My Bromance with Eric Mazur

People, it's all come out in the open now. I've been publicly outed. You can see the spicy details right here.

The old lefthander, rounding third and heading for home....

big Red machine, baby!

weekend links

1. Alexander Cockburn absolutely kills BHO over the OBL affair.

Here's a teaser: From this active volcano of lies, we can safely assume that Obama's re-election campaign has been well and truly launched.

2. Al-Zarkawi gets a new roomie.

This is the funniest thing I've read in quite a while (hat tip to the King of Arkansas).

3. Once again, Timmy Geithner proves himself to be a man of the people.

Old Ben Barber loves him some Saif!

An amazing interview is here. Ben sure does not like anyone to think that he may be wrong about anything. Also, he has some very strange views about what a Ph.D. dissertation is. Here he is responding to plagiarism charges against his homie Saif:

It's a dissertation; I have read it. There are about 600 books quoted at length or paraphrased -- it's a doctoral dissertation; you're supposed to cite people! You're not allowed to have your own views

600 books quoted at length? Not allowed to have your own views?

YIKES!!

oh and by the way, check the second link. Home-boy plagiarized in a big big way!

Barber is a joke.

Sammy P loves him some Perk

Presti said he did not enter the trade deadline looking to deal the 6-foot-9, 235-pound Green, a fourth-year player out of Georgetown.

"That was not an objective," Presti explained. "There were only a couple of players I would consider, and Perkins happened to be one of them.

"If we could not have gotten Perkins, we would have been happy standing pat (with Green on the roster), but you can't just get a guy like Kendrick Perkins. You can't just get guys like that. It will cost you something. He's a 26-year-old beast. He's a championship-level, experienced guy, but he's young. He fits our timeline tremendously."

Self-fulfilling prophecies or How to make it in America

"THIBODAUX, La. – A man who told police that God told him to walk the streets naked to save his soul has been arrested. Thibodaux police responded to an obscenity complaint around 2 a.m. Thursday and found Shafiq Mohamed walking nude down the street. When approached, Mohamed reportedly told officers that "America raped him" and added God told him to walk the streets naked to save his soul.

Mohamed was taken into custody and charged with obscenity. He was booked into the Lafourche Parish Detention Center where he awaited bail.

It was not immediately known whether Mohamed has an attorney."

Link is here. I believe I'll just let this one speak for its ownself.

What could possibly go wrong with this plan?

The mighty House of Saud has no love for Valentine's day. The holiday is banned in the magic kingdom and:

The religious police launched Thursday a nationwide crackdown on stores selling items that are red or in any other way allude to the banned celebrations of Valentine's Day, a Saudi official said.

Members of the feared religious police were inspecting shops for red roses, heart-shaped products or gifts wrapped in red, and ordering storeowners to get rid of them, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Red-colored or heart-shaped items are legal at other times of the year, but as Feb. 14 nears they become contraband in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom bans celebration of Western holidays such as Valentine's Day, named after a Christian saint said to have been martyred by the Romans in the 3rd Century.

Wow, so the Wahhabi dudes think that the date of Valentines day is a surprise to their citizens? That they wouldn't just buy their evil red items the week before?

Even the AP can call BS on this:

Each year, the religious police mobilize ahead of Feb. 14 and descend on gift and flower shops, confiscating all red items, including flowers.

Many Saudis, who still want to mark the popular Valentine's, do their shopping weeks before the holiday.

See this is why you have to put rational expectations in your model. Otherwise you get these silly "fool people systematically" results that defy common sense. As bad as people think macro is with RE, trust me it was way worse before RE.

PS: Maybe what's really going on is that the Wasabi-Wahhabis just don't want to pay for their Valentine swag, so they "ban and confiscate" on the eve of the holiday.

Big nite in the OKC

It's pretty amazing that Dinosaur Jr. and Built to Spill have good new albums out. Despite the fancy name, the place is a low -roofed country sh*&$- kicker bar, but Mrs. A and I will be there for the duration.

Close to you, part two

Why do birds suddenly appear, every time you are near?




Why do stars fall down from the sky, every time you walk by?





Just like me, they long to be, close to you.




On the day that you were born, the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true....

close to you

Why do birds suddenly appear, every time you are near?



Why do stars fall down from the sky, every time you walk by?



Just like me, they long to be, close to you




Full story here.