IN THE MAIL: Jay Lake’s Madness of Flowers.

ALAN BARTON ISN’T A DOCTOR, but he plays one at the White House.

A BEAUTY CONTEST that’s long overdue?

More here.

STEVEN RAMIREZ: Runaway Debt?

I guess that can go with the runaway unemployment.

RICHARD FEYNMAN ON Nobel Prizes. “I don’t believe in honors. Honors is epaulets, honors is uniforms.”

THE HAZARDS OF BLOGGING: “The state of New York has cut off unemployment benefits for a 2008 law grad after she reported collecting $1.30 a day in advertising income from her blog.”

DENVER COLUMBUS DAY PARADE IS ON, despite hoax. “A Denver parade in honor of Christopher Columbus is on—despite a phony e-mail that circulated Thursday saying the downtown celebration was canceled for lack of funds. The Sons of Italy’s Columbus Day Parade Committee in Denver was shocked to learn of the e-mail sent to the media, which was signed by Sons of Italy President Richard SaBell. The fake e-mail said protesters had ‘ruined’ the event and tarnished the legacy of an Italian hero.”

MARKETS: “We know that gold is soaring. And we know the dollar is slumping. But, did you know that year-to-date, while the S&P 500 is up 18 percent — a great showing, no doubt — gold is up even more? The precious metal is up 21 percent. In other words, measured in true, gold-backed purchasing power, stocks have really done nothing this year. Zip. It is most disappointing.” Yes, whether you use gold as a measure or not, if you measure stocks in constant-dollar-value prices, I’m not sure the market has recovered much if at all.

MEGAN MCARDLE: “I guess I must hate America, but I actually think it’s kind of ludicrous that anyone is even trying to argue that Barack Obama truly deserves this Nobel Peace Prize. Could he have deserved it, after he’d had more than nine months in office? Easily. But he hasn’t had time to, y’know, accomplish anything.”

The Oval Office as some kind of high level Self Esteem Camp? Well, no. You can’t blame Obama for this; he seems to have been as surprised as anyone. It’s just more evidence that the allegedly “serious” institutions of Western society aren’t up to the job.

HMM: FCC Launches Probe of Google Voice Service.

HANNA ROSIN: Kate Gosselin Does Not Deserve Our Pity. “In celebrity divorce cases, as in regular divorce, we are still conditioned to view the man as holding all the cards. If the woman behaves in a reckless, crazy manner—think Denise Richards, Christie Brinkley, or Tricia Walsh of You Tube rant fame—we assume it’s to make up for her frustration and helplessness. But in this case the gender stereotypes are blinding us to the obvious reality. In this miserable duo, Jon is what divorce attorneys would call the ‘out’ spouse—the one with no money or power who might end up on the street. And like many out spouses, he is looking out for the interests of the kids. For those reasons he is actually the one who deserves our sympathy.”

SO I’VE WRITTEN IN THE PAST ABOUT “OUT-OF-DOORS POLITICAL ACTIVITY,” and that’s led to some reader questions about what it might involve today.

As I’ve suggested, I think an early phase is internet satire. Tea Party protests are another. Or pranks. But what if you’re in the Hugo Chavez world — not quite outright military government, but not exactly democracy, either? Or just afraid you’re moving that way? One step going beyond mere protests and mockery, but well short of violence, is something like the U.K. fuel protests. Or what would happen if a lot of people showed up at banks and started withdrawing a lot of cash all at once? (Most banks couldn’t deal with much in the way of cash withdrawals — a few dozen people withdrawing a few thousand each at once would overload many, no doubt panicking the powers-that-be). Heck just a bunch of people driving at exactly the speed limit might have a drastic effect on some areas . . . .

I don’t have any answers, and we’re pretty clearly not at that point yet. At any rate, I’d encourage those interested in this to read Pauline Maier’s book. We’re not in colonial times any more, but while the specifics might change the principles are evergreen.

ICE FOUND on an asteroid.

SO IF OBAMA IS AMERICA’S GORBACHEV, who will be America’s Putin?

