Atrios, among others, feels “that Bush’s little trip is, on balance, a “good thing.” I mean, it’s better than him not doing it.” Count me as one who disagrees. The transparency of the PR ploy is contemptible, With any luck it will inspire the same disdain as the “Mission Accomplished” stunt. Atrios knows it too:

But, what’s with the press acting like… Bush grabbed a machine gun and personally stormed a building filled with armed insurgents?

He didn’t meet with any locals. He didn’t meet with the governing council. He flew into a heavily fortified military base and then flew out again.

Closer to Truth?: “The two sides argue fiercely about the efficacy and dangers of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Three of the guests can see both sides of the issue to various degrees. Only retired physician Wallace Sampson, Editor in Chief, Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine sees the field in black and white: “Delusion is delusion and what we’re talking about with alternative medicine, naturopathy in particular is self-delusion.”” —PBS

Why mobile phones may hurt backs: “Scientists at Australia’s University of Queensland say it’s all down to the way we breathe.

They say the human body is designed to exhale when our feet touch the ground. This helps to protect the spine from sudden jolts.

However, talking and walking at the same time disrupts this breathing pattern, leaving the spine exposed.” —BBC

Secret resignation letters of fed-up Bush officials: “In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’m sending you a succulent slice from [my new book, Fanatics, Fools and Alpha Males, which will be published in March by Miramax Books] (you’ll have to provide your own stuffing). It’s a collection of resignation letters written by disaffected members of the Bush administration who so disagreed with administration policies that they preferred the uncertainty of the unemployment line to toeing the party line.

I’ve also taken the liberty of including excerpts from what I imagine the first drafts of these letters might have looked like.” —Arianna Huffington, Salon