Maggie's Farm

A patriotic reveller. Somebody said these cute art photos were from Mardi Gras, but I think they are from this fun and artistic festival on Key West. My only question: Is that paint sugared frosting? Yum. Or is it lead-based paint? If our Editor will permit such art, I may decide to use this art for a little while, to attract the well-deserved attention of art-lovers to my random posts.

Barone. Berger and Libby: A tale of two crimes

Chavez "will build heaven on earth." Good deal. Free money and free babes like the photo? Sign me up, Hugo.

World's largest horse, with video

How we are going to get screwed by this subsidized ethanol scam.

Swiss reject nationalized medicine, overwhelmingly. Democracy Project

Separate bedrooms to improve your marriage?

Oprah's school too strict? Sounds like a normal American boarding school. Structure and disciple are necessary for the youth! Including me.

Poll on the DC gun ban. Gun-haters will hate this poll.

An EU speed limit for the Autobahn? The Germans will love that.

Four year-olds in UK being taught same-sex stories. View from the Right. Is there a point at which we can term perversion "perversion"? Or is anything just swell? I do not have the answer. I only like girls over 16, but I like them plenty. Problem is that they do not seem to like me all that much. Nerdy and awkward. If you enjoy that sort of thing, call me.

Bernard Lewis discusses the Crusades, via Asst. Village Idiot. Indeed, the Crusades were the European response to the Moslem invasion that closed Jerusalem.

European Jews heading for the exits. Crittenden

The political economy of alternative energy, and the surge of rent-seeking. Kling at TCS (h/t, Mankiw, who we will add to our blogroll. We need an economics section.)  Update: Done.

12 different views on global warming. Live Science. You already know my view: It doesn't matter and I don't care.

Hillary: Walter Reed proves we need more govt-run health care. Scrappleface

An Usama bin Ladin mini-biography, at Horsefeathers. Definitely worth reading.

Who let CAIR into the US Capitol?

Lewis in American Thinker. It begins:

If "one's man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter," then all wars are the same, liberation equals conquest, tyranny equals democracy, aggression equals defense, and Churchill equals Hitler.

That seems to be the hidden premise of European, and especially Franco-German cant against the American-British overthrow of Saddam. Because the truth is of course that George W. Bush's decision to overthrow Saddam for fear that he was armed with WMDs, is a lineal descendant of FDR's decision to come to the aid of Britain against Nazi Germany, Harry S. Truman's decision to fight in Korea, and Woodrow Wilson's decision to aid Western countries against Prussian militarism in World War I. The United States involved itself in these conflicts to prevent larger and terrible consequences for itself before being militarily attacked by Germany.

Whole thing here.

Editor's Note: The News Junkie has a thing about girls. Pardon us if you have opened Maggie's in a public work or educational setting in which some lesbian females or limp metrosexuals might be offended. Too darn bad. I am the Editor Dog, but I am not totalitarian. And I do enjoy the lovely female form myself, especially when presented as "art." And even when not presented as art. Big or small, we love 'em all.

Elk Crossing. SISU

Fred Thompson? Ann at Instapundit. Also, Surber. He was so good in Hunt for Red October that I would vote for him for anything. "This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it..."

UK: Your tax dollars at work. Blair. This begs for revolution. Arm yourselves.

Hillary: I'm the next JFK. I thought she was the next Eleanor Roosevelt, or the next Al Jolson. Now JFK? Who next? George Washington?

When I kill somebody, get me this judge.

Ivy League Admissions. It ain't your grandpa's Ivy League. Class, wealth, donations? What matters, and is it important anyway? NY Review of Books

Let's get clear about the Dem plan for Iraq. Dinocrat

Ethanol is stupid. Indeed it is. Blue Crab

Daniel Ortega makes abortion illegal. The EU goes berserk. No respect for the values of others.

Pull out Now!  Haha. Never Yet melted

Fitzgerald's eternal shame. Driscoll

More Georgians on the way to Iraq. No, not our Georgians.

