Maggie's Farm

A Thompson-Condi ticket? Hoho. Why not? I kinda like it.

Big Brother arrives in Orwell's UK. One camera per 14 people. Do the Brits know how sick this is? Why don't they try for one-on-one cameras, like the book? If I were David Cameron, I would run on removing them all, re-arming the citizenry, eliminating immigration, and tossing the EU into the smoking pit of hell... and using all the money they would save to build a decent Royal Navy.

And, speaking of the UK, can you believe they let the EU tell them what to do with their garbage? Complete weenies. We threw the Brits out of here because they put a tax on tea.

Melamine? In China, they've been putting it into things for years.

Woops. You won't see any corrections in the newspapers, but apparently there is no gender pay gap. That's the end of playing that victim card. Find another.

Are doctors slaves? I enjoy it everytime someone asks this question about the Federal Government:

Name 10 private for-profit businesses that make a quality product or service.  Gee, how about Apple, Sony, Toshiba, GE, Home Depot, UPS, Wal-Mart, etc. etc.  You get the idea.  Now name 10 government run agencies that provide a quality service.  Gee there's the post office, uh no, not really.  DMV?  no.  VA hospital?   no.  Amtrak?  no.  OK, name one.

But, speaking of women, according to the UN Human Rights Commission, Israeli women are the most oppressed. Why? They don't do military services in tanks.  Which is worse, the EU or the UN? Get rid of both of these jokers.

Photo: Gwynnie claims to have taken this photo at his bird feeder, but I view it as a powerful argument in favor of global warming, wherever he took it. There is nothing at all wrong with wet tee-shirts, as long as you aren't a Mullah or an Imam or whatever. Not to worry. She will put her burkha on later.

Sandy Koufax is drafted, and out of retirement. Haaretz. Lefties are special people.

Taxes as % of GDP, by country.

To whom do the Dems wish to surrender in Iraq? Kudlow says it's to Al Quaida.

Martian warming update. Synthstuff

The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America, by Iserbyt. (h/t, No Pasaran)

If Social Security is such a good deal, why do they have to make it mandatory?

Faux scandals. They may be faux, but it's relentless, dishonest, and damaging - and designed to create a general impression of sleaze. Powerline. I distrust people who seek power. I trust people who seek money far more.

The Cow Fart Chronicles. And Rightly So. On Maggie's Farm, we just stick a cow cork in there, to save Mother Gaia. Just don't walk behind one of those cows. We haven't tried it on the bulls, but if you'd like to help save Gaia, please come on up to Maggie's Farm and volunteer to stick a cork in a bull's behind.

Instead of a Gideon Bible...Blair

Biofuels will ruin the earth. Moonbattery. It reverses the hundreds of years trend towards lower carbon, higher hydrogen fuels. We've been saying that, but nobody listens!!! Except our loyal readers, most of whom seem to have some genuine conservation interests - as we do.

Five of the eight Dem candidates own guns. Done with Mirrors. Four of the eight believe there is a war with Moslem terrorists. I guess that leaves four who think...what?

Lawrence Wright on Al Quaida, speaking at Princeton yesterday. Interesting (or we wouldn't post it). Tigerhawk

A person who refuses to admit that she is plain nuts. She needs to be sensible and wear normal tin foil protection like everybody else. (h/t, Jules, who thinks her approach might be an improvement over tin foil hats. I prefer my tin foil hat - that is me in the photo on the left - which has thus far successfully protected me from Government Mind Rays. Jules wears one of those, as do John Hinderaker. Larry Kudlow, Michelle Malkin and George Bush - and so do I whenever I go outdoors. I have constructed a similar thing for my privates, to protect my seed from government intrusion. If I could only find a girlfriend who would understand my concerns...)

The Other Side. Opie sent us this trailer from the Tribeca Film Festival. The film is about immigration.

I tend to agree with The Barrister in his post yesterday than Ben Bernanke is slowing the American economy unnecessarily.

High taxes raise poverty rates. A look at Rhode Island, by Anchor Rising. Indeed. You either drive productive people away, or you tax people into poverty - so the govt can rescue them! My opinion: Help and encourage everyone to build wealth, and let them keep it and pass it down. That is the way to build a free people. Government dependency is not freedom - it is plantation life.

