Read:
Did you think that the creepiest of fundamentalists couldn't get any creepier? Think again...
... “Quiverfull,” a conviction that Christian women should birth as many children as God gives them as a means of “demographic warfare” ...Hey guys, let's treat our daughters as a means to dominate political discourse! Is this the best mix of ( Read more... )

I continue to have no life.

The continued bailout is upsetting.

• Treasury Secretary overstepping his authority to stealthily rewrite tax code and give banks large breaks
• More money for AIG on easier terms
• Bloomberg has yet to hear back about what kind of securities are serving as the $1.5x1012 collateral on bailout loans; Freedom of Information ( Read more... )

You might not have heard, but the $700 billion dollar bailout involves hiring financial companies in order to conduct important parts of the plan. Bank of New York Mellon will be running auctions for distressed assets, for example. How much is the government paying them? Hard to say. bailoutsleuth.com has a copy of the contract between the ( Read more... )

A while ago I posted about the China-U.S. trade interdependence. One idea that has occurred to me again and again is that the slowing of the U.S. economy will weaken demand for Chinese products and probably lead to increased unemployment. Well, that idea wasn't wrong: Factory Closure in China a Sign of Deeper PainClearly there's some pain ( Read more... )

For your consideration: a piece about crews sent to clean out possessions left behind in foreclosed homes and house inspectors cleaning up deserted, algae-filled pools.

The house that they show still had lots of usable things, some of them rather valuable. It also had a big pile of family photographs lying on the ground. The owner of the company ( Read more... )

Politics:
To the Presidential Candidates and the American People: a letter about that $53 trillion dollar hole
Party in Power, Running as if It Weren’t: Republican party working from its strengths, obfuscation...
The Resentment Strategy: ... and malice.
Charles Barkley: I'll vote for him... if I'm an Alabama resident in 2014.

Economics:
Main Bank ( Read more... )

Nikon just announced the D90, a camera with a sensor very similar (12 Mp) to the D300 that I rented that's one half the price. This raises the probability that I'll drop the cash for one of them doohickeys.

Nuclear decay rates of certain elements vary with our distance from the sun? I think science is at its most interesting when you have an ( Read more... )

Thanks to many for birthday wishes.

So, the weekend before my birthday I rented a nice camera and gear and hit Old Rag to try to get some nice sunset / moon / sunrise pictures. There are a lot of pictures, although many are slight variations in exposure on the same moonlit or sunrise frame; there are also some pictures of a kitten, the Rotunda, ( Read more... )

and lived to tell the tale.

I am ready for a vacation. My back has been hurting and I pulled my left hip flexor, so I haven't played frisbee in a week. I had my back x-rayed and have to wait to hear results-- the discomfort is minor, but it's been very persistent ( Read more... )