DISSIPATED IN RENT SEEKING? Faint praise for further federally-funded research on extending Metra service Kenosha to Milwaukee.

COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE. "After beating three teams from BCS conferences to open the season, Northern Illinois coach Joe Novak was worried about a letdown in the conference opener against the Bobcats, whose only win was a 17-3 victory over Division I-AA Southeast Missouri State.

"It looked as if that would happen until Fleck came through at the end." Northern Illinois 30, Ohio 23, in overtime. At the not-so-Happy Valley, the Joe Paterno Retirement Watch returns, the offensive line continues its stop us if you can ways, and the Badgers match last year's Big Ten victory production.

RAILWAY ARCHAEOLOGY. Milwaukee streetcars weren't just for schlepping groceries home. The car department at the East Troy Railroad has been working on the Milwaukee streetcar that illustrates these pages, and they discovered these (you might have to register with Yahoo Groups to view them.) It transpires that sometimes people schlepped pork chops home (this looks good, here's Kassler Rippchen, and more prosaic uses are possible) and sometimes people ate them on the car, and didn't clean up after themselves.

SPELLING OUT MY LOSS FUNCTION. Posting has been light or nonexistent the past couple of days owing to a cold that is slow to go away, and a bit of boredom with the big stories of the day, and a few fun things going on elsewhere. Plame? Precursor chemicals? Limbaugh? The Common Carriers are all over it. Go there. They don't hang valve gear or take derivatives. I do. California recall? Big Up to this. Does an absence of post on such things mean I don't care? Hardly. But there's no point linking the Common Carriers who are doing such a good job linking and commenting on each other. Where do I stand? Let's say that I don't want to explain to my nephew why he now has to pray with his nose pointed in the general direction of Cudahy, and his butt in the air, and his aunt has to cover her face, just because some people wanted evidence far beyond a reasonable doubt of some bad guys' capabilities. Raising Sand offers a somewhat more global perspective. (Last via Jay Solo's Verbosity.)

SECOND SECTION: One of the mad Ba'athist paymasters may be off the street.

THIRD SECTION: Shot in the Dark is thinking along similar lines, complete with an on-point from Day By Day.

NO NEED TO PROPITIATE THE RAIN GODS? Skepticism of man-made climate change, from unusual quarters. More here. (Hat tip: Insta Pundit.)

MISAPPROPRIATING RESOURCES. Photon Courier is unimpressed with Stanley Fish's pleas of poverty in the state universities. Go there. It'll hold you over until I get the time to respond to the State of the University here.

OPERATION GIVE. Photon Courier discovers that A Small Victory's Michele has set up a web site for Chief Wiggles's toy drive.

It's worth checking the Chief's site for updates on the toy drive (including school supplies, toothbrushes and toothpaste) and the campaign to free the generals. The first platoons of the new Iraqi Army are completing basic training (or is it retraining into the ways of civil society?) One thing my parents' generation learned in World War II is that the help of Germans, including influential Germans, who weren't mad Nazis was helpful in getting Germany up and running again. Isn't the same thing true for influential Iraqis who weren't mad Ba'athists?

SECOND SECTION: Be sure to read and understand the Service Bulletins at Dean's World. Coverage of both the toy drive and the Generals.

THIRD SECTION. More on both stories at Winds of Change.

THE REAL REALLY USEFUL ENGINES.

All the toddler-related posts invoking Thomas the Tank Engine and friends inspire the following links. Here is the Awdry Family web site (the stories originated as Awdry bedtime stories) and here the real lives of Thomas and most of the other engines.

How big is Thomas to the railroad preservation effort? A "Day Out with Thomas" brings as many visitors to the Illinois Railway Museum in two weekends as visit some museums all year.

BREACH OF FAITH? The State of the University speech by Northern Illinois University President John Peters ventures into the broader topics of The University and The Public. Not enough time to react to it at the moment, but perhaps over the weekend...

FOURTH TURNING ALERT? A call for libertarians to migrate to New Hampshire.

LOTS OF GREEN BAY FUND RAISERS? Check out the "updated" tags here.

GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM. Let's see, if China exports goods to the United States, doesn't somebody have to handle the sales efforts?

NOTICE OF DISRUPTION OF SERVICE. Invisible Adjunct is busy with a book project. Good on ya.

SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE? Lookee what's the news from Europe and the implications thereof.

CALL FOR PAPERS. The latest Carnival is Carnival of the Capitalists. Unclear whether this is a touring carnival or a fixed site. More information at Jay Solo's Verbosity.

CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOU? Carnival of the Vanities calls at Dodgeblogium. (Just the facts, ma'am.)

FOURTH TURNING ALERT. Not good times ahead for free spirits, suggests Reason's Julian Sanchez, who links to this article (English language in a Swedish Journal) that inter alia provides an explanation for acceptance of the homeland security measures. Although many high schools in tough neighborhoods have been run much like prisons for a long time, since the Columbine shootings, which prior to 9/11 were much on the minds of entering classes, that has been true of high schools in more prosperous parts as well. And the level of security, and the acceptance thereof, might increase further, if this story (at Number 2 Pencil, celebrating a birthday) ceases to be newsworthy simply because it is common.

GREAT PAGE-TURNER. One reason for the somewhat light posting of the past few days is the arrival of Frederick Forsyth's Avenger (details or compare prices.) Great read, and no sign of the recycling of content that has been plaguing Tom Clancy (or shall we say the school of Tom Clancy lately.) Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Osama, the usual Forsyth coincidences, and some political philosophy: "The hatred of your country is not because it attacks theirs; it is because it keeps theirs safe. Never seek popularity. You can have supremacy or be loved but never both. What is felt toward you is ten percent genuine disagreement and ninety percent envy."

Probably the Literary Establishment (motto: we don't want you to understand it) will sniff at Forsyth, if they have time to sniff while shuttling from Community College A to Vocational School B, if what Joanne Jacobs has found is true. (Pretty ineffective full employment scheme, if you ask me.)

SOUND AND FURY? "And the idea that Bush is a liar must seem counterintuitive to ordinary, nonpartisan Americans. After all, he is a pol who generally does what he says he's going to do: He said he'd cut taxes, and he did; he said he'd liberate Afghanistan and Iraq, and they're liberated. On the really important matters, Bush has to be reckoned one of today's more honest politicians." That's Best of the Web, seeking and claiming to find anger on the Angry Left.

MAKING FUN OF ACADEMICS FOR A YEAR. Go visit Tightly Wound. (All of the recent references around the Interchange Track to Thomas the Tank Engine suggest that it's time to put up some information about the real Thomas and his friends.)