Overnight Open Thread - End of the Holidays Edition

Obama: The Golfing President

In just two years Obama has golfed more than Bush did in all his eight years in the White House. And I'm pretty sure that Bush could still beat him at the drop of a hat. Of course when a Republican golfs, it's a sign he's an out-of-touch, elitist fat cat. When a Democrats plays the game, well he's just taking a much needed break from the rigors of the office.

How To Build A Fusion Reactor in Your Own Home
Designs based on the Farnsworth Fusor really do work and aren't that hard to build. Unfortunately they are hard to scale up to make power generation with them feasible. And yes the fusor was invented by Philo T. Farnsworth, the man who also invented television.

New Global Warmening Threat: Grolers!
And of course the mutant bears are all your fault.

Fox Destroyed Their Competitors in 2010
They were number one in news for the ninth year in a row:

...Not only did Fox News wallop MSNBC and CNN, it ranked fourth among all cable networks in primetime, behind USA, ESPN and TNT. (MSNBC was 28th, CNN 32nd and HLN 37th.)

Fox owned the top 12 cable news shows in average total viewers and swept the top 10 among 25-54-year-olds (MSNBC's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" came in 13th and 11th, respectively). Even the nightly repeat of the “O’Reilly Factor” averaged more viewers than MSNBC and CNN shows.

Stay-at-home Moms: No Credit Cards For You
Thanks to last year's Credit Card act it's now much harder for people to qualify for credit based on their spouse's income.

The Credit Card Act signed into law last year was supposed to stop financial institutions from sleazy antics. But instead, some retailers say, it may restrict stay-at-home moms.

Dress Barn Inc., Home Depot Inc., Citigroup Inc. and other companies are urging the Federal Reserve to drop a proposed rule that would require credit-card issuers to consider only a borrower's "independent" income rather than household income. The new standard, which would apply to new credit-card accounts and requests to increase limits on existing accounts, could make it difficult for some customers to get credit on the spot, especially stay-at-home moms.

So Where Were The Slaves in 1860?

In 1864, drawing on the most recent 1860 Census data, the United States Coast Survey issued this choropleth map depicting counties with relatively high slave populations. President Lincoln was seen looking over the map so often that it was included in Francis Bicknell Carpenter's painting "President Lincoln Reading the Emancipation Proclamation to His Cabinet."

2011 Is The Year of the Rabbit
And even the kittehs are getting into it.

The Looming Military Recruitment Crisis
Less than a third of today's youth could actually qualify for military service:

Simply stated, too many of those in the prime demographic group targeted for enlistment (18-25 year-olds) don't quality for military service, for reasons ranging from obesity and other medical issues, to academic problems and past run-ins with the law. By some estimates, only 28% of young Americans in the prime enlistment cohort actually qualify for military service (emphasis ours).

“You’d be surprised, the soldiers that we get today,” says Frank Palkoska, who directs the Army’s fitness school. “They can’t do simple motor function movements, like a shoulder roll, the ability to skip — so we’ve got to lay a base of foundational fitness, without injuring them.”

Is Everything Bigger in Texas?
Well this study says yes - they do breed'em bigger in the country.

The One-Man Village People

Weekly AoSHQ Commenter Standings
Top 10 commenters:
1 [421 comments] 'CoolCzech' [59.08 posts/day]
2 [391 comments] 'CDR M'
3 [349 comments] 'toby928▒'
4 [331 comments] 'kbdabear'
5 [315 comments] 'NC Ref'
6 [308 comments] 'garrett'
7 [308 comments] 'Oldcat'
8 [305 comments] '18-1'
9 [293 comments] 'Vic'
10 [273 comments] 'Kratos (Ghost of Sparta)'

Top 10 sockpuppeteers:
1 [143 names] '18-1' [20.43 unique names/day]
2 [106 names] 'kbdabear'
3 [70 names] 'fluffy'
4 [69 names] 'Alexandria City Councilwoman Alicia Hughes (I)'
5 [53 names] 'toby928▒'
6 [53 names] 'Wyatt Earp'
7 [47 names] 'NC Ref'
9 [36 names] 'andycanuck'
10 [35 names] 'ya2daup'

The group. Yeah.

Tonight's post brought to you by Ann-Margret on a bike:

Notice: Posted by permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to maetenloch at gmail. Otherwise send tips to Ace.

posted by Maetenloch at 09:54 PM

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