Later, they discovered it was just Sharon Stone

From CNN: “Valley of the Kings tomb found; first since King Tut’s”

The 3,000-year-old face of a woman -- her eyes lined in black kohl -- stared out from a sarcophagus funerary mask through the freshly unsealed door of a tomb.

The five mummies inside -- possibly members of a pharaoh's court -- are already celebrities amid archaeologists' excitement over the first tomb discovered in Egypt's Valley of the Kings since that of King Tut more than 80 years ago.

The mummies were discovered by a team of Americans, thereby proving that even Egyptians can’t do Egyptology.

“In case of emergency, break glass and blog” – The Economist looks at the corporate love/hate affair with bloggers in “The blog in the corporate machine - Bloggers can be vicious, but they can also help companies avert disaster.”

The power of fire (to burn Danish flags) - How come nobody got worked up over this cartoon representation of Muhammad? Hmm. I guess they don’t get cable.

Best news today: Rock the Vote flops

From the American Spectator: “Rock the Vote crumbles”:

The Rock the Vote movement, which began in 1990 in an effort to get young people to register to vote for any candidate they wished as long as it was a Democrat, is in dire straights.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Rock the Vote is the proud owner of $700,000 in debt, and the group has cut its staff from 20 people in 2004 to just two today.

Rock the Vote’s greatest crime is that it failed to be an advocate for the very demographic it purported to represent. Instead the group invested in every aspect of MTV liberalism: vacuous, context-free morality without a trace of seriousness about important issues. In 2003, Rock the Vote sponsored a debate for the (then) Democratic nominees that did not include a single question about Social Security or other long-term economic issues as they relate to younger workers. Instead, we got this gem:

The last question – God in heaven help me – was “What other candidate would you like to party with, that is, who would hold back your hair or be your wingman if you saw a hottie across the room?”

Rest in peace, Rock the Vote. You shant be missed.

Sounds like fun! – Spartacus looks at the travel reviews for Turkmenistan.

Travel tips for dummies

Well, I’m back from Galveston, freshly reminded of why air travel stinks. Here are some tips for the permanently clueless:

1. Don’t bring that portable armoire onto the plane.
2. That monstrosity will not fit into the overhead.
3. Don’t stand in the aisle blocking everyone while you try to stuff that thing into the overhead.
4. Only people 6’ or taller should be allowed to sit in the emergency aisle seats.

I could go on, but I need to get caught up on the news.

The glass house collapses on Harry Reid

From the Associated Press: “Reid aided Abramoff clients”

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid wrote at least four letters helpful to Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff, and the senator's staff regularly had contact with the disgraced lobbyist's team about legislation affecting other clients.

Not to worry: Howard Dean is on the job and he’s going to “keep hammering” on this scandal.

Extra - Prof. Reynolds has it right: “As I've said before, this can't help being a Republican scandal, but the Democrats hurt themselves by trying to pretend that it's only a Republican scandal.”

Best post title today – From Ace: “Dems rue clues they may lose anew” I don’t think “Wellstone II” is going to help their image.

The other white meat – While Instapundit and others glory in their Porkbusters crusade, Will Franklin reminds us how much pork spending compares to entitlement spending. That’s one tall column (see graph).

Memo to Jimmy Carter – Who authorized the illegal wiretaps of Martin Luther King, Jr? Attorney General Bobby Kennedy, presidents JFK and LBJ. Loser.

Social Security reform lives?

From Allan Sloan in Newsweek – “Sleight of Hand - Bush buried detailed Social Security privatization proposals in his budget. Can the surprise move jump-start bipartisan reform?”:

Last year, even though Bush talked endlessly about the supposed joys of private accounts, he never proposed a specific plan to Congress and never put privatization costs in the budget. But this year, with no fanfare whatsoever, Bush stuck a big Social Security privatization plan in the federal budget proposal, which he sent to Congress on Monday.
His plan would let people set up private accounts starting in 2010 and would divert more than $700 billion of Social Security tax revenues to pay for them over the first seven years.

