PHEW...
Well, I finished my election opus (all being well, it will be out on Thursday and links will be provided) and it almost seems like it’s all over for me, but here are two clips from The New York Times, by way of a little decompression, and because the bloody fight is still going outside the window...

IF BUSH PACKS THE SUPREME COURT
"If Roe is lost, the Center for Reproductive Rights warns, there's a good chance that 30 states, home to more than 70 million women, will outlaw abortions within a year; some states may take only weeks. Criminalization will sweep well beyond the Bible Belt: Ohio could be among the first to drive young women to back-alley abortions and prosecute doctors. If Justices Scalia and Thomas become the Constitution's final arbiters, the rights of racial minorities, gay people and the poor will be rolled back considerably. Both men dissented from the Supreme Court's narrow ruling upholding the University of Michigan's affirmative-action program, and appear eager to dismantle a wide array of diversity programs. When the court struck down Texas' "Homosexual Conduct" law last year, holding that the police violated John Lawrence's right to liberty when they raided his home and arrested him for having sex there, Justices Scalia and Thomas sided with the police." – Adam Cohen
Full story...
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=18303&mode=nested&order=0

THE DRAFT
"The reality is that the Iraq war, which was intended to demonstrate the feasibility of the Bush doctrine, has pushed the U.S. military beyond its limits. Yet there is no sign that Mr. Bush has been chastened. By all accounts, in a second term the architects of that doctrine, like Paul Wolfowitz, would be promoted, not replaced. The only way this makes sense is if Mr. Bush is prepared to seek a much larger Army - and that means reviving the draft." – Paul Krugman

And an old friend is blogging at...
http://stashdauber.blogspot.com/

And here’s a nice story about bears from Mr MR...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3749604.stm

The secret word is Honey

CRYPTIQUE – Don’t go up to the castle.