Maggie's Farm

Hope this little nor'easter will be the last snow of the year in MA. Winter arrived late, but won't leave. In southern New England and NYS, watch out for this. What is a nor'easter? Also, don't be surprised if our power is down tomorrow and Maggie's is off the air for a while.

Taliban just hates transvestites. So why does Bin Ladin wear a dress?

Duke lacrosse players are guilty anyway. Moonbattery

Sharpton is a walking self-satire. Powerline agrees.

Penn and Teller do gun control. (h/t, Never Yet melted)

Mitt Romney on YouTube. He is a smoothy.

Anti-terror dolphins.

Be careful with your nailgun. Ouch.

Cutest little bunny rabbit in the world. Riehl

"Knowledge of subject not required." An advt for an AP reporter. Democracy Project.

The Junco is is sparrow, not a finch, Mr. Sibley. Funny, if you are a birder. It's "inside" humor.

Trees worsen global warming. Interesting. nb: We do not care one bit about global warming. We do enjoy chain saws, however, with beer.

You're our only hope, Obi Wan Sarkozy. The French mess. No Pasaran

Kurt Vonnegut on transactional lawyers. Prof. Bainbridge.

Hey, Al Gore. It is below freezing in New England in the morning, and we have yet more snow predicted for this weekend. Please leave the weather alone, Al. We got 10 inches yesterday, and the daffodils are buried.

Sweden: Slackers find it more rewarding not to work. Brussels Journal. Pathetic. Or is it sour grapes? Would I rather spend my day smoking pot, drinking beer, getting stupid, and chasing Stockholm flickas? A monkey on welfare? Hmmmm. Let me think...

Dr. Bob, a quote from a piece on socialized medicine:

Now, my intent is not to beat up the poor fellow; he is, after all, a liberal, and therefore possessed of a profoundly misguided understanding of human nature and motivation, and a strong inherent (and incoherent) proclivity for finding in government the solution to every imaginable problem. He is more to be pitied than censured. But his comment prompted me to begin thinking about some of the more common medical myths; those axiomatic convictions which seem to drive every discussion about healthcare policy, and show up in virtually every comment section on a health policy-related post. This particular gentleman’s comment mentions at least two such myths, and therefore provides lush green fodder for a rambling rumination on my part.

My Friend, Milton Friedman, by Charles Brunie in City Journal. Many stories about Friedman. I did not realize that he was an academic pariah. He never followed the Party Line.

Duke case updates at LaShawn and Durham in Wonderland

Camille Paglia interview on all topics at Salon.

I wouldn't know Katie Couric from Adam, but this new story is just one more example of how phony MSM news really is. Captain Ed

When did Cheryl Crow find time to get her PhD in Paleoclimatology? Because if she doesn't have one, she'd better not try lecturing to me.

William F. Buckley Jr. has a few words about the Dartmouth trustee election. Powerline

Half of Americans reject the concept of evolution. I don't know what to make of that.

How dumb is Al Sharpton? From an old interview with Peter Jennings when Sharpton was running for president, at Attack Machine (you have to scroll down on his blog until he gets some dang permalinks):

JENNINGS: And what you'd be looking for in a chairman of the Federal Reserve Board?

SHARPTON: Oh, in the Federal Reserve Board, I would be looking for someone that would set standards in this country, in terms of our banking, our — in how government regulates the Federal Reserve as we see it under Greenspan, that we would not be protecting the big businesses; we would not be protecting banking interests in a way that would not, in my judgment, lead toward mass employment, mass development and mass production.

Got that?

Image: Gratuitous photo of TV chef Rachel Ray, on loan from a piece on Manatee steak at Right Wing News. The photo on loan, that is. Not Rachel, although I heard she is getting divorced.

$400-600 million. John Kluge's bequest to Columbia University - the largest donation ever to an American University. Photo is of Columbia's very happy Alma Mater. Columbia will need police to control the lines of hedgies outside the Treasurer's office when Kluge dies.

Oh, Sh-t Department: Fred Thompson has lymphoma.

From warming hoaxster George Monbiot: "The only reason for which I will fly is to campaign on climate change." Piece - "Destroying the planet to save it" - at Tim Blair .

