Maggie's Farm

Is the Shadow Party getting behind Wesley Clark? Am Thinker

Harry Reid has lots of ideas about how all Americans can get rich. Teach us, Harry. $700,000 profit on land he didn't own. I want to know how to do that, too.

They can save a lot of $ on shipping: Walmart with giant expansion in China. NY Sun

Harvard Prof: Immigrants are the reason blacks are in jail. There's a new theory for ya. NY Sun. Personally, I am convinced it's Bush's fault.

What do butterflies do when it rains? NYT

No way out. Europeans seek "tax harmonization" to eliminate tax competition. They call tax competition "unfair." What are they thinking? TCS

The Battleground Poll is interesting. Dino has it

Bush and storm intensity. Jumpin' Jupiter - how does he do this?

Laser TV will replace plasma - very soon. Synthstuff

Sensible Mom did some legwork about the Reid land deals. Smelly politics.  But no Republican sex, so who cares?

"Only Congressman to admit to statutory rape dies."  Ah, but that's not what the headlines said. Gay Patriot

Did Stewart Brand anticipate the internet with his Whole Earth Catalog? Everything about Brand, The Third Culture, at Edge.

In praise of the violence at Columbia. Is this lady nuts? Patterico

Why I like to read Vilmar:

Is there hope for England?

I still don’t think so.

At least not after reading where a boy was forced to eat his lunch in the principal’s office because he had one too many “snacks” in his lunch box. Apparently, the lunch Nazis in England inspect what kids being from home to make sure it meets “government standards for healthy eating.”

Meanwhile, the Muslims are taking over the country and these stupid f-s don’t even realize it.

All your Olympic women swimmer are wear burquas. Or what? Moonbattery

School choice improves integration. Willisms. The teachers unions are the only obstacle to school choice.

The elections. Everyone has commented on Captain Ed's comments. I refuse to worry. Don't worry, be happy. And thank God that your ancestors left England, or wherever. And, at the same time, may as well thank Him for all of our blessings.

Three elephants and a mariachi band. This politico will go far. This is true political drama, and very cool. Moonbattery

Does your political party matter with sexual indiscretions? Slightly. Jawa

What is irrational about Calif's Prop 87? The Prof explains it.

CT's AG Richard Blumenthal: Poor choices of political alliances for this politically-ambitious fellow. Point of Law

Should you be able to copyright a recipe? Marginal Rev.

More on the Lancet piece. This is our last on this - it isn't worth the ink. Morgan at YARGB noted this, about their numbers:

From June of 2005 to June of 2006, the survey recorded 30 deaths due to car bombs. Simply scaling that up to the size of the population of slightly over 27 million equates to about 64,000 deaths from car bombs during this period nationwide.

It's called "How to lie with statistics".

The Duke story. Is there one person in America who believes that this alleged prostitute was raped? Now even her buddy renounces the story. Just one Minute

A few Bob YouTubes from Beth

Agree with Glenn, and we have said the same:

Our political system doesn't attract the best people -- who, I guess, go into business or whatever. That's good: A society where all the best people go into politics and government is a society in trouble. But I can't help feeling that maybe we've gone just a bit too far in the other direction.

If you somehow missed Peggy Noonan's piece on The Sounds of Silencing - how the Left refuses to debate - it's here.

Are gays beginning to learn that marriage isn't a right - it's a responsibility, and a deep one. Classical Values

Who wants open borders? Businesses, and some politicians. Linknzona

Finally, a treason charge. About time. We are a nation. View from the Right

How to fire an incompetent teacher: Reason

A new editorial page editor at the NYT will likely continue the most predictably knee-jerk Leftist editorial page in the US

Mel Gibson acquires nuke. Borowitz

Everybody loves YouTube, but do they have a political agenda?

