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(Not you? Then who? Not me - Couldn't be. Then who? Not you?)

Twenty three Christmases ago, beginning in November, the Iran-Contra Affair was bubbling to the surface. Stories of secret arms caches, money laundering, clandestine operations, deals - all the stuff of mediocre spy novels.

But alas, it was the Reagan Years, so anything could be and was possible.

Ike Pappas (CBS News): “Secord spent less than fifteen minutes in the closed hearing room. Enough time to listen to opening statements and then claim the Fifth Amendment, refusing to answer questions as have several other key players in the case. Secord, now a businessman is said to have helped to arrange the Iran arms sales, and has been linked in documents to the clandestine privately financed network that sent arms and equipment to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua when Congress cut off funds.”

These two news reports from December of 1986 give some indication where this all was headed. 1987 was promising to be a fun year. Sandbags and all.

. . .and boy, do we need 'em now! (donations, that is - we're full up on sandbags)

They Gave Us a Republic: Big bank execs make out like bandits.

Majikthise: Nicaragua's shocking abortion ban, and the deadly consequences.

Sadly, No: Megan McArdle argues against health care reform, ignoring pesky facts, including an important medical innovation.

Cheyanne's Campsite: Celebrate Pete Seeger's 90th year and the Newport Folk Festival's 50th.

Guest post by Batocchio. Temporarily send tips to batocchio9 AT yahoo DOT com. Thanks.

Last November, Nicaragua became the third country in the world, after Chile and El Salvador, to criminalize all abortions. There are no exceptions; not for rape, not for incest, not for threats to the life of the mother.

The Nicaraguan abortion law has been praised by Pope Benedict XVI and by U.S. "pro life" organizations. So far, this law has resulted in the deaths of at least 82 women. And that may be the tip of a much bigger iceberg.

Read more ...