Imus vs. Rap lyrics, at Michelle. You could not print these lyrics in a newspaper, but they play them on the radio all day long. Nice. We've been avoiding the dumb Imus story, but I agree that the reaction is the usual "manufactured outrage." After all, something racial was needed to dilute the news of the dismissal of the Duke charges this week. How many times have we asserted that Al Sharpton is a con-man extortionist sociopathic creep of the lowest sort who deserves neither respect or attention from anyone - except for his value as an object of ridicule?

But back to the Duke story: I am waiting for the accuser to be charged with something. A false accusation of rape is no small matter and should be a felony, if it's not.

Coyote in New Jersey tries to dine on toddler. This is extremely unusual. Maybe they are in league with the Greenies, who insist we have too many people. It is possible that there are too many people in northern Jersey, however. Ever been to Paramus?

I have yet to see an explanation from the anthropogenic folks for why CO2 levels lag warming by 800 years.

Quote from Jane Galt (h/t, Instapundit):

...too many environmentalists flunk basic and economic knowlege, which is why so many people believe it is practical to replace a coal-fired turbine that pumps out 1,000 megawatts with a solar installation that will, in peak sun conditions, produce about 1 kilowatt per 150 feet of space, twelve hours a day; or wind farms, which average less than 1 megawatt per turbine in prime spots. In addition, the core of the environmental movement are people with a whole host of linked views about things like capitalism, consumer culture, and so forth; they find solutions that support, rather than changing, the existing system much less emotionally interesting than radical conservation strategies. Unfortunately, the latter are a thoroughgoing political failure, but the environmental movement has strenuously resisted adjusting to this reality. (Some leaders have, God bless them). As long as this attitude persists, the environmental movement is blocking change that could and should happen; it is perfectly legitimate, nay necessary, to tax them on this.

Vets annoyed by Dem congress. A quote:

"Thank God there was no mandated timetable after the Battle of the Bulge or Iwo Jima. Thank God, there was no mandated withdrawal or imposed exit strategy at Valley Forge or our Country would have lost the American Revolution."

Dems acting fearful of FOX News. If you're afraid of FOX, how are you going to handle Ahmadinejad?

Global Cooling Alert: Coldest April in 113 years.

All about Momzillas. Scary.

Larry Kudlow explains our great economy in an Examiner piece:

"Since the early Reagan years, we have had 25 years of virtually uninterrupted prosperity," Kudlow said. "Because of the Reagan reforms - the deregulation, the lower taxes, the disinflation - we have transformed the economy from a top-down, government-run operation into a free market, capitalist economy with durability and resilience."

A story from a Mom, a dentist-blogger, in Mosul. (h/t, Jules) Wow.

When we get global cooling, what will we do? Did you read Richard Lindzen's piece in Newsweek yet? Why so gloomy about global warming?  And how about 100% reduction of carbon emissions? Tim Blair. And, from noted scientist Christy Todd Whitman: Let's regulate carbon even if it makes no difference. Hey, that's a brilliant idea. I have a better idea: Why don't we all just jump into the lake and drown? No,...that would pollute the lake.

Cool. The Daily Fred

Even Stumbling and Mumbling concludes that government cannot make you happy.

Overfishing of coral reefs. It's a damn shame. I guess these countries don't want to try regulating their fisheries. Foolish of them, but who are we to talk about that?

Stop the presses. Boston Globe says something sane about illegals. Wizbang.

Baseball salaries in 1969. Also, why the recent hitting slump- Blood testing, or a tighter strike zone?

Melanie Phillips. The surrender of the West

The Easter Lily. Sippican Cottage

Ignore cold weather, make a fuss over hot weather. Blue Crab

A Tipping Point with illegal immigration? And immigrants protest Bush's immigration plan. What?

Race against the clock in Iraq. Libertarian Leanings. Brits fleeing Basra - I thought they had it under control. Guess not. EU Referendum

How is the date of Easter calculated?, plus misc topics. Classical Values

Wilmer McLean and the Civil War. Willisms

Lieberman attacks Pelosi. Gateway

Scare the kids to death! Moonbattery

Iran promises more hostage-taking. LGF. Why not? It works great. Big Lizards notes that the Brits' phrase "Fighting back was not an option" could be an epitaph for the Western World. Fred Thompson is not on board with defeatism.

Don Imus may be a jerk, but does any buffoon who does gangsta talk need to be subjected to the buffoon Al Sharpton?

