Taking an idea from my friend Crystal, this is a smorgasbord of things that caught my attention today.

1) Did you know there’s been a high level meeting between our government and European governments regarding what information European airlines would have to give to our government on passengers? According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle: “U.S. officials are demanding 34 pieces of information about U.S.-bound travelers culled from airline passenger name records, including credit card numbers, travel itineraries, phone numbers and home addresses. Claiming the information is a crucial tool for combating terrorism, the Department of Homeland Security also says it plans to share data with other federal agencies. ” Currently, the list of passengers must be transmitted to the US after all passengers have boarded a plane but prior to take-off. A deal will likely be reached today.

2) The NY Sun is running an article on the House scandal and its impact on Speaker Hastert, and the trickle down effect on elections. Elections are such fickle creatures.

3) On that notes, I just saw this in USA Today. Some researchers have looked at the demographics of Congressional districts. Their conclusion: The more kids in a district, the more likely the district will have selected a Republican to represent them. The name for this: the fertility divide. An interesting theory. There really are some interesting comparisons in the article which make sense when you sit down and think about them.