The invention of Standard Time was for business. Dino

The UW, wild camels, and other random things. Good stuff. Maxed-out

Lamont continues his downhill slide. Maybe it's not so easy to buy an election. Just One Minute. This nice liberal guy was used by the Left for his $, and now watch them discard him. You have to feel sorry for Ned.

Michelle pounds Dirty Harry Reid. Why not? It's election season

You probably read this already. English student arrested for "racism." Another Brit kid banned from school for incorrect snacks. Where's the "tolerance"? But be a Jihadist - no problem. Insane country with a suicidal lack of common sense. Oh, never mind. It's too late for them.

I never understood why Berger didn't get into deeper trouble. Neither does ACE

Free speech. Leftist protesters at Columbia called conservative black "nigger."  I guess that is mature, civil, Ivy League-level debate? I guess it's the next step beyond calling people "racist."

Lancet: "not credible", or "unreliable." Your pick. Nevertheless, widely reported. Tim Blair

Blue Crab reminds us of the 300, per VDH. Did that battle matter in history. Yes it did.

Manly Marines for Christmas. For the gals, mind you. And Rightly So

An illuminating lack of illumination. NoKo, at Atlas

Dr. Bob is a security risk? What a joke. But true. I could see it if they blocked all internet at work, but - for heaven's sake!

Mohammed Yunus wins Nobel Peace Prize. Why? Marginal Rev.

Can Europe put the genie back in the bottle? Too late, I think. Brussels Journal

Lee approvingly quotes Yglesias: Is the US a rogue state?  I believe in our benign intentions, but there is a civil debate there - if people would engage in a civil manner. RTLC

Air America finally gives up. NY Sun. Who needs them? The Left controls the US media anyway.

Ever been through Flin Flon? I have, many times. Very groovy, relaxed little ville. Here's why.

Bovine environmental crimes: Gassy cows. Hey Big Al: should we kill them all, or what? BBC

Sen. Reid defends his land deal. These guys get rich, and they hate to confront eachother. It's a club. Via Lucianne

Saving a species: How to vaccinate the Ethiopian Wolf against rabies.

From Betsy:

The left are always willing to assert that conservatives are trying to impose some new sort of limitations on freedoms of speech and press. And then, time and again, we see examples of leftists trying to deny those on the right their moments of dissenting.

Whole piece here, based on the piece by Perry Noonan.

Image: Yup, that is them. A cute New Haven couple. 1970/

Like totally cool YouTube of how a computer can understand your diagrams. YARGB

Has anyone not yet seen Zucker's Repub campaign commercial, deemed "too hot" by the RNC? Rather amusing. Drudge

Cat's teeth, and how the Lancet derived 654,000 deaths from 547. h/t, Humbug

Our dream house. Orson Card.

Ballmer says Microsoft's LIVE platform is their most important product. Are they behind the curve, again? Arstechnica

The Pope brings back the Tridentine Mass - and stands firm on his refusal to "dilute Catholic identity" for the sake of dialogue. Sensible Mom

Deep-fried coke: don't be the last on your block to try it

Trials for global-warming skeptics? It has been proposed. Sick.

The growth of our lawyer population. Captain Capitalism

Minority home ownership: a major success of the Bush admin. Weekly Standard

Massbackwards is getting his money's worth from
the Boston Globe: image to right.

Federal deficit shrinking fast. Funny how tax cuts spur growth.

More Bill Clinton screw-ups. "Charismatic incompetence", at Confederate Yank.

Is Europe growing skeptical of Moslem "dialogue"? Israpundit says yes.

Drudge is on a roll: Reid got 1 m in land sale; Seeking probe of Berger classifed papers heist in his trousers (about time); and Chris Shays hits Chappaquiddick Ted hard

Always, I did everything for love. Chavez. h/t, Devil's Excrement

Who timed and peddled the Foleygate IMs? Gateway

Try doing this with Jesus! Gates of Vienna

Are we short of fossil fuels? No way. Miller

Blacks suppress white vote in Mississippi. Yes, I guess the blacks have entered the mainstream. Lucianne

Does diversity damage society? Quite possibly. Democracy Project. For one thing, it seems to breed distrust.

