Better Dead Than Red (State)?

Congratulations to the winners; and commiserations to the losers — mostly the American public that was forced (in Leo's words) to choose between the lesser of "Who cares?" yesterday, thanks to the dysfunctional "two-party system."

• First off, congratulations to incoming Speaker of the House John Böhner (to spell his name as his German ancestors would have). Although I despise the Heffalumps (slightly more than I despise the Jackasses), at least — unlike many members of the House who I still remember two decades on, thanks in no small part to the incumbency problem — I don't know him personally as an asshole. Perhaps it's some of what John Scalzi called "the utter inoffensiveness of Ohio" at work...
• Unfortunately, that's not going to help the arts. At least in Canada, the arts community (now there's a contradiction in terms) is confronting the economic nature and future of the arts as a whole.
• Now in electronic form, James Bond has a license to sell — and it's not from the UK print publisher, either. No official word on what's going to happen on this side of the Pond... or whether there will be a promotional introduction at £0.07 per copy for Casino Royale.
• Here's a new "skin care product" that might require some extra care from store managers in South LA: pop artist Jeff Koons is sponsoring a new skin-care creme, despite the name-association problems he has due to notorious copyright litigation and a much-more notorious policeman of a very similar surname. All of that is going to lead to some really, really interesting litigation if somebody tries to do a knockoff...
• Now that it's officially holiday shopping season, the ghosts of bad Christmas headlines past, present and future are watching you.
• If you're looking for some quick case, just solve a math problem or three. But hurry: The money won't be there forever!