The Morning Blog

Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe and all around fun guy, has threatened retaliation against Western countries imposing sanctions. He's planning to seize businesses owned by American and British interests. First of all, this is tantamount to a child threatening to hold his breath until he gets his way. Second of all, what companies made the insane decision to invest in Zimbabwe? I can't imagine that any of them weren't aware that nationalizing private businesses is just what Mugabe does. It's a hobby with him, sort of like bird watching.

This looks really suspect. It also looks like it'd make a great made-for-tv movie. A US aid worker has been imprisoned on charges of kidnapping an infant in Haiti. The child appears to have died at the hospital where the aid worker was active, there's a death certificate supporting this. However, the father insists that the certificate is false and that the aid worker has spirited his child off somewhere. Other than the fathers says-so, there appears to be no evidence supporting the allegations.

This is quite an ethical quandary: Given that there is no effective treatment for Alzheimer's and that diagnostic tools are imperfect, should doctors tell patients if they're at a higher risk for it or showing symptoms of early onset? On the one hand, it can give people the opportunity to make sure that they and their families are as prepared as possible for the onset of the disease. On the other, it's devastating news to give someone, particularly if the available diagnostics are not 100% accurate. My feeling is that doctors should feel obligated to tell patients what the patients request and explain how accurate or inaccurate the testing procedure is. People can and should make their own decisions about what information they need. Still though...I can't imagine looking down the barrel of oncoming mindlessness. I can't imagine any more terrifying knowledge.

Pretty interesting view of Spanish ghost towns that sprang up as a result of their housing bubble. Unfortunately, I get the sense that the market value for property in Spain still has a long way to go before it hits bottom. A lot of the vacant properties owned by banks haven't even been put up for sale yet for fear of flooding the market.

Wow. I knew the Broncos were having a tough season but... Yikes! The stuff going on off the field is pretty bad to say the least. Suicide, sexual assault, drunk driving...What the hell is going on with Denver?

Oh my...A recent EU summit featured a "tweet wall" upon which twitter comments would be displayed. Unfortunately, they forgot to moderate it. And unfortunately, the Italians found out about it. They had less than kind things to say about famed belly-dancing enthusiast, Silvio Berlusconi:

"We had the tweet-wall up for two hours in the main hall, but it wasn't moderated and a lot of the tweets were ... well, very, very frank," Dana Manescu, the council press team official who organised the wall, said.

"The point was not to show insulting messages about Berlusconi. If anyone from the Italian delegation saw it, it would hurt their sensibility."

Looks as though bribery charges brought against American Shadow Emperor, Dick Cheney have been dropped by Nigeria. Notably, though charges were formally abandoned, Halliburton was required to pay fines totaling up to $250 million.

The pastoral life of a Scottish reindeer herder. Fun fact: Reindeer are apparently so well insulated against the cold that snow doesn't even melt when they lie upon it.

The Guardian features a nice, brief and personal history of anarchism. I have a lingering fondness for anarchists. How couldn't I? I'm a libertarian, basically an anarchist with a wallet and a respect for laws protecting the individual. But I do have to say, having read Emma Goldman's books, I find her to be quite possibly, the most joyless, self-righteous twat to ever put pen to paper. So any anarchists out there reading: If you're going to have your revolution, would you kindly make it a fun one?

The good...the bad... the last 24 hours... 

Sad news: The DREAM Act has failed in the Senate. This bill would have extended a path to legal citizenship to children that were brought to the US illegally when they were too young to make a decision about it. In order to get citizenship, it would have required them to finish high school, stay out of trouble with the law and enroll in either college or join the military. Doesn't that sound precisely like the sort of immigrant we want? Is there any good reason to deport someone that's lived here since they were five and have no relationship with their so-called home country? It's just a crying shame.

After that depressing note, I think this is a nice way to end things: The atheist Christmas show!