Shhhh! It’s a secret.

Update – Whoops, did Newsweek get it all wrong? Nevermind. (HT: Lorie) And here’s more from Memeorandum.

Alone in the Lone Star state

Remind me again why I hate to travel? Oh yeah. Yesterday at Bradley airport, the line to get through security was literally - not figuratively - a football field long. It extended the entire length of the concourse and made a little loop at the end. At least I got the only seat on a Southwest plane where I can stretch my legs (next to the emergency exit).

Since there are no direct flights to Galveston, I had to rent a car at Houston Hobby airport and drive about 45 minutes. I saw more boot stores on that drive than I've seen in my entire life. Apparently, Texas buy a new pair of boots with the same frequency that Greenwich Village residents visit Starbucks. It seems like every store beside the highway sits on an acre of land. Big country.

Otherwise, I've been stuck inside the hotel/convention center all day with my meals provided by Shell, Chevron, and Halliburton. Apparently it's been a good year for the oil companies.

Deep in the heart of Texas


Or, rather, off the coast. I’m heading to Galveston, Texas for a convention on optical sensing technology in oil wells. Posting will likely be light to non-existent; be back Thursday. In the meantime, be sure to check all the swell sites on my blogroll. Later.

P.S. - Hey, I figured out how to upload images! That's me in Baden-Baden strking a Kraftwerk pose.

Free speech under assault - Here’s Jeff Jacoby in today’s Boston Globe with “We are all Danes now”: “Make no mistake: This story is not going away, and neither is the Islamofascist threat. The freedom of speech we take for granted is under attack, and it will vanish if it is not bravely defended. Today the censors may be coming for some unfunny Mohammed cartoons, but tomorrow it is your words and ideas they will silence. Like it or not, we are all Danes now.”

Superbowl prediction – I’m picking the Seattle Seahawks over the Pittsburgh Steelers, 30-16. I got my snackies this morning (including Havarti cheese) so I’m ready to go.

Update – Wow, what a great prediction. I thought the Seahawks got some bum calls, but the Steelers still beat them convincingly. Final score: 21-10. Congrats to the Steelers.

Still more – Jerome Bettis just announced his retirement: “The bus stops here.”

Political correctness on a global scale

Mark Steyn: “Sensitivity can have brutal consequences”:

Thus, NBC is celebrating Easter this year with a special edition of the gay sitcom "Will & Grace," in which a Christian conservative cooking-show host, played by the popular singing slattern Britney Spears, offers seasonal recipes -- "Cruci-fixin's." On the other hand, the same network, in its coverage of the global riots over the Danish cartoons, has declined to show any of the offending artwork out of "respect" for the Muslim faith.

Which means out of respect for their ability to locate the executive vice president's home in the suburbs and firebomb his garage.

For the record, on Fox News Sunday this morning they showed one of the Denmark cartoons (the one with the bomb-turban). Better get an intern to start your car, Chris Wallace.

GOTW update - USS Cole Bombing Mastermind Escapes Prison – I notice the AP didn’t put scare quotes around “escapes”

Super Bowl commercials – Tonight CBS ran a special on the greatest Super Bowl commercials and it totally stunk, immersed in that annoying VH1 format of celebrities talking over the content. Before the show started, I had already picked my favorite and it did not appear anywhere on the list: it was the one where the two guys have to choose between Bud Light and toilet paper. They choose the beer and when the clerk asks “paper or plastic” they emphatically say: “Paper!”

If loving global warming is wrong, I don’t wanna be right – It hit 46 degrees here in Western Massachusetts today and, instead of huddling under blankets, the family went out on a geocache today. Plus, my propane bill has been about half of what it normally is in the winter. Love it.

Dismissed? - American Thinker, um, thinks that the “Death knell for the case against Scooter Libby?” is at hand.