New NewMexiKen Poll

Some background, especially in the comments.

Fairness

An excerpt from Gail Collins:

But first, the scientific news: Folks at the University of Vienna conducted a test in which dogs were asked to shake hands over and over and over again. If you have any experience with dogs, you will not be surprised to hear that they were absolutely delighted. And they didn’t care about being paid! The opportunity to perform the same trick endlessly with a stranger in a white coat was reward enough.

Then the researchers brought in new dogs that were given a piece of bread as a reward for every handshake. The uncompensated dogs watched, lost their innate love of mindless repetition and grew sullen.

When the Cars Go Away

In the summer of 1956, the once-mighty Packard Motor Car Company closed its doors. Its headquarters and chief production complex still stand here, though, and their slowly decaying remains serve as a symbol for the fall of American manufacturing in general and the degradation of the auto industry in particular. The Packard plant sits on East Grand Boulevard on Detroit’s east side. It is immense: 3.5 million square feet of space in 47 connected buildings. The campus stretches for almost a mile north to south.

Read more about the Packard plant from Op-Ed Contributor Bill McGraw.

December 13th

Today is the birthday

… of Dick Van Dyke. Rob Petrie is 83. Nine emmy nominations, four wins.

… of Christopher Plummer. Captain Georg von Trapp is 79. More recently Plummer has been in A Beautiful Mind, Syriana and The Lake House. Six films in 2005, a couple more in 2006, four in 2007, three more in 2008 and a handful in production.

… of Ferguson Jenkins. The baseball hall-of-famer is 65.

Canada’s first Hall of Fame member, Fergie Jenkins used pinpoint control and effectively changed speeds to win 284 games. Cast in the same mold as finesse artists like Catfish Hunter and Robin Roberts, Jenkins forged an impressive 3.34 ERA despite playing 12 of his 19 seasons in hitters’ ballparks – Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. A diligent workhorse, Jenkins used an easy, uncomplicated motion to reach the 20-win mark seven times and capture the National League Cy Young Award in 1971. (National Baseball Hall of Fame)

… of Ted Nugent, 60.

… of Wendie Malick. Just shoot her, she’s 58.

… of Ben Bernanke. The chairman of the Federal Reserve is 55. He probably feels 155.

… of Steve Buscemi. The actor who portrayed the creepy Tony Blundetto (Tony Soprano’s cousin) and the even creepier Carl Showalter in Fargo is 51.

… of Johnny Whitaker. That would be Buffy’s brother Jody on Family Affair. He’s 49.

… of Jamie Foxx. The Oscar-winner is 41.

… of Taylor Swift, 19.

And, of course, Sweetie Mack is 8 today. Happy Birthday, Mack!

Cliff Diving

Check out the oil price graph at Calculated Risk.

Oops

MyFox Washington got more than they bargained for at the McCain Campaign garage sale:

When we charged them up in the newsroom, we found one of the $20 Blackberry phones contained more than 50 phone numbers for people connected with the McCain-Palin campaign, as well as hundreds of emails from early September until a few days after election night.

Best line of the day

“To help prevent theft of holiday displays, many houses of worship are embedding GPS devices in Baby Jesus, menorahs, and other figures.”

This Week in God

Who the hell steals Baby Jesus?