ALBERTA OIL SANDS: Yes we can!

NICE WORDS: A reader emails: “Your coverage of the post election period is almost making things fun which would otherwise have been depressing. Wonderful.”

Well, we have to take our fun where we can find it — or make it. And while I favored McCain as the lesser evil, since the election his camp has been working overtime to make sure I don’t feel too bad about his loss. Thanks, guys!

Meanwhile, instead of moping that “we blew it,” I’d encourage Republicans and others on the right to look to the future and figure out how to advance the cause of small government and liberty. As a first order of business, I’d suggest focusing on Congress. Unlike Obama, the Democratic leadership is already serving, and already screwing up. Chris Dodd alone should provide endless entertainment, and opportunities to point out dishonesty, hypocrisy, and malfeasance. Can we see just how low they can take Congress’s approval ratings?

Then there’s Joe Biden. They can’t keep him under wraps forever! And once he’s out of the Senate, can we please try to repeal his dumb R.A.V.E. Act?

So be of good cheer. There’s useful stuff to do, and fun to be had doing it. This is the blogosphere — if you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong!

FIRST PICTURES TAKEN of extrasolar planets.

LAME DUCK is what?

THE JOYS OF 1970S CHEVROLETS: (And other GM cars). The Grand Prix pictured looks a lot like the 1973 model that Doug Weinstein had in college — he got it used from Ernie Grunfeld.

MICHELE CATALANO: Obama’s Call for Community Service Is Not Marxism.

Meanwhile, here’s Rahm Emanuel from 2006 on the Civilian National Defense Corps. I’d like to hear the whole interview, though, not just these excerpts.

THE CARNIVAL OF THE VANITIES is up!

“CURING” H.I.V. with bone marrow transplants? I hope this pans out.

JOHN MCWHORTER: What Obama Means For Black America. Among other things, “The studious black teen will no longer be tarred as ‘thinking he’s white.'”

POPULAR MECHANICS: Top Ten Startup Car Makers. Given how the Big Three are doing, it seems like a good time to start something different.

WILL OBAMA BE trapped by the budget deficit? Along with the rest of us . . . . .

FOR UNDER 69 BUCKS, actual, working night-vision goggles. Where were these things when I was a kid?

ERIC SCHEIE says there’s an IQ war, and Republicans are losing it. Also, I’m a “himbo.”

IS BEING A POLITICIAN a personality disorder?

HMM: Come 2009, U.S. tax credits will exist mostly for large, low-MPG hybrids.

CHALK ONE UP FOR THE FALLEN ANGELS SCENARIO: Earth would be heading to a freeze without CO2 emissions. “Scheduled shifts in Earth’s orbit should plunge the planet into an enduring Ice Age thousands of years from now but the event will probably be averted because of man-made greenhouse gases, scientists said Wednesday.”

THE MEDIA’S IMPACT on public perception of disease.

FLYING ACROSS AMERICA in a biodiesel-powered plane.

MASSACHUSETTS PORK IN MEXICO: But is that a good thing, or a bad thing? A new episode of PorkBusters On Patrol.

UPDATE: Um, I think some people are missing the joke here. Try watching it again . . . .

THE WORST IS NOT BEHIND US: A not-very-cheerful take on the economic situation.

ABUSE RAMPANT AT celebrity charities. Say it ain’t so! (Via TaxProf).

ERIC S. RAYMOND: Net Neutrality: What’s a Libertarian to Do? “OK, so if the telcos are such villainous scum, the pro-network-neutrality activists must be the heroes of this story, right? Unfortunately, no. . . . The only substantive threat to the telco monopoly is bandwidth that has been removed from the reach of both the telcos and their political catspaws in the regulatorium.”

WARREN BUFFETT: Estate Tax Hypocrite.

BAILOUT-MANIA HAS GONE OVER THE TOP: Calif. Speaker’s solution for state deficit: U.S. taxpayers chip in billions.

I’ve got a better idea: Try living within your means.

UPDATE: Bailout Lacks Oversight Despite Billions Pledged; Watchdog Panel Is Empty; Report Is Unfinished.

ANOTHER UPDATE: At what point does Atlas shrug? “The anger and resentment at bailing out Wall Street, Detroit, etc. isn’t going to be dampened by the belief that nearly half of Americans won’t be doing much bailing at all.”

HOW TO Build Your Own Bazooka. Gosh, I’ve been reading Anthony Lewis for years without seeing this side of him . . . .