Rashomon in the desert  —  Dubai or not Dubai — that is the question.  Dubai's sorta-kinda default (a state-owned enterprise seeking a rescheduling of its debts) is, by itself, not that big of a deal.  But who else looks like Dubai?  What kind of omen is this for the next stage in the financial crisis?

Kill the Bills.  Do Health Reform Right.  —  The United States has the best health care in the world — but because of its inefficiencies, also the most expensive.  The fundamental problem with the 2,074-page Senate health-care bill (as with its 2,014-page House counterpart) …

­An open letter to graduate students and young scientists in fields related to climate research from Dr. Judith Curry regarding hacked CRU emails  —  I have known Dr. Judith Curry, Chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, for many years.

Tiger Woods taken to hospital in ‘serious’ condition after car accident  —  Professional golfer Tiger Woods was seriously injured in a car accident outside his Isleworth home early this morning.  —  View Tiger Woods involved in car accident in a larger map (ORLANDO SENTINEL / November 27, 2009)

Taxing the Speculators  —  Should we use taxes to deter financial speculation?  Yes, say top British officials, who oversee the City of London, one of the world's two great banking centers.  Other European governments agree — and they're right.  —  Unfortunately, United States officials …

Top 20 Unfortunate Lessons Girls Learn From ‘Twilight’  —  From a male point of view, the only redeeming feature of the Twilight books and movies is the ammunition they provide against female claims of innate moral superiority over men.  —  Whenever a woman criticizes a man's lust, aggression …

Sen. Jeff Sessions challenges double standard on judicial filibuster  —  Legal scholars have long debated whether the filibuster may be used to keep judicial nominees off the bench.  For practical purposes, that question was answered on May 23, 2005.  That night, while forging a settlement …

Charges Possible in Gate-Crashing Incident  —  WASHINGTON — The Secret Service wants to interview everyone connected with an incident in which a couple snuck into a state dinner at the White House earlier this week, including the gate-crashers themselves, and has not ruled out criminal charges, a spokesman for the agency said Friday.

Mental State Cited in 9/11 Case  —  WASHINGTON — When five defendants are brought before a New York federal judge to face charges for the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the first question may be whether some of them are competent to stand trial at all.  —  Military lawyers for Ramzi Binalshibh …

U.S. journalist grilled at Canada border crossing  —  Officials demanded to know what she would say publicly about 2010 Olympics  —  U.S. journalist Amy Goodman said she was stopped at a Canadian border crossing south of Vancouver on Wednesday and questioned for 90 minutes by authorities concerned …

Justice Dept. Says Acorn Can Be Paid  —  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has concluded that the Obama administration can lawfully pay the community group Acorn for services provided under contracts signed before Congress enacted a law banning the government from providing funds to the group.

New group tries to convince Cheney to run in 2012  —  Washington (CNN) - A new group wants former Vice President Dick Cheney back in the White House.  —  The organization - “Draft Dick Cheney 2012” - launched on Friday, and unveiled their new Web site.  Their aim: To convince …

Voter Anger Is Building Over Deficits  —  After engineering an unprecedented spending surge for nearly a year, President Barack Obama now wants to signal that he takes deficits seriously.  So this week the White House announced that it is considering creating a commission to figure how to fix the budget mess.

Vincent Gray on Climategate: ‘There Was Proof of Fraud All Along’ (PJM Exclusive)  —  IPCC Expert Reviewer Gray — whose 1,898 comments critical of the 2007 report were ignored — recently found that proof of the fraud was public for years.  —  Nothing about the revelations surprises me.

Polanski's Release From Prison  —  The decision to free Roman Polanski is a wise decision.  It honors the people who took it.  It shows that the arguments developed by the movie director's partisans — including those published on the French review's website of La Règle du Jeu — have finally been fruitful.

Prosecuting American ‘War Crimes’  —  The International Criminal Court claims jurisdiction over U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The Hague  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed “great regret” in August that the U.S. is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

How to Forge a Consensus  —  The impression left by the Climategate emails is that the global warming game has been rigged from the start.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  The climatologists at the center of last week's leaked-email and document scandal have taken the line that it is all much ado about nothing.