Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down...

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 03:08 AM | Comments (153)
Post contains 22 words, total size 1 kb.

Rick Perry and the New GOP Litmus Test

Jonathon Last has some thoughts on Perry's debate vapor-lock and the race in general. But he also points out that even before this Perry may have run afoul of the GOP's new - but unspoken - litmus test:

Unless the conversation changes between now and the convention, it would seem that immigration has replaced abortion as the key ideological litmus test in the Republican party. Now, maybe thatÂ’s just a function of the candidates needing a club to beat Perry with and immigration being the best-available weapon. But maybe itÂ’s a more foundational shift. If the latter is the case, then this is a real tragedy for conservatism.

Also: Police Now Clearing #Occupy Portland
Now I can't guarantee there'll be any hippie punching, but the odds do seem better than usual. And popcorn is never really wasted. You can watch it live here.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 05:00 PM | Comments (581)
Post contains 727 words, total size 7 kb.

Can the Walking Dead redeem itself? Jonah Goldberg voices his displeasure.

Over/Under for the number of zombies that appear in this episode: 3. Place you bets.

AMC's newest show, Hell on Wheels is a story of revenge set during the construction of the transcontinental railroad. If you missed the first episode, you can see it here.

I thoroughly enjoyed the season premier and especially enjoyed Ted Levine's character. I just wish they could have worked in the line, “It rubs the lotion on it’s skin.”

[Update: From buzzion in the comments The Walkie Talkie Dead]

Posted by: Open Blogger at 04:35 PM | Comments (111)
Post contains 97 words, total size 1 kb.

Ace says there is a big story breaking about corruption in Congress. He's on a shuttle and can't post. It's on 60 Minutes. Looks like Breitbart is involved.

And Breitbart sent out this tweet earlier:

In next few hours I will be calling for prominent, powerful congressperson to step down. Do pay attention, @MMFA, @EricBoehlert!
11/13/11 5:39 PM

Get the popcorn ready.

Update: 60 Minutes Overtime has more. Also Bloomberg.

Update: More from Big Government. And here is what Breitbart was teasing:

Step down, Rep. Spencer Baucus (R-Al)! You are a disgrace. http://bit.ly/tKPOr3 MORE DETAILS COMING AT @BIGGOVT | @MMFA @ericboehlert #OWS

From the Big Government piece:

In early 2008, Nancy Pelosi and her real estate developer husband, Paul, were given an opportunity to buy into a Visa IPO. It was a nearly impossible feat–one that average citizens almost certainly could never achieve. The vast majority of purchase opportunities went to institutional investors, large mutual funds, or pension funds.

Despite PelosiÂ’s consistent railing against credit card companies, on March 18, 2008, the Pelosis bought between $1 million and $5 million (politicians do not have to report the exact amounts, only ranges) worth of Visa stock at the IPO price of $44 per share. Two days later, the stock price rocketed to $65 per share, yielding a 50% profit. The Pelosis then bought Visa twice more. By their third purchase on June 4, 2008, Visa was worth $85 per share.

Much more at the link. more...

Posted by: rdbrewer at 02:29 PM | Comments (483)
Post contains 257 words, total size 2 kb.

Yes, we apparently have all of our other problems solved.

“Our goal is nothing less than to survive the apocalypse to come in comfort and luxury,” said Pink Visual spokesman Quentin Boyer, “whether that catastrophe takes the form of fireballs flung earthward by an all-seeing deity, extended torrential rainfall, Biblical rapture, an earthquake-driven mega-tsunami, radioactive flesh-eating zombies, or some combination of the above.”

If you love your family like I love mine, you'll be sure to invest in this critical venture. For posterity.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 01:19 PM | Comments (66)
Post contains 93 words, total size 1 kb.

Post yer jibber-jabberin football stuff here, you people with yer book-learnin, shoe-wearin ways ya.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 08:25 AM | Comments (626)
Post contains 18 words, total size 1 kb.

I haven't bought any new books recently as I'm still working through my vast backlog. I did receive a book I ordered some time ago: Engineering the Financial Crisis: Systemic Risk and the Failure of Regulation by Jeffrey Friedman and Wladimir Kraus. It was recommended to me by one of my old finance-industry pals who now works in academia (boo!). It'd better be worth it -- the damn book set me back $45.00!

I should be getting my new Kindle Fire sometime in the next week. The tech industry is buzzing with speculation on the impact the Kindle Fire (and the new B&N Nook Color) will have. I personally think the uptake of these gadgets will be driven more by the variety and availability of digital content (especially movies) than pure cost; even these days lots of people can afford to buy a device like this as long as there's a reason to own one. I plan to use my Fire to watch streaming video and web-surf more than to read books (the black-and-white Kindle will still be better for reading straight text, I think). And when I'm traveling for pleasure rather than business, I'll probably take the Fire instead of a laptop along.

Finally, a request for you book-reading Morons out there: does anyone know when the third volume of Rick Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy (after An Army at Dawn and The Day of Battle) comes out?

Posted by: Monty at 05:47 AM | Comments (92)
Post contains 243 words, total size 2 kb.

"A man should be upright, not be kept upright." -- Marcus Aurelius

Posted by: Monty at 05:32 AM | Comments (195)
Post contains 20 words, total size 1 kb.

So, with all the recent saber rattlin' going on in the Middle East lately, are you guys ready for the real life version of Persian Incursion? I had no idea that this game was out there. Larry Bonds developed this game so I imagine it's quite good and realistic (his work on Harpoon was outstanding). Danger Room published an article about what they learned from playing the game: Six Lessons I Learned From Bombing Iran.

Posted by: CDR M at 06:12 PM | Comments (1111)
Post contains 520 words, total size 6 kb.

#OccupyEndZone will be on my TV tonight, but if you're interested, there's a foreign policy debate on CBS tonight at 8pm Eastern.

Also, word on Twitter is that the Denver police are cracking down on Occupy Denver, so Ace, Gabe and the rest of the BlogCon attendees should have some good stories.

Helpful suggestion for Denver P.D. below the fold. more...

Posted by: andy at 03:38 PM | Comments (959)
Post contains 74 words, total size 1 kb.