The Moneyball movie goes back into development hell. From the description, all I can say is "Praise Jesus!" Also, big ups to Amy Pascal. Nice to see every suit in Hollywood isn't a crack-addled moron.

No. No. This is just wrong. I don't care how much you loved Michael Jackson, girls.

Gump Worsley. Actually, one hell of a goalie. (Via Reason's Hit & Run, which was actually mocking Senator Stuart Smalley and Minnesota at the time.)

Finally, a murder involving midget luchadores, roofie-using hooker thieves, and Paris Hilton; unfortunately the hookers and Hilton seem to have survived. :(
If this sort of thing keeps up, I may need to bookmark Deadspin.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to throw out the trash...

Okay, this is weird but cool: A Boy And His Tuba covers New Order's "Blue Monday".


Also, a trailer for The Hurt Locker, which has had some good reviews.

Tyler Cowen asks, "What is transhumanism?" His reaction makes me think that it isn't just us religious types who have their doubts about it.

An interesting article on the prevalence of French (and Catholicism) in Africa. Given the rise of Islam in France, perhaps the Senegalese tirailleurs have not seen the last of la belle France. (Marginal Revolution)

Megan McArdle on the CRA as a component of the housing crash. I don't think there're any Republicans of note who've said the CRA is the sole reason for the housing bubble; certainly the greed of people who thought they could make a quick buck off poor credit risks, and flippers, was a big factor. There's no denying the CRA was a big part of what got the ball rolling, though. And speaking of people who have learned nothing from history (or, more likely, just don't care): Barney Frank!

How can we stop laughing at him if he won't go away? Good question, Jules.

An analysis of sales in the Slavic Village neighborhood of Cleveland demonstrates that at least in some areas, the mortgage crisis isn't about ordinary folks getting hornswoggled into mortgages thy couldn't afford, but about flippers who sold into the bubble. (Cobb on Facebook)

FEAR GRIPS GOOGLE. Couldn't happen to a nicer company. (The Captain @Kate's place)

"Well if your ancestors could see you standing there/They would gaze in wonder at your Frigidaire/They had to fight just to survive/So can't you do something with your life? ~ Jarvis Cocker This and other reflections on the modern condition at Celestrial Junk. RTWT. (Small Dead Animals)

Populism rises to combat technocracy in the EU. There's parallels to this in the U.S., of course; it doesn't take much effort to see Washington as the Brussels of the New World, with all that that implies. (Small Dead Animals)

I've been following the excellent Lovecraft Is Missing since Balticon (just coincidence, I found it through some other link) and now LiM has turned me on to a most excellent "reboot" of the HPL franchise: Young Lovecraft The strip is originally done in Spanish, but the creators have thoughtfully provided an English translation. Hilarious!

Also worth noting: The Gentleman from Lickskillet, a daily political strip (h/t brian_edminster) and Skin Horse, a bizarre and humorous mix of X-Files, animal welfare, anthropomorphic animals, obscure government agencies, and an attack helicopter that doesn't really understand that it's not a teenaged geek flying an attack helicopter simulator...odd, but usually funny.

olegvolk has been en fuego this week, posting lots of lovely pictures of girls with and without guns. Some of them are NSFW.

Up a little late last night watching Escape from LA, with one of our favorite antiheroes, so I was late rising this morning. Not that there's a reason for me to be up at a normal hour these days. :( Anyway, the second Escape movie is nice eye candy, formulaic fun, and that's about it. It was worth the rental charge.

One of the common slams on Wal-mart is that it generates obese rednecks by its very presence. Professor Art Carden of Rhodes College says it ain't so. In fact, Wal-mart may in fact be making people a little bit thinner by making non-fattening food less expensive. RTWT.

Via cipherpunk: "A Conspiracy of Euphemism". We're not supposed to be afraid of these pendejos, we're supposed to be putting the fear of Allah into them. Journalists being solicitous of their tender feelings ain't helping.

As seen by VICE magazine. Kudos to Shane Smith and his cameraman for pulling this off; this is some seriously weird shit. But then everything in the land of Dear Leader is weird. (Kate)

Why you should read the Kalevala. I've looked at it occasionally, mainly because of the references in Robert Frezza's A Small Colonial War and Fire In A Faraway Place, and this article will probably spur me to give it a prolonged and thorough read. Also, a Comprehensive map of North Korea created using Google Earth. Chalk another one up for the Open Source movement. (Marginal Revolution)

Gee, what a surprise: spending more Medicare bucks doesn't necessarily produce better outcomes. Where have we seen this before?

