Maggie's Farm

People are moving all over the US. Why? WSJ

Holland terrified of angry Moslems. Culturally castrated. Related: The Wikipedia Jihad

The brightest people tend to be heaviest drinkers. Does that mean I should up my consumption?

Mayor Bloomberg: We're all going to die from global warming! I'm afraid he might actually believe it.

Pelosi "leaning towards Obama." I'd bet that hurts, over at Hillary HQ. Also, do you care? Inside the Clinton staff shake-up.

Hillary still refuses to release her tax returns. (Can't find the link.) What news story does she wish to prevent? 

Classical Values takes Bill Clinton seriously when he raises this idiotic issue, but I don't think Clinton means it. I think he is being cutely manipulative and dishonest.

One reason Obama should not be elected Pres: A Sunday School view of international affairs. Our adversaries and enemies did not attend Sunday School, Barry.

Yesterday's primaries: Isn't it clear yet that people neither like nor trust Hillary? It doesn't matter what she says. They just don't like the cut of her jib, as we say. Dems seem relieved to have an alternative. When Clinton supporters like Rendell spout stuff like this, they are making a mistake with this race-baiting: it's clearly their wishful thinking that people would vote against a black guy. Pollsters care a lot about gender, race, etc etc, but voters don't seem to care: Obama wins the white male Dem votes, proving to me that nobody cares about race anymore - except the race pimps, and the pollsters who keep sticking it in our faces. As Drudge reports this morning:

In the Chesapeake Rout, according to exit polls in Maryland, Obama won:
Latino Voters By Six Points: 53-47
All Religions (Including Catholics)
All Age Groups (Including Seniors)
All Regions
All Education Levels
And Women by TWENTY ONE POINTS...

Cartoon on loan from Siggie's

Another stripper and ho scandal at Duke. But hey - it's called "art" this time, and I doubt any lacrosse players attended.

More on Al Qaida's quagmire.

Saudis take a strong, principled stand against Valentine's Day!

Valentine's gifts that guys do not want

Video games and the male brain

Who is the Republican core, anyway?

Per capita beer consumption, by country (h/t, Club for Beer Growth)

Radical chic, frozen in amber

Clinton campaign: It's not slipping away (Cartoon via Moderate Voice)

Global cooling crisis: Mumbai,  Alaska, and International Falls

Venezuela after Chavez

Gilda's Club: The language they use

How McCain can win.

Big favors for trial lawyers

About "change", quoted from Newsweek at Betsy:

(Voters) know that presidential candidates have been promising to change the nation's capital as long as they can remember. In 1952, Dwight Eisenhower swept to power promising to clean up the mess created by Harry Truman. Eight years later, in his speech accepting the Democratic Party nomination, John F. Kennedy made essentially the same promise to transform Eisenhower's Washington. "Dry rot, beginning in Washington, is seeping into every corner of America," he said. "It's time for a change." Jimmy Carter promised to sweep Washington clean after Nixon-Ford; Ronald Reagan promised to fix things after Jimmy Carter … and so it has gone in almost every election cycle before and since.

Voters are almost invariably disappointed by candidates promising to straighten out the mess in Washington. Presidents come and go; lobbyists and special-interest groups, it seems, are forever. That doesn't mean, of course, that the presidency is somehow inconsequential or that change does not happen. It's just that the change rarely has much to do with campaign promises, and everything to do with unexpected events, from Pearl Harbor to 9/11.

Only the young and/or naive believe that Washington will ever change.

How about a "reasonable ban on free speech"? Bush admin supports "reasonable bans" on guns.

Speaking of speech, keep your mouth shut at the China Olympics. As with Hillary, do not mock the Leaders.

How aging liberals "think." The guy is a racist and a dope. (h/t, Am. thinker)

You are what you spend. NYT

Captured diary: Al Qaida in Iraq on its last legs. In the meantime, they are making themselves unwelcome in Paki too. Maybe Chimphitler Bush is onto something.

Westminster Dog show today and tomorrow. Alas, they do not do hunt trials.

Who predicted this? With the Hillary campaign taking body blows and clearly in disarray, she is banking on the party insiders to pull it out for her. However, that would not look good. (TNR actually claims Clintons plan to steal the nomination.) Even Frank Rich and John Cole are tiring of the aging Clinton machine, and it occurred to me today that the "change" mantra of Obama was really first directed at the Clintons - while not appearing to be. Very clever. As VA Gov. Wilder said yesterday, "They have had their time."