POLIWOOD: Late Night Follies With David Letterman.

MARKDOWNS ON heart rate monitors / GPS for runners.

KATIE GRANJU’S medical experience.

REASON TV ON BARACK OBAMA’S BIG PRIZE.

UPDATE: Emperor worship.

THE DANGERS OF Rogue Household Robots.

FROM MISSILE SILO to swanky bachelor pad.

GREG GUTFELD: It’s All About Him, Not Us. Indeed.

“LIVING OUT A SATIRE.”

READER NATHAN KAISER NOTES THE MAINSTREAMING OF SURVIVALISM: A year’s supply of dehydrated food at CostCo.

UPDATE: A reader emails:

It looks like these servings are based on a 2000 calorie diet. At best, this is survival ration, not much more than that.

But it IS better than nothing, and most folks won’t even have this, if and when.

There does not seem to be any real calorie data on this food supply, but it doesn’t look like more than 2k per day.

Yeah, I vaguely remember linking to some other “year’s supply” items a while back that turned out to be based on a pretty, er, optimistic assessment. But, still, a lot better than nothing. I can’t find that post, but here’s some earlier blogging.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Ah, here’s the old post, and let’s hope that Costco has improved those food supplies.

FASTER, PLEASE: Tissue Engineers Develop Implantable Heart Muscle Patches.

THE JOY OF “HOT HATCHBACKS:” Test-Driving the 2010 VW GTI.

EUGENE VOLOKH: Would an Act of Congress Be Required to Allow President Obama To Accept the Nobel Peace Prize?

RANKING THE PIXAR MOVIES.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Decline Is A Choice. “Facing the choice of whether to maintain our dominance or to gradually, deliberately, willingly, and indeed relievedly give it up, we are currently on a course towards the latter. The current liberal ascendancy in the United States–controlling the executive and both houses of Congress, dominating the media and elite culture–has set us on a course for decline. And this is true for both foreign and domestic policies. Indeed, they work synergistically to ensure that outcome.”

THE PENALTY FOR NOT COMMITTING A CRIME: Probation, Fine, and Financial Ruin.

ART THROUGH A MICROSCOPE.

FTC VS. THE BLOGOSPHERE: More from Walter Olson.

MICKEY KAUS: “Does embattled New Jersey Gov. Corzine really want to bring up the subject of speeding?”

VIDEO ADVICE: How To Make Out.

ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT: Car Console is Legal Gun Storage. More here. I believe this is part of the Heller effect on state courts that Brannon Denning and I wrote about.

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF TROOPS deploy to Iraq.

MY COLLEAGUE JOAN HEMINWAY is guestblogging over at the Corporate Justice Blog.

FRANK J. STEPS FORWARD to take credit. “A lot of you laughed when I first unveiled my peace plan over seven years ago, but who is laughing now? This morning, America crashed a probe into the moon causing an explosion. And the result? Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize.”

What can I say — it’s totally deserved!

UPDATE: Video. “Where’s the beef?”

ANOTHER UPDATE: The Next Logical Step: Help Obama Win The Heisman Trophy.

FOIA REQUESTS on Max Baucus and Humana.

EUGENE ROBINSON: “House Democrats had better start taking the ethics allegations against Rep. Charlie Rangel seriously.”

UPDATE: Rangel’s Enablers.

THE TROUBLE WITH In-Car GPS Systems. “Portable GPS devices beat factory-installed car navigation systems almost every time in terms of price, flexibility and ease-of-use.”

Plus, the car nav systems are bossy.

IN THE MAIL: From Barry Friedman, The Will of the People: How Public Opinion Has Influenced the Supreme Court and Shaped the Meaning of the Constitution.

GALLUP POLL AGREES WITH RASMUSSEN: Support for Gun Control at New Low.

CHRIS DODD UPDATE: Dodd tops Politico’s list of Senators Who Could Lose in 2010.

WHAT MASSACHUSETTS CAN TEACH US ABOUT health care costs.

KAUSFILES: A Cesspool Of Corruption. Nobody tell the FTC!