A primary school in Amsterdam will no longer discuss farms. Guess why?

Al Gore said this (from Michelle):

"Art, music, film, dance, poetry — all the arts — have long been our greatest tools to explore the regions of imagination that defy our efforts to think rationally about subjects that our emotions tell us are too painful to contemplate."

-- Al Gore at the opening of the Tribeca Film Festival on Wednesday night

Huh? Does he mean that we can dance our way our of our Warmening denial?

Department of Irony: MIT Dean of Admissions resigns after being caught faking her resume.

The carbon offset scandal. Ace

Bruce Kesler has atty Bob Bauer asking why news corporations should have broader free speech rights than any other corporation. Quote:

[I]t is not clear why media companies’ "news function," which in the end is still a corporate money-making function, affords them broader free speech rights than other corporations—even nonprofit corporations….

A traditional answer has always been that corporations in the business of news stay out of politics. This is plain nonsense, as conservatives point out in their case against NPR and the BBC, and as liberals now loudly charge against Fox….This much might be said for overtly political organizations: the audience is clear about what is being offered to them.

When you try to limit political speech, you open many cans of many worms.

Charming photo confiscated from Stumbling and Mumbling for the greater good.

Have you noticed, lately, to what extent talk radio relies on blogs for subject matter? Quite remarkable.

This is truly nuts. Is it not difficult enough to live in reality without hallucinogens?

May 1 will be a sad day in Caracas. NY Sun

Can we have an honest debate on immigration before Bush and the Dems push through their own plan? Blue Crab. As I recall, the last time there was "immigration reform" there was no debate either.

Judge is shocked - shocked. Doesn't everyone know how common these frauds are?

What career has the highest job satisfaction? Bird of Paradise

Why do 90% of blacks vote Dem? The Politics of Fear. A quote from the piece at Am. Thinker:

In the United States today remarkable strides have been made in the reduction of age-old hatreds and enmities.  The average American is a remarkably tolerant and inclusive person.  Why, the average American has even been taught to believe that Islam is a religion of peace.What a pity that liberals have exempted themselves and their political supporters from this advance in human societal relations.  But it is understandable.  You see, American blacks, gays, feminists, and academicians live in a world assailed on all sides by the menacing "Other:" Fundamentalists, theocrats, racists, sexists, classists, and homophobes.  And do they ever hate and fear the fundamentalists, theocrats, racists, sexists, classists, and homophobes that harass and oppress them.

The real cost of SARBOX. It has been a disaster, with financial needs running to London and elsewhere to escape. Luskin. A cure that is worse than the disease. Very damaging to New York City, in particular.

A revealing quote about the French Left from Segolene, from a collection of them at My Vast RW Conspiracy:

Dick Cheney's inner self revealed by mysterious halo. Althouse. Do we like and admire Dick? Yes we do.

A lost world of Britain located under the North Sea. Very cool.

Ex NYT Public Editor rips Times' coverage of Duke. Ace. Harvard Liberal Marvin Kalb skewers media coverage of 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War. Also at Ace. Bruce Kesler discusses Kalb's comments at Dem Project.

Reynaldo Bigone faces trial. Who? He was one of the bad guys.

More on the hedgies supporting Dems. Sister Todjah. Are most of these guys Dems, or are they hedging? 

Hackers Are Us is in trouble. So is a young Mellon.

"Stop this awful totalitarian EU legislation." Brussels Journal.

Hey, Brits: It's your tax money:

As for the former vice president, Gore has been hired as an adviser to the British government, which plans to send copies of his film to schools around England.

WalMart getting into the medical care business. Interesting. Doctors made in China?

DEBKAfile: Will AQ intervene in the French elections? (Always take DEBKA with a grain of salt.)

Tehran ripping down satellite dishes. Link for story with photo below at Freeborn John. Keep 'em poor and stupid: it's the only way.

Bombshell cripples Haditha case against Marines. Glad to hear it. Just another example of press giving greater cred to insurgent propaganda than to our guys. h/t, Gateway

Post-Kelo, has there been any real eminent domain reform? Chequerboard says no.