Whose side are they (the press) on? Am Thinker

More on the "curious affinity of the Left with Islamism."

"Why are Democrats so bitterly divided along gender and racial lines?"  The answer, of course, is that that is what Marxist-Gramscian thought suggests as a tactic.

When government controls the purse strings, they make the decisions (for the good of "all," of course - which doesn't mean you. Who makes the life and death decisions in socialized medicine?

Flat out lies at the LA Times.

More on the coming global cooling crisis. It's as cold as hell up here.

We know you don't need us to monitor Insty for you, but sometimes we can't help ourselves (he keeps getting better and better - does he really have a day job?):

I'M SURE THIS WILL PROVE ENTIRELY UNCONTROVERSIAL: "In a major policy shift aimed at reducing a ballooning immigration backlog, the Department of Homeland Security is preparing to grant permanent residency to tens of thousands of applicants before the FBI completes a required background check."

The 35 things you should not do on a job interview. h/t, Wall Street Fighter

You might not want to send your kid to Bryn Mawr. It's not your Mom's, or your Granny's, Bryn Mawr.

The end of the Polaroid. Nikon is giving up on 35 mm, too. It's creative destruction at work.

Bolton on McCain (with video). It makes Tammy happy.

Who in Congress supports the DC gun ban, and who opposes.

Mark Steyn at CPAC (video).

Oh, man. Tears again! Maybe the polls show it works.

Blame anybody but Heath Ledger. Maybe the word hasn't gotten out yet that drug abuse is bad for you.

Photo: the famous Mark 1 Vickers took a licking and kept on ticking

Dick Cavett remembers Bobby Fischer

Spinning a failure tale in Afghanistan. It's the elections, stupid. 

Obama's church. I once quit a UCC church something like that one.

Did you make some money? Go away. But what if I made it on Powerball?

Speaking of which, why is CEO pay sometimes astronomical? Megan McArdle. Personally, I do not care what they make, although there is a touch of envy for Michael Eisner's income...and also for Roger Clemens' and Bill Clinton's and for that matter, Barack Obama's.

Our government is buying carbon offsets with our money. How wrong is that?

Neil Young: "Music can't change the world." A slow learner.

Biofuels are worse polluters than gasoline. Who cares?

Excellent example of how the Clintons control reporting. They threaten you with lack of access. More from Jules

How does West Point build a class of cadets?

And how does Berkeley build a world of moonbats?

Hating America: Still trendy. My feeling is that it's so yesterday.

Larry Kudlow makes the case for McCain

Re environmental problems, the authors of a new book state (h/t, Insty):

[T]he authors conclude that an authoritarian form of government is necessary, but this will be governance by experts and not by those who seek power.

Of course not. Experts don't even like power, do they? I cannot believe American citizens said that seriously.

Thoughts about John McCain. As somebody said on the radio, "I would crawl over broken glass to vote for McCain over Hillary Clinton." McCain is not a Conservative ideologue, but he is a Conservative. When it comes to immigration law, I see no Liberal-Conservative ideology issue at the heart of it; only a Dem-Repub issue. When it comes to McCain-Feingold, McCain was way wrong on the spirit and word of the Constitution. His CPAC speech yesterday is here. You might term it pandering, but McCain isn't much of a panderer.

Are we heading into a cooling phase? h/t, Insty

McCain-Palin? Ace

Anna Schwartz: There is no recession, just a slowdown.

Society expects perfect medicine. "Society" is a spoiled brat.

Englishman not happy with his Archbishop. Also, Roger K: Who will rid us of this troublesome priest?

Boring but important, and it involves a heck of a lot of our money: Farm policy

Surber: "If she runs health care like she runs her campaign, better become a millionaire if you want to see a doctor."

I strongly suggest that you read the essay by Robert George linked in the preceding QQQ post.

Romney's speech dumped on France, and righly so. h/t, No Pasaran. A quote:

"Europe is facing a demographic disaster," he said. "That's the inevitable product of weakened faith in the Creator, failed families, disrespect for the sanctity of human life, and eroded morality."

He called for the United States to become energy secure, because "America must never be held hostage by the likes of Putin, (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chavez and (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad,"

Romney said if the United States did not change course "we could become the France of the 21st century."

I hope we have not heard the last from Mitt.

From Kohlmeyer's Why American Evangelicals are the West's Last Hope.

In Europe a secularized post-Christian culture is facing a Muslim one. The secularized culture is hedonist and values only its present life, because it does not believe in an afterlife. This is why it will surrender when threatened with death because life is the only thing it has to lose. This is why it will accept submission without fighting for its freedom. Nobody fights for the flag of hedonism, not even the hedonists themselves.