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Watch the documentary Bird Dog posted last night. It's about an hour, but it goes fast. The new bumper sticker: "Gore Lied: Children Cried." Indeed, Gore admitted lying in his movie. His rationale for doing so? "A greater good."

Powerline would vote for Bob Dylan before Hagel. Same here.

What's the deal betweens the Clintons and the Chinese? Frontline

WaPo: Here comes the river of blood! Blue Crab

Unemployment drops some more. Not much more room to improve.

What kind of "green" are we talking about?

The proletarianization of doctors. Stumbling

The FBI story is disheartening. Thousands of personal records were involved, apparently. Someone should be fired. This is precisely what people were afraid of: abuse of the power.

Tenure and non-profits. Interesting. Of course, you could include government under non-profits, right?

Some clips from The Great Global Warming Swindle at Never Yet Melted - appropriately enough. Will this get the Oscar next year?

Another Bush lie. We know there are no Al Quaida in Iraq, so this must be an error. (h/t, Viking)

Slightly used mobile homes, real cheap.

New movie "300" drawing big crowds. Cool.

The Mayor of Hazleton, PA  wants to start a movement to address the burdens of illegals. Small Town Defenders

More on the French mandating work-time naps. A sign of the true nanny state is requiring a Nursery School tradition of adults. How about milk and cookies too?

The defection of the Iranian General proves that the US has not been sitting on their hands. Sounds like a major intel coup to me.

Do rats have consciousness? Some evidence that they are capable of metacognition. Does this mean that they have souls?

Adding to blogroll: EU Referendum

A statement by someone at dinner last night: "Putin is the only Western leader who uncompromisingly puts his own country's interests first."

Image: The .45 Colt M-1911A1, one of the most famous handguns in the world. This pistol was discussed on a thread yesterday.

A punt gun is one way to shoot clay targets. Video.

Iceland is a Laffer Laboratory. Who knew? Conspiracy

Free trade and the Dems. Caught between brainless populism and their party's best interests. Bloomberg

Get your own Ann Coulter talking doll here.

Sarbanes and Oxley "wish they had done it differently." Thanks a lot, guys. It's called the Law of Unintended Consequences.

An academic wants to "bring back the campus". The NY Sun.

Proof of the surge's success. A good one at Dr. Sanity - a cartoon.

Real badminton. Scroll down. Amazing.

Whose fault is it if you're illegal? Wizbang. The whole story of the factory raid at And rightly So

Bono's Red Campaign. It is something about money for Africa, having to do with kids buying stuff, or whatever. $100 million in marketing costs: net $18 million. At Advertising Age:  http://adage.com/article?article_id=115287&rf=23m (h/t, Smart Christian)

UN says Canada "not nice enough."  Am Princess (fixed)

Like Vista? Coyote doesn't like it yet, and explains why.

Is euthanasia a slippery slope? Volokh. Sure could be. These things should be left to Drs and their patients.

Taxman

If you drive a car, I'll tax the street
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat
If you get too cold I'll tax the heat
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet.

NYT proposes taxing breathing - because of the CO2 output. Don't hold your breath for that to happen. But why tax it? Why not just make it illegal? I mean...if it's a crisis and all... Maybe the NYT editorial staff could begin by setting an example, and voluntarily quit breathing and killing trees for a few weeks.

Scooter? I like Cassandra's take on the story.

The 9th Circus wants Christianity censored.  h/t, Basil. Of course they do. The 9th is the embodiment of Establishment Moonbatism, and they all seem to reinforce each other.

Baby loves disco. This is sick. CSM

The Polar Bear Surge: Their numbers are way up. Riehl. Who knew they liked Palm trees, white sandy beaches, and Rum Punches?

Update on Liberty National, and their new clubhouse. This golf course has a big future, I would guess. Some location, and some views.

Harvard's "dreadful" new prez: Heather MacDonald at City Journal. A professional victimologist. So much for "Veritas."

