RADICAL MOROCCAN PIZZA COURIER arrested after the police were tipped that Islamic extremists were allegedly planning an attack on the Red Light District in Amsterdam. This story, following the murders of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn and, more recently, filmmaker Theo van Gogh (who made movies about Islamic treatment of women and about Fortuyn), are prompting the Dutch middle classes to leave the Netherlands. And perhaps worst of all, it looks like Amsterdam is going to have a a Charlie Brown Christmas.

TOP 11 WAYS GEEKS CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS: It's like a "Top 10" list, except this one goes to... eleven.

WHAT'S THAT SONG? A streaming version of the old game show, in which you can play by band or decade. Sadly, Claude Pate is not in the database, which causes the server to put up some decidedly un-Claude choices.

MY ALMA MATER (Barrington High School) is pioneering "while you wait" college admissions.

IOWA CAUCUSES: Their first-in-the-nation status is threatened by a Democratic Party commission.

LEMONY SNICKET FANS (and their parents): Count Olaf has a blog.

I used to have shoes sorta like these, but they don't make them in my size anymore.

THE REV. BERNICE KING, MLK's daughter, joins a march that in part opposes same-sex marriage, causing tension in the traditional civil rights leadership.

SAME-SEX DIVORCE comes to Massachussetts, months after legalizing same-sex marriage. For one such couple, most difficult part of the settlement appeared to be custody of their three cats; one man ended up with sole custody.

COOKING WITH GOOGLE and other fun Google hacks.

FILE-SHARING: The Supreme court will review a lower court ruling in favor of Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc. over their liability for copyright infringement. Meanwhile, BitTorrent, a more robust file-sharing method, threatens Hollywood, as some of the software-based methods record companies have used against Grokster, KaZaa, etc. do not work with BitTorrent. That fact will push the entertainment more toward lawsuits, I think. At issue before the Supreme Court will be the scope of their prior decision that VCR makers were not assisting violations of the copyright laws.

PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCIL may bar adults from bringing children under 6 to a movie after 7 p.m. unless it is G-rated.

THICKBURGER: The Hardee's sandwich is a as big a hit as its 1,420-calories delivers to your waistline. The usual suspects have attacked the contrarian burger as "food porn" and suggested that Hardee's list the calories on their menu board. That might be nice, but it shouldn't be required. In the UK, governmental diet advice was followed by incresed sales for cake, chocolate, biscuits, fats, yoghurts, lager and wine.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Surprisingly popular with kids in Damascus.

"BIG IN '04 AWARDS:" VH1 handed them out, but its own site makes them sound like you wouldn't want one.

UKRAINE UPDATE: Doctors confirm that presidential candidate Yushchenko was poisoned with Dioxin. However, Airbag Industries thinks it may have been cosmic rays.

BLOGCRITICS: It's a little old, but I enjoyed the treorizing over the meaning of Bono's Spanish "1, 2, 3... 14" count-off on U2's "Vertigo." The Lilywhite theory seems most likely, but the one involving the late John Ritter is my favorite.

MOM BROKE LAW BY EAVESDROPPING ON DAUGHTER'S PHONE CONVERSATION, as decided by the Washington Supreme Court. That may be a correct reading of Washington state law, but that won't stop people from finding it wacky.