Very strange.

• Spokesman says Bush won't conduct formal news conferences [CNN]
  President Bush doesn't plan to conduct formal news conferences, the White House said Wednesday, but intends to "be accessible" to reporters during his public appearances and meetings with world leaders.
  
  White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush counts his informal, almost daily interactions with reporters as news conferences. Bush would prefer to talk to reporters in the White House briefing room, Fleischer said, rather than in large-scale gatherings in the East Room, where his predecessors held many news conferences.

Having our chief executive answer questions in public regularly is the least we should expect from a modern President. Isn't it? If I recall correctly, Clinton hid for a while but eventually did hold press conferences again. Is Bush afraid of how he'll look, or what?

On campaign finance reform: I really don't see what the problem was with raising the hard-money limits from $1000. The limit was set decades ago. Surely they should be raised.

• Senate Deal Raises 'Hard Money' Limits [Washington Post]
  The compromise ... doubled limits on individual contributions to candidates to $2,000 and raised other ceilings on political donations that have not been changed since they were enacted 27 years ago in response to the Watergate scandal.
  
  Unlike the earlier limits, these were indexed to rise with inflation in future years.

While it surely makes Democrats uncomfortable to know that the practical effect will likely be increased funding of Republican candidates, there is no principled leg to stand on to argue that $1000 is as reasonable a limit today as it was in the 70s.

I'm surprised the Senate voted not to make it higher, frankly.

Cool: O'Reilly and Apple Team Up. Someday I believe I will buy Learning Cocoa and program up a storm.