CRYING “FOUL” on the Digital TV transition. Still no word on Gerard Salemme’s role.

MATTHEW YGLESIAS on payroll tax cuts: “It seems that J.M. Keynes himself thought this was a good idea. And, indeed, it strikes me as indefensible that a stimulus package featuring hundreds of billions of dollars of tax cuts doesn’t include any FICA provisions.” Yes, Greg Mankiw has been making the same point.

UPDATE: More here.

MY EARLIER POST on the Roku Netflix viewer produced this email from reader Christine Lanzon: “Thanks for recommending Roku Netflix viewer. I hadn’t heard of it until I read about it on Instapundit, and I ordered it the same day for my bedroom TV, a smallish HiDef set that I didn’t want to hook up to cable if I could help it. It is small, had clear directions, set up without hassle, and works as advertised — and the remote comes with the batteries included! That made me fall in love.” Jeez, I guess I should get one myself. If it’s good enough for Jim Treacher, after all . . . .

IS IT A GOOD TIME TO BUY A CAR? A look at dealer incentives.

CAR LUST: The joys of the first-gen Toyota MR2.

MICHAEL GREENSPAN ON THE STIMULUS: “This monstrosity of a bill, and the assumptions underlying it (e.g., ‘Politicians are wiser than non-politicians,’ ‘Citizens don’t own what they earn,’ etc.), are making me consider joining the Republican Party.”

Plus, from Harvard economist Robert Barro, interviewed in The Atlantic: “This is probably the worst bill that has been put forward since the 1930s.”

BIG HOLLYWOOD: Superheroes?

HOW TO save on prescription drugs.

OBAMA’S “INNER EASTWOOD?” A man’s gotta know his limitations.

CLICK FOR A PREVIEW OF THE NEW, IMPROVED INSTAPUNDIT!

TOM MAGUIRE: Now Consent Is The Highest Form Of Patriotism?

UPDATE: Everything Bush is Obama Now!

STUDYING AGING BY LOOKING AT how identical twins wrinkle.

AN “INADVERTENT” LEAK FROM THE U.S. ATTORNEY:

Not until you reach well down on the jump page do you learn this interesting little detail: “The U.S. attorney’s office inadvertently sent the confidential document, a defense sentencing memorandum filed under seal, to The Washington Post after the newspaper requested the prosecution’s sentencing memorandum.” Inadvertently sent what was supposed to be a sealed document to the Post? Yeah, sure, and the Post will sell you the Brooklyn Bridge real cheap, too.

Is anyone in the U.S. Attorney’s office going to lose their job over this? Will the Obama DOJ launch an investigation to make sure this wasn’t politically motivated? What would the Post and others have said if this had happened to, say, Howard Dean, during the Bush administration?

Well, that would have been a sign of incipient fascism. Er, I mean another sign . . . .

DAN CLEARY: The “Stimulus” Bill Remains Mind-Boggling Waste of Money We Don’t Have.

IOWAHAWK: Dead Hobo Reporting Glitch Claims Another White House Appointee.

Well, big deal. I mean, who doesn’t have those problems crop up now and then?

AUTOBLOG: Oregon introduces bill to ban aftermarket car parts.

OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS prevent clogged arteries in mice.

MCCLATCHY: Results in on Obama’s grassroots appeal: It’s a bust. “Few supporters are answering President Barack Obama’s call for nationwide house-party gatherings this weekend to build grass-roots support for his economic stimulus plan.”

PROBLEMS WITH MICHAEL STEELE reported in the Washington Post. At least he paid his taxes.

TAKE YOUR MIND OFF TODAY’S TROUBLES at LikeTotally80s.com.

PETER WALLISON: Origins of the financial crisis. Reader Richard Samuelson writes: “If government removes requirements and pushes banks to lower standards, is that ‘deregulation?'”

THE RECESSION: Bad news for golddiggers?

IN THE MAIL: From Joe Carter and John Coleman, How to Argue like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History’s Greatest Communicator.

HARTFORD COURANT: Senator Dodd Disappoints:

Countrywide was a central culprit in the subprime mortgage meltdown. Mr. Dodd was a ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee when he closed on his loans with Countrywide in 2003. (He’s currently the committee’s chairman.) Countrywide had a powerful incentive for trying to sway senators from a harsh view of its lending practices. And while Mr. Dodd apparently assumed he wasn’t getting special treatment as a customer of Countrywide, he didn’t ask the right questions, either.

Executives at Countrywide, on the other hand, clearly intended to give the Dodds a good deal. The couple were told they qualified for the company’s “VIP” program. Documents for both loans were scrawled with the letters “FOA,” a reference to Friends of Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide’s chief executive at the time.

Read the whole thing. Dodd hasn’t managed to bury this story.

PHYSICS VS. MEDICINE in the stimulus bill.