Medary.com

$1,200, at an Internet web site near you, the gift for the person who really does have everything.

The Wenger Giant Swiss Army Knife

Sadly, it's currently out of stock.

I downloaded the ISG report, and intend to read it in depth real soon now. But I suspect my reaction will be much like Mark Steyn's. And he's a much better writer than I am. So:

So there you have it: an Iraq "Support Group" that brings together the Arab League, the European Union, Iran, Russia, China and the U.N. And with support like that who needs lack of support? It worked in Darfur, where the international community reached unanimous agreement on the urgent need to rent a zeppelin to fly over the beleaguered region trailing a big banner emblazoned "YOU'RE SCREWED." For Dar4.1, they can just divert it to Baghdad.

Oh, but lest you think there are no minimum admission criteria to James Baker's "Support Group," relax, it's a very restricted membership: Arabs, Persians, Chinese commies, French obstructionists, Russian assassination squads. But no Jews. Even though Israel is the only country to be required to make specific concessions -- return the Golan Heights, etc. Indeed, insofar as this document has any novelty value, it's in the Frankenstein-meets-the-Wolfman sense of a boffo convergence of hit franchises: a Vietnam bug-out, but with the Jews as the designated fall guys. Wow. That's what Hollywood would call "high concept."

So, from what I've read, the solution to the Iraq problem is to hand Israel to the Palestinians. I guess there's a reason why I don't understand "foreign policy." I'm insufficiently nuanced to understand that surrender is victory.

Snookums and I have been on vacation.  Well, two vacations--to the Bahamas, then to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Bahamas weren't so bad, bug-wise, but St. Thomas had mosquitos.  And no-see-ums.  They took to Snookums immediately (must be the sweetness) but they took a while longer to find me.  But when they did, they certainly made up for lost time.  My right ankle has a ring of welts all the way around it.  And, they itch.

So, I read the article Giving in to the urge to scratch:  Researchers find not all itches created equal at Science Daily with some interest:

While there are extensive commonalties between allergen- and histamine-induced itch, perceptions about the intensity and the parts of the brain that are activated by allergens differ when compared to histamine. As a result, mothers who admonish their children to stop itching may now be rightly told "I can't." For mold and grass-related itches, it appears that science is on their side.

So far, I've avoided the urge to pop a couple of Benedryls.  So far.

Saudi Arabia says it'll intervene in Iraq if the U.S. pulls out:

(Saudi security advisor) Nawaf Obaid, writing in The Washington Post, said the Saudi leadership was preparing to revise its Iraq policy to deal with the aftermath of a possible U.S. pullout, and is considering options including flooding the oil market to crash prices and thus limit Iran's ability to finance Shi'ite militias in Iraq.

"To be sure, Saudi engagement in Iraq carries great risks -- it could spark a regional war. So be it: The consequences of inaction are far worse," Obaid said.

Too bad the majority of Americans didn't think through the results of your actions when we voted in the Surrender Party.

Thanksgiving is almost here, and that means that Christmas is right around the corner.

So what if the Democrats are in power (and, predictably, melting down almost instantly--thank you, Nancy Pelosi!).  So what if the Syrians keep assassinating Lebanese leaders?  So what if Iraq still isn't a civil war.

Hey, college basketball has started, which means the fall/winter college basketball travel season is in full force.

Life is good.

One of history's great voices for individual freedom and liberty is silenced.  Economist Milton Friedman just passed away.

OpinionJournal remembers:

For all of his academic accomplishments, Professor Friedman’s role as a popularizer of free-market principles was arguably more important. He wrote a column in Newsweek for 18 years starting in 1966, preaching the importance of economic freedom to a generation that had never heard such things in school. His 1980 book, "Free to Choose," was a best seller, and the videos that accompanied it were smuggled behind the Iron Curtain like seeds of revolution.

He was among the first to point to Hong Kong as a model of free-market success, a lesson that even today is remaking Communist China. And he first suggested educational vouchers to rescue failing public schools as long ago as 1955; in recent years, he established a foundation to support this idea that continues to advance despite ferocious opposition from unions and other entrenched interests.

I, along with a number of my siblings, have plantar fascitis, which is basically heal pain.

From Science Daily comes this report of a new stretch exercise which is reported to help:

The stretch requires patients to sit with one leg crossed over the other, and stretch the arch of the foot by taking one hand and pulling the toes back toward the shin for a count of 10. The exercise must be repeated 10 times, and performed at least three times a day, including before taking the first step in the morning and before standing after a prolonged period of sitting. More than 90 percent of the patients were totally satisfied or satisfied with minor reservations, and noted distinct decrease in pain and activity limitations. The most common cause of heel pain, plantar fasciitis occurs when the plantar fascia, the flat band of tissue that connects your heel bone to your toes, is strained, causing weakness, inflammation and irritation. Common in middle-aged people as well as younger people who are on their feet a lot, like athletes or soldiers, people with plantar fasciitis experience extreme pain when they stand or walk. Plantar fasciitis can be a frustrating experience, as the chronic cycle of reinjury and pain can last for up to one year. DiGiovanni likens it to pulling a hamstring, and continuing to run without proper stretching. "Walking without stretching those foot tissues is just re-injuring yourself," he said.

Yahoo News:
Poll:  Most doubt Dems have plan for Iraq

Though voters apparently embraced the Democratic mantra of changing course in Iraq, a majority of the public did not detect a clear Democratic blueprint for ending the war. Fifty-seven percent of all adults in the AP-Ipsos poll said Democrats do not have a plan for Iraq; 29 percent said they do. The poll of 1,002 adults has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

That finding strikes at the heart of a Democratic dilemma. The party has been of one voice in criticizing President Bush's strategy for the war but has been more equivocal on how to move in a different direction.

Welcome to reality, Democrats.  It's always easier to complain from the outside than it is to execute from the inside.

For the sake of our country, I hope you do the right thing.  History will be the final judge.

So indicates the head of the UK's MI5 intelligence service, according to Yahoo News:

LONDON - British authorities are tracking almost 30 terrorist plots involving 1,600 people, the country's domestic spy chief said in remarks released Friday, warning that young British Muslims are at risk of being radicalized by extremists.

It was the first public estimate of the threat by the head of MI5, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, who said her agency and police are monitoring 200 cells actively engaged in plotting or aiding attacks in Britain and abroad.

More than a year after the suicide attacks on London's transit system, Manningham-Buller predicted the fight against terrorism would last a generation.

"It is a sustained campaign, not a series of isolated incidents," she said in a speech to a small audience of academics Thursday, according to a transcript released by the spy agency on Friday. "Radicalizing elements within communities are trying to exploit grievances for terrorist purposes."

This war won't go away if we just talk to the terrorists.  They have made their demands perfectly clear.

Submit.

Or die.

Well, not quite. But the headline in this Space.com story reads:
Heineken to track beer by satellite

Do you know where your beer is? Dutch beer maker Heineken wants to make sure - so it has put together a team that includes IBM and the University of Amsterdam to track beer by satellite.

Beer Living Lab is a pilot project that will track 20 beer containers shipped from the Netherlands to Heineken's UK distribution centre. Each container will be outfitted with GSM, GPRS and global positioning systems. Satellite uplinks will be provided due to particular technical problems with RFID, which can only be read when the tag is close to a RFID reader.