Stuff from my desktop Nov. 28, 2007

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft was lambasted over fictional allegations that he ordered a semi-nude statue to be covered with blue draperies during televised Justice Department briefings, but check this out: a prominent photo of a male nude was conspicuously missing from the home of Tony Podesta, brother of former Clinton chief-of-staff John Podesta, when he recently hosted a Hillary Clinton fundraiser.  Hmmmmmmm...

Austin, which is easily the most left-leaning metropolitan area in Texas, has given Air America the boot, in favor of Spanish-language programming.

The Washington Post reports, Returnees Find a Capitol Transformed:

BAGHDAD, Nov. 22 -- Iraqis are returning to their homeland by the hundreds each day, by bus, car and plane, encouraged by weeks of decreased violence and increased security, or compelled by visa and residency restrictions in neighboring countries and the depletion of their savings.

Brian DePalma's new fictional anti-military movie Redacted has been redacted by the movie-going public; it grossed only $25, 628 in its opening weekend.

Washington, DC has the highest AIDS infection rate among US cities.  Another triumph for a Democrat-dominated city government.

Older wealthy white women from Europe are enjoying "sex tourism" by hooking up with young African men on Kenya's beaches.

Another prominent conservative, Robert Novak, has accused Mike Huckabee of being a "false conservative."  In related news, blogger Joe Carter from the Evangelical Outpost has taken a leave of absence from the Family Research Council in order to join the Huckabee campaign.  I guess they made him a better offer than Fred Thompson's people.

The New York Times reports that the death penalty saves lives, with 3 to 18 additional murders prevented with each inmate put to death.  This is interesting, particularly since capital murderers often commit more murders while in prison.

A group of Afghani and Iraqi terrorists paid Mexican drug lords $20,000 each to be smuggled across poorly-guarded portions of the US-Mexico border.  Their target was Fort Huachuca, the nation's largest intelligence-training center, which is located in Arizona about 20 miles from the US-Mexico border.  The plot was foiled, and a number of the operatives have been detained.

GAP Adventures offers its wealthy customers expeditions to the South Pole in a specially-built cruise ship.  These eco-cruises allow passengers to supposedly observe the "melting" of the polar ice cap.  Bruce Poon-Tip, the CEO of GAP Adventures, is a big fan of Al Gore.  He recently announced, "“I expressed my admiration for Mr. Gore's commitment and leadership which spans more than 20 years.  I also invited him aboard our legendary polar expedition ship, the MS Explorer to visit the Arctic.”  Last week, the MS Explorer struck heavy ice and sank, leaving an enormous "carbon footprint" of debris and heavy fuel oil under the South Pole.  All passengers and crew were rescued.