This is an open thread to talk about stuff not on the book thread.

Below the fold is a real Obama campaign poster: more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 06:47 AM | Comments (32)
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Good morning morons and moronettes and welcome to the wonderfully witty and urbane Sunday Morning book thread.

Back when I was a yoot, the wife of the high school math teacher ran a little bookstore in the small town where I lived. I used to go in regularly after school and see what was there, and occasionally buy a book or two. Some of the books I still have. Like this one. Packed full of old school science fiction stories that are absolute classics. It is amazing how many of these stories I can't forget to this day, and how many are still around in one form or another:

I am still haunted by Twilight by John W. Campbell as he travels to the far future and the decline of the human race. Arena by Fredric Brown was, of course, made into a Star Trek:TOS episode and featured one of the the cheesiest monsters ever, including that cheesy "mugatu" creature from another TOS episode that made the old Dr. Who effects look sophisticated and well-made. I believe C. M. Kornbluth's The Little Black Bag was a Night Gallery episode. It's a Good Life by Jerome Bixby is a very famous Twilight Zone episode with pre-Lost In Space Billy Mumy as the scary little kid. And don't forget Flowers for Algernon, which the movie they made of it back in the day (Charly) didn't quite do justice to. And this despite Cliff Robertson doing a pretty good job as the main character.

All of the stories in this volume are good, but I think my favorite is The Cold Equations, which still brings tears to my eyes every time I read it. I have a vague memory it was filmed as part some 'Outer Limits' type sci-fi anthology series back in the 80s, but I don't know which one, and I'm too lazy to look it up.

Also, this book was where I got my first taste of Roger Zelazny (A Rose for Ecclesiastes).

They did a sequel a couple of years later which had the precursors of Avatar (Call Me Joe), The Thing (Who Goes There?), and Idiocracy (The Marching Morons)

And the story Vintage Season is dream-like and spooky and definitely not to be missed.

My favorite stories from the third volume in the series are The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster, another creepy story of man's decline, In Hiding by Wilmar Shiras and The Moon Moth by Jack Vance, an ingenious portrayal of an alien culture.

I've read these books so ofter that the covers are falling off, so I really need to buy some replacement volumes at some point.

So if you want to read some good, honest science fiction written before 'Star Wars' screwed it all up, I heartily recommend these books.

That's about it for this week. I found another old school sci-fi image that I thought was absolutely gorgeous, but it's too big for the main page, so I stuck it below the fold:
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Posted by: Open Blogger at 06:30 AM | Comments (126)
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Travel-sized.

Posted by: andy at 04:32 AM | Comments (307)
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Y'all might want to go outside tonight and check out the Perseid Meteor Shower. Tonight is supposed to be the peak but will go through 13th. Supposedly, North America is in a prime position this year for some real good views in the hours just before dawn. Sadly, that means most of you morons will be passed out and miss it.

You can watch it live here at the NASA Stay 'Up All Night' Chat link at 11pm EST. more...

Posted by: CDR M at 06:45 PM | Comments (843)
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The political press and President Obama alike claim they want a campaign about big ideas, an adult debate about policy differences. Now theyÂ’ve got it in spite of, not because of, Barack Obama. With Ryan on the ticket, the debate should no longer be about contraception and the deferred cancer-causing capabilities of Bain investments. It will be about the budget and the $16-trillion debt, the unsustainable trajectory of the federal government and the promises itÂ’s already breaking to generations to come. It will be about Simpson-Bowles and a federal government that hasnÂ’t even bothered to pass a budget since before the iPad existed. It will be about how four years of grossly increased spending has stimulated us into the worst recovery in American history, unless you happen to be an Obama donor or crony. It will be about how creating new entitlement programs cannot possibly fix the ones that are already broken. And, it will be about whether we value an ever more dependent society or an ever more successful one.

-- MKH.

And, via Allah, liberal wonk William Saletan is just delighted with the Ryan pick, and not at all in the cynical way you're thinking.

Not high-fiving the pick like the White House is supposedly doing, because it's so easy to demagogue. But because...

