Rapid fire Friday:

George Bush's landing on an aircraft carrier certainly was ironic -- ironic because when he went AWOL from the Texas Air National Guard.

Howard Dean may not have a lot of name recognition, but if the all important New Hampshire primary happened today, he and John Kerry would be tied. Debate this weekend. Howard Dean is the dark horse that will make Kerry accountable.

There's an article in Rolling Stone about Pro Tools, the most widely used audio production software. A Slashdot contributor makes an interesting observation: "Why aren't the benefits of lower production costs being passed on to the consumer?" Good point.

By now, Donald Rumsfeld's history with Iraq is legendary. How about Donald Rumsfeld's history with North Korea?

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld rarely keeps his opinions to himself. He tends not to compromise with his enemies. And he clearly disdains the communist regime in North Korea. So it's surprising that there is no clear public record of his views on the controversial 1994 deal in which the U.S. agreed to provide North Korea with two light-water nuclear reactors in exchange for Pyongyang ending its nuclear weapons program. What's even more surprising about Rumsfeld's silence is that he sat on the board of the company that won a $200 million contract to provide the design and key components for the reactors.

And finally, the publishers of Ann Coulter's new book Treason have sent a press release-y looking thing (I can't find a link -- it was on MSNBC last night) asking something like Which would Bill Clinton or you or anybody rather sleep with -- Hillary Clinton (who has her own book coming out) or Ann Coulter? I'd like to answer that question, and my answer is Ann Coulter. In Dan Savage's fantastic book Skipping Towards Gomorrah, he refers to a T-shirt he saw during a Gay Pride parade that read, "If I wanted to hear what you had to say, I'd take my dick out of your mouth." That's why I choose Ann Coulter.