"American Idol" -- Las Vegas.

42 minutes into it -- has anyone been good yet? Las Vegas is all about delusion, apparently. "I came to realize my life in this auditio...

You knew he'd say that, and he did. There's John Roberts, chatting and laughing with Condoleezza Rice. On his other side is Clarence...

A perspective on moving.

If you faced the question today whether you would buy the house you live in now at its current market price or that other place you're t...

Alito is confirmed.

The Court's new era begins. Goodbye to Sandra Day O'Connor. I have long been a great admirer of hers. This is the first moment in h...

The Oscar nominees.

Here. Comments? UPDATE: The nominated films are unusually dark and dreary this year, aren't they? Of the films with major nominations, ...

"It was the right battle at the right time, and the right cause."

Senator Kennedy defends his futile filibuster attempt. Mr. Kennedy and Senator John Kerry, both of Massachusetts, argued for an effort at a...

"The four things that I look for in a wife are character, personality, intelligence and beauty."

"And you have them all," said the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. RIP Coretta Scott King.

Requiring health care professionals to report underage sexual activity?

The NYT reports: A federal trial opened here Monday over whether a Kansas law prohibiting virtually all sexual activity by people under age ...

"This cheap and tawdry imitation of English royalty."

That's what Woodrow Wilson said [CORRECTION: caused a senator to say] about the State of the Union address, as quoted in this NYT op-ed...

A "trashily facile" novel about "the rich and overprivileged, grotesquely set against the backdrop of 9/11."

Jay McInerney -- that 80s hipster of a novelist -- has a new novel. Michiko Kakutani has a review : "The Good Life," in contrast, ...

"I want those 19 Democrats' heads on a platter!!!"

Here 's the DailyKos live comment response to the cloture vote on Alito, which was 72-25. There's a lot of outrage: WTF?! I was exp...

Blook making.

RLC has gotten a book made out of 90 of his blog posts -- mainly his fiction posts -- using a service called iUniverse . The fiction posts ...

Radio: "Generation Alito."

I'll be on Open Source Radio tonight at 7 ET/6 CT, doing a show I mentioned before , that got rescheduled. Go here to see all the stati...

Why is "American Idol" even more popular now?

You'd think people would tire of the formula. But no. The popularity of the already top-rated show is way up . The linked article doesn...

How to use the little time you have left.

A man given just months to live writes a guidebook on how to die: [Eugene O'Kelly] knew it was strange to be making a to-do list two da...

Sane talk on the NSA controversy.

Texas Lawprof Philip Bobbitt has a NYT op-ed on the NSA spying controversy: IN the debate over whether the National Security Agency's e...

"We call on you ... to direct all aid to the Palestinian treasury so it can be used in keeping with the priorities of the Palestinian people."

Says Ismail Haniyah , a prominent member of Hamas. Nothing like phrasing your requests to generate the maximum amount of resistance.

SAG awards and politics.

Here 's an article about the Screen Actors Guild awards, which is linked at Drudge with the line "'BROKEBACK' SHUT-OUT AT ...

Social psychology and politics.

Social psychologists examine political behavior: Studies presented at [a conference last week] produced evidence that emotions and implicit ...

"Power lectures."

The Daily Cardinal -- a student newspaper here -- has a poll today : Poll Results What's the earliest class you would take? 8:50, I'...

That building.

Here's that café I like so much: And here's the view from the 8th floor: And view of the street outside:

Audible Althouse #34.

Finally, it's time for the 34th entry in this series of podcasts. I've made a significant sonic improvement, I think. Key posts tha...

Contemplating change.

I'm contemplating selling my big old house, which I've lived in for 20 years, and moving into a condo very near the Capitol, in a be...

When a judge writes a memoir.

Jeffrey Rosen writes about judicial memoirs, which are difficult to write, because they're either going to be bland -- like Justice O...

The mystery of a TimesSelect blog... and whether Hillary should run.

"Link to this" it says at the bottom of a post by "The Opinionator" by Chris Suellentrop. It looks like a blog, but it...

"There's no reason for it to exist in English..."

... this "sort of book," by a Frenchman, Bernard-Henri Lévy, who did some traveling in America and then "worked up his notes,...

