Some tools have the idea that the Mona Lisa is really a self portrait and they plan to prove this with Leonardo's skull.

Yea, go with that.

In other news, of a slightly less creepy/deranged nature:

Uranus might have oceans of liquid diamond. It would exist at 40 million earth atmospheres pressure though, so you can forget about mounting any sort of Uranus "diamond rush" expeditions any time soon. OTOTH, if we sent a small probe and dropped a US flag into the atmosphere, maybe we can use this diamond ocean as collateral to borrow a few more bucks from China.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 10:10 AM | Comments (142)
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Stone was in Bangkok to give a lecture to high school students on the role of film in peace-building as part of a visit organized by the Vienna-based International Peace Foundation.

He said the aim of his documentary, which two historians are helping him with, was to offer a fuller understanding of the 20th century and how some of those lessons may be relevant to President Barack Obama in 2010.

The lessons to be learned? Bankers and the Military are evil.

the German dictator [Adolph Hitler] was ''enabled by Western bankers'' and managed to ''seduce'' Germany's military industrial complex.

source - NY Times (I believe Ace doesn't do NY Times links but it's in the Arts section)

I think Obama has already learned those lessons, so the only secret really is why they keep letting this guy make films?

more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 08:27 AM | Comments (274)
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Over the weekend another 'moderate' Democrat, Marion Berry of Arkansas, announced he's retiring.

According to Berry, Obama tried to assure him and other 'moderates' that they can continue to vote for his unpopular plans and that everything will work out in the midterms.

“They just kept telling us how good it was going to be. The president himself, when that was brought up in one group, said, ‘Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.’ We’re going to see how much difference that makes now.”

Yeah, they've got him alright...hanging around them like an albatross.

Let's take a quick look at the scoreboard in the recent spate of elections: Obama shows up in NJ, VA and MA, the Democrats go down.

In the one election the Democrats won (NY-23) Obama didn't show up and the candidate said he would oppose the House health care bill (that turned out to be a lie but still).

It's pretty clear a lot of young and minority voters will show up to vote for Obama but not for other Democrats. It's also clear a lot of other voters (one might call them "bitter clingers") took a chance on Obama and are regretting it.

If the environment is the same come this fall, we'll see a lot of Obama on the campaign trail but it will likely be in safe districts or ones so far gone they are willing to go for the Hail Mary of a presidential visit. But the tight races? Incumbents aren't going to want to be within 5 miles of the guy.

Credit: Slublog

Oh my: Obama, "I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!"

Posted by: DrewM at 07:42 AM | Comments (197)
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NEW YORK (CBS) Porn star Alexia Moore might offer a "lesbian defense" when confronted with evidence that she offered to have sex with a man for $5,000, a Manhattan district attorney said in court Wednesday.

...

Quick-thinking Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Daryl Reed noticed that many of the x-rated movies Moore has taken part in were of a Sapphic nature, and wanted to make sure that those in the courtroom realize that she also likes men.

Quick thinking may equate to porn connoisseur and biggest fan, but really that's just speculation on my part. I'm sure he watched all those hours of porn to prepare for trial.

On the other hand, if he can prove a hobo kill and pull a bottle of valu-rite from his desk maybe we should offer him a moron card. It might be handy to have a friend on the inside.

Meh pic at link

Posted by: Open Blog at 07:21 AM | Comments (38)
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For all the talk of Obama as a thoughtful genius with a world class temperament, the guy relies on a handful of 'safety blanket' type devices. From the ever present ToTUS, to rhetorical ticks like "As I've always said", "Let me be perfectly clear" and, "This (fill in the blank) is unprecedented", Obama has a limited range of tricks to communicate his message and the thrust of his actions.

None of these however is more ubiquitous than blaming George W. Bush. It had become such a crutch that last week Obama was still saying "the last 8 years", as if the first year of his administration hadn't happened (at his disastrous Ohio town hall he changed it to "the last decade", which includes a year of Clinton and Obama but whatever). Seems though people (well, Democrats) are finally noticing and the act is getting old.

This fall, said Democratic strategists, their clients must be more strategic about if and when to play the Bush card — and do so only if their opponent has an actual personal or political connection to the former president that can be explained to the electorate.

“It’s got to be highly relevant,” said pollster Joel Benenson. “It has to be done in a way that’s not gratuitous and on issues that affect people’s lives. You can’t just brandish [Bush’s image] and wave it like a pennant.”

“Voters are smart about this,” added pollster Geoff Garin. “There’s got to be some credible relationship, either in terms of how they voted or [in terms of] specific policies that they’re supporting now.”

