Co-blogger Andy has done us all a solid and created the Ace of Spades Amazon Store. In Andy's own words:

The Amazon links help support the blog via a sales commission model. There's no price difference for purchases through the links on the blog and purchases made by going directly to Amazon's site.

There are 3 primary ways we're using this:

1) The search box in the sidebar: Any product search run from there that results in an order being shipped will be credited to Ace. The product can be placed in the shopping cart and purchased later (up to 89 days) and subsequent searches run from a session started at Ace's will also count.

2) Direct product links: Examples include the 100-watt lightbulb sticky ink in the sidebar and links in the book thread. Same rules on ordering as the search box.

3) The AoSHQ Amazon store, where we'll feature certain items based on current events (e.g., "Throw Them All Out") and general interest to the Moronosphere along with collections of book thread titles. Again, same rules on ordering as the search box.

So whenever you buy something from Amazon by using the search-bar on the right or the custom Ace o' Spades storefront, Ace gets to wet his beak a little bit at no cost to you. And keeping the Godfather happy will prevent him from sending Luca Brasi over to have a little chat with you.

On the book front, Stephen Hunter's newest novel Soft Target is now out. I haven't read it yet, but I've definitely put it on my stack. Hunter's one of the best thriller-writers around. Point of Impact is one of my top 20 favorite novels ever, and Pale Horse Coming is a huge amount of fun.

By the way, the guys over at the Power Line blog snagged an interview with Hunter, if you're interested.

What's everyone else reading?

UPDATE: I'm setting up a GMail account for people who'd like to either pimp their own book or mention one that they'd like to have featured in the book thread. You can also send requests, suggestions, death-threats, professions of undying love, and routing numbers to Swiss bank accounts to this address: aoshqbookthread AT gmail DOT com. If I get a good response I'll do a feature next week solely on Moron authors and reader recommendations.

Posted by: Monty at 05:56 AM | Comments (83)
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The cover for Lindsey LohanÂ’s Playboy has been leaked. ItÂ’s amazing what makeup, lighting, different camera lenses, and photoshop can do. She almost looks attractive in that photo.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 06:33 PM | Comments (435)
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Looks like it's Newt's turn as Not Mitt for this one. Which is ironic as hell, given that they're both slightly-smaller-big-government (at best) technocrats. The biggest difference between the two appears to be that Mitt doesn't blurt out every dumb idea that passes through his brain while Newt shouts them from the mountaintops.

Oh, well. At least they're both Not SCOAMF.

If the shoddy state of the race is enough to leave you wanting a second look at Huntsman, you'll have to wait. He didn't make the cut for tonight's debate, which begins at 9pm Eastern. That's "9", as in "9-9-9", which also won't be on stage.

The debate, which will be moderated by ABC’s Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos, takes place on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines — in a state where voters will gather less than a month from today to kick off the process of selecting the Republican nominee.

To watch, tune into any ABC television station across the country or log on for a live-stream on ABCNews.com, Yahoo.com, MyABC5.com, and DesMoinesRegister.com. And look for special coverage and analysis tomorrow on “This Week” with Christiane Amanpour.

Sawyer and Snuffalufagus, huh? Amanpour must've been too busy filling out her Careerbuilder profile to complete the ABC trifecta of suck tonight, but at least you can join her tomorrow for what will hopefully be among the last of her turns as host of This Week.

Dear ABC,

That is all.

Sincerely,

Everyone

OK, on with the master debaters. Here are some suggested drinking words:

• China


• Ethanol


• Mandate


• Subsidy


• Federal Reserve (by anybody but Herr Doktor Paul)


• Silver dimes

Standard reminder: Your comments do not automatically display. So don't ask "Why aren't my comments displaying?" They don't display.

They're not posted comments a la chat room. Instead they go to queue, which the producers (cobloggers) read, and we post them, by hand, if we think they make a good point.

Liveblog thingy below the fold. more...

Posted by: andy at 04:48 PM | Comments (479)
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We'll be liveblogging the debate at 9, but I guess otherwise it's a low-blogging day.

Posted by: Ace at 02:20 PM | Comments (263)
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Kind of overstated, eh?

Posted by: Ace at 12:06 PM | Comments (284)
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They outed (or purported to out, at least) a Perry pollster who actually didn't like that "Strong" ad. And called him a "faggot" on Twitter.

I'm tired of Stalinists and blackmailers, personally But if GOProud's sick of "faggots," that's their deal.

Breitbart's resigned from their advisory board.

It is with sincere regret that I announce I must step down as a GOProud advisory member. On numerous occasions I have spoken with Jimmy LaSalvia and Chris Barron of the significant impact the practice of “outing” had in my evolution from the political left to the right. I was under the absolute impression that both agreed. I have a zero tolerance attitude toward the intentional infliction of vocational and family harm by divulging the details of an individual’s sexual orientation as a weapon of political destruction. As an “Advisory Board member” I was not consulted on this extreme and punitive act. Clearly, there are more productive means to debate controversial ideas and settle conflicts. Therefore, I cannot in good conscience stand with GOProud. I still stand by gay conservatives who boldly and in the face of much criticism from many fronts fight for limited government, lower taxes, a strong national defense as well as the other core conservative principles.