THE TUCSON TEA PARTY FOLKS are planning a big event for tomorrow.

FAKE ART, and patronizing criticism.

Plus, from the comments, “It’s not a copy copy.” In Roman Polanski’s hometown, it’s called homage.

MESSAGE TO BLOOMBERG: Butt out.

JOHN HINDERAKER ON THE POLLS: “What is striking to me is that the Democrats seem to be doubling down: the stimulus bill on top of TARP; government medicine; cap and trade, still not dead; and now talk of Stimulus II. The Democrats are averting their eyes from the popular outcry against their policies and are hoping–somehow–to escape retribution at the polls. I liken them to a canoeist braving the rapids with his eyes closed, hoping for the best.”

NASA PROBE smacks Moon.

HEH: “Riddle: Why Didn’t Obama Win The Nobel Prize For Literature? Answer: He wrote two books.”

JACK SHAFER on the FTC’s mad power grab. “The guidelines have to be read to be believed. They are written so broadly that if you blog about a good and service in such a way that the FTC construes as an endorsement, the commission has a predicate to investigate. The only way to stay on the FTC’s good side is with a ‘clearly and conspicuously’ posted disclosure of the ’sponsors’ who provided you with the good or service (or money) to blog about the good or service. As I read the guidelines, the FTC could investigate you if you did disclose but it was not satisfied with the disclosure.”

CHANGE: World Economic Forum ranks U.S. financial stability 38th, currency stability 50th globally.

JOHN DERBYSHIRE HAS fond memories of Transylvania. Why am I not surprised. . . .?

MEGAN MCARDLE: “A reader asks me to blog about the FTC decision on blogger disclosure. The problem is, it’s so transparently stupid that I don’t even know what to say. . . . This is of a parcel with the ongoing regulatory process, whereby every trivial thing that is wrong with the world requires a rule to correct it.”

JULES CRITTENDEN ON WAR COVERAGE: A Tale of Two Bureaus.

Related: The Mother Of All Expiration Dates.

OBAMA WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE? “For what?”

UPDATE: What do Barack Obama and Yassir Arafat have in common?

Plus, Mickey Kaus: Turn It Down. “Say he’s honored but he hasn’t had the time yet to accomplish what he wants to accomplish.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Doug Mataconis on Facebook: “Teddy Roosevelt wins Peace Prize for stopping a war. Carter wins Peace Prize for a lifetime of work. Obama wins Peace prize for breathing.”

MORE: Heh.

I say, not bad for a guy who’s been acting like Bambi caught in the headlights of history.

STILL MORE: London Times: Absurd decision on Obama makes a mockery of the Nobel peace prize. Oh, it was already a mockery.

Meanwhile, Mataconis is on a roll on Facebook: “How can Obama win the Nobel Peace Prize on the same day that he’s becoming the first POTUS to bomb the Moon?”

It’s Frank J. Fleming’s world. The rest of us just live in it.

MORE STILL: Various reader comments:

“It’s a peace prize, not a peace peace prize.”

“How do you say ‘jumped the shark’ in Norwegian?”

“Today the Nobel Committee announced a posthumous Peace Prize for Neville Chamberlain.”

“Why not the Cy Young Award, too?”

“Let’s be fair . . . he did pull off the Beer Summit.”

Plus, Jacob T. Levy on Facebook: “The US border agent in Toronto– the armed representative of the state who was holding my passport– asked me what I thought of the Nobel, got angry when I was anything less than celebratory, and didn’t want to give my passport back– wanted to keep arguing.”

“Americans want to be loved.”

“The subprime Peace Prize.”

Salena Zito: “Well, this makes his meeting with his war team today awkward.”

HuffPo: Whatever Happened to Awarding For Deeds Actually Done?

Richard Cohen:

In a stunning announcement, Millard Fillmore Senior High School chose Shawn Rabinowitz, an incoming junior, as next year’s valedictorian. The award was made, the valedictorian committee announced from Norway of all places, on the basis of “Mr. Rabinowitz’s intention to ace every course and graduate number one in class.” In a prepared statement, young Shawn called the unprecedented award, “f—ing awesome.”

