I'm an evangelical Christian, you understand, but I admire a well placed blow at the tawdry commercial and cultural triumphalism of my fellow religionists at Christmas season. Such is Christopher Hitchens,"Bah, Humbug, The Horrors of December in a One Party State," Slate, 20 December. I've just returned from an 11:00 p.m. service with my family and will be in church again tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. The bloody tree hasn't fallen over yet, so it's been a quiet, joyful time for us. Best wishes of the Christmas and Hanukkah seasons to everyone!

Michael Janofsky,"Professors' Politics Draw Lawmakers Into the Fray," New York Times, 25 December, reports on Pennsylvania hearings on David Horowitz's"Academic Bill of Rights."

At AndrewSullivan.com, guest blogger Julian Sanchez draws attention to plight of Cory Maye who sits on Mississippi's death row. Maye's defenders also have a website devoted to his case.

Nominations in the Islamsphere's 2nd Annual Brass Crescent Awards are open at City of Brass. Cliopatria's partial to Sepoy at Chapati Mystery, who won both last year's Brass Crescent Award for Most Deserving of Wider Recognition and the Asian Blog Award for Best Pakistani Blog. Cliopatria's partial to Sepoy and proud as punch that he's a Cliopatrician, but she also thinks highly of other potential nominees, such as Brian Ulrich's Brian's Study Breaks and Juan Cole's Informed Comment and Abu Aardvark, who won last year's Brass Crescent Award and honorable mention for Best Non-Muslim Blog. So, go forth and nominate.