Archive for 2008
October 12, 2008
TEST-DRIVING the new Volkswagen Scirocco. My friend Doug Weinstein had one of the first-gen Sciroccos back in college, and it was a great car.
I JUST REALIZED I NEVER COMMENTED on Connecticut’s decision legalizing gay marriage. I think it’s probably defensible for reasons laid out in this article of mine and Dave Kopel’s, but for a lot of reasons I really think it would be better if this sort of thing were done legislatively.
HOPE, CHANGE, AND MOLOTOV COCKTAILS. “While the media obsesses over a couple of isolated comments at McCain/Palin rallies, the angry left is busy throwing Molotov cocktails at McCain supporters. . . . If this were the other way around, there’d be 24/7 network coverage about how our democracy is endangered.”
TOYOTA IS REPORTEDLY CONSIDERING making the Prius a separate brand. Makes sense.
IN THE MAIL: William Hitchcock’s The Bitter Road to Freedom: A New History of the Liberation of Europe.
THE CARNIVAL OF SPACE is up!
RISE OF THE MACHINES: Was the financial crisis caused by too many computers?
ANN ALTHOUSE: “Is that what Women’s Studies teaches these days — inane snobbery? And when did throwing up become the preferred form of elite expression?” Interesting discussion in the comments.
ANDREW KLAVAN IN THE WASHINGTON POST: “Hollywood used to be called the Dream Factory, but nowadays it seems to be grinding out as much propaganda as anything else. . . . Hollywood moviemakers, in other words, have been telling lies — loudly, constantly and almost always in support of a left-wing point of view. And these lies are most prolific and tenacious when the Hollywood left is lying about itself.” Read the whole thing. I’d just like to see them make Total Eclipse. Fat chance . . . .
IN THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, John Kass on Obama and Ayers:
Turn on the TV news when John McCain is picking up undecided voters by invoking Barack Obama’s relationship with unrepentant American terrorist William Ayers and, invariably, some liberal talking head will sniff in disgust and say Ayers is no big deal where Obama comes from.
Unfortunately, that’s true. Ayers is a terrorist. But this is Chicago.
Obama and Ayers are neighbors and they worked together on school issues with the same foundation. Obama’s political coming-out party was held in Ayers’ living room when Obama was running for his first political office.
And the boss of Chicago is Mayor Richard Daley. Mayor Shortshanks has thrown his protective embrace around both men. These are facts.
Read the whole thing. And note where the PR money has gone.
MORE PROBLEMS FOR THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Newspapers Weigh Alternatives to AP. “AP is going to lose newspapers, it is a question of how many.”
LOTS OF INTERESTING economic charts.
DISPATCHES FROM THE cold civil war.
JOHN TIERNEY: The Drug Czar’s Report Card: F.
One potential upside of an Obama Administration might be a throttling-back of Drug War idiocy. On the other hand, Biden’s been one of the Senate’s biggest drug warriors.
October 11, 2008
THE CITY OF EMBER: A movie review.
NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE? So we’ve had nearly 8 years of lefty assassination fantasies about George W. Bush, and Bill Ayers’ bombing campaign is explained away as a consequence of him having just felt so strongly about social justice, but a few people yell things at McCain rallies and suddenly it’s a sign that anger is out of control in American politics? It’s nice of McCain to try to tamp that down, and James Taranto sounds a proper cautionary note — but, please, can we also note the staggering level of hypocrisy here? (And that’s before we get to the Obama campaign’s thuggish tactics aimed at silencing critics.)
The Angry Left has gotten away with all sorts of beyond-the-pale behavior throughout the Bush Administration. The double standards involved — particularly on the part of the press — are what are feeding this anger. (Indeed, as Ann Althouse and John Leo have noted, the reporting on this very issue is dubious). So while asking for McCain supporters to chill a bit, can we also ask the press to start doing its job rather than openly shilling for a Democratic victory? Self-control is for everybody, if it’s for anybody. . . .
UPDATE: Well, here’s an opportunity to see how they do.
Plus, days of rage.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Hey, it’s not my rage. Remember, I lack fire. “Reynolds, at his most, barely reaches the level of mildly peeved.”
A DO-IT-YOURSELF ELECTRIC PICKUP TRUCK: “For two weeks, Lawrence has driven the truck he converted to electric power on Madison County roads. Each night, the truck is plugged into an outlet in his garage and the batteries are charged for eight hours. By the morning it’s juiced up and ready to run between 60 and 80 miles that day. . . . Lawrence estimates he was spending $100 a week on gas before the conversion.”
THINGS THAT DON’T SUCK (CONT’D): This Universal Package Opener, which I mentioned a few months ago, is still going strong and the Insta-Wife in particular loves it. It does work well, though in a way that’s just underscored to me how irritating many packages are. Should you need a special tool just to open the stuff you buy? Why do manufacturers love those superthick clamshell packages?
ADVICE TO BLOGGERS: how not to get a link. Heh. I’ve had similar correspondents . . . .
AN EMBARRASSING BALLOT MISPRINT: “Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s last name is spelled ‘Osama’ on hundreds of absentee ballots mailed out this week to voters in Rensselaer County. he misspelling, which elections officials on both sides of the aisle insist was simply a typo, is causing embarrassment for the county.”
THOUGHTS ON the way people think about aging.
NEW SPACECRAFT TO explore Interstellar Boundary.
TRAILER PARK: A collection of new movie trailers.