At the same time, and amazingly enough, the Pulitzer Prize for Literature went to Sarah Palin for her stated intention “to read a book someday.” The former Alaska governor was described as “floored” by the award, announced in Stockholm by nude Swedes beating themselves with birch branches, and insisted that while she was very busy right now, someday she would make good on her vow to read a book. “You’ll see,” she said from her winter home in San Diego.

And again in a stunning coincidence, the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences announced the Oscar for best picture will be given this year to the Vince Vaughn vehicle “Guys Weekend to Burp,” which is being story-boarded at the moment but looks very good indeed. Mr. Vaughn, speaking through his publicist, said was “touched and moved” by the award and would do everything in his power to see that the picture lives up to expectation and opens big sometime next March.

Heh.

CAN I JUST SAY that there’s nothing in the least stimulative about this photo on Drudge? Which I’m pretty sure is intentional on Drudge’s part . . . .

POLITICO: How long can Democrats stand by Charlie Rangel? “The House ethics committee expanded a sprawling investigation into Rangel Thursday, digging into allegations stemming from an August restatement of his personal finances, in which he under reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets. The ethics committee action – which was unanimous — came a day after House Democrats turned back a Republican attempt to force Rangel from his Ways and Means chairmanship while the investigation, now in its second year, is completed. . . . But even if Pelosi relented and asked Rangel to relinquish his gavel, there would be a political firestorm, as she would be moving to oust a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus from a chairmanship he waited nearly four decades to get.”

NOT-SO-MAGNIFICENT obsession. See, this is one reason why I don’t have comments: People will attribute them to you as they try to score a point.

Related: “Ann Althouse permitting free speech in her comments is no different than The Atlantic permitting Andrew Sullivan to repeatedly question Sarah Palin’s baby bump and when/where/how her water broke.” Except that David Bradley is actually paying Sullivan . . . .

FAIR AND DECENT?

UH OH: A Dave Letterman divorce?

PROVIDING INEXPENSIVE RURAL DENTAL CARE. There’s a lesson for the Obamacare debate here, too — high costs don’t come from evil insurance companies so much as from licensing regimes that keep out lower-cost competition.

DON DRAPER: Most influential guy of 2009? And he’s fictional. That must mean something . . . .

RON ZIEGLER’S Revenge!

TECHNOLOGIES MISSING from the “Clean Energy” bill.

SO I GUESS STEPHEN GREEN WAS UNAVAILABLE? Talking Cocktails With Danny Meyer.

AN INTERVIEW WITH Andrew Breitbart. “Even when he fights dishonest critics, the right’s New Media leader is of good cheer.” Indeed.

OH, GOOD GRIEF: French minister in ‘boy sex’ row.

France’s Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand is facing intense pressure over a book he wrote that described paying for “young boys” in Thailand.

The book was written four years ago, before he joined the government, but is back in the headlines following his impassioned support for Roman Polanski.

Polanski has been arrested in Switzerland on child sex charges.

Mr Mitterrand, nephew of late President Francois Mitterrand, is expected to defend himself on TV later on Thursday.

Passage from the book: “All these rituals of the market for youths, the slave market excited me enormously… the abundance of very attractive and immediately available young boys put me in a state of desire.” Really, you can’t make this stuff up. But he rejects “criticism from the far right!” (Via Ann Althouse).

UPDATE: Related: The Polanski Culture.

BUT THEY’RE SAVING THE PLANET, SO CUT THEM SOME SLACK: “Psychologists in Canada have revealed new research suggesting that people who become eco-conscious ‘green consumers’ are ‘more likely to steal and lie’ than others.”

AT BLOGCRITICS, an interview with Kevin Jackson, author of The Big Black Lie. He talks about the Tea Party movement, health care “reform,” and more.

A.P. ANALYSIS: Obama’s Woes Keep Piling Up Around The Globe.

SOME COOL KNOXVILLE PICS from George Fillmore.