Ned Lamont is worth between 90 and 300 million. So the 9 million he has spent thus far to buy Lieberman's seat is pocket change. Calif. Yank. Now, he said on TV that he would consider attacking Iran. What's the deal, Ned? Gee, what if Kim Sung Mentally Ill doesn't want to have an honest, civilized, country club conversation? What then?

18 Doughty Street is on the internet air: an alternative to the Bolshevik Broadcasting Corp. Why can't they broadcast? (h/t, Instapundit)

Riddle me a riddle: Our readers love these - 

There are three balls. One is red. Each of the others is either white or black. Now I give you a choice between two lotteries.

Lottery A: You win a prize if we draw a red ball.
Lottery B: You win a prize if we draw a white ball.

Which lottery do you choose?

Check it out at Volokh

Does more money help public education, asks Education Wonks:

For a number of reasons, that's not an easy question to answer. But Thespis Journal has some numbers that supports the idea that money has little to do with it. (Who would believe that there are public school districts out there that spend an astounding $51,828 on each student?)

The 95 things that fuel Moslem extremism, at Jihad Watch. It's ironic, of course. It fuels itself.

Jack and Charmaine - now totally married. Mazel Tov! And many happy joint returns!

Finally, a needed web site: CAIR Watch.
They deserve some serious baby-sitting.
(h/t, LGF)

The Religion of the Chronically Fake-Offended causes removal of more items from YouTube.

Illegal Jaguar immigrants crossing border to US. Truth is, we'd love to have these guys back in the US. NYT Science. But it's a pretty lame argument against a border fence.

Did climate change cause downfall of the Mayan Civilization? American Scientist

A capitalist wins Nobel. Is Krugman disappointed? Details at The Conspiracy

How religious are American professors? More so that one might think. A new study from Harvard and George Mason

The Soros organization CREW has been holding the Foley info since April, waiting for election season. Gateway. Wow, such concern for the kids. And more tricks and distortions from CREW, at Am. Thinker. May I ask why the Repubs have think tanks, and the Dems have dirty trickster organizations?

Top Dem operative warns: Keep gays away from boys. Gay Patriot. Is that a flip-flop?

Image: Furtively borrowed from Theo Clark of Humbug, who had his own scenic blog until recently. Hope he doesn't see it...naw, he won't notice.

70% of Britons are oppressed minorities. A truly fine demonstration of the absurdity of victim-think. Betsy. Man, I bet that keeps those mean old oppressors very busy.

Buy one for the neighborhood, and pass it around. You only need it once. Hammacher Schlemmer

Two tips from Smart Christian: The end of limbo, and why, at Parableman. Second, the beginning of a series on atheistic ethics at Christian Thinker

Moslems tip the balance in urban elections in Belgium. Brussels Journal

Global chilling of free speech. Heretics must be punished. O'Neill in Spiked

Cutting class size helps the union for certain, but does it really matter for education? Prof. Bainbridge

Anna Politkovskaya: Comments at the NY Sun and the CSM. Something tells me Putin does not like independent journalists.

Lieberman with strong lead in CT

"NYT censors the fact that the NYT engaged in censorship - in an article about censorship'  Patterico

Dwarves who sit on the shoulders of dead giants. Atlas looks at VDH's piece on Europe.

Whose song lyrics are most often quoted in judicial opinions and legal journals? LawBlog (thanks, Reader)

The Foley stuff goes way back. I suspect everyone in DC knew about this stuff. Mod. Voice

When North Korea collapses, who benefits? China, most likely. Kaplan in The Atlantic

Try this

What Title 9 has done to screw up college sports. Yeah - how does it work if less gals than guys want to play college sports? Rhymes with Right

Ka-ching. Suing Wendys because you're illegal. Sheesh. Moonbattery

Is this your idea of an apology? “I apologize to anyone who feels we didn't come forward with all the facts.”  Hahaha. Is that close to "I'm sorry that you care that I lie." Squaring the Boston Globe

The Moslem war against the French police has been widely reported. Update from RWN

Do food expiration dates mean anything?

