that — because we use dated language and logic.  After more than 300 years and much difficult history, we hew to the old racist rule: Part-black is all black.

Never Let Them See You Sweat  —  The economy jolts and stumbles, wars slog on in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the horrors of a new terrorist attack blanket the news and draw frayed attention yet again to our precarious alliances in the world.  The watchword for the holidays is subdued; certainly not much inspires celebration.