A LOOK AT subdivision wildlife. Interesting discussion in the comments. I see deer in my neighborhood pretty regularly, and saw an eagle the other day.

IN LIGHT OF THE CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES, some disaster preparedness reading: Amanda Ripley’s The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes – and Why.

Ripley also has a blog.

UPDATE: Reader Debbie Eberts writes:

Glenn, I’ve read Amanda Ripley’s book. It’s interesting, but a little dry. I also recommend “Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why” by Laurence Gonzalez. In it, he looks at more individual cases. For example, 4 people trapped on a raft in the middle of the ocean, why only two survive. Gonzalez’ theory is how your brain responds to severe stress will determine your likelihood of survival. The people best able to endure are those that can bifurcate between their logic and their emotion and not let the emotion overcome the logic. I’m not doing the book justice – it’s a fascinating look at survival and also why seemingly intelligent people do seemingly stupid things when they are in a crisis. (Hint: from their vantage point, it does not seem stupid at all). Thanks for all your great work!

Thanks! I think I posted something on that a while back.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Ah, yes, here.

THE RETAIL SUPPORT BRIGADES ARE OUT IN FORCE!

In Pigeon Forge with the family to take advantage of the fact that no one is supposed to be shopping this year. Everyone else had the same idea. It’s packed.

Heh. Plus, from the comments: “All of the shopping plazas around here have been crazy packed, too. It’s very odd.” Probably all the deep discounts from retailers worried that no one would be shopping . . . .

DONE HAGGLING: Iraq’s Cabinet Approves Security Pact with U.S.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE? Genetic Redesign for Longevity.

WHY WE SHOULDN’T BAIL OUT THE AUTOMAKERS: “That beeping sound you hear this week is the semi-truck being backed up to the Federal Treasury in Washington. After being filled with taxpayer billions, it’s on its way to Detroit.”

MEDIA, HEAL THYSELF: For the second straight week, Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell tackles perceptions and realities of political bias at the paper.

FROM FAUSTA, more on the Mexican drug wars.

HOPE AND CHANGE! “I’m actually beginning to think had Hillary won there would be fewer Clinton retreads coming on-board.”

Plus, from The New York Times: “The selection of Mr. Emanuel and other veterans of President Bill Clinton’s administration to run the transition stood in contrast to Mr. Obama’s message about finally moving beyond the Clinton era.”

UPDATE: Well, at least there won’t be a bunch of Skull-and-Bones types running things. Oh, wait . . . .

ANOTHER UPDATE: Dan Riehl thinks the Clintonista influx is a good thing, and I agree. It’s just not very changey.

PROFESSOR BAINBRIDGE: “Disgraced former NY Governor (and john) Eliot Spitzer actually has the gall to offer a WaPo op-ed opining on how to fix the financial crisis. In the old days, people who did what he did had at least the decency to quietly fade away. In the more recent days, they at least had the decency to wait a reasonable amount of time before trying to rehabilitate themselves. But not Spitzer. Not these days.”

He doesn’t think much more of Spitzer’s recommendations than he does of Spitzer . . . .

RAYMOND CHANDLER REVISITED: The fires are back.

LIVING WITHOUT MONEY: A report from Iceland’s financial meltdown. (Via Seeking Alpha).

TIGERHAWK: Do Not Bail Out the Detroit Three.

UPDATE: Saving Detroit: An Investment in Future Failure.

A “NATIONAL MALAISE” SPEECH, even before the inauguration?

NEW YORK TIMES:

President-elect Barack Obama has imposed stricter conflict-of-interest restrictions on his White House transition team than any president before him. But a list of transition team members that his office made public on Friday includes a complicated tangle of ties to private influence-seekers.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss . . . .

JACK LAIL: Newspaper execs: This is not a fire drill.

OBAMA “VOTES PRESENT” ON CABINET PICKS: “Is he exercising caution or once again avoiding difficult choices?” I think he’s got a while yet.

THE EYECLOPS BIONICAM: A portable electronic microscope for under fifty bucks. Why didn’t they have stuff like this when I was a kid?

SOREN DAYTON: How the Democrats Facebooked Their Way to Victory.

A STIMULUS: Rangel Plans Push to Cut Top Corporate Tax Rate to 28 Percent. “New York Representative Charles Rangel said he’s revising his tax overhaul proposal to reduce U.S. corporate tax rates to 28 percent, down from the current rate of 35 percent. . . . Only Japan has a higher marginal corporate tax rate among developed nations, the Treasury Department said last year. When state taxes are factored in, U.S. corporations pay about 39 percent on their last dollar of profit.”

THE WORLD’S FASTEST SCIENTIFIC SUPERCOMPUTER is now in Oak Ridge.

A NEW OUTBREAK OF McCarthyism?

MEXICO: Worrying Signs from Border Raids, according to Stratfor. I hope that those troops we’ll soon be able to bring back from Iraq won’t have to put their counterinsurgency and urban-warfare skills to work closer to home . . .

RUNNING UP A $5 Trillion Bailout Tab?

A LIST OF Christmas toy recommendations. With some video of toys in action.