Why I Love Paul Ryan

HeÂ’s what a Republican should be: an honest, open-minded, solution-oriented fiscal conservative.

By William Saletan

A wonderful thing has happened for this country. Paul Ryan will be the Republican nominee for vice president.

Ryan is a real fiscal conservative. He isnÂ’t just another Tea-Party ideologue spouting dogma about less government and the magic of free enterprise. He has actually crunched the numbers and laid out long-term budget proposals. My liberal friends point out that RyanÂ’s plan leaves many details unclear. ThatÂ’s true. But show me another Republican who has addressed the nationÂ’s fiscal problems as candidly and precisely as Ryan has. HeÂ’s got the least detailed budget proposal out there, except for all the others.

Ryan refutes the Democratic Party’s bogus arguments. He knows that our domestic spending trajectory is unsustainable and that liberals who fail to get it under control are leading their constituents over a cliff, just like in Europe. Eventually, you can’t borrow enough money to make good on your promises, and everyone’s screwed. Ryan understands that the longer we ignore the debt crisis and postpone serious budget cuts—the liberal equivalent of denying global warming—the more painful the reckoning will be. There’s nothing compassionate about that kind of irresponsibility.

Maybe, like me, you were raised in a liberal household. You donÂ’t agree with conservative ideas on social or foreign policy. But this is why God made Republicans: to force a reality check when Democrats overpromise and overspend.

...

Screw the polls. Republicans will be on the right side of the spending debate. TheyÂ’ll be on the right side of the substance debate, too. Instead of bickering about RomneyÂ’s tax returns and repeating the obvious but unhelpful observation that the unemployment rate sucks, weÂ’ll actually have to debate serious problems and solutions. ThatÂ’s great for the country.

...

IÂ’m voting for Obama. But four years from now? In a stronger economy, with a runaway debt? And Ryan at the top of the ticket? ThatÂ’s awfully tempting.

Posted by: Ace at 05:45 PM | Comments (318)
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Every now and then, we hear about incredible acts of bravery; acts that defy belief because of any of a number of reasons. This is one of those stories.

IÂ’d like to introduce you to four-year-old Xander Vento. His story is below the fold.

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Posted by: Open Blogger at 04:41 PM | Comments (92)
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And, they claim, relatively light governmental experience.

Just House Budget Chairman. No big deal.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden has been a public-sector worker his whole life, and so has Obama, except for that year he spent undermining his employer, an "international business consulting firm" (i.e., a super-cheap newsletter).

For one thing, Ryan has no significant private-sector experience. Besides summer jobs working at McDonald’s or at his family’s construction company, or waiting tables as a young Washington staffer, Ryan has none of the business-world experience Romney frequently touts as essential for governing. In the run-up to his first campaign for Congress, in 1998, that gap was enough of a concern for Ryan that he briefly became a “marketing consultant” at the family business, an obvious bit of résumé puffing.

But Ryan’s Washington experience is also light, at least for a potential President—which, after all, is the main job description of a Vice-President. Ryan has worked as a think-tank staffer and Congressman, but he’s never been in charge of a large organization, and he has little experience with foreign policy. Given how Sarah Palin was criticized for her lack of such experience, I’m surprised that Romney would pick someone whose ability to immediately step into the top job is open to question.

The balls.

Romney: Too experienced in capitalism.

Ryan: Not enough experience in capitalism.

Obama: The sweet spot. -- Walrus Rex

Posted by: Ace at 02:43 PM | Comments (386)
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Apparently the Junior League damsels at Jezebel got the vapors over an NBC Olympics ad called "Bodies in Motion" and pitched a fit so NBC pulled it.

Something to do with that naughty, naughty guitar rhythm.

NBC. Objectifying female Olympians since this past Thursday.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 11:41 AM | Comments (544)
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New ad. Moar Ryan.

Paul Ryan's greatest hits.

UPDATE [lauraw]: Another Paul Ryan video, below the fold. more...

Posted by: JohnE. at 10:06 AM | Comments (360)
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from @johnekdahl

Posted by: Ace at 07:05 AM | Comments (642)
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