Maggie's Farm

Bush's cronyism - come on, GW - give us good people - we pay for them

Brit Moslems worried about extremists - but not the kind you think. LGF

The Porkbusters Campaign: worth a good try. We endorse it, Instapundit.

Steyn on Germany: a Quote:

Germany is dying, demographically and economically. Pick any of the usual indicators of a healthy advanced industrial democracy: Unemployment? The highest for 70 years. House prices? Down. New car registration? Nearly 15 per cent lower than in 1999. General nuttiness? A third of Germans under 30 think the United States government was responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11.

Whole thing here.

Marx still popular? WFT?

Katrina News Lie # 37, debunked.

Bush agenda dead? Some say so. Hope not. But where are all of the political geniuses?

Environmental engineering summary of why rebuilding NO makes no sense: Confed Yankee. Read it. Agree with him completely.

Guard the Borders Blogburst: The latest in illegal hutzpah.

Poverty in socialist paradise France.

Joe Carter outs himself as a Calvinist. So what, exactly, is a Calvinist? Read comments after article too. Very good.

Bloomberg opposes Roberts. Huh?

Brit bishops repent war in Iraq. WTF? Norm.

Tropical deforestation and weather

Health advice from FMFT: Sample:

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Read 'em all.

Afghanistan Election

Despite neo-Taliban threats, etc., the election happened, and an inspiring one, too. Have we lost interest because it's going well? Publius has all of the details.

The bureaucratic approach, at FEMA, reported by Buzzmachine/

Stop the US Occupation of NO: Sheehan and the Left display more wisdom; NE Repub

Roberts is great: Vote against him. NYT via Powerline, also by Right Thinking

The problem the Dems face, from Macho Nachos:

Unless they discover a purpose, a vision, and a personality, the Democrats will be doomed to repeat the same political note over and over again - namely, tying themselves to the possibility of American failure in Iraq, or at the very least, Republican failure at home. However, they will always have a problem taking this approach: no one is inspired by someone who looks for failure, who barely contains their glee when it occurs, and who seeks to capitalize on a misfortune that affects a whole country. That is not the sort of agenda that almost anyone votes for, and it certainly isn't one that's capable of flipping a ten-seat majority.

Read entire

Yahoo plays ball with China: Right or wrong? Roger Simon

The civilized world gradually comes around to Bush: Chris Christner

Roberts refers to Calder v. Bull on Kelo: Samizdata. Sounds unambiguous to me.

Ms. Zanotti sums up the Roberts hearings. Yes, Roberts does believe that blacks have a right to vote. Whew. Was worried about that.

Flight 93 Memorial: Is it a covert pro-Islam thing, or is it a sappy Hallmark card embarassment? You decide.

Angela Merkel: Learn about her now. Germany's next Chancellor, probably. Her father, a pastor, moved the family from West to East Germany as a religious missionary. In the NYT

Disney New Orleans

The prospect of trying to rebuild New Orleans "safely" seems beyond stupid to me. Indeed, to do so would be to rip off every American taxpayer to make a futile gesture of defiance towards Mother Nature.

It has been estimated that it would take 15-20 years to build levees which could handle a Cat 4 storm, much less a Cat 5 - which is why the decision was made, years ago, not to. There will be another big storm before that time. Thus another disaster is guaranteed, regardless of expense. My first reaction is "Not on my nickel." As an investor, I wouldn't invest a penny. Would you?

But I have had an inspiration. Disney New Orleans. Call it "Disney NO" for short. Let Disney rebuild it as a tourist attraction, with their own money and their own insurance. I can see it now - Disney's jewel in their crown. A cleaner, neater, civilized New Orleans that America could be proud of. No poverty, no creeps, no dirt, no crime and no-one who would make a church lady from Dubuque uncomfortable. Happy, upbeat lite jazz coming at you through loudspeakers on the streets. Blackened Seafood-like Product at Chez Mickey's. Aerial tramways not just for around town, but also with express lines running to high ground shelters, just in case. Just rebuild the charming tourist stuff, OK? The French Quarter, the jazz bars, the restaurants, etc. Maybe a golf course or two, of course, where the rest of the city has been bulldozed. Golfers love seeing gators lying around: they add a bit of excitement to the otherwise brain-damaging effects of the game. Or they could kill all the gators and scatter mechanical gators around. Hey, and the best part - they could do a Mardi Gras parade daily from 1-4 pm. Maybe they could run the numbers and depreciate the entire investment and collect massive profits before the next hurricane drives Mickey to Baton Rouge. 

