Amelia Peabody would like this

Many mystery readers have come to know and love Amelia Peabody. I, for one, liked the books not merely for the suspense, but, more importantly, for the archaeological background and sly references to some heroes of the business (when I was young and innocent, I thought being an archaeologist would be a swell way for a girl who was afraid of heights, claustrophobic, and allergic to dust, mold, insect bites, and her own sweat to make a living).

And now, I see that someone has developed a true working model of Amelia's weapon of choice for self-defense. I dare say, it is the most civilized thing I have seen in the industry thus far.


(HT: Instapundit)

Pssst! don't tell anybody, but defense budget passes

Ed Morrissey has the news nobody else thought worth reporting... the dems approved the latest defense budget, including everything requested to fund our troops in both Afghanistan and Iraq:

I had not realized that the Senate passed the Defense Department authorization yesterday until the Standard commented on it this morning. The spending bill passed overwhelmingly, 92-3, with only Robert Byrd, Tom Coburn, and Russ Feingold in opposition. Tellingly, the Democrats running for office from the Senate all managed to miss the vote -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Chrsi Dodd, and Joe Biden.

Hmmm. I wonder why dese Dems didn't do dat vote?