I'm going to quote Sullivan ranting about Palin because I love the phrase "media-ideological-industrial complex"...

Look: what we have seen this past year is the collapse of the RNC as it once was and the emergence of a highly lucrative media-ideological-industrial complex. This complex has no interest in traditional journalistic vetting, skepticism, scrutiny of those in power, or asking the tough questions. It has no interest in governing a country. It has an interest in promoting personalities and ideologies and false images of a past America that both flatter and engage its audience. For most in this business, this is about money. Roger Ailes, who runs a news business, has been frank about what his fundamental criterion is for broadcasting: ratings not truth. Obviously all media has an eye on the bottom line - but in most news organizations, there is also an ethical editorial concern to get things right. I see no such inclination in Fox News or the hugely popular talkshow demagogues (Limbaugh, Levin, Beck et al.), which now effectively control the GOP. And when huge media organizations have no interest in any facts that cannot be deployed for a specific message, they are a political party in themselves.

"In Palinworld, Palin, By Definition, Speaks The Truth."

My grandma ate the same thing for lunch everyday as well -- a peanut butter sandwich with grape jelly and Campbell's soup. I got to half half of the Campbell's soup and a peanut butter and no jelly sandwich.

This Stuff on My Cat is cracking my up. The expressions on their faces!

[link]

I could be pretty happy eating a burrito every day for lunch, but the long-term effects on my waistline and bank account would not be pretty.

I'm going to quote Sullivan ranting about Palin

I'm thinking Palin won't run in 2012, she's got an awfully good gig going on.

I'm thinking Palin won't run in 2012, she's got an awfully good gig going on.

Yeah, that seems to be the conventional wisdom.

I'm thinking Palin won't run in 2012, she's got an awfully good gig going on.

Oh, I could see her running for about 10 minutes, and then spending the next four years talking about how the media elites forced her out of the running. It would probably be worth an extra $75k per speaking gig.

Well I can certainly see her milking the speculation. I'm not sure who the GOP has for 2012. Right now my best guess would be Romney, but more for the weakness of the field than for the strength of Romney.

The deciding factor for the GOP's pick in 2012 is going to be how strong the conservative wing is. Right now, that wing has managed to push out more moderate candidates in so many states that they might have the ability to do so across the country. If they end up nominating a Huckabee or Gingrich instead of a Romney or other formerly-moderate-but-sucking-up-to-the-conservatives candidate, then it'll be an interesting referendum on how moderates are willing to vote.

It's interesting what's happening in Florida that Charlie Crist is thisclose to leaving the Republican Party and running for Senate as an independent.

ION, I've been following peak oil stuff for a while now. It's confusing, as estimates as to when we'll reach peak oil vary from "it's already happened" to the year 2040. But here's an estimate that's depressing - it's put out by the Department of Energy and the US military.

The Imminent Crash Of Oil Supply: Be Afraid

The "Unidentified Projects" part of the graph essentially means "We have no idea where this oil is going to come from".

Basically, the graph is saying that we have a small surplus of production, and that surplus will be gone by 2012. After that, the supply will fall 4% a year instead of continuing to rise to meet demand.

What does it imply? The supply of the world's most essential energy source is going off a cliff. Not in the distant future,but in a year and a half. Production of all liquid fuels, including oil, will drop within 20 years to half what it is today. And the difference needs to be made up with "unidentified projects," which one of the world's leading petroleum geologists says is just a "euphemism for rank shortage," and the world's foremost oil industry banker says is "faith based."

Fuck.