I am a small man. Shape of Days. Shape of Days never holds back in his writing and can be scathingly honest - to a fault. No wonder he can't get a date. I like the guy. A quote:

I’m a small man. I don’t mean in stature, though that’s certainly true. No, I mean I’m small of spirit. I’m bitter. I’m dark on the inside and not in a good way. Sometimes that darkness comes spilling out, no matter how much I try to hold it in, and I hurt people’s feelings. This never ceases to surprise me. Not that I hurt them, but that they’re upset by it. Aren’t they like me? Don’t they hurt all the time anyway? What’s the difference?

This is what makes me a small man.

Hillary at the Nixon impeachment hearings. After being her boss at the hearings,

Jerry Zeifman decided that he could not recommend her for any position of public or private trust.

S,C and A explains why (keep reading - it's towards the end), and it isn't pretty. The truth about this creepy woman is well-hidden by the MSM.

NY State taxpayers 68% responsible for the first WTC bombing. Makes you wonder. Overlawyered. If a Moslem bombs my house, am I 68% responsible for it?

GM might buy Chrysler. Hmmm. A consideration of that, plus a brief history of the Big Three.

Hooking up. Fun sport for boys. But is it fun for girls - or good for them? Book review.

Raising diversity numbers by importing blacks. WaPo.

How markets process complex information. A brief intro to the topic. Cafe Hayek

Sowell on education, in RCP (h/t, Dinocrat). A quote:

Not since the days of the Hitler Youth have young people been subjected to more propaganda on more politically correct issues.

Accumulated error. Man, does that concept apply to life in general. Sippican Cottage

France bans reporting on violence by citizens. LGF (h/t, Driscoll). It's called facing reality, the French way.

Cattle are the #1 source of CO2 production. So why do Greenies go after cars? Anyway, PETA is all fired up. Watch PETA begin killing cows in fields.

New study says:

Americans now view government as more of a barrier than a helping hand, and its failure to be accountable in a way that produces results is central to these doubts….Perhaps the most stunning finding in the survey is that just 13 percent believe the federal government would spend additional money well while 83 percent say it would be wasted….

Kesler discusses at Dem. Project. I just wonder whether these findings are anything new: they sound like typical, traditional American views to me.

I feel badly for Scooter. Also, surprised by the verdict.

Girl Scouts still selling sin, door to door.

Where did this Iranian general go? ABC. Hope we have him.

Individual choices drive most American income disparities. Villainous

Filler news and real news: The owner of FARK at Instapundit

More reporters take on advocacy role. Duh

China and the stock market wobble: The Chinese banking system, and the problems with investing in China. Samizdata

Canadian diamonds? Yes.

Hirsi Ali is a "bombthrower"? So what is a real bombthrower?

America's favorite sport: beating up derelicts (scroll down). If you read Der Spiegel, you might think so. Admittedly, I do it once in a while when I am bored - but not daily.

New Jersey wants to ban .50 caliber guns. Reason: People don't need them. No, nor do the people "need" free speech or habeas corpus. They are just those obsolete constitutional rights...Indeed, government would be far more efficient without that Bill of Rights, wouldn't it? Left, right, or middle: anyone can come up with reasons to chip away at our Bill of Rights.

Adding to blogroll: Riehl World View

Image: On this bitterly cold day, I wanted to look at this garden in Fiesole.

The Great Global Warming Swindle - a documentary coming to the UK this week.

And another documentary coming on Michael Moore's lies.

Agriculture is bad for the environment. Synthstuff

Gen. Wesley Clark on Iraq, etc. Democracy Now. Is he a Jihad-denier? If so, maybe he needs this little reminder of how long this has been going on.

