Link Fest

It's kind of quiet in here these days. We're now into the dog days of summer, or as Lileks puts it:

the apogee of summer, the point when it seems so ordinary it must be eternal. The point when you feel as if there are hundred such days behind you and another hundred ahead.

I've mostly taken the summer off from blogging - and the traffic to my site has dropped off to almost nothing as a result. I promise, however, to get back to posting on at least a semi-regular basis come September. At that point there will be much more to talk about. I'll be back at school, moved into my new place, and trying to plan the next five to ten years of my life. In the meantime, here's some odds and sods to keep you occupied.

I think my three favorite blogs right now are Ace of Spades, Barking Moonbat Early Warning System and, for some Canadian content, Ghost of a Flea.

If you are interested in the capital markets, I highly recommend Bill Cara's blog. He's had some great opinions lately about the Google IPO.

There's also an American soldier now blogging live from Iraq. This guy gives the straight dope about whats going on over there. He's a brilliant writer and extremely intense - not for the faint of heart. Here is an excerpt:

On raids my job is to cover my PLT's ass while they assault the
target house. If all hell breaks loose I'm there to provide a rein of 7.62
cover fire. I have an A.G. and and A.B. working with me. The Assistant
gunners job is to be my second set of eyes and to point out targets to me,
tell me rates of fire, sectors of fire, etc. He carries the Tripod, spare
barrels and a shit load of ammo. My Ammo Bearers job is to carry a chunk of
my ammo and he pulls rear security on my gun position, makes sure nobody
sneaks up behind me and shoots me in the back.

Go there now and read.

Mark Cuban's blog BlogMaverick is cool. He talks about technology, owning an NBA team and his new reality show.

Bill Clinton is also keeping a blog. Let's have a peek at what he's up to these days when he's not signing books:

When "This is my life" was played, Kevin (Spacey) declared the club officially dead and we went to a hetro hotspot. Big mistake. I had to dance with dozens of drunken English women in their twenties and thirties. That's not bad. Until they try to forcibly kiss you by the dozens. That's not bad. Until there was a massive catfight between large groups of women over who was going to dance with me next. They were pulling each other's hair, biting, scratching, pulling each other's dresses off and I swear I saw one of them threaten other girls with her lipstick. I have no idea why, but it worked. None of the women came anywhere near her. It was unbelievable.

Good times.

George W. Bush has been asked by the CIA to discontinue his blog for national security reasons - probably a good idea.

Here's a neat puzzle: Try to spot three differences between the two pictures. Oh, those wacky Germans.

Finally, very best wishes from the entire staff at TAML go out to Kaori and Jay, who go into the hospital tomorrow to deliver their baby. All the best.