"Going Out of Business"

After watching Captain America last night I stopped in at the Borders across the street. I figured they might have some good deals since they're liquidating. Well, half the people in the Quad Cities must have had the same idea, there wasn't a place to park in the parking lot. I finally got in and it looked like it would have taken 30+ minutes to check out. That didn't look like fun, but I thought there must be some good deals if people were putting up with it. So I started looking around and the biggest discount? Twenty percent off. That almost makes them competitive with Amazon. Needles to say, I left without buying anything.

Now that's a sinkhole.

You think you've seen sinkholes? Not until you've seen the one in Guatemala City after Tropical Storm Agatha:

Nuke the leak?

Well, this is certainly a novel idea. And potentially a good one.

Didn't I see this in a movie?

I can't say I support robbery, even in Paris, but I have to admit that some part of me thinks it's cool that a thief made off with paintings worth around $613 million from the Pairs Museum of Modern Art last night. One of the paintings was a Picasso. This is heist movie stuff here. It's kind of fascinating to hear of it actually happening.

There's one amusing part of the story as well. The director of a next-door modern art museum (So, there's a lot of those in Paris I suppose?) said: "These five paintings are un-sellable, so thieves, sirs, you are imbeciles, now return them." Uh, you think someone went to the trouble of stealing these paintings without a plan?

Curve Ball

Here's the three best visual illusions in the world, as chosen by a group of neuroscientists and psychologists. The best one illustrates why a curve ball is difficult to hit, and will freak you out. (Hat tip: Jonah Goldberg at The Corner)

Best & Worst

According to SI, Detroit has one of the best owners in sports (Mike Ilitch, #1 in the NHL) and one of the worst (William Clay Ford, second worst in the NFL).

Reunion

Okay, there's an official Facebook event for the the class of '99 10-yr reunion. I don't know if that matters to anyone, but there it is. It's going to be July 3rd, 7pm at an undisclosed location in CC. Are the Monkies going to be well-represented?

Monorail!

After President Obama's remarks about high-speed rail, I think this is necessary:

Arrr.

So we're negotiating with pirates now? I understand it in this situation to a degree, but I don't like the idea of that being the standard. Even kids watching Pirates of the Caribbean know what you do with pirates when you capture them: you hang them.

UPDATE: Or you send the SEALs after them. That's more like it. (Hat tip: Mark Steyn at The Corner)

Brain Drain

Of all the stories I've seen about how bad things are in Michigan, I think this one on how 49% of Michigan college graduates are leaving the state is the most striking. Why? Because it matches up exactly with my experience in the Quad Cities. My neighbors are from Michigan. I worked with a guy who went to Western Michigan who was from the Grand Rapids area. Someone stopped and talked to me in the Wal-mart parking lot because I had an MSU sticker on my pickup. The poll with the story speak volumes as well. Only a little over 13% the respondents even want to stay in Michigan. Yikes. Will the last one out please turn off the lights?

Urban Cuisine

I know things are bad in Detroit, but I didn't think the inhabitants would be turning to raccoons for sustenance. Yuck.

BOOM!

I think I'll watch this episode of Mythbusters. (hat tip: Jonah Goldberg @ The Corner)

Bailout

You know, it's not exactly heartening to read that we basically could have avoided all of this bailout nonsense if we'd just kept Congress out of it. I suspect this is going to look even better in a few years.

The Fan

So, after reading this article by Wojo, I assume WDFN is dead?

Sea Kittens

Okay, first I thought the real-life superheroes were unbalanced. Then the guy who got the "0-16" tattoo seemed pretty unhinged. But the insanity never ends: PETA wants to rename "fish" as "sea kittens".

No, seriously.

I think I have to stop there, because it doesn't feel right making fun of people so far removed from reality.

Morons. (Hmm, actually, it feels fine.) (Hat tip: Jonah Goldberg at The Corner)

Boohoohoo

I've seen a lot of writing in the Detroit papers, like this article, boohoohoo-ing about the failure of the auto bailout and lashing out at Congress, Republicans especially, for stopping it. Well, guess what? The majority of the country opposes the bailout, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll (Hat tip: The Corner). This brought to mind a quote from Patton:

Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser.

In the eyes of most Americans GM, Chrysler, the UAW, Detroit, definitely the Lions, and Michigan as a whole are a bunch of losers. Why would they want to reward a bunch of losers?

250 to 30, Good Odds For Any Marine

This is a great story which I'm sure you'll never see on the news. Thirty marines were ambushed by 250 insurgents, and the Marines won the day with no serious injuries. One marine killed 20 enemies himself. I believe the only thing you can say to that is "Ooh-rah!" (Hat tip: The Corner)

Say Hello to the Bad Guy

Want more proof that Russia is determined to be the bad guy again? Take a look at this list from John O'Sullivan's article in today's New York Post:

In recent years, the Russian state has:

* Been credibly accused of murdering an exile in London;

* Expropriated foreign investments on behalf of an energy company controlled by itself;

* Cut off energy supplies to other states as a means of political intimidation, and

* Assisted secessionist rebels in neighboring states in order to keep their newly independent governments off balance.

Plus, of course, it has now - no more Mr. Nice Guy - invaded and bombed the sovereign state of Georgia.

Also, you can read another great article on the subject by Melik Kaylan at the Wall Street Journal.

Return of History

This is the best article I've read so far on Russia attacking Georgia. Frightening though.

"Never batted an eye."

This is a pretty funny story.