Why We Won’t Invade North Korea. A clear, concise, easy-to-understand analysis. (Link via Megan McArdle

The first Israeli astronaut will carry this drawing by a boy who died in the Holocaust into space with him. The moon landscape depicted in Petr Ginz’s drawing attests to his aspiration to reach a place from where the earth, which threatened his life, could be seen from a secure range.

I missed this post on coming up with names for groups of people a while back. My favorite is "A categorizing by species is artificial, and degrading to the uniqueness and authenticity of each individual, and therefore this entire excercise is empty and moot of deconstructionists."

Now this is just cool.

New York unveiling new WTC proposals. I don't know, none of them really grab me. I think they're all a bit too modern for my taste. And where are the memorials?

I put up a hit counter on the site a little while ago and I seem to be doing much better than I thought. I don't think I could quite get up to where I am thanks only to my sister and my parents. So thanks to all of you that aren't obligated to read this for checking out what I have to say. I'm taking my last final in half an hour (what, I should be studying you say? Nah.) so I should have more time to waste on this little project over winter break. Hope you all keep coming back. It's great to have you here.

Check out how popular your name is, compliments of the Social Security Agency. Apparently Hanah and Dahlia aren't in the top 1,000, while Hannah seems to have peaked from 1992-1994. Though, personally, I think originality in baby names is a good thing. Props to my parents for their imagination.

(Link via The Agitator)

I know you've all been wondering what happened to Al, Tim Allen's sidekick on Home Imporvement. No? Well, honestly, neither was I, until I came home one day and my roommate was watching Family Feud. He's the new host and the show is definitely more addictive than I remember. Just what I need to distract me during finals time.

Geologists discover worlds oldest rocks

The Kitchen Cabinet is reporting that U.S. currency will be getting colorful next year. I'd link to the actual article, but it requires registration and I'm too lazy for that right now.

FOUND magazine. Fascinating. My favorite are the notes. I could look at them all day. Must remember to try and find a hard copy the next time I'm in Boston. (Link via The Agitator)

Jesus doesn't want you to drive an SUV.

Jesus doesn't want you to drive an SUV.

Radley Balko is postulating on the attraction of women to Sam Waterston. I'm not quite sure what it is either, but it's definately there. I've been watching the show on and off since junior year of high school and even back then my friends and I agreed it was all about Waterston.

Best sun picture ever.

Student rally supporting war with Iraq. Wow. That's nice to see. Feels like I should be doing more here. (Link via David Hogberg via Instapundit)

So there's a teach-in against the war on Iraq tonight and fliers have been showing up on the dining hall tables titled '9 Reasons Why the US should NOT Go to WAR with IRAQ'. First of all, love the liberal use of capitalization rules. But let's get to the actual reasons.

1. An attack would be against International Law.
Um. How, exactly? The UN has passed a resolution calling on Iraq to allow weapons inspectors in or face military consequences. Is it violating internationial law to enforce international reglations?

2. Going to war without justification would only lead to more terrorist attacks against the United States.
First, we do have justification. Second, sitting back and doing nothing is exactly what will stop terrorist attacks. I'm sure of it.

3. Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter has stated that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that the US had no right to go to war.
I didn't pay to much attentiont to this at the time, but I remember a while back reading something (specifically at Instapundit and Live from the WTC) about Ritter doing a complete about-face and his position on this not being too trustworthy. More information would be appreciated.

4. Iraq has never used chemical or biological weapons when it was an enemy of the US, only when it was our ally. The massive military capabilities of the US haver served as a successful deterrent.
Didn't Iraq use chemical weapons during the Gulf War? We were allies with them during that?

5. Thousands of US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians would die.
Thousands of US and Israeli citizens will die if we do nothing. We cannot know how many civilians will die in this war. Far fewer died in Afghanistan that was predicted by anti-war folks then. I believe we can hope for the same in Iraq.

6. There is no evidence that Iraq supports terrorism.
Can't refute this one off the top of my head. Help, please?

7. Sanctions have already killed over 1 million people in Iraq since the end of the Gulf War. We cannot jusitfy any more deaths caused by US policy.
Sanctions have hurt the people because Saddam Hussein steals the food and money that is supposed to go to civilians to pay for his palaces and Republican Guard. By going to war with Iraq we can take Hussein out of power and allow for normal with relations Iraq once again which will make life better for all civilians. Just as we did in Afghanistan.

8. An attack on Iraq would disrupt the region, leading to a greater war with multiple nations involved.

9. We should concentrate on human needs and stop spending more than $400 billion on the military.
If we do not keep our nation and citizens safe we will not be able to help others. And wasn't it this massive military capability that was deterring Iraq in reason 4?

This was all done very quickly and off the top of my head. Comments, criticisms, etc. are greatly appreciated.

Woah! Megan McArdle has made a massive sight redesign. Still the same great posts, though.

The Onion | Marxists' Apartment A Microcosm Of Why Marxism Doesn't Work

CNN.com - Van owner 'confesses' to planting Bali bomb What are those quote marks for? Are they trying to say it wasn't a true confession? Or were they just unnecessarily excerpting one word from a longer quote?