ItÂ’s not, Garin continued, one size fits all, but for some GOP candidates, the line of attack still carries some promise. He cited Rep. Roy Blunt, a House majority whip in the Bush years who is now running for a Missouri Senate seat, and former Rep. Rob Portman, who served as BushÂ’s budget director and is now running for the Senate in Ohio.

“Those people were really present at the creation, and making the case against them as helping to create the Bush economy is still very powerful,” Garin said.

During the Bush years, however, Sen.-elect Scott Brown was practicing law in Wrentham, Mass., and serving in the state Senate.

So when Democrats, realizing in the raceÂ’s final week that they were in danger of losing the seat previously held by Ted Kennedy, rushed up ads depicting Brown as being a Bush clone, it had little effect.

They’re “linking me to people I don’t even know!” Brown exclaimed in the days leading up to his election.

So what exactly do Obama and the Democrats have to run if not the evil memory of George W. Bush? There's the failed, and increasingly unpopular stimulus plan, that's wasted hundreds of billions of dollars. The wildly unpopular heath bill and a divergence between what people want in the way of dealing with terrorists and the administration's policies.

Yeah, I'm guessing they are going to stick with blaming Bush. It may suck but it's the best option they have.

Posted by: DrewM at 07:15 AM | Comments (80)
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The Big Ewok is gonna be away from the computer for some of today. Open Bloggers, now's the time.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:53 AM | Comments (50)
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Even giving away $8,000 isn't enough to re inflate the bubble anymore.

Sales of previously occupied homes took the largest monthly drop in more than 40 years last month, plunging far deeper than expected after lawmakers gave buyers extended time to use a tax credit...

...Sales had been expected to fall by about 10 percent, according to economists...

Buyers were no longer scrambling to qualify for a tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time homeowners. It had been due to expire on Nov. 30, but Congress extended the deadline until April 30.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 06:40 AM | Comments (106)
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There was some confusion about this yesterday but now it's official...Biden is out of the Senate race.

Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden announced this morning that he will not run for the United States Senate in 2010. He said that instead, he will run for reelection as attorney general.

Biden said he wants to turn his attention toward protecting children from child predators. In a statement, Biden said, "One of the primary reasons I ran for Attorney General was to protect the most vulnerable among us: children. As the father of two young children, I can think of no worse crime than those committed by child predators. It is why one of my first actions and top priorities as Attorney General was the creation of the Child Predator Task Force.

"The idea that any child can be a victim of abuse is horrific. The fact that it has engulfed an entire community is unspeakable. The pain and trauma suffered by the children, their parents, and the families, can't be measured. But justice can be done. And I am determined to see that it is.

"I have a job to finish. And that's what I must do."

Um, ok.

Obviously protecting children is important but I'm pretty sure in that battle Beau Biden is not the irreplaceable man. I'm guessing the fact that it's going to be a year where Democrats are going to be blown out and suddenly the Biden name ain't all that, even in Delaware, likely had more to do with it. Whatever.

Congressman Mike Castle is the Republican who represents the seat in the House and he is running against, um, no one at this point.

Charlie Cook had this race as a toss up before this announcement. It'll be interesting to see if he changes his outlook in light of this decision.

About the confusion over the weekend...Sheriff Joe let the cat out of the bag and probably forced today's announcement. He's a genius, I tell you, a genius.

How great would it be if the Republicans pick up both Obama's and Biden's old seats this year?

Posted by: DrewM at 05:57 AM | Comments (73)
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Monday. Aargh.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:10 AM | Comments (125)
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Final call for the weekend - make these last few hours count - focused moronicity is key here.

Oh and somehow the idea that the ONT is a politics-free zone has gotten started which is not the case. It is an open thread after all. But it often happens that after a particularly active day the morons are politic-ed out and feel like talking about shoes, bacon, and other moronic topics. And that's just fine.

Obama Needs a TelePrompter to Speak to a 6th Grade Class
Kinda sad really. But I guess it better than uh-ing and stammering his way through a feel-good pep talk for kids. I once knew a guy who had to read from a script for even simple phone calls but in that case his excuse was that he had Asperger's syndrome.

Update: Apparently the teleprompter was set up for a presser held afterwards. Still I'm inclined to show as much charity to Obama as the left gave to Bush i.e. none. And even if it was for a presser, needing a teleprompter is still kind of embarrassing. We're talking about giving a prepared statement and answering a few questions here, not the Gettysburg Address.

Posted by: Open Blog at 05:53 PM | Comments (791)
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