Be careful what you wish for, reports Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal:

The 401(k) generation is beginning to retire, and it isn’t a pretty sight.

The retirement savings plans that many baby boomers thought would see them through old age are falling short in many cases.

You remember the pitch for 401(k)s, don’t you? No? Here, let the WSJ rub it in:

Tax-deferred 401(k) retirement accounts came into wide use in the 1980s, making baby boomers trying to retire now among the first to rely heavily on them…

Initially envisioned as a way for management-level people to put aside extra retirement money, the 401(k) was embraced by big companies in the 1980s as a replacement for costly pension funds. Suddenly, they were able to transfer the burden of funding employees’ retirement to the employees themselves.

Financial freedom! Well, for corporations. You, on the other hand, might want to practice your Greeter skills.

Read more »

Harlan Ellison (NSFW):

Hey y’all! Put on your hoop skirt or gray uniform and pick up that Stars-N-Bars, because it’s time to come on down to Montgomery to celebrate the sesquicentennial of the inauguration of Jefferson Davis as the President of the Confederacy.

Though the swearing-in was a historical re-enactment down to the antique buttons, there were contemporary political overtones. More than one speaker, insisting that “the South was indeed right,” extolled the Confederacy as an example of limited government that should now be followed, and said vaguely that the rightness of the Southern cause was evident by a glance at the headlines every day.

Really, feel free to secede Alabamans. I’d love to not subsidize your asses.  Oh, and I’m looking at you, too, Governor Good Hair.

[NYT: Commemorating Davis’s Confederate Inauguration]

Title: “The Islamic Antichrist: The Shocking Truth about the Real Nature of the Beast”

Author: Joel Richardson

Rank: 17

Blurb: “The Bible predicts that in the last days a charismatic leader will establish a global following in the name of peace. The Koran also predicts that a man will rise up to lead the nations, pledging to usher in an era of peace. The man in the Koran is called the Mahdi, or Islam’s savior. However, the man in the Bible is the Antichrist. Joel Richardson’s stunning research and analysis suggest that the Mahdi and the Antichrist are actually one and the same.”

Review: “For over 20 years I have studied the various end-times teachings looking for something that really made sense.”

Customers Also Bought: “Purging Your House, Pruning Your Family Tree: How to rid your home and family of demonic influence and generational depression”, by Perry Stone

Obligatory Glenn Beck Tie-In: Thursday.

Footnote: Matthew 5:9 is Satan’s handiwork.

The Islamic Antichrist [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon kickback link]

“We generally spell it OK — the spelling okay is relatively recent, and still relatively rare — and we pronounce it not ‘ock’ but by sounding the names of the letters O and K.” [BBC, via Daring Fireball]

Sit down. Relax. Now take a deep, deep breath:

How can the stranglehold on humanity’s digital communications be broken? One media studies professor has a revolutionary idea.

We don’t know where to begin. Well, actually, we do, but once we get started, we fear it’ll be five thousand words before we see daylight. And that’s just for the first sentence, never mind the institutionalized horrorshow that is Media Studies.

Our excuse for bringing this to your attention is that it hails from an alternate universe a website that will soon be under the desperately needed firm hand of Megan Carpentier, a veteran journalist whose proud credits apparently don’t include Wonkette, Cynics Party, or getting really pissy about us.

We wish Megan the best in her latest endeavor, and promise not to tell anybody we’ve seen her beaver.

Media futurist: Time to replace the Internet [Raw Story]

Talking Points Memo editor moves to Raw Story [Raw Story]

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-South Crackolina Idiocy) announced on his blog Wednesday that he won’t be intimidated by the “Muppet Lobby” fighting the Republican proposal to eliminate all funding for public broadcasting.

Obviously, he’s never seen The Muppets.  Miss Piggy will KICK.YOUR.ASS:

[Left Action: I Stand with the Muppet Lobby]