Sunday, June 10. 2007
 Sopranos. I can't watch - haven't caught up with the season yet. Disgusting people, but great television. Don't tell me what happens, but I'll probably hear somewhere anyway.
Peggy Noonan on The Greatness of the Sopranos. Napoleon's battle sword at auction. Want a simpler way of life? Go for it, but leave me alone. Carnival of the Insanities. Always fun Cool facts about ants. Yo ho ho. Pirates and governance. Prof. B Cockburn slams Gore. Blue Crab Boy Scouts in Iraq. Surber Rick Moran: "I like Paris Hilton." Pelosi sleaze. Why are Dems always so obsessed with money? From Gates of Vienna: When reality clashes with dreams, is it then really the role and responsibility of the press to try to disguise reality? If so, I think the dream is becoming a nightmare, when unrealistic dreams are being forced upon us.
Sanity from Vaclav Klaus. Melanie Phillips (h/t, Tim Blair) And more insanity from Sen. Russ Feingold. Were we mean to Germans during WW2? Damn right we were.
Saturday, June 9. 2007
 A vigorous three-hour ride this morning - Mrs. Barrister wanted us to canter most of the time to tire out the horses, and I almost got thrown when a garter snake decided to cross the trail and freaked out the horse - as they always do. You know the sideways, backwards, up-in-the-air dance they do? It's a little snake rodeo. Two sets of singles tennis this afternoon. Now, it is cocktail hour. I think, maybe, a gin and tonic. Then a swim. Then a cigar and another G&T.
Who can beat the NYT in trivializing culture? New Criterion Shopping for medical insurance. Coyote London would be better off Islamic, says the Left. Out of left field. How Fred Thompson became a player, without playing. Immigration polls. Gateway. Also, a rant against filling the USA with Mexicans. Also, from Dino: I also asked my source why he thought so many Republicans had been supporting such an incredibly unpopular bill. He gave three reasons: First off, there was what he referred to as the “Rovian School of thought,” which says that passing this bill would capture the Hispanic vote for the GOP for decades to come. Next up, there’s the “Chamber of Commerce” vote. He says these Republicans were heavily influenced by business groups that want cheap labor no matter what the cost is for the rest of the country. Then there was the last group, the smallest group in his opinion, who were willing to sign onto a terrible bill just so they could say they were part of a big reform that had bipartisan support.
Last Weds, a mocking trout rises for a bug six feet to the right of our friend. Lucky photo, cruel fish. 
Friday, June 8. 2007
 Our News Junkie is still at sea. Here are a few of my gleanings today.
A word on evil, capitalist Peach barons. Sippican. Big Peaches once ran America, back in the day. Then it was Big Prunes, then Big Tobacco, then Big Oil, and now - Big Blogs, like us, rule the world and, indeed, the cosmos itself. LaShawn is ready to shut down a certain organization. Who is supposed to pay for these stupid biofuels? Not me. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Brits fed up with immigration. The govt doesn't care. Small Dead Lemmings Found a new blog I like: The Oxford Medievalist. So many blogs, so little time. In praise of bad writing. Yes, some of us cannot help it. Is a G8 a jet? Mr. Free Market Also, re G8: A quote from Tangled Web: Oddly enough, and despite all the green rhetoric, EU emissions have been RISING even as US emissions have been FALLING. And even worse for the eco-wacko's, the carbon credits so beloved of so many, have been shown to be at best environmentally neutral, if not an outright fraud. And with China and India very clear that they will NOT be restricting their economic growth to keep Angela happy, the ambitions of Merkel and her socialists cronies can be seen to little more than hot air.
 What's the most important news story of the day?
Paris Hilton, of course. I guess life must be good in the USA if she is the Big Story. Paris Hilton is a great, walking, almost-talking argument for recreational sex without involvement. One small step above the inflatable sheep thing.
Thursday, June 7. 2007
 I am filling in for the News Junkie while he is taking an undeserved boating vacation. I'll do my best.
The NY Sun defends Justice Thomas against NYT smears. The piece is highly revealing of the NYT's mind-set, which has nothing to do with the Constitution. From the standpoint of the Left, the Constitution has been replaced by the sentiment of the hour - which is exactly why you need a Constitution. Lifson on the neglected truths of the immigration debate. American Thinker. Excellent. If this bill dies in the Senate, everyone wins, more or less, and Bush did his best to sacrifice national sovereignty on the altar of the Mexican vote. Did you see Crisis on Omaha Beach at Powerline? Very mild. The Prof's revolutionary new cure for ADHD in the classroom. How is your albedo? A simple way to make the earth colder. But do we really want to? We are having the coldest June in 7,043 years here in Hartford. You can look it up. Al Gore's hell on earth. At RCP. The man is definitely over the edge. A quote, with Al Gore quotes: "When we do rise, it will fill our spirits and bind us together. Those who are now suffocating in cynicism and despair will be able to breathe freely. Those who are now suffering from a loss of meaning in their lives will find hope." When we rise, "we will experience an epiphany as we discover that this crisis is not really about politics at all. It is a moral and spiritual challenge."
