NBC has been toting the upcoming reality series “The Apprentice.” Other than what’s implied in the commercials and their website plug, I’m not sure how it actually plays out. But it appears Donald Trump is prominently featured:

During the first season of “The Apprentice,” legendary business tycoon Donald Trump will serve as the “master” and his business empire, The Trump Organization, will be the hub of the competition.
. . .
Candidates not completing the job assignment successfully will meet face to face with Trump after each round of competition, enduring a grueling interview session with Trump and some of his key executives. Each week Trump will fire one candidate from the contest. In the season�s final episode, one promising and ambitious person will emerge supreme and will win the chance for the dream job of a lifetime with the Trump Organization.

The Trump must be a little bored these days. Or something. I dare say he can find plenty of things to do other than a reality T.V. gig.

More evidence that one of our “partners” in the “war on terror” has had a nice side business going on:

“Inquiry Suggests Pakistanis Sold Nuclear Secrets”
A lengthy investigation of the father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, by American and European intelligence agencies and international nuclear inspectors has forced Pakistani officials to question his aides and openly confront evidence that the country was the source of crucial technology to enrich uranium for Iran, North Korea and possibly other nations.

Oh, and Pakistan has also been a refuge for a number of al Qaeda players, perhaps including bin Laden.
But it’s non-nuclear Iraq that’s the central front in the “war on terror” and poses the greatest danger to the U.S., right?

“We Got Him: Kurds Say They Caught Saddam“

The Western media in Baghdad were electrified by the Iranian agency’s revelation, but as reports of the arrest built, they relied almost exclusively on accounts from US military and intelligence organisations, starting with the words of the US-appointed administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer: “Ladies and gentlemen: we got ‘im”.
. . .
Little attention was paid to a line in Pentagon briefings that some of the Kurdish militia might have been in on what was described as a “joint operation”; or to a statement by Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Iraq National Congress, which said that Qusrat and his PUK forces had provided vital information and more.

I link; you decide. There’s certainly a lot of smoke here, though.

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• “Democrats Declare Nader Enemy Combatant.”

• Google fun.

Merry Christmas:

The United States raised its terror threat level from yellow (elevated) to orange (high) on Sunday, citing a “substantial increase” in intelligence pointing to threats during the holidays season that are “perhaps greater now than at any point” since 9/11.

Let’s hope the color coordinators need not raise it to red to match the season.
Are you Ready?