RELOCATING Buttermilk and Molasses is migrating, lured across the Internet by the stylish lads and lasses at Moveable Type. Join me at floricane.typepad.com for future correspondence.

TAKE 30 MoveOn kicked off a contest to see who could generate the most creative 30 second political spot that took George Bush to task. They didn't expect hundreds of submissions, but they've posted them all in a randomly rotating poll that allows people who are a) politically focused, b) bored stiff, c) have access to high-speed Internet connections, and d) bored stiff to vote for their favorites. I breezed through a handful. Some are quite good.

HADER IS A HATER PLAYA I can't believe I just went all gangsta on your collective selves, but take a moment to tell Ralph Nader why he is an idiot and should not run for President in 2004. He saved us from the Pinto! Isn't that enough to ask of one man?

SASHA GETS STIR-CRAZY Music critic Sasha Frere Jones lays out the 2003 picks. Lots of them.

SET SAIL I like their name almost as much as I like their t-shirt designs. UK rockers British Sea Power is the latest collection to my rotating stack of compact discs.

DIARY OF A STAR CHILD David Grinspoon is a scientist. He toys around with the notions of life in outer space. And he was a diarist for a week at Slate, crafting some well-scribed observations of his life, his work and the world out there. Read all five entries for maximum enjoyment.

One flat catThis morning Wookie was stretched out long and flat as a superstring—a one dimensional cat. He thinks he's cool because of his cameo in a NASA-sponsored debate about the "Rare Earth Hypothesis." The Rare Earth Hypothesis argues that complex life is unique to Earth. Rare Earthers point out, rightly, that our evolutionary path depended upon many strange and accidental circumstances of Earth history, including planetary collisions and specific orbital arrangements. These events will not be duplicated elsewhere, and thus we won't find animals evolving on other worlds.

To me, Rare Earth seems like believing in an Earth-centered universe. Sure our planet is weird, and the life here reflects that, but so what? All planets will have convoluted histories that will seem, to their own semisentient inhabitants, surprisingly well-suited to produce their own kind of life. Why conclude that "this is the best of all possible worlds" (the Pangloss hypothesis)? In my view, many varieties of planetary environment will foster evolution of advanced life. Some other worlds will produce thinking creatures more readily than Earth, where, after 4.5 billion years, there is only sort-of intelligent life. Hearing people say that a planet must have a life story just like Earth's in order to produce advanced beings prompts me to propose the "Rare Wookie Hypothesis," in which our cat's unique biography proves that he must be the only cat in existence. Wookie is here sleeping on the bed only through an extremely unlikely set of circumstances, starting with a chance meeting of two other cats and including a narrow escape from the dog that mauled his litter-mate. What if we had never found him, or someone else took him in first? So many events had to occur in just the right way for there to be a Wookie in our house. There is no chance it could all happen the same way again. From this should I conclude that there are no other cats?

WORD UP, GIRLFRIEND The Gender Genie says it can take a block of written text and tell you the gender of the writer. It failed three times in a row when I tried it, but appeared to work well for everyone else.

GET IN YOUR BOX The Political Compass put me at the dinner table with Gandhi. The questions tended toward the black-and-white with a bit of liberal bias planted in them, but discover your inner political guru here.

THE PERFECT BABY SHOWER GIFT There are a few parents out there who would put this on their child before strolling the mall. I'd like to have dinner with them.

INNER EAR Don Zientara made his name, such as it is, producing dozens of D.C. area bands, particularly on the Dischord label. Now he's making some music of his own, recently releasing "Sixteen Songs," a spare collection of Don, his guitar and a barking dog somewhere in the distance.

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY The European space team waiting for a signal from Beagle 2 are maintaining a weblog. Too bad the Martians took their lander out. The next opportunity for clear transmissions will be this weekend when their orbiter does an overflight.

NOT IN THE NEWS Columnist David Ignatius ends the year with a wink and a smile, and a handful of headlines he hopes not to read in 2004, including:

PARIS HILTON FAVORED FOR STATEHOUSE AS VOTERS RECALL SCHWARZENEGGER -- 'I'm Voting for Her Myself,' Says Gropinator.

RIDGE ADDS NEW ALERT COLORS -- Warning That Terrorists Are Becoming More Sophisticated and Bold, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge Expands Threat List to Include Colors From Urban Outfitters: Teal, Lime Green, Hot Pink and Robin's-Egg Blue.

BUSH SAYS WEAPONS FOUND -- 'Saddam Hid Them in North Korea,' President Avers.

SADDAM VIDEO CACHE -- Hidden Bunker Reveals Deposed Dictator's Favorites Included 'George of the Jungle,' 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' 'The Amazing Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley.'

BASE, HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? E.J. Dionne explains why the Democrats are well-positioned to make a credible go for the White House in 2004 -- they're basically setting up a scenario similar to Bush's in 2000. With the Democratic base firmly in place and eager to vote, the Dem nominee can actually spend all of 2004 moving to the center without losing more liberal votes (and without having to campaign for those votes). It's an interesting take, and far different than the one Karl Rover has in mind.

IT'S ALL ABOUT PRIORITIES One of the most under-reported stories of the year has to be the arrest of Texan William Krar, a white supremacist arrested with "a sodium-cyanide bomb capable of killing thousands, more than a hundred explosives, half a million rounds of ammunition, dozens of illegal weapons, and a mound of white-supremacist and antigovernment literature" stored in his home. This CSMonitor story has a more recent overview with more details. Krar was only nailed because a package with fake Defense Department and United Nations ID badges were mailed to the wrong home.

MOO COW Central Virginia's largest organic farming operation, nestled on the muddy banks of the James River in Goochland County.