Holy Mackerel, Al! Where's my spare straitjacket? Get the nurse. This is a severe case of psychotic hyperreligiosity.
Wednesday, June 6. 2007
 I will be away for a few days fishing, boating and beaching around Rhode Island and "The Islands." Heading off to Watch Hill tonight, and will pick up the boat in the morning in Newport. We are planning on touching down on Block Island of course, Cuttyhunk, the Vineyard, Yuppie Nantucket where we will be the smallest craft in the harbor, and probably Chatham - living on fish, beer, and clams on our leased new Whaler 345 (photo below), which has no wifi. We might stop at Monomoy for some birding, and maybe hit the rips at Montauk for some fishing if we have time. I'd rather sail, but we need to cover plenty of miles to do what we plan. When you are an employee, they might not pay you too well, but they give you paid vacation days. Why they do that is beyond me, but they do it. (Photo is one of Theo's girlfriends who I would like to meet on the beach, but she would not give me the time of day. "Hey, babe. Nice bathing suit. Are you lonely? Whatcha doin' tonight?"). Where's my tackle box?
Is this Hell? 1,680 guitarists play Smoke on the Water. LGF Which Repubs voted in favor of illegal immigrant felons becoming citizens? Daily Pundit Keep an eye on this guy Gupta. Powerline. He knows how to hire people. Web censorship. The latest fad. All of the cool countries are doing it now.  Younger wives in the White House. Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. I think Frances Cleveland was a great looking lady - maybe not babelicious, but very fine.
God, evolution, and politics. Can you find the ten dumb assertions/statements in this piece in the usually-good New English Review? Better off illegal? Immigrants take heed, and get on board. It's much better to be illegal than legal. Gets it wrong. Edwards claims gun ownership is a privilege. Huh? Given by whom, John? (h/t, Viking). I thought it was all about "endowed by our Creator..." White Lit Prof takes a niggardly look at tar babies. Protein Wisdom. You would have to be a total ignoramus - and a paranoid - to construe such things as racial slurs. He discusses "intentionalism." A fun letter to the editor rant from Brit Barry Beelzebub, who has had it up to here.  Hillary's plastic surgery? I guess she can afford it. From Granny to Soccer Mom. Before and after photos to the left. Can Botox alone do that? And can they get Fred Thompson to get the same treatment? He looks older than he is.
Moslems really do not trust their women. Moderate Voice. Why not? Harry Reid claims that illegals are Americans. Wait just a minute, Harry. When I am in Japan, am I Japanese? Or am I Japanese only if I am in Japan illegally? What happened to passports and all that stuff? Fark's Drew Curtis on news, etc. from an interview at Right Wing News: I think news is kinda like church: we all say we go, but most people don't and it's one of those deals where the...numbers don't bear out (what people say).
Brit nose art defeated by political correctness. Don't want to offend Moslems. Maybe the missiles will contain buttered popcorn and the bombs will be filled with goody bags.
Finns? As one commenter on the story at Free Republic notes, "My question is- why don’t we hire the Iranian border guards? Those suckers don’t miss anybody."
 Will you marry me for an hour or two? It's wedding season, and wedding anniversary season, and Moslem clerics have endorsed the "One-hour marriage." Cool. No alimony, one would hope. (h/t, Vilmar)
Rip Van Winkleski wakes up, finds world changed. Attack Machine Freeman Dyson on video, on warming hysteria, via Classical Values Bush rocks Prague. Quotes from his speech on freedom. Gateway Do not read this book, says the New York Times Hillary talks about "her faith." Tammy Bruce. Meanwhile, Obama catches up with her in polls. Remember the kid who shot that monster pig? It might have been a farm pig. (h/t, Reader) New Hampshire rejects a seat belt law, and No Looking Backwards explains, in no uncertain terms, why that's a good thing. Similar issue re trans-fats, at Cafe Hayek. A quote: None of these things are really worth fighting for, are they? Are you going to picket a politician for making some other folks stop smoking or wear their seat belt? Not worth it. Of course, that's how the nanny state grows. It's just not worth fighting any one infringement of liberty. So no, I'm not going to fight for the right to buy a locally-baked pastry with good mouth feel. But I will fight against the idea that the Montgomery County Council has the right to ban trans-fats. That's why I'm writing this post. That's why I mention it to my neighbors. It requires a bit of schizophrenia. But it's healthy. I don't care about trans-fats, but I care about the ban. I care about the principle. The principle is tricky. It's not the right to eat trans-fats. The principle is that I don't want powerful people to decide what I do with my body or my life. Those are my responsibility. They are my responsibility because that's what adulthood is. Adulthood is being responsible for the risks you take, reaping the rewards and enduring the costs.
