This is the open thread before the book thread for all non-book stuff.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 06:48 AM | Comments (26)
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The Hunger Games summarized in just under two minutes.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 02:46 PM | Comments (371)
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[We Politely Request That All Off-Topic or Political Comments Be Directed to the Thread Directly Below This One, Which Will Serve Officially as the Current "Active Conversation" Thread for All Discussions Not Related To This Topic.

-- Sincerely, the Fascist MGMT]

Welcome again to the Spaced-Out Challenge. Whether you have a question about a scope, a new astronomical discovery you want to expand on, or just want to kick back and enjoy the cosmos above, come one come all on our weekly journey through space and time.

This week, we hold our collective breath as Comet ISON nears its destiny Thanksgiving Day, when it will pass just a million miles above the scorching solar surface. As it has moved out of our sight, a delightful arrangement of the brightest planets greets amateur and expert alike. Read on and I'll show you! more...

Posted by: CAC at 02:01 PM | Comments (47)
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So there is breaking news that we have reached a deal with Iran on their nuke program. I'm pretty sure I've seen this movie before (see Nork deal with Clinton) and know how it's gonna end. This is nothing more than another short distraction from Obamacare as we really didn't gain anything from this deal (although the media makes it sound like this is awesome!). Tune in next week when Obama gives anti-ballistic missile secrets to Russia for some peanuts.

Why Obama can't wave away the Obamacare clusterfark.

So, if you want to understand the blindness and arrogance of the Obama White House in failing to appreciate the wave of rage and disappointment and disgusted wonderment that would hit them in the wake of the ObamaCare rollout, you need only consider these factors.

He has always had the protection of his liberal base.

He has always had the protection of Senate Democrats, who have not acted in any way to trouble him regarding these scandals and who have impeded aggressive investigations into them.

And he has always had the protection of the mainstream media.

As a result, Barack Obama and his administration have said what they felt they needed to say and done what they felt they needed to do for immediate political gain.

I'm still willing to bet that there were more reporters in Alaska covering Palin in 2008 than have been assigned to all the scandals in the Obama White House. more...

Posted by: CDR M at 05:53 PM | Comments (717)
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If you're not into college football or Dr. Who.

Posted by: rdbrewer at 08:45 AM | Comments (99)
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[Open thread below.]

It's today, Dr. Who's 50th anniversary special, Day of the Doctor, starring Matt Smith, David Tenant, and John Hurt. It will also be shown simultaneously in 3-D in over 1500 theaters all over the world.

Moffat, along with Matt Smith and Jenna Colman, attended the official Doctor Who anniversary celebration at London's ExCel on Friday.

The three-day event, which is being attended by 8,000 fans a day, features appearances from Doctor Who stars from all eras of the series.

Smith told fans during a question and answer session that Steven Moffat's anniversary story "added to the mythology" of Doctor Who.

Billie Piper is returning as Rose.

It starts at 2:30 p.m. Eastern with a live pre-show. The Day of the Doctor starts at 2:50. You might check the schedule where you are, since it's all Dr. Who all day on BBCA. more...

Posted by: rdbrewer at 08:47 AM | Comments (186)
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Top 25 in action today:

12:00 ET: (13) Michigan State at Northwestern
12:00 ET: Memphis at (21) Louisville
12:00 ET: Citadel at (7) Clemson
12:00 ET: (20) Oklahoma at Kansas State
1:00 ET: Coastal Carolina at (11) South Carolina
2:00 ET: Chattanooga at (1) Alabama
3:30 ET: (5) Oregon at Arizona
3:30 ET: Idaho at (2) Florida State
3:30 ET: (12) Texas A&M at (22) LSU
3:30 ET: Indiana at (3) Ohio State
4:00 ET: California at (9) Stanford
4:00 ET: New Mexico at (15) Fresno State
7:00 ET: (17) Arizona State at (14) UCLA
7:45 ET: ( Missouri at (24) Ole Miss
8:00 ET: (4) Baylor at (10) Oklahoma State
9:30 ET: (23) USC at Colorado

AoS College Top Ten Standings:

Knightbrigade - 123
Jay in Ames - 119
BigBoy - 114
Boyz in da Hoodies - 112
Syrias You Guys - 109
Gator Nation - 109
The Douchebag Collective - 108
WVhokie - 107
MikeTalley73 - 107
Murph - 107

Posted by: JohnE. at 08:13 AM | Comments (74)
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[Update - Andy]

Reminder about next week's podcast ...

