This week the Non-Expert at The Morning News reviewed 13 popular fragrances for men and thumbed his nose at each. It's good reading, for sure, but ultimately you're going to have to make your own fragrance decision, because this guide scores big entertainment points, but fails to return the practical, no-nonsense, all but failsafe information packed into the awesome product reviews in Consumer Reports.

One of the coolest t-shirts I've seen in a long time: Iraqi Information Minister Saeed Al Saraf's face and his favorite phrase, "We are in control..."

That's good.

Paul Krugman comments on the current tendency for Americans to label those who are critical or questioning unpatriotic, un-American, and treasonous.

US Secretary of Education Roderick Paige prefers Christian values and thinks students in public schools should, too. A recent Washington Post article quotes him as saying: "The reason that Christian schools and Christian universities are growing is a result of a strong value system. In a religious environment the value system is set. That's not the case in a public school where there are so many different kids with different kinds of values." So much for pluralism in America. Apparently we are supposed to behave as copycat drones.

Meanwhile, GOP leaders are still trying to shepherd, with a fair amount of arm twisting, budget resolutions on Bush's mammoth tax cut through both houses of Congress. A few moderate Senate Republicans, concerned about the costs of war and reconstruction in Iraq, have refused to sign off on the full $626 billion House proposal, having capped their support at no more than $350 billion.

In other parts of world, old conflicts still rage. Most notably, several hundred Hema villagers were slaughtered in a matter of hours last week--yet another atrocity in the very messy, ongoing imbroglio that has ensnared the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

Keep your eyes on Iraq, but remember what's going on at home and in the rest of the world.

• Baghdad fell. Update: Currency on eBay.
• Wireless carriers try one last effort to block regulation that would take a big step towards real, open competition, consumer choice, and improved service.
• The next Matrix is coming, and it's bigger and badder. Ready for some more mind-warping ass-kicking?
• Quite a cool little movie. Thanks, Myles.

You're invited out to party with us this weekend. We've got your plans stacked. It's gonna feel like a weekend retreat to a bar. Awesome.

Many political and military leaders spent the months leading up to the war in Iraq talking about the improvements in targeting and weaponry that would yield previously unfathomable accuracy. What then, are the odds that we'd accidentally hit both the Al Jazeera offices in Kabul and Baghdad? What is democracy without free speech?

Howard Rheingold, net visionary and author, received spam about a product that will turn a Nokia cell phone into a vibrating massager. You know, for those demanding girls whose phones just don't vibrate long enough. You remember the Fuzuoku 9000 (1, 2)? Did someone demand an on-the-go vibrator? Who did the market research? Can you imagine finding the Fuzuoku in a friend's purse? Glovebox? Backpack?

If you only watch one frivolous movie today, watch the new Honda commercial getting play in the UK.

Myles noticed that 33% of the traffic to Blogskins, a site he built to allow webloggers to swap templates quickly and easily, comes from Singapore. So, he asked the visitors, "What's up?" He got comments galore from Singaporean teenagers talking about blogs, boredom, monkeys, SARS, oppressive governments, and of course, caning. Who knew?