Overnight Open Thread

Some worthwhile reading for you, any one of which is worth a full post...

VDH: Atlas Is Sorta Shrugging
Read the whole thing - this is but a taste...

[Obama] clearly does not like private businesses—except the super wealthy who are liberal and share his refined tastes and politics and have enough millions in “unneeded income” that they figure they will either die before or weather through our transition to European democratic socialism.

Of course, one Huey Long –like “fat cat”, an occasional adolescent “millionaires and billionaires”, a once in a while juvenile “corporate jet owners”, a few 1960s-like “spread the wealth” or “redistributive change” slips, a single petulant “unneeded income”, or a sole pop-philosophizing “at some point you’ve made enough money”, or even on occasion the old socialist boilerplate “those who make over $250,000 should pay their fair share” in isolation are tolerable. But string them together and even the tire store owner and pharmaceutical rep are aroused from their 70-hour weeks, and start to conclude, “Hmmm, this guy doesn’t like me or what I do, and I better make the necessary adjustments.” And, believe me, they are making the necessary adjustments.

Obama: The Affirmative Action President

Years from now, historians may regard the 2008 election of Barack Obama as an inscrutable and disturbing phenomenon, a baffling breed of mass hysteria akin perhaps to the witch craze of the Middle Ages. How, they will wonder, did a man so devoid of professional accomplishment beguile so many into thinking he could manage the world's largest economy, direct the world's most powerful military, execute the world's most consequential job?

The Real Racism in the Election

Now, look, I gave most African Americans a mulligan on the last election. I understood that after 400 some odd years of ugliness towards them that they were entitled to believe that the day had finally come where a black man 1) who was qualified to be president 2) might actually win the office. They were obviously right about the second part, and wrong about the first one. But that decision—to believe Obama was more ready for the job than he evidently was—was a deviation from Martin Luther King’s dream. They were judging him not by the content of his character—which demonstrated that he was not ready to be president—but by the color of his skin. It’s wrong, but it’s human.

But just how long is this going to go on?

...For instance, as much as liberals are freaking out about Perry’s religion, Obama sat in a racist church for twenty years and the media barely batted an eye. He took the title of one of his books from a racist sermon, and again barely a reaction. Blatant racism—or at least tolerance of blatant racism—was excused from Barack Obama, and yet Perry is defamed with selective editing in order for liberals to claim he is a racist.

The 25 Greatest Unscripted Moments In Movies
An awful lot of well-known classic movie moments were created on the spot.

More International Sesame Street
Here's the scandi version.

The Dead of Mt. Everest
Humans can just barely survive near the top of Mt. Everest so if you die there, that's where you're going to stay.

Mt. Everest has around 200 dead bodies on the mountain. It is nearly impossible for recovery of a body off the mountain. Most of the bodies are in the same exact position they were when they died. Perfectly preserved in time because of the cold. Along the route up to the summit climbers will pass all these bodies. There are bodies over 50 years old that look like they were placed there yesterday.

The "death zone" is 26,000 feet. Air is so thin that there is no margin for error. Immediate frostbite will happen. Lack of oxygen leaves climber bewildered and weak. Cost for one to go on a trip is $25,000.

Several bodies are given names. This one is "green boots". Many of the bodies are now landmarks along the way up. "green Boots" has been there since 1996.

Lottery Winners Not Immune From Bankruptcy

The central finding is this: people who win large amounts are just as likely to end up bankrupt as people who win small amounts. People who win a large amount, $50,000 to $150,000, have a lower bankruptcy rate immediately after winning but a higher bankruptcy rate a few years later so the 5-year bankruptcy rate for the big winners is no lower than for the small winners. Amazingly, by the time the big winners do go bankrupt their assets and debts are not significantly different from those of the small winners. The big winners who ended up bankrupt could have paid off all of their debts but chose not to.

N.B. the result is not that most lottery winners go bankrupt or that winning money doesn’t help people–the result, as Robin Hanson might say, is that bankruptcy isn’t about money.

Coco Chanel - Total Nazi Spy Bitch?
Seems like it.

New Rule: If You Fap-Choke Yourself, Your Wife Gets $400K
Hey that's how it worked for Anne Carradine, wife of auto-erotic asphyxiation enthusiast, David Carradine.

Anne Carradine had sued MK2 Productions, claiming they had a duty to supervise David while he was on the shoot for the movie, "Stretch." Anne claims the night David died in his Thailand hotel room, the production staff had gone to dinner and told David he would have to make his own arrangements for the evening.

Sources tell us that MK2 paid Anne money to settle. And, we're told the other defendants -- including the hotel and insurance company have settled as well.

In all, sources say Anne will get around $400,000 from the defendants.

The Star Wars Porn Parody
And it actually seems amusing even with the good parts clipped out.

Yahoo group. That is all.

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posted by Maetenloch at 09:35 PM

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