Open thread

Just did a quick CNN spot with Jim Geraghty again, and going on again in the morning to talk about Vitter on Howie Kurtz's show at 10am Eastern (I think our segment is 10:20am). The discussion is about whether the media is being too mean to a family values hypocrite who attacks gay marriages while cheating on his wife with hookers. Guess which side I'm going to take?

But more importantly, I've had no time to even crack open my new Harry Potter book. Read the rest of this post...

Tammy Faye died

The inimitable Tammy Faye Bakker Messner died yesterday we just learned from Reuters. Read the rest of this post...

Romney compares Hillary and Obama to Osama bin Laden

But Romney's always telling us what a good devout Christian he is. Oh that's right, he's not a Christian at all.

More from TMZ. Read the rest of this post...

NYT bans Harry Potter from bestseller list

My copy just arrived.

Michael has a point. And I would argue that I'm living proof that Harry Potter is not simply a children's book. Having said that, I have no idea how children's fiction fares versus regular fiction - would Tommy the Train or whatever his name is always be domineering the top 10 list so "real" fiction would never get up there? If that's the case, then yes, I can see "possibly" having a children's top 10 separately. But then again, suggesting that Harry Potter doesn't deserve to be on the NYT top ten is simply absurd. Read the rest of this post...

Sweden is spot on again

Sweden really is an amazing country. Despite a population of only 9 million people, they have been economically successful with business around the world and they manage to take care of their people at home as well. In politics, men and women are equally involved in holding office which puts the US and other countries to shame. This is a country that believes in a good economy, health care, environment and overall quality of life.

The latest programs on renewable energy sources for automobiles comes as no great surprise and perhaps provides a model for the rest of us. While I am less enthusiastic about ethanol, I still appreciate the attempts to change the status quo with energy. Forcing change against Big Oil is no small task but at least some countries out there are trying.

For now, so-called flex-fuel cars can run on a mixture of gasoline, diesel, and ethanol, with mixtures ranging from 10 percent ethanol to the currently popular E85, which is 85 percent ethanol, to 100 percent ethanol. In Sweden, the government has eliminated the tax on renewable fuels, making them cheaper than regular gasoline, cut sales taxes on biofuel vehicles, offered free parking in cities for cars that use biofuels, and set aside separate lanes for bio-taxis at airports.

"We need a closed circle of energy use," said Kjell Bergstrom, the engineer in charge of powertrains -- essentially the engine and driving mechanism of all cars -- for Saab's owner, General Motors Corp.

Interesting to note that GM manages to accept change overseas, so why are they such foot-draggers and obstructionists in the US? Read the rest of this post...

A friend writes...

I am a bit disconcerted that GWB is being sedated for his colonoscopy. One would wish that he'd be awake for that; perhaps then it would give him a sense of empathy for what he has been doing to us for the past 7 years.

Indeed. Read the rest of this post...

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

You have to check out the editorial cartoons. Even Susan Collins gets smacked down this week. Mike Luckovich, one of AMERICAblog's favorite cartoonists, is always really good -- but there are three of his works this week that are just perfectly brutal. Thanks again to Bob Geiger for the weekly compilation.

The poet at the poem of the week blog is back from vacation and brings us "One Kiss" by Tess Gallagher.

Run with it. Read the rest of this post...

Romney: I'm a tough guy

Putting aside the seriousness of the issues involved, it's hard not to burst out laughing when you hear this huckster and what he has to say. First it was Romney overstating his hunting credentials (who isn't impressed with shooting animals?) and now it's his continuing tough guy talk on the war, torture and uncontrolled spying on phone calls. Wow, what a really, really tough guy. What an amazingly tough, tough, really tough guy. Yes, Romney is for anything that somehow makes himself look manly in the eyes of the extreme redneck right. What a sad little man. What a joke. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

That last thread is pretty full.

I'm just getting home from a visit to my local Borders, which was near-apocalyptic. After three hours in line, this book better be damn good.

Regardless of all the recent insipid sneers at the Harry Potter series for not being serious literature, or whatever, isn't it nice to see a book become essentially a global cultural event? I mean, in the age of a zillion TV channels, video games, etc., a book that packs a bookstore to the gills -- at midnight no less! -- is a fantastic accomplishment. It's hard to imagine that these books aren't, for millions of kids (and probably adults too), a kind of literary gateway drug.

Not that I was pleased to be part of the circus atmosphere tonight, but it seems like a pretty great thing, my personal impatience notwithstanding. To all those who will, like me, spend all day tomorrow racing through it, have fun! Read the rest of this post...

UK running out of troops

How much longer before the US is in a similar situation. The longer we stay in Iraq the weaker we become, less able to respond to the real issues of the future. Read the rest of this post...