Yep, Another Aggrepost: Kindle for Rent?

Trust me, I loathe aggreposts. But the workload is what it is. So bear with me. I'll look into eradicating this habit after the primaries are over. Might also need to look into this concept I hear about once in a while: vacation. Sad fact of the matter is that I'm an awful vacationer. I vacation like I shop: with a distinct mission that must be accomplished in as record a time as possible. "Winning" at Vacation is akin to seeing Disneyland in 30 minutes ... and bragging about it!

Till then ...

» Is it just me, or is Buckley getting lazy in his old age? I mean, concluding that Obama "might" have wanted to offer a guaranteed success in stock market investing? THAT'S the best the guy can come up with?

» In other news, the internet is everywhere. Film at 11 ... YouTube at 10:30.

» In another instance of YouTube speed versus MSM speed: Tom Brady's cast. I expect the Super Bowl to be a great game, but I may love it a little more if Giants fans get their hopes up over this, only to be crushed in a manner that only New York sports fans should: harsh. Is it too much to ask that Belichick run up the score in a Super Bowl?

» Back to conventional warfare, pretty cool article here on the software that goes into the military's Future Combat Systems.

» Maybe it's a sign I'm getting old (a point my co-workers will cruelly pointed out for a rusty nickel), but with actors dropping and musicians snorting, I'm already longing for the days when I actually used to know who these people were before they crashed and burned. Seriously, I own a grand sum of zero Amy W(h)inehouse tunes and the only Heath Ledger flick I'm going to see if the one that comes out after he's dead. And that, only because of an affinity for the Batman genre - a point that scores me zero points on the so-called "hip, youth culture" index that I'm graded against. To heck with it all. Van Halen arrives in town Monday. At least when those guys crash and burn, everyone will know who they were!

» More or less finished Randall Ballmer's "Thy Kingdom Come: An Evangelical's Lament." Sadly, I'm reminded why I didn't pick it up originally ... there's too much of it that comes across as a liberal screed than a more sincere lament. Ah well, not much lost. The book was inexpensive and a quick read. Back to Taylor Branch, though.

» On the topic of nerdy bookworm habits, I'm still on the lookout for anyone willing to rent out an Amazon Kindle. Seriously, I've asked every nerd I know and not a one of them knows a soul who owns one (often after having to explain to my target audience what it is I'm actually talking about). I'm trying to rationalize the purchase even if I don't take to it as a book replacement - the browser and free internet seem like a nice lure. But if I can adjust to reading on it and plunking down fewer dollars per book at the same time, it's a cinch for me. First things first, though. For a small chunk of change and the addition of a book or two (can even be negotiated for mutual interest), I'm offering to take the gizmo off your hands for a week.

» A few minor Pres-race notes: Huckabee seems to be tanking for lack of money and a shrinking field. I'm more than a little relieved to see that. Oddly, Romney seems to be back in contention for Florida. Is that really how the GOP side is going to come down? ... Romney vs McCain? What a faustian bargain for conservatives. I mean, Bush more or less altered the mix temporarily for what it meant to be a conservative - at least on the surface. Suddenly - and briefly - concerns for education and social services were the new fad. No more. Now, it's seemingly down to two guys who will switch any position necessary in order to grab the mantle of party leadership.

» For my own side, it seems more and more like South Carolina is a runaway for Obama. Saw the question out there somewhere - I'll have to look it up for a h/t - but if you add up an Obama win in SC and a Hillary win in Florida, is there anything that undoes the calculus for Feb. 5 states that show Clinton with a still significant lead in most states? I guess this has me a bit closer to speculating what we'll see that day. And obviously, I'd love to see a tidal wave for Hillary - so that's what I'll call. But Obama's rise in those states is just as significant and could be worth some attention as some states get more and more attention (say, California).

The lack of a winner-take-all scenario, however, does also raise the possibility that it could be difficult to get 50%+ of the delegates going into the convention. Yes, another brokered convention theory. But let's say the majority of states go something like 45-40-15 for any one candidate. That makes Edwards (Mr. 15%) the spoiler in all this. Could it be his leverage to once more be an ineffective VP pick by one or the other frontrunners? Here's hoping not. My original pick for automatic VP was Mark Warner, but now he's got a good Senate race he's likely to win. I'm partial to a border south pick for VP and if I were to make a sentimental pick, it'd be Georgia's John Lewis. Watch the guy on TV, though, and he doesn't have a great presence (which I hate to concede). Lacking that, the crowd is thin for my top tier: O'Malley is facing low ratings back home. Kaine is a possibility, but he's no Mark Warner. Does Evan Bayh sneak into consideration once again? I still find him insufferably boring. Something to shore up Ohio a bit, maybe? I love Ted Strickland (and, apparently, so does Ohio), but he's still new on the job as Gov.

Maybe go midwest and pick up Gov. Sebelius. Think about it ... in 1992, Bill Clinton picked someone who was, in a sense, something of a mirror image. Worked for him. If Hillary does that with Sebelius, I think it'd help on a meta-level for her even if it means she doesn't carry Kansas. How'd she play in Sandusky? Go ahead and pencil her in as my preferred pick for Hillary.