Megan McArdle looks at the recent government-ordered closing of Chrysler dealers and agrees that while there may be logical business arguments to be made for it, it sure smells a lot like the Chicago Way of doing business.

I honestly can't be arsed to work up much interest in the Sotomayor nomination, except to say that whoever thinks nominating some arrogant Ivy League Nuyorican mami to the Supremes is going to thrill this Falangist needs to put down the crack pipe. Us Hispanics are divided by our common language and culture, much like you Anglos. Fortunately, Jules Crittenden has the whole deal covered with a mighty linkfest.

The Other McCain and Eric Erickson agree: conservatives have been sold out by the GOP for the last time. Apparently things aren't quite to that point with the CPC.

No loyalty among thieves, or, This was predictable! Turncoat Arlen Specter gets challenger in PA Senate primary. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. (Ace)

Finally, a little puzzle for the geniuses at the Maryland Comptroller's office: 6.25% of 0 is how much tax revenue? (Ace)

Pretty quiet day around the burrow. Bagged up and disposed of trash, did dishes, baked bread, made pasta, and spent a lot of time playing Civicrack. Not bad for a day that didn't really start until around 1130 on account of late-night driving with P (who is very impressed by the Optima) and staying up late to read March to the Stars. I need to get out of the habit of reading interesting things when I go to bed.

Interesting links: Using nuclear weapons to help identify fake whiskey. Alexandria Democrats beclown themselves over newly-elected black conservative councilwoman Alicia Hughes. Best scene" from the best Star Trek series ever. (Moe Lane) The Other McCain tees off on the Washington Post for doing a shitty job of local news reporting, and sees in this failure a big reason why big media is going out of business.

Well, nothing happening today in the way of paying work, unfortunately, although all the local Accountemps offices know I'm out there.
This leaves the calendar clear for me to head downtown this afternoon for a quick chat with the folks at Accountants International, who I spoke with back in February when I was originally fired. Hopefully between them and Accountemps we'll have this interruption in the work/cash flow mended by Monday, but just in case I'm filing for unemployment when I get back from the interview.

Still no word from the dealer on the Sportage. This is actually good since I can't pay them until next Thursday anyway.

Anathem is slow going, especially since I've been distracted by Weber & Ringo's March to the Sea and will probably get stuck into March to the Stars instead of going back to Anathem, which is not terribly interesting in its reformatting of A Canticle for Leibowitz.

A couple of links worth your while: Joanna Lumley leads Gurkhas in protest at Westminster. I dunno if I'd be willing to see Johnny Gurkha turned loose on the chavs, but I certainly think the retired Gurkhas and their relatives are being hard done by. They ought to get the same consideration for immigration that the medieval, disloyal Pakis get, at least. Also, your yard sale is illegal, and Carrie Prejean gets hammered for agreeing with Obama. (Maggie's Farm, Instapundit, ibid.)

Michelle Malkin ripped loose today with two broadsides, one against the culture of consultants that's crippled not just the Republican party nationally but also made the California GOP a laughingstock. She also rips into Arlen Specter for his shameless announcement that Jack Kemp's death is directly attributable to GOP failure to sufficiently fund medical research. Ed Morrissey gets an assist for pointing out that Specter, as usual, is full of shit. Related: The Other McCain keys off Ed's piece to further put the boot in, with today's winner of the "Oh Yeah, He Totally Went There" post headline award for "Arlen Specter becomes Democrat, gains miraculous power to cure cancer". R. Stacy also gets a few good kicks in on the Boston Globe, Jeb Bush (and the Bush family in general, really), and last but not least a piece on the culture of consultants that also includes a couple of shots returned to some female bloggers who took exception to his Rule 5 posts and especially the whole Carrie Prejean Boobgate nonsense.

Meanwhile, in a less political vein, Professor Death snarks, "THEY TOLD ME IF I VOTED FOR JOHN MCCAIN, PROMISING STEM-CELL TREATMENTS WOULD BE BLOCKED BY FEDERAL REGULATION. And they were right!" He also mentions this interesting little patch. Stuff like that is why Instapundit is my home page in Firefox...well, that and the occasional heads-up on new books.

