Welcome to another set of the middle of the week links. I almost didn’t get this post out. I had epic car troubles on Monday. That’s what happens when the temperature dips below -20° C. Not only did I need a boost but I needed a new battery. That was a fun day. Anyway, let’s start this post with Alyssa Miller. It’s been too long since we’ve seen her.

We’re gearing up for another fight over government spending and the debt ceiling. The question is if the government spending is out of control. Nate Silver uses math to figure out the truth. (FiveThirtyEight)

Whether you’re a fan of President Obama or not, you have to like his first term comparables. His first term stats looks a lot like Clinton’s. (Washington Post)

Vitamin Water isn’t actually very good for you. Coca-Cola says that people couldn’t have believed it was because nobody believes any sort of advertising anymore. (Mother Jones)

After the jump, the Batmobile gets sold, leaked Xbox 720 specs and a line brawl.

When the gavel dropped on the Batmobile, it went for $4.2 Million (before commission). That’s Bruce Wayne level money there. (Autoblog)

You thought Jeremy Schapp scored the big exclusive with his Manti Te’o interview. The real big break was for Florida journalism student Ryan Jones who was the photographer for the story. Here’s his story. (Journo2Go)

Before pulling a 180 so hard that he may have pulled something, Phil Mickelson said that he may retire so he didn’t have to pay so much in tax. Talk about a heel turn. (Forbes)

Is it possible for a fight to change the momentum of a game, not because of a win or loss but because it screws up a very advantageous line matchup. (mc79hockey)

The last I heard, Lennay Kekua wasn’t real. However, she is somehow real enough to claim that she once dated NY Jets QB Mark Sanchez. What the fuck? (Larry Brown Sports)

Specs for the Xbox 720 have leaked. It doesn’t look half bad. And we were worried that the next-gen consoles would only be a small step up over this generation. (Digital Foundry)

Ralph Nader hasn’t been relevant since the Democrats thought he cost Al Gore the 2000 election. Now he’s trying to renew his 15 minutes of fame by saying video games are “electronic child molesters.” (Forbes Games)

Video games aren’t the root of all evil, though. They’re just an easy target. For example, the BBC found an 86-year-old woman who plays Grand Theft Auto IV and she isn’t a homicidal maniac. Your move, NRA. (Kotaku)

Keeping with video games, here is a gallery of video game logic fails. (IziSmile)

And Stroud has more cheesy wrestling promo photos. This time, it’s ECW. (With Leather)

LINE BRAWL! LINE BRAWL! Grand Rapids and Rockford have a bench clearing brawl in an AHL regular season game. Yup, that’s pro hockey.

Daiki Ito fails miserably at ski jumping. Eddie the Eagle was better than this.