BBC: The message is too positive. Cancel the show.

14 reasons to allow drinking on the job. S,C&A

Parkas at the Masters. I told y'all the next Ice Age was on the way.

I was going to post the Powerline piece, but Blue Crab takes the subject of the AP's subtle propagandizing a bit further.

Hotroddin' with Iowakawk. He has a video, too.

Where's the outrage? The Brit hostages were tortured.

Where's the outrage? Another college athlete rape case.

Just planned my trip to Scotland for this summer.

School of Social work caught red-handed. Cramer.

Your life or your baby's? The Anchoress clearly does not understand that it is not pomo to pose such questions, nor to post such stories.

Iraq deaths. This guys tries to keep accurate stats.

Bill Clinton investigates himself. Surber. Why?

The risks of home ownership. Some people get stuck in the weakening home market. Blame Ben Bernanke. The inventory will grow before things turn around. 20% of mortgages are sub-prime: dumb loans. I'm thinking of buying - at the bottom, of course, although there are many nice things about being a renter. It is called "hassle-free."

How many of the Supremes were science majors? SCOTUS Emits Scare Pollution, at Global Warming Hoax.

iPod takes bullet, saves soldier

The economic news. It is still great, but who knows? This administration has stunk with communications, from the beginning.

A wonderful "brown person," from Ace. A video. This guy gets it.

Remington being bought by yet another venture capital firm. They never should have left CT, where good guns have been manufactured for 300 years.

Steyn is following the Conrad Black story. I think Black is guilty of being rich. (h/t, Brits at their Best)

Totten with the Kurds. These Kurds sound like the Good Guys.

State suicide in Michigan. When will they ever learn? Sister Toldjah

Bad decisions: Al Qaida in Iraq is winning no friends. Chlorine truck bombs are a terrible way to make friends. Everybody knows that.

Biopharmophobia. Ignorant and ridiculous. Every food we eat is genetically engineered, only slowly. What's wrong with doing it faster? Wild corn (maize, to you Brits) is only 1" long.

How to be Green, according to The Guardian. Worstall. I think they are actually serious, but it sounds like a late April Fool.

Good Friday in Jerusalem.

Nancy Pelosi's Magical Mystery Tour. Sad, but funny. Horsefeathers. "dying to take you away..."  Or should it be that other song, "They're coming to take me away, ha ha"?

The wonder computer of the 1980s. Video advt. at And rightly So

MASS v. EPA could help nuclear power. Instapundit has the piece. We love nuke power. Why Greenies do not is a puzzle to me, unless they want me to give up electricity.

"Good" Friday? It's all spin. Scrapple Dude. (h/t, Sisu)

Globalistical warmening on Mars is accelerating. Moonbattery. Meanwhile, a global cooling crisis around here. We have snow again today, and predictions for a below-30 Easter Day.

Outsourcing: India and Kenya. What does the future hold? Drezner

Eli Yale never had this in mind. Idiots.

Employment numbers. Go figure. Wizbang

Did Pelosi commit a felony? Opinion Journal

$300 billion will be spent in the US on tax preparation this year. Does that make sense?

I don't know how a ship could hit a marked rock in Santorini harbor. I've been there. Worth a visit. The harbor is a volcanic crater.

Spiral galaxy NGC 1672. Wow.

Iran Tourism. I would love to visit, once their government becomes sane. Not holding my breath.

Who "owns" a corporation? Prof. Bainbridge

A homeschooler speaks: A Day in the Life.  First Things. God bless her.

Fred Thompson is getting ready. Go, Fred!

The national popular vote fallacy. Anchor Rising. I agree. This was the deal the states made to get on board as a nation. It's a control against riding roughshod over smaller states and rural areas. We're a Republic, not a mob democracy.

Heresy. Maxed Out  deconstructs the Rev. John statement which we posted in Religious Insanities.

960,000 felons? Yes, in Florida. What sort of state is that? Well, they can all vote now.

Dem antisemitism. More and more, out of the closet. Gateway

Great White Hunter. Romney the hunter. Ridiculous. Typical pol jerk.

"Rent-a-wife" was/is a big business for singles in NYC, but rent-a-parent sounds truly sick.

