Earthquake prediction closer

Seismologists claim they are getting close to the point of being able to give hours of advance warning about earthquakes. Color me skeptical, as we’ve been hearing stories like this for a generation.

Nonetheless, if you’re interested, follow the link to the NPR interview.

Freddie Mac in trouble Monday?

The feds aren’t sure whether or not it can sell $3 billion of short-term debt.

In the worst-case scenario, we’ll have bailout-lite with the Treasury itself buying the debt notes.

It takes a thief to trip up a thief - Irony Alert

Steal a 400-year-old First Folio of Shakespeare? Check.

Apparently steal other high-dollar items? Check?

Live in a modest house, apparently to keep a low profile? Check.

Shoot that idea in the foot? Priceless:

The man lives in a modest home in a working-class neighborhood – the ancestral town of George Washington.

But there was a silver Ferrari in his driveway and Armani suits in the closets.

Read the full story for more on the saga of the stolen Shakespeare.

U.S. backtracks on Iraq timelines opposition

In exchange for agreeing to timelines (which are not that set in stone anyway), BushCo gets a trade-off from Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

His agreement to a more temporary arrangement than a full-blown status of forces agreement. He likes this because it doesn’t require a two-thirds vote of the Iraq Parliament. BushCo has to like it because it’s the best it’s going to get.

The agreement would last through the end of 2009.

Oh, and on a related topic? Barack Obama, if you’re elected president, and Gen. Petraeus, as head of CentCom, resists your suggested speed of drawdown?

You ARE the Commander in Chief. You CAN reassign him.

A delusional Obamiac tool makes unwarranted progressive voter assumptions

Mike Stark, creator of the “vote no on FISA” subgroup on MyBarack Obama shows his ignorance about progressive voter options:

The progressives who constitute the Democratic Party's activist base learned a lesson from the 2000 election; Ralph Nader will almost certainly not be a factor in the 2008 presidential election because left-leaning voters are not willing to throw their votes away. That said, there is – or should have been – another side to the Nader coin.

The name is “McKinney, Cynthia,” Mr. Stark, and she is the official Green Party nominee for president.

I will NOT consider my vote wasted if, as is likely, it is cast for her.

Hey, Mr. Stark. You’re a tool. An enabler. Deal with it.

BushCo myths about Social Security shot down from inside

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy Russell Beland tells us the truth about those beloved GOP myths about “Social Security is going broke.”

Shorter version of Beland:

1. The actuarial assumptions are so fine-tuned that making any long-term prediction is dicey at best;
2. The surge in retirees will NOT overburden Social Security;
3.Boomer retirement will actually be GOOD for the economy, including providinga scarce labor market that could drive up wages. (Editor note — That said,look for the drumbeat in favor of immigration to surge amongst the big businesswing of the GOP in coming years.);
4. This surge in wages will increase payroll taxes, thereby directly benefiting Social Security.

So, there you go. Read the whole thing for a handy list of talking points to refute GOP friends, bloggers or whomever.