Programming Note: Given the holiday next week, we thought we'd mix the podcast format up a bit and answer reader questions instead of booking a guest, talking about the latest Obamacare clusterf***, etc.

This is where you come in.

If you have any thoughts/questions/comments/advice/requests related to the blog, send them to me at andy+asktheblog AT aoshq DOT com.

Send all other comments, hate mail, etc. to Gabe and/or Drew who apparently came up with this cockamamie idea. more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 03:06 AM | Comments (437)
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Welcome back, once again, to the girl-version of Car Talk where you'll find lots of links and pretty pictures without any of that axle grease ickiness.

Union news:

Say goodbye to UAW-free foreign car manufacturing in the South as VW Chattanooga and the UAW push for a "German-style" works council. Of significance; In Germany, unionization by IG Metall allows for negotiation of both blue-collar AND white-collar workers. I hope the workers think better of it.

American engineering:

The Cadillac Volt can be yours for a meager $76k, a little less than the Tesla Model S. Talk about burning through money...

Cutting out the middle-man:

Car sales through vending machines. Yes. Vending machines.

Consider the poor auto salesperson: the source of much mistrust, the butt of countless jokes. Most of us tend to keep anyone who works on commission at arm's length, but car salespeople are flat-out loathed. In fact, a recent study showed that car salespeople are the least trusted profession in America ranking even below members of Congress. Ouch.
How can that perception be changed? Dealerships could do away with commissions and bonuses, for starters. Or they could follow the lead of a company called Carvana and get rid of salespeople altogether.

Top Gear:

They consider the dilemma of the old folk and set out to create the Jitterbug of cars. You must tune in for Parts 2 & 3 as well.

This week in elbows:

Keeping it clean.

And, for the moronettes:

McDreamy and his need for speed.

Another mellow cruising tune:

Sing it, Glen. more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 12:20 PM | Comments (232)
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Are you sick of JFK coverage yet? Well, me too. I promise this isn't too JFK-y and it sort of touches on some of the themes Ace described below.

There's an interesting story I wasn't aware of until recently and it's a bit of a major component in JFK assassination conspiracy theories. This is the man known as the "Umbrella Man". As the story goes, he was the only man to be carrying an umbrella on the route. As JFK's limo approached him, he opened the umbrella up, lifted it in the air and spun it as JFK passed. After the shots rang out, the man sat on the sidewalk until ultimately getting up and walking in the direction of the book depository. Here's the thing: that all actually happened.

Seems a little off, no? This specific part of conspiracy theories seems to endure simply because if presented with the question, "What was he doing there?", it's difficult to come up with a non-nefarious answer. It was a warm, sunny day in Dallas. There was no need for an umbrella, and yet the man made a point to open it up and make a show of it.

The mind drifts towards conspiracy.

The most common belief is that the Umbrella Man "signaled" the shooter(s) that it was safe to take the shot. At that point, depending on your favorite theory, JFK was shot by a number of people in buildings, the grassy knoll or hiding in the sewer grates by people aligned with either mobsters, illuminati or aliens. There are some wackier theories (sliding scale, I suppose) about a hidden gun being built into the umbrella.

I don't think it was touched on directly in Oliver Stone's JFK, but they do allude to it being part of the plot when Donald Sutherland's "X" character discusses it with Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) and says "we never would have allowed a man to open an umbrella on the route". Those of you familiar with the X-Files might remember the Cigarette Smoking Man, the shows running antagonist, being involved in the assassination of Kennedy with the Umbrella Man signaling by moving the umbrella up and down to the shooters.

There is a reason the man did this, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the death of JFK. After rumors persisted and theories abounded, the man finally did come forward to testify to The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on Assassinations in 1978. His name was Louie Steven Witt and he waved the umbrella in protest of John Kennedy's father, who was a supporter of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain was well-known for frequently carrying around a black umbrella.

In today's era, I think we'd call that a well-researched and obscure troll. But, coupled with the assassination and lingering questions and investigations, his rather bizarre display seemed to fit some sort of deeper plot. It's interesting that it still persists even though the man publicly testified 35 years ago. That part of the story is indeed "solved", and yet it makes its way into places like a major Oliver Stone picture and the X-Files years later.

The New York Times put together a short mini-documentary that's quite interesting on the Umbrella Man. Definitely give it a look.

Posted by: JohnE. at 03:29 PM | Comments (127)
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