TO SAVE GAS, SHOPPERS STAY HOME AND CLICK: “Online shopping is gaining at a time when simply filling up a gas tank to head to the mall can seem like a spending spree. A number of retailers — including Gap, Victoria’s Secret and J. C. Penney — are experiencing double-digit sales growth at their shopping Web sites, creating a surprising bright spot during an otherwise gloomy time for sales in brick-and-mortar stores. . . . Lately Nichelle Hines, an actress in Los Angeles, has been shopping online for everything but gas itself — pet supplies, books, DVDs, water filters, kitchen appliances, a dress, her favorite health drink and materials to build a voiceover booth so she does not have to drive to a recording studio.”

I do a lot of my shopping online now — especially what with the free shipping — and it not only saves me hassle, and money on gas, it also saves me money because it reduces impulse purchases. Go to Target to buy something and I inevitably seem to buy a bunch of other stuff. Go to Amazon and order it and I usually don’t order anything else. Judging by the email I got on this earlier post, I’m far from alone. And here are some related thoughts on why telecommuting and online shopping are good for the environment.

CATERINA FAKE: Some charming things about my father.

BRENDAN LOY WILL BE HURRICANE-BLOGGING AT PAJAMAS MEDIA as the Weather Nerd. Here’s his first post.

CANADIAN KANGAROO COURT UPDATE: Rex Murphy goes after them. “The really funny joke in all of this, however, is not going to come of out the mouth of any comedian. It is the dreary fact that comedians are the latest targets of Canada’s human-rights commissions. Did you ever in your wildest dreams see heckling as the subject of a human-rights inquiry?”

Tar. Feathers.

YESTERDAY I MENTIONED PROBLEMS WITH NASA’S ORION SPACECRAFT, and I have to say I agree with this guy, who wants to see NASA working on the original Orion design instead. Bring it on! (Some earlier thoughts of mine on that subject are here and here).

IN THE MAIL: This Universal Package Opener, which promises “no more ‘Wrap Rage’ when trying to open your items.” I immediately put it to work on some clamshell packages (I hate those) and it opened them easily. Not bad.

OBAMA TRAVELS TO AFGHANISTAN. “Details of his itinerary in the war zone were kept closely guarded for security reasons, but the Illinois senator told reporters before leaving Washington on Thursday that he hoped to spend much of his time listening to military commanders and Afghan and Iraqi leaders, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, to gauge conditions in both countries.”

That’s a good idea. Related item here.

UPDATE: Obama arrives in Afghanistan.

A SIGN OF RECESSION? In Hamptons, Slump Means Less Glitz Per Gala. “All along the East End of Long Island, a string of beach towns that represent a sort of New York version of the French Riviera, fund-raisers and their topiarists are suffering through a limp summer.” Still, “it might be too early to call this the East End’s summer of austerity.” Cool photo, though.

WILL HUMANITY SURVIVE THE 21ST CENTURY? Ron Bailey posts a second report from the Oxford Global Catastrophic Risks conference. “All of the biggest risks, the existential risks are seen to be anthropogenic, that is, they originate from human beings.” This analysis may, of course, stem from a lack of data, imagination, or both.

HOW GREEN WAS MY CONSENSUS? Tom Maguire notes that the APS “consensus” on global warming was always weaker than generally appreciated. “If the sacrifices demanded by environmentalists will reduce global warming by 8% rather than 80% will people still support them? The APS position remains unchanged and uninformative.” Plus, why this is good for Obama.

BITES FROM THE APPLE: A roundup of Apple news from all over, with, this week, an emphasis on the 3G iPhone’s teething problems.

My question: Is it — unlike the original iPhone — a workable blogging tool? Can you cut-and-paste?

THE FACE OF poverty in America. It’s a face that’s made for radio . . . .

THE PUNCHLINE IS, “BECAUSE I’M A SCORPION:” Democratic Party Unity Proves Elusive at Netroots Gathering.

SO WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? I fall asleep during Conan O’Brien all the time.

LAST NIGHT I CAUGHT A FEW MINUTES OF From Gs to Gents, and while I admire the sentiment, I don’t think the material is up to the goal. Good grief. On the other hand, that Fonzworth Bentley can be presented as “the ultimate gentleman” is — well, maybe — a tribute to American progress.

WITH ALL THE TALK FROM PELOSI ET AL. THIS WEEK, IT’S WORTH REMEMBERING JAY LENO ON ANWR DRILLING: “Leno’s punchline: Democrats say drilling in ANWR wouldn’t produce any oil for 10 years — the same point they’ve been making for more than 10 years now. President Bill Clinton vetoed legislation in 1995 that would have opened ANWR to oil exploration.” It would be nice to have some extra oil coming on line about now.

A DEPRESSING CHART from Peter Robinson.

JIM LINDGREN: “Personally, I would prefer that, should Obama clearly pivot on what to do in Iraq, he not be attacked by either the left or the right for flip-flopping, but rather commended for responding to new realities. After all, he is likely to be President, and the earlier he takes a more mature position on the war, the likelier he is to stick with it. Indeed, that Obama has been so slow even to begin changing his position is a worrisome sign.” So the biggest problem for Obama is that he hasn’t flip-flopped soon enough!

Thank God I’m not running for President.

WELL, GOOD: Oil prices slide for a fourth straight session.

MCCAIN CLAIMS VICTORY IN IRAQ.

JERRY POURNELLE EXPLAINS THE WORLD:

The purpose of modern government is to take money from the folks who save and pay their bills and live within their means, and use that to hire government workers; and to keep their power by using the money to buy votes from those who do not save and pay their bills and live within their means. And of course the money comes from those who work and save and pay their bills and live within their means — who else will have any money for the government to take?

Or am I unduly cynical? But you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Stay tuned.

MY EARLIER LINK TO STEVEN DEN BESTE ON ALTERNATIVE ENERGY reminds me of this column on silver bullets.

THOUGHTS ON seasteading and constructed sovereignty.

GENES AND DIET: “If you have the right version of GSTM1 there is good news and there is bad news. The good news is that you can reduce your risk of prostate cancer and other diseases by eating broccoli. The bad news is that you really ought to be eating broccoli.”