Posted by: Ace at 10:59 AM | Comments (220)
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Back in November 2010, PPP found Huckabee and Romney to be the strongest contenders vs Obama. CNN confirmed it Nov 4th, releasing a poll that had Huckabee leading Obama 52 – 44 percent, and Romney leading 50-45. Over the course of late 2010/early 2011, Huckabee decided against running, while Romney remained a contender for the White House.

The candidates who were running in the last cycle, who have had longest amount of time to leave an impression on the public at large, polled the strongest. When Obama is at his weakest, these "de facto" options polled great. When Obama has had a good week, even Romney's numbers have sunk.

Romney's strong polling is more of an effect of his being a "default Obama alternative" for much of the voting public, as opposed to an actual preference. When the other candidates this cycle have hit their stride, they too had decent numbers. Their deficit to Obama would shrink, sometimes besting the President. Perry was matching Romney nationally in performance before his debate stumbles. Cain was approaching Romney levels in Nevada, Ohio, Florida and North Carolina before the gaffes and affairs. Now we are seeing polling out of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida which show Gingrich's numbers against Obama have improved month-to-month as he has risen in the primary, besting Obama by 1 in the Buckeye state.

Yes, it is possible that Romney may have support amongst independent voters the other candidates currently lack in bluer states, but that doesn't mean the rest of the field can't do the same given a few months on the campaign trail.

Romney polls strongest against the President. He damn well should- he's been running against him for four fucking years. The question shouldn't be why the rest of the field runs so poorly- but why Romney's numbers against the President haven't improved.

I have posted constantly about Pennsylvania. Reviewing all the polling data, the Romney-Obama hypothetical there hasn't budged. Romney started this cycle tied with the President there, and he remains so. Romney remains deadlocked with the President. It is a great position to start at (within the margin of error in Nevada, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and if that FD poll is to be believed, New Jersey). But failing to move those numbers towards you over a full year?

I think a lot of you suspect I have been pushing Romney by constantly citing the polling data being pumped out by various firms, almost all of it showing Romney with a clear advantage over his Republican counterparts against the President. The only thing I care about at this point is beating President Obama. I could frankly care less if it was a homeless guy who smelled like an occupy encampment. Romney has been a Republican default option for years. In a way, he is the "generic republican" we joke about that always wins hypothetical battles. The eventual nominee should see his numbers equal Romney's as he becomes the alternative heading into the general.

The President is facing abysmal approval ratings in most of the purple states and even the light-blue ones. Figure out who in these states are most inclined to vote against the President, find a nominee who will effectively connect with them, and you've got the White House. No "RINO" necessary.

Posted by: CAC at 08:23 AM | Comments (203)
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"Peaceful."

Boston’s police commissioner, Edward Davis, said 46 people were arrested during what he said was “by and large” a peaceful eviction.

If I felt like it I could make a racism claim here. 46 arrests of white people, and the liberal administrative state calls it "by and large peaceful."

Would 46 arrests at the dispersal of an impromptu, permit-less rap concert all also be deemed "by and large peaceful" by the very liberal, and yet also very racist, Boston police powers?

Police officers arrived shortly before 5 a.m., dragging tents out of the camp and warning the roughly 75 protesters who had stayed the night there that they would be arrested if the did not leave.

You know what this article needs? Some emotion that conveys the drama of the conflict being reported.

“The first thing I heard was the sound of a knife ripping through a tent,” said Mike Hipson, a demonstrator who stayed through the night.

Oh there you go.

via @allahpundit.

Posted by: Ace at 07:00 AM | Comments (142)
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Army-Navy game today. Other than that, the college football landscape's pretty bleak until the bowl games kick off in earnest.

Remember the AoSHQ college football bowl pick 'em. Instructions from Dave:

Go to the Yahoo Sports Fantasy thing, pick Join a Group, Groupid is 17838, password is paulanka

Confidence points, like last year. You assign the highest level of points to your best picks.

Also, if you're doing on-line shopping, Christmas or otherwise, don't forget the Amazon thingy in the sidebar.

Posted by: andy at 04:34 AM | Comments (221)
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So, EW Magazine writes Republicans vs Democrats TV: Lefties Want Comedy, Right Wingers Like Work and I gotta call BS on this. Especially after seeing what shows they are calling comedies. Saturday Night Live? Pfft. That stopped being funny decades ago. David Letterman? Was he ever funny? One other big problem with this list, it has South Park as one show that Republicans hate the most. Seriously? So how did the shows you like fare?

Posted by: CDR M at 05:32 PM | Comments (863)
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