Tuesday, November 25 (Updated)

• We Have Become A Nation Of Thieves

  "James Madison, the father of our Constitution, was horrified when Congress appropriated $15,000 to help French refugees. He said, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."

• Resist the impulse to "do something" about the pirates: Information Dissemination: Are Pirates the Problem, or the Solution? "There are no significant US business interests threatened by Somali piracy, Somali piracy does not represent even a minor economic threat to the United States."

• But, if you can't resist, remember the number 1 rule for a gunfight: "Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns."

• Yet another indulgent food fetish that the recession should put an end to: Salt Food Guide - Portfolio.com Connoisseurs claim additives give table salt a bitter, chemical flavor. So they are seeking out regional, hand-harvested specialty salts that come in a kaleidoscope of shapes and colors.

• Listen and/or download: Bob Dylan/Johnny Cash :: 1969 Sessions - Aquarium Drunkard Recorded throughout 1969 on three separate occasions, these recordings mark an important historical collaboration between two American poets/musicians.

• Because the Thanksgiving meal just isn't rich enough! Turbaconducken (Turducken Wrapped in Bacon) @ Bacon Today

• What we know so far. The design of the universe | Video on TED.com "Astrophysicist George Smoot shows stunning new images from deep-space surveys, and prods us to ponder how the cosmos -- with its giant webs of dark matter and mysterious gaping voids -- got built this way."

• Oz Conservative: The failure of liberal modernity: four proofs

  "What, for instance, was voted the most influential piece of modern art by the British art establishment? Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" of 1917 - a urinal. There is something seriously wrong with a culture which puts forward a urinal as its most influential artwork. This is a clear sign that liberal modernity is deeply flawed and won't produce a worthwhile civilisation."

• Bailouts 101: I pay taxes to the govt. The govt gives billions to bailout Citi. Citi refuses me a loan, but gives millions to a baseball team that charges me $75 for a seat.

• Nanotech clothing fabric 'never gets wet' @ New Scientist

• Michael Young's columns: George W. Bush: good, bad, and ugly "When it comes to foreign policy, his administration has been just about as good, and as bad, as its predecessors."

• Bret Stephens: Why Don't We Hang Pirates Anymore? - WSJ.com "A society that erases the memory of how it overcame barbarism in the past inevitably loses sight of the meaning of civilization, and the means of sustaining it."

• Semper Fi! 20 Shots. 20 Kills. Every Marine is a rifleman... [Via Exurban League]

  During the battle, the designated marksman single handedly thwarted a company-sized enemy RPG and machinegun ambush (That's about 100 or so bad guys. -ExKev) by reportedly killing 20 enemy fighters with his devastatingly accurate precision fire. He selflessly exposed himself time and again to intense enemy fire during a critical point in the eight-hour battle for Shewan in order to kill any enemy combatants who attempted to engage or maneuver on the Marines in the kill zone. What made his actions even more impressive was the fact that he didn't miss any shots, despite the enemies' rounds impacting within a foot of his fighting position.

  "I didn't realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken through the enemies' lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly 250 insurgents against 30 of us," the corporal said. "It was a good day for the Marine Corps. We killed a lot of bad guys, and none of our guys were seriously injured."

  Full story:Marine Makes Insurgents Pay the Price

• Worried about the VISA bill? Don't worry. Be happy. A certain casualty of the recession: the US Government'€™s solvency « Fabius Maximus

  The government -- us, collectively -- owe an estimated $57 trillion in past promises to pay (the debt) AND future promises (social security, government pensions, medicare, etc).

• Don Surber shoots.... He scores. Nothng but net! "Reading the New York Times is like reading Obama's campaign web site."

• Bad derivative fashion for men continues unabated. GQ's "Designer of the Year" "looks like Pee-wee Herman’s boss."

• "Everything is always on. Never off." The Wisdom of the Crowds vs. the Stupidity of the Mob “Technology is the 7th Kingdom of Life” - A conversation with Kevin Kelly - O'Reilly Radar

• A working class hero is something to be: "The heroes in the study also tended to be working class men. They tended to be truck drivers, laborers, welders, or factory workers--physical jobs that required some risk, just like rescuing." -- Dr. Helen: The traits of heroes

• "Boom! Here comes the Boom! / Ready or not, here comes the boys from the South "Holger Awakens: Video: Bravo Company 1/6 Marines Take No Prisoners In Garmsir, Afghanistan

• Colmes Kaput at Fox: The Onion had the story two and a half years before anyone: Alan Colmes' Death Goes Unreported On Hannity & Colmes

• Just when you thought it was safe to start petting rats again -- 21st century plague discovered "A new disease that is passed from rats to humans via fleas, much like the Black Death, has been discovered by scientists."

Posted by Vanderleun at November 24, 2008 10:27 PM