• OBAMAS ALL HAVE HOPEFUL SECRET-SERVICE CODE NAMES: Here is a fun fact! Secret Service code names were invented for easier pronunciation and transmission over radio devices, not as any sort of “secret code.” Thus it does not matter if everyone in the world knows the upcoming First Family’s code names. They are: Renegade, Renaissance, Radiance, and Rosebud. Barack Obama is also known as “Smurfette,” in honor of Karenna Gore. [BBC News]

We know that the rate at which Wonkette readers share needles is higher than it should be, so we’re happy to report that Congress has lifted the DC needle exchange ban. Yes, the dark ages have gone, and now the District’s intravenous drug users can get clean needles for free instead of swapping their mortally filthy old ones. Democrats slipped the provision into the budget that President Bush signed into law yesterday, reversing the GOP’s nine-year social experiment to see if they could stop the spread of HIV/AIDS solely through pandering to fundamentalist Christians. DC, of course, now has the highest rate of infection in the country. But we can only imagine what Pelosi told Bush to trick him into signing this thing… “Just think Mr. President, you’ll be able to play all those Jethro Tull records again!” [New York Times]