AlchemyToday

But apparently that wasn’t a fair sample?

h/t Not Larry Sabato

What does it say about America that the night-vision footage of a navy seal raid rescuing this captain will be the biggest boost for Obama’s approval rating out of everything accomplished in the first hundred days?

Just made spätzle dough only to realize that I had nothing even remotely resembling a spätzle press (had assumed my colander would work; holes were way too small).  After a bit of futility trying to squeeze the dough into very small pieces, I gave up and tore it off by hand (not easy with sticky dough) and made bits of boiled dough that were something of a cross between spätzle and superballs.  Fried up in oil and butter and then added blanched brussel sprouts.  A bit chewy, but not bad — I definitely see the appeal of spätzle, but need to acquire better tools before trying again.  Also pictured, tofu w/ garbanzo, spring onion, and garlic.

Today:

While the public clamors for an end to TARP, and while commercial banks of all sizes are trying to pay back their TARP money, the Treasury Department is now proposing to extend bailout funds to life-insurance companies, most of which are really in no danger of failing.

September 2008:

Why should a successful bank — whether large, medium, or small — give up ownership and allow pay-caps for executives?

Even the big guys like BofA and JPMorgan Chase are still solid banks. So is Goldman and Morgan Stanley. And Wells Fargo. And many others.

Bank of American Corporation (BAC)

No clue whether bailing out life insurance is a good idea or not.  Not having the slightest idea about how these things work, my preference would be to provide capital to limp where it’s cost effective and let them fail otherwise, but there’s no reason to take Kudlow at his word that these insurers aren’t hanging by a thread.

From the Cherry Blossom 10 miler on Sunday

My endorsement for champion of NCAA hoops:

I believe I am finally over hating State out of my love for UMich; also, it’s somewhat unfair that Danny Green has made every three point shot except for one that I’ve seen him take in the tournament.  Looking at his stats, he’s actually right around his 41.5% season average, so it must just be good luck (for him) when I watch.

It’s interesting to see some people in a tizzy over indulging in the ceremonies of our uneasy ally Saudi Arabia.  Anyone claiming that we American’s don’t bow down to anyone is ignorant of history:

Didn’t anyone tell President Obama that Americans don’t bow down to anyone? Didn’t anyone tell President Obama that the President of the United States especially doesn’t bow down to anyone?

Didn’t anyone tell President Obama that Americans fought a long and bloody war so we wouldn’t have to bow down to a king anymore?

Or at least ignorant of the recent John Adams miniseries, which dramatized the day when King George III received Adams as the first American minister to Britain in 1785:

On July 4, 1776, John Adams, delegate to the Continental Congress from Massachusetts, voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming the British King unfit to be ruler of a free people. The King had proclaimed the rebellious colonists to be traitors. Could Adams possibly have imagined that, after eight years of warfare, he would stand before that same King, as a respected diplomat on the world stage, presenting his credentials as the first United States Minister Plenipotentiary to Britain?

On June 1, 1785, King George formally received John Adams, representative of the fledgling nation that had dealt the British Empire a bitter defeat. The meeting, as Adams recounted in this official account, was marked by the pomp and ceremony required by the occasion of a royal audience. But beneath the pageantry, Adams described a strong undercurrent of emotion as the King and his former subject—who once reviled each other as bitter enemies—met face to face, as statesmen.

In a letter to Sec. State John Jay, Adams recounts going through the formalities in having an audience with the King:

I went with his Lordership thro’ the Levee Room into the King’s Closet, the Door was shut and I was left with his Majesty and the Secretary of State alone.  I made the three Reverences, one at the Door, another about half way and the third before the Presence, according to the usage established at this and all the Northern Courts of Europe, and then addressed myself to his Majesty in the following words–

So perhaps this is all just kinda silly.  If not, here’s a video of Bush bowing, kissing, and receiving a medal from King Abdullah.  Big deal.  More importantly, John Adams had preternaturally outstanding handwriting.

Parking in Baltimore is always a matter of playing the odds.  Thursday night I parked on the red dot and got broken into; however, I rarely see shattered glass on that road so I considered it quite safe.  On the walk back home, I noticed an open spot on the much safer blue dot and briefly considered moving my car.  If you park on the bridges (green dots) you probably run a 2-5% chance of a break-in.  Spots are always available there at night (and you don’t need a permit), but no one ever parks there.  On any given day there are probably five telltale piles of tempered glass at the curb.

This is all within about a football field of my house.  Baltimore’s weird like that.  There are fewer break-ins here than in Fell’s Point, so really I was improving my odds in moving here.  Insurance premiums do not scale with auto theft rates at all, because the Baltimore PD will never write a report without serious property loss or an accident dispute.  I estimate that I’ve saved roughly enough in insurance premium reductions due to underreported crime & accidents (there is literally an accident every two weeks a block from my house) to cover my busted window.