Here's a dhimmi, in person. Gates of Vienna

Bill Clinton: We expect the media to be on our side. Just One Minute

Lee Abrams on how they got Dylan on board with XM radio

Liberalism is a religion. We agree. The will of the eschaton. Driscoll quotes Nordlinger:

Jerry Taylor of the Cato Institute tells a story about Julian Simon, the late and great economist.

He was at some environmental forum, and he said, “How many people here believe that the earth is increasingly polluted and that our natural resources are being exhausted?” Naturally, every hand shot up. He said, “Is there any evidence that could dissuade you?” Nothing. Again: “Is there any evidence I could give you — anything at all — that would lead you to reconsider these assumptions?” Not a stir. Simon then said, “Well, excuse me, I’m not dressed for church.”

I love that story, for what it says about the fixity of these beliefs, immune to evidence, reason, or anything else.

Read Driscoll's entire short piece. It captures a fundamental truth, and I think it helps explain why it is so difficult to discuss issues with liberals.

Nancy Pelosi has a history of sympathy with pedophiles.   Jawa Report. Oh well, what does it matter? Trying to seduce these pages is not pedophilia. Pedophilia is about pre-adolescents.

When all else fails, blame racism. P/T Pundit 

Candidate for worst You Tube ever: Leonard Nemoy's Ballad of Bilbo Baggins. Do not watch this - life is too short.

Image: Ring-billed Gulls at the beach on Saturday.You can read about Ring-bills here at CLO

"I wish I could buy you for what you're worth, and sell you for what you think you're worth", and other good insults, at SC&A

Ramsey Clark really dislikes George Bush (h/t, Ace)

Memorizes Pi to 100,000 decimal places. Count me a skeptic. This guy would have been quite handy in ancient Greece.

Nessie finally found - the bones, anyway. Some Dino

The blogosphere knows lots more about the ACLU than do most people, thanks to Stop the ACLU. Investor's Business Daily just ran a piece a week ago on the subject. A quote:

 The Enemy Within: From the beginning, the American Civil Liberties Union has aligned itself with America's adversaries. Its unrelenting strategy has been to twist our Constitution into a weapon against American values and security.

ACLU founder and longtime executive director Roger Baldwin's infamous quote still haunts his organization today, a quarter-century after the radical activist's death:

"I am for socialism, disarmament and ultimately for abolishing the state itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion. I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and sole control by those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal."

It's a statement that's been repeated and reprinted so many times, some Americans might be numbed rather than outraged upon hearing it again. But it's no urban legend. The man who started the organization that claims to be the leading safeguard of the U.S. Constitution did say it, along with plenty of statements mirroring those sentiments.

Whole thing here.

Althouse has a fine rundown of the Columbia "protest" story, with TWO videos and recent admin. comments. One good comment from a reader: "Where was Security?"

The greater a population's devotion to religion, or "religiosity," the lower its level of acceptance of tax fraud, write Steven J. Stack, a professor of criminal justice at Wayne State University, and Augustine Kposowa, a professor of sociology at the University of California at Riverside. And, they say, tax-fraud studies have "neglected religiosity as a social bond that may deter" tax fraud.

Instead, research has focused on how perceptions of apprehension and punishment decrease tax avoidance, and on behavior in the United States alone. In particular, they say, researchers have not previously explored the "moral communities" hypothesis: that religiosity's effect on deviance will vary according to the degree to which a nation's population identifies with a religious group.

The authors analyzed data for about 45,728 individuals in 36 nations that were reported by the World Values Survey, a global network of social scientists who have studied the basic values and beliefs of societies around the world. Mr. Stack and Mr. Kposowa found that the higher individual levels of religiosity were, the lower was the acceptability of tax fraud.

