For the first time ever a blogger will be embedded with Canadian forces in Afghanistan. It's Damian Brooks of "The Torch" and if you'd like to offer him encouragement, especially of the pecuniary sort, I know it would be appreciated.

Barack Obama's "stimulus" plan now includes, "advisers said", $300 billion in tax cuts because he seemed too focused on making government bigger to help the economy. Which means it's not really a "plan" because sudden kluges on this scale would undermine its structural integrity if it had any. But as long as politicians keep hurling hundreds of billions of dollars about in a weirdly self-satisfied panic, market participants are unlikely to recover their confidence. Would you?

Rumours swirl that Israel was considering a 48-hour humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza strip though in the end the government seems to have rejected it at least for the time being. But does anyone think if the situation were reversed Hamas would consider such a thing? Which does not settle the question whether Israel should, although those who proposed it ought to realize more clearly than they seem to that Hamas would not use a lull in fighting (or anything else) for humanitarian purposes. But Israel's willingness to entertain the notion does underline the stark moral difference between the two sides.

Caroline Kennedy's dynastic shoe-in candidacy for the New York Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton took a dramatic turn for the worse when she gave a bumbling interview that started (in, says the Ottawa Citizen, "a dull monotone"):

Um, this is a fairly unique moment both in our, you know, in our country’s history, and, and in, in, you know, my own life, and um, you know, we are facing, you know, unbelievable challenges, our economy, you know, health care, people are losing their jobs here in New York obviously um, arh, you know ...

Hey, bring back that, you know, um, witty, eloquent lady from, um, ahr, Alaska.

Media outlets are starting to produce their lists of historically significant incidents and people in 2008, man/woman of the year etc. These are useful exercises although I fear that when (if) history pauses to look back at them many will prove to have been trendy rather than tremendous. But I value these forays into postnostication anyway because they do remind us of something I wish the people taking part in current events manifested some sense of, namely that their deeds will one day be part of history and they should try to act and speak in a manner worthy of being remembered even if there's no guarantee that they will be anyway. Uh, when I say "remembered" I should probably add that I mean without contempt.

It seems more peaceful when the politicians are away, doesn't it? Except of course they never really are. Just in time for Christmas a cabinet minister attempts to drag Santa into squabbles over polar sovereignty by declaring him a Canadian citizen. I suppose we should be glad they didn't try to appoint him to the Senate.

Prime Minister Harper now says the $4 billion the Canadian and Ontario governments have offered GM and Chrysler is probably just the beginning of the ill-considered dumping of public money into companies with bleak long-term prospects. If you've been enjoying the scintillating level of debate on this proposal you'll also enjoy this video: In The Know: Should The Government Stop Dumping Money Into.............. A Giant Hole?

So George Bush has decided to go ahead and dump a preliminary $17.4 billion in public money into the two least successful "Big 3" North American auto makers. It's not obvious where that is in the Constitution but the President explained that "These are not ordinary circumstances." So apparently the idea is that something that would be unaffordable folly if you had money is indispensibly prudent conduct if you don't. I somehow missed that in economic class too.