Happy New Year!

Here are some panoramas from last night's Midnight revel around the world. Panoramas are fun, as long as you have (grimaces, spits) QuickTime...

http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen3/f1.html

Hope it doesn't break, it's neat when it works. Found at Buzz Machine - Jeff is the man.

Wheee!!

Belmont Club

Have you read Belmont Club yet today? If not, what the hell are you looking at this for? I start each and every day reading Belmont Club, and you should too. Here's the link... Go on! Don't dally, go!

Hungry??

I've been going through some photos - here's my grandmother at her spot at the table for some get-together in the early 60's if my guess is right. Yes, I do believe you could find something to eat there, friend.

God bless you, Mama Booth.


Hungry yet?

Social Security - How they plan to destroy it.

The mysterious In-cog-nito tells us how George Bush is going to end Social Security as we know it.

http://www.chicagoboyz.net/archives/002714.html

I've updated the excel and the numbers blow away the current Social Security payments. Even the lowest bracket is comparable to the current unfunded maximum payout:

	2004 Income	Total Account Balance	Monthly Payment	Annual Payment
1st Tier	$154,120	$1,323,852	$5,775	$69,300
2nd Tier	$86,867	$792,763	$3,458	$41,500
3rd Tier	$54,453	$529,600	$2,308	$27,700
4th Tier	$34,000	$345,209	$1,504	$18,050
5th Tier	$17,984	$183,441	$800	$9,600

That's it, then. Should have known. Capitalist pigs, of course.

Don't forget, women and children were hardest hit - and it's probably your fault.

Iowahawk is not normal. But he makes me laugh. via Tim Blair

http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2004/12/news_briefs.html

"The blunt conclusion prefaced a 2300 page meta-analysis of hundreds of scientific studies and computer models detailing links between human industrial activity and wrathful eco-deities. Entitled "Fire Bad: Fire Very Bad," the report warns that the planet faces additional catastrophies unless drastic regulatory action is taken to appease Earthen-furies."

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

I've long been a fan of Virginia Postrel, former editor of Reason magazine, current maven of dynamic change through free trade between free people (intellectual and babeariffic works for me, as any who have met the fabulous Mrs. Mezzrow will attest), author, and blogger. She came to mind prompted by the comments section of this post on Diplomad, a recent discovery and daily hit on the blogroll. Style is substance when you're dealing with handguns, friend - just go:

http://diplomadic.blogspot.com/2004/12/reflections-on-weapon-cool.html

"With this gun I only would need to shoot somebody one time! He doesn't

get back up! This is a beautiful gun . . . people see it and they know

you are serious. Most of the time I don't even have to shoot."

Scrappleface not funny?

I'm afraid that humor is not the goal here - if you'd like to do something in the face of the recent once-in-a-lifetime tsunami disaster and you trust the UN, International Red Cross, and the local governments involved about as much as I do, here's a serious word from Scott Ott. I'm no Baptist either, but I trust these guys more than I trust most everyone else supposedly providing "100% of your dollar" to the folks who need it most.

http://www.scrappleface.com/MT/archives/001999.html

Alright dammit, here's a post...

As he gingerly eases his big toe into the water... Here's the historical moment we've all been waiting for - the initial Mezzrow post. Perhaps I can answer the question you've been dying to ask - what's a Mezzrow?

http://www.redhotjazz.com/mezz.html

http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/~hayward/van/glossary/mezzrow.html

Hero? No.

Role Model? nope.

Mensch? youbetcha. Had a bulls**t detector that never quit. Read "Really The Blues" and you'll see what I mean.

More when there's more.