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In Slate, Dahlia Lithwick reviews the ten most outrageous civil liberties violations of 2006.

Any one of these, alone, would be a shocking travesty.  But all ten of them, collectively?  They are nothing more than real-world expressions of the utter contempt with which the Bush Administration regards the Constitution that their leader swore to "preserve, protect, and defend."

751 days of this abuse left to endure.

Because I can't seem to latch on to a meme without wanting to repeat it ad nauseam, here are the places where I spent one or more nights in 2006:

• NYC (home)
• Wake Forest, NC
• Te Puke, New Zealand
• Rotorua, New Zealand
• Napier, New Zealand
• Orewa, New Zealand
• Matakohe, New Zealand
• Manukau, New Zealand
• Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
• Bora Bora, French Polynesia
• Moorea, French Polynesia
• Laneview, VA
• McHenry, MD
• Norwalk, CT*

Man, I need to plan more trips in 2007.  (At least I already have trips to Baltimore and Kentucky planned, and maybe ones to Ohio, Chicago, and SFO too...)

(The asterisk means I've been there on more than one trip this year. Incidentally, it's also the only place listed above that doesn't have pictures of it in my Flickr stream.)

RIP Gerald Ford.  He always seemed to be a man of integrity.  I don't agree with a lot of what he did (the pardon, for one), but he seemed honest and took his job seriously, and cared about serving the public.

President Bush said today:

During his time in office, the American people came to know President Ford as a man of complete integrity who led our country with common sense and kind instincts.  Americans will always admire Gerald Ford’s unflinching performance of duty and the honorable conduct of his administration and the great rectitude of the man himself.

Thinking, I'm sure, all the while "I hope someone pardons me after I leave office."

(So: is it one more celebrity death for the trifecta?  Or does Frank Stanton count?)

And I'd be lying if I didn't say this SNL sketch sprang instantly to mind upon hearing the news:

Some linky goodness for you this Boxing Day:

• Jonathan Lethem wrote a really good essay about James Brown back in July that's worth a read;
• RIP Frank Stanton.  More than anyone else, he gave the Tiffany Network its shine;
• "Fair and balanced" news site mocks Gitmo detainees in a news article (not commentary!);
• Along those lines, here's Media Matters' list of the most outrageous wingnut comments of 2006;
• Patrick Smith's "Ask The Pilot" column this week is always good, but this week's had a nice analysis of the Brazil midair collision in September (short version: looks like the Brazilian air force screwed up), as well as a look back at the year in aviation;
• Warmest congratulations to the great band Shearwater, for being featured in Times critic Kelefa Sanneh's list of the top 10 albums of 2006;
• and a nice interview with Shearwater, plus some new recordings of their songs.  (The version of "Nobody" on Palo Santo is v.v. good, but this one here is even better.)
• (UPDATE 12/27: I see that NPR's Stephen Thompson has named Palo Santo the #1 record of 2006.  Nice!)

The Godfather of Soul is no more, and the world just became a less funkier place.

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From the Washington Times, via Bruce Schneier's blog:

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles said yesterday it is ordering two men to get their license photos retaken -- this time without the red-painted skin, spray-on hair and fake teeth -- or lose their driving privileges. Will Carsola and Dave Stewart posted Internet videos of their pranks, which included scenes of Mr. Carsola spray-painting his face and neck bright red and Mr. Stewart painting the top of his head black and sticking a row of fake buckteeth in his mouth in an Asian caricature. They each enter the DMV office and return with real licenses with photos of their new likenesses.

More from the Richmond Times-Dispatch here.

Feel safer yet?

Rep.-Elect Keith Ellison:  gracious guy.
Rep. Virgil Goode:  racist jerk.

Blue Irons, originally uploaded by Vidiot.

In a shop window in the East Village last night.

Sometimes, YouTube kicks ass:

Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line:

I know it's a really minor, dorky thing, but I am quite unreasonably pleased that the Times' stylebook now says that the plural of "DVD" (and, presumably, "TV", "CD" and such) is "DVDs", not "DVD's."  Kudos to them for dropping those damn the apostrophes that they held onto for sooooo long....

A post last week from Talking Points Memo, excerpted:

Just to put things in perspective... with public approval solidly in the 20s, the war in Iraq is now less popular than a bevy of social issues that have long been considered political poison for Democrats. Imagine if a Democratic president and Congress had made any of these issues their #1 priority, as Bush has with Iraq.

And they wonder why they lost the election?

The Iraq War is less popular than gay marriage, legalizing pot, banning handguns, and rescinding the death penalty.

“Even Saddam Hussein had more legal counsel than I ever had. . .While we were detained, we wrote a letter to the camp commandant stating that the same democratic ideals we are trying to instill in the fledgling democratic country of Iraq, from simple due process to the Magna Carta, we are absolutely, positively refusing to follow ourselves.”

Go read the full, horrifying story about American citizens being detained in Iraq.

This is so going on my resume.

Hmmmm...so who's the biggest and most clueless asshole?

Is it:

• Michael Crichton;
• Alicia Colon; or
• Newt Gingrich?

Thanks for playing, everybody!

Welcome, Daou Report readers.  Take a look around, feel free to stay.

Happy Monkey Day, everybody.

Not that he, y'know, actually exists or anything, but here's Miguel Cardoso on YouTube.

It's good that he doesn't seem to lie directly to your face, like the last two jokers...but can't Josh Bolten get Tony Snow in the loop?

You ever had something happen to you that you're just itching to blog about, but for one reason or another, you can't?

I've got something like that right now, but it would be more prudent not to write about it in a permanent, Google-able online venue.  So next time you see me, ask me what happened.

Shorter Tom DeLay:  Problems in Iraq are the American people's fault.

Wow, Bush could stand up to all those terrorists all around the world and pacify the insurgents in Iraq if it weren't for Keith Olbermann holding him down?

FEC to fine 527 groups, including Swift Boat Veterans For Truth, Roll Call reports.

Doesn't it seem strange to you that the House Ethics Committee thinks that leaking a tape of an ethically-challenged Speaker to the press is worse than intimidating teenagers into keeping their mouths shut about sexually predatory behavior by a Congressman?

Noted without comment.