I know you've all been wondering what happened to Al, Tim Allen's sidekick on Home Imporvement. No? Well, honestly, neither was I, until I came home one day and my roommate was watching Family Feud. He's the new host and the show is definitely more addictive than I remember. Just what I need to distract me during finals time.

Geologists discover worlds oldest rocks

The Kitchen Cabinet is reporting that U.S. currency will be getting colorful next year. I'd link to the actual article, but it requires registration and I'm too lazy for that right now.

FOUND magazine. Fascinating. My favorite are the notes. I could look at them all day. Must remember to try and find a hard copy the next time I'm in Boston. (Link via The Agitator)

Jesus doesn't want you to drive an SUV.

Jesus doesn't want you to drive an SUV.

Radley Balko is postulating on the attraction of women to Sam Waterston. I'm not quite sure what it is either, but it's definately there. I've been watching the show on and off since junior year of high school and even back then my friends and I agreed it was all about Waterston.

Best sun picture ever.

Student rally supporting war with Iraq. Wow. That's nice to see. Feels like I should be doing more here. (Link via David Hogberg via Instapundit)

So there's a teach-in against the war on Iraq tonight and fliers have been showing up on the dining hall tables titled '9 Reasons Why the US should NOT Go to WAR with IRAQ'. First of all, love the liberal use of capitalization rules. But let's get to the actual reasons.

1. An attack would be against International Law.
Um. How, exactly? The UN has passed a resolution calling on Iraq to allow weapons inspectors in or face military consequences. Is it violating internationial law to enforce international reglations?

2. Going to war without justification would only lead to more terrorist attacks against the United States.
First, we do have justification. Second, sitting back and doing nothing is exactly what will stop terrorist attacks. I'm sure of it.

3. Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter has stated that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that the US had no right to go to war.
I didn't pay to much attentiont to this at the time, but I remember a while back reading something (specifically at Instapundit and Live from the WTC) about Ritter doing a complete about-face and his position on this not being too trustworthy. More information would be appreciated.

4. Iraq has never used chemical or biological weapons when it was an enemy of the US, only when it was our ally. The massive military capabilities of the US haver served as a successful deterrent.
Didn't Iraq use chemical weapons during the Gulf War? We were allies with them during that?

5. Thousands of US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians would die.
Thousands of US and Israeli citizens will die if we do nothing. We cannot know how many civilians will die in this war. Far fewer died in Afghanistan that was predicted by anti-war folks then. I believe we can hope for the same in Iraq.

6. There is no evidence that Iraq supports terrorism.
Can't refute this one off the top of my head. Help, please?

7. Sanctions have already killed over 1 million people in Iraq since the end of the Gulf War. We cannot jusitfy any more deaths caused by US policy.
Sanctions have hurt the people because Saddam Hussein steals the food and money that is supposed to go to civilians to pay for his palaces and Republican Guard. By going to war with Iraq we can take Hussein out of power and allow for normal with relations Iraq once again which will make life better for all civilians. Just as we did in Afghanistan.

8. An attack on Iraq would disrupt the region, leading to a greater war with multiple nations involved.

9. We should concentrate on human needs and stop spending more than $400 billion on the military.
If we do not keep our nation and citizens safe we will not be able to help others. And wasn't it this massive military capability that was deterring Iraq in reason 4?

This was all done very quickly and off the top of my head. Comments, criticisms, etc. are greatly appreciated.

Woah! Megan McArdle has made a massive sight redesign. Still the same great posts, though.

The Onion | Marxists' Apartment A Microcosm Of Why Marxism Doesn't Work

CNN.com - Van owner 'confesses' to planting Bali bomb What are those quote marks for? Are they trying to say it wasn't a true confession? Or were they just unnecessarily excerpting one word from a longer quote?

A nice round up of the Massachusettes election over at Hub Blog.

His quote from Howie Carr about classroom elections reminded me of my first political experience. As a kindergardener in Texas, I had no idea that my parent's Jewish, liberal, Democratic views weren't shared by everyone until we held a mock 1988 Presidential election and I think I was one of 3 student to vote for Dukakis. As forshadowing for my later attitude in poltical discussions, however, I was completely convinced that I was right and everyone else was wrong.

After an hour and a half reading election coverage, it was a nice break to read today's Lileks. It's a rather long one today, but totally worth it. I laughed out loud at least three separate times.

I just got back from my first ever time voting. It was quite exciting. Though I was surprised to see such old technology used. Still, it felt good to actually be able to do something to add to the political process besides rant in my own little world no matter how little it actually counts.

Quite a fun reminder of how amazing a world we live in.

This article is quite pessimistic about today's college students and their interest in international policy. Apparently because there aren't as many protests against the war as there were during Vietnam, students don't care what happens. Maybe they would have found something different if they'd gone beyond Lehigh University. My favorite part, though, is this quote:

''We keep our students desperate just trying to keep up with what they're asked to do,'' [Dave Amidon, director of Lehigh's Urban Studies program] said. ''My students are too wise to waste time on something they can't do much about. They don't squander their time.''

Amen. If they want us to be more activist, maybe they should stop giving us so much work to do!

A little while ago Stephen Green said he was going to do less linking and more long, opinion posts. I, for one, am enjoying it immensely. Go. Read. Enjoy.

A Political-Type Meme

Which Founding Father Are You?