Kevin Drum hasn’t linked the New York Times op-ed page for six weeks, and nobody seems to have noticed—or, for that matter, to have cared. Will someone remind me again who was supposed to be ponying up $50 a year for access to crap like Paul Krugman’s foreign policy nonsense and political commentary from losers.

Popular civil war historian Shelby Foote passed away last night in Memphis, according to the Associated Press.

My desk this morning:

I guess I’ll be cleaning again Friday afternoon, once classes are over.

EDSBS passes on word that an unlicensed football video game due out this fall features a quarterback with suspiciously similar stats to those of Michael Vick wearing “Mexico” on his #7 jersey.

No word yet on whether the game, which is supposedly going to include “off-the-field” situations à la ESPN‘s canned-at-NFL-behest testosterone-soap Playmakers, will be feature product placement of the Original Whizzinator.

Although I can’t find the post now (not for lack of trying, mind you), in retrospect the decision to elect the Iraqi Transitional Assembly from a single electoral district was a mistake—one that it appears the Shiites are willing to rectify by retaining the proportional representation system, but using the 19 provinces as electoral districts, thus (in theory) guaranteeing greater Sunni representation in the government even if Sunni turnout is low in the first elections for the permanent government that are supposed to happen sometime in the next year.

Of course, this adds the complicating factor of having to reapportion the legislature every decade or so, and it probably will make it somewhat harder for national cross-sectarian parties to gain seats, but in the end I think it’s a reasonable compromise.

(Other commentary at The Moderate Voice.)