For about $10 million, you can go to cosmonaut training and have a chance at getting shot up into space. (If your launch gets cancelled or you get sick, the money is non-refundable.) Or, you could bring the wooly mammoth back from extinction

I’m a long way from having $10 million to spend on something random, but if I did, I don’t know which I would pick. Probably bringing back the extinct animal. Come to think of it, you could charge admission to see and maybe even pet it, and you’d probably even get your $10 million back in a few years.

Posted as a comment to an article one of my friends posted:

“I need y’all to be really, really quiet for this. I need you to really understand what I’m telling you. Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama’s running so we all can fly.” – Jay-Z

Whatever your political opinions may be, one thing is clear about an Obama presidency. While there are still barriers based on race, they are not anything that cannot be overcome with a lot of hard work. It’s a big step towards a post-racial society, and while I’m sure it’s wishful thinking, I am hoping it’s also a step towards a post-partisan society. I have a lot of friends who are registered republicans and I agree with them on more than I disagree, and getting 52 percent of the popular vote means there are a lot of GOP members who saw things the way I do.

I will have to admit, though, that we took an active role in this campaign starting in the primary season. We’ve given money, time and pizzas to the Obama campaign. We had volunteers staying at our house. I did four canvassing shifts on election day alone. I hope that Obama can run the country with the same skill, efficiency and strategic acumen that he applied to his campaign, which was truly the first 21st century political campaign.

While his victory, especially in Colorado, heightened our joy, I have to admit it’s increased my expectations as well. I put a lot of energy into him winning, so he better do a good job. As we’ve learned in Iraq, winning the war is the easy part. Winning the peace is the true struggle. This is a start

It looks like some legislation to bail out the world’s financial institutions will be ready soon. That’s surprisingly fast for congress to enact such a huge piece of legislation, and ironically I think that will be an unintended consequence of McCain’s decision to suspend campaigning. Congress, especially the Democrats, want to make it clear that they can do this themselves without any nagging from the presidential candidates, thank you very much.

Unfortunately it’s impossible to consider any viable alternatives to the treasury’s plan with this short a time horizon. My predicition is the Paulson plan will pass with some basic modifications. I’ve heard some interesting alternatives, though. One is to capitalize the financial institutions by passing a stimulus to savings. That’s the kind of win-win thinking I’d like to see examined a little more.

The Independant writes that massive amounts of methane gas are bubbling to the surface

There has not been any further confirmation or measurements of methane trapped beneath permafrost leaking to the surface, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on:

Methane is about 20 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and many scientists fear that its release could accelerate global warming in a giant positive feedback where more atmospheric methane causes higher temperatures, leading to further permafrost melting and the release of yet more methane.

Via the Volokh Conspiracy How Political Fans are like Sports Fans:

Voters tend to overvalue the importance of new information that supports their preexisting views or makes their preferred party look good; and they tend to discount any information that cuts the other way.

Now, if we could only hold our political leaders as accountable as we hold the coaches and players from the teams we hold dear. It’s hard to break out of the echo chamber when talking about politics because it’s so hard to keep disagreements from turning personal, just like sports!

Some people say that this financial crisis is contrived. Other people say that things are far worse than they appear and that $700 billion won’t even come close to fixing this mess. I am sure I can find every opinion in between.

From the creator of the West Wing, a fictional conversation between Bartlett and Barack Obama.