AP reports that Australia’s highest court granted an Australian businessman the right to sue for defamation in Australia over an article published in the United States but posted on the Internet: Analysts believe the ruling against international news service Dow Jones & Co. – believed to be the first by …

Equivocators, dissemblers, Western self-loathers, self-styled sophisticates, David Warren writes very loudly for all to hear: If the United States and allies cannot eliminate so obvious a malefactor as Saddam, the “war on terror” is over, and we lost. The future of state-sponsored terrorism is secure, the proliferation of weapons of …

Steven Landsburg writes in Slate on the economics of spanking, without normative comment: Spanking, by contrast, is an equal-opportunity punishment; it works equally well whether you’re rich or poor. So simple economics suggests that the very poor, with fewer alternatives available, should spank their kids more – and they do. …

With her legal problems swarming like avenging dust balls, I find I dislike Martha Stewart less now. Perhaps it’s simply because she has been keeping a lower profile so I haven’t had to deal with her craft-nazi smugness, or perhaps she is less smug now with the prospect of prison …

Our old bloggy pal Justin Sodano is back with thoughts on his new marriage, a condition that strikes one in two Americans: Tell us a little about your wedding ceremony. Our wedding was nearly perfect, as was the honeymoon (one week at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, highly recommended). …

Bruce Springsteen to be scrutinized in Rome according to Launch: Bruce Springsteen Day will be held in Rome, on Tuesday (December 10) at the Centro Studi Americani (Center for American Studies). [that would be the place for it] Scheduled events include seminars and speakers on the rock icon’s songs, a …

This could hold down the online sales profits: A flaw in popular shopping cart software allows customers to modify the price of items that they purchase, a security firm has warned. ShopFactory, from 3D3.com in Australia, stores prices in cookies on the customer browser, and customers can change those prices …

Denzel Washington is the 2002 Honoree: The American Cinematheque Award is presented annually to an extraordinary artist currently making a significant contribution to the art of the Moving Picture. Award Presentation: Tom Hanks Host: Jamie Foxx Show Participants: Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Barry Bonds, Cedric “The Entertainer,” Robert Downey, Jr., …

This is the 25th anniversay of the Kennedy Center Honors. Five performers were honored, including James Earl Jones: James Earl Jones possesses one of the most instantly recognizable voices in entertainment history: a commanding basso profundo with a built-in echo chamber that is the very sound of authority. Jones’ great …

Interesting analysis of the music-swapping phenomenon in USA Today: it’s notable for subtle things it does and does not say. The writer, Jefferson Graham, takes a middle line between advocacy and condemnation of swapping: unlike most mainstream press stories heretofore, never using the industry appellation “pirate” to describe swappers, but …