Blogito, ergo sum

Hat tip: Charlie Brown

Peter Thiel's libertarian paradise ...

... as described by the Onion.

I like the bit about the debt clock.

More accolades for UM

Michigan does very well in the Shanghai university rankings and the diag is honored as well.

From snowpocalypse to quakepocalypse

The earthquake in DC.

Via: MR

Politics and bedfellows

The Daily Show
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Jon Stewart disses the media for ignoring Ron Paul. The enemy of his enemies, in this case the social conservatives and the folks who never met a war they didn't like, is indeed Jon Stewart's friend.

Via the Agitator

Reactions to economics

My former colleague John Palmer at Western Ontario has defined an "official gesture" for his students, and collected photographs of its use.

Ann Arbor parody news site

I have added "News of Ann Arbor" to the blogroll at the right. It is a parody news site.

This post, quoted in its entirety, gives the flavor (and is right on target):

Impasse at 4-way stop snarls rush-hour traffic

The drivers of four vehicles, each insisting that the others go first at the four-way stop at Catherine and Fourth, caused massive traffic backups throughout Ann Arbor during this afternoon's rush hour.

Witnesses said all four vehicles -- one Prius, one SUV, one BMW and one SmartCar -- approached the intersection simultaneously, coasting at about 2 miles per hour. When they stopped, each driver waved the others ahead, but none moved.

After about five minutes, two of the drivers started, but then stopped immediately when they noticed the other car moving. Complicating the situation was a growing crowd of pedestrians, some trying hesitantly to cross the street, others staring at the growing spectacle.

For approximately two hours, the drivers and pedestrians alternated between waving each other on, stopping and starting, and stewing in their own indignation. The debacle only ended after police officers brought the four drivers out of their vehicles into the middle of the intersection for a meeting that lasted 45 minutes. Witnesses reported that the group apparently took several votes -- each tied 2-2 -- before coming to an agreement.

It took several hours to clear the traffic, which had backed up to M-14 and U.S. 23. The police officer responding to the incident said none of the drivers would be charged with any crime, provided that they leave the scene immediately.

Indeed!

Pot for pets

The Daily Mail has the low down on a Seattle company developing marijuana pain relief patches for pets.

Of course, SNL was a couple of decades ahead of the curve:

Hat tip on the Daily Mail story: Charlie Brown

On bowling

From the New Yorker. Hat tip: Stephan Lauermann.

Travel checklist for the over-50 set

From the Economist Gulliver blog, a humorous travel list for older travelers.

Sadly, the website that the list is advertising does not have quite the same charm, at least not based on my pretty quick visit.

European terror alerts

This is from my inbox (and can be found many other places on the internet). Snopes has a discussion of whether or not it should be attributed to former Python John Cleese, as it was in the email I received. My sense is that it should not.

---------------------------------------------------

ANNOUNCEMENT

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved."

Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the

country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels .

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia , meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Three more escalation levels remain: "Crikey!", "I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend", and "The barbie is cancelled."

Funny t-shirt for your child

From a t-shirt shop in the St. Lawrence market in Toronto

College Board follies

The College Board has trouble writing, and trouble admitting when it makes mistakes.

Hat tip: Charlie Brown

Externalities in the dating market

xkcd sums them up.

Understanding structural retirement models

Hat tip (and title): Charlie Brown

Math limerick

The integral z-squared dz

From one to the cuberoot of 3

Times the cosine

Of three pi over nine

Is the log of the cube root of e.

Via Dimitriy Masterov on Facebook

Punny stuff from my inbox

Best friends graduated from medical school at the same time and decided that, in spite of two different specialties, they would open a practice together to share office space and personnel.

Dr. Smith was the psychiatrist and Dr. Jones was the proctologist; they put up a sign reading:

"Dr. Smith and Dr. Jones: Hysterias and Posteriors."

The town council was livid and insisted they change it. So, the docs changed it to read:

"Schizoids and Hemorrhoids."

This was also not acceptable, so they again changed the sign.

"Catatonics and High Colonics"......No go.

Next, they tried

"Manic Depressives and Anal Retentives"....thumbs down again.

Then came

“Minds and Behinds"....still no good.

Another attempt resulted in

"Lost Souls and Butt Holes".......unacceptable again!

So they tried

"Analysis and Anal Cysts".....not a chance.

“Nuts and Butts".....no way.

"Freaks and Cheeks".....still no good.

"Loons and Moons".....forget it.

Almost at their wit's end, the docs finally came up with:

"Dr. Smith and Dr. Jones--Odds and Ends."

Everyone loved it.

------------------

Hat tip: Jackie Smith

Ban the job-killing ATMs

A funny video from the Media Research Center.

The only downside is that neither the MRC nor the people they ask for signatures seem to realize that the "M" in "ATM" stands for "machine", so that saying "ATM machine" over and over makes one look silly.

Joking with the Dalai Lama on Australian TV

My sense is that the Dalai Lama would appreciate a good joke, if only he could understand it.

And what is it about Aussie accents that just sounds like fun?

Unexpected effects of college quality

A NY Post story of a woman who declared herself too well-educated to be kicked off the NY subway.

Sadly, the corresponding video has been taken down by the person who originally posted it. I blame the lawyers.