Tuesday night!

* The buzzword at the heart of my dissertation got a bump today.

* 'Good Night and Tough Luck': a short web comic about the misery of insomnia.

* Good news/bad news: the total implosion of the global economy has caused CO2 emissions to plummet 6%, to 8.5% of 2005 levels.

* Corzine takes his first polling lead over Chris Christie in the New Jersey governor's race.

* Osama bin Laden blurbs a few of his favorite books, including Jimmy Carter's Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid and (apparently) Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. (via)

* American debt, the Chinese economy, and mutually assured financial destruction.

* The House passed a resolution of disapproval against Congressman Joe Wilson along strict party lines? You lie!

* When will the MSM break its silence on Obama's secret rat love?

* 'Wealthcare': A brief history of Ayn Rand. Some talk at MeFi.

(The anti-government activist Grover Norquist has told a similar story from childhood, in which his father would steal bites of his ice cream cone, labelling each bite "sales tax" or "income tax." The psychological link between a certain form of childhood deprivation and extreme libertarianism awaits serious study.)

* Conservative bloggers have truly outdone themselves in their efforts to hype the 9/12 rally; Steve Benen and Media Matters have the details on "the largest event held in Washington, D.C., ever." It's the greatest propaganda FAIL since they tried to pass off a picture of the Promise Keepers rally as being from last weekend.

* And this interview from one of Bush's last speechwriters has been linked by nearly every mainstream political blog I read: Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, Steve Benen, Kevin Drum, Atrios, Ben Smith, Think Progress, MetaFilter, and Crooks and Liars, each with their own favorite moment from the piece. The Palin line is sort of inescapable:

“I’m trying to remember if I’ve met her before. I’m sure I must have.” His eyes twinkled, then he asked, “What is she, the governor of Guam?”

Everyone in the room seemed to look at him in horror, their mouths agape. When Ed told him that conservatives were greeting the choice enthusiastically, he replied, “Look, I’m a team player, I’m on board.” He thought about it for a minute. “She’s interesting,” he said again. “You know, just wait a few days until the bloom is off the rose.” Then he made a very smart assessment.

“This woman is being put into a position she is not even remotely prepared for,” he said. “She hasn’t spent one day on the national level. Neither has her family. Let’s wait and see how she looks five days out.”

Something's a little off at MSNBC: after last night's Keith Olbermann Special Comment rant about the Republicans' exploitation of 9/11, it seems a little strange to hear from Gawker that the network is currently playing its footage from 9/11/01 in real time. What's the old saying? You can't put lipstick on that pig. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

I generally like KO, but the Special Comment segment should simply be taken out behind the barn thrown under the bus retired. The novelty, and thus the power, is gone, and all that's left is a deeply overused ratings stunt they now start advertising two days in advance. Last night was the worst, I think: the rant turned in the end to John McCain's non-existent secret plan to capture Osama bin Laden, all but accusing McCain of treason for failing to share this plan with the rest of us. But the point, of course, is exactly the opposite. It's not that McCain "knows how" to capture Osama bin Laden because he "knows wars" and "knows how to win them"—the point, sir, the point is that John McCain's tough talk is plainly empty on its face, and therefore worthy only to be mocked.

Good night and good luck.

It only took me three weeks to figure out how to use my cameraphone. Here's just a delicious taste of what's to come now that I have a camera on my person at all times.

1) My current favorite graffiti of all time (dibs on the movie rights):

2) Here's the best picture of Bruce I could get with the damn thing:

3) And this is just plain good advice:

Things to be outraged about this Thursday night:

* When people say the surge is working, they mean that fewer American troops are dying each month in Iraq. I'm certainly glad this is the case—but I do regret that the accompanying escalation in air strikes that has made this possible has gone so underreported.

The U.S.-led coalition dropped 1,447 bombs on Iraq last year, an average of nearly four a day, compared with 229 bombs, or about four each week, in 2006.

...

The greater reliance on air power has raised concerns from human rights groups, which say that 500-pound and 2,000-pound munitions threaten civilians, especially when dropped in residential neighborhoods where insurgents mix with the population. The military assures that the precision attacks are designed to minimize civilian casualties -- particularly as Petraeus's counterinsurgency strategy emphasizes moving more troops into local communities and winning over the Iraqi population -- but rights groups say bombings carry an especially high risk.

Lenin's Tomb and Matt Yglesias have more commentary, skepticism, sorrow, and distrust.

* Authorities are investigating the death of a 29-year-old Fridley man shot with a Taser by state troopers, who said he had become "uncooperative" after a rush-hour crash Tuesday evening.

* Almost 9% of money donated by Duke faculty to political campaigns went to Republicans. The rest went to Democrats, overwhelmingly Obama and Edwards. Was it really that much? Outrage!

* Bin Laden's son wants to be a peace activist. I suppose this ought to warm my heart or something, but no, it didn't work.

Crazy rumor from Ain't It Cool News today: Rumors are flying that filmmaker Morgan Spurlock of "Super Size Me" fame may have done what the United States government has failed to do for the last six years — find Osama bin Laden. This seems crazy, even by the standards of the last few years—but that would be just about the nail in the coffin for any Republican presidential candidate, not to mention any person named "Bush" ever running for public office ever again.

* Oscar buzz for Darjeeling? And does that suggest it will be good or bad?

* George Lucas on track to ruin another classic movie franchise: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is very nearly the worst possible title for Indy IV, with almost any variant (...and the Crystal Skull, ...and the Kingdom of Crystal, ... and the Kingdom of the Skull) being superior. I'm quite suspicious about the alien connection, too—it's got to be a Chariot of the Gods situation, because Close Encounters just isn't going to work. MetaFilter has a little bit more.

* Only the best need apply. $21k for full time June 25 - Aug 20 employment.

* Analyzing the logos of terrorist organizations.

* Bitter Laughter duckspeak thoughtcrime doubleplusungood 9/11.

Two years ago when I taught 1984, I realized that not a single person in my class knew what Osama bin Laden really wanted--what his grievances were, what his ideology looks like, etc. All they knew was that he was inimical to "us," and that he was the enemy. "Enmity" is mightily empty category, and a dangerous one at that, if you refuse to allow it to have content.

And that's exactly what bin Laden is for Americans, an enemy without content. The fact of the matter is that Osama bin Laden is not isomorphic with himself. That is, "Osama bin Laden," as that name is understood in this country, is a simulacrum of the actual man. We do not need to listen to what he has to say because we know what he is -- after all, he is our creation. He represents for us something to fight against, the implement against which we sharpen our knives and define ourselves. His words are not relevant since they communicate a version of himself that does not square with our understanding of him. Why would we both listen or give credence to his video musings?

* Michael Tomasky on Citizen Gore.

* George Saunders on the teevee.

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the glorious end of Muppet Week, and the Internet's oldest living meme: Bert Is Evil.