"Judge Alito's nomination is the tipping point against constitutionally-based freedoms and protections we cherish as individuals and as a nation."

So "[h]istory will show," predicts Senator Hillary Clinton , who's announced her support of the filibuster. Her move seems to ...

Are bloggers making things difficult for Democrats?

The WaPo observes the way bloggers who are trying to help the Democrats are posing a problem for them: Democrats are getting an early glimp...

Colbert and the dissonance between religion and comedy.

Steve Colbert describes the set of "The Colbert Report": Everything on the show has my name on it, every bit of the set. One of t...

After that embarrassing phone-in approach, Kerry leaves Switzerland...

... to come back to the Senate to continue his futile filibuster-fomenting.

"Not everyone -- male or female -- belongs in a skirt. "

Says Robin Givhan on the occasion of a high school boy's fight for the right to wear a skirt to school as long as the girls are allowed...

The return of Eggagog.

I'm feeling uninspired this morning. Maybe I shouldn't have used up my Winfrey/lose Frey and Kerry phoning in material yesterday. Ho...

"Judge Alito's confirmation would be an ideological coup on the Supreme Court."

So says Senator John Kerry , and I get the feeling -- because of the use of the word "on" -- that he means "coup" in the...

Ethiopians "are too timid, we are afraid of our talent."

Solution: "Ethiopian Idols"!

The Winfrey-Frey fray.

Reader IAm simulblogs today's Oprah show: Man, the [WaPo] article did not do this show justice (not its fault--it's a visual and a...

Jonah Goldberg to speak in Madison.

February 1st, 7 pm, Grainger Hall. (And there's WiFi!) If you don't know who Jonah Goldberg is, read some of his columns .

Me and Google.

It's nice to be number one for a Google search. But sometimes .... And then ....

"He is a Bird of bad moral Character."

Benjamin Franklin disrespected the eagle , 222 years ago today: "For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Represen...

"When you give people the vote, you give people a chance to express themselves at the polls . . . "

"... and if they're unhappy with the status quo, they'll let you know." -- President Bush, searching for positive things t...

"A judicious rearrangement of the deckchairs on the Titanic..."

"...with the cloth part torn into strips and used to lash many deckchairs together, might have made some very serviceable rafts, and sa...

Question.

Is my blog looking different today? It shouldn't be, but one reader is seeing a weird template change (though I've done nothing to c...

51% "definitely will not vote for" Hillary Clinton.

According to a Gallup Poll . (via Powerline .) The linked poll also has 46% saying they would "definitely not vote for" Condoleezz...

The NYT wants a filibuster.

Here 's today's editorial: The judge's record strongly suggests that he is an eager lieutenant in the ranks of the conservative ...

"Generation Alito."

Don't miss "Generation Alito" on Open Source Radio tonight: [Yesterday] morning the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the n...

"Project Runway"--one week you're in....

Spoiler alert. Zulema's out! Shocking! She just won last week. Piercing voice of Heidi: One week you're in.... Well, stealing Nick...

"American Idol" -- San Francisco.

Heidi Fairbanks: She looks like Jessica Simpson, and she sings opera! But she's awful on the pop, and they reject her. "I've be...

If the Democrats vote on strict party lines againt Alito...

... will that give them more or less clout when it comes to the next nominee? I think the answer is less . The split vote on Roberts gained ...

Smallest fish!

It's very small! The better to live through droughts, swimming in the last tiny puddle.

"There need to be checks and balances."

"There are! When you checked the box to vote for Bush, you gave him the balance of power." -- Steve Colbert, debating with himself...

Oh, so we're doing car tests today?

I'm a Porsche 911! You have a classic style, but you're up-to-date with the latest technology. You're ambitious, competitive, an...

On voting against Alito after voting for Roberts -- and that phrase "inexorable command."

Todd Zywicki asks how any Senator who voted for Roberts can vote against Alito and still claim to be principled. That question ought to sen...

"American Idol" -- North Carolina.

Excellent, funny show tonight. This week's equivalent of the cowboy who sang only for turkeys was the girl who lived with her grandpa be...

Feingold and Alito.

I've been intermittently watching the vote on C-Span . I'm listing to Senator Feinstein right now. She's voting no, of course. A...