Tuesday Links For Thee

Heatwave!! It's a tolerable 16 degrees!! Whooo hooo. Seriously, yesterday was just brutal. Now for more coffee.

Is Texas Changing Its Mind About the Death Penalty?

Watch- Ancient gelt found in Jerusalem

Putin's Christmas present for West... a threat to Europe's gas supply, missiles for Iran and law to let him be president again

Secretary Rice Rakes $316K In Foreign Gifts

Bush Defense Appointees Asked To Stay The Washington Times reports Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates "has asked most Bush administration political appointees except those targeted for dismissal to stay on in the Pentagon until replaced by the Obama administration in the coming months." Gates also said "the chance to stay is 'available to all willing political appointees with the exception of those who are contacted individually and told otherwise,' he stated." The policy "affects some 250 political appointees in the department."

Plunge in Exports Reverberates Across Asia

Special service: The 72-year-old milkman who delivered cannabis on his daily route

European Countries May Take Detainees

4,300-year-old pharaonic tombs unveiled near Cairo

Clinton Wants Stronger State Department The New York Times reports on its front page that "even before taking office, Hillary Rodham Clinton is seeking to build a more powerful State Department, with a bigger budget, high-profile special envoys to trouble spots and an expanded role in dealing with global economic issues at a time of crisis." As part of the plan, Clinton "is recruiting Jacob J. Lew, the budget director under President Bill Clinton, as one of two deputies, according to people close to the Obama transition team." Lew and James B. Steinberg, "a deputy national security adviser in the Clinton administration, are to be Mrs. Clinton's chief lieutenants."

Pic via Cat of course.