Tuesday, June 5. 2007
 60% of Brit Moslems think the London bombings were an inside job. Driscoll
Global cooling anticipated in next 20 years due to solar cycle. A few challenges to the AGW True Believers. Tangled Olympics logo, improved. It you can believe it, the logo which appears to represent something collapsing cost $800,000. But it is slightly improved, at An Englishman's Castle The Brits are "a people." DNA confirms it. They are not a "nation of immigrants." Is it possible for a nation to retain its identity and its sense of family-like connection with massive immigration? Doubtful. Discussion at Brussels Journal Even Nat Hentoff has had it with the UN. Close it down. As we have said many times before, nations can, and do, talk to each other anytime they want without the UN getting in the way. Just one more failed utopian dream. Moonbattery. It is painful to think that any of my money is going to support them. More at Viking.
Monday, June 4. 2007
Interesting lawsuit. Ouch. TigerHawk Vermont secession movement advances. What would Lincoln do? Can the media admit that anything is good? Conspiracy What was the Number 1 song on your birthdate, wedding date, etc? (h/t, Never Yet Melted) Have you seen Panoramio? Map your photos. Google is buying the company.
 That is Fred and Jeri. We would post her alone, if she had just had a thong on and were posing at a beach. Jeri for First Lady, and forget about Fred! (photo via Viking)
Islamberg, NY. I do not like their practicing with Port Authority uniforms. Does that make me Islamophobic? Wizbang "Are you now or have you ever been an AGWOCS Denialist?" Classical Values Where's the outrage? 12 year-old beheads kafr (kaffir). LGF. No outrage because of multicultural tolerance, I suppose - same as taking scissors to clitori: those cute Moslems have their quaint habits. The Tiananmen Massacre was 18 years ago today. Seems like yesterday. Needs to be remembered. A naive Bush was wrong about Putin. Putin is a normal paranoid Russian. I say paranoid because nobody harbors ill will towards Russia - nor does anybody think very much about Russia at all. And paranoids always imagine that people are thinking about them.
How good is our climate data? Keep scrolling down at Watts Up With That? You would think weather experts would know better. McIntyre discusses "urban bias" in climate data at Climate Audit.
Sunday, June 3. 2007
 A fine "health and safety" rant from the UK. Tangled. It's beyond Nanny State: Granny State?
The Media Mob. If they are so discontented, maybe they should do something else. I am part of the media, and I am happy as a clam. It's about The Narrative. The Anchoress gets it. Bring on the next phony scare. Kim Young Europeans think the EU is a joke. LA: In a green state with filthy water. The Second World War. Not politically correct anymore. Carbon Fraud. Moonbattery. The latest Wall Street scam. If a task is too easy, men won't do it. I am going to keep my burkha on until you give me $250,000. Gates of Vienna. Our money, by the way. That's a good gig, if you are a scumbag. The media admits its quagmire. It's a moral quagmire. Driscoll. We do not need you guys to make up our minds for us. The Earth is about to melt. Yikes. I am scared. (h/t, RW Nation) Why do we even pay attention to morons? Amusing, I guess. Hewitt: The Immigration Bill is dead. Probably so. The American people hate it. Moslem child abuse. In addition to their female-abuse, and etc. Gateway "Beyond parody." Like so many things these crazy days. Meat without death. All you might want to know about Vince Foster. He sounds like a good guy, who got in over his head. He was an aristocratic guy who had never encountered ruthlessness. Private jets for climate change. Blue Crab Un-American? Not a Yankee, that's for sure. About Hillary, at Betsy. Different values. Did somebody steal the Repub Party? Polipundit. The Guardian supports Chavez' closing of free media. It figures. Totalitarian socialism and free thought do not mix. New York Times: Rosie O'Donnell was a useful idiot. Miller Prison is a good deal. Sort of a socialist paradise? Ace. What's the difference? Gates says poverty is the problem. Wrong, and stupid. Jihad is the problem. Is that not obvious?
