The Oakland Raiders came to San Diego this past Thursday to play the Chargers. Raider fans are, of course, noted for being a bit…ah…intense, and (according to my sister Deirdre), the local newspaper gave appropriate warning to San Diego fans and citizens. Then the local TV station broadcasting the game ran the following ad after […]
…to the ridiculous. Orin Kerr, over at the Volokh Conspiracy, is attempting to find (and I quote) “the single cheesiest Lawrence Welk clip on YouTube.” Here’s his current nominee: Let’s see: ridiculous outfits — check. Ridiculous dance moves — check. A bland orchestra rendition of a Captain & Tennille song that manages to remove whatever […]
Word is that tomorrow, the US Supreme Court will discuss in private a suit brought by Leo Donofrio, that asks a very interesting and possibly explosive question. What does it mean to be a “Natural Born Citizen”? This is of crucial importance, because the US Constitution clearly states that in order to run for President, […]
Accuweather delivers the bad news: In the AccuWeather.com Winter Forecast released in early October, Chief Long-range Forecaster Joe Bastardi said the overall colder and snowier winter will be off to a cold start in December, which could be the roughest winter month for much of the nation. Calling the winter of 2008-2009 one of the […]
There are some events that just defy the mashup engine: Men’s magazine loses 130,000 inflatable breasts A men’s magazine has lost a shipment of 130,000 inflatable breasts en route to Australia. The breasts, worth £100,000, were planned to be a free gift in Ralph magazine – but vanished before arriving at their destination. A spokeswoman […]
Alan Kohler at the Business Spectator down in Australia does his best to explain CDOs, CDSs, and SPVs, then gets down to brass tacks: It is now getting very interesting. The three Icelandic banks have defaulted, as has Countrywide, Lehman and Bear Stearns. AIG has been taken over by the US Government, which is counted […]
In case you don’t know, there is a trend on the internet known as Rickrolling: Rickrolling is an Internet meme typically involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song “Never Gonna Give You Up”. The meme is a bait and switch: a person provides a Web link they claim is relevant to the […]
Here’s a graph of US housing prices since 1975, both the stated prices and the same prices adjusted for inflation: As you can see, once you adjust for inflation, housing prices have peaked and then fallen three times in the last 30 years. I remember looking at a $35,000 house in the semi-rural area near […]
I have recently been re-reading The Ancient State by Hugh Nibley and just this morning finished reading “The Hierocentric State” (originally published back in 1951 in Western Political Quarterly 4/2). The article itself suggests that key aspects of the vast nomadic cultures of Central Asia (e.g., the Mongols) were idealized and emulated by more sedentary […]
Thanksgiving Day menu
We have family and friends coming over for dinner (actually, two of our grandsons have been here since Sunday; we’ve been having a great time with the Wii, the ping pong table, and the air hockey table), a total of 10 people. Here’s what I’m fixing for dinner: roast turkey (22.5 lbs) corn bread stuffing […]
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