Duh

Snakebite hurts. Costs money. Shocked, shocked I am.

Newt's Out

He's pulled the pin. RIP (Requiescat in Psychosis.)

Never too late, I guess

Newt Gingrich is said to be considering an exit from the primary race if Romney wins in Delaware. He is reported as saying, “I think we would need to take a deep look at what we are doing ...”

Why start now?

Well, maybe

Recent and very well done scholarship has cast doubt on whether Marco Polo (him and his shirt - pfft) really did visit China or whether he based his writings on the subject on things he learned from other travelers.

Now, another researcher says, Yes, he did go. University of Tübingen Sinologist Hans Ulrich Vogel has done a lot of digging into primary sources, including those in Chinese, and concludes that what Polo had to say about China in the 13th century was, on the mean, credible -- as in, he really did go and he really was an employee for a bit, anyway, of Kublai Khan.

Well, maybe. I don't think Vogel's points (at least as summarized in the article linked above) are conclusive, although they make the case muddier, anyway. I'll wait for the next round, myself. Or -- here's a revolutionary thought -- I'll get around to digging out Vogel's actual piece and see how much the journal abridged it. Or I'll just forget the whole thing.