BUSH SPEAKS, refrains from criticizing Obama.

RUSSIAN MERCENARIES: We’ll out-Blackwater Blackwater.

CATO: The Real Cost of the Baucus Bill: $2 Trillion+

CHANGE: Asian Banks Intervene to Try to Save Dollar. “The U.S. dollar continued to tumble Thursday, prompting a wave of foreign-exchange intervention by central banks in South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and Thailand seeking to limit damage to their export industries.”

Is it a sneak attack?

STORIES ABOUT SUICIDE DOORS.

ANDREW KLAVAN: IS BARACK OBAMA JESUS CHRIST?

PEW POLL: 47% Oppose ObamaCare, 34% Favor.

That’s even worse than the Quinnipiac poll. And a reader points out: “And that’s even after Pew interviews a margin of 11% more democrats than republicans.”

TEN QUESTIONS for our future robot overlords.

I say, do not rage against the machine. Embrace the machine!

WELL, GOOD: Areas Hit Hard by Swine Flu in Spring See Little Now.

HOW ABOUT A Congressional “Clawback” for Taxpayers? “Obama’s pay czar proposes taking back monies already legally paid to executives. Why not try the same thing on congressmen?”

MORE ON THE FTC’S BLOGGER REGULATIONS from Walter Olson at Overlawyered.

GOOD GRIEF: Cross-Dressing Escort Registered by ACORN Imprisoned for Voter Fraud, ACORN Probe Continues in Ohio. “ACORN just can’t seem to stay away from hookers. The activist group, which has long worked with criminals as it preys on the weak and the troubled, is on the verge of yet another public relations catastrophe. That’s because a cross-dressing Ohio male escort whom ACORN registered multiple times to vote was convicted of full-fledged vote fraud in addition to the lesser crime of voter registration fraud. A spokesman for Cleveland prosecutor Bill Mason (an elected Democrat) confirmed yesterday that a local investigation of ACORN remains wide open.”

I’M SURPRISED IT WASN’T MORE: Politico: Roman Polanski Backers Gave $34K to Obama, DNC.

MOUNTAIN CLIMBING in the Chevy Volt.

TAXPROF: 80% Marginal Tax Rates After Health Care “Reform”?

QUINNIPIAC POLL: Americans oppose ObamaCare 47-40.

SIDE EFFECTS: Taking the pill for past 40 years ‘has put women off masculine men’. “Scientists say the hormones in the oral contraceptive suppress a woman’s interest in masculine men and make boyish men more attractive. Although the change occurs for just a few days each month, it may have been highly influential since use of the Pill began more than 40 years ago. . . . The changing fashions for film stars appear to show a shift from masculine men in the 1950s – before the advent of the Pill – to more baby-faced stars today.” I wonder how it affects voting . . . .

MEN: WANT TO LIVE LONGER? Marry A Highly Educated Woman. Good news for me!

IN THE MAIL: From William Stroock, A Line through the Desert: The First Gulf War.

ISAAC CORRE: Dealing With The Shadow Banking System.

DOUG BERMAN: Is Concern About Child Porn Distorting Normal Criminal Procedure Rules? Some questions answer themselves. Looking at this case, though, I’m not as shocked as Judge Moore.

NO DOUBT THERE’S AN N.E.A. GRANT COMING DOWN THE PIKE: Nina Carbone: Clothespins + Skin = Art (Really?)

As long as it’s got the right attitude.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Sending criminals door-to-door. But I thought Census had cut its ties with ACORN . . . .

CORZINE: I may be inept and corrupt, but you’re fat. In New Jersey, this might work . . . .

UPDATE: Heh: “Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine is outspending Republican Chris Christie 3 to 1 in an effort to persuade voters he’s the better choice to control spending and manage the state’s budget.”

But there are worries about blowback.

NOT GIVING UP: Women’s ski jumpers still hoping for flight in 2010 Games.

THE HIPKLIP: Audra Coldiron isn’t just a musician, she’s an inventor! I bought one of the prototypes, but the new version looks more rugged.