Continuing on in the holiday spirit, Randall A Byrn takes a look at Frank Capra's classic, It's A Wonderful Life, and explains why it's a movie for all seasons.

CULTURE

In The Story of Chess: The Musical, Ken Lyen shows us that the history of this production is as complex as the Cold War world it's set in. Whether or not you like musical theatre, it's a fascinating read.

Chris Beaumont touchingly eulogizes his grandfather, Edwin Bell, in a way that lets us understand a great man has been lost.

Andrew Morris challenges his readers to think of Islam as the background to the life of a society instead of as a media boogeyman in his article entitled In Good Faith: Portrayals of Islam in the Media.

POLITICS

An Open Letter to Newly Elected Democrats by Taloran is a thoughtful, non-partisan, elegant reminder of why politicians are really elected.

Drew McKissick's Election Dissection is a good early analysis of a very complex election.

From Asst. Politics Editor John Bambenek:

Defiling the Constitution of Massachusetts by Harry Forbes demonstrates an interesting paradox — that gay marriage advocates wrap themselves in the Constitution until it no longer suits them.

SPORTS

I didn't need to read Victor Lana's article past the headline to know this would be among the picked. Although that would have been a better editing job by me, in retrospect. But an in-depth look would have shown that Victor did some original reporting — going out in that world and asking people — regarding the Mets' new ballpark name, CitiField.

Here's an overlooked yet necessary read for the avid golfer: Wade Pearse exposes the big lie in golf, which has to do with all that fancy-schmancy equipment. "Lie," in this case, is a double pun, if you haven't figured that one out.

GAMING

SCI/TECH

In DSG: The Future Of The Gearbox, Ashleigh Charlesworth tells you everything you ever wanted to know about the DSG gearbox and more besides!

Merlinfmct87 introduces Blogcritics to the joys of Last.fm while taking a look at the service's newly introduced features.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

As American political passions subside somewhat after the elections, it comes as a slight surprise that one of the most thoughtful, if lengthy, comments putting things into a larger historical perspective comes from an Australian.

Posted by S.T.M to Defiling the Constitution of Massachusetts on 2006.11.14, 07:37:01 AM

Hi Ruvy. Yes mate, actually I have thought about it at great length, but not for jingoistic reasons of empire and what have you. You see, as much as I fart about with this stuff, I'm also sensible enough to realise the beneficial impact that a strong America has had on both my countries. But it's very interesting that scenario, isn't it? This is long, but I hope you can spare a few minutes as it's fascinating stuff if you like history.