Mar
20
2009
--

Storm From The Shadows: The Sort-of, Kind-of, Not-Really Review.

I’ve just finished reading Storm from the Shadows – for those unfamiliar with it, it’s David Weber‘s latest book in his Honorverse series – and while it was good, there’s one potential problem: it definitely references events that are taking place in Weber/Flint’s Torch of Freedom, as well as ones in Mission of Honor.  Neither book is out yet; ToF is not until November.  It’s not even on Baen Books’ schedule, yet.

That being said, you don’t need to read ToF to understand what’s going on SFtS, although if you want to get involved in this Nelson/Horatio Hornblower science fiction series you’re best off starting with On Basilisk Station and chewing your way through.  But that’s the nature of long, well-developed genre fiction series.

Mar
19
2009
10

BETAMAX WOULD HAVE BEEN COOL.

Charmingly retro.

It was even popular in England: it was only because VHS won out in the US that it died out over there. In other words, a Betamax gift would have rocked, Iowahawk.

Sorry: it turns out that the stupid jokes that we all made about how the DVDs that Obama gave Brown were the wrong region were…

Yeah. Yeah, they were. How do we know? Because the Prime Minister actually sat down to watch ‘em, that’s how we know.

I never want to hear another single damned word about how intellectually incurious George W Bush was.

EVER.

Moe Lane

Mar
19
2009
2

Why Journolisties need to drop it.

Because until they do, posts like this one by Tom Maguire will be trivially easy to write. And impossible to defend against.

(Via Hot Air Headlines).

Crossposted to RedState.

Mar
19
2009
2

Hi, Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND). Enjoying your Countrywide mortgage?

You know, the one that’s just like the ones that your fellow Democrat Chris Dodd (D-CT) got?

Report Details Countrywide’s Efforts to Benefit VIPs

WASHINGTON — – Executives at Countrywide Financial, one of the biggest names of the housing boom, routinely violated internal company policies to provide below-market rates on home loans to the politically connected and powerful, according to a congressional report to be released Thursday.

[snip]

Recipients of special loans included senators and other officials, prominent businessmen, congressional aides, celebrities and journalists, including Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke, former Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson, Jackson’s daughter and others.

Via Jeff Goldstein. (more…)

Mar
19
2009
--

I’ll say this for Cracked.com.

From 9 Corporate Attempts At “Edgy” That Failed (Hilariously):

They have this shocking ability to find videos that have the same effect on me that snakes supposedly have on birds. Although this one almost made me want a PSP in spite of itself…

Moe

PS: Sorry if that’s stuck in your head now.

Mar
19
2009
5

A recap of the AIG Bonus Blame Party.

So, let us review the bidding on the AIG bonus scandal, and who’s being blamed for it.

The Senate, in the person of Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), is blaming the executive branch, pretty explicitly.

The House, in the person of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), is likewise blaming the executive branch – but she’s also blaming the Senate.

The White House doesn’t want to blame anybody… but AIG is like a suicide bomber (H/T Hot Air), and a “senior government official” is just plain “outraged” at that awful Congress for passing this.  But Obama’s not about pointing fingers about how it could be the Republican’s fault – which is good, because as Ace points out our only contribution to this mess was Senator Olympia Snowe’s (R-ME) language in the debt bill that would have prevented these bonuses in the first place (that was before Dodd/Geithner/The White House/The Easter Bunny took them out, of course).  Nope.  It’s all Obama’s responsibility – but not his fault!
(more…)

Mar
19
2009
2

Come, I will hide nothing from you: I don’t *do* March Madness.

I don’t watch basketball.

Deceiver Madness, on the other hand… so far, on the Politicos bracket all four of my guys are still in play. The other categories? Not so much.

Looking at the future
, my Final Four are going to be Tom Cruise, PETA… hmm, Perez Hilton, and Barack Obama (although John Edwards is going to give him one heck of a fight).

Crossposted to RedState.

Mar
19
2009
1

I agree with Rand Simberg about the Star Trek Commander Chair thing.

Or at least, with what he implies: this NYT article is inadequate.

An adequate article would have told that you could order such a marvelous item directly here.  Sheesh: it’s 2009.  There’s no excuse not to give the link.

Moe Lane

PS: There’s also this, if you’re on a budget.

PPS: If there are sites about how to build the blessed things, I’m not finding them.   Tanj dammit.

PPPS: Constant Reader Matt justifiably mocks me for my lack of Google Fu.

Mar
19
2009
3

Jack Murtha (D, PA-12) Claims Constitutional right to trade earmarks for donations.

The phrase ‘bawling like a stuck calf’ comes to mind, for some reason.

Okinawa Jack seems very, very defensive in this article (H/T: Instapundit):

Murtha defends statement

The region’s outspoken congressman is in the national lens again – this time CBS News television cameras – in a report Wednesday that calls him “the king of earmarks who wastes a lot of taxpayer money” and implies that the FBI is investigating.

U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, responded by waving the Constitution at the camera, saying: “What it says is the Congress of the United States appropriates the money. Got that?”

The CBS article in question is here, along with video footage that Murtha is going to regret. You can say and do things to, say, a private citizen with a video camera that you can’t do to a national news organization, and he made no friends in CBS with that antic. As can be seen with the next couple of paragraphs:
(more…)

Mar
19
2009
3

Scott Murphy (D Cand, NY-20): ‘One of them.’

Jim Tedisco reminds us that Murphy may have an inclination towards giving bonuses to companies losing money…

…although that may not be an entirely fair comparison. After all, back then Murphy’s bonus scheme didn’t involve your money. I wonder if he’s still for passing that miscalled “stimulus” bill – Tedisco is on the record as opposing it, mind you – and I wonder if Murphy is going to comment on his stance on the AIG payoffs further. Or at all, really.

contribute:

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Mar
18
2009
1

And some harmonica to end the day.

The problem with this Tom Petty song, though: it’s altogether too easy to forget and sing this as part of your put-the-toddler-to-bed routine. My kid’s going to have a complex of complexes by the time he’s an adult…

Mar
18
2009
1

I was at the ALG / Net Right Nation shindig.

It was fun; they (“they” being Americans for Limited Government & Net Right Nation) were nice people, and they gave me a beer. This is an easy way to make me your friend, for those who might not know this. There was also food. This is likewise a very simple way to make me your friend.

They had Andrew Breitbart talking: I have a photo of him taken from my cell phone, but I haven’t figured out how to transfer it yet. I didn’t take notes or anything, but the gist is that we conservatives – the menfolk, at least – should stop wearing Reagan-evoking suits all the time and get back into the business of claiming a piece of popular culture. Not wearing a suit at the time, and being all about abusing popular culture for my own purposes, I thought that this was a marvelous notion.

There will be a better post of all of this once I get the video of the talk sent to me.

Crossposted to RedState.

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