They also found, in a comparison of nations in which a majority of the population identifies with a religious group, that the presence of such moral communities had a marked effect on the acceptance of tax noncompliance. The researchers also found that in nations with communist regimes, which commonly suppress religious groups, the effect of religion on acceptance of tax fraud diminished.

Comparing members of various faiths, the researchers found that Buddhists and Catholics were significantly more approving of tax-fraud than were Protestants, Jews, Hindus, and Muslims. "Persons with no religious affiliation were typically the group that approved the most" of tax avoidance, the authors write. Speculating on whether those variations could be explained by differences in teachings, the authors note that the only significant difference they found was the Buddha's argument that "crime, including theft, was mainly a function of poverty."

Their findings, they say, indicate "that the promotion of participation in religion and confidence in government might be sound strategies for reducing tax fraud." They add, however, that "it is beyond the scope of the present article to address exactly how these goals might be best accomplished."

The article, "The Effect of Religiosity on Tax Fraud Acceptability: A Cross-National Analysis," is available for subscribers or for purchase through Blackwell Publishing.

I am the world's biggest dork. RTLC blogger Lee calculates his social failings and his wasted time.

4% of the US hops crop burned. Who knew there were 17 varieties? CNN

Foley's habits were an open secret in DC for years. Just One Minute

French cops run away from youths. What would you expect? LGF

Michael Jackson plans to run for Foley's seat: Borowitz

Narcissistic Women celebrate baby murder: LaShawn

Cuba's secret to longevity: Coffee, cigars, and sex. BBC

Brit clergy blame Christianity for domestic abuse. Moonbattery. Well, then I suggest that they lead the charge to get rid of Christianity. Oh - they already are.

Fjordman fans: Klein Verzet has started a blog called Fjordman Files to archive his essays. (h/t, Gates of Vienna)

Stop the assaults on free speech. We agree. Betsy. Whatever problem - if there is one - that is being addressed hardly matters because any cure is far worse than the disease.

Glenn R discusses the travails of air travel, and notes that, door to door, air travel runs around 60 mph. But new tiny jets are on the way: everyone should have their own. TCS

Image from The Chairman. Nice boats in the harbor last evening. Ah, the simple joys of life: Your own dock in your back yard, with a his and hers Hinckley.

How do Monarch butterflies find their way from Quebec and Michigan to a single valley in Mexico? Unknown. NYT. Image is a Monarch visiting our buddleia, last September. But I see them around today, still on the move.

Bringing megafauna back to North America? Aren't they all extinct, wiped out by the Indians? Science Daily

You won't believe this press release in Venez. from Citgo: Devils' Excrement. Apparently Citgo cancelled the 7-11 contract!

Or this one, either: Columbia Club Hockey suspended for a year for their recruiting flyer: "Don't be a pussy." FIRE. I guess the pussies in administration won that round. Who complained?

Proof positive that racism is not an income factor in NY: Queens, NY blacks' income surpasses whites. Marginal Rev.  This is a big deal, and a meaningful success for NY blacks, and for the country.

Shape of Days is extremely upset about the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Should habeas corpus apply to terrorists? I wish I were as certain as he is, one way or the other.

Here's a good one: Failure to warn, College student awarded 179,000 after falling out of a loft bed. Volokh. Too dumb for college?

Two from the Old Doc:

Fish oil after heart attacks? In Europe, it's a routine treatment, but its effectiveness hasn't been quantified. Still, not a bad idea for everyone to use it - or at least to eat salmon three times/week. It might delay the date of your first heart attack.

Antipychotic drugs are used for people with persistent anxiety, agitation, bipolar disorder, and psychosis. The popular and expensive new ones turn out to be not much more effective than the antique ones. But they have been marketed very effectively.

The Foley story. Can I say that this story seems overblown? The guy is an idiot and a sleaze with no self control, but how many people in Congress might that be said of? Clinton, Studds, Barney - none of those guys resigned. Maybe it is election season?

