Welcome to The Now

From the WashPost : CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Evel Knievel, the red-white-and-blue-spangled motorcycle daredevil whose jumps over crazy obstacles including Greyhound buses, live sharks and Idaho's Snake River Canyon made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69. Knievel's death was confirmed by his granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs.

But daveawayfromhome peeked my interest with the glassbooth test . After taking it, it seems like my candidate(s) would be a tossup between John Edwards and Barack Obama . But for the record, I haven't made my choice yet.

Glenn Greenwald on Joe Klein's lazy lies and Time Magazine's stupidity . Oliver Willis on the stupidity of Michael Steele (will this guy ever go away?). Crooks and Liars on the stupidity of John McCain . Daily Kos diarist Leaves on the Current explains why the GOP debate last night destroyed the Constitution . I get the feeling that jurassicpork isn't convinced that Musharraf's stepping down means anything significant.

Last night's GOP debate got nasty . Downtown DC is raking in the cash (weren't they just involved in a major scandal ?). Or maybe it's related to the fact that 23 DC schools may be closing ... Poisoned toys make video games more palatable . The increasing danger of lung disease (particularly for women). Police in Florida believe Sean Taylor's death was due to a " botched burglary ."

This is scary: "The Singing Senators;" a foursome of lyrical legislators comprised of (former) Sen. Trent Lott, Larry Craig, Jim Jeffords and John Ashcroft. Despite Lott's barely-subtle bigotry, he has a decent voice. And that's probably the only compliment I've ever give the guy.

I don't know about that, but in light of Sean Taylor's death, the pattern is certainly disturbing .

I mentioned before that the Bush Administration is hoping that by finally getting off their ass and being diplomatic will score major legacy points. Did anyone from the conference ask what the people in question (namely Israelis and Arabs) think? Well, someone asked some Arabs about this, and : BEIRUT, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Arab commentators on Wednesday dismissed the relaunch of Israeli-Palestinian talks as a U.S.-staged media event unlikely to lead to Middle East peace. Some argued that U.S. President George W. Bush's real aim in convening Tuesday's conference in Annapolis, Maryland, was to rescue his image after failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, or to persuade Arab states their deadliest foe was Iran, not Israel. "The failure of Annapolis is now clear. (President Mahmoud) Abbas will return to Palestine without anything," said Essam el-Erian, a senior leader in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. "The conference was designed for public relations and the participants...

They go to Kenya for sex tours. I'm not kidding .

When Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton first went at each other for the New York Senate seat, the battle tactics were defined: Mr. Giuliani was going to portray Mrs. Clinton as inauthentic, inexperienced, a liberal champion of big government and a carpetbagger, his advisers said in interviews. Mrs. Clinton was going to paint Mr. Giuliani as divisive and undignified, temperamentally unsuited for the Senate, and profoundly uninterested in national and international affairs, her advisers said. Well, Clinton's authenticity is definitely up for debate , but her experience really isn't (she's come a long way from heading the health care reform as First Lady). The "liberal champion of big government" is a misleading term because it implies that Hillary has the base behind her ( not true ) and that all liberals favor big government (also not true). And yes, she moved to New York in order to run for the Senate, but she isn't the first politician to do so, and where doe...

Musharaff finally takes off his uniform . The NFL is set to honor Sean Taylor. A race car driver wins "Dancing With the Stars." "The formula that doctors use to calculate a woman's risk of breast cancer underestimates the danger for black women most of the time and especially for those age 50 and older -- the age when they are most likely to benefit from screening tests and protective drugs, according to the first major reassessment of the widely used tool." The question isn't " will Republicans get a question about D.C. voting rights ?" but rather "do Republicans get a damn about D.C. voting rights?" It only took seven years, but the Bush Administration starts to focus on the peace side of diplomacy . What kind of monster would steal from the Salvation Army ? Can LeBron James avert the Bostocalypse ?