Are you a Libertarian? A Quiz. (h/t, Libertarian Leanings)

Harry Reid lies to vet. Nice. The Repubs might be bad, but these Dems are nuts.

More moonbattery. Anti-gun nuts oppose Navy Seal Memorial. Michelle

Tony Blair on the hostage story (from Samizdata):

"I am sure that I speak for everyone when I say how delighted I am that the Iranian goverment has released our 15 naval service personnel. This has obviously been a traumatic ordeal for all of them and their families and an extremely trying and difficult time for everyone else in involved in this unfortunate episode. Thankfully, common sense and cooler heads have prevailed. I must, however, make it categorically clear that we did not, nor would we ever, make any concessions, strike any bargains or agree any deals in order to secure their release. It is the unwavering policy of Her Majesty's government to stand firm in the face of threats and to strenuously resist any attempts at blackmail or intimidation of any kind. That said, all that remains for me to do is join in with the rest of the nation in offering up our prayers and thanks to merciful Allah and his last prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him. Thank you."

The Pelosi Fiasco. It is painful to watch people when they are in over their heads. Good commentary from Rick Moran, Riehl, Dino with the WaPo editorial. Also, Terrorists Cheer Pelosi.This groveling photo should doom her - but will it? Something insane going on here.

The Etruscans were from Lydia, says DNA. h/t, Powerline

The story of Mr. Manolo, the Shoe Man. Most visited fashion site on the net? Driscoll links to the whole piece.

The Rockford, Illinois Police Chief says: “Handguns are really the culprit of the degradation of this community.”  Alphecca. Yes, indeed. Tie those guns down so they stop sneaking out and shooting people. Bad, bad guns.

The chief of the Human Genome Project is a convert to religion. CNN

Defiant grains mock scientists. Blair. Pesky right-wing grains.

A secret war against Iran? CSM. Let's hope so. I happened to speak with an Iranian friend today, living in the US. She says anyone with any education or brains hates the government, but they buy off the peasants for votes. People are fearful of speaking out, because jail in Iran isn't like jail in the US.

Russian Moslems seething over Beslan memorial. Exclusive, they say. How is that for hutzpah? LGF/ Moselms killed all of those kids, right? Or was it another "inside job"?

Is Rudy dumber than I thought? Who would say this? According to Rudy's logic, the government should buy me handguns. As of now, he is out of my consideration.

In Australia, putting your rapes on the internet is all the rage. Too much wallaby meat? Bad + dumb is a lousy combination, and will not lead to a life of contentment.

Canada's seal slaughter, once again. Need those seal skins for the rich Hollywood and NYC Dems, so they don't get cold in this terrible global warming.

The "elites" believe in global warming. Most regular people do not. Why? Never Yet Melted. I guess we're not elite. Thank goodness for that. We at least have common sense, I think. And we have all taken basic statistics, without which no-one can be considered well-educated.

Regime Change Iran needs money. The blog has been a regular read of ours.

The Brits are years behind us. They are finally discovering the "hierarchies of victimhood." It's about time. Spiked.

DC photo from our pal at Shape of Days:

Hostages: There was a quid pro quo. NY Sun

As drunk as a ...bat?

And speaking of bats, the Yankees will dominate baseball and will win 110 games this season. It's in the math.

Army "tiptoes" into Sadr City. CSM. I think they would respect ruthless force more than an army tip-toeing through the tulips.

Guilty until proven innocent. The MASS v. EPA case, and why it's a big problem for freedom and for the future. Tracisnksi at Real Clear Politics. It's an open-ended invitation for federal control over everything - and technically, even breathing. Roberts' dissent sounds compelling. Can we please have one more sane person on the Court who loves freedom more than government power? I don't want death for anyone - just a happy retirement on a golf course in Florida or Arizona. Everybody else retires and makes room for the younger folks...

That was then; this is now. Betsy on Dem flip-flopping re war funding.

A half-crazed Gore booed in Canada. His response: "I can't tell whether you are left-wing or right-wing." That's a revealing statement: it's about politics, not science.

Fern Holland. Someone to remember.

Fashion Department. How to wear a scarf. SISU.

Black websites. I didn't know websites came in colors. BET is a hugely popular one. Do blacks and whites inhabit different worlds? I hope not.

A reader tells us that a candidate for Episcopal Bishop in her diocese went to this "seminary."