Quoted in Thompson in The Right Kind of Prejudice:

Jasper has argued that “you have to treat people differently to treat them equally.”

Darn right. Treat me special - or else! Well, I guess I do hold doors for ladies, but I do not slam them in men's faces unless it is warranted.

Mindcrime. Three Danish lawmakers arrested for criticizing veils. Glad I don't live in Denmark - I'd be arrested because I am only in favor of the legally-enforced veiling, or paper-bagging, of the grossly unattractive. Veiling pretty women is a shame, and a crime against male humanity. Come and get me, Danish coppers - but bring an army with you. The photo of the Moslem lady on the right explains why I feel this way, for Danes who don't get it. (Quit pushing that button - doing so sends a direct link from you to the Danish Police Thought Crime Unit.)

An excellent point from Rhymes with Right: The NYT opposes corporate political advocacy. What about them? They're a corporation too.

Blue Crab explains to Yale: Theater is imaginary. Just in case you thought it was real. Now, TV is real, of course.

The end of High School sports? You can make a case that kids should do their sports outside of school, but why is that any different from doing their chess, theater, dance, or music outside of school? Fortunately, such things are local choices.

An elegy to mudered England: View from the Right

Self-anointed Greenie Laurie David tore up her Martha's Vineyard natural vegetation to put in sod. Without a permit. Driscoll. These people are phonies.

The hedgies are lining up with Obama. The truth is finally emerging: Dems do not like Hillary, and so Obama is eating her lunch. They may like her socialism, but they do not like or trust her. Also, Obama states his plan for terrorism: pay the tribute.

Moscow's billionaires. They have their own neighborhood.

Would you go to a fat doctor?

Are eating disorders a spiritual disease? CSM

A developing scandal: Academics on boards of banks that want student loans. $600,000/year? Whoa. That's a nice income supplement for a Dean.

People are trying to save the South China Tiger. Only 100 left.

How come we can build walls in Baghdad, but not to protect our own borders? Linknzona

 Adding to blogroll under Economy and Economics: Hedge Fund.net. Interesting site.

Front Page mag interviewed Dr. Ted Dalrymple in 2005: Our Culture, What's Left of It. (h/t, David Thompson)

What does it mean to talk about "the gap between rich and poor"? Samizdata. Every Marxist attitude is based on the erroneous assumption that wealth is a zero sum game. Marx was not an economist.

The Guardian reassures you: Don't be fooled. France is still Leftist. My theory: They want Louis XIV back, but won't admit it.

If people are this uninterested and uninformed, why listen to polls? Betsy

Why should Canada try to go Greenie, when China does whatever they want? Small Dead Baby Kittens

Rick Moran encounters his first bidet.

The secret Gore campaign? Is it for real? (h/t, Jules)

An eco-chick. It's about fashion. Haha. Just so stupid.

The Fastest Texter tournament. Teen wins. Big surprise there.

Green power will ruin California open space. CSM

More border violence. CSM

Illegal immigration: An issue which damages both Dems and Repubs. Powerline

Mark Steyn on Hoplophobia. Never Yet Melted

Who gets shot every day in America? Youth gangs, and plenty of suicides.

Iowahawk did some fun cars for Earth Day.

Tragedy exploitation: Hatemonger

Dylan summer tour dates.

"Fighting back was not an option, #2." Big Lizards

Mark your calendar. May 5 is Free Comic Book Day

China's farmlands are in big trouble.

Honk if you're married and can't cope with anger. Dave Barry

Done with Mirrors took the time on Earth Day to post some graphs on climate.

Prejudice. GSN will begin production on a new game show based on the UK format Prejudice (the original show Prejudice also airs on BBC America).  According to Variety, the US version will be called Without Prejudice?, and is a sixty minute series. The network has ordered up 8 episodes. The game is about how the contestants are perceived to strangers, and they are awarded cash for each successful round they complete. 

Bedlam Revisited. Regarding the de-institutionalization of the dangerously mentally ill. Dr. Kellerman in the WSJ. A quote:

Penning up and carefully scrutinizing the killer was never an option. Not in Virginia or California or any other state in the union. Because in our well-intentioned quest to maximize personal liberty, we've moved conceptual eons away from taking the concept of dangerousness seriously.

