A BANK RUN, only without the banks. “Mr Weber told fellow central bankers and economists at the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium that the only difference between a classic banking crisis and the turmoil under way in the markets is that the institutions most affected at the moment are conduits and investment vehicles raising funds in the commercial bond market, rather than regulated banks.”

ATTACK OF THE BABY HATERS.

HURRICANE FELIX is now a Category 5.

STEPHEN GREEN CALLS this article by Robert Kaplan “the best article you’ll read this summer.”

IT’S A DIPLOMATIC TRIUMPH — if it actually pans out: “North Korea agreed in weekend talks with the United States to fully account for and disable its nuclear programs by the end of this year, negotiators said on Sunday.”

WAR MOVIES, THEN AND NOW: What changed, I wonder?

Related thoughts from Mickey Kaus.

And, okay, it’s only semi-related, and I’ve linked this piece on Hollywood before, but if you missed it, it’s worth reading.

UPDATE: From the comments to the first post: “Perhaps we need an X-Prize for any studio that can create a pro-US war movie about any war after WWII.”

NICK GILLESPIE: “With the possible exception of the Republicans, is there a major political party more stupefyingly brain-dead than the Democrats? That’s the ultimate takeaway from The Argument, Matt Bai’s sharply written, exhaustively reported and thoroughly depressing account of ‘billionaires, bloggers, and the battle to remake Democratic politics’ along unabashedly ‘progressive’ (read: New Deal and Great Society) lines. Well-financed and influential groups ranging from the Democracy Alliance to the New Democrat Network to MoveOn.org may be taking over the Democratic Party, he says, but they are not doing the heavy thinking that will fundamentally transform politics — unlike the free-market, small-government groups formed in the wake of Barry Goldwater’s historic loss in the 1964 presidential race.”

Meanwhile, Bai’s book doesn’t seem to be very popular with the netroots crowd.

DEATH SPIRAL: Property tax bills soar as services fall. This is the inevitable result of a bloated and inefficient public sector. I doubt that Deval Patrick will do anything much to de-bloat it, though.

UPDATE: Heh.

TWO MORE WRONG-HOUSE NO-KNOCK RAIDS: There needs to be a much, much higher price for this sort of mistake.

A LOOK AT THE CATERHAM SUPER 7, complete with video. “The top-of-the-line Caterham Seven CSR60 comes with a 260-horsepower Cosworth four-cylinder–propelling the Seven to a claimed 0-60 time of 3.1 seconds and a top speed of 155 mph.”

WHY IS CUBA SO POOR: Jonathan Adler notes some omissions in a New York Times story: “Nope, despite the gratuitous mention of the free education and health care available in Cuba, no mention of ‘socialism,’ ‘collectivism,’ or ‘Communism,’ as having any effect on Cuba’s economy. Nor is there any mention of Cuba’s notorious (but apparently not notorious enough) ‘Neighborhood Committees for the Defense of the Revolution,’ nor, relatedly, what, the ahem, disincentives might be for failing to ‘show one’s patriotism,’ though the author does acknowledge that at least one Cuban refrigerator-owner doesn’t feel free to speak openly. And, for the uninitiated, Cuba is not actually economically isolated from anywhere but the U.S., it just doesn’t sell much of anything that anyone wants to buy.”

TALKING NUCLEAR AND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, with Sen. Lamar Alexander and Reps. Zach Wamp and Heath Shuler.

KATIE COURIC: If I report good news, it must mean I’m gullible! Er, or something like that.

UPDATE: Reader Patrick Graham emails: “Would that Dan Rather had been so sceptical about the submissions fed him about Bush or that Katie show the same scepticism on other topics.”

HOUSING PRICES MAY BE FALLING IN SOME SECTORS, but not here:

It might seem foolish given the recent news from Wall Street, but a group of homeowners is holding firm on an ambitious goal — to break the record for the most expensive home sale in American history.

The price to beat is $103 million.

Two years ago, at the peak of the real-estate boom, only a handful of homes in the U.S. had ever been listed for $75 million, let alone $100 million. Even the highest residential sale to date — investor Ron Baron’s $103 million purchase earlier this year of a 40-acre compound in East Hampton, N.Y. — was never publicly listed. The deal was so secret that the brokers weren’t named.

There are five contenders for the current prize, including a Beverly Hills compound once owned by William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies that’s listed for $165 million; the Aspen home of Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, which has been visited by the past three U.S. presidents ($135 million); and an estate overlooking Lake Tahoe with a staircase modeled after the one aboard the Titanic (a dark horse at $100 million). All have come on the market since summer 2006.

Good luck, guys. Er, I guess.

TWO CREEPS IN THE MEN’S ROOM.

EDWARD GOREY’S ADAPTATION OF The Trouble with Tribbles. (Via Making Light).

NOAH SHACHTMAN IS BLOGGING FROM IRAQ: “Meet the new defenders of the city of Fallujah. For years, the Marines have been trying to behead the insurgent hydra that’s been terrorizing the people here. Now, they’ve got a plan that, for the moment, seems to be working. Attacks on American troops are way down; the streets are relatively clean; men are sitting around in outdoor cafes.” Let’s hope it lasts.

MICKEY KAUS looks at Bush’s immigration strategy.

MEGAN MCARDLE on plausible futures. At least we were spared the predicted jumpsuit craze.

ECLIPSE OF THE RED MOON: “On August 29, the same day a rare astronomical event treated millions to the celestial spectacle of the eclipse of a red moon, Jose Maria Sison, founder and chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), were arrested by Dutch authorities at his home in Utrecht, The Netherlands.”

SHAOLIN MONKS VS. NINJA TROLLS: So far, I’d give the advantage to the trolls.

FELIX IS NOW a hurricane and a threat.

GOOD ADVICE ON COLLEGE PRANKS: If at all possible, involve a cow.

WHITHER THE ANTI-TOTALITARIAN LEFT? Indeed.

JAPAN’S secret aircraft carriers.