Appeasement, accommodation and outright defeatism overwhelmingly characterize the conduct of western countries in the face of Islamic resurgence. Many of them are so hapless that they are even turning against those who would protect them; several EU states have initiated legal proceedings against American agencies for capturing and removing terrorists from their midst. Last year, for example, a German court issued an arrest warrant for thirteen CIA agents involved in the capture and interrogation of a terrorist suspect that took place in Macedonia. The man, one Khaled al-Masri, is a German national of Lebanese descent. In an almost surreal twist, al-Masri's lawyers in a press conference referred to the agents as ‘suspects.'

Coldest January in 15 years.

Do you have a "work spouse"?  It's a common phenomenon.

The bad guys in Iraq are on the run.

What do you owe your kids?

How to prepare for Basic Cadet Training at West Point

Why don't Jews  like the Christians who like them? James Q. Wilson notes that evangelicals are strong supporters of Israel, while mainline Protestant churches tend to oppose it.

Will immigration be an issue in the fall elections? Tiger

The internet cable cuts in the ME. (h/t, Pajamas) If I were paranoid, I'd wonder about all of this.

Shut up and sing direct: Lorin Maazel has some odd things to say about the NY Philharmonic's trip to North Korea

The three factions of the Repub Party

Election stuff, and McCain Derangement Syndrome update (McCain has won - it's over):

   - Obama takes the lead in delegate count

   - Hillary should be worried

   - Jim Miller notes that there was no laughter after these lines of Obama on Super Tues:

We have to choose between change and more of the same.  We have to choose between looking backwards and looking forwards.  We have to choose between our future and our past.

   - NY Post claims John will make a Left turn

   - Dobson throws a tantrum

   - Kurtz: Staying home is not an option. Further thoughts from Bill Kristol

McCain? I have a few major disagreements with him, but far more major disagreements with the Dems. When it comes to the folks, like Rush and some bloggers, who are mad at McCain: don't blame McCain - blame the Repubs who seem to have selected him. Are they stupid? Also, VDH has some thoughts.

If I had had a slave, maybe I could feel badly

Feelings of fraudulence. Not necessarily neurotic: often justified. NYT

What's with Scientology? David Thompson

Another example of how light rail makes no economic sense. Coyote

Putting out public feelers. Clinton-Obama? Speaking of which, I guess politics and religion do go together after all - if it's Dem politics.

Obama's appeal. via Drezner. He does smoke cigarettes, which is in his favor.

Thomas Sowell's new book. Interview via Betsy

Inequities in medical insurance. From a piece in the WSJ:

The core problem is that people who get insurance through their employers pay no income or payroll taxes on the value of the benefit. The Treasury defines this as a "tax expenditure," meaning it's revenue the government forgoes to encourage certain behavior. If these losses were converted to the equivalent of direct spending, the tax exemption would have cost more than $208 billion in 2006. The only federal programs that cost more are Social Security, Medicare and national defense. But all that money props up only employer-provided insurance. Individuals who buy policies don't get any tax breaks and pay with after-tax dollars.

“A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No man can serve two masters. Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire. “

Thomas Merton (h/t Anchoress)

Would you want to try to run against Obama? Am. Spectator

Forced neutering of dogs? Why?

Vanderleun goes to the heart of the problem of the McCain-hating syndrome.

The internal contradiction of liberal society - tolerance of the un-liberal. Powerline

Another view: Old age sex is disgusting, say Docs.

Earn more, work less. A government job.

Sorry, Al. Sea ice back to normal. Whatever "normal" is.

What would Dem penalties be for not buying medical insurance? Death?

The real story about the Sandy Berger burglaries. It is beyond me why he was not criminally prosecuted.

Thanks for the help, Germany.

Polygamy now legal in England. Think about what Henry Vlll might have enjoyed.

A Wonder Bread national security plan. RWNH

War and Love. From AVI on war fatigue:

A human being can only remain in love 12-18 months. If you're still together after that, it is because you have built something more permanent along the way. It's a good thing, too. Imagine how tiring it would be to have twenty years of "I wonder if she is thinking of me right now, right this minute...if I don't see her as we pass at lunch it will ruin my whole afternoon..." There is apparently a brain fatigue which sets in. The level of excitement which being in love generates is unsustainable. The mind adapts, as it does to anything else, to a new normal. A fever pitch of excitement cannot be maintained indefinitely.