 The best predictor of future violent behavior is past violent behavior, yet we regularly grant parole to murderers, serial rapists, chronically assaultive individuals and habitual pedophiles. Even when we do attempt to segregate low-impulse multiple offenders with effective tools such as with three-strikes laws, liberationist clamor never ceases.

 Talk to anyone who's tried to commit a dangerously violent child or parent for even a few days: A stranger with a law degree will show up at the hearing and paint you as a fascist. So it's far too much to expect anything resembling a decisive approach to those whose level of threat remains at the verbal level.

A random though, in light of all the of gun control authoritarian folks trying to exploit the sad VT story: Why don't we ban destructive books too? And blogs? After all, the pen is mightier than the sword, isn't it? Screw our Constitution, right?

Biggest ignored story by the MSM of the week: I found Saddam's WMD Bunkers.

Rutgers basketball team refuses to continue to be poster children for victimization. Good for them. They had already milked it enough. Time to regain some dignity and pride.

Spanish company makes more profits selling carbon credits than their products. Small Dead Baby Polar Bears. Time for me to build a virtual factory, with abundant virtual carbon pollution. Like farmers making money for not farming.

Brains made of toilet paper. Less well-endowed high school gals used to stuff kleenex into their bras, but they never stuffed toilet paper into their skulls. Cheryl Crowe wants to reduce use of toilet paper. Ahem. She is missing three basic facts: 1) Paper comes from tree farms,  2) Trees in the northern hemisphere appear to be worsening the terrifying global warming crisis which is causing me to lose sleep, and 3) Why does anyone (including me) listen to her at all?

Legal: Does it make sense to criminalize "agency costs"? Bainbridge. I doubt it, or people will not be willing to run companies. It's not an easy job, and requires a remarkable combination of talents.

The New York Times is headed for big trouble. I don't want the company to die. I want it to change. But I think they would rather die than change. Newspapers are not in trouble. Left-wing newspapers with bias on the front page are in trouble.

Mullah on women: Women who are badly veiled are like buses: Anyone may ride them. Equally nutty: Moslems do not permit mixing tomatoes with cucumbers. Talk about filthy minds - who would have thought of that? Sheesh.

Chavez' unique anti-crime plan. Unbelievable. NB: Venezuelans have been disarmed by gun control. Except their criminals, that is.

Was Cho taught to hate? Never Yet Melted. It's an interesting take on the story.

More on hatred. Good piece at Flares. If you are handed political power, do you really want to devote it to hatred? Is that wise?

Lieberman slams Harry Reid. Blue Crab. It seems to me that the US is "losing the war" only by a very strange definition. We are killing the terrorists, but the terrorists are only killing their fellow countrymen now, and not us.

Mayor Bloomberg said this:

"Using economics to influence public behavior is something this country is built on," he declared. "It's called capitalism."

Huh? Excuse me? We are "built upon" government power? WTH? I thought Bloomberg was a smart guy. Piece at Driscoll. I thought we were built on the idea that government power was a bad thing. Somebody needs to re-educate our Revolutionary dead, I guess. And the Mayor, too: If you're so rich, how come you ain't smart?

The Met's new Greek and Roman galleries. Multimedia.

A new medical website: Revolution Health, started by Steve Case

Hypocrisy: DC burns coal, installs fluorescent bulbs. Utterly meaningless "conspicuous virtue."

"Populist authoritarianism." Good phrase. Samizdata wants a new England.

Moslems to host countries: You Will Be Assimilated. Protein

Speaking of which, Moslem harem wives each get their own welfare check in the UK. SDA. Even though polygamy is illegal. I like this concept for my retirement plan: nice cottage in the Cotswolds, four pretty little fillies to keep me fed, happy, and entertained, and a pile of monthly checks.

More on little tiny houses. CSM. Makes sense to me.

Hillary is a ho, says Democracy Project. Aren't most politicians?

A transgender prom king? Gee, how modern! How progressive! How advanced! But I still can't understand what a transgender is, exactly, other than someone who defines themselves by their identity confusion.

