For the first time scientists have captured on video how the HIV virus spreads to healthy cells.

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for posting about it, head over to his site to see the video.

I leave on Wednesday for a five day trip, so don’t expect any wonderful posts to magically happen as I won’t be taking my laptop with me. And I’m not sure when I’ll get back to posting again as my desktop decided to die on me moments ago. I believe it may be the power supply, but it could also be the motherboard or or or. No time to figure it out now, will deal with when I get back.

Until then, enjoy this:

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One of the things I found so distasteful about the Bush Presidency was the slipperiness of the people involved. Sure, they could be brought before a Senate committee, subpoenaed or not, but their answers always left a bitter taste in my mouth as they more or less dodged every important question. Yesterday was the Senate confirmation hearing of President-elect Obama’s choice for Attorney General, Eric Holder, and I’ll tell you what, I like what I heard.

Now, I’m not happy with some of the policies that Obama is going to be putting forth, but I am fully in support of how he and those who will presumably be in his administration go about their business. They’re more open and direct in their answers to questions and while those answers are still slick and practiced, they aren’t obvious deflections.

Case and point is the confirmation hearing yesterday. Sure, Eric Holder isn’t perfect (especially as he is from the Clinton White House), but it’s a breath of fresh air from listening to Albert Gonzales at a hearing. I’m about to quote extensively from a Slate article about yesterday’s hearing to emphasize my point, but I recommend reading the rest of the article along with some not-as-obviously-left-wing reporting that Slate gives. (I just browsed Fox News’s website and all I can find about the hearing, outside of flak from before the hearing, is an AP article.)

I’ll let Dahlia Lithwick take it from here:

Remember back when Gonzales was asked in July 2007 about whether water-boarding violated the Geneva Conventions? His response:

There are certain activities that are clearly beyond the pale and that everyone would agree should be prohibited. And so, obviously, the president is very, very supportive of those actions that are identified by its terms in the executive order. There are certain other activities where it is not so clear, Senator. And, again, it’s for those reasons that I can’t discuss them in the public. …

When Barack Obama’s nominee for attorney general, Eric Holder, is asked the same question today the response is this: “Water-boarding is torture. … It would violate the international obligations that all civilized nations have agreed to—the Geneva Conventions.”

Remember when Michael Mukasey was asked last January whether the president could override laws passed by Congress? “I can’t contemplate any situation in which this president would assert Article II authority to do something that the law forbids.”

Here’s Holder responding to the same question today: “No one is above the law, the president has a constitutional obligation to faithfully execute the law of the United States.”

Ah, sanity, you have come back into the conversation.

That game was ugly and I have a headache I’m pretty sure was created from close to four hours of stress, but damn, they won. I was kind of hoping they’d lose so they could all get some rest . . . as tired as the defense obviously was. Anyway, they won and will probably have to play the Steelers next week. Yay, more stress headaches.