You have to give Nicholas Kristof his due, the man is not totally incapable of feeling. After using the New York Times for his personal vigilante crusade to take down the men who instigated the anthrax attacks in 2002, Kristof has been feeling guilt pangs for perhaps being over-zealous with his information to the FBI.

This is relevant now because the man that Kristof originally fingered as the culprit, Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, was exonerated while the purported real criminal, Bruce Ivins, recently committed suicide before he was able to be tried. And Nicholas bucks it up like a true gentleman and issues a public retraction and apology to Hatfill, albeit eight years after the fact.

But Nick isn't content to let the matter drop, and wants the American public to walk a mile in his shoes with these fun hypothetical scenarios. What would you do if you were presented with questionable information of the "maybe wrong" variety but realized you were perhaps sitting on a big story?

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Cue the dramatic music to play under Nicholas Kristof's voice over while images of his New York Times column fly on to the screen accompanied by the graphics department's rendering of anthrax in an envelope. Because it's the time again, where the New York Times gets to defend its need for confidential sources, while a federal judge who likely masturbated to the Judith Miller proceedings doesn't give a fuck.

Virginia's Judge Claude Hilton has ruled in favor of Army scientist Steven Hatfill – who is suing the Times for libel over allegations made in Kristof's column that it was Hatfill responsible for the spat of anthrax mailings that killed at least five – and has demanded the Grey Lady give up Kristof's sources. Having learned little from its little Miller-WMD "incident," West 43rd is standing their ground, refusing to hand over names. While the experts say it's unlikely Hilton will demand a Times operative to be jailed for its malfeasance (sorry, no "Kristof In Prison" Christmas cards this year, kids), a likely punishment may come in the form of fines. Which will go nicely with the dismal financial picture the Times is already facing at home and in Boston. But think of all the Membership Rewards points Arthur Sulzberger can rack up if he pays the feds with his AmEx.

• Osama Bin Laden's niece shows us what life is like in the world of an aspiring singer. Next week, Charles Manson's cousin's step-daughter will take us into the never before seen life of a wannabe model. [Book Standard]

• Even if he is a nerd, he might be a nerd with a Pulitzer. Kids, get those travel with Nicholas Kristof applications in ASAP. [E&P]

• The Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Awards are here. And the New York Times is not. [AP via Romenesko]

• Andrew Essex's assistants reconfirm that in this industry, connections get you everywhere. [WWD]

• Which is why we went to Jim Kelly's party. (Even though all we managed to do was break glasses, scare Jon Friedman, and talk to mostly unimportant people who don't end up in the Boldface column.) [NYT]