It's A Nice Day in the Neighborhood

I've been trying to arrange my blog shortcuts. Many of the shortcuts, particularly of the right-wing sort, I hadn't accessed since those happy, carefree, kiteflying days before Dubya's Iraqi WMD ruse was revealed. It's nice checking out everyone else's work. Here are some interesting things:

From Amy Sullivan at the Washington Monthly, now that the election is past and the enemies of liberty have been routed (i.e., Democrats), the terror level in the financial district of New York and Washington can be safely relaxed:

The Department of Homeland Security lowered the terrorist threat level yesterday for five financial institution headquarters in Washington, New York and New Jersey, and U.S. Capitol Police began removing 14 vehicle checkpoints around the Capitol that had frustrated motorists and neighborhood residents since August.

The government dropped the threat index for the financial buildings from orange, or "high risk," to yellow, or "elevated risk," because security measures taken there in the past three months and tightened security in the financial sector nationwide eliminated the need for the higher alert designation, said James M. Loy, deputy secretary of homeland security.

Jim Dedman waxes nostalgic about The Prisoner. I loved the series too. Here's the comment I posted on his web log:

I believe it was the summer of 1966 or '67, when I was a kid. My carefree summer play came to a stop once a week, to watch the latest eyepopping installment of "The Prisoner." No better series has ever been aired on TV! And yes, the last episode is really too confusing to be satisfactory. The soul of the series is the fact that the nightmare DOESN'T end, and forcing it to an end just didn't work well.

From Rantburg, a Romanian judge's objections to slander fell on deaf ears.

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - A Romanian judge on Wednesday resigned after being accused of starring in an X-rated video, officials said.

Simona Lungu, 36, a judge at the Bucharest Tribunal, was investigated by judicial authorities over allegations that she acted in an adult video that was sold in Denmark.

Lungu denied it was her in the movie and asked the Forensic Institute, a state crime lab, to help her clear her name by taking photos of her and comparing them to the video.

Instead, the institute concluded it was her in the video.

From Across the River, something I hope isn't a harbinger of the future, a Creationist Science Fair.

From Patriot Paradox, sound political advice from the muck-gathering peasants of Monty Python's Holy Grail:

Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

plus a well-considered warning of danger in cuddly packets (Girlie-girl 'Cloudy', my own bunny, can make this belligerent guy run away in an instant!)