This is very weird. The Failbox was on when I got home ~1600, and so far has continued to run without any problems. It makes me wonder if brian_edminster was right and the problem isn't with the BIOS or drivers, but rather with the system running too hot. On the other hand, a CPU fail due to heat wouldn't allow a prompt reboot and return to service, so I dunno...heat affecting something else in the system that cools off more rapidly than the CPU? Anyway, so far so good.

I'm rolling this essay by Cobb around in my head, because it inspires me on a number of different tracks. Longer post to follow after I've thought about it some more.

Spook86 has a couple of posts about the Scare Force One fiasco earlier in the week. They're both worth reading all the way through, and the comments ain't half bad either.

Offshore oil rigs are havens for marine life. (Moe Lane) Moe's post also includes some cool videos shot by divers around various rigs.

The Other McCain holds forth on Specter's defection. I am inclined to agree with Conservatives4Palin: "RINO turns jackass."

...or does G. Gordon Liddy in this clip sound like Marlon Brando playing Colonel Kurtz?
The clip is worth listening to for other reasons, of course, not least of which is his discussion of insects as a means of torture.

Related (because I found it on mah Twitter feed) MKHammer describes a prominent black politician making hard choices as he cuts his budget. Unfortunately, as she points out, "It just ain't Obama".

haikujaguar has a rant on the necessity of followers and how the Overculture (my term not hers) doesn't respect people who would rather support than lead. She calls for society to respect the sergeants as well as the lieutenants, the spear carriers as well as the heroes. I agree that the Overculture doesn't do this much, perhaps because most people in supporting roles aren't as charismatic and newsworthy as the heroes. I think there's also a point to be made that the Overculture has lost (or never had) the Catholic attitude that work gives dignity to the worker, whether that work is flipping burgers or running a multinational conglomerate. Personally, I suspect that one aspect of the Treason of the Clerks that goes largely unremarked on is the disrespect for anyone who is not an academic or some other member of the intelligentsia. This is evident in the now-infamous video of the CNN reporter at the Chicago Tea party; she had no respect for those people or their cause, and held them up for ridicule on a national news feed. So, yeah. We have a culture in control of the schools that tries to force everyone into a mold that produces chiefs and intellectualoids but no Indians or auto mechanics; the bastard spawn of Ayn Rand by John Dewey, these schools are, which is all the more reason to keep your children out of them and teach them yourself.

On a less serious note, beatonna put out the Geek Signal for non-Anglospheric history recommendations, and now has over 200 comments from people. I'm not sure you can find histories after the 19th century uncontaminated by Anglo culture, myself, since the sun never set on the British Empire and even that parts of the world that weren't part of Queen Victoria's turf were being run or heavily influenced by Englilsh-speaking types. Just for amusement value, what histories of the non-English-speaking world have caught your interest, oh well-read denizens of my f-list? Movies and anime are acceptable replies, if they're sufficiently historically accurate.

Well, I managed to last about 7.5 hours at the Night Job before giving in and going home for another shot of DayQuil. I think I'll sleep okay in spite of the phenylephrine; it doesn't pack the same punch as the old pseudoephedrine. Unfortunately the Dayquil (God, I hope it's the DayQuil) is pumping up my blood sugar. One problem at a time.

Came home, opened mail, answered a bunch of surveys, and applied for some jobs with the Feds. Going to eat something, shoot up, and then get horizontal for the night. Hopefully tomorrow will be less full of sneezing, mucus, and coughing.

In the meantime, via Cobb, Andrew Klavan explains it all:


Moe Lane notes the Congressional killing of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, which among other things will get those miserable little poor kids out of the school President Obama's kids are attending. Can't have the po' folks getting above themselves and associating with their betters, eh, Speaker Pelosi?

Moe also notes the presence of the Virginia Tech killer in the latest Niven & Pournelle opus. (Yes, it's on my shopping list.) Then there's the exploding squirrels...

Meanwhile, Ace notes that The One has become his own plastic turkey. Kind of hard to fake those "spontaneous" photo ops when lots of folks who don't much like you are on site.