 Good time-waster. Create your own action hero.
Finding faith in the Oval Office. Lincoln and God I have seen a number of articles noting that climate stats can be distorted by the "heat island" effect of urban measurements, but this example from Coyote takes the cake. India is growing almost as fast as China. Dino. Blinkx: Competition for YouTube? "Terror plot stopped at JFK. Yawn." Auster. Why isn't it a big story? Because it doesn't fit the narrative, of course. Re the Repubs: Dr. Sanity stands up for Bush. Riehl wants to let bygones be bygones, and to look positively towards the future. However, Rick Moran has a bad case of Republican Depression. His gloomy piece on the subject begins with this favorite Monty Python skit: C: I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique. O: Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue…What’s,uh…What’s wrong with it? C: I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it, my lad. ‘E’s dead, that’s what’s wrong with it! O: No, no, ‘e’s uh,...he’s resting. C: Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I’m looking at one right now. O: No no he’s not dead, he’s, he’s restin’! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn’it, ay? Beautiful plumage! C: The plumage don’t enter into it. It’s stone dead. [...] C: Look, I took the liberty of examining that parrot when I got it home, and I discovered the only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been NAILED there. (pause) O: Well, o’course it was nailed there! If I hadn’t nailed that bird down, it would have nuzzled up to those bars, bent ‘em apart with its beak, and VOOM! Feeweeweewee! C: “VOOM”?!? Mate, this bird wouldn’t “voom” if you put four million volts through it! ‘E’s bleedin’ demised! O: No no! ‘E’s pining for the Fjords. C: ‘E’s not pinin’! ‘E’s passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! ‘E’s expired and gone to meet ‘is maker! ‘E’s a stiff! Bereft of life, ‘e rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed ‘im to the perch ‘e’d be pushing up the daisies! ‘Is metabolic processes are now ‘istory! ‘E’s off the twig! ‘E’s kicked the bucket, ‘e’s shuffled off ‘is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!
Saturday, June 2. 2007
 Funky Coney Island amusements end up on the auction block. That's the Wonder Wheel on the right. The Cyclone will remain as a souvenir of a great American beach place. Shoot the Freak was a good sideshow, and the Fat Lady, of course.
A bit of perspective on Conservative Depression. Bruce Kesler is probably correct that the Republican Party is not the Conservative Party. Twelve laws every blogger should be familiar with. Superb comment from Jay Guevera at Moonbattery. It's about warming. Britain, lobotomized. This does sound like satire. Flip this house. It was a scam.
Friday, June 1. 2007
Tulsa. Packed with illegals. Big Brother is watching. The UK observation bunker. This is sick. I guess it takes more than a village to learn how to spell "tomorrow." Men are natural, fully organic antidepressants. Of course we are. No wonder the gals need us, long for us, dream of us, desire us. I am going to try this line next chance I get down at Rudy's Bar and Grill, and hope I don't get smacked upside my head by a cute biker gal with a tatoo or two, a two-carat zirconia stuck in her belly button, and bigger biceps than my flimsy but sensitive sticks. My local pub in Pittsfield is not exactly a refined watering hole, but they have FOX News on one TV and ESPN on the other. Bill O'Reilly and Red Sox fans up here. I met O'Reilly one time. He was an arrogant jerk, plus he seemed about 10" taller than me, which I deeply resent as a reasonably-sized 6'1" fellow. George Will makes clear the differences between liberals and conservatives. Hillary's private jet travel. The press will give her a pass. Double standard, as usual. Why? Because in the world of leftist politics, the ends always justify the means. The historical imperative, ya know? Save the Catholic schools. Sol Stern at City Journal The Billy Graham Library. Modest, and just right. Sick of Bush? The amnesty bill has been the last straw for his supporters. I know he's a liberal, but still... Comments from RTLC, Paul at Powerline, RWNut House, Captain Ed, LaShawn, Classical Values, Flopping Aces, and our pal Dino takes another look at Peggy Noonan's harsh article. Bush is on his own now, methinks, and running on empty. Call us, W - we can help! It's not too late.
The Dangerous Book for Boys, reviewed. John Stossel on the double thank-you implicit in free-market commerce. A quote: I suspect ignorance about economics leads many to believe that when two people exchange goods and money, one wins and the other loses. If rich capitalists profit, the poor and the weak suffer. That's a myth.
The Left wishes to imagine that government is the reason for American prosperity. Wrong. It is the historical absence of intrusive and oppressive government which is the cause. Dinocrat discusses. The Thought Police at Tufts have no sense of humor. Satire under attack. Am. Thinker
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