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the zeitgeist checklist: What Washington is talking about.

Zeitgeist Checklist, Dems in ChargeWhat Washington is talking about this week.

By Christopher Beam
Posted Friday, Jan. 5, 2007, at 6:45 PM ET

(Continued from page 1)

8. New This Week [UP ARROW]

Bombs Over Bangkok
New Year's. A series of nine deadly bombings interrupt celebrations in Bangkok. Britney Spears also rings in the New Year at a Vegas nightclub by getting totally bombed. Er, "falling asleep," according to her manager. Fortune-telling religious broadcaster Pat Robertson predicts a "mass killing" in late 2007 based on an alleged message from God. Pay heed: Robertson has a history of predicting national tragedies, starting with Bush's victory in 2004.

9. Last week: 6 Weeks on list: 3 [DOWN ARROW]

Welcome Back, Nonrapists!
Crime. Duke University invites lacrosse players Colin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann back to school as students in good standing. For the welcome-back party, lawyers advise them to please hire a magician or a clown or something. Another former lacrosse player who wasn't charged in the incident sues the school, claiming a professor gave him an F when he deserved a C. It's unclear whether due process applies to grade grubbing.

10. New This Week [UP ARROW]

iPad
Business. A lawsuit accuses Apple computer executives of backdating stock options to inflate their value. Look for new ads showing a hipster Mac exploring cool new investing loopholes, while an out-of-touch PC reads a big boring book of rules. Dumb old PCs! After driving his company's stock into the ground, Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli ducks out with a $210 million severance package. It seems the best thing he did for the company was to leave—its stock price is already up.

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Christopher Beam is a Slate political reporter.
Photograph on Slate's home page of Nancy Pelosi by Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images). Illustration by Vivian Selbo.
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