The Bush administration's head-fake on Iraqi WMD has apparently inoculated the American public against a whole class of related afflictions, to the point that otherwise concerned adults determinedly schlep everyone to the mall, slogging through the day, repeating, as with a mantra, "must ... enjoy ... holidays ..." despite the news that al Qaeda is now deeply engaged in a persistent, high profile campaign to seize control of a substantial nuclear arsenal capable of inflicting unprecedented catastrophic damage on India, Israel, Iraq, and countless others across an already volatile region.

One can only hope that responsible government officials are doing the best they can, given the obvious resource constraints, to sift through the haystacks and connect the dots, before the timer expires. Meanwhile, a satiated public idles away the days in front of the television before exercising their democratic rights to select the first "World Idol."

Next week, a well-paid columnist will juxtapose the numbers for American voters in the "World Idol" competition with those of the 2000 Presidential campaign. In a few months, the numbers will reappear alongside those for the first few 2004 primaries.

The workers whose jobs are now threatened at IBM and similar companies across the US are well educated and absolute whizzes at processing information. But they are nevertheless in danger of following the well-trodden path of their factory brethren to lower-wage work, or the unemployment line.

It appears that Santa's image as a sacred icon of American popular culture and childhood lore is a bit shopworn.

One reason, say those who have observed the changing role of Santa in the culture, is that children, exposed to an overwhelming array of consumer goods and products, know at increasingly young ages that presents come not from the North Pole but from the mall or the FedEx guy.

Visibly shaken, General Musharraf appeared on national television Thursday night and blamed "terrorists and extremists" for the attack.

"This is a targeted action; I am the target," he said. "These blasts have given new strength to my resolve to eliminate terrorists and extremists from the country, and God willing, this mission will be accomplished."

Osama bin Laden has vowed to launch a "back-breaking attack" on the United States by February.

Will the coverage of the election reflect its seriousness? Toward that end, I hereby propose some rules for 2004 political reporting.

... Folks, we're talking about war, peace and the future of US democracy -- not about who takes whom to the prom.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf narrowly survived a second assassination bid in less than two weeks on Thursday when suicide car bombers attacked his motorcade, killing themselves and at least 12 others. At least 46 people were injured in the attack.

This six-part series is the product of six months of reporting, encompassing 130 interviews with accident investigators, scientists and NASA employees across the United States. Staff writer Robert Lee Hotz reviewed dozens of government reports and public hearing transcripts spanning the quarter-century of the space shuttle program. He met at length with members of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. Hotz covered the 1986 Challenger accident and has reported on other manned spaceflight issues for 20 years.

...

When the independent Columbia Accident Investigation Board arrived at the hangar, NASA had already arranged the wreckage to suit itself and launched its own forensic analysis.

The rivalry was immediate.

On occasion, board investigators and NASA experts found themselves in shouting matches over the best way to proceed.

It was implicitly an argument over how history would judge what happened.

"It's just dead here."

"The whole idea of bigger being better, I just don't think that's the case anymore."

The Mall of Memphis has succumbed to ferocious competition from spiffier malls and big discount stores like Wal-Mart and Target.

The mall's shops became "faddish," hustling "baggy pants one month, something else the next."

Neoconservatism has become the topic of the day.

But does neoconservatism really exist, and if so what is it?

What exactly is “new" in neoconservatism, and how does it differ from other strands of conservative thought in America?

And finally, what kind of political influence does neoconservatism wield today?