Image via Kentucky's Slower Pace

Steyn revisits his 1998 review of The Ice Storm

Looking forward to this year's spaghetti harvest.

Rove: No Imminent Demise of the Repubs

Iran endorses Obama

The Race, Class and Gender Campaign. VDH

Did you miss yesterday's Carnival of the Insanities?

Hillary caught again. Her push polls in Calif. Apparently utterly incapable of playing by rules. Does she think she is Queen Elizabeth l ?  Also, Hillary in Love

What is really killing newspapers? Rogue Columnist (h/t, Businesspundit)

“We shall abandon them in the mountains! We shall abandon them in the cities!  We shall run like frightened children! Out of my way, I’m trying to surrender!”  Jules

Few want Bill back in White House

US Out of Berkeley Now! Michelle

John H on compulsory medical insurance:

There is an analogy between the compulsory aspects of the candidates' health care proposals and Social Security. A young man or woman would be crazy to participate in the Social Security system if he or she had any choice. If anyone saved 12.4% of his earnings over a lifetime, he would not only have far more money in retirement than Social Security can provide, it would, equally important, be his money, to invest and dispose of as he sees fit. But the government needs young people's money to support their grandparents' retirements, so Social Security is forced upon them. The same thing, in essence, will happen with health care if any comprehensive "reform" plan is adopted.

The Manned Cloud. (h/t, Theo.) Image on right of what it will look like.

Banned at Stanford. (h/t, Minding the Campus) It begins:

The wind of freedom blows, our university motto declares, but perhaps only until someone gets offended.

A three-month investigation by the Stanford Review has discovered that university organizations declined to invite two high-profile intellectuals—Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, before his inauguration as Pope Benedict XVI—after consultation with faculty and students who objected to their views.

Muslims' demands for religious exemptions. Volokh believes that many of them are in the American tradition.

Beet. A satiric look at an awful college.

Jonathan Last on the role of Iraq in the elections. Front Page

"Secure yourself a place in the belly of a green bird roosting on a chandelier danging from the Throne of Paradise, ladies."

Bainbridge: Hillary as a guilty pleasure?

GOP needs Dems to win. Dilulio. Yes, they do. Reagan knew how to inspire almost everybody with hope and optimism.

The patio heater crisis. A family of Polar Bears dies each time you turn one on.

Ouch. Poll says "Hillary will do anything."

Guns to buy now, in case the Dems take over. Kim. Related: Confed. Yank wants advice on a carry gun. Related: W. VA. considering teaching gun handling to schoolkids. That is my America.

How dare you believe that your religion is true. Fides

Dr. Krauthammer psychoanalyzes Bill Clinton

Britney Spears, c. 1942

Volker supports Obama? What?

Do not teach kids national pride.

Final word on the Swift Boat guys. Powerline

Yet another Clinton money scandal.

Tim Blair is back from his cancer surgery. That was quick.

Good point about modern political rhetoric. Neoneo

The McCain fan vs. Romney fan kerfuffle: Insty, Donald Douglas, Viking. Hewitt wonders whether McCain is the next Bob Dole: apparently he did not impress in the debate last night.

Banned: Hillary the Movie, thanks to McCain-Feingold.

The Woodpecker Boom, gone bust: good photo essay in the NYT

Obama: Clintons are a step backwards.

Hawaii forgets about the First Amendment. Thank God for the Bill of Rights (which the Founders felt unnecessary because freedom under limited central government was assumed, having been the entire reason for their war).

A Baghdad Hospital: Inside the Red Zone. Video

Run, Ralph, run! Add some humor to 2008.

Greenspan doubts that the Fed can prevent global recession. Economies are truly global now.

The Kindle e-book. Will it catch fire? Our Opie knows somebody who loves the thing.

Republicans not wanted at poetry readings. Taranto

Insty writes a long one about the subprimes, which begins:

SO I'M WATCHING MCCAIN TALK ABOUT THE SUBPRIME CRISIS, and how there may be some "greedy people on Wall Street who need to go to jail."

But I heard a typically sad-toned NPR story on subprimes tonight, and despite their best efforts to evoke the Joads it was a story of people who "used their houses like ATMs," taking out home equity loan after home equity loan when they started with a subprime mortgage, only to wind up owing far more than their houses were worth and unable to make the payments. Boo hoo. Shouldn't there be a price for being an idiot? And -- despite not being on Wall Street -- a greedy idiot? Why does McCain want to bail these people out? Why does he want to put Wall Street people in jail?

