A few articles stand out from the WaPo. Figments of the Imagination? is about a new disease (Morgellon's) that may or may not exist. If my wife reads this, it will be the end of days. Also, Inconspicuous Consumption details just how bizarre the culture of US consumerism has become. Lastly, Soldier of Faith details the tension between the role of `chaplain' in a multi-faith environment and the traditional role of a cleric in Islam which is heightened when the would-be-chaplain in question is both a Muslim and a woman.

The last of these has a very peculiar exchange that, perhaps, reflects everything that is wrong with the present incarnation of the US armed services.

Barely a month after her 18th birthday, she enlisted, then matter-of-factly told her surprised parents.

Her father's response was curt: ``Can you kill someone?''

Shareda did not reply but his pointed question hit home. ``I thought, `I have to kill somebody? That's not what the recruiter told me,''' she remembers thinking. ``He never told me that I'd be learning to fight and kill.''

That's far worse than the anecdote I heard about a mild-mannered cousin of mine visiting a recruiter. She asked him if she would be yelled at during basic training. The recruiter said that the drill sergeant may, in fact, raise his voice from time to time. I'm not so certain which is worse, the delusion of these young women talking to recruiters or the dishonesty of the recruiters in not giving the whole story.

John Kerry points out that the GOP is know to attack Democratic candidates even before it is clear who will get the Dem nomination. (Please forgive me for linking to dKos.) I thought this bit of historical perspective in light of allegations that some of the smear campaigns against Barrack Obama may have a Republican origin. Some discount such a theory because it would seem that the GOP doesn't yet have a dog in the fight.

A bit dated, but there looks like good advances in treatment of a variety of conditions with non-embryonic stem cells. If this made the mass media back in October, I must have missed it. And for good reason. In October, I was valiantly struggling with Xenophon. And failing.

And that is all.