Roger Simon: Get over it, with the Gay Rights controversies. A quote:

Anyone who's been living in real life America the past twenty-five years has been surrounded by gay couples living together. Oh, you say, but what about somewhere-in-North Dakota? Okay, what about New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Portland, Denver, Seattle, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Atlanta, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Washington, Baltimore, Miami and New Orleans (of course)... I could on. Am I getting boring yet? You add it up. I don't want to be bothered. Meanwhile, in most of these places, probably all, thousands of gay couples are living together, sharing households, raising children, etc., etc. If this bothers you, it's already happened. Get used to it. It's not going to go backwards, not a chance. Oh, yes, there is one way it could change - Sharia law. If you don't like gay America, root for the Islamists.

Finding Osama: Trying again? NeverYet Melted. He is too tall to hide from a daisy-cutter, or so one might think.

No region will be spared. Tim Blair. I am scared. Help me!

Why large businesses like big government.

Gen Petraeus' message to his troops. Lib. Leanings

In the Crime Capital of the US, Mayor Nagin decides to hold up the US Govt. Meaning you and me.

We somehow never linked this Lego story, and most have probably seen it by now. I like Anchoress' take on it.  My opinion? Do just like Mao did: Make the teachers custodians and the custodians teachers.

Bill Maher. Never seen him on TV (and, like most of us at Maggie's, I refuse to waste any life time watching TV, and do not even own one), but I understand that he is is a big deal of some sort. If he likes the idea of assassination of American politicians, he is not sick - he has a twisted, criminal mind. Whoever he is.

The political challenges of the surge. Jules. How did this place change from the cradle of civilization to a place incapable of civilization?

Wealthy Brits continue to abandon the UK. Tim Worstall suggests  facetiously that this might be good for equality.

Cherokee Nation votes to expel descendents of their black slaves. Chew on that one for a while.

Justice Thomas talks about himself. Althouse. I'd like to buy the guy a beer.

Weenie culture. Quoted from a piece at Fred on Everything, via Small Boiled Polar Bears:

Not too long ago, Americans were a hardy breed—foolhardy at times, but the one comes with the other. Now we see attempts to eliminate all risk everywhere. Cities fill in the deep ends of swimming pools and remove diving boards. We require that bicyclists wear helmets, fear second-hand smoke and the violence that is dodge ball. Warnings abound against going outside without sun block. To anyone who grew up in the Sixties or before, the new fearfulness is incomprehensible.

The explanation I think is the feminization of society, which seems to be inseparable from modernity. The nature of masculinity is to prize freedom over security; of femininity, security over freedom. Add that the American character of today powerfully favors regulation by the group in preference to individual choice. Note that we do not require that cars be equipped with seat belts and then let individuals decide whether to use them; we enforce their use. The result is compulsory Mommyism, very much a part of today’s America.

Image demonstrates the ongoing usefulness of newspapers in the internet age

Jesus meets The Terminator. A Youtube.

And, related: "I totally found the tomb of Jesus." http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/middlebrow/archives/i-totally-found-the-grave-of-jesus/

A very green solution to the human contribution to unpleasant greenhouse gasses. YouTube

Canadadadanian wisdom: SDA on http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/005686.html

Britain to permit animal-human genetic mixes. Um, isn't that a tautology? Consider the moral issues here. It's all beyond my feeble animal brain.

2/3 of Americans are investors in the stock, bond or money markets. Ain't capitalism great? But some teachers don't think so. Who do they think makes the money to pay their salaries?

Vaginal tightness, Myra Bradwell, and Mary Todd Lincoln (who did have a little emotional problem, I suspect). S,C andA. Bipolar or something. Her decorating and clothing bills from her routine shopping trips to NYC drove Abe nuts, and drove him deep into debt while President. She was known to spend a year of his salary on a single trip. I wonder whether those debts were ever paid. He had been a hugely successful railroad lawyer, but the big job in DC didn't pay very well.

A smoking ban in Virginia? The primary home of the transfer of the joys of tobacco from the Indians to Europe? What is this world coming to? Although I know the Pilgrim women in MA smoked Indian tobacco too. Yes, they grew it in MA - as is still done today. Premium cigar-wrapping tobacco in the Connecticut River valley. Tobacco should be a multiculturally sacred tradition - at least as sacred as the right to pray to Mecca at Logan Airport.