Jon Voight: Another sane voice in Hollywood. h/t, Flares

Is the Iraqi government doing their part? Maybe not.

A Tale of Two Towns. One with a gun ban, and one without. Wizbang. Guns belong in the hands of honest folks.

Ivy League Insanity. Yale theater bans fake swords. It apparently has something to do with Virginia Tech. Are these people for real?

Feeling safe vs. being safe. This piece by Jack Kelly sounds like Dr. Bliss' piece.

Photo: Commercial fishing boats in Wellfleet, MA harbor

Applying reason to the water shortage in the western states. Coyote. It makes you wonder how many problems are govt-created, then "requiring" another layer of govt to fix them. If you chose to live in the desert, then pay market price for your water.

Why should a taxi driver who works two shifts get taxed at a higher rate than a lazier driver who works only one shift? Conspiracy to keep you poor and stupid.

The visiting father. Evangelical Outpost. Not good.

Roy Spencer is one of the voices crying in the wilderness on global warming. The young guys with academic careers at stake are afraid to speak out.

Free markets and globalization: Is it time to re-think it? I doubt it, but it's good populist boob bait.

Can America trust the BBC? Video. (h/t, Instapundit)

Black-on-white crimes don't make the headlines. A disturbing example at Riehl. And with black-on-black crime, Drudge reports the new code of ethics. A quote:

These "rules" are contributing to a much lower percentage of arrests in homicide cases -- a statistic known as the "clearance rate" -- in largely poor, minority neighborhoods throughout the country, according to Prof. David Kennedy of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "I work in communities where the clearance rate for homicides has gone into the single digits," says Kennedy. The national rate for homicide clearance is 60 percent. "In these neighborhoods, we are on the verge of -- or maybe we have already lost -- the rule of law," he tells Cooper.

A Belgian imam: “Soon we will take power in this country. Those who criticize us now, will regret it. They will have to serve us. Prepare, for the hour is near.” The suicide of Europe continues apace, at Gates of Vienna

Circuit City is laying off their most experienced. A damn shame, but I think they are trying to fend off bankruptcy, in which case all of the jobs would disappear. Their business model doesn't work anymore. Look at The Wiz - gone. It's the constructive destruction of the wisdom of the marketplace.

Huge biofuel refinery planned for Alberta. Article does not mention 1) Its effect on food prices or, 2) how much fossil fuel the refinery will require to operate. (h/t, reader)

Thompson getting ready, it would appear.

78% want a path to citizenship for illegals.

Harry Reid offers immediate unconditional surrender to Al Quaida in Iraq.

Cho was ruled mentally ill before his hospital discharge. You cannot just lock people up because they are ill.

Mark Steyn is worried about the testosterone levels of the West:

We do our children a disservice to raise them to entrust all to officialdom’s security blanket. Geraldo-like “protection” is a delusion: when something goes awry — whether on a September morning flight out of Logan or on a peaceful college campus — the state won’t be there to protect you. You’ll be the fellow on the scene who has to make the decision. As my distinguished compatriot Kathy Shaidle says:

When we say “we don’t know what we’d do under the same circumstances”, we make cowardice the default position.

Besides Brendan Nyhan, who is following Hillary's polling negatives? Obama, Kerry, and Gore, for starters.

Berserkers not limited to the USA. Cramer

Take a look at these fences Spain uses to keep out illegals. Flares

Jason Whitlock calls on Sharpton, Jackson to step down:

Rather than inspire us to seize hard-earned opportunities, Jesse and Al have specialized in blackmailing white folks for profit and attention. They were at it again last week, helping to turn radio shock jock Don Imus’ stupidity into a world-wide crisis that reached its crescendo Tuesday afternoon when Rutgers women’s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer led a massive pity party/recruiting rally.

Hey, what Imus said, calling the Rutgers players "nappy-headed hos," was ignorant, insensitive and offensive. But so are many of the words that come out of the mouths of radio shock jocks/comedians.

Imus’ words did no real damage. Let me tell you what damaged us this week: the sports cover of Tuesday’s USA Today. This country’s newspaper of record published a story about the NFL and crime and ran a picture of 41 NFL players who were arrested in 2006. By my count, 39 of those players were black.