To understand the MSM, you need to understand that newsmen know neither math nor science. Blue Crab on Stossel's excellent piece. We've said the same thing many times, but we aren't Stossel.

4 million year-old whale dug up in Italy. Did not realize Italy was underwater that recently.

West Va. tries to cut the fat. What a joke. Good luck, suckers. The money would be better spent at MacDonalds.

Leonardo di Capria flies in a private jet with photo crew to be photographed in Iceland, pretending it's the Arctic. They photoshop the bear from the zoo afterwards for the mag cover. Is anything real in Hollywood - including the people? Yes - the money.

Stupidity, ignorance, Rosie O'Donnell, steel, and the Truthers. Coyote. My opinion? The "truthers" wish to deny that we have enemies outside ourselves. We wish so, too, but we try to respect reality.

This would be fun - going through newly-found early 1800 Missouri court records. Cramer

Springer hunts cell phones. BBC video. But how is she with pheasants?

Dog Yoga? We are a nutty people.

Smith vs. Ricardo on specialization, made simple. Cafe Hayek

French train. 354 mph. Which train to Vichy?

Does "banning the bulb" make sense? Global Warming Hoax says it does. But how about showing the data, and making it voluntary?

Guerillas usually lose wars. Jim Miller. Somebody please remind the press.

I agree with this on taxes, but it will never happen without a flat tax. Every citizen should contribute and sacrifice.

The party's over, for the EU. I hope so. EU Ref. explains why and how. It's good news.

Details of the interesting MASS. v. EPA case at the Supremes. Volokh

Putin takes on the internet, after having taken on the press. It's a damn shame. Is it possible that freedom just isn't part of their value system, so to speak?

Throw the Jew down the well. Brits remove Holocaust from textbooks. Moonbattery. Comments from Dust My Broom.

Powerline permits a bit of Iraq pessimism. View from the Right. Yes, there is cause for pessimism. The glass is half full.

Rick Moran: "Words fail me." Same here. You just give up.

Bruce Kesler takes on the costs of higher education. Says parents are co-conspirators.

Now the Chavistas want to take over private media. I guess Cuba is their ideal. Adios, Venezuela. It was nice knowin' ya.

Yemeni women join army counter-terrorism force.

Ex-Bush aid expresses disappointment in admin. NYT. He has a point, especially Bush's failure to mobilize the country.

Another shameful vote, but at least right won out. The vote to protect those who express concern about other travellers. Putting Safety Second

The truck full of rocks was brought in for the occasion. "The cameramen are here - everybody grab a rock." Entirely staged, to fool their own people.

American students: Cocky but dumb. Self-esteem without substance.

Glenn Beck video on how Moslems try to stifle dissent in the US. Especially the flying Imams.

If you missed our April Fool's Day offerings, check 'em out. We'll begin taking them down, and recycling some of them next year, for newbies. Apparently we snagged some April Fools this time, for a minute or two.

From our friend Lubos, on Iran:

The internal politics of Iran is much more complex and non-uniform than one would a priori expect. That makes all things difficult. Moreover, the Iranian government is extremely good in manipulating stupid people which includes, for example, the majority of the Arab nations. So they forced the marines to apologize for their wrongdoing on TV and to praise the Iranian kidnappers for their heavenly hospitality that they will be always grateful for. The only female marine has even apologized in a written form - in a letter that she originally wrote in Persian. Not bad.

Meanwhile, at least the Brit Health Secretary has her priorities straight.

The EU flexes its international muscles. Dinocrat. Finds it has no biceps.

Is the NYT educable? Surber, on Darfur

I hadn't read this at Althouse, but it's here in a piece by Classical Values on Converts and Heretics:

bloggers on the right link to you when they agree and ignore the disagreements, and the bloggers on the left link only for the things they disagree with, to denounce you with short posts saying you're evil/stupid/crazy, and don't even seem to notice all the times you've written posts that take their side.

A spiral ramp to build the pyramids?

Where the Nanny State meets the Police State. Small Dead Polar Bears, on the UK. I have always believed that Welfare Statism leads to Nanny Statism which leads to Police Statism. It's a natural progression, and it's all for your own good, as defined by your betters!

How I came to Christ. LaShawn. A very difficult thing to do. Not child's play.

A brief history of zero. Neat. h/t, Thompson