Islam flourishing among American blacks. Lovely. What an excellent foundation for life. Jesus was for our Grandma. Mohammed is hip. Isn't he? Like James Dean, or something?

And speaking of Islam, from http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/03/theyll_never_stop_saying_shari.html

Rather than solving the problem, many have foolishly allowed Sharia's gradual unchecked spread in the names of diversity and tolerance.  Unfortunately, as this dark-age jurisprudence is totally incompatible with any democratic society, those buying into this creeping multicultist folly are doing so at the peril of their own heritage and freedom. Of course, it comes as little surprise that anti-American countries like France have all but surrendered. Yet, ironically, it also appears that our best ally in the war against Islamic extremism may unwittingly be among our worst in the struggle against its fundamental objective - a world ruled by the strict Islamic Law of Sharia

The "functioning core" of the world economy. Big Lizards. And its history.

Arthur Schlesinger: Rick Moran has an excellent obit

Re Dr. Bliss' piece on Good Spanking yesterday, related thoughts from Code Monkey

Been to Gabon recently? They have 28 gorillas, and a darn nice preserve, and all the game meat you can eat. I would go in a flash - if invited.

Conservative anti-poverty programs. Chequerboard. Just one of many conservative ideas Bush could have championed.

This is what should happen when an ACLU-type runs a school like William and Mary.

I never heard of Katie Couric or ever saw her on TV, but it sounds like she is making a name for herself.

Family-First Conservatism. Interesting idea. Evangelical Outpost. This might be what I think, but never really articulated.

Jews still using blood of Christian children in their matzohs, according to Egyptian "researcher." LGF

Al Gore said:

"I think if it is important to look at the pressures that made it more likely than not that mainstream journalists in the United States would convey a wholly inaccurate conclusion about the most important moral, ethical, spiritual and political issue humankind has ever faced."

Meanwhile, along with our Gwynnie, Austin Bay and Protein wisdom each take a look at the reality of "carbon offsets."

Why John McCain's campaign is going down the tubes. Ace.

Department of Geeky chairs. Marg. Revolution

"It's exceedingly hard to run a business." Sippican

Sissy takes the David Brooks piece a bit further. SISU

Powerline reminisces about the global cooling crisis of a few years ago. Yes indeed: temps are always going either up or down.

Photos of Fort Drum troops in Afhanistan in February

"Evil right-wingers just don't understand carbon offsets." SDA. No, because we're too stooopid.

Doing Democracy. One of the books that tells leftist activists how to take over American institutions. (thanks, Reader)

Thornton on suicidal good intentions, at Augean Stables

No Pasaran found some great quotes about Europe's view of the USA:

As I see it, having visited the United States, the great advantage it's citizens possess is the ability to succeed, should they so wish. There is no class culture, consequently those who are successful are admired and indeed encouraged to achieve more. Envy and jealousy simply do not exist. It is something the rest of the world cannot understand and this is manifested by the so called "hatred" expressed against a country which is totally different to the class system which dominates all other nations.

and

The truth is it's not the US that's arrogant, it's the romantics that want a cause that exaults humanity into some kind of superman, when what is actually being offered is the chance to be ordinary.

Boston's institutional architecture. Is there any worse outside of the old Soviet bloc? Coyote

Bush lives greener than Gore. Funny, but true. Not that it matters. What concerns me is that maybe Bush takes it seriously, while clearly Al secretly knows it's a crock: we always give more cred to what people do than to what they say. Here are some photos of one of Al's three houses (h/t, Gay Patriot). As Coulter said of Al's houses, etc:

It’s great that he’s using solar panels and all that, but notice he’s not disputing how huge his electric bill still is. What the hell is he doing in there? Is he a Terminator from the future and requires constant recharging? (That would explain pretty much everything.)