You want to talk about a damaging, powerful image, an image that went out across the globe?

We’re holding news conferences about Imus when the behavior of NFL players is painting us as lawless and immoral. Come on. We can do better than that. Jesse and Al are smarter than that.

I missed the details of the Supreme Court abortion decision. They upheld a federal law, not a state law as I had supposed. We Americans have abundant God-given rights and freedoms, but perhaps the freedom to commit infanticide was not among them.

Chimp intelligence. NYT Science Times. OK,OK - give them the right to vote.

It looks good for Sarkozy. Captain Ed

Having it both ways with global scare pollution: Wizbang. More hurricanes or fewer hurricanes - it's still warming that causes it.

Guns down, gun crime up in Britain. Riehl

And, on the same subject, Dr. Ted Dalrymple on The British Way of Murder at City Journal. A quote:

Britain is experiencing a spate of murders that suggests a population increasingly unable, or unwilling, to control itself. A recent survey suggested that the British are now more prone to knife-fights than any other people in Europe. Guns have also become fashionable, despite—or is it because of?—stringent laws against them.

"Let's begin the healing process and move on." Such pseudo-psychobabble. Dr. Sanity agrees with me, of course.

The European press blames Charleton Heston for the VT massacre. Personally, I blame the anonymous 11th century Chinese fellow who invented gunpowder.

The only halfway sane quote I read in there is from Germany's Bild:

"Now we will probably begin discussing the overly lax gun laws in the United States. There, buying a machine gun is often easier than getting a driver's license. And a new ban on violent games and killer videos will also be put back on the agenda. But in the end, nothing is likely to happen. And the next killer already lives somewhere among us. But we have little reason to point an accusing finger at the Americans. Despite strict gun legislation, we (in Germany) have experienced the school shootings in Erfurt and Emsdetten. We have to consider the problems in our society. And we have to take care of our fellow humans."

But "buying a machine gun"? Good luck. At least the writer is willing to note that they have school shootings in Germany, too. When people talk about "problems in society," though, my eyes glaze over: these cases are about mental disorders, not "problems in society." 

The blaming theme is already getting to be too much, and the upsurge of the predictable agenda journalism is macabre. I think it is all just a diversion from the normal human reactions of horror and sadness.

One year ago, Virginia Tech's General Assembly defeated a resolution to permit legal gun carrying on campus. Also, Blame the Guns at Michelle. Some people just can't put their political agendas aside for 24 hours to pray for these people and their families.

I like this thought from today's piece at Democracy Project:

As Judith Klinghoffer says, “I know I am going to get hate mail and I may be rushing to judgment. But it all seems to follow such a familiar pattern,” in writing “As Sheep To The Slaughter Yet Again” at her History News Network blog.

Of course, standing up to bullies is no longer the expected even of trained fighters. How can one expect young people at a university to behave more courageously than British marines confronting Iranian bullies? We better. For as Gandhi expected, in the current atmosphere bullies are multiplying and the price of continuing to go as sheep to slaughter is getting higher and higher by the day.

As individuals, as nations, we see natural running away from vicious challenges to our decency, our way of life, and our very lives. We see those few brave enough to stand against the door denigrated and deserted by their effete critics, while barbaric acts they try and fight to prevent or punish are ignored, excused or even supported.

VT, Flight 93, Iraq are around the corner from all of us.

Hillary never read the 2002 pre-war intel report. Too busy doing what?

Obama's income. Everyone always wonders how politicians get so rich on their already comfortable salaries.

Army Strong. Heart transplant doesn't slow down this reservist.

The allure of conspiracy theories. Eject, Eject. (h/t, Dr. Sanity)

Like France, Sweden now has Moslem neighborhoods that the cops cannot enter.

Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of The Federalist Society?

From Roger Simon:

From Drudge: "SHARPTON VOWS MORE: 'It is our feeling that this is only the beginning. We must have a broad discussion on what is permitted and not permitted in terms the airwaves'."

How about this? How about we don't allow on our airwaves self-serving racist blowhards in three-piece suits who had anything to do with the Tawana Brawley case?

