Thursday miscellanea #29

Garry Kasparov wrote a great column on the marginal health of Putin’s iron-fisted regime, and what the Obama administration is doing to help it survive.
Apart from a little have-a-beer tug upon arriving home in the evening, the abstinence from alcohol has been easy to live with. Couple it with just the little care I’m trying to take elsewhere in my diet, and the predicted waistline benefit is already showing a bit on the scale. I’m trying to ignore it for now, because if I get excited about it I’ll blow it.
Conversely, the first unplugged Sunday was pretty hardcore. I’ll definitely be applying more structure to the day this weekend.
In a truly shocking development that no one could ever have possibly predicted, GM says more federal money is necessary to prevent bankruptcy.
The Dark Knight is the latest movie I’ve seen that I’m looking forward to sharing with my boys when they’re old enough, which is quite a good while yet. I remain incredulous that it received a PG-13 rating.
Few products are as reliably absurd as high-end audio “tweaks” (and few consumers are as reliably entertaining as rich, gullible, obstinate audiophiles). Have a $485 volume knob, a $799 cable breaker-inner, or a $14,900 pair of interconnect cables.
Getting only five hours’ sleep hurts a lot more than it used to.

saintseester

March 6, 2009 at 1:13 pm

Regime is such a negative word, much like Czar.
BamaDan

March 6, 2009 at 4:29 pm

Wait, Putin is grousing over a midcourse radar in Europe so that Roman Abramovich can stay rich? Another reason to hate Chelsea…
Bo

March 6, 2009 at 7:26 pm

‘seester: Maybe I should start referring to “the Obama regime.”

BamaDan: Heh. You said Chelsea, and I thought Clinton. Was momentarily mystified.

I knew Obama’s domestic agenda would be a disaster, but I hoped foreign relations might not be so bad. No luck so far. Didja hear about the 25 DVDs Obama got UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a gift? Brown brought Obama curios made from the timbers of storied vessels, as well as a first edition biography of Winston Churchill.

I hear Obama’s going to get Brown that PS3 he’s had his eye on next.