Harry Shearer: "Signed in Blood"--Tony Blair's Deal With Bush
Now we're getting somewhere, and it's only day three of Britain's inquiry into the origins of the Iraq war, a quaint little enterprise to strip away years of political folklore.  Britain's ambassador during the period leading up to the invasion places the date when Tony Blair signed up for the war project as a meeting at Bush's Crawford ranch in April 2002, almost a year in advance of the debut of "shock and awe", a time when we were still being reassured that war was not inevitable.  Sir Christopher Meyer's recollection, hedged in diplomatic locution, is this:

Sybil Adelman Sage: Craigslist: Job at White House
Gatekeeper needed immediately.  -Must be able to stay awake during shift -Someone who can distinguish invited guests from party crashers -Demonstrate ability to read names on list -Entry level position   Salary TBD More on State Dinner

Media Gives Thanks: What Media Figures Are Thankful For This Thanksgiving
The Huffington Post asked various media figures what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving. These are their responses: More on Thanksgiving

Greg Mitchell: Beethoven's "Hymn of Thanksgiving": The Greatest Piece of Music Ever Writte
To give us some perspective on this day: Beethoven in 1825, very late in his life, wrote this third movement, molto adagio, of his string quartet opus 132, offering thanks for being alive, despite having gone completely deaf, the worst possible fate for a composer and musician. Music lovers around the world know it as "the Heiliger Dankesang." Beethoven's full description on the original score is: Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart or: "Holy Song of Thanksgiving by a Convalescent to the Divinity, in the Lydian Mode." The more sprightly portions of the hymn he labeled "Feeling new strength." Indeed, he h

Bob Franken: Thanksgiving: When There Is Humane Treatment for All
Those Humane Society commercials on behalf of neglected, abused and hungry dogs and cats are heart wrenching to me . No one loves animals more than me, dotes more on his own pets. HOWEVER: Don't we need a similar campaign for human children? Given the new study that shows one fourth of young Americans face the possibility of going to bed hungry every night, could we show video of just some of them with someone to somehow touch our sadness and anger over their circumstance too? How can we be blase about their plight? How could those of us more fortunate not rush out and share our bounty? This is not sharing wealth, this is about guaranteeing the right to basic