Photo: Why the Sam Neil still shot today? A lady reader claimed that our cheesecake to beefcake ratio was far too high, and threatened us with Al Sharpton's goon squad unless we posted Sam. So, naturally, following the footsteps of the courageous Don Imus, we folded like a cheap camera.

Driscoll says Va Tech is a gun-free zone. So is Washington, DC. The story only gets worse.

Pat Buckley's obit at NRO (presumably written by Bill).

Bending over backwards to make Moslem accommodations at schools.

Foucault and the Ayatollah. David Thompson. The Left-Jihadist alliance always confuses me.

Another endangered species: Sane children. Tim Blair on kids afraid they'll die of global warming.

Re our pieces on the dirt dunes and corn growing, another unintentional consequence of corn Ethanol: Meat shortages.

Atheists at war with each other. I thought religion was supposed to be the cause of all conflicts. OK, maybe atheism is a religion too, if they have schisms and heresies.

Maybe the Dems can re-use this Canadian advt: Dust my Broom

Our weather report on the "big nor'easter": Plenty of wet snow in our corner of MA, then tons of rain, but minimal winds. Not a storm. People living in flood plains have their usual swimming-pool basements and wet first floors, and the big town pumpers have been moving from house to house along the river to pump them out - my tax dollars for people who live where they should not: it's called "wetlands" for a reason. If it floods, it wants to be a swamp. Lots of roads closed from flooding. Basically, no big deal up here.

The "mow your own lawn" theme. (I thought most Americans do.) Does having immigrants doing low-wage jobs make sense? Reason thinks so.

1998 is when Al Quaida officially declared war on the United States. A summary of the history, and Saddam's involvement, at Flares. How soon we forget.

The ACRU looks like my kind of ACLU. Check it out: American Civil Rights Union. Might be an org. one might wish to support.

Get farmers off the dole. CSM

Michael Moore's "sicko stunt."  But where would he go, if sick? Cuba, or NYC?

A new theory of high blood pressure: Blood vessels in the brain

What really happened at Duke. Newsweek

Christian bookstore, internet cafes bombed in Gaza. What an excellent way to build a cheerful, tolerant culture. Jihad Watch. Did they desecrate or damage any Bibles? Hey, let's behead them! These people appear determined to eliminate any evidence of modernity - except guns, bombs, and cars (and they don't even know how to make those). Where is the UN with their Anger Management Team?

Another reason you don't want Hillary back in the White House. Video at Cao's Blog

Lamest nor'easter I've ever seen. An ordinary cold, breezy, wet-snow day. I love rough weather, and hate it when they over-hype it. Just heavy April snow showers, and 38 degrees.

Brit National Union of Journalists votes to boycott Israel. They drank the Kool Aid. Very nice. First they came for the Jews...

Why crying defeat could turn out to be a big mistake. Even the AP is now forced to recognize the progress: Big Lizards. I wish for success, because it would be the best thing for the people of Iraq, and for the US.

Don Ho died. Here's his Tiny Bubbles. (audio)

Montreal Muslims charged with firebombing synagogue.

Fred Thompson gets it.

Hey, wait a minute - I'm a victim too. SISU. I never trust hypersensitivity: it's always a manipulation. If you can't take a joke or an insult, you're a baby.

Jason Whitlock gets it. Video at Horsefeathers. It's about Sharpton and the other race hustlers.

A quote from Hatemonger's Quarterly:

Every time we hear some moronic politician blather on about the urgent need for every American to attend college, we think to ourselves: If only this boob would sit in on a Sociology 101 lecture. One-third of the class mysteriously missing; one-quarter sound asleep; the remaining students trying their hand at a crossword puzzle—these are the tell-tale signs of university students learning.

As everyone but Bill Clinton seems to recognize, most kids attend college for four (or five) years of intense dipsomania, feverish drug-taking, and incessant date rape. If you ask us, American children should be compelled to complete a year of military service before they head to university. That’ll learn the little pukes.

And what if the army doesn’t need them? Well, maybe they could serve as Ted Kennedy’s towel boy instead.

Added to our blogroll today: The Hatemonger's Quarterly, under "Funny Pages," and TigerHawk, under "Mostly Political"

Image: A Hubble image of infant star formation in "a nearby galaxy"