Dem strategy is still two parts hackneyed sloganeering and one part befuddlement over the stifling of their message.

Maybe the Democratic establishment wants it so, maybe they don't know better, but progressive bloggers and activists are starting to see the bitter reality of their isolation: the triangle is broken and they're on their own until further notice.

Good article on the utter lack of Democrat strategy.

The Blog | Peter Daou: THE (Broken) TRIANGLE: Progressive Bloggers in the Wilderness | The Huffington Post

We are scholars of constitutional law and former government officials. We write in our individual capacities as citizens concerned by the Bush administration's National Security Agency domestic spying program, as reported in The New York Times, and in particular to respond to the Justice Department's December 22, 2005, letter to the majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees setting forth the administration's defense of the program.

Very complete and well reasoned.

On [Domestic] NSA Spying: A Letter To Congress

American Marines are a proud, tough bunch. They expect to be sent into the most dangerous battles and expect enemy fighters to come at them with everything they have. But they also expect, and have every right to expect, the Pentagon to provide them with the most effective armor available to maximize their chances of staying alive and in one piece

regardless of your view of the war this should be regarded as a scandal. Rumsfeld and his delusions about how the war and the military should be run have a lot to answer for.

Marines without armor - Editorials & Commentary - International Herald Tribune

If it takes a while to clear the cobwebs after waking up, that's understandable -- "sleep inertia" leaves some people so groggy they might as well be drunk, researchers said on Tuesday.

"For a short period, at least, the effects of sleep inertia may be as bad as or worse than being legally drunk," said researcher Kenneth Wright of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Interesting.

[ They should've just asked me... I'd have told them straight up that I feel essentially drunk when I wake up. Shit, I consider myself lucky if I don't bash into something on my way to the shower. -k]

Study: Waking up like being drunk

[ Some MacIntel lovin from PA. -k]

Penny Arcade! - Oh My Dear Sweet Lord

As you can see in News Picks, there is big patent news today. For a long time, we've been complaining about the patent system, particularly as it affects FOSS. It turns out, someone listened. The New York Times' John Markoff has the story, as does Martin LaMonica. Here's Andy Updegrove's take and ComputerWorld.

One might suspect that the success of Groklaw had no small part
in this coming about.

3 Initiatives to Improve the Patent Mess Announced

New Apple goodies today, y'all!

Apple

Oh, it's so hard to be young these days! Just crack open Generation Debt: Why Now Is a Terrible Time To Be Young, by Anya Kamenetz, or Strapped: Why America's 20-and-30-Somethings Can't Get Ahead, by Tamara Draut, and you're plunged into a world of darkness and sorrow.

This is, with apologies to the Broadway musical Avenue Q, the "It Sucks To Be Me" Generation. To hear these authors tell it, college graduates (and twentysomethings who haven't gone to college) are in a world of hurt. The deck is stacked against them: student loans and credit-card debt, budget deficits and McJobs, high housing prices and generational warfare waged by more-numerous baby-boomers.

The It-Sucks-To-Be-Me Generation - Twentysomethings who can't stop whining about how the economy is screwing them. By Daniel Gross

A mother in New York is suing an Applebee's restaurant after her 5-year-old son was allegedly served a Long Island Iced Tea instead of apple juice.

Cynthia Pereles said she took her son Seth to dinner at the franchised restaurant in Battery Park City and ordered him an apple juice.

Pereles said she did not realize her son was drinking a concoction of white rum, gin, vodka, triple sec, Coke and sweet-and-sour mix until it was too late. The boy's eyes became glazed and he began to laugh uncontrollably, according to a report.

Hm. Well, I'm not saying I don't believe it, but, wow.

local6.com - News - Mom Sues After 5-Year-Old Allegedly Served Long Island Iced Tea

How well do the services work? The Chicago Sun-Times paid $110 to Locatecell.com to purchase a one-month record of calls for this reporter's company cell phone. It was as simple as e-mailing the telephone number to the service along with a credit card number. The request was made Friday after the service was closed for the New Year's holiday.

On Tuesday, when it reopened, Locatecell.com e-mailed a list of 78 telephone numbers this reporter called on his cell phone between Nov. 19 and Dec. 17. The list included calls to law enforcement sources, story subjects and other Sun-Times reporters and editors.

Um, wow. If this is all it seems to be, I want to set some people on fire...

Your phone records are for sale