How the heck does this work?

Okay, I'm at my friend Patricia's house, and her daughter has a Disney Princess Cool-Bake Magic Oven. It's like an E-Z Bake Oven, but instead of using a lightbulb to cook the cakes, it using ice cubes. You put the ice cubes in a tray at the bottom of the plastic oven, you put the tray of batter-y stuff above the above, and in 12 minutes the cakes rise and are done. I've Googled this online - we're mystified. Anyone know how this works?

Oh, and this post is in response to a reader who thought we were gettting way too serious lately with all the negative news. So fine. I want to know how this works :-) Read the rest of this post...

Don't miss the decaying spy satellite overhead the next few days

Or do miss it, so to speak. It should be visible over much of the world - for DC, for example, it seems each evening around 6pm-ish it will be visible for a few minutes. You can check out this page for more info, and at the bottom there's a button to click to enter where you are on a map and it will give you exact times and locations to be looking for the satellite. Very cool. Read the rest of this post...

Chris Matthews is still right

It's irrelevant whether you love him or hate him, he's right that the Clinton campaign is now paying a price for their past treatment of the media (and the blogs). Now, one of our readers raised the point that the Clintons have been attacked by the right-wing, mercilessly, for 18 years, and that this would make anyone defensive. Fair enough. But a severe case of political PTSD doesn't win you friends, regardless of whether we understand how you got it. Not everyone who sometimes disagrees with you is the enemy, until you make them one.

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The next unregulated Wall Street sector to crash?

It probably is nothing though because this new market is only worth about $45.5 trillion or twice the size of the US stock market. These people are professionals, so surely they've taken precautions, right?

No one knows how troubled the credit swaps market is, because, like the now-distressed market for subprime mortgage securities, it is unregulated. But because swaps have proliferated so rapidly, experts say that a hiccup in this market could set off a chain reaction of losses at financial institutions, making it even harder for borrowers to get loans that grease economic activity.

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"We're a Nation of Dunces"

Today I gravitated towards Susan Jacoby stories both in the Times and the Post. Her new book "The Age of American Unreason" is about the anti-intellectual and anti-rational epidemics in America. Only last night we had a similar discussion with a Franco-American group over dinner. How do you move a country forward when that country is debating creationism versus evolution? We are not talking about a poor and uneducated country, but a wealthy and educated country. What still surprises me is that many of the uninterested and anti-intellectual people are educated. You don't have to be a pointy-headed intellectual to show interest in the world around us, do you?

Whether we like it (or know it) American money and influence around the world is substantial. Our decisions in Washington do have an impact yet so many care so little. It's "over there" so who cares? As a country we lack curiosity in the world around us as if it doesn't matter. USA is number 1 so who cares? How could anything possibly be any better than what we have? We tell ourselves that we are the best at everything, so it must be true. There's no country that is perfect and you find insular people everywhere but those other countries fail to have the same global influence as America. How can we be so proudly ignorant and still compete? It certainly doesn't bode well for our future economy or especially our foreign policy when we are so proud to be ignorant. As this trend continues, selling the next foreign invasion is going to even easier than Iraq. Read the rest of this post...

McCain's temper matters

Republicans know they're in for trouble when the first two words of an AP profile of their candidate for president are "Temper, temper."

John McCain's temper is legendary. Now, as McCain assumes the mantle of the head of the GOP, it's becoming common knowledge.

The New York Times also examined the notorious McCain temper this weekend:

One of the trademarks of Mr. McCain’s rebel image has been his inability to cloak his emotions, especially anger. He has been prone to volcanic blowups over the years. And while he would hardly be the first president with a temper, Mr. McCain has been ever vigilant of late about resisting provocation.

Can he be vigilant til election day?

Back in 1964, the Republicans said of their candidate, Barry Goldwater, "In your heart, you know he's right." The Democrat's response was "In your guts, you know he's nuts."

The 2008 version of that statement for Republicans (a little more politically correct) is that in their hearts, they think McCain's wrong. And, in their guts and in their own experiences, Republicans know McCain is, let's say, volatile and unstable.

Matt Yglesias nails why this matters. It's not just about screaming obscenities at other Senators, which, as Yglesias notes is "a faux pas that can be overcome with an apology after the fact." But, here's the real issue with McCain's temper:

Those same instincts could, however, be a major problem if applied to the DMZ in Korea or the Taiwan Straits.

Or any other hot spot around the world. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

The shows are teeming with surrogates for the Democratic candidates. And, John McCain speaks for himself. He loves appearing on the Sunday shows. But, the hosts are going to have to be tougher on McCain now that he is the GOP front runner and the heir to Bush's legacy. Lots of discussion in the media about McCain's volatile temper. Will any of the talk show hosts push McCain's buttons enough that we see one of his legendary explosions?

It's going to be a weekend full of spin. I understand that Dick Durbin and Chuck Schumer are going to discuss their respective colleagues. However, I'd really rather see Chuck Schumer worrying about getting more Democratic Senators elected. That's should be his primary focus -- and Durbin should be helping in him in that quest.

Also, John Aravosis will be on CNN's Reliable Sources this morning. The show airs from 10 - 11 a.m. Eastern, and John's segment should be on around 10:30.

The full line up is after the break.

Can McCain keep his cool for the next nine months through the all the heat and pressure of the campaign? That's the question:

ABC's "This Week" — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" — David Axelrod, strategist for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign; Howard Wolfson, communications director for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign; Richmond Mayor and former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder; Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" — Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

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CNN's "Late Edition" — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; former presidential candidate Bill Bradley; Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Lanny Davis, former special counsel to President Clinton.

"Fox News Sunday" _ Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence; Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle; Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland.

If you're watching, provide the commentary. Read the rest of this post...

Bush hates being irrelevant

Put aside his false statements (OK, lies) that the abstinence programs work and put aside his strange comment about not wanting to give money to people who steal from the people (cough, Iraq, cough Halliburton, cough) and you still have an amazing quote from Bush. He has to be the center of attention and it must be driving him mad that he's become a complete has-been and is irrelevant.

At the news conference, both leaders dodged a question about the presidential race in the United States and the candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., whose father was Kenyan.

Bush, momentarily taken aback by a question about the excitement surrounding Obama's candidacy, said: "Seems like there was a lot of excitement for me."

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Citibank blocks investors from removing money

There were a few real estate related funds in the UK that took similar actions last month. As much as the big financial companies would like us to believe they're OK, this is alarming. This is not that different from a traditional run on the bank.

Citigroup has barred investors in one of its hedge funds from withdrawing their money, and a new leveraged fund lost 52 percent in its first three months, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The largest U.S. bank suspended redemptions in CSO Partners, a fund specializing in corporate debt, after investors tried to pull more than 30 percent of its roughly $500 million of assets, the newspaper said. Citigroup injected $100 million to stabilize the fund, which lost 10.9 percent last year, the newspaper said.

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