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.

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,” …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 Mumbai policemen who refused to shoot  —  Photographer Sebastian D'Souza, who was able to take a photo of one of the armed terrorists in the train station in Mumbai, also described the events he witnessed there.  One puzzling—not to mention profoundly troubling—aspect of his report was the following [emphasis mine]:

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.

Kristol's Next War  —  In addition to being a booster of the two actual wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Bill Kristol and/or his publication has, at one time or another, also called for the United States to go to war with North Korea, Syria, Iran, and Sudan.  And now he's got another war he's like to start:

Report: President Warns China's Economic Edge Is Weakening  —  Chinese President Hu Jintao warned at a weekend meeting of the Communist Party's elite Politburo that China is losing its competitive edge as international demand for its products is reduced, according to official state media reports Sunday.

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 …

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.

I'm Still Tortured by What I Saw in Iraq  —  I should have felt triumphant when I returned from Iraq in August 2006.  Instead, I was worried and exhausted.  My team of interrogators had successfully hunted down one of the most notorious mass murderers of our generation, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi …

Laura Bush says she'll mostly ‘miss the people’  —  First lady jokingly refers to her post-White House years as ‘the afterlife’  —  WASHINGTON - Laura Bush soon will no longer live in the country's most famous mansion or be able to get away to the coveted Camp David presidential retreat.

The Bentsen precedent  —  Along with getting emoluments out of the way, Lloyd Bentsen offers a useful guide on another timely question: When will Hillary resign?  —  Her staff isn't saying, but Bentsen is the most recent sitting senator to join the Cabinet, and a likely guide.