Don't rebuild NO

Logic from Chapman at RCP:

No amount of money will change the fact that this is no place for a large urban population. Most of the city is below sea level, and it continues to sink, even as the ocean is rising. Over the next century, it's expected to drop by a full meter. Virginia Burkett of the United States Geological Survey told National Public Radio, "Within the next century, the areas that didn't flood this time will be likely to flood under a similar hurricane situation."

Lehman Bros is a Weenie

Can you believe apologizing for slavery? The Lehman leadership may have some things on their conscience - I don't know - but moral responsibility for slavery  isn't on the list. Someone scared them enough to cough up an apology, but no cash. Lame, pathetic, and disgusting. Hey - if they really felt bad, they'd give the whole company to the Rainbow Coalition.

Minimum Wage Debate

It's an endless debate, but what semi-clinches it for me is that 50% of the people earning min. wage are youngsters. Anyway, here's a nice summary of the perennial issues.

A rational conclusion from Hinderaker:

"It seems increasingly likely that when the history of Hurricane Katrina is written, the conclusion will be that it is a wonder that such a powerful storm, striking a uniquely vulnerable area, did not kill more people, considering the gross negligence and sometimes illegal conduct of many individuals and local government officials during the days that preceded and immediately followed the hurricane."

Shots of Beer? Right Thinking discusses the world's strongest beer.

Rick Moran goes Sane on us:

Perhaps the politicization of the relief efforts surrounding the aftermath of the hurricane was inevitable. Frustration on the left at Bush’s presidency exploded into recrimination almost before hurricane force winds moved inland from the stricken areas on the coast. And the predictable push back by those of us on the right who were at first taken aback by the ferocity of the attacks and then frustrated ourselves at some of the coverage in the MSM has not been a very edifying display for the rest of the world to see.

This is politics in America at the turn of the 21st century. Troubling to some, tiring to many more, I am clueless as to how to fix it or who can fix it or even if it needs fixing. There have been many periods in American history where this kind of partisanship has been the norm. We’ve survived it and gone on to thrive as a nation and a people. I suspect the same will happen here.

That said, sit right down in your easy chair and let your face assume that Carnival stare! Perhaps laughing at ourselves is the best medicine after all.

Read the whole thing, which concerns Ben Hur, and this week's Carnival.

Text of Judge Roberts' Remarks

without notes, mind you.  Here.

Russert interviews Nagin

Ace of Spades covers it

Iran web sites

In addition to Regime Change Iran, we have been alerted to another serious and interesting Iranian site, the English translation of Iran-Va-Jahan.

SDA on Katrina Coverage

"Especially for those of you new to SDA and the blogosphere, I suggest you read Jeff's entry. In his disassembly of the Newsweek article, he exposes that much of the coverage we've been treated to on Katrina and the responses of the various levels of government is, at best, pathetically superficial and selectively factual. At worst (and most of it falls into the worst category) it's intentionally politicized and misleading.

Journalists, take note. This is why increasing numbers of Americans - and Canadians - are turning off their network news and cancelling subscriptions. The "art of omission" is a dangerous ploy in an age where the media consumer has near instant, unfiltered free access to legal and constitutional experts, transcripts, archival material, and witnesses on the scene.

When viewers and readers discover you are ignoring the details - in this case, details like the limitations placed on presidential powers by the US Constitution - in a transparent ploy to score political points, you damage the relationship with the information consumer on a multitude of levels.

That you inflict long term damage on your own professional credibility goes without saying. What seems less understood by your profession is that your actions convey a profound contempt for your readers and listeners. Disingenuously superficial and/or inappropriately politicized versions of current events are an insult to our intelligence - and we know it. "

Read entire.

NYT Honors 9-11 Victims

by noting the clamor for "answers" re Abu Ghraib. Clamor from whom? Besides them? Perhaps the two issues are "moral equivalents"?

Kinsley on Disasters

Kinsley appears to represent a return to sanity:

"You never gave five seconds of thought to the risk of flooding in New Orleans until it became impossible to think about anything else? Me neither. Nor have I given much thought to the risk of a big earthquake along the West Coast — the only one of the top three catastrophes that hasn’t happened yet — even though I live and work in the earthquake zone.

Of course, my job isn’t to predict and prepare for disasters. My job is to recriminate when they occur. It’s not easy. These days the recriminations business is overrun with amateurs, who are squatting on all the high ground. The fetid aroma of hindsight is everywhere."

The European Social Model

Dead or alive?

Propaganda Techniques used by Media

At Dr. Sanity, via Atlas Shrugs

Arafat died of AIDS

Why don't they just say so? Story at Gateway.

Nagin and Blanco: They Ain't Kissin'

Thanks, P'line. Story here.