Hinderaker on politicians vs. businessmen:

Businessmen, in my experience, are generally more idealistic than politicians. Businessmen really do make deals with a handshake. No one would dream of doing that with Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi or the Clintons. Turning a businessman loose in the political world is basically a mismatch. That's the sense I get of McCain's reaction to having Romney as his last serious rival. He can't believe his good fortune; Romney is an amateur. McCain can poke him in the eye, knee him in the groin, and the rule-following businessman has no idea how to respond.

I don't view this as an argument in Romney's favor. As President, he wouldn't be dealing with honorable, law-abiding businesspeople. He would be going up against the Vladimir Putins, Osama bin Ladens and Harry Reids of the world. This is not a game for amateurs. I think we should recognize that professional politicians bring important experience and skills to the table, and that one of those skills is the ability to knee an opponent in the groin and get away with it. It's not pretty. But, compared to politics, business is beanbag, and politics is the game the Republican nominee will have to play.

Gaza: The New Media Math. SDA. Also, how Gazans and Egyptians do business. Also, from SC&A, the purposeful failure to build a middle class among the Palestinians (whence the image on right).

The Muslims of Nashville. Who knew?

The GOP plans for medical care.

Sesame Street needs warnings?

Hands off my lightbulbs! A good rant.

Are doctors the last people in the world to use email?

The Bawer piece, First they came for the gays, re the Islamization of Europe.

Beginning to wind things down in Iraq. Troops coming home.

How Hillary played the newspapers for fools. Or are they simply colluding with her?

Archbishop Moonbat wants laws against bad manners. Like Jules, I find Rowan Williams' speech deeply hurtful and offensive. There should be a law against that kind of talk.

Can John McCain calm down the Conservatives? John Fund. And can he win their hearts? I doubt it, but, for a number of reasons, I think he is the most electable Repub after 8 years of a Repub in the White House. Surber has an excellent comment on the subject. For an example of foolish and immature petulance, try this for somebody who would rather end up with 3 more lefty Supremes for the next 20 years than to vote for McCain.

Doom update. Am. Digest. Repent! The end is near!

Hitchens on the Clintonian history of playing the race card

The NYT finally admits that the economy has been great.

About those Polar Bears. EU Referendum

All about The Jazz Singer

A sedentary life may speed up aging.

This WSJ page is a great daily read.

Minivans. Insty said this:

IN DEFENSE OF THE MINIVAN: "The minivan gets a bad rap in this country--it is almost universally reviled as a symbol of dweebish parenthood and mindless suburbia, a scarlet letter attached to soccer moms' chests. . . . The minivan's job is to haul people and cargo in as comfortable and efficient a manner as possible, and it fulfills that mission admirably."

How to invest in this market. Kudlow

A good point, from Attack Machine, quoting Ted Kennedy:

“It is time again for a new generation of leadership!”

Teddy’s been in the Senate for 45 years. Massachusetts needs a change. American needs a change, fiercely with the urgency of now!

Orwell would be proud. Steyn in the NY Sun:

My favorite headline of the year so far comes from The Daily Mail in Britain: "Government Renames Islamic Terrorism As 'Anti-Islamic Activity' To Woo Muslims."

What role do biofuels play in rising food prices? CSM.

Bill Clinton: Asset or liability?

Media complicity with Hamas propaganda

Is the FCC obsolete?

What's with the French guy who lost 7 billion?

"Is there a doctor in the house...who hasn't been sued?"

How would China attack the US? Military Times

Brit National Health: Don't treat the old or unhealthy.

Bill Kristol in the NY Times sounds like our piece yesterday:

Hillary’s advantage in the polls will, I suspect, erode. The erosion could be hastened by the expected endorsement of Obama by Ted Kennedy on Monday. It could be helped further along if Al Gore hops aboard the Obama bandwagon later in the week. Meanwhile, Tom Daschle, the Senate Democratic leader during most of the Clinton presidency, is actively supporting Obama. Talk to Democrats in D.C., and it’s amazing how many who know the Clintons well — many of whom worked in the Clinton administration — are eager that they not return to the White House.

And VDH:

We are watching something historic—the crumbling of the Clinton façade. Its disintegration does not mean Hillary won’t be President, only that she can now be beaten when just a few months ago that was deemed impossible. Strange to say: the election is in Republican hands.

A new psychiatric disorder: PNYTTSD

When government runs medical care. Captain Ed

Prof. B. wonders about Romney

Those idealistic students...except when it comes to their personal comfort. For Gaia, they should turn off all of the heat, too, and let them discover what academic gowns were really for.