Even more amusement from this YouTube video. Best summary:
"At 1:08 he whips out his own business card, which bleeds Holy Water, destroys your enemies, and can save your life if you're ever thrown out of a jet. It is at this moment that you will fall in love...with the idea of punching him in the jimmie as hard as you can." (Ace)

Unfortunately he doesn't give this story both barrels as it deserves, but the Other McCain gives a useful roundup of links pertaining to the DHS asshattery that considers all conservative opposition to the Obamagenda as "terrorism". (You may already be on the TSA watchlist JUST FOR READING THIS LJ, BWAHAHAHA!) And so R. Stacy McCain hits the road for Alabama with this song blaring from the speakers. (You were expecting "Bohemian Rhapsody"?)

And in honor of the term's creator, I repost this repost in which Our Dear Leader announces his newfound nukular capability. (Moe Lane) :D

Speaking of the neighborhood's Evil Giraffe, feast your eyes on this:


Unrelated: Camille Paglia has a nice selection of letters in the mailbag this month, with topics ranging from Obama's stumbles and the epic ineptitude of liberal talk radio to that movie where the ship sinks. (Instapundit). Speaking of women I love for their minds, the soon-to-be-remarried Ann Althouse spanks Barney Frank for his sneering dismissal of Justice Antonin Scalia as a "homophobe", which says more about Frank's political ambitions than it does about his knowledge of the law. (Instapundit). GayPatriot also takes Frank to the woodshed over his angry response to a questioner at Harvard. (Instapundit)

I've seen this kind of defense budget before, and eventually it means people like me getting killed because Democrats keep forgetting that you need a big stick to back up the soft speaking. Tom Donnelly gives the breakdown. (Ace)

Because there are a few non-anime related things I miss about Minnesota, I link to Tommy Mischke's eulogy for Steve Cannon. Rest in peace, Steve. WCCO became duller by orders of magnitude when you hung up the mike for the last time. (Mitch Berg)

The Imperial March played on what looks like a mutant Van De Graaf generator. (Ace)

"Even Maureen Dowd is goofing on Teleprompter Jesus." Worth it for the photoshop alone.

Think we dodged a bullet by not electing Sarah Palin VP? How's that working out for you?
Includes link to Jon Stewart ripping Obama for the utterly retarded "make vets pay for their own combat injuries" plan.
(Ace)

Related: Milblogger COB6 calls for General Shinseki (now head of the VA, for those of you scoring at home) to resign in protest. (Ace)
Also,

Oh, look! Fannie Mae execs are getting bonuses too! Just like AIG! No wonder the politicians are doing the backpedal. Can it be time for Chuck Grassley to open his belly nao? (Instapundit)

Speaking of Jon Stewart, guess who's got a Wall Street connection in the family? Pot, meet kettle. (Instapundit)

On a less vitriolic note, the Other McCain hands out useful advice to bloggers and other writers*, and informs us that Miss Virginia is shaving her head for cancer. More amusement -including a really filthy joke at the expense of David Brooks- at his blog.

*Aside from his awesome guide to getting a million hits on your blog, of course.

(h/t Iowahawk, who has a serious post about the human cost of the environmentalist movement. Thanks a lot, Rachel Carson.)

The Speaker and the Pope: How it might have gone. The Ford F650 XUV: Just the thing for the zombie apocalypse. Also, Libertarianism not welcomed by Conservatives in the UK. (The Corner)

Elsewhere, Michael Goldfarb slaps the New York Times for getting catty about Politico's business model. Quoted FTW: "Exit question: which newspaper's business model consists of handouts from a shady Mexican oligarch, a tapped-out credit line, and a new mortgage on their office space. Hint: It's not Politico."

Awesome profile of Colonel Cesar Rodriguez in The Atlantic by Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down), which includes a solid military & economic reason for fully funding the F-22 Raptor. Of course, the problem with deterrence is that it's hard to prove that nobody wants to pick a fight because your pilots and planes are so superior they might as well just become an hero before even suiting up to take off.

Taking the first step in proving to those morons in Fairfax County that I don't live in their bailiwick (no matter what the DMV says) set me back $10 today when i got my driver's license corrected. I have a good mind to send the fuckers an invoice for this, and sue them in small claims court if they don't pay up.

P will be pleased to hear that there's a sequel to Cyteen out. The library also had a copy of Flint & DeMarce's 1635: The Dreeson Incident and The Sayings of Chairman Bill (Buckley, not Gates). Speaking of the late WFB, I see that the library appears to have the complete set of Blackford Oakes novels. I should take a look at the later novels; having been enthused by Saving the Queen, I was promptly turned off by the much darker Stained Glass and never went back. Well, we shall see. For now, it's time to get ready for the night job.