Hawkins: Dems do have principles - they just cannot say them outloud. Absolutely true.

One math for white guys and another math for the rest. This is surreal. Right Wing Nation

A new blog: Prairie Politics - the inside scoop from flyover country.

Are the megachurches the Walmarts of Christianity? Megachurches, minichurches, and medium- sized churches. What's the deal? Dan Burrell (h/t, News for Christians)

Dunkin Donuts and Applebees. These two fine businesses deserve our support.  Michelle We do a free advt for DD weekly, but never tried an Applebees until breakfast there in Nashville a week ago - good biscuits and gravy and grits.

In Little Rock, they want a Sharia enclave. Are you kidding me? Little Rock?  Jawa

Fjordman with the Eurabia Code. All Europeans need to read this. Assuming you give a damn. (h/t, LGF)

Chess cheating? Who knew you could cheat? Chequerboard.

Jokes about Osama in the Islamosphere? It's about time. Dr. Sanity. Meanwhile, Al Quaida is losing hearts and minds fast. Am. Princess

Private sector employees beginning to resent public employees and their rich perks. About time. Ankle-Biting

Why Liberals piss me off. Babalu

Hey, Mayor Bloomberg! You don't like trans fats or whatever. Chicken is next - it causes cancer! Ban chicken in NYC - I dare you. Moonbattery

Lieberman looking to win, despite Ned's millions. Calif. Yank.

Is the apocalypse back in fashion? Anderson in New York Magazine thinks so, from Greenies to Jihadists to Christians.

The Beer Revolution. Small breweries sell only 3.5% of beer in the US, but they have had a large impact. Beer update, at Reason.

Why are your medical costs going up? Defensive medicine accounts for a lot of it. Scalpel or Sword (h/t, Kevin MD)

Free speech for me but not for thee.  When the Left loses something, they seek to limit speech. It never fails. Very scary impulse, and deeply un-American. Blue Crab

John Hinderaker collated and edited the Al Quaida tapes, with the WTC bombers - from 2000. Bless his heart - I would have no idea of how to do that. Link here.

Paddling is still allowed in many US school districts - which is excellent - but I see that in most places PE teachers can no longer give extra push-ups as punishment. What kind of pussy country are we becoming?  Education Wonks

Hezbollah is being very generous with funny money. Synthstuff

Larry Kudlow continues to praise our "Goldilocks economy." Funny how few in the media are celebrating these good times. Glenn

Betsy quoting Jonathan Last re Bernard Lewis' view of the hopelessness of appeasement:

Some argue that these conflicts arise not from a clash of civilizations, but from specific grievances, such as the West's support of Israel. This is an unsatisfactory argument. In his 1990 essay "The Roots of Muslim Rage," professor Bernard Lewis pointed out: "The French have left Algeria, the British have left Egypt, the Western oil companies have left their oil wells, the westernizing shah has left Iran, yet the generalized resentment of the fundamentalists... against the West and its friends remains and grows and is not appeased."

The cause of conflict is not what the West does, but what the West is.

Desmond Tutu: Right question, wrong answer. He blames apartheid for crime wave in SA. Tangled. Same old scapegoating. It's a shame. The right answer is this: people haven't signed on to the social contract. People aren't "good" automatically.

Brain damaged? Al Gore blames smoking for global warming. The guy is making himself into a walking joke. Dust My Broom. Hey Al! Have a smoke and a couple of beers, and chill!

Read this magazine in the barbershop yesterday morning. Good fun. Definitely not highly technical - just right for non-science types. Popular Science

Re this Foley guy in FL...If I ran the RNC, I'd consider beheading. Nobody told him only Dems can do this stuff? Details at Maxed.

The Fence. Finally. That's good. And I agree with Calif. Yank: Why not a guest worker program like Candadanistan? You can stay for eight months, then go home.