What the "banality of evil" meant to Arendt. Norm

Filed in triplicate: Iowahawk takes on the Alberta Human Rights Commission

What is Davos drinking? Kudlow

"Poor" and fat. Insty. Such "problems" we have in America.

The good side of guns in schools. Kim

"No escape at UMass." You will not believe this BS...or maybe you will. (h/t, Minding the Campus)

Lopez on the game the Clintons are playing. And yes, they are trying to marginalize him as the black candidate. RWNH terms it "underhanded brilliance." I term it "sociopathic brilliance."

Celibate marriages. Althouse

"Two Cheers for Wall St." The Greed narrative vs. the Ecology narrative. David Brooks. A quote:

... there’s a moment when people realize how stupid they have been. They’ve bought a pile of subprime mortgages without really knowing what they’ve purchased. The ratings agencies suddenly don’t look so reliable. The cycle of overconfidence becomes a cycle of underconfidence because nobody knows who is holding worthless paper.

Then, finally, maturity sets in. Those who have lost great gobs of money get fired. People still find the new product useful, but within parameters and with greater safeguards.

The lesson of the Ecology Narrative is that, in most cases, the market corrects itself.

From Mediocracy, on compulsory organ "donation":

Photo: Drink Polar Pilsner. From Theo

Powerline takes another look at McCain.

Hey, Barrister. Here's a nice humidor.

The Tom Cruise video Scientology tried to suppress. Oh - here it is. Funny.

Evita. Is it really OK for Hillary to be running?

"Illegal Immigration: Republicans want cheap workers, Democrats want poor voters." Gates of Vienna

The sad problems at Lascaux. You can take a virtual tour here.

Why is Tide so popular? (read the comments)

A Prof thinks we should stop teaching fractions. How does saying "Add 0.75 tsp. salt" improve anybody's life? Can you imagine saying "Cut the dowel 14.875 inches?" Why are so many professors foolish when it comes to real life? Or how about "Add 0.3333... (how many threes do you want to go out?) cups of corn meal." h/t, Wizbang

An objective look at Kinsey's work. AVI

The Clinton tag-team campaign. Is Bill running for President again? You bet he is.

...what's happening here is almost grotesque. Bill Clinton is like a veteran champion returning to reclaim his belt, but who, through a perversion of the rules, is allowed to fight tag-team style, climbing in and out of the ring at will -- so long as the "title" is officially held by his "partner."

Electile dysfunction. It's funny, but I don't really like the premise: there is something weird about a person getting excited about a politician.

Back in the saddle: US Border guards. That would be a fun job.

We posted this over a year ago, but it still holds (Euroland - take note):

The Anchoress advises Repubs to grow up. That's always good advice for everyone. It's so difficult, though. I want everything I want, for free, right now.

"Hey, I know, because I've done a study." neoneo

Yale celebrates abortion. That is sick and disgusting. Hey, Yale - try celebrating and struggling with knowledge and morality for a change, Eli. Lux et Veritas. It might do ya good.

View from the Right reflects on Thompson. Fred was closest to my views, but he was neither locked nor loaded. We will make an opening for him at Maggie's, though, if he wants to write or to make videos for us.

Bernanke hopes people will spend any tax rebate on things that are domestically-produced. Like what? Well, maybe another nice Colt for carrying. No - I'll put my rebate in the bank.

Sarko's new wife is a hot tamale...with a history. Blue Crab includes a link to a NSFW photo of the innocent blushing bride.

Who is this pussy trying to psychoanalyse my views of global cooling warming? Spare me.

How unionization damages economies. Those numbers don't lie. I have always been sentimentally (eg weakly) supportive of unionization, but their time is long past. People have learned mobility, and work has gone global. you cannot turn back that clock.  I would never join a union now: It's beneath my dignity, and I know what I am worth (which is not a whole lot because writing. like musicianship, is a common and vulgar talent). However, I happen to be slave labor on Maggie's Farm, chained in a rat-infested, Cuban-ceegar-smoke-filled, unheated, dirt-floored basement in global-cooling-afflicted New England. Save me, AFL-CIO!

Needed on our growing blogroll: Watts Up With That? Cool blog, sympatico.

Need more Gramci insight? He is the Head Coach of our Dems. I forget where I found this additional good Gramcsi link. It's all so obvious, and I do not like it at all because it is about slavery to the State - not about freedom...as you know.

Image borrowed from S,C&A's book cover collection: Rejected by Publisher